Buns Again

Share your daily McDougall menus and/or keep a journal describing your personal progress.

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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:03 am

Thankfully, my stress relief practices are working. The heartbeat in my ears is much less (though not completely gone 100% of the time) and my outlook isn't panicky anymore. Daily Qi Gong, some time every day in a sleep story app with coloring, focusing on my breath, getting up from my desk and stretching. Going outside.

Also, what I'm not doing. First and most important is not turning on the news. Not reading the articles, not dwelling on the stories, and scrolling past the headlines on FB. I don't even want to know my friends' opinions on any of the news. It's helping so much, which I found out yesterday when I went in to read an article on something and I could feel the cortisol rushing into my system. Back of my neck, scalp...and I put it DOWN. Like, arm's length, upside down. Walk away.

I'm super grateful for the connections we have via Facebook and other mediums, but it is easy to overdo. And me with my hyper-focus mode...something new, that everyone wants to know as much as possible about, and I want to find out the actual truth of it, not just what the mainstream media are reporting. And it's super easy physically...just hold up your phone in your hand and use a fingertip to scroll. Down the rabbit hole and into Stressville. Putting that out of my life has done more to ease things up than anything else.

It all comes to letting go. There's a simple prayer used in AA...God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Oy! that's a tough one. Who wants to ACCEPT what's going on right now...phew. Courage to change the things I can. Well...I am changing my own response to things. And Wisdom to know the difference.

Doing well with my food. I'm eating whole foods with starches as the foundation, until satiated. Stopped drinking coffee on Sunday and other than a couple of morning headaches, I'm over it. I do have a small supply of chocolate covered espresso beans which help because caffeine...and the flavor. I miss the flavor of coffee.

Glad not to be addicted to it anymore :nod: not going back.

and...speaking of stress. Working from home and my phone keeps randomly disconnecting. In the middle of calls. So we're going to upgrade our internet. *sigh*

And with that, I'm out for now.
JUST DON'T EAT IT

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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Mon Apr 20, 2020 3:31 pm

Still hanging in. My emotional state is up and down. Right now, doing fine. As long as I stay away from the news I do okay :nod: but I also need to remember not to start mulling in my own head about what's happening and has happened with people acting crazy and selfish in reaction to the pandemic...as long as I don't go down the rabbit hole, I do fine.

Other de-stressing tools are QiGong which I am loving! ... an app called Loona, which has a coloring feature with music, bedtime stories, and music. I love it, and it is free so far. No ads, no requests to upgrade. No pay wall. Zentangle is good. Probably the one thing I could increase would be getting outside more. Today I went out to see the bees, and had one chase me away so...I left LOL
When I clock out of work I'll go back outside. It helps so much to see Nature continuing to function "normally" (though earthquakes and storms ... maybe those are normal, just usually not on top of a pandemic.)
JUST DON'T EAT IT

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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:00 am

This morning I did QiGong without a video. Just put on some chill music and went. I have the Eight Brocade practice written down, so I knew what to do in order. It felt really good. I don't know what to make of the chi thing. Life energy, settling it, jostling it, moving your hands to gather it in and release it. But I know the meridians exist...acupuncture is tested clinically to ease pain so there's definitely something to meridians in the body. And there's scientific evidence of our resonance for sure. Everything has a vibration...I think we might describe it as electromagnetism. Is that what Chi is? At any rate, I'm open minded, and just experiencing it, not trying to believe or disbelieve anything about it.

Anyway I'm not sure if I'm going down the spiritual Qigong path, but I'm loving it for meditation and physical health.

Food is okay. I'm still stress eating frequently, but this week I've not been eating large for breakfast. Just a potato or granola bar and some espresso beans with tea. Haven't had any coffee for 12 days and doing just fine with it. My weight went up, so the three lbs I lost from eating zero processed in February are back. :roll:

I wanted to talk about illness a bit. I do not have Covid 19, though I'm almost sure I've been exposed but no positive proof of it. But I've been ill, emotionally and mentally. For at least two weeks after moving to work from home, I suffered badly from depression. My brain was foggy and I couldn't focus, wept frequently, stress off the charts, lethargic, lost, battling every day to do the most basic things and really not caring. Too exhausted to care, you know?

