Discussion Board

Nicole:

Good trips for being prepared for home coming!! I really underestimated how much time it would take to pack for this trip - and though I intended to have things lined up for being back - it just didn't happen.

I did have a goodly supply of great sweet potatoes and yams from my trip. I bought them the day before I left in a Lao grocery in Redding, California. That was a fantastic find. I got three varieties I have never had -- a very light yellow innards variety with the same outer red we usually see on our sweet potatoes, a yellow variety with purple interior and another one I haven't tried yet. So I did get that right. I sure wish I'd gotten that house cleaning done before hand! I am done with the unpacking, but good grief I am still catching up on that house cleaning stuff!!!

Tell me more about how you prepare the apples for your stove top pie, please That sounds just wonderful.

Weight: 203.5
Pain: 4
Fatigue: 4

I did sleep with the CPAP last night and got the whole night in - so the pain and fatigue are greatly reduced, yay. But yesterday was not on target for food. Well it was until tea with my dear friend Frannie!

She is another perfect friend, who tries hard to accommodate my eating. She set out a fabulous table with an extraordinary tea set. We had an almond vanilla tea, (yum) with sides of lychee nuts, cherries and sugared ginger, yum, yum and more yums.

I was in fruit heaven - but was WAY over my two fruits a day quota on MWL! To say that sugared ginger is an addiction for me is an understatement. My friend Marlene and I discovered it years and years ago and actually avoid it now because a whole bag can be devoured by the two of us, no problem. Now the latest we had on the camping trip was dried pineapple slices covered in chile powder -- OMG those are good.

Anyway I guess the fruit was good cleanse for me ( boy was it ever) and I am on the straight and narrow today!

Didn't gain a thing though, so I do believe the CPAP and the switch in thyroid drug level is making a huge difference! Though I doubt I'll have lost anything by tomorrow's weigh in. Hopefully tomorrow I can get back to exercise too. Today is the all day battle with the vacuum - and that is enough for me today for sure!

Michelle - sounds like planned ahead did excellently on your first real trip - but how much that needs to be done/planned ahead is SO FAR outside the norm of what regular people expect, it is no wonder it takes a few tries for us Fibro/AI people.

Anyway, I chop up an apple into about 1-2" cubes, skin and all, and put it with a smidge of water in a little saucepan.

Add heat, cover and let steam on medium heat until they apples bits begin to go soft.

Take off the lid, and let the remaining liquid burn off and the apples get brown and mushier, closer to chunky applesauce.

Toss in some frozen blueberries, remove the heat and put the lid back on and allow the heat from the apples to defrost the blueberries. This is when the berries release their juices, and a magical, purple syrup-like liquid infuses the whole thing.

Stir, and add the spices you like! Cinnamon, apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar - all good! On occasion, I toss in a diced pecan or two, or some diced cashews - this is a TREAT after all, to help me stay away from chocolate hemp milk ice "cream."

*Edit* to add: frozen cherries also work, instead of blueberries, and sometimes I like to put Garam Masala spice mix on the apples by themselves.

Weight - 202.5
Exercise - 30 minutes exer-cycle
Pain: 6
Fatigue: 8
Meditation: 40 minutes

I am exhausted this morning, girl cat woke me up at 4 demanding food. Turns out their crunchies were invaded by ants last night.......and she just couldn't wait until a reasonable hour to point that out to me. I am debating whether I should go back to sleep - exercise was awful and couldn't muster the full hour at all.

That's it I am going back to sleep!!!!



January 01, 2012 - 212.0
January 06, 2012 - 210.5
January 13, 2012 - 209.5
January 20, 2012 - 208.0
January 27, 2012 - 210.0
February 03, 2012 - 207.0
February 10, 2012 - 207.0
February 18, 2012 - 208.0
February 24, 2012 - 207.5
March 02, 2012 - 206.0
March 09, 2012 - 205.5
March 16, 2012 - 206.0
March 22, 2012 - 204.0
March 29, 2012 - 208.0
April 05, 2012 - 203.5
April 13, 2012 - 210.5
April 14, 2012 - 208.5
April 19, 2012 - 206.5
April 26, 2012 - 205.0
May 04, 2012 - 205.5
May 11, 2012 - 204.5
May 18, 2012 - 205.0
May 24, 2012 - 203.0
June 01, 2012 - 202.0
June not precisely MWL due to soft foods diet after dental probs.
June 22, 2012 - 204.5
June 29, 2012 - 204.0
July 06, 2012 - 203.5
July 12, 2012 - 203.5
July 20, 2012 - 203.0
VACATION no weigh in
August 3, 2012 - 202.5

Down - 0.5

I didn't expect to loose much as this week hasn't really been MWL. I have had some crackers and cookies left over from the vacation and a over the top with fat store bought salad last Sunday. So loosing .5 is good - but really I lost that in my vacation week and just went up and down and got back to that weight.

