A Serendipitous Journey

[nayasmom]

Two weeks from today I'll be running my relay race. I had to stand in for my volunteer aid station worker today at the volunteer meeting, which was great because I got to meet the race director's new baby, who is about 3 weeks old. Apparently he cries a lot, so I will suggest to Mom to stop eating dairy for a few days and see if it makes a difference. He's a beautiful baby no matter what he's doing. I got a blankie for him that could also be a wall hanging, and finally remembered to bring it to give to Mom.

So there have been some new things happening. I started reading, "What To Say When You Talk To Your Self". It was recommended by my adopted mom, who in the past was very much into Amway and the whole pyramid scheme thing. Luckily she is no longer in that mindset, but this book seems to have been quite popular with that population. Essentially it's about how our brains are computers, and our computers have been programmed almost since our birth, and most of the programming is garbage, negative. In some cases, it's worse than negative, but the whole point is, we each have the ability to reprogram our computers, and change how we think. It's pretty common. How often does a person say, "I'm just no good at this!" "I've always wanted to learn to play piano but I just don't have any talent" "I'm so clumsy!" "I'll never learn how to use this smart phone!"
Familiar? I bet so. And the thing is, our computer is so good at being programmed, whatever we feed into it, comes true! "I'm just no good at this!" and *poof* the brain makes it true!
So I apply this to a lot of aspects of my life. I say I'm a binge eater, I have ocd with food, I have no 'off' switch to my hunger, I can't stop eating... all true! because I've told my brain over and over and over that it's all true.
In the past two weeks, I've gone on my runs and repeated things like, "I weigh 116 lbs. I eat exactly the amount of food that I need to maintain an ideal weight of 116 lbs" and "I finished my marathon in under 6 hours 20 minutes" and "I won the lottery; I am retired"... I say all kinds of things. Whether or not they're things I can control, who cares? I'm keeping an open mind.
I also discovered that yes, indeed, chia seed really does energize and invigorate and motivate. Oh She Glows posted a recipe some time back for 'chia fresca' which used coconut water, chia, and sweetener. I had a can of coconut water, which was a sample from a run I'd done last year sometime, so I made the recipe. It works. Chia historically has been used by the indigenous people in the mountains of Mexico and Peru for energy and nourishment while fighting in battles or covering long distances on foot for a race or migration. The Tarahumara use chia and posole as their only nourishment when they travel on foot or have one of their famous spur-of-the-moment 100+ mile races.
Yesterday I went on an 8 mile run and my legs were pretty tight hours afterward, because I think I ran faster than I normally do. Another advantage of using chia is that it binds with water in a huge way, so I shouldn't have any more intestinal issues if I use chia in the morning before a run. It IS higher in fat than I'm comfortable with, but I need to make sure I don't get too crazy with the stuff, and only use it pre-run and that's it.
In fact, I'm going to make up some 'chia fresca' for the aid station table during the relay. It will be welcomed by the other runners, I'm sure. There will be at least 15 teams competing, so it's going to be a full, full day. I still plan to run a total of about 22 miles, and then will start a 3-week taper before the marathon. We've been okayed to start early if we aren't sure we can finish at a decent time, and while the mornings are freezing cold, once the sun comes over the mountains it will heat up to about 90* by 11am, so there is a group of us pokeys who will start at 5am. Our time will still be logged, but it won't be eligible to qualify for Boston, like I for one am so worried about... ha ha ha ha ha. Not.
And, of course, my personal record was 6 hours, 23 minutes, and change, which is why I'm saying I finished in under 6 hours and 20 minutes when I go run. I am going to ring that bell this year when I finish.
I'm finally going to get my hair cut by a professional next week. No more hole-in-the-wall places where the stylist speaks passing-fair English and thinks short hair is man hair and acts accordingly. I might wish to go blonde. It's not that I want to be anything other than the way I am, but blonde hair won't absorb heat from the sun as much as dark hair does. I'd make a terrible-looking blonde. Maybe I can go silver.