During this time, I was wise enough not to try tackling the more difficult tasks at my job. I kept to the mindless stuff mostly, and let the big issues stay on the back burner for a while. One of the biggies was a claims denial that was being disputed. I made a few phone calls the day I received that case, and then set it aside for more than a week. No way could I have dealt with it. NO WAY. Even thinking about it added so much stress that I cried about it.

I set a date that I would tackle it, and on that day I got an email from a higher up about it. Thankfully I felt well enough to do something about it, and did so. But if my superior had pushed it earlier, I might not have been able to. I was NOT WELL ENOUGH. And that's where my thinking has been.

We are one tough society, American Business Culture. Get the job done! Stay busy! Don't rest until it's done! What? We have a scary illness sweeping the globe? We have to move all our stuff home to work, because we might contaminate each other? No one knows if they're positive or not, because lack of testing?

So? How is that stopping you from working?

We very impressively moved an entire company from office buildings to individual homes, INCLUDING the phones, computers, software, security systems, and everything needed to continue working without a blink. Some minor adjustments on the hardware, some routers hooked up, a few people had a one day wait before their systems were running but yeah, in one day we pretty much moved it home. And you can't drum up the mental acuity to ask questions and get answers on a complicated claims issue? What's wrong with you?

But I did not let that motivate me. Sorry, not sorry. I am mentally exhausted and of no use to the member who needs resolution in this matter until my own mental state clears up a bit. You wouldn't ask a person recovering from pneumonia to pick up their entire work load right away.

Of course, there are many who just do it. Health care workers, grocery workers, etc...whether they are emotionally wiped or not, they just went to work and did their jobs, even at the beginning of all this. OMG how difficult this must be for them :( I can't even imagine their exhaustion.

(Just to make clear, I wasn't in any kind of trouble for delaying the big project. No one "spoke to me" about it, but each day that I put it off, I wondered if something would come down on me about it. My team and all supervisors have been patient and kind about everything all of us are going through.)

well anyway. I'm feeling better since making the decision to stop paying attention to the news. I got off FB for several days, thinking it would be a couple of weeks, but I missed the good stuff on there, so it only lasted four days. The main point being, I don't need to click into every single article posted by friends, and I don't need to get into arguments with people I disagree with. That stuff is a serious trigger that sets me back badly. With Qigong and not paying attention to the news/arguments I feel myself pulling away from the depression I've been fighting, but it's pretty easy to get in a foul mood if I go to FB and get all in the articles and discussions.

So I'm doing my best to stay away from that stuff, pulling my eating back into the plan, moving my body, going outside for fresh air and sunshine. It's making big and rapid improvements in my emotional/mental state. :nod:
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
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simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Mon Apr 27, 2020 9:31 am

Oof my blood pressure...yesterday was very strange, as my BP was on a roller coaster. I could hear it in my ears, my eyeballs were pulsing, and then suddenly I'd feel weak and dizzy as it went way low. It was a very uncomfortable sensation and I hated it. Today is a little bit better...still feels high and my resting heart rate when I woke up was too high for just waking up. It's still sitting at about 70, and my normal FOR MY ENTIRE LIFE has been right under 60 bpm. Ugh. Once Dr offices open up for non Covid stuff, I need to get in. I'm not going to take medication unless it's dangerously high. I want to bring it down using the McDougall plan, MWL.