Congrats on the weight loss, but I hope you are feeling better soon! We just got back from New Orleans last night, and I know that I am exhausted and my pain level is up today too.

Hey Carolyn:

Been thinking of you - someone posted an "any hints for New Orleans thread" - guess that wan't in time for your trip. Hope you had loads of fun!

Weight: 205.5
BP: 108/74 pulse 66
Pain: 7
Fatigue: 9
Meditation: 30 mins

I am having a downer of a day literally. I woke up at 3 AM again and now realize that is because that's when the barometer is going straight up or down these days. The fog is still in at noon which is kind of unusual - it generally burns off in by no later than mid-morning. I am feeling it in a big BAD way!

Again, I got up early and read "Starch Solution" but my eyes snapped shut at 7 AM for a nap of three hours. If this happens I know that the day is shot, as I never get out of the fatigue/pain parts - even with an extra cycle of sleep.

I had a ton of things planned today. Mostly working in my yard - it's not going to happen. I'll do paper work instead - I have tons to do. Or if I feel too funky I'll just curl up and read more of "Starch Solution", "Vegan on $4 A Day", "Everyday Happy Herbivore and I am buying "My Plastic Free Life" for my NOOK today too.

Listing all these fantastic books is cheering me up. When I languish like this I feel realy non-productive, especially so because I am in too much pain to drive to the gym or do anything there of use! I tried that yesterday and and it was abysmal and as much as I willed myself to do more I did a very feeble 1/2 hour.

I am not worried about that huge weight gain though - it's weather related water retention for me. I've got terrible sausage hands today - so it's very obvious. Still a 3 pound gain on the scale does something to my mind set

I am really happy with the blood pressure though. I need to look up what it's come down from ( started at 124/84 PR 92 now 108/74 PR 66 ) - because it's a big drop for me and back to my historical range ( 110/60 for most of my life) .

I didn't have BP probs when I started but I was getting there - just like the pre-diabetes thing. I feel confident that these things are behind me - though I know being overweight is not good at all - I am (well I was yesterday) no longer obese and that is something that bells should chime for I think.

In that context -- all is good and hehehehe - the sun just came out this very minute, well for one minute it did. The sun was smiling for me and my progress - just for a wee bit!!!

A truly crappy day - it's now raining gently - the fibro is in Heaven I am not!

B: oatmeal/fruit/flax/cinnamon/almond milk w/ herbal coffee 1 tbs coconut creamer
S: banana
L: sweet potato w/ SNAP mexican fiesta topping
D: bok choy/mushrooms/ginger/onions/2 cups rice
S: apple

Over again on fruit maybe - need to figure out if my morning fruit is a serving - I don't think it really is?

Oh turns out I should have looked up what I am supposed to be doing and the deal is doing a work out between these numbers - essentially I am fine if I am in this zone. I kind of have been thinking I had to be at the top of that zone within the first 5 mins of my work out and then I do intervals on the bike, rower and treadmill. So like I've been doing 3mins at max and 3 mins at lowest end and back up again for 15 mins with a cool down between each new machine. I guess this is OK, but now I won't feel bad if my max heart rate isn't achieved for the whole 3 mins! and going under 112 for the low target interval would be my goal.

Weight: 204
Pain: 6
Fatigue: 2
Meditation 30 mins

Well, I got a good night's sleep kind of. I slept straight through with the aid of two Benadyrl. This is the over the counter go to sleeping aid of fibromyalgics. when I took the pain management class I remember the Dr. saying specifically he knows that we will resort to antihistamines to drop off and stay asleep and he is all for that compared to many prescription drugs with their numerous side effects. So when sleep eludes or I expect to be woken by interruptions I don't need to be up for - well I take them!

Two would be a big dose for me - I was desperate for sleep only problem was I feel asleep on my bed while watching a streamed movie on my laptop, which is to say I don't know what happened in the movie and I also didn't get the CPAP on in time.

