Kim Penzone. CFS sufferer and Ironman finisher.
Sorry I’ve been out of touch lately. As you may have noticed, I’ve been updating the design of my blog and adding some new features. Web design and photography are what I do for a living so I use this blog as a little bit of a playground for learning and testing new things.
Recently, I’ve been putting the time I normally put towards writing towards coding and other other blog-building activities that probably aren’t all that interesting to you.
Anyway… I just came across this article on Ironman.com about a woman, Kim Penzone, who’s suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) seemingly her entire life.
It’s a brief one-pager that’s actually more of a press release from her fund raising organization than an in-depth article. None the less, I found her story compelling and one that hits close to home.
The key to her success apparently centers around diet and unflinching determination to not let her condition rule her life.
“It turns out that poor eating habits and an unhealthy lifestyle were the biggest contributors to my fatigue, causing damage to my adrenalin glands and compromising my immune system,” Kim explains. “After lowering the acidity in my diet, I noticed a huge improvement.”
I’ve personally found that cleaning up my diet is making a big difference in how I feel. I’ve not tried lowering the acidity like Kim, but (after blood tests showed that I was allergic) I’ve cut out gluten and eggs. I’ve also taken out refined sugars and started eating well-rounded meals with more vegetables. My energy is up and feel healthier all around.
Kim’s commitment to not letting her CFS get in the way of what she wants to do is also something that I can appreciate. I put a lot of time and effort towards training this past summer and, for the most part, it paid off. I was able to stay active without suffering a set-back and compete at a satisfactory all-be-it, lower level than before I got hit with Lyme.
Her commitment should be an inspiration to anyone suffering with “CFS”, Lyme or any other chronic, debilitating disease.
testing… whoa, that’s orange!
whoa… still orange
Finally fixed… not orange. Woot!
Very very orange indeed.
The diet is so important and I so struggle to keep on track. I read the article, and it did hit home. And so did your comment on it hitting home. And so did your comment on lower-than-before performance.
It seems I just sweat more and more and more. At some point, all the Hammer, all the Endurolytes, and all the NUUN in the world cannot sustain me.
The good news is that point is still at least 6 hours from now. Keep on training and blogging, Chronic.