Anyway. Anyone reading this post, I highly and strongly recommend getting the book I mentioned earlier. It's a self-help book, yes, but you know what, you'll be very surprised at how much negative programming you've given your computer. It'll also help you reprogram your computer, help you write up the statements you use to make those changes. I got mine from ebay for under $4 and free shipping.
Robyn

[nayasmom]

One down, one to go. I completed 19 miles total during the Little Loco, out of a projected 21 miles, and I'm not sure I'm happy with it but I'm not sure I'm going to do anything about it, either.
It was a day for adventures, that's for sure. I thought I had forgotten my shoes, so my teammate lent me an extra pair she had in her car, which were very different from what I'm used to wearing now so my first leg was tough. I got serious fatigue in my legs and could not maintain a running rhythm. I ended up walking quite a bit of it, and finished nearly 30 minutes later than I wanted to. The next few legs were downhill so we got caught up enough, and things were going alright after that. Then, one of my teammates went straight instead of turning, and kept on going... for 6 miles. The rest of us went to the next switch point and got to worrying when no one there had seen our runner. About two hours later we finally got him back and beat feet to the switch point we should have been at originally, and it was just the sweep team. They followed us the rest of the way to the finish, because we were the very last team. I knew we could finish under the time limit, but it was close, with about 15 minutes to spare, and we earned our finisher medals, I can tell you that. We also earned the respect and admiration of the entire race crew and the other teams. They'd all gone home by the time we rolled in, but the race director had faith we'd finish in time and everyone was impressed, so we got some bragging rights after all.
I ran some of my fastest time, even with that first leg fiasco. I had the very last leg as well, and it was downhill to level, and the sweep team got out to pace me the last mile. That was wonderful, as I had started to worry I wasn't going to make it in time. My teammates met me about 1/4 mile out and we all crossed that line together. Best. Team. Evah.
I have some new confidence. I went out for an 8 mile run yesterday and was stronger and faster than before.
In just under 3 weeks I'll be running my marathon, and I feel so much better about it now that I've done the Loco. I'm still doing the positive self talk, and I'm still saying, "I finished my marathon in under 6 hours 20 minutes".

[nayasmom]

Self talk only works as a programming method for the brain if the brain has a point of reference, and I learned this the hard way. For weeks I'd been saying, "I weigh 116 lbs". When I weighed myself 2 weeks ago, my weight had not changed one ounce in all that time. That pissed me off. But why should it? I hadn't weighed myself when I started the self talk, so my brain had no idea that my current weight was not 116 lbs, and it just accepted what I told it was true.
So now that I have weighed myself, and given my brain a point of reference, I changed my self talk to, "I am losing at least 2 lbs per week for the next 20-25 weeks". I weighed myself a week later, and was down 5 lbs.
So there is self talk, and there is common sense self talk, and it's all good.
In 10 days I'll be running my marathon. I feel good on that score. I'm excited for it to happen already, and looking forward to challenging myself.

[nayasmom]

