Friday

Fog this morning and approaching rain. I ran around the house early, shutting windows, but the humidity indoors had reached 78%. It's not uncomfortable, though, and the AC will eventually get rid of it.

No outdoor time this morning - had laundry to start and some bone broth to strain. I've been making it in the oven - brown the bones, add water, bake at 230ish for a really long time - but our oven doesn't seem to like that last bit (the really long time). I came out this morning to find that it, and only it, had had a power failure about 2 hours before I got up. Fortunately, the broth was still at 180, well over the danger point, and I pulled it out and put it on the stove while getting things ready to strain and cool it. It's in the fridge now.

Mostly the dogs get it - poured on their food to juice things up a bit. But when I have a recipe that needs chicken broth or stock, I use it. They are responsible for the bones, since we've found it's far cheaper to pull apart a roast chicken from Costco or Sam's than it is to give them decent quality canned food, and possibly better for them. And we get free bone broth - I did 4 carcasses' worth yesterday and still have another 2-4 in the freezer.

So, 157.6 this morning again. I'm a bit surprised, actually, given my eating yesterday. Which looked like this:

• tea with cream
• bacon
• cheddar cheese
• a few almonds - not many
• ham and swiss cheese
• ice cream - a vanilla Haagen-Dasz single serve
• potato chips - a handful
• 3 or 4 milk chocolates with almonds
• about a handful of peanuts - to clean the bowl out

Boredom/stress eating. I spent a lot of yesterday working on not killing the dogs, who were all mildly psycho. In and out of the house all day. Barking like mad at nothing. Needing attention. I don't know if the approaching weather was causing it, or the fact that Lee's been gone most of the past week.

New job's all set - and I'm feeling extreme love for it at the moment, since my first day consists of being taken to lunch, and nothing more. I have a full day Tuesday, but Monday, it's just lunch. How cool is that?

Busy weekend ahead - errands, a haircut, Halloween, possibly some furniture-building. Housecleaning since I won't be in the house during weekdays after this. Prep cooking so we will have dinner available next week. Shipping out my soon-to-be former employer's equipment. And it may be in the rain, all of it.

Thursday

The weather here has been magnificent the past couple of days - clear, sunny, not terribly hot. I left the windows open all night and will continue today, to air the house out thoroughly. It is supposed to rain a lot starting some time tomorrow; if it gets as humid beforehand as it did last week, I'll have to shut things up for a while, just to keep it reasonably dry in here.

Spent a brief time outdoors this morning, taking the trash out, tidying a bit, putting Halloween decorations out. A little natural light at the beginning of the day. Quite nice, and I probably should have been doing it all along.

157.6 again this morning. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• cheese
• a small handful of cashews
• leftover spaghetti squash with butter and Mizithra cheese
• tortilla chips and salsa - about 20 chips
• leftover burger
• salad with faux Olive Garden dressing
• dark chocolate with hazelnuts (2 pips from a Ritter bar)
• 1 milk chocolate with almonds
• a small container of potato chips

Truly an odd mix of stuff, but it was what I wanted at the time. I have one more burger left over and will probably have it tonight, with another salad, since I need to be eating the lettuce before it gets old. And I need to think of something for dinner tomorrow, so we won't be tempted to eat out. Not feeling inspired, I must say.

Wednesday

Did I label yesterday "Wednesday"? I have an odd idea that I might have, but can't go look. Today is Wednesday. I checked on the calendar and everything.

157.6 this morning, give or take. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
• the usual supplements (including Magnesium at night)
• scrambled eggs
• sausage patties
• almonds - probably a lot, about 5 at a time
• cheese
• 3 potato chips
• 1/4 lb grassfed beef burger
• a lot of spaghetti squash with browned butter and Mizithra cheese
• 3 milk chocolates with almonds

I had a wee bit of a sweets craving going last night. Need to come up with some better snacking options, I think, whether that's cutting up peppers and making dip or what. The apples were actually helpful; I could get some more of those as well. Worth some thought.

