Thursday, October 31, 2013

Thursday

155.0 still today.  I guess I should be grateful that it's stopped increasing. I am not grateful that it hasn't gone down.  I am not grateful that my knees and ankles are stiff and sore for no reason. Hate this.  Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • coconut flakes - probably 1/3 cup, which is 1 serving
  • beef jerky - 2 vending-sized bags
  • cheese
  • walnuts
  • a vending-sized bag of potato chips
  • an entire gluten-free Domino's pizza - pepperoni, green peppers, mushrooms
That was it; I was thinking that I had something else, but I didn't; I sewed all evening in order to finish a dress for Elizabeth.

I just looked up the pizza - for starters, so amusing, they think 1/6 of a 10" pizza is a serving.  15 g carbs in their serving, so 90g in that part of my day's eating alone.  The potato chips didn't help; I think they weigh in at another 23ish g carbs.  113g at minimum, when I'm trying to eat down near zero.

Brought cheese with me today, and will eat that. And will get back to my very low carb approach starting today.  Amazing how difficult it's been lately - maybe hormones are at work again.  I think, since I don't anticipate any drinking, that it might be time to do another fat fast as a reset. 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Wednesday

So.  No gym yesterday; we ended up going out to eat instead.  Everyone had had an abysmally bad day.  155.0 this morning; I guess that's an improvement, albeit a piddly one.  My ankles are very swollen this morning and I am hoping to pee frequently sometime soon.

Here's yesterday:
  • 1-1/2 egg custards
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • a salad with blue cheese, avocado, fried prosciutto
  • a vending bag of M&Ms
  • 5 green olives and a pepperoncini
  • salad with Olive Garden dressing
  • steak and chicken chunks
  • roasted bell peppers
  • a few roast potatoes
  • 1-1/2 Ande's mints
  • a glass of white wine
I think that was it.  Barely a trace of ketosis at bedtime, and no surprise.  Trying to get back into the groove again today - no breakfast (finished the egg custards yesterday), and nothing but coconut flakes to eat here, I hope.  No gym tonight; everyone's scattered after work, I think.  I believe I will do some sewing.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Tuesday

Okay, seriously?  155.2?  What the, ... well, you know how that ends.  My ankles are a bit swollen, but am I carrying as much as 4-5 pounds of water right now?  Seems unlikely.  And yes, I know muscle weighs more and all that, but I don't think 3 gym sessions and a 5K are likely to have packed on 5 pounds of muscle.  Of course, I haven't done a lean body mass measurement in a while; maybe I should.

Still, here's yesterday.  Maybe if I see it all:
  • egg custards - 1-1/2 of them with bacon and cheddar
  • coconut flakes - probably 4 Tbsp
  • a vending-sized bag of beef jerky
  • keto crust pizza with pepperoni (crust from cheese, egg, and almond flour)
  • an Almond Joy and M&Ms bag - both fun-sized
  • random leftover tortilla chips
That was it.  The carbs at the end aren't much help, but other than that, a pretty good eating day.  And my sleep has continued to improve - I woke up at 11:30 but was able to go right back to sleep and didn't budge again until well after 4, which is awesome for me.  Hot flashes have been on a downward trend over the past couple of days - subsiding?  I'm not going to predict, but it's been nice so far.

Gym tonight again.  I think I will stick with the weights I did last time - lower back and abs, lat pull down and chest press, and leg press and ab/adductors. And walk a bit.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Monday

I am going to continue to repeat that this is water, but I'm starting to wonder.  154.8 this morning.  I think we ate reasonably well, with a few exceptions, and I am swollen and sore and achy today, but nothing is going away right now.  

We did a 5K on Saturday morning; I think my overall time was under a 15-minute mile on average, and that, after walking the first half pretty slowly.  It felt pretty good, and I'm much less stiff than I would have expected.  So that's a good thing.

Here's yesterday, as I recall it:
  • bacon
  • tea with cream
  • cheese
  • veggies and dip (sour cream, cream cheese, spice mix)
  • cashews (ultimately, about what I might eat in a sitting, I think)
  • olives
  • two glasses of wine
  • crab dip and nut-thin crackers
  • possibly tortilla chips and salsa (we had a lot of finger-food out)
  • BBQ chicken and pork
  • cole slaw
  • gluten-free red velvet cake with commercial cream cheese frosting
  • vanilla Haagen-Dasz (about 1/2 cup)
I think that was the whole day.  Really, not all that bad, which is what has me baffled regarding the weight.  Recovery from exercise?  Seems likely, but at the moment, not that comforting.  

