my stomach is on strike

For the last few weeks, my stomach has decided to take a trip down memory lane & revert to its ultra troublesome state.  This past week was the worst so far & I almost had to go home early from work on Thursday & then did have to call in sick on Friday.  I have some special meds to take when it gets bad, but they make me a little blurry, which isn’t a helpful side effect when working with patients!

I’m in the midst of a bad IBS flare up & it completely sucks.  There are some variations in the types of IBS and mine includes an epic stabby feeling inside my stomach, nausea, & bloating.  It’s quite painful & unpleasant.  Since mine is combined with an ulcer, Pepto Bismal tabs are my bestie.

I like the taste of these now.

My diet has played a role.  Since I started working at the office, I’ve eaten more gluten than I have since I went to France for my brother’s wedding two years ago.  There are a lot of office treats & I’ve had to grab some lunch out when I’ve forgotten mine at home.  Way, way, too much for this gluten sensitive gal.  I’ve been eating way too legumes, a no-no on the approved FODMAPs list also.  Then there’s been sooooo much popcorn!  I’ve never had problems with popcorn in the past but it’s been extreme as of late.  I just finished my last 1/2 a bag of Skinny Pop & I won’t be buying any more for as long as I can hold out. This one is going to be TOUGH.

Skinny Pop – it’s my true (addictive) love!

Next up, the stress.  Ugh.  Starting a new career is challenging and I get frustrated with myself as it feels like my progress is slow.  Money is tight – what is this rent & utilities nonsense?!  It doesn’t help that WA is in the top 10 for most expensive states to reside.  I love LuLaRoe but I’m finding it difficult to forward this income source as my business person skills don’t seem to come second nature to me.  There are some other loose ends as well, so consequently, my anxiety is playing a key role in my Pepto popping madness.  My insides are basically downing pint size shots of cortisol, or at least this is how it feels.  Bad dreams, constant fretting, and I was having at least one panic attack daily for a month.  It’s no wonder it feels like Wolverine lives in my stomach & is trying to find freedom from the confines of my stomach lining!

I’m guessing this is why Wolverine wants out (source)

Then there is the lack of exercise.  I’m quite the couch potato.  This isn’t good on a couple of levels.  1.  The New York Marathon is in 4 months – eeeeek!  I have downloaded a 16 week training plan which looks doable for a successful finish.  But there is that whole thing of ACTUALLY GETTING OUTSIDE!  2.  I’m finding I’m quite fatigued when I get home in the evenings.  9.5 hour days are long & I just want to be in sweat pants, sitting, & zoning out in front of the tv.  Productive, eh?  My former stomach doc told me working out helps with the stomach pains, & that I have to get up even if I feel really crummy.  Of course it’s easier for him to say than for me to do.

my goal

When I was speaking with my sister about some of the above, she asked me to think about things I can control so I don’t feel so helpless.  And there are a few if I convince myself that it’s within my reach.  There is an optimistic part of me that while currently being drowned in stomach acid, is hoping feeling more in control helps calm this flare up as missing work isn’t an option and my stomach hurts!  The stomach issues are also aiding in my lackluster LuLaRoe sales since my energy levels are tapped by the time I get home.  But it means I really do need to take this control back.  I’ve already jumped back on the gluten-free train – I need it out of my system.  I’ve started down the path of dealing with my student loans dilemma, & I went for a run today.  I advertised for a couple of in-house LuLaRoe Open Houses for the week & reread my last post on motivation – turns out I can give myself decent advice.  These aren’t giant steps but they are steps nonetheless.  I mean, starting somewhere is better than not starting at all, right?

happenings ’round these parts

While there hasn’t been a lot going on for me lately, there have been a few key big ticket items that packed a punch.  Without further ado, I shall elaborate:

1. I put my name in the lottery for the New York City Marathon!  Yay!  I’m beyond hopeful this becomes my reality.  I know it’s a long shot but the thought of it is too dreamy for words.  It’s on my bucket list of races, along with the Flying Pig Marathon.  I’ve talked about this one before because it’s so fantastic.  My optimistic plan is I will do the Flying Pig and then spend the week hanging out with my Michigan family and then wrap up the vaca with the Kalamazoo Marathon.  It will happen.

please, oh please!