Ran some errands after dinner; Lee had to go to a conference and will be there the rest of the week, so I'm on my own for eating. Thinking another salad with meat and cheese for dinner - more of the faux Olive Garden dressing on it.

The weather is super nice today - I have open windows to get the air recirculated. It's supposed to be better for our concentration to have access to fresh air, and I'm good with that. I'm rather hoping we can keep a few cracked from now until next spring, and just reverse the seasons here regarding when the house is shut up and when it's not.

I start working away from home next week. I'll be glad to get out, at least at first. It's bizarrely isolating to spend all day here, eat dinner, hang out through the evening, and never leave. Probably a really good break for me - no commute, able to get caught up on sleep a bit, stuff like that. I'm hoping this new job won't turn into a death march, and from everything I heard about it, I think that will be in my control. I certainly hope so. But before that, I have one more late night, if you can believe it. Tomorrow night off-cycle deployment. Ugh.

Tuesday

Mexican for dinner last night. Sort of. I had a Mexican-influenced Cobb salad - chicken, bacon, avocado, olives, etc., with a spicy ranch dressing. Also chips and "green sauce", which seems to be a thing here. Whatever it is, it's somewhat addictive.

In other words, I ate too many chips. It happens. 157.8 this morning. Could be worse.

Other than that, food included cheese, almonds, bacon and eggs, tea with cream, cashews, and peanuts. Pretty normal day around here.

I don't have much to say, obviously. Woke at 3:20 am. Fell back asleep around 5:45. Woke again as the alarm went off, 15 minutes later. I'm a bit cranky.

Monday

Quiet weekend. Had to be, actually; we had something over 6" of rain throughout the 48 hours. The dogs and I stayed home, and I puttered a bit. Moved books around, cooked a little, sewed a little. Stuff of that sort. Read a lot - real books on paper and everything. Took it easy on the electronics - didn't skip them entirely, but laid off as much as possible. Well, not the TV. It was on more than usual for me when I'm by myself.

I think I ate well. Sort of. A lot of cheese-nuts-chocolate going on. Skipped breakfast on Sunday. Had a salad-with-meat for Saturday dinner, and chili last night. All good stuff.

I went from 157 on Friday, to 158.6 on Saturday. No idea why. Back to 157.4 yesterday, and 157.0 today. I've been doubling up on magnesium at night, and the cramps aren't back. For which I am truly grateful. Sleep Friday night was okay, Saturday wasn't great on account of a lot of flash-flood warnings over my phone (which buzzed it even after I turned the sound off). Last night, I slept like a rock. Woke up for the first real time at 5:58 am.

Seems like hot flashes are on the uptick these days. I'm starting to think they will never stop; that this is the new normal and that everyone else is suffering through them but figures they're not worth even talking about after a while. Ugh, if true. But not much real that I can do about them.

Friday

So, if I drank half of a bottle of Gatorade at 2 am, is that yesterday's eating or today's?

Damn leg cramps. Super nasty ones. Left leg, obviously. 

First bout was easy to get rid of - hop out of bed, put weight on my heel, gone. Second bout - it took several minutes to make my heel move even a little bit toward the floor. That down, the outside of my ankle/calf cramped up, making it impossible to use that leg for anything. I put magnesium oil on it. I walked around a bit. I couldn't get back in bed without it getting worse. I finally walked into the kitchen and got a Gatorade, and either that or the longer walking finally got it so I could lift it back into bed without significant pain. Put some heat on it, and it finally died down to a low fasciculation, and I fell back to sleep. I guess I should probably drink the rest of that Gatorade today. I did double up my Potassium this morning, and will be stricter about Magnesium at bedtime (I took it last night, for what that's worth).