What a glorious day it was. The high was nearly 100*, but I started with the 5am crowd (hour and a half earlier than the official start time), and had a wonderful time running in the soft dark. We were just off the full moon, and it was still fairly high overhead, so there was no need to wear a light of any kind. However, the temperature was already 57*.
I ran a strong first half, and even going uphill between mile 8 and 14.5 (the turnaround) I was strong and solid. Unfortunately, I ate one of the energy nuggets I had squirreled away in my pack, which was peanut butter, honey, granola, and dried fruit - all foods I don't eat, like ever, except once in a great great while. The aid station teams were great but obviously inexperienced in distance runner nutrition, and offered mostly sweet foods like worms, gummi bears, fruit jellies, and pb&j sammies, along with fresh fruit, a lot of watermelon. Nothing salty except for oily roasted peanuts and highly processed pretzels. With the heat, there was a lot of leg cramping going on, a lot of dehydration issues, and the teams were woefully unprepared for those things. I carried ibuprofen and pamprin with me, along with my Hyland's leg cramp tablets, so I was good to go on that score. But back to the energy nugget. By the time I passed the mile 15 marker, my gut was screeching. I had to dive into the woods and take care of the distress, and got back on the road, only to have to do the same thing again another mile or so down. I was low on toilet paper so thank goodness there was an aid station to give me paper towels to use. Paper towels are not kind to tender butt skin, let me tell you.
Needless to say, I started to suffer from fatigue quite soon after this as a result of having to stop several times to use the porta potties or the woods.
But.
I finished. I was happy, and I was doing GREAT otherwise. I finished an hour and 14 minutes slower than I wanted to, but my time was much better than in 2014, and I felt strong and confident all the way. I'm signed up for 2017 and I'm going to do BETTER. I've already put in my request for the marathon aid stations to offer whole-food, non-sweet choices such as baked potatoes with salt. If not, oh well, I will just pack my own food. And I will take a couple of the energy nuggets for a post-finish sweet treat, and not to eat during the run. With distance running, I do allow myself to indulge in higher-fat foods, although I still avoid oils, but it's just not a good idea during the run.
Believe it or not, I gained the extra confidence and strength from running the relay 3 weeks ago. I learned that I could push myself and not suffer. My training runs after the relay were faster and stronger, and I felt the difference.
I made two new friends this time, and met up with a runner from last year who is originally from my town but currently lives in So.Cal. All in all it was a perfect weekend, and I'm looking forward to next year's marathon with excitement and joy.
Robyn

[nayasmom]

I'm on week 2 of Spudtember. After a few so-so meals and some frustration with prep, I found that I can eat "cream" of potato soup without issues. I do like some cashew milk in it, and after making a batch without, I will stick to using cashew milk to help the creaminess. The texture is weird otherwise. So far, I love it with simply chives, salt, and pepper. I had some just now with nutritional yeast added, and it didn't make a difference so I won't use it again, more than likely. I might try some smoked paprika, and later maybe some onion, and I might not.
I didn't have any of the symptoms of potatssium overload that others complained of. It's all good.
I lost 4.4 lbs. Energy and other health-wise I don't feel much different than before. I eat a wonderful diet of whole foods, but my problem is food obsession. It's possible to eat too much oatmeal, too much broccoli, too much 3 bean mole, and so on. It's possible because I am living proof of it. I know there are die-hards who insist that adhering to Dr. McDougall's diet makes it impossible to remain fat, and that's okay. Those opinions are not my truth. I feel that people who are that harsh probably judge themselves the same way. How sad to live like that.
In any case, I'm not sure I am limiting this challenge to September. When it gets closer to the end of the month, I'll decide what I will do. I may get a pizza for the freezer and eat it as a victory meal on October 1, but that would kind of defeat the purpose of the challenge in the first place, right? That's my thought process.
I've also decided that after the 5K color run in two weeks, I will stop running until spring. I won't stop exercising, but I will switch to hiking and, when it snows, to snowshoeing. It's all in aid of preserving my knees. I still have a couple of challenges to do for the REach Higher bandana. Tomorrow I'll hike up Mt. Harkness, about a 3 mile round-trip hike, and it's less than 20 miles from me, quite doable.
Robyn

[nayasmom]

I had a really nice time this morning running a 5K color run in a tiny town east of Susanville. My first time visiting, I was pleased that the course was a great visitor's tour. I did well, for me, ran strong, and I stopped at all the dye stations for a 360* coloramajama. It was a fundraiser for the school, so that made it even better. I haven't run more than 4 miles since the marathon, but I'm debating signing up for the Bizz Johnson 10K. Depends on my gut.
Spudtember is nearly over, and yesterday morning I weighed in informally (not recording anything until Sept 30), and have lost nearly 10 lbs from when I started on 9/1. I'm happy with the results, but even though I have subscribed to Spudtober, I will have to modify my food until after the Bizz. I just don't digest spuds well. They cause me too much intestinal upset. That is why I can't run more than 4 miles, and sometimes I don't even get that far. Everything happens for a reason. My knee is still not recovered fully from the marathon, so the digestive issues are a way to force me to scale way way back and have a care.

