Got back to Houston at 9 last night, and were we tired! After a good night's sleep i'm ... still pretty drained out. :-)
We ate a lot of unaccustomed carbs over the weekend. It's just ONE weekend though, and neither of us will be so thrown off our preferred diets that we will be derailed for any period of time. The french bread and barbecued oysters were delicious, but we're now ready for steak and avocados.
In the car, my daughter and i talked a lot about nutrition, and she's got some good plans about taking the wheat out of her kids' diets as well as her own. I've got some low-carb baking to do today, before i head for home tomorrow!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
...and on to NOLA
OOOH, gonna be dining on oysters tonight! :-D My favorite restaurant town.... Some people crave the bread pudding, but strangely enough i find it easy to resist, compared with the seafood!
And a shopping list of things you can't get very many places! Praline "extract" ... an Indio doll for my friend, to protect her computer as mine does for me ;-) ... really fresh Community Coffee ... pickled green beans for Bloody Marys ....
CAN'T WAIT!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
two days on the road
Safely arrived in Houston (during rush-hour) last night -- my timing could have been a lot better! :-) I took the long route, so i could drop in on a friend in Kansas and hand-deliver her Halloween gifts. Until i arrived here, i didn't eat anything really evil, but what i took in the car could have been better (like my timing); i've felt waterlogged for 36 hours. Highway + ham + cheese = mistake.
Last night's dinner was wickeder (!) than it should have been too, but i was HUNGRY. As i'm still feeling puffy, i'll fast on creamed coffee till dinnertime -- tonight it's a lovely pot-roast i brought with me. That doesn't mean i'm not doing some cooking during the day, though; i'll be making a couple of different low-carb breads and a batch of almond butter, ... and anything else i can think of to tempt the grandkiddos' appetites.
To my delight, my daughter wants to go wheat-free! :-D She's taken to buying real butter and whole milk, and making every effort to choose the best versions of what processed foods they still use. They're a busy young family, and i sure don't blame her for not doing everything from scratch! It's too bad we live so far apart, as i could easily make larger batches of what i concoct and share them....
So the short time i'm in town, i'll be baking. Not just the coconut bread L asked for, but my signature hazelnut bread (unfortunately, i forgot the chia seeds) ... and i think i'll make some cookies!
Last night's dinner was wickeder (!) than it should have been too, but i was HUNGRY. As i'm still feeling puffy, i'll fast on creamed coffee till dinnertime -- tonight it's a lovely pot-roast i brought with me. That doesn't mean i'm not doing some cooking during the day, though; i'll be making a couple of different low-carb breads and a batch of almond butter, ... and anything else i can think of to tempt the grandkiddos' appetites.
To my delight, my daughter wants to go wheat-free! :-D She's taken to buying real butter and whole milk, and making every effort to choose the best versions of what processed foods they still use. They're a busy young family, and i sure don't blame her for not doing everything from scratch! It's too bad we live so far apart, as i could easily make larger batches of what i concoct and share them....
So the short time i'm in town, i'll be baking. Not just the coconut bread L asked for, but my signature hazelnut bread (unfortunately, i forgot the chia seeds) ... and i think i'll make some cookies!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
vacation ... from supplements!
While packing i lined up all the little bottles and jars on the bathroom counter ... and decided to leave most of them there! It will be interesting to see if i miss any of them.
The only things i brought along were my thyroid glandular, betaine HCl, melatonin and coconut-oil capsules. I intend to eat plenty of seafood in NOLA, so i expect that my mineral requirements will be met well, and the betaine is along for the purpose of helping me digest them as best i can. The coconut oil is an emergency fuel, in case my meals end up too light in fat -- it may sound funny, but when i eat away from home it's known to happen!
It'll only be a week -- i think i'll survive! ;-)
The only things i brought along were my thyroid glandular, betaine HCl, melatonin and coconut-oil capsules. I intend to eat plenty of seafood in NOLA, so i expect that my mineral requirements will be met well, and the betaine is along for the purpose of helping me digest them as best i can. The coconut oil is an emergency fuel, in case my meals end up too light in fat -- it may sound funny, but when i eat away from home it's known to happen!