157.0 this morning. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• pork sausage
  
• almonds - not a whole lot, I think
  
• cheese - 3-4 pieces of Cheddar
  
• an apple
  
• Mahi with lump crabmeat and lemon butter sauce
  
• a few green beans
  
• a taste of cheesy grits
  
• a handful of cashews (maybe 2? I can't remember)
  
• 2 milk chocolates with almonds
  
• (half a bottle of Gatorade)

I'm just wrung out this morning. Looking forward to a weekend with not a huge amount to do - it's supposed to rain torrentially and we're being advised to avoid leaving home. Kay-fine. I'll start working on dismantling the home office a bit, stuff like that. Work on making hangers for masks in our Mardi Gras-themed bathroom, maybe do some cross-stitch on a towel I started about 2 years ago. Let the dogs through the back doors. Cook, maybe. And try to eat healthy and avoid junk. Also, now that I've figured out how, clean the shower. We have hard water, and it's a bit crusty in there.

Thursday

"Sleep, that knits up the raveled sleave of care..." If only. Last night, one of our dogs was dissatisfied with sleeping in a crate, and we let all 3 of them out for the night. Turns out all we really needed to do was let him go outside (which, of course, we did not do - oops), but he slept between us, and I woke up at 4 am with him pressing heavily into the small of my back. For a smallish dog, he can generate a lot of pressure in that way. Anyway, I got a solid 6 hours before that point, and that will have to do. Now I just need to get over the headache...

157.0 this morning. I guess what I'm seeing is a slowish reaction to the bad eating last weekend - a spike, followed by the slow loss of whatever it was - water, certainly, at the least. Anyway, I'm glad to see that reversion to the mean in my case is a decrease, not an increase. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• bacon
  
• almonds
  
• cheese - 5 pieces, I think
  
• two handfuls of cashews (overall less than a half-cup)
  
• a "heritage pork" porterhouse - really thick bone-in chop, quite tasty, with apples and pomegranate glaze
  
• brussels sprouts - not roasted, but still good
  
• 4 french fries fried in duck fat
  
• a glass of fairly dry Chardonnay
  
• 2 milk chocolates with almonds
  

Dinner was big - also late. So of course, I went to bed mildly hungry. We were being guinea pigs for a new restaurant - I think it opens Friday. Never done that before. The food was very good, although one member of our party thinks she got food poisoning, which wasn't so great. Anyway, the whole meal appeared either Paleo or Paleo-able. Though I didn't inquire about other cooking fats. 

I think I have a job. Haven't seen the details yet, nor formally accepted an offer, but if nothing goes sideways, I will. Don't know if that will increase or decrease my stress levels. At least initially, it should decrease my annoyance levels. And it will get me out of the house. Definitely a good thing, that.

Wednesday

Apparently, I'm still in ketosis. That is, if ketosis is the cause of wacky leg cramps. Wow. Last night was brutal, although I feel rested this morning. Around 1 am, I got a cramp in my left leg (always the left leg for the weird ones). Stomped that one out, went back to sleep. It moved a bit, from my calf muscle to the muscles on the outside of my ankle - the ones I don't really know how to release. Was up walking around twice trying to get that one to release, and when it didn't, I applied heat, and went right back to sleep. After that, I think it fired in my calf one more time, not really waking me up, and the next thing I knew, it was nearly 5:30 am. 

157.6 this morning. So I lost a lot of water, I guess. The cramping is certainly consistent with electrolyte imbalance from that sort of thing. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• almonds - probably a lot, throughout the day
  
• cheese (regular cheddar) - 5-6 pieces over lunch/dinnertime
  
• white meat from a roast chicken
  
• salad with blue cheese dressing
  
• 2 milk chocolates with almonds
  

That was it. I managed to stay out of the cashews, and while I would have preferred to have only had one chocolate, it's better than the 4 or so I had one of the weekend days. 