2. I decided I am going to do the 1/2 marathon of the North Olympic Discovery marathon weekend.  In a prior post I said I was going to do the full, but I haven’t started any kind of training yet.  While in the past this wouldn’t have stopped me from jumping in feet first (so to speak), however, after putting my poor knee through the wringer during the Detroit 26.2 I am going to play it smarter this time around.  I know, who am I?!  Not to mention, it’s even cutting it close to be starting a 1/2 marathon training plan.  I live on the edge.

3. I caught the plague (only slightly exaggerating here).  It was that nasty influenza that seems to be running rampant.  It hit our town – I swear, every other facebook post was about families being down and out with the flu.  I didn’t/couldn’t get off of the couch for 6 days.  I did have to make one trip to the post office for work and I came home and napped for a few hours, I was so exhausted.  And it’s still lingering a bit.  So, if at all possible, stay healthy!  A fellow LuLaRoe consultant in town and I were talking and her family caught it.  Her hubby walked around the house with a mask, haha!  I laughed, yet now I think he was brilliant as he didn’t get sick.

my sweet baby niece – poor little sicky!  she is the one who passed along the illness.  this is also my “I don’t do mornings” face!

4. I turned 39.  I love aspects of my birthday; the numbers are sequential, I love being an Aquarius, I love having a winter birthday, and I don’t shy away from the attention.  I do have troubles with the aging piece.  It’s a surreal experience for me.  My niece and I were talking the week before and she said, “aren’t you going to be 40?”.  I paused and my heart skipped a beat.  Was I going to be 40?!!  For a moment, I wasn’t sure – did I mention at my doc visit before I moved back from MI I thought I was 37?  I told the nurse she was wrong when she was trying to confirm my 38 status.  Her response, “the computer does the math” when we were talking about what year I was born.  I felt like I lost a year of my life!  Then when my niece said 40, I panicked that I lost yet ANOTHER year!  I’m not ready to be 40.

5. Now, the Sunday before my birthday, I was babysitting my sweet baby niece (this was also the day of my contamination).  I walked into my sister’s kitchen and my feet went out from under me – their floor was like a freakin’ ice rink (and apparently walking is dangerous for me) and I went down.  HARD.  I was holding an unlit jar candle that came crashing down as well, (I think) crushing my pinky finger, and bouncing up to smack me in the face.  I laid on the floor for a moment, in shock.  Then I almost threw up and passed out.  I got up and moved to the couch where I spent about 10 minutes trying to stay conscious and vomit free.  My poor pinky turned purple immediately and blew up.  I was convinced it was broken.  I no longer think this, I think I smashed it.  It still messed up and have a feeling the healing will continue to be slow.

6. Did I mention I caught my bout of influenza the day before my birthday?  Instead of enjoying some festivities, I was on the couch.  Some perks were, my dad made me pancakes in the morning and then later brought me my favorite dinner from a local place, my sister dropped off two cupcakes, and my grandma made me a lemon pie-like dessert.  It was quite sweet of them.  I also started watching Justified.  I dig it.  What this does mean is the week leading up to my birthday (my poor hand was a disaster) and the 2 weeks after it were a rude beginning to this upcoming year.  I’ve decided it’s the universe’s way of purging the toxins from my life to ready me for an epic year ahead.  Probably starting around March 1st.

a tall cool drink of water – perfect for those sick days!

Please agree with me with regards to the universe’s plan for me.  Much obliged.

 

I love lists

I know it seems a little cliché to write my first post back in a million years on New Year’s Eve.  Oh well.  I’ve attempted a couple of posts in the last few days but they were all too involved.  I need to split some of this business up or you would be reading for about 10 hours!

Naturally, I have no idea where to start.  So, I’ll do a list.  I never realized how much I love lists until I started writing this blog.  Here we go:

1. I’m currently hanging out in my own place!  Yay!  I somehow got a sweet deal in an incredibly tough rental market in my home town.  I’m not kidding – it’s nuts.  Lack of availability means rent is large and in charge for so many places.  Not to mention, many places are run through renting agencies which require you to make three times your rent on a monthly basis.  Hahahahaha (this is a crazed laugh, can you tell??).  Again, I thank my lucky stars that a) I’m persistent and b) that things worked in my favor.

