Fat Sick and Overweight.

I am currently changing my diet and lifestyle to a healthy one...a plant-based diet avoiding processed foods meat and dairy.

I like many watched Joe Cross in his personal mission to find a cure to an illness he had and he turned to a juice diet and plant based foods to try to cure himself. The movie is on Netflix and is called Fat Sick and Nearly Dead its worth watching and may give you the inspiration to change your diet and think about what you are eating and is it making you sick?

I know the diet I was on and my lifestyle wasn't doing me any favours, it wasn't bad as such, but unhealthy quite a lot of the time and I knew before watching Joe’s movie I needed to change,

To date I have lost over 26lbs and the weight is still reducing, like any “diet" if you revert back to old eating habits and portion size you will gain weight so I know I need to change my lifestyle as well then my new eating habits will be reinforced and my weight is more likely to stay off.

I am hoping my Ulcerated Colitis will disappear from its current state or reduce to a level that is acceptable and my M.E. reverses somewhat. A big ask I know but I do not have much choice in the matter. Any transgender person is at the mercy of the surgeon if they are Male to Female, as they use a weight to body mass index scale to see if you can have any lower surgery called the BMI.

The gatekeepers of the NHS in England are very strict and will happily leave a person waiting if their BMI is too high. I do not think transgender M2F patients really put much in to their weight loss when they first start on the pathway I know I did not. Thinking back to over two years ago, when I did initially start at the gender clinic my main thought was to get the medication I needed,  I should have addressed my diet then and that way it wouldn’t be at my foremost thoughts now.

As my next appointment at the gender clinic looms. I know the consultant will weigh me and see what kilograms the scales display, the last time he said “let’s see what the hormones have done to you”  so not wanting to hear that again, and trying to lower my BMI has been my secondary driving force to change my diet and lifestyle.

Therefore, when I read that 43 million Americans are on a diet at any given time, and the reality is that most of these people –anywhere from 65% to 98%, (depending on the research source) – will regain the weight they lose within 12 months of losing it and that worries me. So a total change from 2017 onwards is required of me, at diet and lifestyle change and one that I can live with.

The UK’s BBQ season is under way so I have to think of dishes that can be cooked outside on the BBQ, that fulfil my diet of plant based foods. The medium done double steak burger with cheese and bacon will not be made as they smell just too good and be swapped for a bean burger of some kind, and roasted vegetables with sweet potato fries.

I know I will have slip up and “fall off the wagon” as most people do, even Joe Cross found it is difficult to keep his weight off all the time, and you know that’s okay. I know I will have bad days and good days. Getting back on the wagon is just a part of the weight loss and lifestyle change I need to make.

I used Joe’s movie as the extra motivation and inspiration to change what I was eating and what I did, it’s a guide not a rule and like anything in life if it’s worth doing you might as well do it well. I have always tried to live my life according to a few basic rules or principals most of which comes from my parents including being honest with yourself and others, as it normally comes back to you in the end… so it saves a lot of heart ache and time if you upfront as my dear father would say…

Being Transgender is not easy and staying positive while you wait for Gender clinic appointments and surgery is not easy, in fact it's really hard at times.  Having personal goals you wish to achieve is the way to proceed in my view every step I take brings me closer to my goals and wishes. I'm lucky in that I have a close family bond, good friends and work mates who help and support me. I know some don't have this back up and I'm grateful for everyone's support.

Ulcerated Colitis

 

Just when you think you have a handle on all that life can throw you, I found out I have severe Ulcerated Colitis. 

If like me you didn't know anything about the condition you could be missing the bigger picture I certainly was, having ME you generally suffer with IBS at some point, I mistook my IBD for IBS.

Now the initials sound similar but the medical condition is in my view much worst.

Inflamed Bowel Disease is a disabling condition and limits what a person can do, as they need to be able to "get the seat down" in seconds when out and about it’s a case of going going gone...

I could write a very personal blog on the toilet habits of a UC sufferer but I would only be repeating what thousands of sufferers will tell you, instead I will guide you to the best source of information I could find in the UK below is a bit from a this most excellent source of information on the subject.

(https://www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/)

“Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are the two main forms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, affecting more than 300,000 people in the UK.

Yet it is largely a hidden disease, and one that causes stigma, fear and isolation – it’s thought that many people with the condition go undiagnosed and suffer in silence. It doesn’t have to be like this.

What is Ulcerative Colitis?

Ulcerative Colitis is a condition that causes inflammation and ulceration of the inner lining of the rectum and colon (the large bowel). In UC, tiny ulcers develop on the surface of the lining and these may bleed and produce pus.