I did sleep well last night - until the dog started vomiting anyway.  That was around 4, I think, and I believe I got back to sleep afterward pretty quickly. And my hip did not bug me, which is a total first in quite a while.  I'm hoping that the walking we've been doing, either in 5Ks or at the gym, is helping get things properly realigned.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Friday

152.4 this morning; baffling.  Well, not really; I'm a giant bag-o-water this morning. We went to the gym again last night, and I opted to lift heavy things.  Paid for it, too; I woke up near midnight and struggled mightily to get back to sleep, until I got up and took 3 ibuprofen.  That helped, eventually, but it was rugged. And, of course, I have to work late tonight (late meaning "near midnight", I'd imagine), and we are doing a 5K tomorrow morning. Eventually, I believe that this will help my strength and endurance, and that's all good, but it sure doesn't seem like it just now.

Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • olives (maybe 5)
  • pepperoncini (from the olive jar)
  • a few coconut flakes - far less than the 1/3 cup serving
  • salami - about 4 thin slices
  • chipotle cheese steak, no bun
  • cottage cheese
  • a pickle
  • a dark chocolate truffle
That was it.  I was at bona-fide "small" on the ketone test stick last night, and I have the lovely surge of energy from being in ketosis.  That's probably what's keeping me upright this morning, truly.

Other updates: I took melatonin well before bedtime last night - apparently that's not what was helping keep me from waking at midnight.  I did the cold shot at the end of the shower as well, and didn't have daytime hot flashes that I can recall; I did have some at bedtime and during the midnight to 3:30 am stretch.  They seem somewhat less intense than a few weeks ago; I really hope that things are starting to subside.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Thursday

I did the cold shower yesterday, but took the melatonin at 9 pm (forgot to do it earlier).  Slept like a bag of rocks until well after 2 am, woke briefly to hit the bathroom, and slept more until the alarm went off.  Did I hot flash?  I don't know.  It's possible I did not, which would be awesome.

151.8 this morning and ketones inching toward "small" from "trace".  Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements (cut down on some of the arcane stuff like CoQ10 and Gingko)
  • 4 pieces of cheese
  • about 1 T of coconut flakes
  • 1 more piece of cheese
  • roast chicken
  • salad with blue cheese dressing
  • about 1T of dried cherries
  • 1 square of dark chocolate
  • 1 salted dark chocolate almond
I think that was it.  I skipped breakfast again this morning, and have olives with me, and may go get lunch as well.  I still feel swollen, so there's more water there to be lost.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Wednesday

An interesting  observation this morning (more correctly, 11:38 pm yesterday).  I took melatonin at bedtime last night, and was back to the old pre-midnight waking as if it were morning thing.  Which I don't like, a lot.  When I take melatonin around 8ish, this hasn't been happening.  I think I'll revert to the 8 pm dose.

152.4 this morning; here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • double quarter-pounder with cheese, no bun
  • some coconut, not a lot
  • chips and salsa
  • chicken with green chile and avocados on it
  • about a spoon full of refried beans
  • about 2 spoons full of rice
  • a chocolate truffle
That was it.  Slightly higher urine ketones, although still in the trace-small region. I'm feeling motivated to stick with the low-carb eating, for mental serenity and feeling better and not repeating that cold, and it may be that that motivation will work better than weight loss, which seems to be very impossible just now.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Random observations about the whole standing desk thing

One: It's getting easier and easier to go for long periods without needing to sit down.  I'm glad this is the case, because at first, my legs were getting tired pretty quickly.  Last week when I was fighting the cold, I had to sit more, but now that it's gone, I'm feeling pretty much like standing is the default.

Two: I don't seem to have swollen ankles as much as I did when I sat all the time. Honestly, this makes no sense to me (water being subject to gravity and all), but that's what I'm observing.  I'm all good with that, too, since I very much hate swollen ankles.

Three: I'm getting bored more easily.  It used to be that I could slouch at my desk doing not much (because a day is a bit slow, for example) for quite a long time.  I can't do that when I'm standing there.  I've heard folks say they feel more productive at a standing desk, so I'm guessing this is that.

