Sunday, March 31, 2013

THIS is the new year

also known as "Christianity steals Pagan holiday ... AGAIN".  In the northern hemisphere, where Judeo-Christian "civilization" began, Nature initiates "resurrection" of her plant and animal populations in the springtime of March-April (plus or minus a couple of months, depending on location).  What better time to choose for the RC church's new holiday than when the heathens are already celebrating a "rising from the dead"?

If i really gave a damn, i'd look up and report who decided that moving the official New Year to January 1 was a good idea, but that would just be icing.  Esoterically, it was a really stupid move.  Start anew in the middle of Capricorn's time?  Capricorn is all about maintaining the status quo!  How in the name of all the gods can one expect personal and societal improvement under such circumstances?

OH WAIT -- the "powers that be" which make decisions, like when the new year starts, DON'T WANT ANY CHANGES TO THE STATUS QUO!  Of course, when they decide that public health stats are dragging down the societies they rule, they want YOU to make changes....

NOW is the time to make them, not January 1!  Ever wonder why the "first sign" of the zodiac is Aries, which began with the vernal equinox?  Ever wonder why the date of Easter is not a regular thing, but the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox?  NOW the inner-planes conditions have settled in and calmed down to produce a consistent and positive environment for change and "growth."

I put the word "growth" in quotes very consciously; what we're looking for is growth of good habits after all. Growth of our knowledge and wisdom.  Growth of our characters -- personal evolution.  ...Not growth of our waistlines as might be expected with all our friends who are having lamb-shaped cakes instead of cake-shaped LAMB today.  ;-)

Friday, March 29, 2013

bad moon ... waning

Hooooweee, that was a rough full moon!  It had some nasty aspects with heavy-duty planets like Pluto.  ...And don't tell me Pluto's not really a planet!  ;-)

Spring is springing very slowly here in the midwest -- we had a significant snow last week which only melted off completely this morning.  It's been very hard to get any enthusiasm up for exercise or controlling details of diet, or concentrated work of any sort!  I'm hoping that the worst of the grey, cold and wet are over; there IS a time for that sort of weather, but around here that time SHOULD be past.

I'm not subject to "that other SAD problem" -- the seasonal thing -- any more than i've suffered from "standard" diet for a VERY long time.  However, day length affects humans just as it does birds, and when days become longer the sun becomes stronger and vitamin D and fresh air and all sorts of other good things become readily available.  Our spirits rise, and our metabolisms must, too, because we see progress with our  diets and fitness and well-being.

Happy springtime-fertility-festival.  Happy easter.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

i think i've got it

First i hit "publish" and then i clean up my typos, then i start doing something else and -- voila.  Light bulb comes on.

Maybe, just MAYBE, people like to stir up shit because they have a hard time feeling things unless the tension is particularly high.  They're so accustomed to the peripheral NOISE that for their overstimulated nervous systems, the ordinary tenor of daily life doesn't register any longer.  Unless the fight-or-flight hormones are flowing, they don't feel alive.

Hmmmm....

driving arguments with sarcasm, ridicule and scorn

As i've observed before, other people's blog lists can be excellent sources of new reading material.  An awfully large proportion of the blogs i visit but don't continue with (few in number, actually) may CONCEIVABLY have valuable content, but the tone of the writer might be just unappealing or unacceptable.  The atmosphere of the discussion -- the ambiance of the site -- too often reeks of an intolerable AT-TI-TOOOOOD.

It's a pity.  I don't think such writers really care one way or another whether i or those like me are adding to their stats, but i can't help but think they might be happier people "in real life" if they weren't constantly alienating the people around them with their behavior.

I can think of a whole schmeer of reasons why they might carry on the way they do:  perhaps they don't have logical reasons for holding their opinions and they're covering up for that fact, or conversely, they aren't good at defending the perfectly valid positions they take, and they're trying to keep discussion at bay; it could be that their personal histories are full of opposition or rejection and their current attitudes are designed to keep others at arms' lengths as a result; there is no shortage of possible reasons for people to be unpleasant!  But tell me, is it working for them?  Are they getting what they want from it?