QiGong is saving my sanity. I can feel my whole being settling down and becoming calmer. I love it. So far, The Eight Brocades is my morning practice. I almost have it memorized. I know all the forms, just need to remember each one in sequence. I love the flow of breath with each one, but especially The Crane Spreads its Wings...SO smooth. I also think it's really interesting that the way each form is followed differs with the teacher. The teacher I follow is a middle aged woman on YouTube that is suited for my current fitness level. But there are other YouTube videos demonstrating the same practice, or demonstrating individual forms, each one different. One demonstration of the Crane...you can see the spread wings movement in there, but it tells a whole story...a bird, settling on the nest, launching, soaring, and returning. Very cool, and very different from my raising up with one hand and pressing down with the other LOL

Starting another Zero Processed Challenge, as of today. I'm going to do two weeks of detailed food tracking in another journal.
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
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Re: Buns Again

Postby deweyswakms » Mon Apr 27, 2020 10:50 am

bunsofaluminum wrote:QiGong is saving my sanity.


OH! Thanks for the QiGong tip. I will go find something now. My achey body misses swimming; too much sitting happening now, and walks aren't enough. Body wants this kind of stretching and movement.

Have you tried 'telemedicine' with your doctor's office about the BP? A bit concerning to have it bouncing all around; nothing wrong with getting some meds now to regulate it while you work on the eating plan.

Marsha
start weight 210 on 7/25/14; MWL recommit 7/2019 weight 197. 6/11/2022 weight 165.0. Height 5'8".
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Tue Apr 28, 2020 6:50 am

deweyswakms wrote:
bunsofaluminum wrote:QiGong is saving my sanity.


OH! Thanks for the QiGong tip. I will go find something now. My achey body misses swimming; too much sitting happening now, and walks aren't enough. Body wants this kind of stretching and movement.

Have you tried 'telemedicine' with your doctor's office about the BP? A bit concerning to have it bouncing all around; nothing wrong with getting some meds now to regulate it while you work on the eating plan.

Marsha

Hi Marsha

I actually called and got a doctor appointment for 9 AM this morning. I have a headache all the time and I know it’s related to blood pressure. On Sunday it was bad. Yesterday was no picnic either and it’s just time. I hate going to the doctor...hate it. However, that’s what they’re there for. They can answer my questions and suggest options. It’s more than just BP. Depression has been a battle since December. I’m in menopause and think probably hormone replacement might be useful...? Beating depression the way I’m used to doing with gratitude and positive self talk and getting out into some fresh air and sunshine and taking a walk etc. those things aren’t working for me anymore and I wonder if it’s because of menopause.

Anyway yay! Going to the doctor! :|
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
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Re: Buns Again

Postby SilverDollar123 » Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:52 am

Hi Buns! Read your post last night,& thought right away homone/ the change too. But best to
check it out. Keep us informed on how you be. :) Will keep you in my prayers today as you see the doc.
RAS
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Thu Apr 30, 2020 7:47 am

SilverDollar123 wrote:Hi Buns! Read your post last night,& thought right away homone/ the change too. But best to
check it out. Keep us informed on how you be. :) Will keep you in my prayers today as you see the doc.
RAS


Thanks for stopping by RAS. Thanks for praying!

I ended up going to the doctor Tuesday morning. I asked him about HRT along with several other concerns, such as tachycardia, obesity, high blood pressure, and depression. He wants to see if getting my BP under control will help with some of these other things so I got a scrip for a small dosage of a potassium based BP med and started taking it that day. We'll see if that stabilizes other things. I'm also being much more careful with my eating so that'll help too.

There was a little bit of grief over my not having had a mammogram in three years, or a colonoscopy in more than 10 years. He asked if I wanted a bone scan to see if I had osteoporosis...honestly. Big ole me, with heavy leg muscles and non-fine bone structure, and I've been in menopause for a little over a year? I told him no on all of those, and yes on getting a pap smear done. Ew. Why do we call it a smear? Doesn't that just sound ugly? Pap smear. blech. We should call it Defending the Gates of the Garden or something :lol:

Meanwhile, the stress around here is absolutely unreal. My scalp feels like it's going to peel off; feels like I have hot glue running over my head, with bees in it; feels like my throat is going to burst. I can hear my pulse in my ears, and even my eyeballs are throbbing. It's just awful. Wylie is miserable this week...not telling me what it is, just grumping and stomping around all bent out of shape... and spreading it everywhere he goes. Wish I were better at guarding my energy. Maybe Qigong will help with that. He gave me a wonderful hug this morning...maybe he's pulling out of whatever funk he fell into.