2. I also got an amazing deal on a set of furniture!  I love it when a plan comes together!

Simon-cat has claimed this chair for his very own. I put a blanket over it as to limit cat hair transfer. Today is the first day I’ve sat in it – no wonder he loves it!

3. My house is right next door to my dad’s house so I was able to bootleg enough internet for my LuLaRoe business but other than that, I didn’t have access for THREE WEEKS due to connectivity problems.  I watched Twilight, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter over and over again.

4. LuLaRoe.  Since my job search has not been fruitful, LuLaRoe is my source of income.  Being my own boss and having my own business is both neato and terrifying!  As a new consultant, it takes time to build a customer base, inventory, along with revamping my business plan over and over again.  This results in waking up to panic attacks in the middle of the night!  HOWEVER, I have already met some fun people and am looking forward to continuing this journey.  Not to mention, I am enjoying this business a lot!  Although a job would be helpful!  Just keeping it truthful here.

in this case the stress is real!

5. More LuLaRoe.  I love the clothes!  My sister had to tell me “stop shopping your inventory!”  Haha, seriously though, so many treasures!  Not to mention, when women (those are my current customers) try the clothes on the delight in their eyes is fantastic.  One woman swore off dresses many moons ago.  She put on the Carly dress and LOVED it!  First dress in forever and she bought it 10 minutes after trying it on and looking in the mirror.  It’s an amazing feeling to be a part of these moments.

6. I was doing well in the fitness realm in August, September and the first two weeks of October.  I was walking about every other day and even running!  My bum knee was responding in a positive way!  Then life took over and my routine fell by the wayside.  I will say, I ran a Turkey Trot with my sister and I was able to run a heck of a lot more of it than I thought I could.  That being said, the aforementioned anxiety and work load has led to some additional weight loss while no longer sticking to the walking/running.  I’ll get in the zone with LuLaRoe and forget to eat.  For the record, I don’t forget to eat.  Ever.  I always thought this was a silly phrase and perhaps a fake phenomenon.  Nope.  It does happen.  I’ve reached my goal weight, although I think I need to reinvigorate my walking/running since forgetting to eat isn’t the healthiest weight loss method nor one that I can count on to keep the pounds off.  I mean, I’m starting to remember to eat (a positive thing for sure).

sister dear and I taking a running break for a picture!

7. Overhauling my life has been more complicated than I ever would’ve imagined.  There will be posts on this all on their own.  While I knew it would be a tough and interesting transition, this information was processed in the practical/logical part of my brain, rather than the emotional-feely part of the brain/heart/spiritual side.  Like I said, more posts to come on this since I do enjoy processing.  Also, it was ABSOLUTELY the right choice!

I love this quote

8. Happy New Year!  I don’t make New Year resolutions anymore.  Some of the items or goals I mentioned above are things I’ve already been working on and need to get more assertive in making them a reality.  I recognize many people see it as a fresh start but I consider to be this marker.  So, I have another month and 3 days to my “new year” and I’m going to continue to work on my goals and work through the transitions.

how can I fail when I have dairy on my side?! (p.s. Buzzfeed lists are the best – they do love to put together lists of unfortunate mistakes while adding some comentary)

Off to take photos of new inventory!  My blog page is getting more traffic than my LuLaRoe page and it’s reminded me how much I love to write!  Happy New Year everyone!

 

inner thoughts

I couldn’t decide on a title for this because it really is going to be a bunch of rambling – that probably should be the title.  The following things have been rattling around my brain for the last few days and I need an outlet.  Lucky you!  Of course it’s in list form, silly goose!

1. People who say you either shouldn’t or can’t eat a whole pie by yourself clearly lack ambition.  Trust me.  I am ambitious.  I really don’t know why I don’t make pumpkin pie more often – I love it.  Maybe it has to do with my ambitious nature.

2. Super thankful for my little ice machine.  My normal supplier was closed up for the holiday weekend but “babycakes” (as I affectionately nicknamed her – stolen from Spike, see below) did a great job.  Multiple cupfuls of ice were consumed.

someone left this was on the ground – ice just WASTED. shameful

3. I had big plans on being productive during this past minibreak.  I wasn’t.  Unless you count powering through a couple of seasons of Flashpoint, which I doubt I should.  TeamSpike forever.

look how cute he is!