The inflammation usually begins in the rectum and lower colon, but it may affect the entire colon. If UC only affects the rectum, it is called proctitis, while if it affects the whole colon it may be called total colitis or pancolitis.

It’s one of the two main forms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The other is Crohn’s Disease.

Ulcerative Colitis is a chronic condition. This means that it is ongoing and life-long, although you may have periods of good health (remission), as well as times when symptoms are more active (relapses or flare-ups).

What are the symptoms?

Ulcerative Colitis is a very individual condition and its symptoms will vary from person to person. They range from mild to severe and may also change over time.

Some people remain well for a long time, while others have frequent flare-ups. However, the most common symptoms are:

• Diarrhoea
• Cramping pains in the abdomen
• Tiredness and fatigue
• Feeling generally unwell or feverish
• Loss of appetite and weight loss
• Anaemia (a reduced level of red blood cells).

Find out more about the symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis

Who gets Ulcerative Colitis?

It’s estimated that UC affects about one in every 420 people in the UK (roughly 146,000 people).

UC is more common in urban areas and in northern developed countries, although we’re starting to see an increase in numbers in developing nations, too.

UC is also more common in white people of European descent, especially those descended from Ashkenazi Jews (those who lived in Eastern Europe and Russia).

It can start at any age, though it often appears for the first time between the ages of 15 and 25. It affects men and women equally.

UC tends to develop more frequently in non-smokers and ex-smokers than in smokers – but health professionals strongly advise against smoking as a way of treating Ulcerative Colitis.  See Smoking and IBD for more information.

Our Ambassadors embody the wide range of people who get Crohn’s Disease. Read their stories.

What are the causes & is there a cure?

Although there has been a lot of research, we still don’t really know what causes Ulcerative Colitis.  However, advances have been made in recent years, particularly in genetics and we now believe that UC is caused by a combination of factors:

- the genes you’re born with
- plus an abnormal reaction of the digestive system to bacteria in the intestine
- along with an unknown 'trigger' that could include viruses, other bacteria, diet, stress, or something else in the environment.

There isn't a cure at the moment but a lot can be done with medication and surgery to help keep symptoms under control.

Read about the research we’re funding into the causes and treatment of Ulcerative Colitis 

What treatments are there for Ulcerative Colitis?

Ulcerative Colitis can often be managed by medication (drug treatment), but surgery can be necessary if symptoms are very bad.

Your treatment will depend on the type and severity of your UC and the choices you make with your doctor.

Find out what treatments are available for Ulcerative Colitis.

Can Ulcerative Colitis have complications?

More than a third of people with UC develop other conditions outside of the digestive system, mainly affecting the joints, eyes and skin.

Inflammation of the joints (arthritis) affects about one out of 10 people with UC. Some people with UC also develop ankylosing spondylitis, a condition in which the joints in the spine and pelvis become inflamed and stiff. Drugs and physiotherapy are used to treat these symptoms.

A variety of other health conditions can be associated with UC, including:

• skin problems, such as mouth ulcers, blisters and ulcers on the skin, and painful red swellings, usually on the legs
• inflammation of the eyes
• thinner and weaker bones
• liver inflammation
• blood clots (including deep vein thrombosis)
• anaemia.

It’s important to stress that Ulcerative Colitis is not a form of cancer. However, if you have had extensive or total colitis (pancolitis) for many years, you have a greater risk than normal of developing cancer in the colon or rectum. For more information about this, see our information sheet Bowel Cancer and IBD

Find out more about complications by downloading our Ulcerative Colitis booklet

What are the challenges of living with the condition?

Living with a chronic condition like Ulcerative Colitis  can have both an emotional and practical impact on your life.  There may be times when you have to make adjustments and take time to recuperate, for example, if you are having a flare-up.  On the other hand, when you are well you may be able to live life to the full. 

Most obviously, you are likely to see your GP and perhaps also your hospital IBD team quite regularly. It’s good to build up a good relationship with them, as that can make seeking and receiving treatment a less stressful process.  See our booklet My Crohn’s and Colitis Care for more information about to work with your IBD team to get the best out of your care.

Flare-ups can be disruptive to relationships and work – sometimes you may need to cancel engagements and take time off when you are feeling unwell.   It can be very helpful if you feel you can open up about your condition to those around you – your family, friends, work colleagues and employers.  Telling particularly family and friends at least something about your illness may make them feel reassured and more able to give you the support you need.