One of the things that's happened since starting this diet is that when I eat too much condiment stuff, my gut suffers. I get queasy, or I have to stay by a bathroom for hours, or something. I can't eat ANYthing that has sugar in it, like bbq sauce or even ketchup. If I eat more than a half a sweet potato, the sugar in that will do a number on me. I had a generous helping of salsa with my wedges earlier and I don't feel at all good. It makes me wonder what Spudtober will be like for the time I need to add in other foods. I do plan to stick with the potato diet until the end of the year. As long as I can stay consistent on weight loss, I will meet my goal weight by December 31st. Hopefully I can resolve food obsession meanwhile. It would be nice.
Robyn

[nayasmom]

Well, this has been a month! On Sept 1 I started out at 161.4 lbs. Today I weighed in at 150.6 lbs, eating only potatoes for 30 days. Tomorrow I will have victory meals of split pea soup (mostly spuds) and spuds e fagioli zuppa (also mostly spuds). I had a coupon for a pizza but after considering the ramifications of eating a pizza after 30 days of potatoes, I decided that's a little too far out of my comfort zone right now. I've done a lot of good mind bending thus far, but I know I'm not where I need to be re food obsession at this point. I plan to continue potatoes only until year's end. I may do a hack style, and use some days to add in vegetables, but spuds will be my only starch whatever I do.
After several days of peeling my spuds, I did a 6 mile run and had no issues. I will continue to peel my spuds from here on out.
I always say that the McDougall way of eating is the cheapest on Earth but I was wrong. Eating only potatoes... that is the cheapest way to eat on Earth. I eat about 20 lbs of potatoes per week, which is about $8, which is like $1.15 per day.
Robyn

[amandamechele]

Congratulations Robyn!
What have some of your favourite ways to prepare your spuds been?
I'm doing a 10-day Mary's Mini with potatoes as my main starch and am looking for ideas (even for after the 10-day period).

Best wishes for your continued success.

Amy

[nayasmom]

Hi Amy,
Interestingly, my favorite ways to prep spuds are pretty boring! Then again, like many McDougallers, I only use about 5 or so recipes over and over again anyway.
Perhaps my very favorite way to cook spuds is to peel and dice a bunch of russets (cheapest and starchiest, I think) and throw them into a well-heated nonstick saute pan. I got a Kirkland saute pan, huge one, with rounded sides and lid, for I think about $40. After I've let the pan heat at med-low for a few minutes, I start prepping the spuds,a nd as I dice each one (o'brien style) I toss it into the pan so it starts sizzling right away. I keep doing that until all the potatoes are in the pan. Then I use a wooden spatula to dig out the bottom layer, as it will have a crisp going, and turn the spuds, then cover and leave alone for about 10~15 minutes. I'll turn the spuds again, and cover for another 10 min. The cover helps the spuds cook through with the resulting steam; otherwise, they will take for-EVER to cook through. Anyway, after I take the lid off the 2nd time, it stays off, I turn the spuds, and let it sit in the pan uncovered (still cooking) for a while longer. I get a nice crisp going. I usually just use salt to season, and sometimes a few dashes of Cholula or your choice of sauce will work to liven things up.
My other favorite is creamy potato soup. I peel a bunch of spuds, cut them up and toss them into the pressure cooker, add enough water to not quite cover the spuds, and set that to cook for 6 minutes. Then I use my trusty potato masher to get a nice chunky soup, and you can add stock if you want. I just use cashew milk to make it creamy, and season with salt and pepper and maybe green onion or chives, but stock will work as well. As the soup cools, it gets quite thick, like a mash, so I also take some of the soup, add Better Than Boullion and some water to thin it out to gravy consistency, then have mash with gravy. You can add nutritional yeast and some herbs if you wish.
I just bought a ricer, so I've been experimenting with a tater tot like product. The ricer helps mash the spuds without removing the texture, and I gently squish small chunks of mash together just so they hold up while baking. I use Old Bay seasoning but you can do up your own mixture with paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder and maybe some herbs like parsley or ground rosemary. I use a silicone mat for baking, because the part of the spud touching the mat will also crisp up. I bake them at 425* until they're as brown as I like 'em, which is pretty brown!
For having in the fridge to snack on or make a meal out of in a pinch, I peel a bunch of spuds, cut them in half, put them on the baking sheet cut side down, and bake them at 400* until they're tender, and when they've cooled off I put them in a container into the fridge. I just dip them in salt and sometimes Cholula or Inglehofer's sweet spicy mustard, or even plain ol' yellow mustard.