4. Have you ever watched so many episodes of a tv show that you get really into the characters?  Seriously, I had to remind myself “these people ARE NOT real!”  Maybe I should have talked to more actual humans…

5. I did not go black friday shopping this year.  I’ve done it for YEARS – back in the day when I was home for Thanksgiving break during college and my mom would drag me out of bed to run through walmart picking up presents for the little cousins and family.  While I kind of felt like I abandoned a tradition, I didn’t need anything.  Not to mention I didn’t want to be mobbed by all of the people and traffic.  Social anxiety saved me money and clutter this year!

6. Monday morning I had the brilliant idea to weigh myself.  I know, WTF was I thinking?!  Nevertheless, I knew it was time to face the numbers.  I haven’t moved much since I ran the marathon.  I should definitely be more than 2 lbs heavier but “thankfully” my ulcer makes it difficult to eat, so you know, silver lining.  Now, I need to get back on the treadmill for some walking, swimming for less impact and continue to strengthen my muscles with the PT exercises.  All of this written out looks a bit overwhelming considering my recent lack of motivation so I am going to break it down into some manageable pieces.

truth

7. Speaking of ulcer city, two things.  Sad face – I can no longer have my afternoon coffee (well, I managed yesterday but probably not advised).  I’m not kidding when I say, I find a sense of lost in this fact.  I luuuuurve it.  But it kicks up my stomach pains, so to the curb with it.  Next up – happy face – my stomach hurt on Wednesday even though I sort of had the day off BUT I felt better for 3.5 days!  Better than I have in MONTHS.  It was delightful.  Sunday afternoon?  Acid boiled up again.  Stress man… working on some life changes.

That’s all for now.  I have a couple of other random posts on the way and hopefully some kind of aerobic activities to report on in the next few days.  I have every intention of losing these two silly pounds in the next 22 days, so I better get crackin’.  Not to mention, the endorphins, digestion help and the overall good feels that come with being active.

this might count?

ice, ice baby

C’mon, we all knew this title was coming considering I’m currently bewitched by ice.  Besides, if Vanilla Ice can rip off the tune-age, surely I can “borrow” his song title.

creepy and funny

The ice thing… it’s peculiar.  Let me first start with I’m so happy I’m obsessed with ice rather than pica cravings.  Dirt is one of them.  Although, if I was craving huge spoonfuls of dirt, I probably would’ve gone to see a doctor, which still might be advisable.

Brief (sort of connected) story:  when we were little, my brother and I encouraged this little girl who was always at our house to eat a GIANT spoonful of sand.  We didn’t shove it down her throat, it was more of a dare, so not completely our fault.  We also dared her to lick a slug once.  I know we sound like terrible tyrants but she was a mean little kid.  She dropped our puppy from the top of a slide and poor Muffy had a concussion.  The image of Muffy bleeding still pulls on my heartstrings so I give little mind to the dirt and slug business.

she shouldn’t have hurt Muffy

Okay, back to current day… the ice situation has intensified, even since I last mentioned it.  It’s been going on for a solid month and half now.  It started off as a cup with a lot of ice and about 1/2 full of Sierra Mist.  I don’t like drinking regular pop but the world is against diet sierra mist/diet 7 Up/diet gingerale – at least in pop machines.  I realized I rather enjoyed the ice after I drank the pop.  The next day, same scenario but less pop.  The day after, who needs pop?!  It was all ice from there.

I’m at the point now where I am planning my day around how, when, where I can get some ice.  We have a fridge ice machine in our main office but the ice tastes funky if not in a flavored beverage (i.e. in my other love, coffee).  So this is out.  I have a main place I get it and when I do, I get multiple cups filled to the brim so I can have it for later.  Of course now there is my personal ice machine.  I eat A LOT of ice in a day my friends.

this is what I would look like as a blob one-eyed person

I am almost a week into my new iron supplements.  I have a feeling, even if the crazy ice need subsides, some of it has/will become habitual.  When I dislocated my thumb 8 years ago, I was in a cast for 8 weeks.  I still do certain things the same way as when I had to modify actions to accommodate my beast of a cast.  But I’m hoping the whole planning my day around ice abates.  I am not a very patient person, so I want results now.  Last night I had another almost passing out moment so it seems the iron needs a bit of encouragement.  Go iron pills go!  And dad, you should probably start making some ice now for my impending holiday visit!

give me some suga’

I’ve been nursing a bit of writer’s block these last few days.  I feel like there are tales untold but when I go to type them out I think, “umm… this is boring”.  So, please lower your standards for this post.

let the excitement continue…

Lately, I’ve been all about that sugar.  (Did I write about this last week?  Maybe?  I’m repeating writings already?!)  Side note, there are a few women who work the desk of our main office and 3 pm is mini-dance party time.  They play “All About  That Bass”.  It is so much more than awesome as they are all in their 50’s or above.

