Fluctuating weight, freaky nightmares, pain, & cookbooks

Interesting title, eh? Well, I awakened in a panic, panting, and thrilled to realize it was just a dream.  I won't bore you with details, but I had a crazy, super-powered vertical leap and had to save the family from zombie robots. Now to better topics.

I lost another pound this week, and it seems my rate of loss has slowed.  I have an idea on one of the reasons; stress.  Stress occasionally makes me eat mindlessly, but this time it hasn't.  It made me reach for comfort food in general.  Hey, I see not overindulging as a huge plus.  I know why I reached for those foods, I just need to make sure that they are the healthier versions of my favorite go-to dishes. Between playing with recipes online (thanks Happy Herbivore and Tess Challis), I have been tweaking goodies from cookbooks past and present.

Oh, the cookbooks!  I made a trip to the main Charleston County library and went a little crazy in the cooking session. I checked out some oldies but goodies.  Linda Mccartney's Home Cooking,The Real Food Daily Cookbook: Really Fresh, Really Good, Really Vegetarian, and two from Dr. Neal Barnard, Foods That Fight Pain: Revolutionary New Strategies for Maximum Pain Relief and Turn Off the Fat Genes: The Revolutionary Guide to Losing Weight.  I'd originally stopped by for Eat For Health: Lose Weight, Keep It Off, Look Younger, Live Longer (2 book set), but it was already checked out. I should have requested it.  Anyway, I've already blown through Linda's and have to pick up a few more ingredients for Real Food Daily before I can go nuts there.  

Oh, if you want to check out recipes before I post here, check out my Examiner column or Facebook Examiner page.  I have quite a few articles, recipes, and photos to post there. 

The reason I'm working through Banard's books?  The insane amount of pain I have to work through a couple times a month.  If I can successfully manage the pain without the drugs that make me loopy, I can eventually heal.  Hopefully naturally.  Right now the pain has spread to my neck, and that terrifies me.  When I don't hurt, I want to cook, move, and do all the things I need to do in order to improve my health.  But when I'm in the middle of a major flare up, just leave me in the dark corner, please. 

Wow, I just realized that it's 1 am.  This Wahm is sleepy once more, so I think I'm going to call it a night.  Nite, all.

Thank you fallen soldiers and their families for your sacrifice.  I don;t think my appreciation for you all is deep enough at times, but it is deep.

I maintained this week

While a loss would have been nice, I'm happy.  I usually have a monthly hormonal gain, but not this month!  Sweet!

Speaking of sweet, I haven't been craving them. I know, I must not be feeling well, lol, and I'm not.  Allergies are working my last nerve and doing a number on my taste buds.  But I'll survive because I have to.

This one is short and sweet, folks.  I have quite a bit of work to do - articles to write, a book to review, and housework to top it off.  A WAHM's work is never done! 

Peace!

TV, weigh in, and injury report

Yes, another fracking injury report.  I know how many steps I have, but every once in a while I'll miss one.  Yesterday afternoon I missed one and felt something crack.  Nothing's broken, but it's swollen and oh man does it hurt!  On the bright side, I get to sit with my foot up a lot and hobble oh so sexily around the house.  Fun.

The thing that annoys me most about it is the timing.  I exercised five of seven days last week and lost a pound.  If I can't exercise anymore this week, will I gain?  I hope not.  I can still get in some Pilates and Yoga, but cardio is out. Unless throwing the ball for the dogs counts.

Anyone watching Psych Week?  I am.  I was a psychology major briefly and continue to be fascinated with the human mind.  So far this week I've been heartbroken and disturbed.

Born Schizophrenic tells the story of a beautiful little girl and her family.  She was diagnosed at age five.  Five!  I hurt for the parents and little brother who love and fear her.  I hurt for January.  She can't control what's happening to her and I cried through most of the hour.  I'm getting teary just thinking about it.I can't write about this anymore.  Sorry.  You should watch for yourself.  I dare you not to  be touched.

I was disturbed by Enraged.  Two people, a man and woman, discussed their anger issues while their families discussed their feelings about their loved ones.  The man flat out pissed me off.  He was completely disrespectful to his wife and sons.  He definitely had issues and anger was just one of them.  The woman's story hit close to home.  She was angry, but I agreed with some of the things she was angry about.  Do mom's get angry about our kids' trashed bedrooms?  Yes.  The repeated questions?  Yes. She did go overboard, but I honestly did not see her as having anger issues.  I saw her as stressed out and  in need of a break.