We're going to a restaurant opening for dinner today. No idea what the cuisine is, so I may grab a couple of pieces of cheese beforehand, just in case, and aim for the veggies there. Some time this week, we're having spaghetti squash with browned butter and mizithra cheese, and burger patties, but not tonight. I also have smoked sausage and sauerkraut for a no-prep meal. I'm hoping those things will keep us from eating out the rest of the week. We shall see.

Tuesday

Not under control yet. 158.8 this morning. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• sausage patties
  
• almonds - through the day, probably about 15
  
• a handful of cashews
  
• 5 pieces of cheese (mid-day and dinnertime)
  
• bell pepper stuffed with grassfed beef and Mexican-style stewed tomatoes and cheese
  
• an apple
  
• a very small handful of peanuts
  
• 2 milk chocolates with almonds
  

That was it. A modest breakfast, cheese and nuts for "lunch", a modest dinner, with fruit and chocolate for dessert. Seems like that should keep me in stasis. It's not, though - at least, I think it's not.

Hoping for salad for dinner tonight. I'm thinking I need to go on a salad bender for a while. Seems like that's what I was doing a couple of weeks ago when I had spontaneous weight loss. We went out, I had a salad. Many nights at home, salad. I like salad, and I busted up a head of iceberg yesterday morning to facilitate them. That, and maybe I should start having raw veg and dip as snacks. I'm at home, for crying out loud. I have refrigerators. I could do that. Worth pursuing.

Sleep last night was great until 3:30 am. Damn. Wasn't that my issue last fall? About 6-6.5 hours, I think. Not enough. Though I may have managed to fall asleep again around 4:30 for nearly an hour, so I guess it was 7+ hours. Which is better.

What was different

Salad for dinner.

No effing snacking.

Limiting myself to one chocolate at the absolute tag end of the day.

Got it. No rocket science. But it seems a lot easier to go off the rails right now.

Monday

Ugh. For some reason, I completely forgot about doing this on Friday; 157.8 then; 158.2 or 158.4 this morning. No surprise; I ate Mexican - and bad-for-me Mexican - yesterday at lunchtime, despite not being hungry. Lee gets weird if he's hungry and I'm not, so I ate. Very annoying, really. 

Anyway, I need to take a look at the weeks around our New Orleans jaunt, because I was on a downward trend then, and I'm not now, and something has changed. Obviously, it could be hormones, it could be setpoint defense of some sort, who knows?

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon (1 piece)
  
• pork sausage patties (2)
  
• a couple of stabs at the cashews - maybe 3/4 cup total. Damn them.
  
• 2 chocolates with almonds
  
• chips and queso
  
• chicken taquitos (3 halves, 1" diameter)
  
• salad with meat in it, Olive Garden dressing
  
• a piece of cheddar
  

That was it. I've so very obviously not solved my issue with vegetables, and I was boredom eating for part of the day. That, despite a morning spent painting a bathroom, and some work on our table centerpieces for the Mardi Gras King's luncheon.

I had a very productive weekend. Got the bathroom painted - over 2 days, because it involves 3 colors of paint (and while the paint is done for this phase, I will be painting over it shortly with similarly tinted metallic paint. It's complicated.) I also lined 3 skirts, which task has been on my to-do list since last Christmas, basically (about the time I finished making them without lining), and fixed another one whose hook had been caught and ripped off by our old dryer. Apparently, I also ate badly. 

Lee's diverticulitis seems to be on the ebb, thank goodness. He's sleeping better, and I've been sleeping better since Friday (probably the reason I forgot to write here was that I'd been awake since 1:30 am and was seriously dysfunctional). The past couple of days, I've been waking up around 4:30-4:45 am, which is in the 7-8 hour range, and maybe just what I naturally need. I have pretty good energy during the day, anyway.

Not much else to report. I'll be re-reading those entries from a couple of weeks ago, to see if I can figure out what's different, and if it's to do with eating, revert to what I was doing then. And we might be able to get walks in later in this week, if the gastro doc says it's okay.

Thursday

157.4 this morning; stomach complaining a bit. Considering the amount of hydration I shed yesterday, I'm a bit surprised. Ah, well. 