Anyway, I can tell I’ve been hitting the sugar hard when all I want to do is pour the bottle of creamer into my coffee because it doesn’t taste sweet enough.  I’ve stuck to measuring out my creamer to an acceptable caloric intake for my morning pick me up but right now it just doesn’t feel like enough.  It’s a mini battle every morning (of no real importance but the struggle is there) – just me and my taste buds going at it.

What’s the cause?  Well, first of all, we have these Mega M&M bags here in the office that we give out to the students.  I only eat a couple of the M&M’s per day but it is reinforcing my need for chocolate/sugar.  Suddenly, instead of it being a mid-afternoon treat, I eat one or two in the mid-morning as well.  Get this – it even makes me feel a bit sick to my stomach and yet, I still go for it!  Some of it has been stress, sitting around a lot, the weather – lots of “reasons” to inhale tasty treats.

I have made some headway with regards to my night-snacks.  It’s helping that I’m eating enough protein at dinner to keep me feeling full a lot longer.  However, after I finish this bag of peanuts I’m not buying anymore for a long while.  Wait – I just remembered I bought some cheddar/caramel popcorn.  Dang it.  I have a sickness.  I ate mucho of this last night.  Anyway, have you tried this mix?  I thought it would be completely disgusting but it’s not.  Unfortunately.

The fix?  I will continue to measure the good ol’ creamer – this is a must.  I’m kicking morning chocolate (which means I should probably get rid of the small bag that’s carefully stashed in my desk drawer – secret eating at its finest) and nix the afternoon coffee.  The afternoon coffee ALWAYS sabotages me yet I NEVER LEARN!  Great scott!!

*sigh*

No walking again last night.  Boo.  I didn’t get home until a little after 7 pm as I had a business dinner.  I did enjoy some tasty sweet potato fries and a yummy salad.

P.S. I know sugar is the hot public enemy number 1 .  Don’t get me wrong – I will always have a sweet tooth and will indulge.  But yesterday I was staring at a cookie like it was a life raft in shark and dragon infested waters… this MIGHT be a clue!

this is a fairly accurate depiction

tasty energy bites – I need one stat

Today I’m feeling all kinds of out of sorts and lethargic.

Here is what I’ve done so far to battle these feelings:

1.  Drink a 32 oz coffee (not super either diet approved)

2.  Took a 20 min nap during lunch.

3.  Drank 7 oz of hot chocolate (I’m losing track as to whether or not this is diet approved)

4.  Walked around outside.

5.  Was somewhat successful in being productive today.

None of these helped.

I’m still debating whether or not to do some miles on the treadmill.  I’m guessing it will aid in my feeling blah but the energy it takes to just change my clothes sounds like too much.  Then there are the two eggplants sitting in my fridge that are on their last little eggplant legs and I don’t want to lose them.  They need and want to be eggplant patties!  How about the fact that it is FREEZING outside and my body temp won’t regulate itself.  Of course… running would help this.

this looks like a good compromise

*Sigh*

Instead I will post this recipe for these very tasty energy bites.  Yesterday, we had a presentation from a nutrition education counselor in our meeting.  He brought us said yummies and I was a bit skeptical at first.  I should not have been.  Seriously, make these and eat them – your tummy/taste buds will appreciate you!

Energy Bites:

1 cup Old Fashioned Oats (I bought gluten-free)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup of honey

1 cup of coconut flakes

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

Mix it all in a bowl.  Let the mixture chill in the fridge for 30-45 mins.  Once chilled, roll into bite size balls and EAT THEM!

Store them in an air tight container in the fridge.

