Elimination Diet
I went to a naturopath and discussed what was happening with my body to her. It cost $188 (a fuckton of money) but she was able to come to a conclusion: my entire digestive track is fucked up. From my teeth to to my butt, the whole system is in chaos. My GERD rarely gives me relief. The coping mechanisms I’ve used (ginger tea, tums, prilosec) have stopped compensating. The diarrhea hasn’t abated at all.
The naturopath suggested the elimination diet. I had already started it at the New Year by eliminating wheat but then I got the Occu-flu and stopped the diet until I got better. Now I am back to it and have upped the ante: I have eliminated dairy too.
It’s day four of the diet and already I’ve come to three conclusions: apples make my eyes itch quite intensely so there will be no more apples (pout). I snack way, way too much. I rely on dairy an awful lot. Giving up the wheat hasn’t been difficult. But dairy…OMG.
The GERD hasn’t abated, nor has the diarrhea. I’m hoping for positive changes over the course of the next few weeks due to the VSL#3 I was “prescribed” by the naturopath. It’s supposed to help by adding good flora into my digestive track. I just started taking that yesterday so I’ll have to wait and see.
Wolf is on board with me. He’s come to the conclusion he doesn’t want to be fat and sick all the time too. We know exercise is an important component so, as the weather warms, we will be adding walks to our routine. Sundays are now yoga days here at Howling Hill.
2012 will be the year of health here. It’s certainly the year of new newness: a new year, a new moon, a new decade. And, now, a new me.
New Decade
As birthdays usually do, I have become introspective of what this new decade will bring. I can’t read the future so I don’t know *exactly* what will wander my way, but I can make some guesses: gray hair, stiff bones, dwindling debt, and maybe the end of my moontime. And, of course, happiness and sadness.
What will make me happy and what will make me sad will remain to be seen. But I am not helpless. I make my own future and my own past. I made a list of what I’d like to accomplish in this decade as a way to self-propel to happiness and stability.
- Lose 50lb and keep it off
- Overcome fear of water so Wolf and I can go kayaking and canoeing.
- Become fluent and literate in Spanish
- Fix whatever is wrong with my digestive tract
- Pay off student loans (except Sallie Mae. That’ll never be paid off without winning the lottery)
- Become a High Priestess
- Become a yoga instructor
- Develop an exercise routine and stick to it
- Eliminate emotional triggers
@ThornCoyle recently tweeted “Exercise because you love your body, not because you hate it. You are sacred. Exercise is sacred activity.” She is, of course, right. Losing 50lbs is the first thing on this list but developing an exercise routine is at the bottom. Why is this so? Well, frankly, I’m one of those people who thinks if I think about exercise enough the weight will fall off. Also, I’m under the false impression that if I “clean up” my diet the weight will evaporate. But it doesn’t work that way and I know it.
“Developing an exercise routine” didn’t come to me until after I had already made the list. It was added later when I realized the weight I want to lose won’t just go away because I will it so. Losing weight isn’t just about me getting off my butt and moving it to increase my heart rate. It’s also about me eliminating emotional triggers. Again, this connection didn’t come to me right away which is why it’s at the end of the list. But it may well be the most important one. Only recently have I started working with my therapist about removing triggers buried deep in my subconscious. Eliminating them has not been easy but I am dedicated to doing so because, quite frankly, if I do not, the emotional baggage will kill me. Or, at the very least, keep me fat with a digestive tract not working to its optimum, and very, very depressed.
I have been addressing the digestion issue for a couple years but have not been able to “cure” whatever the problem is. I do not know what the problem is. I have been to see my primary who ordered all kinds of tests. I’m still paying them off 3 years later. The coping mechanisms I have used over the last few years have stopped working so now it’s time to find a naturopath to see if they can assist my body’s healing so I can attain the sufficient motivation to exercise with consistency.
No Wind in Space
Last night Wolf and I were up to our usual antics: watching a spot of telly before we went to bed for the night. Our choice: Star Trek: Voyager.
The episode we watched, The Fight has the crew of Voyager stuck in chaotic space. They try to navigate out by putting out beacons. They find, however, they have been flying in circles. Tom Paris says something akin to “if we’ve been moving at all.”
Me: all they have to do is stick their hand out the window. That’ll tell ‘em if they’re flying.
Wolf: there’s no wind in space.
Me: What?!?
Wolf: if you put your hand out the window you wouldn’t feel anything no matter how fast you were going.
Me: What?!?
Wolf: ok, assuming you could actually roll down the window in a space ship, you wouldn’t feel anything. Here when you put the window down and stick your hand out, you’re feeling the resistance of air. There isn’t air in space so you wouldn’t feel anything.