The question with me is, are they reaping some kind of satisfaction out of being the way they are?  Why do some people enjoy being assholes?  I'm reminded of the scene from "Wolf" in which Jack Nicholson is talking to Michelle Pfeiffer about HER airs -- that the barrier she raises between herself and others actually has the opposite effect from what she intends.  I rather suspect that the overbearing and mulish imagine themselves powerful in all the "glory" of their rudeness -- that they fancy others are intimidated by a stance of that nature -- whereas in reality those others (who have manners, native politeness, or simply prefer to CHOOSE their battles) merely don't want to tell them what ignorant boors they really find them.

Damn, ANOTHER rant, and so soon!  ;-)

Monday, March 25, 2013

sometimes, you really ARE doing it wrong

Not naming names or anything, but when some people "do what they've been told" and "follow the rules" and still fail to make progress ... well, SOMEtimes they ARE actually doing it wrong.

Some of us have to be stricter than Sisson's allowed 80-20 rule.  Some of us can't afford to assume we're absorbing our nutrients, even from the best foods.  Some of us have to baby ourselves when times get tough, and not try to soldier through workOUTS on top of workING.

I see nutrition gurus post recipe after recipe for "healthy" junk food and think, this just perpetuates the temptation people have to snack!  Perhaps i was an archtypal Spartan in a previous life, but when eating goes beyond being a pleasant necessity to being a form of entertainment, this is where the obesity-prone among us get into trouble.  Yes, enjoy your cream and chocolate and butter, but bear in mind that your meat is more important; nut-flour-based desserts shouldn't be the centerpiece of your diet!  NOURISH your body, for godsake!

If stress is getting you down, perhaps going for a run (or even a walk) isn't as good an idea as lolling in a hammock!  Instead of "just do it" maybe we should "just say no."  When "play" becomes joyless and just seems to wear you out, it could be that a weekend of couch-potatohood would be a much better idea.  DO LESS -- it's not subversive.

Eating a non-toxic diet is only gonna take you part of the way.  The rest of your life has to be non-toxic as well, if you're going to thrive -- your habits, or relationships, your profession, everything.  Fix what you can, discard what you have to, and take care of yourself.  Insist on it.

If the most acclaimed authority makes a pronouncement in favor of something that your body doesn't tolerate, that "authority" is WRONG, and your body is right.  You're the only one who knows what your body is saying (and we'll assume that you interpret its message correctly).  Doesn't matter if an absolute FLAKE advocates something -- if it works for you that's all that counts.  YOU are the authority on YOU -- or if you're not, you'd better learn.  Learn what works, and do THAT.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

stupid and frightened people

During election season, i reluctantly learn more about politics than i ever want to know -- it's called "being a responsible citizen."  When i see some people continuing the fear-mongering and hate-encouraging on a constant basis, by those who theoretically have "lives" and no professional axe to grind, i begin to wonder about their mental health (and if they need to lower their glucose).

This is the image that got me started this morning:
The funny thing is, the people who really get their panties in a bunch over sharing with those less fortunate SO OFTEN describe themselves as Christian -- you know, the self-described followers of that World Teacher who said that it was virtually impossible for a rich man to enter heaven....

Furthermore, they have a tendency to belong to the struggling working class -- NOT the 1% which is the legitimate target of tax-raising pushes.  Yet, for some inexplicable reason, these people WHO WILL NEVER BE RICH THEMSELVES tend to IDENTIFY WITH THE VERY RICH and their point of view.  What are they thinking with?  Extreme wealth is not associated with work ethic in most cases -- it's inherited, or wheeler-dealered, or ... virtually-stolen on a huge scale.  Even people like Bill Gates, who has created his own fortune, had dirty little business tactics which helped him get there.

As Raymond Chandler, one of my favorite writers of his genre, said in "The Long Goodbye":  "A man doesn't make your kind of money in any way i can understand.  ...  There ain't no clean way to make a hundred million bucks.... Somewhere along the line guys got pushed to the wall, nice little businesses got the ground cut out from under them.... Decent people lost their jobs.... Big money is big power and big power gets used wrong."  THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT THIS -- it is FACT.  Those who defend the system of tax-evasion by the very rich, on the nebulous excuse of hard work and entrepreneurial spirit, are either profiting politically/professionally from the racket, or seriously self-deluded and are the first victims of the scam.