Just wanted to put those out there.

Tuesday

Fasted yesterday, pretty well.  I ate 7 green olives (all fat) and some coconut (maybe 4g carbs) before dinner.  And we went to the gym - I walked a little over a mile and a quarter at increasing speed over the distance, thanks to a paced playlist.  So of course, I weigh more today than yesterday - 152.8.  Probably water.  Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • olives
  • coconut flakes (probably about 1/3 cup)
  • cheese
  • burger patty with green chile and cheese
  • 3 pieces of cheddar
  • a square of dark chocolate
  • about 1 TBSP of dried cherries
That was it.  I tested for urine ketones at bedtime and came up with a trace.  I think I can do better than that.

Fasting today, more for sleeping in purposes than anything else; we were tired.  I did do Advil-PM last night and got a decent night's sleep with lots of vivid dreaming.  I only recall one semi-waking episode involving temperature fluctuations.  And I meant to do the cold water blast this morning and forgot it.  I'll try again tomorrow, I guess.

I may eat lunch today, schedule permitting (and it appears that it will).  Not sure what yet.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Monday

And it's not starting out well; I can't get to Gmail this morning.  Nonetheless; there are other ways to skin this cat, and (mixing our metaphors even further) we soldier on.  152.2 this morning after a weekend that stuck to very low carb principles pretty well.  Yeah, it's a bit lower than Friday, but not much; on the other hand, I had infinite energy yesterday and got a ton of stuff done.  So there's that.  Here's yesterday:
  • bacon
  • tea with cream
  • cheese
  • cashews
  • chef's salad with blue cheese dressing
  • 1/2 row of Hershey's Dark Chocolate almond bar
Probably more than that, but I seriously don't recall.  I know I thought about eating chips and salsa but didn't.  No idea what else there might have been.  I'm doing an on-purpose fast this morning, to clear out the remains of the cold - this, after reading all about autophagy in John Durant's new book, The Paleo Manifesto.  He does a good job synthesizing all of the thoughts on Paleo, giving it meaning beyond a good way to eat, and providing me with some food for thought.  I finished it last night, and had a hot bath before bed and a brief bit of cold in the shower this morning - wondering if maybe some thermal adaptation might help with the hot flashes.  I can say that the hot bath was not all that helpful, so far, and that I don't think I've had a flash yet since the cold water in the shower.  I also drove to work with the heat off for most of the hour - and it's 36 outside, so that was meaningful.

Sleep last night was crap again.  Despite another massage, my hips are still killing me.  I think it might be weak abs, so I did about 100 crunches last night and a few leg lifts.  I'm not sore this morning, so either my abs are just fine, or I wasn't doing something right.  I'm leaning toward an Advil-PM night of sleep tonight.

Friday, October 18, 2013

Friday

Another night of fairly good sleep.  I recall waking at 12:40ish, turning on an old radio show on the iPod, and melting back to sleep.  Again, around 3:40, I think - this time, my hips were hurting again and telling my brain to shut up already didn't really work too well.  Getting a massage this weekend. I was awake-ish for about an hour that time, but asleep again by 5:30 when the alarm went off.  The sleep felt darn good - very deep.  I've needed it.

Eating wasn't so great. 152.6 again this morning.  I need to get out of the snacking habit; that seems to be my big issue right now.  Here's yesterday:
  • an egg custard (mushroom and sausage and Gruyere)
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • coconut - multiple amounts, no idea
  • an apple
  • a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos
  • steak with mushrooms sauteed in butter
  • salad with blue cheese dressing
  • cheese
  • cashews - the other thing, apart from coconut, that I need to stop
Elizabeth, on the other hand, has lost something like 7 pounds this week, and is chuffed no end. She resisted a donut yesterday by saying to herself that it was not food.  I'm so glad this is working for her again.