It'll only be a week -- i think i'll survive! ;-)
Monday, October 22, 2012
a good practice
Last night, my new fencing jacket and shoes got their initiation, and it turned out WELL. I didn't have as much knee pain as when i tested out the Vibrams. My "muscular energy" seemed good, which implies that all the little energy-factories were chugging along happily burning fats/ketones ... or whatever they wanted to burn. My "rate-limiting" parameters were that i was functioning on less-than-optimal sleep, and that i'm old and out of shape. ;-) And i sweated like a pig! Good workout!
This morning i WAS a bit stiff! I drank my morning java in a very hot bath, and now i can feel that i worked my legs and right arm, and various torso muscles. It's too bad i won't have a chance to do it again for a week and a half, but my twice-delayed trip will interfere. I'll just have to make myself do series-es (what IS the plural of series?) of advances, retreats, lunges and ballestras to remind my legs of their new responsibilities, and to work on the tightness in my right shoulder which i don't remember being an issue when i fenced before.
I'm not fooling myself about improving my "game" very much -- i'm not expecting to take the senior fencing world by storm! :-) But as Mark has always pointed out, getting exercise is not nearly as beneficial if it's a chore rather than PLAY ... as it ought to be!
This morning i WAS a bit stiff! I drank my morning java in a very hot bath, and now i can feel that i worked my legs and right arm, and various torso muscles. It's too bad i won't have a chance to do it again for a week and a half, but my twice-delayed trip will interfere. I'll just have to make myself do series-es (what IS the plural of series?) of advances, retreats, lunges and ballestras to remind my legs of their new responsibilities, and to work on the tightness in my right shoulder which i don't remember being an issue when i fenced before.
I'm not fooling myself about improving my "game" very much -- i'm not expecting to take the senior fencing world by storm! :-) But as Mark has always pointed out, getting exercise is not nearly as beneficial if it's a chore rather than PLAY ... as it ought to be!
Friday, October 19, 2012
balancing those low-calorie days
I accidentally "under-ate" on Wednesday, so as i was dozing off to sleep with my stomach growling that night, i promised myself a high-calorie count the next day, to confuse my metabolism. So yesterday, i ate significantly more -- and unfortunately, i seem to have overshot the fibre mark again. I feel like i have a rock in my gut.
It's not easy to balance a diet when one has food sensitivities, metabolic challenges, and special nutritional requirements! Some days (the low-energy kind), i don't blame people who say "the hell with it" and send out for pizza! Eat like the pyramid says, do what the doctor says and take those yummy statins, forget improving your life and sit on that sofa with a bag of chips and a coke watching the latest popular reality show....
NO. Even when i feel crummy, i've got way too much stubbornness to cave it! Not to mention, popular television bores the hell out of me. And i f'ing HATE pringles.
Mercifully, my husband is coming back in town tonight, and i can look forward to being babied around a bit. He asked what he can cook for me this weekend -- i need to decide! :-D No salads or high-fibre veggies, that's for sure. Maybe meatloaf -- he does that REALLY well.
It's not easy to balance a diet when one has food sensitivities, metabolic challenges, and special nutritional requirements! Some days (the low-energy kind), i don't blame people who say "the hell with it" and send out for pizza! Eat like the pyramid says, do what the doctor says and take those yummy statins, forget improving your life and sit on that sofa with a bag of chips and a coke watching the latest popular reality show....
NO. Even when i feel crummy, i've got way too much stubbornness to cave it! Not to mention, popular television bores the hell out of me. And i f'ing HATE pringles.
Mercifully, my husband is coming back in town tonight, and i can look forward to being babied around a bit. He asked what he can cook for me this weekend -- i need to decide! :-D No salads or high-fibre veggies, that's for sure. Maybe meatloaf -- he does that REALLY well.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
stress, thoughts, and a vestigial headcold
I was stressing to an unusual degree about my upcoming trip to Texas for a living-history event. All sorts of things that i need to do cropped up at the eleventh hour. I caught a cold.
And an unusual cold it is. It feels like a virus wrapped in cotton-wool: numb brain, low energy, head and body aches, rough throat, and the kind of sinus drainage that does NOT come from allergy ... but all in a vague fashion -- not acute. Nevertheless, i think that normal cold treatment is in order. REST. I'm delaying my trip, then driving straight to Houston before going with my daughter to NOLA for Halloween weekend.
