Tag Archives: living

Healthy Living – Day 25

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I spent the better part of this week either traveling or at my in-laws house for Thanksgiving.  Other than a big fast-food meal on the 5-hour drive, I ate pretty responsibly at meals.  In between the meals, however, I have done horrible.  From afar, it would look to my in-laws or my husband like I was being responsible with my eating.  However, I had candy stashed away in my purse.  When I went alone to go buy gas and a few groceries, I bought cookies too and ate them before I returned.  What is wrong with me?  Why can’t I just stop eating them?

I did also get together a shopping list and menu together for my Mediterranean diet and now that I got paid, I can actually go food shopping.  The down-side is that my husband is making me be the one to cook the meals, so that means I have even less time when I get home to get stuff done or spend with my son.  He said it was only for two weeks until he gets an idea of how the diet works.  I have two options for breakfasts and lunches for myself and different dinners every day.   Each week I have fish scheduled once (the husband objected to any fish, so this is a first step for him), chicken scheduled twice, red meat scheduled once, and the remaining three meals were some variety of vegetarian.  I told my husband he is welcome to cook meat for himself on those nights since he is the type to “need” meat at every meal.  For me, it doesn’t matter all that much.  I don’t LOVE meat, it’s just that it’s the most convenient way for me to get my protein.  We’ll see how this goes.

I also did a poor job exercising this week, but it was not for lack of desire or motivation.  I woke up on Monday feeling really “off”.  It turned out that I had a UTI.  Once they treated it, my bladder was in pain for a few days.  I made myself walk when I wanted to do no exercise.  Then on Wednesday, I fell down my stairs and dislocated my tailbone.  It kept popping painfully in and out of place for the rest of the week.  It’s still sore today, but it’s slowly becoming more manageable.  I hope I can get back on track again next week.  Hell, I just want the pain to be gone so I can exercise and at least feel like I’m doing something right with my lifestyle choices.

Also, something odd happened after eating that big fast food meal and after my “cheat day” on Saturday.  I felt “off” again maybe an hour after eating.  I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong.  Maybe it was in my head.  Or maybe it was me feeling the effects of that unhealthy food on my body.  Either way, I need to remember that foods can have real consequences, including the painful abdominal cramps I got while my body was processing the fast food.  There are so many reasons why I shouldn’t be eating these foods and yet I consume them anyway.   I’m starting to wonder if I have a problem with food.  If so, what can I even do about it?  I’m familiar with how OA (Over-eaters Anonymous) and how they handle things.  I’m not terribly interested in following their program.  I wish there were other options.  I haven’t even filled out my food journals.  I need to find a way of being more accountable for what I put into my body.  I don’t need to declare myself powerless over food and as the Goddess to do it for me.  Although asking for help might not be a bad idea….  hmmm…..

Anyway, I’m just feeling frustrated and lost in all of this.  Sigh.


Healthy Living – Day 18

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Last night I woke up out of a sound sleep at 2am with my heart POUNDING.  It wasn’t like the pounding of anxiety or even being frightened.  It felt like my heart was trying to fly out of my chest — on the right side.  I had to wake up a little bit before I realized that my heart isn’t even on that side of my body, but nonetheless it scared me. 

I haven’t been following my healthy living plan very well this week.  I accidentally bought peach tea on Monday instead of unsweetened and didn’t realize until I had a sip.  After that, it just went downhill.  Sometimes it was little things like eating rigatoni whose sauce was sure to have added sugar in it.  Other times, I just visited my coworkers that give out candy and grabbed some.  I have been working out less this week too.  I had to stay late for a meeting at work on Tuesday and by the time I got home, it was too dark to walk.  On Thursday, the snow was falling so heavily, I figured it would be dangerous to walk on the road.  On Friday morning, I never got my e-mail with my strength training video on it.  To be honest, I have been pretty self-loathing about my inability to follow my diet and exercise plan this week.  I don’t know what’s wrong with me!  All of the pain caused by my weight, needing to lose weight so I can have another baby, and needing to lower my cholesterol should be enough to motivate me to lose weight, exercise, and eat healthy!

When I awoke in the middle of the night with my heart pounding, I immediately felt like I wasn’t doing enough to fix my cholesterol levels.  My sister did some research on diets to reduce cholesterol and it seems that the only one that actually shows anything definitive was the Mediterranean diet, of which I knew very little.  A few internet searches showed me that I wasn’t going to like it much.  One of them had a sample diet.  There was a salad for dinner almost every night.  I’m not a big fan of salads for a multitude of reasons.