Also to be found on FB this morning is this little gem, which i've seen often before and "shared" myself in the past:
...Self-explanatory and highly illuminating -- unless you've drunk the koolaid.

According to certain esoteric sources, the money- and power-protecting crescendo we're seeing these days is a last-stand of desperation from those cosmic forces which are resisting being dragged into a more evolved era.  They'll use any tool they can to delude and trick the altruistically-undeveloped among us to make things more difficult, causing them to go against their own best interests -- and this is what fascinates me in a horrified sort of way.  MOST of the victims i'm referring to are NOT stupid.  How are they able to so easily fall prey to those who want to exploit their fears?

It's not your slice of 'umble pie that is being targeted by the cosmic forces of generosity -- it's part of the pie of the nursery-rhyme king ... who certainly isn't going to go hungry without it.

Friday, March 22, 2013

recovery has been a little different this time

Most of my out-of-town adventures end by my coming home and gratefully taking up my proper diet once more, the only difficulties lying in how long it takes me to start getting enough energy from burning FAs and ketones again.  This trip and its aftermath have been slightly different.

Because i didn't get out of ketosis during the course of the weekend, i only lost speed because of weariness, stress and ... the fact that i left most of my supplements at home!

I didn't think it would make a lot of difference, because i was making sure i WOULD:  1) eat the right things;  2) NOT eat the wrong things;  3) be back home before i had time to suffer a shortage.  I was wrong.  Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday my thyroid function was on the low side; i tended to have a hard time dealing with the cold snap we've been having here, and my digestion has been weak.  And the most suspect thing i DIDN'T carry with me was the iodine.  I've gone that many days without everything else in my supplement collection before, and recently too ... but not that.

When i think of all the cautionary advice about iodine that one hears, it just MAKES ME SO MAD!  And it's predicated on ignorance and misunderstanding of the science!  Yes, if you blindly and excessively supplement without having a clue about appropriate dosing and balancing of nutrients, things can go wrong.  HRT, anyone?  Or maybe synthetic vitamin A....

I got a bit of spring back in my step today.  Tomorrow should be better.  And i'm never going anywhere without my Iodoral again (knock on wood)!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

but also...

I have to confess i didn't look or sound like this, either.


isn't it nice to be home again

^^^ One of the more obscure of James Taylor's songs....

What a comedy of errors my weekend was!  The Mercury Retrograde went out like a lion.  I was up at 4 on Friday and on the road at 5:15 -- good so far.  Three hours later, though, and my cruise control being on caused the car to do the same wonky electrical thing it did last year (but hadn't done since) ... but this time it ALSO involved my transmission somehow!  The car didn't FEEL like it had a significant problem, and the warning light was not red but amber, so i stopped in the next town of decent size and started making phone calls.

Long story short:  i rented a car to continue the trip, because the show couldn't go on without me.  Thank god i had packed light.

I ended up doing a lot of intermittent fasting, so i raise my coffee-cup to ketosis, without which it might have been uncomfortable -- but of course if i were eating like "normal people" i wouldn't have had to fast, because there was plenty of good evil food ... if you know what i mean.  ;-)

The show itself turned out as well as we had any right to expect.  Before i arrived there had been one rehearsal, then on saturday there were two (morning and afternoon).  The morning one was appalling.  Our Mabel not only didn't know her lines, but she didn't even know the tunes ... and our Frederick was no better.  The director, who had condensed the script (and done quite a good job of it) also had the foresight to write the whole thing out on what one might call a period-correct teleprompter -- a big roll of newsprint.

Knowing the music better than anyone there, i became an unofficial assistant director, and pulled the ladies aside for a concentrated run-through of songs they weren't sure how to perform ... and bless him, our Pirate King came along too.  This guy is a professional (we have several actors in town who actually get paid in the real world) and though he was a little weak on his lines, he knew his songs.  We got everybody comfortable with how the parts should sound, and made a minor change in the way the finale should flow, and the last rehearsal was ... less appalling.