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• 2 pork sausage patties
  
• almonds - 10-15, I think
  
• 3 small handfuls of cashews - probably less than 1/2 cup
  
• 3 extremely thin-sliced cheddar cheese slices
  
• 1/2 pound of shrimp in lemon-butter sauce
  
• about 1/3 cup rice
  
• 1 milk chocolate with almonds
  

Still no vegetables. I think we need a salad tonight. At least, I do.

Sleep last night was good - woke once between 4 and 5, fell back asleep almost immediately, and woke again when the alarm went off. Weird dreams though - not good. So I don't know how restful it was. Interesting sidenote, though - I am not limiting my use of screens at night, and I still conk out quickly. Might be the melatonin, which I'm still taking nightly. I restarted the magnesium at bedtime too - not sure why I'd stopped, except maybe for not taking it on travel. But I think I was feeling the lack.

Wednesday

Yesterday was peculiarly stressful. Quite literally nothing to do at work, and a conversation about another job with a long commute that, for no particular reason, had me down a bit all evening. I need a job, but I would like a job that has the potential for me to enjoy it. And so far, I think I've discussed only one that really fits that bill. No point sweating it now, since I have no offers to contemplate. But I was. And it triggered horrid cravings, for sugar.

So I ate. Bad things. Potato chips. Extra chocolate. Wine. Okay, wine isn't really that bad, and the potato chips amounted to less than a small lunchbox bag - fragments at the bottom of a big bag. And I had 2 chocolates instead of 1. All those excuses aside, I still weighed 157.6 this morning.

I'm paying for something, though. I ache all over. Seed oils in the chips, maybe? That's a lot of reaction for not a lot of input, if so. But something to watch, nonetheless.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with extra cream (3 times usual)
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• a few almonds
  
• cashews - 1/2 cup plus at least 1 handful
  
• cheese, I think
  
• potato chips
  
• 2 milk chocolates with almonds
  
• fajita steak and guacamole
  
• a glass of sangria
  

Looking at that list, I see no vegetables or fruit. I think that's probably wrong - not that I missed something in recording it, but that I missed something in eating. Shrimp cooked with butter and lemons and garlic tonight, and a salad.

And no chips. Because I ate the last of them. Sigh.

Tuesday

Weird pattern this go-round. 157.2 this morning, so up a pound and a half from yesterday. Seems like I see a bit of loss, then gain something substantial overnight, then lose it in increments to a slightly lower point. Lather rinse repeat.

Whatever. Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• a few almonds
  
• possibly 2 pieces of cheese
  
• double cheese Whataburger, no bun
  
• half pound of pulled pork
  
• cole slaw
  
• a sample of "green chile stew"
  
• one milk chocolate with almonds
  

I haven't had leg cramps for a couple of days, so it occurs to me that the apple and sweet potato over Sunday may have popped me out of ketosis. I've increased my cream consumption today (2 cups with it this morning), and will see if that reduces my appetite for the day. The burger at lunch yesterday was because Lee was out and brought it back - don't know that I was particularly hungry at the time. And it took me 2 hours to eat it, because of conference calls. So rather nasty there toward the end.

I think, with his diverticulitis (we did get confirmation that he'd had diverticuli (not sure why, but the medical literature thinks the plural ends in a - is this a Greek word?) back when he had his colonoscopy. I was wondering if something in eating Paleo might have caused them, but apparently not. We are probably going to have some discussions about whether or not he should be eating whole grains in the aftermath of this mess. I'm relatively convinced that the cause of the flareup is that he went on a fried-oyster-and-gumbo bender after moving here, and either the oil or the flour or both did the damage. He's been eating cake, for heaven's sake. Problem is, some of the more "conventional wisdom" diet recommendations suggest high-fiber from grains as a good thing to ward off future attacks. I'm okay with high-fiber from vegetables and fruits; probably something we should both eat more of. He's meeting with the gastro doc Monday; guess we'll figure out how to proceed once that's done.