I went online and found a few books on the Mediterranean diet.  I looked at the one that was the best seller.  It was even rated for 4.5 stars.  I read the one-star reviews.  They complained that all of the food took a really long time to cook and required ingredients that were not readily available in most grocery stores.  I live in a rural area, so the odds were, the same thing would happen to me.  I found another book instead that has recipes that can be made in 30 minutes. 

I bought and read the book today.  It also had a brief explanation of the diet at the beginning.  It’s pretty simple.  Half of the plate should be vegetables of some sort, a quarter should be protein, a quarter should be whole grains.  Fruit can be for dessert.  They also said fish and seafood should be consumed at least twice per week, beans/legumes should be consumed daily, poultry is fine, and that red meat should be only once a week.  Most of the dairy allowed are eggs, greek yogurt, and goat cheese. Sugars are kept to a minimum and occur only in fruit and honey.  The only bread seems to be pita bread and “crusty whole wheat” bread.  I’m not sure where to find it, but I suppose I could figure out how to bake it if I have the time.  I also put out a Facebook post, announcing to my family that I would be following this diet and to do what they can to help me stick with it. Right now, we’re working with the food we have until I get paid again.  Nonetheless, I did okay for dinner tonight: parmesan encrusted pork chops, balsamic broccoli and mushrooms, and white rice (we don’t have brown). A new week is starting, so I just need to pick myself back up again and keep on going.

Starting weight: 239.0 lbs
Current weight: 237.6 lbs


Healthy Living: Day 11

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I survived the sugar withdrawal, though there were times I wasn’t sure I would.  I had a few days without energy and two where I suffered from actual depression, but I got through it.  I discovered that my brain works better when it’s not on sugar.  On my second day without sugar, I set about trying to learn something for work.  I couldn’t wrap my brain around it, so I gave up for the day.  It wasn’t urgent, so it could wait a little while.  Four days later, I tried again and I was able to do it! 

I also discovered how difficult it is to give up sugar in all forms (including sugar substitutes).  It’s in EVERYTHING!  Here is a partial list of “healthy foods” where I didn’t expect to find added sweeteners:

  •  Bread
  • Peanut butter
  • Cheerios
  • Ketchup
  • Tomato sauce
  • Plain yogurt
  • Canned oranges
  • Baked beans
  • Salad dressing
  • Coffee creamers
  • Granola bars
  • Juice drinks
  • Apple sauce
  • Anything labeled ‘Lite”

As a result, we had to consume a lot of homemade foods.  It sounds simple, giving up sugar, but there were a lot of foods I didn’t expect to have to give up or find alternatives for!

I have followed my exercise plan so far, except for one Thursday where it got dark out before I had a chance to go for a walk.  I thought about going anyway, but we live on rural back roads.  There is no shoulder and sometimes there isn’t much room for two cars to pass each other going opposite ways.  In addition, people love to speed on these types of roads.  My husband convinced me that it isn’t safe, so I didn’t go.  I asked for a reflective vest for Yule, so hopefully I will be able walk at night if it happens in the future.  Because my body is not used to regular exercise (previously I was lucky if I worked out twice a week), by the middle of this week, I was physically exhausted. I fell asleep early when I got home.  I woke up with sore muscles and sore joints. I was looking forward to Sunday so my body would have a break from the exercise!

Yesterday was my first cheat day.  I have decided to have a cheat day every other Saturday.  It worked out well because it coincided with Thanksgiving at my mother’s house.  We are in the United States and decided to celebrate it early since they’re flying out west to spend the real Thanksgiving with my sister.  Anyway, I took full advantage of my cheat day.  I had hot chocolate and applesauce for breakfast.  I had wine with dinner.  I ate two pieces of pie for dessert.  And my stomach hurt SO BADLY!  It wasn’t because it was full either.  My stomach just wasn’t happy with the foods I put in it.  I wish I knew which ones bothered it so much. 

Today is my fast day.  I am trying to fast (not eat) until dinner.  In the research I have done, I noticed that people who mixed up their diet now and then had greater results.  That’s why I incorporated a cheat day and a fast day.  I honestly expected my fast day to be more difficult than it is.  I suppose after the stomach discomfort I had yesterday, it actually feels okay to not eat!

I’m proud of myself and being able to stick with this eating and exercise plan so far.  I know I’m only on day 11, but I’ve managed to stick with this longer than 95% of the plans I’ve done over the past few years!

Starting weight: 239.0lbs
Current weight: 237.6lbs


I Have Bad Cholesterol

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Just one day after doing divination to try and figure out what is holding me back from losing weight and how I can get motivated and be more consistent, I went to the doctor for a follow-up.  I had a long list of symptoms: diarrhea, foot and ankle pain after I recline my feet, knee and wrist pain that felt like old injuries coming back, waking up at 3am without being able to get back to sleep, waking up in the middle of the night to pee, being tired most of the time, and some depression.