Diet is considered a factor in the appearance and severity of symptoms by many people with Ulcerative Colitis – although research has not produced clear answers on whether diet plays a role in UC.

Generally, the most important thing is to eat a nutritious and balanced diet to maintain your weight and strength, and to drink sufficient fluids to stop you getting dehydrated. 

However, you may find during flare-ups that certain foods affect your symptoms.  Bland, soft foods may cause less discomfort than raw vegetables, spicy and high-fibre foods .

Most women with Ulcerative Colitis can expect a normal pregnancy and a healthy baby. Also, for most women, having a baby does not make their UC worse. But if you do become pregnant during a flare-up, you may be more likely to give birth early or have a baby with a low birth weight. Your doctor should be able to help you to control your symptoms as much as possible, and it may be helpful to discuss your options with them if you are thinking of having a baby.

Around a quarter of people are children or adolescents when they are diagnosed with IBD, and symptoms in young people often appear around the age of 12. Ulcerative Colitis in children tends to be more extensive in children than adults, and consequently more severe.

Download our free information sheet on Staying well with IBD

- See more at: https://www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/about-inflammatory-bowel-disease/ulcerative-colitis#sthash.qaiqa8jG.dpuf

Hopefully, upon reading this blog page you will have a better understanding of Ulcerative Colitis and I would like to thank chronsandcolitis.org for the information they gave me on their web site when I was first diagnosed in a NHS hospital in my home town.

So why have I chosen to blog about my UC on my Transgender blog site well there is a link.

Taking female hormones as transgender male to female as you have to do, in order to alter loads of incorrect things with your body, the hormones has the effect of increasing the risk for ulcerative colitis (UC), but not Crohn's disease (CD), according to my consultant at the gender clinic I attend. He sees many transgender M2F people discovering they now have UC. It’s not a show stopper as such on the transition side, and lower surgery can still go ahead in most cases but it needs to be under control and not in flair up mode for obvious reasons.

A transgender person’s BMI is taken into account so being on or below your BMI is a good thing as far as lower surgery is concerned so if like me you have UC just watch your diet as my weight yoyos between flair ups quite a bit.

When I have a flair up I tend to reduce my insoluble fibre intake and make more healthy 80% veg 20% fruit juice as meal replacements I live on a modified vegan diet or a heavily modified paleo type of diet, as it reduces my “seat down time” spent going the loo. 

CFS update

Sorry for the lack of posting on the blog but the ravages of CFS /ME had me in their deadly grip on a 5+ week relapse, so life just stopped for me. Asleep most of the days and nights and in pain when I was awake, it did not inspire me to do much on the blog as I didn’t want to make pages full of my CFS when being transgender and transitioning is the main focus of the blog.

 

 

Where do you get your eggs?

Now there's a question...

 

This has nothing to do with transgender but has everything to do with doing the right thing in life and being accountable for your actions.

So please read on.

 

I was busy shopping the other day, stopped at the isle with the eggs neatly stacked on the shelves, and thought about the choice on offer and importantly the price of eggs. Why are some so expensive compared to others on the shelves, a chicken egg is just a egg after all isn't it.

So I purchased our normal box of eggs and carried on shopping which is what 99% of us do every time we go shopping I guess. Only this time when I got home I started investigating the price difference and to my shock and horror discovered the multiple ways egg laying chickens are kept so let me explain further just in case like my you didn't fully understand the farming process for eggs.

Most commercial hens for laying can start to lay at 18 to 21 weeks old the commercial producers will keep the birds generally for no longer, than a little over 51 weeks, they then go for slaughter. A very short life for them, if they lived this life as perhaps we thought they did it would be a shame at least however, the majority of egg buying people don’t have any idea of the type of conditions the chickens live in.

The photo below is how caged bird spend the short life, not as you might of expected is it?

 

This is how caged battery hens have to live in some countries still…

In 1999 the EU agreed a Directive on Laying Hens (1999/74/EC) that resulted in the banning of the most inhumane of these systems, the barren battery cage. Producers were given a 12-year phase-out period, bringing the ban into effect on 1 January 2012.

In 2015, Compassion in farming’s Investigation Unit visited farms in four European countries to see what the impact of the barren battery cage ban meant for Europe’s hens, almost 60% of which continue to live in so-called ‘enriched’ cages. What they found were hidden factory farms where productivity rules the roost.  https://youtu.be/q_1omgiUWko

‘Enriched’ cages, whilst an improvement on the old barren cages, still do not permit Europe’s hens to carry out their natural behaviours’.