I think I would have gone back down to 202.5 if I had worn the CPAP - then again it's another really foggy day. Still it's kind of when the barometer is going straight up or down during the fog buildup that causes the retention, or so it seems.

Regardless it's so nice not to be in a high state of fatigue and at a lower level of pain so far. Still I don't anticipate today being a high energy day - it just looks foggy and surreal out there. A day for tea and book reading. It even sprinkled a bit here last night. I heard that some of the drought states are getting actual rain, which made me hugely happy - that's a really bad situation that needs to end soon!

Tonight's dinner Balsamic Glazed Mustard Greens and Chickpeas from Fat Free Vegan

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/07/ba ... stard.html

I have been trying to eat a SNAP meal then the next day a meal featuring greens. I kind of felt intuitively this is what I need to do - go high on the crucifers mostly. Turns out that this is a good idea for folks who have had breast cancer. I have had it and a friend has recently had it - I did a little searching last night as she had heard that the cruciferous veggies are good for us. And so it is...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-fuhr ... 24965.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 153531.htm

So I am going to my cookbooks and fatfreevegan to find recipes for those that I can buy at the farmers market and grocery in season and I am going to try and branch out from my broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, & collards rut



B: oatmeal/fruit/flax/cinnamon/almond milk w/ herbal coffee 1 tbs coconut creamer
S: banana
L: giant salad with 2 cups rice and veggies
D: fatfreevegan mustard greens with chickpeas over rice
S: apple

How are you feeling today? I have been hurting since I got back from my trip. I know alot of the issue is dietary, since I was very bad on the trip. But, I am back to it today, and determined that this is going to be the time that it sticks.

Also, thanks for the links to the cruciferous vegetable articles. I have a friend with breast cancer, and I shared the Science Daily one with her.

I hope you are feeling a little better today!

Didn't weigh
Meditated: 30 mins
Pain: 3
Fatigue: 2

Hey Carolyn - sorry about your friend with BC. I wish I could tell my friend that the best thing she could do is go McDougall, but well I'll stat with broccoli and work up from there

I read your post today about the insult that got your Irish up and hey it's probably just the thing to get you in high gear again! I know that kind of thing works on me too. We should remind each other to trade insults if we think we are falling off even a bit

That said I am feeling great today - just a bitty bit of pain and fatigue. I sure didn't feel like that Saturday. The fog was here all day and the barometer was spiking up and down terribly that day. I was fantastic on my vacation, up in the dry air of the high mountains. Though we ate McD the whole time, it wasn't MWL, but I still lost on the vac a tiny bit. You can bet I wouldn't have if I'd been in New Orleans though!!!!!

Still, I am spiking weight again with the weather back home. I decided not to weigh today and see what a couple of days of good weather bring me at the end of the week - I CAN HOPE AT LEAST.

I am being really vigilant what I eat too - so we'll see!

B: oatmeal/fruit/flax/cinnamon/almond milk w/ herbal coffee 1 tbs coconut creamer
L: giant salad with 2 cups rice and veggie + fatfreevegan mustard greens with chickpeas left overs
S: melon + herbal coffees

Weight: 203.5
Meditation 20 mins
Pain: 3
Fatigue: 4

Yesterday though I didn't say it was a bad day it was just really disconnected. Every step I took had a huge unforseen glitch where something went completely haywire. For starters I need to fill out a form for a class I want to take the printer wouldn't work. It's 8 years old, I can't get color cartridges unless I special order them - I need to go buy another one. I HATE THIS! Really I don't need another one - this one has everything I need - it just wont work. I have to spend $300 because it's broke and the cartridges won't be available much longer. I hate living in a throw away world.

Then I go to my church to pick up food for the Food Closet I work at in the afternoon. I just put a new clipboard out for folks to leave their emails -so I can give them a food list of needs. It replaced one that went missing. The new one the one that has been there a wek is now gone. Could someone be stealing clipboards at Church?????

Then I go to my meditation group - I am more then a little needing it and the guy that usually leads it - has a temper tantrum and won't. He want's me too. Essentially leading screws up my meditation entirely, unless I have an opening and closing prepared. This ticks me off too, Mostly his behavior. And because I need a quiet break before going to the Food Closet. I don't get it!

On my way - a guy walks right into the Blvd in front of my car. There's no cross walk, no light - he just walks right into traffic causing me to almost hit him. He screams at me like I DID SOMETHING WRONG!

