Headache Log

Let's log these headaches - and see if I can figure out what's really going on...

1/27/14 - Woke up with headache over right eye at 5:15am - it didn't actually wake me, the phone did.  
Finally ate breakfast and had coffee at 9:30am
Now - 11:35am - no headache

12:10pm I can feel it coming back - over my right eye/temple area.

I'm upping my water intake this week, let's see if that helps.  10 ounces down now - 12:54pm - it does seem to have lessened.  Keep a log of water, too.  This is all just an experiment... so it may become rambly.

Finished another 20oz water.

Going at 2pm to get a tetanus shot.  No idea when I last had one... and I cut my fingertip (and half my nail) pretty badly Sat night while peeling a sweet potato.  This, plus my previous twisted ankle, show that being healthy is super dangerous!  Hope this doesn't hurt too badly.

Got my shot.  Not too bad, says it may hurt worse later.  Great!
Also a new wrapping - which makes it much harder to type. 

3:42pm - only slight headache - still above right eye/temple.  
Getting another 20oz water. 

Reading more about the Whole30 and headaches... found this in a forum post on Whole9life.com.
"The whole 30 is ultimately about learning what foods are right for you and learning to love real food in a world filled with crap food all around us."
I should have been logging feelings after each meal - and headaches when they started two weeks ago. I'm doing it now - let's see what I can figure out.  She also says she thinks coffee may be the issue.  That some gluten sensitive people have headaches with coffee.  Can I give it up?  It seems to make them go away, albeit temporarily.  I love it!  I don't want it to be that.  Please let it be that I just need more veg and fewer nuts.  :-)

4:46pm - next 20oz of water.  I'll finish this one, then head home for dinner and more water!

I didn't have a chance to pack a snack today, what with rushing to get here for the power outage... so I'm kind of hungry.  I know I'm already way over my fat allotment for today - but, this week isn't about that.  I'm back to really focusing on the measuring guides and meal planning templates from It Starts with Food.  Perhaps I'm not eating enough - or not enough of some thing...  this may help with sorting that out.

More later... or tomorrow.  

Ridiculous. Here I go again!

So, I'm completely ridiculous.  I start and stop... I journal, then I don't... I focus on this, then start something completely new...  what is my deal?

I don't know.

But, I've started something new AGAIN.  I've started FitWit and signed on for the 28-day Challenge which includes eating paleo and working out 4 times weekly (or more).

Just tagging on to a previous draft, I must have started this around Jan 2 or 3, 2014.  Oh well.  New plans are to just ride it.  So here goes the fresh start.  I shared this on our Challenge Facebook page and thought I might appreciate having it more accessible as I move forward.

Some thoughts as we near the end of Week 3.  Long – maybe I should fire back up that blog.  ;-)

Let’s start with the positives - I do feel pretty good, I am sleeping much better than usual, my face is definitely clearer, and I’ve made it to 3 workouts in a row - so there’s that! 

Sadly, I haven’t seen the tiger yet… nor do my pants seem to fit much better… and I have headaches every single day. Every. Single. Day. The headaches seem to slide from right to left throughout the day – and are more steady and annoying than painful. Someone had mentioned Natural Calm, so I started that night before last.  I’m anxiously hoping I’m just low in magnesium.  If y’all have any other suggestions, I’m certainly open to them!

At the beginning of the challenge I said I was going to use the Paleo Plan meal guides and shopping lists to make my life easier and prepared.  However, I’ve learned that I can’t follow things like that.  I love to cook – and thus want to make whatever my mood desires rather than whatever was planned for this day or night.  I’ve still been using the shopping lists to help me make a starter list of what meats and veg can then be my base for creating, and have definitely still used some of the recipes as they’re all right there and pretty easy.  It’s been fun, and also challenging!  I took Jenn’s note to heart, and if the stove is on there’s at least one sweet potato and a chicken breast in there, too.  That has helped tremendously when I don’t feel like eating the leftovers or need to lighten my meals.  That’s the other thing – early on I was having way too much fat.  It was the good fats, I’m thinking, they just came in pretty high on my MFP counts.  I’m still working on lowering those numbers and figure that’s part of the reason for my negatives above. 