Fortunately we had an audience which WANTED to be pleased and amused, so the final product was well-received.  Most of the cast assembled in Meg's and my little cottage for a glass of bubbly and the kind of hilarity that comes when the worst is over.  We sincerely thanked our horrible "star" for making it possible to present our show at all -- it actually was a brave move of hers.  It was just unfortunate that seeing as how she couldn't play her part correctly, Frederick couldn't either.  :-(  For the record, this is how the scene should have looked and sounded:

Ours didn't.

The rest of the event passed as expected.  I packed out in good time on Sunday and spent that night at a half-way-home hotel, then after a few hours returned the rental and turned the key of my own car.  THE TRANSMISSION WAS FINE.

Head ... bang ... steering wheel.

Driving home without using the cruise control was a pain in the ass.  I'm so used to it, my speed was less consistent that i like through that hilly area.  Got home with no problems.  Immediately opened a bottle of wine.  Went out for dinner and had a feast, including more carbs than usual.  Slept like a baby (after a catch-up session on FB -- happy birthday again, Kim!).

The End.  ;-)

Thursday, March 14, 2013

yuk

It's taking me longer this time to start hitting on all eight again -- don't know if i should blame the Mercury Retrograde or what!  ;-)  I had a little fructose yesterday, and really felt like crap last night.  A few fork-fulls of cooked carrots and onions and tomatoes throughout the week.  Not much alcohol, but what i had seemed to sit wrong.  Is it a trace of that cold bug lingering without real cold-like symptoms?  Damned if i know, but it's been a real inconvenience.

Thinking about it, i notice i've added in a few things that i was getting along well without, so the tough-self-love needs to come back!  I find that splenda-sweetened soda is giving me a sense of malaise these days if i drink it on an empty stomach -- gotta go back to making my own kefir-soda and drinking iced coffee and tea!  I've been using conventional toothpaste, antiperspirant and shampoo again, and now i'm wondering if that's a good idea after all.  SO MANY PRODUCTS in our lives -- so now that my sense of well-being is not as good as it has been at various points over the last year, i'm ready for some more limitation.

I delayed my departure for the weekend till tomorrow morning, which has given me a little more time to start feeling myself again.  I used the opportunity to get together some innocent food for the road ... and for when the group meals are inappropriate.  My insider info is that tomorrow night it's corned beef and cabbage in honor of St. Paddy's day, and saturday night's dinner is always steak -- so far so good.  One breakfast is always eggs but i can't depend on the cooks not to add milk -- JEEEEEZ, how i hate milk in scrambled eggs!  :-P  The other morning can feature pancakes or french toast;  needless to say, i don't usually join the crowd for breakfast!  Lunch on saturday isn't predictable, and on sunday it isn't provided, so i count on feeding myself as necessary -- we all know how being prepared can save us from making some uncomfortable mistakes through desperation!  :-)

So i'll be OFF early in the morning -- don't have TOO much fun in the blogosphere without me, please!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

repeat a lie often enough

Once bullshit finds favor with those media writers and producers who HAVE TO FILL columns or airtime EVERY SINGLE TEDIOUS DAY, you end up with avalanches of bullshit which eventually clog drainoff and drown the actual story....

Over and OVER and O-O-O-V-E-R-R-R, we hear the same old stories about meat and fat being bad for you and fruitsandvegetables and healthywholegrains being good.  One wants to run screaming into the night.  Yet another of Mark's columns is devoted to reassuring a reader who is being bombarded by enemies and relations with the untruth.  Yet another of Tom's articles is devoted to trying to unclog the bullshit-drain.

Those of us who have improved our health through clean eating, whether it be paleo or low-carb or a mixture of the two, would LOVE to help the struggling people we see all around us!  We hate to see loved ones who are in pain or taking medications that don't help and come with their own burden of unwellness, KNOWING that a few MINOR INCONVENIENCES (ie not living on wheat and sugar) might make them feel immeasurably better.  In the glow of our satisfaction we try to "share the good news" only to be refuted by the CW and advanced nutritional wisdom as learned through television commercials.

