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Like A Cavewoman

November 18, 2011 By

Mister and I recently started eating a Paleo Diet.

Despite Mister’s surgery, his weight loss stalled at 100lbs down, and my weight actually went up over the last year and a half. Besides my lack of exercise and horrible eating habits, I’m pretty sure the major contributor to my weight gain was a trip to see the in-laws. Mister’s pickup, its super springy suspension, and bouncy California freeways found my lower back in great pain, to the point that any activity or inactivity would hurt. It felt tired, achy and sore no matter what, and some meds the doctor prescribed didn’t really help much.

I put up with that for six whole months, until Christmas, when I got a shiatsu massage pillow that miraculously relieved most of my pain. But the damage had been done – I was way out of shape, worse off than I’d ever been before, and my eating habits had gone from bad to worse. Overall, I gained nearly 30 pounds because of it.

I knew I had to get back to better eating habits, and Mister was eager to start losing weight again too. We’re both tired of being bigger than we’d like, and I know I’m tired of just not feeling good. Mister brought up the Paleo Diet, and I had already been thinking of working in that direction. Get off the junk, ditch my addiction to carbs, and start moving again.

While I was in Florida, Mister started the diet. I started it after I got home and once I started feeling better. I already feel better and I know I enjoy eating fresh, healthy foods. But my willpower is weak, and I’ve given in to cravings and convenience a few times. But you want to know something? Not only did I not feel good after eating “bad” foods, I didn’t even find those foods appealing. Go figure!

I’m eager to continue on this journey, to see how we get through the holidays and comfort food season, and to see how it benefits us. Even if I don’t lose much weight (I’m currently down about 8lbs from my all-time high), just feeling better is worth it. And with Mister and his much stronger willpower around, I have high hopes that I can stick to this one and do much better than I have with past attempts. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Filed Under: Food, Health

The Florida Report

November 16, 2011 By

As you probably know, I went to Florida to visit my sister and celebrate Mia’s 5th birthday. Here’s how my trip went:

Mia

Mia is adorable. Even though she hasn’t seen me in nearly 4 years, she had no issues accepting that I’m her Aunty. She was in bed when I got there, but her Dad handed me a card that she made me, and I got to hug her when I got up.

Mia’s in preschool now (since she turned 5 after the kindergarten cutoff) and doing really well. She loves school, but even at her young age would prefer to do anything but homework.

She enjoyed hanging out with me, and let me braid her hair one morning. She would randomly say, “I love you, Aunty” which is awesome. She does that to her parents and siblings too.

Mia’s birthday party was a typical 5-year-old’s party. Family and a few friends were there, and Mia tore through the presents so fast that I don’t even think she saw what they were.

Spike

My sister has a little Chihuahua with a huge ego. Spike acts like a big dog – so much so that after he launched himself at the sliding glass door while Sis and I were in the living room, I took to calling him Cujo. But once you get to know him and get him to calm down, he’s just a little cuddlebug.

Find Spike:

Where's Spike?

I had a hard time finding him too, until I went towards this corner and saw his tail start wagging.

Greta would not be happy to know that I held another dog while I was away. Despite all the fur, she was so excited at my return that she failed to notice another dog’s scent on me.

My Sister

Remember when my sister confronted her Senator about the job situation? She’s been out of work for well over 2 years.

Not anymore.

When I arrived on Thursday evening, Sis told me that I’d be hanging out at the house alone for a while on Friday because she had to go in to her new job orientation. Hooray! I didn’t mind being left alone, except I didn’t have a car so I was kinda stuck at the house. I picked up a rental car on Saturday for the rest of the trip, but also ended up leaving Monday morning instead of Tuesday afternoon as originally planned. After all, I did go out there to see the family, and since everyone would be working and my sister would be really stressed out after her first day, there was no reason for me to stay longer.

Also… I’m trying to be nice about this so I don’t start any family feuds, but I was a bit irritated at my sister’s habit of negativity. She complains a lot and I didn’t feel like she put enough energy into gratitude or positivity, so it was hard to be around her because of that. This isn’t anything new for her, but I have a tendency to forget how much it affects me when I haven’t seen her for some time. Cutting my trip short helped me keep my peace of mind, and I did stay long enough to be at Mia’s birthday party, so mission accomplished.