Goes t' show ya! The lifestyle changes which have protected me from illness (including the flu) for the last few years aren't effective against that endogenous saboteur called STRESS.
And stress is largely self-inflicted. Unconsciously so in the case of diet and nutrition (in most people), semi-consciously from choices we feel we can't avoid, or fully-consciously-but-resentfully when we know we shouldn't procrastinate/worry/work too hard/stay in a bad situation, etc ... but have a hard time breaking the habit. The first two are my buggaboos. I have too many interests, and can't stay on top of all i want or need to do. A deadline appears, an unexpected task pops up, and voilá -- stress.
I sometimes think that putting a name to it has made it worse. People "in the old days" had plenty of stress, but approached the situation from a different point of view. In the western world, the troubles of life were often looked upon as a test of faith sent by "God," ridiculous as it appears to the modern science-based mind. Individuals were encouraged to bear up courageously with the promise of heaven as their reward, but if they failed their test ... well, then they deserve their bad fate, don't they? Talk about a rigged system.
But now we try to solve our problems rather than just cope, sometimes with the aid of pharmaceuticals and other little helpers. We feel like ALL problems have a solution, or should have, and we're not willing to just let go. We no longer look on life the same way. We also allow cultural myths to dictate what life OUGHT to be like, and THAT is largely BS.
There are all kinds of recommendations on how to reduce stress, and most of them are great in theory ... if difficult to actually PRACTICE. If you can sit down and meditate when your brain won't stop enumerating all the things you need to get done ... you're a better man than i, Gunga Din.
*****
There have been some terrific ideas in the blogs recently! (Of course, i'm speaking of MY BLOG LIST, not other people's! [wink, nudge]) Kindke, Fred, and Sid (on a non-dietary subject) -- great points made! And just like the political situation here in the US, when some things are SO CLEAR to "us," what the hell is the matter with the thinking processes of those other people??? How CAN people who are stuck in an outworn world-vision become unstuck?
And an unusual cold it is. It feels like a virus wrapped in cotton-wool: numb brain, low energy, head and body aches, rough throat, and the kind of sinus drainage that does NOT come from allergy ... but all in a vague fashion -- not acute. Nevertheless, i think that normal cold treatment is in order. REST. I'm delaying my trip, then driving straight to Houston before going with my daughter to NOLA for Halloween weekend.
Goes t' show ya! The lifestyle changes which have protected me from illness (including the flu) for the last few years aren't effective against that endogenous saboteur called STRESS.
And stress is largely self-inflicted. Unconsciously so in the case of diet and nutrition (in most people), semi-consciously from choices we feel we can't avoid, or fully-consciously-but-resentfully when we know we shouldn't procrastinate/worry/work too hard/stay in a bad situation, etc ... but have a hard time breaking the habit. The first two are my buggaboos. I have too many interests, and can't stay on top of all i want or need to do. A deadline appears, an unexpected task pops up, and voilá -- stress.
I sometimes think that putting a name to it has made it worse. People "in the old days" had plenty of stress, but approached the situation from a different point of view. In the western world, the troubles of life were often looked upon as a test of faith sent by "God," ridiculous as it appears to the modern science-based mind. Individuals were encouraged to bear up courageously with the promise of heaven as their reward, but if they failed their test ... well, then they deserve their bad fate, don't they? Talk about a rigged system.
But now we try to solve our problems rather than just cope, sometimes with the aid of pharmaceuticals and other little helpers. We feel like ALL problems have a solution, or should have, and we're not willing to just let go. We no longer look on life the same way. We also allow cultural myths to dictate what life OUGHT to be like, and THAT is largely BS.
There are all kinds of recommendations on how to reduce stress, and most of them are great in theory ... if difficult to actually PRACTICE. If you can sit down and meditate when your brain won't stop enumerating all the things you need to get done ... you're a better man than i, Gunga Din.
*****
There have been some terrific ideas in the blogs recently! (Of course, i'm speaking of MY BLOG LIST, not other people's! [wink, nudge]) Kindke, Fred, and Sid (on a non-dietary subject) -- great points made! And just like the political situation here in the US, when some things are SO CLEAR to "us," what the hell is the matter with the thinking processes of those other people??? How CAN people who are stuck in an outworn world-vision become unstuck?
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