I won't even say how much fun the FC is. Half the folks are crazy for starters. And my manger was in a hyper in my way at every step mode - although I completely love her - there are days!

I won't go on everything els I did had a messed up conclusion. Last thing at night I went to compost my dinner scraps and threw them in the paper recycle container. At this point I decided not to even try anything else and went to bed early and had major insomnia - which I no longer do!

I just remind myself someone else is having a seriously bad day in a real world conflict that they have nothing to do with- but dang - will this black cloud that is following me around please quit it!

I have to figure out if I am going to buy a new printer today - when I haven't paid off my vacation just yet, grr....

Not to mention I weighed a lot less at the beginning of the week - double grr...

OK I am done now, really.. would you believe I already mediatated this morning - I can't

Oh Michelle! I hope you had a much better day today than yesterday was! I had a day pretty much like that on Friday, and honestly cried before the day was through. Hopefully whatever is causing all of this unpleasantness in our lives has moved on out, and we can have really good days ahead!

I am glad to see that your pain levels are down. I have been struggling with pain and fatigue since we got home. I really think that I need an entire day just to sleep!

Weight - 202.5 back to last Fridays weigh in weight weather is stable and I am not retaining.
Pain: 4
Fatigue: 4

Carolyn: After I got he new printer initialized and set up yesterday ( my old one also died the day of all the bad happenings) I am much better and things seem to be going OK again! Sorry you had a bad Friday. The weekend is coming soon and you'll hopefully get some R& R.

B: oatmeal/fruit/flax/cinnamon/almond milk w/ herbal coffee 1 tbsp coconut creamer
L: giant salad with 2 cups rice and veggies
S: banana
D: potatoes/cabbage/cauliflower w/ pub mustard
S: apple

Weight - 201 -

Gosh, I may actually have weight loss to post at the weigh in finally, yay! This is clearly due to being at the right thyroid med level and on pills that work!!!! As I haven't worn my CPAP or exercised all week! And the only thing I have changed is the pills - I rarely loose weight unless I am exercising and using the CPAP - so this weight loss to me is just fixing the thyroid meds.

I won't exercise today either we have a serious "Spare the Air Alert" here today, so I won't drive today to the gym. And yesterday we had a bad fire very close to my home. The air quality outside is too bad to go out in walk in even. As I am retired I don't drive on these days because I can avoid it. Most people can't avoid driving - so I do.

The fire was contained at only three acres. It was in a nearby nature preserve. When I was little that land was a horse farm and I took riding lessons there. It's wonderful now to walk the same trails I used to ride. But it's terrible to know that the fire is being investigated as a suspicious cause - that is -- arson is likely.

Anyway - it was intense and 3 fire agencies were on it -- two town FD's and the CalFire planes -- 3 of them. It very much threatened lots of structures here. I now have a feeling of the fear that people must have felt during that big fire in Colorado.

It took off and the FD's sent trucks out as I was meditating in the afternoon. As I was fairly deep into the mediation sounds don't really activate me - it should have as all the windows were open and I have to say inhaling that air made me pretty sick thereafter. Funny that it didn't smell particularly smokey. That would have got me into action maybe.

Anyway, I am so jazzed about the weight loss, especially because I spiked so high during the fog period this week!

B: oatmeal/fruit/flax/cinnamon/almond milk w/ herbal coffee 1 tbsp coconut creamer
L: giant salad with 1 cups rice and veggies
S: banana
D: potatoes/cabbage/cauliflower w/ pub mustard
S: melon

Today my appetite is way down still feeling pretty sick - so maybe it wasn't the fire smoke and I actually have something, yeech to that!

What is going on with this week, Michelle? Me, you, everyone we both know...something is UP!

WOW! Glad you were not burnt up, that's for sure. Crazy how meditation made you able to tune out the sirens...I noticed that too, last weekend at my in-laws. (MIL can be loud and demanding, because although she is quite sweet for the most part, she has had a couple of strokes and has unpredictable rages, interspersed with unreasonable demands, such as "I can't finish my tetris game, YOU DO IT! DO IT RIGHT NOW!!" and nothing will get her off track, except dessert )

I usually am going nuts when she acts up like that, but last weekend I was cool as a cucumber in a marshmallow dream.

Also - Hello correct thyroid meds! Welcome back weight loss! Less stress on the mind of Mistress Michelle