I started a food journal, but with the BS going on at home, I forgot about it, so I'll re-start on Monday. I'm doing pretty good with the eating though. I chose a G-BOMB bowl for brekkie this morning, instead of eggs and toast. :nod: Plan on doing a Qigong practice during my lunch break, outside.

Grateful for a job that is essential, and that i can work from home.

Grateful that spring came anyway, even with a pandemic out there.

Grateful for a place to live, well-stocked pantry and freezer, hot and cold running water.

Grateful for a washer and dryer!

Grateful for a large backyard with plenty of potential. We can make it beautiful.
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
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Re: Buns Again

Postby SilverDollar123 » Thu Apr 30, 2020 10:29 pm

FYI My doc.wanted me to do all of the above too. Said no that's ok for now....Nope md made the appointment
for the mammogram. Was called by the breast place as to where&when...so I said fine...it was the best of the above to go thru
lol :eek: day of appoint almost cancelled....said oh what the heck let's just get this over with....got a call back something
didn't look right....had a small pea size cancerous tumor...did lumpectomy 6 weeks radiation. I refused chemo, now I'm fine no more cancer...not
doing anymore testing...it is what it is or will be. I'm eating McDougall style woe. Feel great, Nothing more we can do to take
care of ourselves.
The oncologist said Md saved my life by making appointment...Maybe Yes Maybe No
So Buns Stick to your guns & do what you feel is right for you!....Sorry so long...guess this quaranteen in getting to me..don't usually talk about this online. RAS the quarenteen is getting to all of us...I'm essential & work week-ends. RAS
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Mon May 04, 2020 8:31 am

Things are a little bit better at home, and I've made some decisions about my own energy that might help when Wylie gets glum and irritable again...in his defense, the man has C-PTSD (called Complex PTSD which is the version of PTSD that comes from childhood trauma, and that's all I'm going to share about that) but just because there's a legit reason for it, doesn't make it easy to deal with his mood shifts.

I made a decision yesterday, actually. When he came home in a pissy mood, I reacted badly...didn't fight him, but got all pent up inside and stressed out and crying. So I left the house and went to a close by park and laid down under a tree. This is the condition of my energy currently, that I laid there crying and my blood pressure way up for quite some time, as a result of a three minute or less interaction with a cranky husband. I prayed the Serenity Prayer, which first mentions accepting things we cannot change(I can't change my husband's moods) but ALSO...changing the things I CAN, which includes my response. From now on, instead of interacting with him when he's on one, I'm leaving. That park is one block away, literally. It is at the end of my street, a river walkway and dog park, a playground. It's just lovely there, and when I need to, I'm going there. But thinking about it, what helped me more than anything was getting outside my head while I walked around just enjoying the place. Petted a dog, took pictures of the trail, the river, flowers, trees. Gave thanks for the blue sky and the sunshine, the sparkling clean air...it was wonderful. By the time I left, after about an hour, I was calm and peaceful. Stress gone.

Well, look at that about "getting outside my head"...focusing on other things was key. First, getting away from the stressor, and then focusing on something besides my own emotion. Yep. Feels like I'm on the right track.

What else can I change? We closed our storage unit and brought home Wylie's big hobby train table and all these boxes. Many of them are outside in the shed, but we have a stack of them in the house. That needs to go. There's lots of room under the train table. Wylie doesn't want me to touch them, so I'm going to insist that he get it done. It's been since the last week of February and it is time. Also, I have a nice big back yard that could keep me busy and very active. There is no reason in the world why I can't get a rake out even if I don't plant any veggies. Wylie has been not doing it, and I've been waiting. Why? Why shouldn't I get out there and make things nice.