Ham and homemade green bean casserole for dinner, probably also salad.  I've had a couple of the egg custards for breakfast today, and will try to avoid food until late afternoon - not eating until I am actually hungry.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Thursday

I took melatonin at 8:00 last night, rather than just before bedtime.  I know I was sleepier by bedtime than normally, so I credit it with that.  I also slept fairly well last night - woke once at 2-something, I think, and again around 5:00.  Exhaustion is helpful, I guess.  152.6 this morning, which I do not like and intend to do something about.  Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • coconut flakes throughout the morning
  • spinach salad with bacon and blue cheese and pine nuts
  • some sort of italian salad dressing
  • 3 pats of butter
  • a 4-oz portion of chicken piccata, probably breaded
  • caesar salad, no croutons
  • redfish with "Pontchartrain sauce" - almost certainly roux-based
  • two grilled shrimp
  • a hunk of Gruyere
  • 1/2 row of Hershey's dark chocolate with almonds
That was it.  Not great, and both meals were from restaurants (Maggiano's at lunch, Joe's Crab Shack at dinner).  When we got home, Elizabeth and I made more egg custards to have at breakfast - sausage and mushroom with Gruyere this time.  I had one this morning - pretty good.

I think we're nearly all healthy enough for the gym again - at least, I am going to propose going there at least once this weekend.  We are planning on doing a 5K on the 26th, and it would be good to get a little ramp-up work in.

My hip is still bugging me a little - did the same stuff last night as the night before and it seemed to go away, mostly.  If it were organic pain owing to something being wrong, I don't think it would do that, so I will continue to work on it as psychosomatic.  I also seem to have got my stiff neck and shoulders to calm down in a similar way.  Interesting, for sure.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Wednesday

151.8 today; I pretty much know where that pound went, but it's inappropriate to discuss details. Sleep last night was not good; from about 2-4 I was awake or nearly so, throwing covers around and grabbing them back.  Ugh.

Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • 1-1/2 egg custards with bacon and cheddar cheese
  • the usual supplements
  • 3 pieces of cheese throughout the day (but no coconut)
  • two Fuzzy's tacos with ground beef
  • more cheese - I think 2 pieces
  • cashews - probably about 2 handfuls
That was it; I was quite hungry after dinner, hence the cheese and cashews.  Stayed away from sweets, though, so that's good.

On Seth Roberts' blog yesterday, he had a link to an article about John Sarno's approach to back pain - that much of it is psychosomatic.  I did a bit of digging to get the gist of his argument and what to do about it, and tried it on my hips last night, since they've been acting like a bad case of sciatica for about 2 months, and massage did nothing to help.  I think they've been some sort of signal that I'm angry or frustrated about something - and I think that something is work.  More on that later, but turning my attention to that possibility at 2 this morning made the hip pain pretty much vanish.  Interesting.  So now I have this shoulder pain...

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Tuesday

152.8 this morning, sleep last night was utter crap again; I spent yesterday feeling perfectly awful.  I don't know if it was the cold that I don't really have any more, or menopause, or a combination of both.  Tired, achy, sweaty, weak, hungry; I had it all going for me.  Ugh.  Suffice it to say I didn't eat as well as I could have, although I didn't do all that bad.  Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • 1-1/2 egg custards from the 30-Day Guide to Paleo cookbook
  • the usual supplements
  • coconut flakes - probably a lot
  • vegetable soup with beef (made Friday - it got very onion-flavored over the weekend in the fridge)
  • M&Ms toward the end of the day when I was still starving and feeling ugh - don't know if they really helped
  • stuffed cabbage casserole (had a bit of rice in it; otherwise, nothing high-carb
  • walnuts
  • two salted chocolate almonds
  • an apple
  • cheese
Longer list than usual, and the apple and M&Ms were carbs that I could have done without.  I have brought cheese with me today, and so far, despite the sleep issues, I feel better today than I did yesterday, so I am hopeful that I won't bonk mid-afternoon.  

I suppose it's possible that yesterday was an incidence of the low-carb flu.  I don't really know, though, and since I ate carbs, it may be a couple of days of clean eating before I have another shot at ketosis.  I will keep trying.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Monday

Where to start?  Well, 151.0 for my weight.  I was able to keep away from the sugar pretty well all weekend, with a few notable exceptions, like ice cream on Friday night.  Still, I feel like I might have a handle on things now.  

Next, Elizabeth is suffering from more metabolic syndrome symptoms, and after a conversation yesterday, seems committed to eating clean.  It may be that in helping her, I help myself and Lee more. As a family, we are all trying to eat at home more anyway, so the combination can only be good.