Getting healthier is not just about physical health.  Becoming mentally strong is just as if not more important.  You have to deal with stress, fear, anger, excitement, and sadness in a positive way.  I'm not saying live in a world of cotton candy and rainbows, but in one grounded in reality. Learn to pick your battles.  For me, as long as the kids don't have trash on their bedroom floors, and no food or wet towels in their rooms, I'm good.  I do expect them (and hubby) to clean up after themselves.  I'm here full time, but not the housekeeper.

Excuse the semi-ramble.  Pain meds fog is making this a little difficult.

For now, I'm out.  See you again soon.

What I've been up and down to

Hiya peeps!  At least it hasn't been an actual month since my last post.

Let's see, I'm still an Examiner, am repeatedly sending in I-9's to my new employer, giving hubby the stink eye paored with a congratulatory one due to his weight loss success, and am down another pound.

Yes, just one more.  I'm walking, but not getting enough sweat time in.  I know I need to, but the fear of hurting myself seems to be taking control of my body. I love how it feels during and after a good workout, but my knee aches so much lately. 

Yes, I know.  I'm using it an as excuse to slack off.  I can always concentrate on strengthening my upper body on the more painful days, but what I know and what I can force myself to do are something different. It's in my body, yes, but more in my mind.  As I've shared before, I tend to go all out and am shocked and depressed when I re-injure myself.  It's a pattern that I'm sick of repeating. 

Wish me luck.  I am going to put in a minimum of 10 minutes a day into sweat-inducing work.  Be it kickboxing on Spark People, 10 Minute Trainer, or some variation of workouts that I've memorized.  If I don't move more, I will not lose more.  And it won't matter how much stronger I become if I have these layers of fat covering the muscle.

In the kitchen, I'll be playing with recipes from several books and websites, including Eat to Live, Weight Watchers, Radiant Health, Inner Wealth, Happy Herbivore, and my fav vegetarian low carb book. .

Speaking of low carb, have you heard of the vegan version of Atkins?  Scary, isn't it? But it may not be necessarily a bad thing.  Back in my omni days, I followed Atkins and George Stella's low carb recipes and got down to 203.  I also had a lower amount of energy than I have some days now and my skin looked off.  I'm not saying that low carb is a bad thing, but balance was not my strong suit.  And I didn't want to cook for myself when I could just grab a shake or bar.  I loved the loss, but don't want to go back to that.

Balance and sweat.

 Until next time, peace.

I can't believe I haven't updated since January!

Oh man, I'm a slacker. Not really a slacker, just busier than usual. Why? Well, this veggie girl is now Charleston's Vegetarian Examiner, is working on another gig (wish me luck), has been working on the house, and am cooking dinner almost daily. And not always reheating the majority of it.

Ah, cooking is bliss for me. I love everything up until cleaning, lol. Planning, the list, shopping. It's all a joy believe it or not. Why am I cooking? Well, this family needs to eat healthier overall and we need to stop going out so much. If I can make the same dinner we'd order out (and I'm up for it, we have time, and the ingredients are on hand), why go out? We had Japanese the other night. Granted, our current fav place would cost around $35 total, but I spent about 45 minutes in the kitchen & rocked the same meal from scratch for free. Tonight we fired up the grill. We dropped a whopping $23 at the store, but bought everything, including the charcoal, and a few goodies for next week's lunches. Ya'll, this wahm is tired of dropping between $300-500 a month on meals out. Yes, that's not a misprint. We could have done many things with that money instead of making business owners happy. But, I need to go forward, not beat myself up.

I've pulled out more books, consulted my favorite blogs, and tested recipes on the family. So far desserts have been the biggest hit with everyone, and hubby has been quite happy with curries and soups.

Can you believe I'm being paid to write about food? Me either, lol. I've been doing it for years for free. Don't tell the Examiner, because then I may be out of luck. I decided to apply and got it! Let that be a lesson - step out of that comfort zone every once in a while. As the Vegetarian Examiner I get to write about veggie life in Charleston - dining, shopping, and events - and share recipes and tips for making life easier. I've published four articles so far, and I'm just getting started.

Don't worry. I won't abandon this blog. My quest for better health is ongoing, so I'll never run out of topics. I may post more often, actually.

Speaking of health, hubby has been inspired and has been losing weight. He's down about 1 1/2 pants sizes and looks a few years younger. He's even more of a hottie! Not because he's smaller, but because he's proud of himself and becoming healthier because he chooses to.

Me, I'm holding. I've been adding more strength training to my schedule and it shows. My face is smaller, clothes are looser, and I have more energy. Soon the scale will show my progress.

On another note, Friday would have been my dad's 70th birthday. I'll be 41 on 3/20, a year older than he would have been they year he died. It's surreal. I hope to be here for at least 30 more years. At least. I want to experience the life he's missed. Love and miss you, dad.

Until later, friends. Peace.