And out comes another spewage of BS that reinforces Kellogg's position!!!  ... Yeah, right.  Ya know, in "celebration" of this Mercury Retrograde, i'm inclined to say "LET 'EM EAT CAKE" ... or pasta, or whole-grain subway sandwiches or whatever the hell they want.  Let 'em cut calories till they're miserable and sick and fatter than ever.  Let 'em convince themselves that my diet is gonna kill me, no matter how much better (than they) i look and feel.  I've put the information out there, and if they choose to ignore it then i'll say (with Reverend Johnson) "son, you're on your own."

So as each "new study" comes out with the same old bullshit, i'm just going to smile cattily and order another Proud Mary burger (two 8-oz-before-cooking patties with cheese and bacon), hold the bun, with a glass of the house cabernet.  That plus coffee is enough food to hold me for a whole day.  Let my MIL eat nothing but sugar for breakfast.  Let Dr. Joe Blow scarf down pie at midnight, and say that his obesity is due to his newly-discovered hypothyroidism.  Let others say "everything in moderation" but it must be bad genes that cause cancer.  New version of tough-love:  it goes along with my long-ago-adopted anti-nagging policy -- i'll tell you once, and remind you once, but beyond that it's not MY problem.

The current MR will be over in about four more days, which pleases me immensely -- my internet connection improves when Mercury is direct.  I can't hope that the misinformation will go away ... but i also won't accept responsibility for helping to muck out the drains.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

being good -- more or less

On thursday i started being "good" again, and am finally starting to feel a little more normal.  Friday, my legs just ACHED and my energy was poor -- how quickly i go gimpy on a less-than-optimal diet!  Yesterday (after increased doses of carnitine to help the process along) my symptoms started fading.  A good night's sleep last night was icing.

Yesterday's dinner was the pair of pork hocks, and it fully lived up to expectation!  Browned in fat then removed to a platter, the meat rested while i made the mirepoix and deglazed the pan with white wine, then added a melange of spices (per the recipe in "Odd Bits" for lamb shank), popped it all in a roaster and cooked at 300F for three hours (turning halfway through).  YUM.  We'll definitely buy that cut again, and use the recipe some more, too!

I allowed myself a glass of white wine while i was cooking, and interestingly enough, my stomach wasn't happy about it.  :-)  I wouldn't be too surprised if my body started making me forgo ALL the things it doesn't approve of....

Next weekend i have a living-history event to prepare for, so i'll probably be too busy to write or read much -- at our old-west village, a group of us is "putting on a show in the barn" as those silly old movies used to say.  We're doing a truncated version of "The Pirates of Penzance," and i get to play Ruth, the part that Angela Lansbury did so beautifully in the film version of '83.  :-D  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

meat, glorious meat!

We went out for dinner with our dear neighbors last night.  Mexican food ... i wasn't "good" but i COULD have been much worse!  :-)  The big highlight, though, came after we had mopped up the DELICIOUS fajitas (which i ate with a fork rather than wrapped in tortilla) -- there's a little market and carniceria attached, and OH MY GOD THE BEAUTIFUL MEAT!!!

Cow and pig parts like i've never seen before!  You know those cute little shrink-wrapped pre-seasoned pork tenderloins -- i SNEER at them.  Carniceria Latino Americana has pork tenderloin that would make a steer jealous!  They have fresh pork hock done up in beautifully-matched pairs (bought some) -- they have pig feet and chops and slabs of ribs, they have beef feet with the leg almost up to the knee, and liver and the most gorgeous thick slices of shank (got a pair of those too) and ... and ... and!

Having a pretty full freezer already, i limited myself, but brother have i got a new butcher-shop to love!  Who cares that the butcher himself may be a little English-challenged -- it'll be incentive for me to brush up my Spanish and learn some new words, meat-cut-related of course.  The girl who waited on us at table said that he does the meat-cutting himself (as compared to what you see in most groceries).  And the place was so CLEAN -- not an off-scent in the place, as compared to the oriental place down the road....  Assuming the meat i bought is as good as it looks, i'll have to go back and try the chicken and fish, too.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

one mechanism

When weight loss slows or plateaus, my instinct is to read all sorts of articles/chapters of books on the subject, just to encourage myself, clean up my "technique" and reinforce my will to succeed.  Thus i often read things online which could be considered just confirmation of what i already know, by way of a pep-talk ... but i never know if i'm going to come across something new or especially-inspiring.  I'm sure i've read a lot of THIS info before, but this time i was ripe to appreciate a particular aspect of it.