I'm working on dialing in the sleep right now, and - crossing my fingers - it seems to be improving a bit.  Over the weekend, I started shutting the blinds over our bed, to reduce the light from a streetlight, and Lee and I started using magnesium oil just at bedtime.  Either one or both of those helped - or sheer exhaustion from being sick did the trick.  We slept nearly 10 hours Saturday night, and a solid 8 last night.  I vaguely recall being partly awake at one point, but really wasn't even a little alert until about 4:30, which is huge for me.  

Hot and cold flashes continue unabated - more some days, fewer others.  No obvious trend.

Here's yesterday as I recall it:
  • tea with cream
  • omelet with ham and bell peppers and onions
  • bacon
  • a couple of fried potatoes - not more than 5 pieces, I think
  • cheese, I think
  • pizza tops - pepperoni, green pepper, and mushroom
  • a row of dark chocolate with almonds (Hershey bar)
There may have been more, possibly some cashews, but I don't remember it at all well.

Anyway, new week, new start (yet again).

Friday, October 11, 2013

Friday

I thought I ate better yesterday; apparently not.  Also, hot flashes are firing nearly constantly this morning and sleep was futile overnight.  I am miserable. I'm sure I can keep going, but after a while, if cutting an arm off would make this stop, I would probably give it serious thought.  154.2 again this morning.  Here's yesterday; maybe after looking at the list something will make sense:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • cheese (4 pieces throughout the day, and one after dinner)
  • coconut - probably 6-8 TBSP
  • gyro meat
  • salad with blue cheese dressing
  • a dark chocolate square with raspberry filling
  • walnuts, I think
  • one almond-flour cracker
Nothing obvious - maybe the coconut?  I won't be eating it today - took it to work to replace the craving for vending machine food - and it's working for that.  I think I'm going with olives for snacking today - and we had actual breakfast, which I think we need to restart doing, somehow.  With all of us sick or at least a bit disabled at the moment, it's really hard to get up in the morning.

Ugh.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Thursday

Better eating day yesterday, better sleep, and although I'm quite sleepy this morning, I feel better - less ill, although not fully healthy, if that makes sense.  Interestingly, my cold has never felt like a full-blown cold: I had a mildly sore throat and malaise, then a stuffy nose and malaise, then a hearing loss/swollen ear and malaise, none of them severe and all serially.  At the moment, it's the hearing loss, although even that is ebbing.  And not so much malaise today.  Progress, I'd say.

I ate better yesterday, thanks to the absence of sugar.  153.0 this morning.  Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • cheese (4 pieces throughout the day)
  • coconut flakes (about 5-6 TBSP, at a guess)
  • walnuts
  • grilled chicken strips
  • cole slaw
  • two waffle fries (we had dinner at Chick-Fil-A)
  • pecans with cheese spread
That was it; I'm trying to improve things in general, and it seems to be working a bit.  Nothing abrupt this time, and trying to be fairly forgiving of any lapses as long as I correct them fully.

More cheese and coconut today, and maybe that gyro-meat-and-salad thing for dinner (sometimes we take multiple runs at things before we actually achieve them).

On the menopause front, I am still having flashes, but fewer in general, I think, or they're bothering me a bit less, especially at night.  Or it may be that I'm just effing exhausted right now, and sleeping through some of them.  I would like them to go away; I find it rather stressful to feel like I'm breaking a fever multiple times a day, and obviously something broke through my stress threshold recently.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Wednesday

Okay, they're gone.  The candy corn and mellocreme pumpkins no longer exist in my house. Because I ate the last of them.  

I hereby resolve not to buy any more.  That should help some.  My gut flora are complaining, my weight is complaining, and I'm sure that eating all that sugar did not help my cold get better.  153.8 again this morning; here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • cheese
  • candy corn
  • leftover gluten free pizza - most of 1 slice; the crust doesn't hold up well
  • cashews
  • walnuts
  • salad with blue cheese salad dressing and bacon
  • pot roast with potatoes and carrots
  • waldorf salad
  • green beans with bacon
I think that was it; I don't remember.  It was a disorganized day for eating. Tentative plan tonight is gyro meat and a salad.