My doctor had a bunch of tests done and most of them had come back.  I did not have Lyme’s Disease or an autoimmune disease.  My thyroid numbers were normal, thanks to medication.  I had the markers of a UTI.  My cholesterol numbers were also off. While the total cholesterol was within normal range, my good cholesterol is 35 when it should be above 60 and my bad cholesterol is 120 and it should be below 70 (the paper said 100 and it was crossed out and 70 was written in).

My doctor recommended I get 30-60 minutes of exercise daily, keep a food journal,  and gave me a paper about a low cholesterol diet.  It involves eating less saturated fats, and more monounsaturated fats (whatever that means).  I flipped through and it looked like your typical food pyramid with 6 grain servings, 3 vegetable servings, 2 fruit servings, 2 protein servings, etc.  Then I saw a typical meal plan and noticed that it included margarine!  There is NO WAY that eating margarine could possibly be good for me.  Then I saw the copyright from the paper.  It was from the ’90s.  This information was 20 years old.  It must be outdated.

I spent the drive home worried that I would have a heart attack or stroke and my little boy would have to grow up without a mother. I thought about how I would just have to find a way to fit exercise into my already busy schedule.  I also racked my brain for a low-cholesterol diet.  In my time researching and trying different diets over the years, they had almost all claimed to lower cholesterol.  That includes the keto diet and paleo diet — both of which are chock full of the fats that I am apparently not supposed to be having.  I also worried that my next appointment was 6 months away.  What if I choose the wrong diet to follow and it makes my cholesterol worse?  I won’t even know about it for 6 months!?

I checked the American Heart Association and Mayo Clinic websites on what to do to lower my cholesterol.  They agreed about several things:

  • Have a heart-healthy diet.  The two differed on what that meant. They only agreed that I should reduce my saturated fats and trans fats. The American Heart Association suggested a plan similar to the one the doctor gave me.  The Mayo Clinic recommended adding Omega-3 fatty foods, foods with soluble fiber, and whey protein.
  • Get more exercise. I have a membership to a website that puts out workout videos three days a week.  They’re a half hour long and I can choose from beginner, intermediate, and advanced.  Of course, I’m on the beginner one.  On the days I don’t do those exercises, I will walk for 10 minutes after work.  I will work my way up to a half hour.
  • Lose weight. This one is going to be tough. I have hypothyroidism.
  • Quit smoking (a non-issue for me).

I knew that the food industry puts out conflicting information so that people will buy their food, but I didn’t expect to encounter it on actual medical informational websites.  If there is one heart-healthy diet, everyone could clearly agree on what it is, couldn’t they?  So now I’m confused about how to eat.  I will start exercising, but I will have to do more research of my own.  And I really don’t have the time or the energy to be dealing with all of this right now.  I have a full-time job, a part-time blog, and I’m a mom, so that means I don’t get a rest when I get home either.

cholestorol

Healthy Living: Day 1

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Since some Pagans treat Samhain like a new year, I decided to do the same this year.  I was going to get healthy again and I was going to start by cutting all added sugars and sugar substitutes out of my diet.  I eventually had hoped to transition into either Paleo or Keto.  I know a lot of people that Keto worked for, but as a Pagan, I appreciate the idea behind Paleo better.  I hadn’t quite decided which to follow.  As it was, avoiding added sugars was going to be tough enough.

I had a breakfast of eggs scrambled in butter and topped with some cheddar cheese.  When I got to work, there was a large bowl full of leftover Halloween candy in the break room.  I was proud of myself that every time I went in there, I did not take one.  I didn’t even take one when I was sitting in there to eat lunch!  Then I had a moment when I was just ravenous and I found an old ring pop in my work bag.  I thought about it and then put it back.  I was really proud of myself for how I was doing.

For lunch I had packed a few slices of grilled chicken breast, some spaghetti squash with homemade tomato sauce and parmesan cheese, and some black olives. I was mostly distracted with work for the second half of the day.

After I went to my doctor’s appointment and found out about my bad cholesterol (you can read about it here). I  got home to discover that my husband had cooked a particularly unhealthy meal tonight.  It was broccoli sauteed in butter, baked french fries, and hot dogs.  I checked the label for hot dogs and saw that it contained sorbitol, a sugar alcohol.  I haven’t yet done the research to decide if I wanted to count that as sugar, so I didn’t.  My husband offered me some bread to use as a bun.  I looked at the package of “100% Whole Wheat Bread” and saw that the third ingredient was sugar.  Also, no ketchup for my fries.  Because sugar (well, high fructose corn syrup).  At the end of the meal, my belly was full and I felt unsatisfied.  But if nothing else, the trip to the doctor’s office had strengthened my resolve to eat healthy.

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