My weight yesterday morning was 148 lbs. I have not weighed less than 150 lbs since something like 1992. This is a grand adventure. I look forward to meeting my slim self at some point in the future. Each week I find more clothes to pack up to donate away. I have to knit a couple of pullovers right now to have something warm for winter!. It's nice to be knitting (or sewing) clothing that will fit for the rest of my life. At a larger size, I never wanted to make anything pretty because if I got bigger or smaller, I could no longer wear that pretty item. Now, I can start making things for my permanent size and be confident that once I get there, I'll stay there forever. Thanks to Dr. McDougall and for right now to Andrew Taylor of SpudFit, my future body is lovely to live in. There is no other food I'd rather be eating than this, the best stuff on Earth.
Sunday a week ago I joined some friends for an 8-mile jaunt along part of the PCT. What a hoot that was!! I hadn't seen any of these people since the end of July and it was so nice to wear a shirt that didn't fit even a couple months ago! I had such a lot of fun, and the plan is to run another part of the trail this weekend.
Robyn
PS I'm running much better as a result of even such a modest weight loss. I can't wait to be a running fool at my permanent weight!!! I am so looking forward to investing in some really pretty and colorful running togs, too!

[amandamechele]

Thanks for the tips, Robyn.

[nayasmom]

What a week! Sunday I participated in a half marathon relay. I ran the first leg, 7 miles, and posted my best pace thus far. I was very proud of myself. My partner ran the second half so fast, though, it brought our average pace down to under 12 mil/mile. My average pace was 12.85 min/mile, a huge improvement over my usual 14 minute miles. It was a great day. I saw several people I know, and that always makes it so special.
It truly drives home how important belonging to a community is. I've made many new friends in the running world, and they've all been incredibly supportive and encouraging, and I try to play it forward in my own small way by encouraging others. My relay partner is a young woman I didn't know, who had a partner for the relay but that person got injured, and when I requested anyone needing a relay partner it just so happened that she saw my message at the right time.

