Back To Basics

I'm once again writing about my diet, which is an on going battle.  One of my goals, when I go back to work is to maybe work with people with eating issues/disorders.  I have never really thought about that realm of social work, but given the struggles I am having, I am thinking it may be an interesting area to learn more about.  With that being the goal and add on to that goal getting some nutritional education behind me, I decided that I really need to get myself back in line with healthy eating and healthy living.  Along with that, I really need to get back to eating healthy and cooking for my family just to plain old save money.

Enter http://www.healthygirlskitchen.blogspot.com.  The author of this blog started some posts about "The Beck Diet Solution".  Her posts got me intrigued and I am using this as an opportunity to get back to basics.  Day 1 of "The Beck Diet Solution" is basically to put down your goals.  The thing is, you have to actually read your goals twice a day.  I am going to try that, but we'll see how it works out.  Actually you are supposed to write down your reasons for losing weight so here are mine:

1. to be healthy
2. to reduce my cardiac and cancer risk
3. to feel better with how I look
4. to have more energy
5. to feel better about myself in general
6. to be a healthy example for my kids

Day 2 is to choose your diet.  I am choosing to follow Dr Neal Barnard diet, which is basically a vegan diet.  I am in the middle of reading his "Breaking The Food Seduction" which I am hoping will help with the multiple food  addictions that I have.  I  am also looking to follow the "Body Ecology Diet" for a multitude of reasons.  I guess, according to this book you don't necessarily rush right into the diet, there are 2 weeks of exercises to do.  I guess I should look at getting the book and looking at it so I at least know what I am attempting here.

Day 3 is to sit while you eat.  This is one that I have been attempting to do as a family but am failing miserably, with me being one of the main culprits.  I tend to multi task while I eat and as much as I know I shouldn't, I do.  I am going to really try to sit and enjoy my food with no distractions, as much as I am able to.

That's we we're at so far.  I'll continue to post what new changes/goals I am looking to make and hopfully this time, I'll be moving in the right direction!

Amy

Meeting Goals

Last night, I wrote about a few goals I had for the week.  One of those goals was to make my daughter's Easter dress.  I went home from work last night and started cutting out pattern pieces and sewing and this is the almost finished product.  The only thing I have left to do is hem it.  Now I just need to make a barrette for her to wear.  I have the stuff, I just need to make it.

My little ham

Holding onto Woody

As for my other goals, I followed through with my dinner plans for tonight for the family, but I didn't make it in time for me.  I chose as best I could at work, eggplant parm.  I still haven't had any soda, though I have craved it horribly.  I did day one of the couch to 5K yesterday and tomorrow is day 2.  I still haven't gone shopping for clothing for this time of year, but I really need something to at least cover my arms!

I haven't gotten to the Salvation Army yet.  I really want to go and see what kind of goodies I can find and what I can do with them.  I am hoping that it will spark my creative ideas and I'll do something truly creative instead of just following someone else's ideas.

As for my kids' diet, I am almost certain that Michael has an issue with dairy.  We had pizza Saturday and then he had pizza last night.  I guess I was just hoping that he could have it once in a while, so we trialed cheese.  Needless to say it was a no go.  Last night was the first night in a long time, like 2 months (probably the longest ever), that he woke in the middle of the night.  Now to be fair, all I had to do is go in and put the blanket back on him, but that has never happened since we took him off dairy.  Then this morning when I went to get him up, I noticed that there was blood on his sheets from him scratching at his arm.  He has had a little issue with scratching his back, but I'm not sure if he just kept scratching at it because it was scabbing.  I also noticed that he was snoring worse this morning, another thing that had gratly decreased since going dairy free.  I am going to be very strict with what I give him.  I don't now if I will feel comfortable giving him pre-packaged foods unless I can be sure that it is dairy free.  I may need to look into seeing if there are other foods that may be contributing to this.

I am thinking that I really need to continue with watching all of our diets.  I am thinking that losing the starchy carbs for all of us would be a positive move.  I am hoping that with the right diet, we will all start to feel better.  I need to continue to create sine it is what I truly love to do.  I really want to make sure that I complete the couch to 5K and I actually want to run a 5K.  I am thinking that I may run a 5K with another twin mom this summer.  I really will feel good to complete the program and be able to run since this is a goal I have always had.