Allergies

Apparently I am allergic to Florida. By my 3rd full day there, my sinuses felt like they were killing me, despite taking two 12-hour decongestants and a handful of ibuprofen just a few hours apart. I didn’t sleep well Sunday night, and by Tuesday (I was home at this point) I had a full-blown chest cold. The last time I was sick was four years ago, just a couple of weeks after visiting my sister. Before that, I remember my allergies going berserk on my drive to Florida after I passed a grass-mowing operation on the highway near Ocala. I took so many decongestants to hide any evidence of sniffles so that I could get in the NICU to see Mia…

My last 3 visits to Florida have been in November, so it’s either something that’s current at that time of year, or something that lives all the time. At any rate, I’m not fond of being sick and not looking forward to visiting a suspected allergen again.

Greta

Greta was NOT happy that I was gone for so long. She knew that Mister and I left together one morning, and she knew that I didn’t return at my usual time in the evening. Mister had some luck comforting her the first day, but as my absence grew longer she wanted nothing to do with him. We think she blamed him for the fact that I wasn’t there. I don’t think it helped much when on my 2nd day gone, Mister put the phone on speaker so I could talk to Greta. He said she looked confused and a bit irritated at him that I had been reduced to a voice. For the rest of my trip, Mister couldn’t get near her for basic care like her eye drops, and she even refused to take handouts from him.

When I got home, Greta was so excited that as she was running around in circles as she usually does when I get home, she was bumping into all sorts of things, which is unusual. She also had a bigger than usual excitement piddle when we went outside for our greeting. After about an hour of me being home, all was right in her world and she even let Mister hold her. Unless I can take Greta with me, I don’t think I should leave her for more than one night. She’s obviously very attached to me and gets very depressed when I’m not around.

So that’s my trip. Not sure when I’ll get back to see my adorable niece, but on the other hand I’m glad I’m home.

Filed Under: Dog, Family, Health, Travels

Soda, Pop, and Tonic

August 9, 2011 By

In an effort to take baby steps to a healthier lifestyle, I’ve recently decided to stop drinking soda. I’ve been drinking mass quantities of Diet Coke lately, with the excuse that I needed the caffeine. But I know that I’m super sensitive to caffeine, and I know that soda, no matter what kind, doesn’t make me feel very good.

The caffeine addiction was a self-perpetuating cycle. I’d wake up and go into work, not fully alert enough to do my job, so I’d suck down a 32oz soda from my local convenience store. Then I’d have another one at lunch. I’d stop drinking it before I left work, to give it time to get out of my system before bed, but I’d find myself wide awake at 11pm and would often not go to sleep until after midnight. As the week wore on, I’d get more and more sleep deprived in the morning. By Friday, I could barely function in the morning and my soda was only a slight help.

And the gas! Everyone thinks that soda makes you gassy, since it’s carbonated. Not true. I had my first soda in over a week on Saturday, and it was a regular Sprite. I did not get the gas I usually get when drinking soda. I figured out that what causes the gassy feeling, at least in me, was the artificial sweetner. It doesn’t matter what kind, because if it was a pile of chemicals dumped in my drink, I’d get gas. I figured that one out when I had a Crystal Light single instead of soda one day. So I decided that I’d rather have the rare full sugar soda – only when eating out and only when all other options are not appealing – than to deal with a gassy gut.

I’ve read numerous studies that even though diet soft drinks are calorie-free, your body still processes the artifical sweetner as if it was real sugar. So while you don’t rack up the calorie count, your brain still says, “Oooh, sugar sugar sugar! Gimmee more sugar!” and so you crave more sugary foods. I can tell you from experience that this is absolutely true. You should see the junk food I can put away when I’m at work – which is the exact time that I’m drinking soda. Then since I’ve had nothing but crap to eat, I feel like crap. I feel lethargic and gassy and overall not good.

So far it’s been just over one week without soda, and I’m doing better. I don’t feel gassy, I’m getting to sleep at a semi-reasonable hour (even on weekends!), and while I may feel a bit tired in the afternoon, I’m not craving the amounts of junk food that I was. I don’t feel like crap. Just knowing that is helping me not want another Diet Coke.

Have you made baby steps towards a healthier lifestyle? What did you do that worked or didn’t work?

Filed Under: Food, Health

Bling

February 23, 2011 By

A couple of weeks ago, I was eating lunch at work. Exciting life I lead, right?

Anyway, this was a day that I was basically it for my department. One of my co-workers took a half day and another one called out. I was to be the entire department for the afternoon.

I was finishing up my lunch of homemade soup when I felt what resembled a popcorn kernel stuck in the gumline of my back molar. But I don’t eat popcorn for this very reason, so I determined that it must be a remnant of a nut. But I hadn’t eaten any nuts recently. After a difficult time trying to fish it out, I found out what was bothering me.