The cold isn't getting any worse; I sound stuffed up, but feel pretty normal, so I am hopeful that it's on the wane. I want it gone so I can get back to occasional gym visits and working outside and things that will help us all survive the winter with less stress and disease.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Tuesday

Still fighting the cold; last night, it made me cough when I was laying down trying to sleep. So helpful. If I propped my head up, even a little, it stopped. I was still awake at 11:30 after taking an Advil PM around 9, not sleepy at all. Probably a no-brainer to figure out that I'm a bit wiped today. I opted to work from home to see if I can get it to stop doing this to me; don't know if that will work or not.

154.2 this morning. Here's yesterday:

  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • 3 pieces of cheese
  • salami - 6 very thin slices
  • an apple
  • two more pieces of cheese
  • chips and salsa
  • naked chicken fajitas
  • two squares of raspberry-filled dark chocolate
  • about 5 candy corn pieces (I resisted until very late)
I think some of it's water; my ankles were a bit puffy at bedtime. I can't recall if it's starve a cold, feed a fever or vice versa; at the moment, I seem to be opting for the latter.

This whole being sick thing is such a bummer - it's been so nice for the past 3 years not getting any of the stuff Lee and Elizabeth brought home. I chalk this up to stress - a combination of long commutes, that damn remodel, and menopause - and falling off the Paleo wagon rather a lot this past few months. So, something to fix.

Working from home today; I will be eating cheese and butter and bacon and the like today, and planning something very paleo for dinner, although I don't know what.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Monday

Sugar is an addictive substance.

I made the mistake Friday (I think, maybe Saturday) of buying a bag of Brach's "Autumn Mix" - mellowcreme pumpkins and candy corn of two types.  I have always loved candy corn and the pumpkins, and I thought I could have one or two pieces occasionally between now and Halloween.

Yeah - nope.  I have been hoovering this stuff in like the vital substance of life all weekend - I guess that might be a slight overstatement because there is still some left in the bowl, but I'd rather not think about how much of it I did eat.

Very carby weekend; in addition to the sugar binge, I ate a lot of apples (well, maybe 3)... hmmm. Maybe that was it.  It just felt like more.  153.8 this morning, though.  Here's yesterday:
  • omelet with ham cheese and tomato
  • bacon
  • tea with cream
  • vitamin D3 (I don't think I did any of the other supplements)
  • Autumn Mix - many handfuls
  • almond-flour olive oil crackers
  • an apple
  • cheese (I'm pretty sure)
  • meatballs with spaghetti sauce
  • salad with balsamic vinaigrette
  • more Autumn Mix
I don't know if it was the sugar overload or something else, but Lee and Elizabeth's cold started to attack me on Saturday morning.  I woke up with a slight sore throat and some mild body aches. That was pretty much it for Saturday; I did a bunch of cooking that day and was pretty energetic. But went to bed at 8:00 and was probably asleep before 9:00 (with two Benadryl to try to keep from getting stuffed up).  The Benadryl wore off at about 2 am, I think, and I was uncomfortable the rest of the night (stuffy nose, swollen soft palate and uvula, stuff like that).  Stayed in bed yesterday morning and took more vitamin D3 and some Airborne, and the throat unswelled and I started feeling more normal again.  But we had a very quiet weekend; I don't think I even left the house yesterday (except for an abortive trip out for breakfast; we turned around when Lee couldn't stop coughing). Anyway, I went to bed last night with nothing but melatonin, and slept until 4:30, which is crazy long for me of late.  My nose is a bit stuffy this morning and I have a very slight scratchy throat/tickle that prompts me to cough occasionally, but other than that, I feel okay.  I am hoping that this is it for me; I have enjoyed not getting sick for the past 3 years and would prefer to keep it that way.  

Other things I did to keep it at bay: sinus saline rinses, and put some lavender essential oil on my tonsils yesterday morning.  Oh, and tried to sleep with garlic oil and socks on my feet Saturday night.  Don't know if these steps have helped or if my immune system is doing what it's supposed to, despite my attempts to overdose with sugar.

Anyway, recognizing that I'd really rather not be sick and that the sugar may well be a culprit (and let's face it, I've been noshing on sugar far more than normal this past couple of weeks), I am going to buckle down on refined sugar avoidance again.  I have an apple and cheese and salami with me today to eat when I get hungry or cravy (or before 1 pm when I begin an afternoon meeting marathon), so I am hopeful that I can stay out of the stuff during the workday, at least.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Friday

Yesterday, while doing the standing desk thing, I spent a brief stint standing on one leg - a few seconds, really, on each leg alone.  I also changed up when I took melatonin - at 7 pm, instead of right at bedtime.  I don't think anything else changed significantly.  And I got somewhat better sleep last night.  Not perfect; I know I was up at 1:30, anyway.  But better - maybe the quality of the sleep intervals was better than before or something.  I'll take any help I can get.