Amy

Cancer

I found out on my twins 2nd birthday (January 23, 2011) that my mom's mammogram showed a lump in her left breast.  This is the same one that my grandmothers breast cancer started in.  She has since had a biopsy which revealed that the tumor was 0.9 cm (about 3/4 in) and they removed 3 inches of tissue.  The pathology report stated that she has stage 1 grade 2 breast cancer.  This means that the tumor was small but semi aggressive and definitely invasive.  This meant that they recommended and MRI to r/o any metastases as well as a lymph node biopsy.  She was unable to complete the MRI with out getting sick, so that is one test that they are unable to do for her.  Today was her lymph node biopsy.  I guess, yesterday they injected her with a dye that would tell the surgeon what nodes to remove if any.  My step-father said that the most the surgeon would take out would be 2 nodes, but they ended up only needing to take out 1 node.  I guess that is a good sign.  Now we just have to wait for this pathology report.  As for treatment options, it really depends on the lymph node biopsy.  If the biopsy comes back with cancer, then they are recommending 8 treatments of chemotherapy, then 5 days a week for 6 weeks of radiation.  If the biopsy comes back without cancer, then she can choose either 4 treatments of chemotherapy and then the same radiation treatment or she can choose just to have radiation.  At least one of my sisters and I are thinking that she should do the combo treatment and hopefully knock the cancer out of her system no matter what the results of the biopsy are.  We also think that she can do conventional treatment along with CAM therapies (complementary and alternative medicine). 

My mom will be having the BRCA test at some point.  I'm not sure when and how this will play into her treatment.  For now I am attempting to learn all the I can about preventing cancer, especially breast cancer.  I am looking to apply CAM therapies to my own life for preventing breast cancer and any other type of illness that seems to be so prevalent in my family, mainly cancer of all types and heart disease.  I have been drinking green smoothies, mainly consisting of some type of leafy green (red chard, collard greens, and kale so far) as well as berries, citrus, apples, pears, bananas, and grapes.  I am attempting to eliminate pretty much all meat from my diet.  Today has been the first day with out any meat.  My next step is to move on and eliminate all animal products from my diet.  I then want to eliminate all the allergenic foods that showed up on my blood test.  I need to start exercising.  It is March 1st and yes I know that it is New England and the weather is very rarely predictable, but I am hoping that the sidewalks will be clear enough that I can get out with the kids and walk with the goal to start running.  I will be researching anything else that I can do to make myself healthier and keep myself from getting the diseases that seem to be so prevalent in my family!

Amy

Inspiration

Am I inspired and if so, to do what?  I am inspired, but the problem is I tend to lose any energy to put my inspiration to good use.  Why do I lose inspiration?  That is the obvious question.  What is not obvious is the answer.  I have all these dreams and goals, but I don't ever seem to put them to good use.  Yes, I am a busy mom of 3, but I tend to lose focus.  I start off with the best of intentions and then, I totally lose it! 

One of the things thatI am inspired to do, is change my eating.  I start off doing well, then I lose it.  The thing is, I think that my diet, may have something to do with my lasck of energy, my lack of focus.  I really want to cut out gluten, dairy and probably yeast from my diet.  I really need to eat a anti-candida diet and see if that gives me any more focus and energy.  For the life of me, other than thinking that I am struggling with food addictions, I can not figure out why I can't eat the way I want to.  It's not like I don't like the food, it's more that I like the other foods more.  It's more that I can't stop eating the other foods.  I try going slow, but then I just explode and everything goes horrible.  I read all these blogs about people who have made changes and feel so much better.  Why can't I make the changes too.

I am also inspired to be more creative, I just can't seem to find the time or the energy to pull out my supplies.  I should give myself some credit here though.  I have been trying to be really good about fitting in some creative time every week and I have been able to do that, just not as often as I would like and more rushed than I would like vs being an enjoyable activity.

I would like to be more green in my life.  I do well at times, but then I don't do any where near as well as I would like.  I want to be less reliant on commercial stores and use more thrift items.  I want to make better choices when it comes to food, energy, and recycling.  I am really trying hard not to buy new, trying to cook at home (healthy meals), trying to not use energy sucking appliances, and trying to reduce, re-use and recycle and up-cycle.

Some of these activities are things that I would love to translate into a profession.  I know that i could go back to school and get an art therapy degree, a nutrition degree, go to cooking school for alternative cooking (not just the basic cooking that I can already do), sell my creations, and I'm sure there are more, I just have to think outside the box.  The thing is I have to get my body and mind to have the energy and the focus to decide what it is that I want to do for a career!  After writing this (which is one of the reasons I like this blog), I am thinking that I really need to focus on my diet and see if that helps with my energy and my focus in other areas.  I guess the next step is for me to start cutting out dairy, wheat, gluten and all the other potential allergens/intolerances that I may have and start eating a more vegan diet as well as an anti-candida diet and start to see if I feel better.  I need to focus on my food addictions (at least the ones that I think I have) and really be good at not eating them so that I don't get into the habit of eating things that are not good for me.  I am thinking I may even start eating green smoothies as a way to just start this whole process.  I will be sure to write about the different changes to my diet and how these changes are affecting my whole life.  The one things that I will always take from my social work education is that people are multi-faceted and that all the different areas of our life affect who we are.  When we make changes in one area, it can have either positive or negative effects in other areas.  I know what I need to do, now I just need to do it!