There we go. A little mental health plan for my life.
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Tue May 05, 2020 8:06 am

wow, I think my BP meds have fully kicked in. My heart rate is normal, I am calm. No pulse in my ears. No throbbing eyeballs. Let's just see if this stuff makes me sleepy ANNNNNDAH let's do the lifestyle stuff and see if I can get off the stuff altogether.
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Wed May 06, 2020 8:21 am

Okay, got my results back from the doc. Everything is normal, including my hormone levels. Oh, slightly low white blood count. I'm going in within the next week or two for another blood draw to check it again. They think stress might have effected the white count, and the stress is way down with this BP med.

So...instead of having a colonoscopy I requested an occult stool test. My cologuard kit arrived in the mail and I just got done reading the instructions and something occurred to me that makes me laugh. ... I follow a whole foods, plants only, low fat diet. This means my poops are MASSIVE. And part of the instructions for the coloGgard are to not have more poop in the container than what is in the bottle of preservative.

How am I gonna do this? :lol: Not looking forward to it, but I"d rather this than the colonoscopy. I had one back in 2008 for a drug study and then started in on McDougalling. I was diagnosed with IBS, but nothing cancerous or pre-cancerous and since then I've been eating high fiber, very clean foods. I do not have CRC and I know it, but at my age, and ten years since my colonoscopy...why not run a test, eh?

Food going okay. My mom made stuffed peppers yesterday that 1) were VERY bland and 2) they had so much oil in them that they made my lips greasy. SMH I hate to intrude when someone is cooking, and I really don't want to turn down food that someone cooked for me but dang what a waste of calories that was. On the plus, I was going to grab some Twizzlers and didn't when I saw that three pieces is 120 calories! good grief. Talk about not worth the calories.

But I'm doing really good with not having processed foods. That's a step in the right direction, but once again my plans for daily exercise lasted a week and now I'm back to not doing QiGong as a daily practice. Don't know what my problem is with being disciplined in fitness. Ugh.
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Thu May 07, 2020 8:26 am

Doing okay. Wylie is pissed at my mom again, and she is pissed at him. Makes for a WONDERFUL home life. :angry: I'm so sick of it.

But guarding my energy and carrying on. I'll go for a walk today down in my little park at the foot of the street. Get away from this tiresome BS. Going to stay away from Facebook as well. It is damaging to my mental health.
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
User avatar
bunsofaluminum
 
Posts: 6551
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:17 pm
Location: Ogden Utah

Re: Buns Again

Postby moonlight » Thu May 07, 2020 12:41 pm

Hi Heidi,

Good for you to get away from your mother and husband’s anger and the FB anxiety. It seems we need to work as hard to keep our mental state healthy as we do our physical health. I feel like before this pandemic the emotional/mental ups and downs could flex a little more but now they seem to be as critical as the physical well-being.

Take care.
XO
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Fri May 08, 2020 8:47 am

hi Moonlight

Yes, I'm going to be careful with my emotional state. It does feel more brittle these days. Not a lot of give. I plan on removing myself from triggering situations, and that walk yesterday was just wonderful. Foot pain be damned, it was worth it. Just a 10 minute stroll, but the area where I walked is a reserve of sorts, in my neighborhood. Even dogs on leashes are not allowed, and there's this pond, and a gravel walkway around it. SO nice. Birds, crickets, probably frogs. It was breezy and sunny. Such a nice day, and such a beautiful area. I loved it. I'll go again today.

Bought some heel cups, which are a soft gel/plastic sleeve that fits over your heel. Like a sock, not a shoe insert, but the sock only covers the heel. And they're very soft material. Not tight at all so I wondered how it would work. Put it on and the bone spur pain in my right heel...doesn't hurt any more. When I walk I can feel it, but this was a non-stop pain, even when sitting, and with this heel cup the pain while sitting is gone. I don't know why. Placebo? But the gel is dense enough to provide cushioning so maybe it will help in the long run. If this makes it so that walking doesn't inflame the bone spur, I'll be able to walk a few times a week. I want to try.

And I DO want to start being consistent and regular with QiGong. Just do it, Heidi.
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
User avatar
bunsofaluminum
 
Posts: 6551
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:17 pm
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