***I bought dried blueberries instead and will use some pecans as they don’t seem to bother my stomach.  I haven’t decided about the honey – it’s a no-go on FODMAP so maybe I will 1/2 the amount called for?  I didn’t have any troubles yesterday so not sure yet… my life is full of such decisions!

Tomorrow is another day!  With the power of these treats I will prevail!

weekly wellness recap

I’ve decided to do a weekly wellness check in – maybe I can help others who are struggling with similar issues?  Also, I want to write out what I am doing to help avoid making the same mistakes and repeat some of the successes.

Mind Arena:

As mentioned, this was an emotional week.  I soak up the emotions of others – especially those I really care about.  I’m slowly learning to turn down my emotional permeability to detrimental or unnecessary emotions but I’m a work in progress on that front.  With regards to people who are dear to me though, all bets are off.  This definitely created some angst to my physical and emotional self.

A good point though was during one or two days when regular work stress was hitting the fan, I was able to utilize tapping to ease it in the moment along with working out in the evenings (more on this in a moment).  Both of these gave me a boost of confidence that in time, I might be able ease more of my current and future physical pain/symptoms.

Oh and I continued to ease my troubled mood with some Parks and Rec each evening – seriously helped.  Not to mention satisfying my craving for waffles (thanks to Leslie Knope for initiating that craving!).  And a wonderful gift from a friend – Trex socks!  I know, how lucky am I?!

when I look at my feet I get happy

Body Arena:

Last week was a three day work out week.  Not as good as the week before, however, I did have 4 work outs, so that’s something!  But I really shouldn’t write about work outs until AFTER they happen.  Thursday night I was all set for a swim.  Unfortunately there was another swim meet.  Instead, I hit 4 miles on the treadmill friends.  It was a struggle.  I REALLY wanted to give up at mile 3 but hung until the end.  Friday was a really bad stomach day but still hit 3 miles – walking, you know, to make sure I didn’t vomit on my cat.  Always a good thing, eh?

ha!

So, a brief recap: Tuesday night, 30 min swim, followed by 3 miles on the treadmill.  Thursday, 4 miles, and Friday 3 more.  This past weekend was a ROUGH one.  The doc did say exercise helps with both the acid issues and IBS but even after stuffing a ton of meds down my throat during the day, I wasn’t able to even slowly walk on my friend, the tready.  The weekend before was bad too and I’m beginning to wonder if my being a lazy-bones during the day has something to do with it.  Or maybe because I push it during the week to make sure I hit my obligations and then once I can let my guard down, my body goes into full attack mode.  On itself.  Hmm… I’m going to brainstorm an action plan and some experiments to see what I can do about this.

In the food realm, I totally laxed on my low-FODMAP diet.  I tried to eat some foods on the no-no list with lousy results.  I did better with the GERD diet, although my stomach didn’t seem to appreciate my efforts.  I do this thing where once I’ve been diagnosed and received my marching orders, my expectations are an IMMEDIATE “I feel better!”.  Perhaps I should give things time to work?  What can I say?  I’m a delusional optimist!

thanks to Kara at It’s a Dog Lick Baby World for tweeting me this! Sorry it’s hard to read but fruit is kinda off the table at the moment.

This week I’m striving for a more concerted effort with eating low-FODMAPs (I think I’ve found a couple of fruits I can eat, smoothie style – got to avoid some scurvy!), swimming at least 2x – it relieves stress/anxiety better than running and more miles on the treadmill.  Also, I will employ some more tapping sessions to head off some of the aforementioned stress/anxiety.

Welcome week!

so much room for activity!

One week ago today, I had my stomach follow-up.  Two of the recommendation biggies were exercise more and follow the GERD diet.  I’ve had moderate success with the GERD diet, and today marks the 1 week anniversary of only having ONE cup of coffee a day – YAY!

I’m a beast in training

Now where I’ve been even more successful is with the working out piece.  Listen to this:  last week I worked out 4 times.  This one is exciting folks.  I can’t remember the last time I hit 4 days.  At first I felt guilty because it has been so long since this happened and then I hit myself upside the head and replaced it with loads and loads of pride.

Last Tuesday I swam for 37 mins.  Thursday, Saturday and Sunday I ran/walked on my pal the treadmill.  I’m even typing this with a smile on my face.