But Monday happened, and my whole week is for crap. The week prior, I was cleaning out my processor and the fixer tank was plugged so I had to bail out all that fixer, and breathed the acetic acid for about two hours. I paid for my laziness (should have worn a respirator) with a major case of sinusitis. I got through the work day alright Monday, but went home and straight to bed with spiking fevers, a massive headache, and resultant nausea. Tuesday I stayed home and stayed in bed. By Wed, my nose started dripping and didn't stop until yesterday when I finally got some homeopathic meds for cold symptoms (runny nose, sneezing, etc), and they have helped tremendously.
A side effect of the sinusitis however is loss of appetite. I'm still not feeling hungry at all, but today I concentrated on getting those spuds on board, hungry or not, helped by massive amounts of miso broth. When I weighed in sometime this week, the scale posted me at 142.6. The end of Octuber my weight was 146.8, so that's a tiny bit more than I wish to be losing because of illness.
I finally saw my doctor about my shoulder issues. She said I have the classic signs of rotator cuff tear. I kind of suspected it, but it was still rather unpleasant to have it confirmed. She prescribed physical therapy, and after will decide if I need MRI and a surgical consult, which I honestly hope doesn't happen. I do not want any surgeries on my joints. I believe they never actually fix anything. I would like to get healed up enough to start some gentle strength training. After all, this probably happened last year when I was knocked down at the Redrun, only I was so concerned with the rib pain, I never noticed a problem with my shoulder until around February. By then of course I didn't make the connection, and then training started for the various races I was signed up for, and I simply didn't have time to take care of the issue. Then a friend had to have surgery in August for a rotator cuff injury she sustained somehow while putting a bag into the overhead compartment on an airplane, and I started to get suspicious about my own issues. Better late than never, I guess.
Onward and spudward. I think I shall be spudding till around March, judging by how I think about food still. I want to meet the me who is at a healthy, ideal weight, because I've never known that person. I've never met that person who didn't have a thick armor of adipose for protection. It's kind of scary-making, but exciting too. I know my food obsession has changed some, but I think it will be several more months before I feel like I can trust myself to eat appropriately when I don't have any restrictions.
Robyn

[DoubleRainbow]

Really inspiring stuff, Robyn! It has really made me consider going potato-only for a while. Congratulations on your progress.

[nayasmom]

DoubleRainbow,
It's probably the simplest way of eating ever developed... but sometimes the most challenging. You know by now the stigma that comes with McDougalling, socially speaking - can't go out to just anywhere, always have to call ahead to see if modifications can be made and hope that when you get there, those modifications have, indeed, been made... people always challenging the health of what you're eating, which to me is incredibly ironic given what mainstream Americans eat every day... anyway, spudding is all that and more.
But I'm so happy to be here, doing this, and reporting success with it.
It is first and foremost a workable program for those with food obsession. The time spend in the program is directly related to how much work is needed to resolve that obsession. People like me have a very difficult road to travel because the obsession isn't for something unhealthy. My food obsession is exactly that. I am not thinking of pie, or fried chicken, or chocolate, or whatever. I obsess over food, period. For me, "moderation" means eating only half a package of spaghetti with marinara instead of the entire package in one meal. That's not moderation at all, right? I can eat 2 lbs of Chef AJ's roasted vegetables for breakfast, and then have some starches after that, and then for lunch even more starches, and for supper yet again m ore starches. The vegetables do absolutely nothing for me insofar as satiation goes. Most people, yes, it works exactly the way it works for her. Me, and those like me, not so much.
Adhering to a mono-food diet has been another in a long line of blessings for me. I'm learning how to not think about food at all, because what's in the fridge is what I'm eating, and in the fridge is... spuds. Lots of spuds. What shall I have for breakfast? Why, look! Spuds in the fridge! I think I'll have me some of that. I'm hungry and don't want to go to bed hungry. Hey! I know! Tehre are some spuds in the fridge! I'll nuke a couple and squirt some mustard on 'em and that will fill my tummy up just right so I can sleep soundly.
But even for people who don't need to do Spud Fit, it's a great idea to have a container of baked spuds in the fridge anyway, because they are excellent for energy and an instant meal or at midnight when you wake up and realize you could have had a smidge more at supper time... There's a program called the Potato Hack, developed by Tim Steele, who recommends 3-5 day potato-only short term diets. That might work for a lot of people who don't have food obsession, but are trying to kickstart their metabolism or do a cleanse that doesn't involve fasting. I refuse to do a fast. I know my ancestors had to fast rather often during winter's lean times, but I would like to think the human race has evolved to the point a fast is not necessarily of benefit over simply eating like a normal person.
Robyn

[nayasmom]