In addition, it was raining/snowing (yes, dammit) last night, so it was cooler than normal in the bedroom as well.  That may have helped given my thermal issues.

No idea what I weigh today - Fridays, I leap out of bed to get the animals fed and stuff, and don't have time to step on the scale.  Here's yesterday:
  • scrambled eggs
  • bacon
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • a Jimmy John's unwich (roast beef and turkey, tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, I think)
  • a dill pickle
  • 5/6 of a gluten free Domino's pizza, with pepperoni, bell peppers, and mushrooms
  • two squares of raspberry filled dark chocolate
I was able to avoid any other snacks after that, due to feeling full. And I was hungry at 5:00 this morning.

I think I need to get back into ketosis if I can.  I know I'm not there now.  And I don't know if I can, truly; the sugar cravings I've been having lately are pretty darn strong.  Nonetheless, I think I will try again.

Meatloaf and mashed cheesy cauliflower for dinner tonight - see?  Avoiding the starch as much as possible.  Also comfort food.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Head, meet Desk

This ad just showed up on a website I was reading. Comment is pretty much superfluous.

Thursday

I would tend to say that a combination of exhaustion and hormone fluctuations is a very bad thing. Not that I went postal or anything like that, but it triggered another sugar bender.  Skittles again. And chips at dinner.  153.0 this morning, and not surprised.  Here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • the usual supplements
  • 3 pieces of cheese
  • skittles (at least this time, they weren't all smashed together)
  • grilled chicken taco salad with tortilla chips
  • potato soup
  • Ghirardelli chocolate square with raspberry filling
  • cashews
As usual, it seemed worse at the time.  I have managed breakfast today and plan on ordering a Jimmy John's unwich if I get hungry mid-day.  Maybe having a plan will help.  That, and being a bit more alert - I did the Advil PM again last night and woke up around 4 this morning for the first time. I feel pretty good this morning for a change.

I'm starting to wonder if my root cause problem is bad sleep; that if I were more deeply asleep at night, I would be less disturbed by hot flashes.  I may have had some last night, but they didn't wake me.  Not entirely sure what I'm going to do about it, but something to mull over, I guess.  And it would appear that the standing desk is not making much of a change in my sleep patterns after all. Might try standing on one leg again.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Wednesday

151.6; ate lots of chocolate and french fries yesterday.  Need I say more?  Here's the breakdown:
  • tea with cream
  • cheese
  • the usual supplements
  • double quarter pounder with cheese, no bun
  • medium fries
  • iced tea
  • steak
  • green beans
  • wine 
  • chocolate - 1 square Ghirardelli raspberry-filled and an entire bar (3 servings) of milk chocolate with toasted coconut
The thing is, that milk chocolate bar wasn't even that good - the flavor was just sweet, not balanced. I didn't like it all that much, but I still finished it.  I hate that.

Sleep was shit.  I added leg cramps to the other fun.  Life is sucking mightily right now.  Lee and Elizabeth are both sick; he sounds like he has bona-fide pneumonia, and she only has a cold (I hope, anyway) after her trip to Seattle, but is exhausted.  And I'm the healthy one - the sweaty, menopausal, depressed, chocolate-craving, underslept healthy one.  Add to all that an hour and 10 minute commute driving directly into the sun and I just want to curl up in a corner and weep.  I hope things improve soon.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Tuesday

150.6 this morning; here's yesterday:
  • tea with cream
  • no supplements
  • nasty banana-chip based trail mix (I was starving, I had no money, it was in a desk drawer)
  • about a fistful of ham
  • 1/2 slice swiss cheese
  • small handful of potato chips
  • pork roast with BBQ sauce
  • rice with butter
  • brussels sprouts roasted with mustard and worcestershire sauce
  • two raspberry filled Ghirardelli squares
That was it.  I've only had cheese today so far - but hope that it will keep me from starving. Slept better last night - had Advil PM and nearly didn't wake at 1 am to let the whining dog outside and back in.  Feel like I could use another week's sleep.  Yikes.