One of the (many) ways we see the basic CICO concept fall on its ass is where isocaloric diets differentiating between low- and high-carb arms show significantly different fat-loss results.  And one of the (many) ways low-carb diets "waste" calories lies in the process of gluconeogenesis -- turns out, 100 grams of protein convert to only 57 grams of glucose!  That's some pretty impressive inefficiency!

But that's not the mechanism i was referring to.  The one that "turned on the lights" for me just now is the fact that alcohol use INHIBITS gluconeogenesis.  I had observed that i could still lose weight on my ultra-LC regimen with one glass of wine with brunch and dinner, but beyond that it was (if i may coin a phrase) orvieto-land -- that CITY ON A PLATEAU [evil grin].

I already knew that for the best weight-loss results it helps to stay strictly on the wagon.  Just a reminder, then....

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

poor diet + poor sleep = catching his cold

My husband has been stuffy-headed and sneezing for a few days.  The rough breathing has made him rather restless at night and you know what that means -- we've both had less than perfect sleep (and shorter-than-usual tempers).  When he got up to clear his head at 3 a.m. i tried to not wake up completely but didn't succeed.  I popped some systemic enzymes first (they help defeat viruses) along with a zinc lozenge, then a little later i took a couple of capsules of echinacea with benedryl and aspirin to help me get back to sleep (too late in the morning for melatonin).

I'd been blaming my dietary excursions for the lowered energy and worsened mood i've had the last few days, but now i'm inclined to suspect the virus.  When i finally got up i had a tender throat and i can feel the inflammation in my upper-respiratory passages.  I had the kind of REALLY weird dreams i only get when i have a bug, too.

:-(  Well, i hope it doesn't get any worse, AND i hope it doesn't last too long!  I'll be taking it easy today and doing all the right things for healing -- napping if i feel the need, forgoing alcohol, drinking chicken broth and continuing the special supplements.  Certainly doing no significant brain work -- i don't think i have one today....

Monday, March 4, 2013

craving bitters -- a revelation

I find that mindless activities are excellent for creative thinking.  There's something freeing about having your hands busy and your brain minimally occupied!  Needlework, driving, dishwashing and solitaire games are examples of when a lot of "eureka moments" hit me ... and i had one this morning.

Way back in my Atkins-days, i found it fascinating that the foods i most craved were GREENS.  As a child, i (strangely enough) liked spinach, but never was a huge fan of the occasional beet- or turnip-greens to be found in our house -- well, i just didn't like the way my mother cooked them!  Flavor-wise, the seasoning of all these was redundant, and she cooked the roots WITH the tops, and i believe they're better separate.  My husband started making things like mustard, kale, chard and collards using different styles, and i became an AVID enthusiast.  To CRAVE GREENS -- a completely new experience....

A similar pattern emerged when i started trying new cocktail recipes.  I quickly tired of the sweet, koolaid-like bases for alcohol, and new favorites like the Calvados Cocktail (with a whopping 1/2 oz of orange bitters), Satan's Whiskers and Campari-&-soda are now my before-dinner choices.

Maybe i'm a little slow, but it took me awhile to connect the dots after i read that study last week (thanks, Bill!) and did some more googling -- bitter flavors on the tongue prompt an increase in stomach-acid AND bile production.  More of each makes for a happier digestive system, and the bile specifically encourages the conversion of more thyroxine (T4) to triiodothyronine (T3):  short answer, bitters make me feel more "normal"!