My starting weight for Spudcember was 144 lbs. That means I lost something like 2 lbs in Spudvember. For Thanksgiving I spent 4 days in total food debauchery, eating every crumb of bread from the freezer. I had 10 bagels and a loaf of my artisan sourdough. I still had my spuds, but even so, I got crazy over the bread. I think I'm still food obsessed. Mmm, no "think" about it.
However, I'm back to the spuds exclusively. My first week weight (informal as I am not recording it) for Spudcember is 142.2 lbs. I hope this is a trend that will continue.
I joined the run streak challenge in my local running group. The challenge is to run at least one mile every day until January 1st. For me it will go until Jan. 3rd, since I started a couple days later than everyone else, and I've missed one day so far but I think I will be out of the competition to earn a t-shirt. It's all good. In 15 days I've logged 37 miles. I decided to join the gym in town so I can use the treadmill anytime I wish. It's been great to have that to count on for my miles. One time, the manager suggested that I try to do some interval work, which is to run faster than normal for a minute or so before slowing back down to a regular pace. This was after we discussed my wish to run faster as I lose more fat. I've done this a couple of times and it seems to be effective. Of course, treadmill running is much different than road running.
Since our weather forecast calls for rain over the next few days, my road should be clear enough to run outside.

In March I've signed up for a half marathon relay, with my relay partner from the Almond Bowl. She wants to shoot for a better finish time, so I said I want to do my half (6.5 miles) in 70 minutes. That's about a 12-minute mile, which will be a serious challenge for me. I have finally got my Polar watch online, so I can start using it to track my progress on the outdoor runs. My relay partner is already pretty fast compared to me (like, who isn't?), but she too wants to improve her time. I think we can accomplish this.
The Spud Fit Challenge has been a life-changer for me. I'm really blessed to belong to this wonderful group of like-minded food-obsessed folks. The support and friendship are phenomenal. If anyone is having a hard time losing weight with the McDougall way of eating (like I was), I suggest trying Spud Fit.
Meanwhile, someone is barking because she thinks it's time for supper, and once she gets started, it won't stop until I appear with the goods. For a 13-year-old, this is one insistent dog. And annoying.

[nayasmom]

Not a very exciting time of life for me. I'm still spudding, but have met with challenges, some I overcame, others I did not. It's all in aid of realizing that my food obsessions will not go away, and I have to find a way to reconcile this reality.
It's a bit of a downer to realize that just being a McDougaller isn't enough; I have to go beyond that in order to find peace in my body and in my head. But... progress.
Personally, things are interesting. My sister, from whom I have been estranged for many years, contacted me with the news she is getting divorced from her husband of 15 years. I never trusted the bastard, and the falling-out with my sister was a result of a prank he pulled that directly affected me in a damaging way. She took his side, and that was that.
Anyway, I've almost caught up on the kids' lives, the changes she is going through, and the pain she is feeling with the betrayal and its aftermath. My blessing is that I'm not caught up IN the drama. I made it clear I still want no contact, but email is safe for now, and there is a tentative plan for a meet-up in a couple of months. So ... progress. It was a hard thing for her to do, to contact me.
I've been streaking since 1/1, mostly with the treadmill at the gym, but on a few occasions I just strapped on my running watch and walked my mile in the house. I'm incredibly cold all the time, and I may need to ask my provider for a thyroid function test to make sure I don't have a thyroid issue. Generally I put it down to being on an anti-inflammatory diet, but I do feel this chronic coldness might be something more? It's winter, after all, and we've been experiencing freezing weather with lots of ice because we've had rain mixed with snow. I'm letting this coldness interfere with my usual outdoor activities. I've only been snowshoeing once.
Finally I'm getting physical therapy for my shoulder as well. I figured the x-rays would show nothing, but actually I have calcium on the rotator cuff tendons, so the PT is doing some manipulations in addition to the exercises to increase my range of motion. Like anyone else doing this, I have a sore shoulder now. I have faith that it will get better, because I went through this with my knee and had fantastic results.
Robyn