I’m keeping on, keeping on!  I do think I’d like to make this my primary diet for all home based meals.  I’m just not going to stock carb and dairy items (well, maybe some delicious cheeses, if they agree with me)… and will make better, while potentially not full-on paleo, choices when I’m out to eat.  I need to really think on how it would work – especially as I continue the ‘want to lose weight’ path.  I’d appreciate hearing any of your feedback on how I might be able to best do that… or if it’s something others have tried and found to be a poor or unsuccessful idea.

Cheers, everyone!!  

Starting anew... again...

Had a disheartening moment.  Time to focus!  Really focus on getting this weight off once and for all!

Just logged into SparkPeople to look up an old workout, and saw that I am currently 30 pounds heavier than I was in September 2009.  How did that happen?  I did Weight Watcher's last year and lost over 30 pounds, and am around that same weight now.  It's disheartening... and motivating.

I'm going to take the motivating bit and run with it!

Last Thursday, May 30th, I started logging my foods and exercise on MyFitnessPal.
On Friday, the 31st, I received my new FitBit One and the FitBit Aria wifi scale.
On Saturday, June 1st, I took my first kettlebells class at Condition Kettlebells in Inman Park.

I'm logging everything!  Every bite.  Every step.  Well, the FitBit does that part.  Every exercise.
Weighing every morning.  Although I don't plan to pay great attention to that...
And, will take various measurements every Sunday.
Oh - and post here with random thoughts, feelings, and progress reports.  I like having this little webspace to keep track of my thoughts, and hopefully one day share my successes.

These are my goals and guidelines.  I commit to following them!

I also purchased a compact elliptical and bike combo machine, which is currently sitting in my craft area.  It's in a perfect spot for me, but will have to be moved any time guests are coming over, as it does block the dining room off a bit.  Might see about moving that bamboo screen and the chifferobe somehow to delineate the separation of the two rooms and better hide the exercise equipment part.  Alternately, I'll finally move Granny's chair out of my bedroom and put it in that corner.  We'll see...

For now, I'm leaving it right there!  It's in my way, it's on my mind, and it's been a great way to get myself to do at least 30 minutes while watching TV in the evening.

Trout with Creamy Potato Salad & Wilted Spinach

That was really good!  The trout skin didn't get quite as crisp as the Food Network folks would have suggested... so I need to remember to do that on a higher heat.  Also, this was my first use of the new skillet - so everything stuck a little bit.  I had expected as much, and took greater care when flipping the fish to keep the skin together as much as possible. 

On the spinach salad, I'd suggest adding some toasted pine nuts, and even more spinach.  You know how wilted spinach seems like such a small amount.  The potato salad was very easy to make.  I appreciate how they try to make these recipes with 5 or so ingredients.  Clean flavors, and fairly easy instructions, are a winner all around.

I definitely think this is another of those recipes that it will be easy to remember and cook 'off the cuff' at some point in the future.  Thus far, that's been the biggest benefit to me.  I think I'll be able to recreate several of these recipes without the notes in front of me.  That's worth a lot!  If only something could be done about all the little plastic bags and containers.

All in all, it was certainly very tasty.  Looks to me like three servings of potato salad, one serving of spinach, and two perfect portions of trout.  I'm quite full just now - and am hoping I've saved enough room for the No Pudge! brownies I made while the potatoes were boiling.  Yum!

Cheers!

approx. 12 Points+

Adorable! Too much. Delicious!!

Delicious wins!!

From Saturday:
Got my first Blue Apron box today and it is adorable!

Individually wrapped portion sizes for each recipe. There are a whole lot of tiny packages and plastic. Need to figure out how to minimize that. All, but the meat pouches, should be recyclable... and, I won't have any food waste. Will that be a wash, in any way?