After all, a cage is still a cage.

 

 

 

The birds in the photographs above have no real space and nowhere to hide they are at times being pecked to near death by other chickens its hot and smelly and very noisy in these buildings.
The current law allows them to have a minimum of 9”x7” approx. for each chicken, it’s the size of an iPad not much is it, and as the farmer need to make a profit to keep in business I'm sure the bird's will get just enough to be within the legal requirements and no more.

I found out many chicken barn houses in the UK are a single level part-litter, part-slatted floor. In this system, the EU Welfare of Laying Hens Directive allows a maximum stocking density of 9 hens per square meter. (that's 9 fully grown chickens in one meter x one meter) The UK's Lion Quality Code of Practice stipulates that there is a maximum colony size of 6,000 birds that's not much space for the birds to live in 24/7. The heat inside and the smell of places like this takes your breath away when you enter the building, these poor birds are forced to live out their short life in such conditions is so wrong.

The hen house conditions for organic hens in the UK are set by the EU Organic Regulations and stipulate a maximum stocking density of 6 hens per square meter of useable area and a maximum flock size of 3,000 birds which is much better for the birds.  Hens must be provided with nest boxes.  Adequate perches, providing 18 centimeters of perch per hen, must also be provided.  Litter must be provided, accounting for one-third of the ground surface - this is used for scratching and dust bathing. So organically kept hens have a better but perhaps still not ideal living area, than the poor birds kept in the other "approved" methods of production farming eggs.

Additional requirements of the UK Lion code for Organic Egg production

The higher standards governing flocks producing British Lion organic eggs include the provision of outdoor shading, additional height and width of pop holes, open for 8 hours daily to allow access to the outside; and a maximum range area stocking density of up to 2,000 birds per hectare. 

If you need to buy eggs these are perhaps the best available form supermarkets and shops, buying organic really does make a difference to the hens operating under this system as public demand will change the way egg farms operate so please avoid the cheap eggs they are cheap for a reason and when you look into it the reason is not at all nice.

 

Upon finding all of this, I decided to rescue a few birds and have them in the garden at home, several hen charities in the UK arranges to collect the birds from the egg farms, before they are sent to slaughter.

The general public who express an interest in saving some, can collect the hens on a given day from a charity point most areas in the UK.  Sadly most of the rescue hens look almost “oven ready” when you pick them up which is very sad, but with some love and care the birds generally recover and soon begin to grow new feathers and look like a chicken should.

The egg producing farms tend to withdraw feed before they are disposed of, so rehydration and famine relief is required most of the times when you collect your ex-batt hens. Mine started to lay eggs after settling in, which was about 4 days. However, it's close to autumn time and chickens tend to go into an egg laying rest period during the winter months, unless stimulated by artificial heat and light. Ex Battery hens need this rest period and will continue to lay good quality eggs for many years but not as prolific as they once did in their prime.

I have a simple wooden coop and a wire enclosure for them to walkabout in, scratch for food as well as looking for the additional treats I leave them, (meal worms, corn and maze) as well as a large open area for them that is now protected by specialist electric chicken netting to keep foxes and the alike away from the hens. The ex-battery hens will lay for perhaps a further 4+ years and will enjoy retirement in the garden and bring the family great joy.

If you have any garden space that you think is suitable please investigate to see if you can rehome a couple of birds. Your partner and friends as well as children and grandkids all love to see the birds and really enjoy collecting the eggs when they are in lay.

The chickens will eat layers pellets or mash as well as garden worms, slug and snails also most garden weeds you have and they love to trim the lawn, aerating the grass as they scratch for the food. (The manure they produce is good fertilizer for the veg plot and borders as well!)

If you are a “prepper or survivalist” it’s good to keep chickens

If you care, where your food comes from, it’s good to keep chickens

If you want to live the “good life” it’s good to keep chickens

 

If you are happy with productive pet's it's good to keep chickens

I could list thousands of reasons to keep chickens and why it is important to me to keep chickens and rehome ex-battery hens but I will leave it to you to decide if you have had enough of the visible cruelty to animals in the food that you buy to do something about it.

(If you don't keep egg laying chickens at home and you buy eggs in the UK always avoid eggs laid in barren battery cages. To do this look for the British Lion mark on eggs and egg packs, which guarantees that the eggs are both legal and produced to slightly higher animal welfare and food safety standards.)

This is Ginger in the garden having a quick cuddle from my daughter.

Ginger is one of the ex-batt hen's we rescued in Aug 2016