The old-timers were right ... as usual.  Eat your greens and drink your aperitif, they're good for you -- and now we know why.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

avoiding goitrogenic foods is SERIOUS business

Yesterday i found the threshold.  About a half-cup of sauerkraut with my lunch, maybe a third-cup of cooked kale at dinner, plus an additional half-cup of the leftover coleslaw (just to finish it up), and i was COLD last evening.  I slept well, and woke this morning with a tongue that filled my mouth to overflowing.  Two strong symptoms with me, that my thyroid is under-performing.

I can usually have small amounts of problematic foods as long as i continue to eat well otherwise.  The other day, i had about a quarter-cup of baked beans without symptoms, and i had more than that of lentils on another day with impunity, but after my whole30 last year when i added refried beans in, a half-cup of THOSE caused the cold to grip me.  Then, a few months ago i tried a heritage variety of beans (Anasazi, and a small quantity at that) in my chili -- probably a quarter-cup was too much.

Obviously, different legumes, and different preparations of some foods (like cabbage) make a HUGE difference!  After all, i had a good-sized wedge of cabbage (probably a cup's worth) cooked with corned beef not long ago, and didn't turn a hair.  I can eat a reasonable serving of cooked broccoli or cauliflower (i avoid them raw these days) with no trouble.  If one has a weak or sensitive thyroid, only self-experimentation can teach you what you can live with and what is just TOO MUCH.

And these are only the goitrogens!  Grains and dairy cause a constellation of very different symptoms not necessarily associated with thyroid function.  One small serving of wheat doesn't bring on significant joint pain, and for those who don't realize they're sensitive because they don't have glaring symptoms -- well, they aren't likely to believe they have any problem at all.  It's only with an elimination diet and a LARGE dose of the offending substance that they'll come to notice they have ANY trouble!  I suspect that few people have as strong a reaction as Lori did to a foodstuff ... OR do as good detective-work in figuring it out.  You have to pay close attention to your body's cues, and not add too many novel foods too fast.

The additional amount of dairy (specifically, cream) that i've been consuming since my husband got home from his last business-trip has contributed its toll as well -- i've noticed before that dairy contributes to skin break-outs.  I had been thinking about trying a new recipe for barley bread, and i was curious to see if my reaction to that flour would be like what i have to wheat and oats, or more like my almost-nonexistent response to sourdough rye ... and now i'm glad i did NOT make it.  Too much of a load of "dangerous" foods at once!

Well, i've had fun experimenting but it's time to go back to a purer diet.  The last few days have "gifted" me with more body aches and allergies than i've felt for quite awhile, so enough is obviously enough.

Friday, March 1, 2013

one indulgence does not a slippery-slide make

We had neighbors over last night for a try-out of two local purveyors of BARBECUE.  :-D  It was good, and i was bad, having a sample of everything including "the neolithic agents of disease."  But it won't do lasting damage because i've learned a couple of little secrets....

FIRST:  never ever ever ever EVER say "well, i've already screwed up, so i may as well screw up more."  EVER.

Second:  fast until i feel reasonably normal again.  It's just an extension of the type of fasting that comes naturally to me -- not eating first thing in the morning (when i'm not hungry anyway), but waiting till i actually regain an appetite.  Usually, this gives me a 16-18 hour window in which to burn primarily lots of endogenous fat fuel, but today it'll probably stretch to 22 hours or more.  I'll drink coffee while i'm waiting for the bloated feeling to go away ... as it will.

Third:  a tiny bit of exercise is good, but a lot is horrible.  If i TRY to burn off the stored carbs, all i'll succeed in doing is aggravate the joints which have taken a hit from the increased lectin load.  More inflammation, i DON'T need!

So today i'll act like the poisoned pup i feel, and stay away from more food while i recover.  For the record, there was no wrong answer when choosing baby-back ribs, though we all liked Bogart's (with a little cooked-on sauce) a LITTLE better than Pappy's probably-lower-carb spice-rubbed version.  The brisket isn't as good as home-made, and the smoked turkey was a little dry.  The green beans were spicy and pleasant, interesting for a change but not crave-worthy.  The baked beans got good reviews but i think they're too sweet.  The potato salad isn't in the same ballpark with my recipe, but surprisingly, the slaw was almost as good as J's.  The only thing i prepared -- our starter cocktail, the Jungle Bird -- went over well ... and of course the wine was great!