Me: I fucking hate it when you slay these little daydreams of mine.
It’s like the time I found out that if you went to China, you wouldn’t see the other side of the moon. I was, like, 18. Until that moment, I thought all you had to do was go to the OTHER side of the earth to see the OTHER side of the moon. I was really annoyed with myself that I didn’t know something so elementary. That feeling was recaptured last night.
Wolf wanted me to confirm all this with @NeilTyson. I couldn’t find an email address for Dr. Tyson so I got creative and wrote this post. So please don’t think us wicked effing stupid Dr. Tyson.*
Please answer the question: if you *could* stick your hand out the window of a spaceship, would you feel anything if it were moving at 1/4 impulse, Warp 9, or anything in between?
(*Apparently our public school education didn’t teach either of us such important topics.)
Food You Would Never Eat
When I was a vegetarian, the only thing I ate at my mother in law’s was grilled cheese sandwich. That’s the only meal her brain could wrap around. Despite making suggestions to her, she could not comprehend spaghetti without meat sauce, or soup without chicken. So I ate the grilled cheese sandwich because it’s what she made for me.
Recently I went to my grandmother’s birthday party which was held at the Wayside Inn. The food was awful. And I mean AWFUL. Because it was a large party, my uncles decided we would have a choice of turkey or beef. Both Wolf and I chose the turkey though neither of us finished our meals. The food was so processed it was nauseating. As a cousin ate his prime rib across from us, Wolf whispered in my ear “he’s eating meat glue.“
As more and more of us choose to eat non-mainstream diets, it makes me wonder if we’re being excluded by those who care about us because they don’t know what food to serve. The agony our friends and family find themselves in trying to find a restaurant, or a meal everyone can eat, may be the reason for exclusion.
It’s a tough spot to be in. On the one hand, I don’t want to be excluded because no one knows what to make me but on the other hand, I don’t want to eat foods that make my physically sick (or just feel like crap) nor do I want to sit in an eatery and not eat anything.
So what are we to do?
This and That
November 27, 2011
Filed under Beasts, Boob Tube, Cough/How Do I Look..?, Friends, Gardenin', Grindstone, Mi Familia, Movin', Rabble Rousing, Two Sticks and Yarn, Weatha
I know I’ve been really silent here on HH. The reason is because I”ve been doing a lot of tweeting. There’s a new saying “I used to blog, now I tweet.” Really though, I’ve not had much to say beyond 140 characters. The job situation is still dire. The house still hasn’t sold. Wolf is still working two jobs. Gardening has been nonexistant because of the (not so) impending move.
Wolf and I continue to struggle money wise because of the crap economy. More and more we are saying “no” to family events because we don’t have the money to travel nor the money to spend on gifts and gas. And while it makes me feel lonely and left out, the reality is we live far away from our families and they won’t come to visit no matter how many times I invite them and we can’t continue to visit them.
Despite inviting friends here constantly, rarely do the come. One friend did come up for the night and all she did was complain about the drive. I haven’t been down to visit her because I’ve been to visit her millions of times and she’s come here exactly once. Other friends haven’t come at all or not in over a year or two. I keep our home neat and clean and homey. I make sure it’s warm and doesn’t smell, and have plenty of good food and drink. But still visitors are so few and far between I can easily count the amount of people who have come to visit this year on two fingers. I’m not sure what the problem is so I can’t fix it. And I’m about to give up.
Occupy Wall Street has taken a lot of my energy and some of my time. Since I’m not working I can’t be gallivanting all over the state to the various occupations* so I’ve been laying low. I’ve been to a few of the marches and whatnot but haven’t done anything major with the occupation.
Winter has already come to Howling Hill. Samhain brought eight inches of snow. It melted just so we could get another six inches the other day. It’s nearly melted but more will come.
PJ continues to settle into our home. He is shy and skittish and is really afraid of me though I have no idea why. He’s all about Wolf though so at least some of his affection needs are being met.
Really, it’s been quiet and boring and lonely. No one talks about the isolation and loneliness of chronic unemployment. I try to keep myself busy by knitting but that does get boring after a while and my wrists will start to hurt if I knit too much. I try to keep entertained with Netflix but even that is losing its appeal. There is only so much TV I can stand. I like to have it on because it fools me into thinking someone is talking to me, that I have companionship and company. But really, I’m not a fan of TV and never have been.
So that’s what’s going on in these parts. What about you?
*That aren’t actually occupations. NH couldn’t get their shit together to agree on where to occupy. Also, NHites are too timid when it comes to the police. If I remember my history correctly, the Minutemen never asked King George if they could dump the tea into Boston Harbor nor did they line up to be arrested. So OccupyNH is not an actual occupation.