Amy

Body Ecology Diet

Today is day 1 of the body ecology diet.  I decided that I really need to do something to get my health in order.  This morning I had my tea, a blend of oolong, mate, and herbal, which now that i think about it is probably not great, but not as bad as it could be (it's a mix of raspberry and orange flavored teas).  I really enjoy my tea and it's really expensive so I want to use it.  I also had my eggs, an omelet with spinach, onions, and cheese.  The cheese isn't really on the diet, but I figure it's better than eating my traditional breakfast of total carbs and fats.  My morning snack was corn chips with hummus, which I'm not sure is truly on the diet, but again a better choice than more carbs or sugar or both.  I'm not sure about lunch but dinner is going to be chicken with broccoli.

I just ordered the newest body ecology diet book and I can't wait for it to come in.  As much as I have read about the diet already, I certainly need a refresher and I'm hoping for more recipes.  I am really hopeful that I can do this.  Unfortunately, tonight is my husband birthday and I am making a cake and I will have some!  I don't feel as bad about this since it is only my first day.  After tonight no more sugar and there will be no more sugar throughout the day.  I believe that I can have rice milk and millet puffs and my husband said that is how he dealt with sugar cravings.  I think I can get by the sugar, but I am nervous about making sure I don't eat starchy carbs.  That is truly my addiction.

Along with the diet my goal to be healthier includes exercise.  I went to a yoga and social work conference the other day and I really want to add this practice into my life.  I also want to try to walk every day, wether it is outside or on the treadmill.

This is definitely going to be a struggle, and I'm sure one with set backs, but I am going to keep going an not give up no matter what happens!

Amy

Diet

I've written a lot about my issues with my diet.  I recently wrote how I  planned to start the South Beach Diet given my issues with carbs.  Well, so far, it's been a total failure!  I am still eating more carbs than I should, never mind eliminating them from my diet.  I know that technically most people don't have to eliminate a food from their diets, but right now I can't eat carbs in moderation.  Without giving out too much information, I am thinking that I may have an issue with candida, which is basically a systemic yeast infection.  There are multiple reasons why I think that I may have issues with this, but I think from a health perspective I really need to change my eating.  I know that there will be lots of ups and downs and probably a lot more downs, but I think I really need to do this.  So as of right now, I plan to follow what ever diet is going to help me win this battle.  My hope is, that after I get rid of my candida issue (which I only assume I have given certain symptoms) I can go back to eating carbs, only this time I hope that I can eat them in moderation!  If anyone has any thoughts, recipes or suggestions, please forward them to me via comments or e-mail.  I am going to need all the help I can get to follow through with this.  The other plus to following this diet, other than feeling better, is that I should find myself losing weight and that is a very good thing!

On another note, I attended a yoga and social work conference today that was wonderful!  I spent from 9am til 4 pm learning about yoga and it's use within therapy as well as practicing therapy.  We learned about certain poses, breathing, and meditation, practiced these, and talked about the benefits of yoga within the social work practice!  I plan to learn more about yoga and start practicing it myself.  Maybe one of these days when I go back to work, I can incorporate this practice into my social work practice.  I only hope that I can learn more tools that are not the typical set of social work tools that I can use in my practice.  I will be looking into other conferences that spend time teaching social workers how to incorporate more min/body practices or complementary medicine practices into social work practice!

Amy

Going Vegetarian

I am considering going vegetarian.  Maybe I'm crazy, but I really need to start eating better.  First of all I eat way too much junk food.  I realize that becoming a vegetarian is not the answer, but I think I eat way too much meat especially red meat.  I am not a major animal rights person with regards to being a vegetarian, but eating less eat would be a great way to start doing better with regards to animal rights.  I really need to start eating more veggies.  Becoming vegetarian or at least a semi-vegetarian would definitely help with that.  The other thing is that I don't deal well with too much fat in my diet.  Don't get me wrong, I love fatty food, it just makes me sooooooo sick!  Red meat is so high in fat and calories, plus if you believe the blood type diet, I should be eating more vegetarian anyway.  Plus, I really should look at the Body Ecology diet since that is a really healthy way to eat.  I really should at least do the food combining.  That may make things better for me health wise.  I think becoming a vegetarian will help with my belief that we need to start thinking about our impact on our planet.  I think the best way for me to do this is to start by cutting red meat out of my diet.  Then I can cut out poultry and fish.  I don't think that i am against eggs and dairy, but I definitely think that I want to cut down on those too.  Maybe I'll look into a vegetarian book.  I should never have gotten rid of my Moosewood cookbook.

My goal is to be the healthiest I can be, for me, my wonderful husband and my 3 beautiful kids!

Wish me luck!
Amy