My tooth. Or rather, a piece of my tooth, which was now in my hand.

I saw that there was considerable decay, but my back teeth are especially hard to get to because my mouth is so small so I wasn’t surprised that it hadn’t been seen at previous exams. (In preparation for braces, I had all 4 wisdom teeth and 4 bicuspids pulled to make the rest of my teeth fit.)

So as I sat there contemplating my fate, examining the hole in my head with my tongue and nearly cutting my tongue on the sharp, pointy remains of my tooth, I realized that I had to get in to see a dentist. It was Friday, and if I didn’t get in that afternoon I’d have to go the whole weekend with a gaping hole in my tooth.

I called my regular dentist, who told me that they were booked solid but offered a Monday appointment. I really wanted to be seen before the weekend, so they offered me the number to their sister office, who didn’t even have a dentist in the office that day – only hygenists.

I called my trusty friend Google and started searching for a denist nearby. Do you know how many dentists take Fridays off? A lot, apparently. After about my 10th call, I found someone who could see me.

Two hours later, I was in the chair. The hole was bigger than I thought, because it was super sensitive, which made me glad that I was done with lunch and had stuck to room temperature water in the meantime. They put a temp filling in it, filed down the pointy part, and told me to come back on Tuesday.

Tuesday came, so I went back. I was initially told I’d need a full crown, but after the dentist looked again and we discussed it, that changed to an onlay, which would preserve my existing tooth structure and be stronger than a ceramic crown. They numbed my face, poked, prodded, and drilled, and took an impression before shoving some waxy gum-like substance on my tooth and sending me on my way. I book another appointment for 2 1/2 weeks out and was told to stay way from toffee and sticky foods. Not stuff I normally eat, so it wouldn’t be difficult.

That Friday – just one week after this all started – I was brushing my teeth as I got ready for work when I felt something in my mouth. OMG. My temporary came off. Probably didn’t help that I was using an electric toothbrush and trying to massage the gum around that tooth. I finished getting ready, called my boss to let her know I’d be late, and drove straight to the dentist to get there when they opened.

They were super accomodating and saw me right away. The hygenist I got this time was incredible, doing what she needed to do while being mindful of my sore gum. She tried to glue on the temporary a few times, but it didn’t like me and refused to stay put. So she tried another tactic and made me a temp from arcrylic instead of that gum stuff the previous one was made from.

She filled and filed and shaped and filed and worked really hard for over an hour to get me a temp that felt good. Then she glued it down with something stronger than Elmer’s, so it would stay put for more than a few days. She advised me to do salt water rinses, keep to a soft food diet, avoid flossing, and gave me a regular toothbrush since it was likely the electric one I have that knocked the old one loose. Then she went above and beyond – she called the lab to put a rush on my permanent so that I could come back on Monday and have that put in. Awesome!

Monday afternoon I went in for what was hopefully my final visit for this ordeal. More numbing, scraping the old glue off, a bit of drilling, and we were ready for the permanent to go in. I got a whiff of the noxious glue and promised myself that I would take better care of my teeth so as to avoid this scenario in the future. Then a little bit more shaping, and I was done.

I now have a gold tooth.

It’s my back molar, so not really visible unless you’re taking a good look in my mouth as I yawn, but it’s smooth so that food doesn’t stick to it, and it’s shiney bling in my mouth.

So does that mean I need to gargle with jewelry cleaner to keep this thing clean?

Filed Under: Health

They’re Coming

February 4, 2011 By

They’re coming. Who are they, you ask?

First up is The Plague. This is the first time in 3 years that I have a cold, and I am not happy about it. I don’t like having a cold. I have things I’d like to be doing, and coughing and blowing my nose are not on the list. I just hope I feel well enough to go to work tomorrow, because it certainly won’t make me feel any better thinking about the pile of work I left on my desk.

I hope this cold leaves soon because it is not welcome. Begone, rhinovirus!

Also coming – my mother.

She was supposed to be here yesterday, but there was some snow and her flight got cancelled, so instead she’s been rescheduled to come in later today. So even though we lose some time together, I think we’ll still be able to cram it all in. First we’ll make snow angels for two hours, then we’ll go ice skating, then we’ll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie-dough as fast as we can, and then we’ll snuggle. (Sorry – couldn’t resist throwing in a little Elf humor there.

Seriously, though, it will be nice to have some Mommy/Daughter time. I’ll tell you all about it after she leaves next week, assuming there’s not another snowstorm.

Filed Under: Family, Health