My plan is to have one for dinner and the other for lunch. Going to force myself to eat leftovers. Hope it works! And I'm going to find out how well the recipes save, in case I can't do the leftovers that very next day. Oh, and I bought these adorable BentGo bento boxes on sale on Amazon. They're a bit bigger than a traditional bento box - and should be a very good size for portion control - and super cute enough to make me enjoy packing my lunch.

Okay, now going to get everything out of the box and take a picture.
This box contained:
Cod with Caponata & Fergola Sarda
Turkey Burger Sliders with Argula Salad
Pho Beef Noodle Soup

[unboxed photo]

Current:
Tonight I made the Cod with Caponata & Fergola Sarda

It was delicious! I particularly enjoyed how easy was to make, and that it seems like something I can remember and just pull off from the top of my head. Thorough and clear directions. Remember the peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Read through the entire recipe first! Then you'll remember to keep the eggplant in a separate bowl.  :-)

[dinner - must work on food photography skills]

Though it did take me about 45 minutes which I guess is a little over their estimates.

And I still think there's an awful lot of packaging. What can be done about that? Think!

[unbox photo]

I will have to get some Fergola Sarda. Tasty little pasta balls, would make a nice alternative to rice, quinoa, and orzo.

Plan to chop harder fruit, veg, and nuts on Sunday. That will save a bit more time in the evening, and keep me from creating excuses about time, which will in turn enable me to have packed lunches during the week. Good plan!!

Note: create a similar delivery plan - send an easy grocery list of pantry items. Dried spices, vinegars, mustards, nuts...  Enough for two to four weeks of recipes.
Would require a good deal more recipe database organization. Then the recipient can learn to measure those items, save packaging, and build a pantry of staples.

In the end it was well worth it, I now have a lunch tomorrow and had a delicious dinner all in the span of about 45 minutes. Oops! Still need to finish cleaning up the kitchen


ETA:  Was created on iPhone Blogger app - which has limited photo abilities.  I just now (05/08/13) moved them into the appropriate positions.

Time to get crafty!!

Soooo... I'm back on the blog, and am hopeful that I'll have much to post over the coming weeks.  I got a fancy new (and super tiny) Nikon camera for Christmas - and a Cricut Expression machine for my Birthday...  combined, those are going to give me many, many things to share here.  Wahoo!!

The plan is to get the whole house, and especially the craft/spare room, organized over this long New Year's weekend.  And, then I can get to work finishing my Dad's scrapbook, making cards, starting on the scrapbook for the As, and just having fun being crafty!  I can't wait.

Wish me luck that everything gets cleaned and organized! and Happy New Year to you!!
XOXO

Spooky times are ahead...

It's almost Halloween, folks!  Wahoo!!

At work, they do an annual theme and everyone dresses accordingly.  They also go all-out with decorations in the same themed spirit and put out candy for the members - it's quite big fun!  Well, this year's theme is the 70s... which, to me, is kind of boring.  But, I can certainly see where it makes for a good group theme - and am glad to play along.  I didn't, however, want to be another disco queen or hippie... so, I am going to be the Bionic Woman - Lindsay Wagner style.  My hair isn't really long enough, but I'll roll it and see if I can make it resemble hers in some fashion.  I'm going to go to WalMart (UGH! - more on that in another post) and get a Dickie's work uniform, take some old PC parts to make my arm bionic, wear my red wedge sandals - et voila!!  I think it's going to be fun!  Oh - and I found the jumping sound and the theme intro online - now to figure out what I can have in my pocket to play these at will.  Any ideas?

Here's a pic of the version I'm hoping to mimic - cute, huh?:

I'm not sure that I want The Bionic Woman to be my costume for friend parties, though... so, I'll have to think on other options - or maybe I'll finally get the chance to make the Queen of Hearts costume I've talked about for years!!