This week, I’ve had some success as well.  Tuesday night I swam for 40 minutes.  I worked on my stroke and kicking and let me tell you, I was wiped out after it.  I did swim faster, which is always a cool thing but my endurance is iffy so my heart was a beatin’.  After my swim session, I came home and knocked out (I use that term loosely as it was HARD) 3 miles on the treadmill.

I know.  Two works in the same day.  I checked the mirror to make sure it was still me.

I will say, I was exhausted yesterday.  I had to work late so I didn’t swim nor did I run.  Rather, I ate way too many servings of Chicago style popcorn.  Yet another form of popcorn crack – take my word for it.  I wanted to stop but I could.not.do.it.

I demolished that popcorn… not quite like this though… next time

Tonight is another round of swimming and running.  I know it’s pushing my fitness in a positive way.  The other major benefit?  It’s been an emotionally exhausting week (see emotionally indulging in popcorn above) and at the end of my swim, the overwhelming sense of anxiety had dissipated by leaps and bounds.  I didn’t even realize it until about 2 hours after I was finished.  It’s making me a believer in this whole meditative exercise choice.

swimming and me = besties

As mentioned, the emotional roller coaster has, of course, had an effect on my tummy.  I decided to try to reintroduce a few things to my diet in regards to the FODMAP diet and this was a disaster.  Last weekend I was learning/trying to accept my conflicting new diets and now I need to figure out to implement them.  Spreadsheet world here I come!

I haven’t figured out if Friday will be a swim day or not but I think I might need it.  Running will be high on the agenda for the weekend as I need to push past this 3 mile business.  I need to add some mileage in order not to crawl across the finish line in this impending 8k… which is 2 weeks away – EEK!

snow days are the best days

Guess what day it is?!  It’s a snow day!  Seriously, even though I’m in my 30’s working in higher ed still allows me to enjoy the day “off”. Technically I don’t get the whole day away BUT, I’m in sweatpants so it works.

I’m utilizing the day to advance cook a few things for the rest of the week. My auuhmaze balls are almost gone & even though the breakfast cookies weren’t super great in the beginning, they tasted better as time went on. I also put them in the fridge, which helped. Then I will be cooking some meat. I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten so much meat in my entire life in such a short period of time. On the docket are some delish hot dogs, almond flour salmon, some dates wrapped in bacon & something with a couple of steaks I have. I’ll say it again-this meal planning deal is nifty.

In non-whole30 news.

I have a 5k this wkend. It’s a local turkey trot & I’m looking forward to it. I am slightly concerned about the weather but whatever. I’m MORE concerned about my lack of running as of late!  Where has all my motivation gone?!  Ok, so it’s safe to say it was sub par to begin with but now it simply qualifies as lackluster.

I still haven’t been to our new Costco & I’m feeling really left out. My plan was to go today but my car is a giant snowball & this past Thursday we had out first big snow storm. My car played “let’s go sledding!” So it’s home for me.

Simon also loves snow days.

Tomorrow morning I am charged with bringing lovely-surgery-gluten-donuts to our business meeting. 4 dozen to be exact. It happens I’m in charge of the committee for this sort of thing & I have more time in the morning than others. THEN I get to sit around as my co-workers get to enjoy the deliciousness of said donuts. While the history books don’t support my theory, I think this is some form of medieval torture. I’m guessing it’s so horrifying that they couldn’t bear to document it.

My co-workers hovering donuts

Lastly, I spent some time googling celiac disease this morning. It happens that this snow day fell on a good day since I’m not feeling very well & I’m trying to moderate my sick leave. In addition to other unfortunate diseases, celiac can be a contributing factor to epilepsy, migraines, ADHD, depression & anxiety. There are more but these are things that play a major role in my life so I was taken aback. Even gluten sensitivity can foster the migraines, ADHD, depression & anxiety. My bro-in-law does most of the cooking in the house & it’s all paleo meals so this means my sis does too. She said her migraine frequency has gone down considerably & even when she does get a headache it isn’t as bad. Since gluten issues run the fam, this is certainly something I’m considering for long term changes. Even if my test results are a negative for full on celiac, from my reading it’s harder to rule out the sensitivity. Clearly I have lots to consider.

Celiac disease sufferers out there-please tell me some of your tales of healing!

and gluten sensitivity folks-please send me some good progress reports!