Monday

The weekend was, ... interesting. Probably an increase in stress, and not a lot got done, unfortunately. Lee had a stomach ache the last half of the week that wouldn't go away, and we finally went to a quickie-med on Saturday night to see if it was something serious. Which it was. Diverticulitis. He's had IV antibiotics (I KNEW they still existed!) and a prescription for oral antibiotics and pain meds, and a referral to a gastroenterologist. I guess I'm glad we found it this month, and not next, when the out of pocket expense would have been a lot nastier.

He's not feeling much better yet, and if it doesn't clear up soon, he may find himself in a hospital for a week. Reading up on it, he could end up with something bursting and a case of peritonitis, so it's rather like appendicitis in miniature. No idea what triggered it, or what caused the diverticuli in the first place. I will be reading up on it this week, for sure.

As for me - 155.8 this morning, up from yesterday, although I don't exactly recall what yesterday was - maybe 155 even. Ate pretty well over the weekend, although, because Lee's supposed to eat low-fiber until this clears up (and then high fiber after - and no, that doesn't make sense to me either), and we just got a box of fruit in the mail from our old veterinarians, who miss us, I ate an apple for lunch, just to not waste it. 4 apples and 6 pears, and some cheese. Very nice of them, really. I'll just work through them one every other day or so. Lee also bought a bag of grapes at the grocery store last week, which he has not started eating. I'm not eating those, or if I do, just maybe 5 at a time. I knew when he bought them that he wouldn't eat them; what I didn't know was that he'd have a medical excuse. Sigh.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• 2 sausage patties
  
• cashews - 3 handfuls, I think
  
• peanuts - 1 or maybe 2 handfuls
  
• salami, gouda, and apple slices (lunch)
  
• 2 more pieces of Kerrygold cheese
  
• 1/4 of a ham steak and a baked sweet potato with butter and sour cream
  
• a milk chocolate with almonds
  

I was trying to emphasize protein, and because we never got dinner on Saturday due to the medical excursion, was super hungry yesterday afternoon. Not at breakfast, but once I ate the sausage, I was starving. Go figure.

Sleep last night was really good. The night before, not so much. I woke up yesterday morning around 3:30 for the day. It happens. Got out to do shopping yesterday, but didn't get much else done, except a pot of chicken stock in the oven. Supposedly bone broth/gelatin are good for diverticulitis, so now we have a lot. I don't know if it will gel or not - it's still in the fridge and hasn't been packaged up - but I'm hoping so, considering the state of the carcases and skin I pulled out of it.

Friday

And,... up. 156.8 this morning. Water, I guess. We had a fairly salty day yesterday, as will be shown below.

Late-ish night last night, for work. Got to bed around 10:45, I think. To sleep shortly after 11. And pretty much stayed that way, although I know there was a point where I was trying hard (and succeeding) to stave off a leg cramp without getting up. Woke up for good at 5:58 am. Really, not too bad. Much better than it was last year. 

I was reading some other writing I'd done over the past 3 years, never posted anywhere, and cannot believe how miserable I was - probably, we were. Not sleeping, undeclared fighting with my brother's family, a lot of resentment, aches and pains, and work stress. Also, menopause. As things stand now, I still have a touch of menopause, which mostly seems to be there to destroy my hair as soon as I have it dried properly, by making my head and neck sweat profusely. Apart from that, I am feeling a lot better. Work is annoying, but it's not getting to me, because I know it's nearing an end of some sort. With us not on the spot to witness it, with them in California to boot, I'm not being bothered by any issues with my brother, or with my parents because of how they defer to him. 

I don't know how much of that stuff had to do with my weight struggles over that period, after I'd lost so much to start with, so easily, but despite this morning's numbers, I do feel much more in the groove right now, with the misery lifted a lot. I should probably do some thinking about what got me into that mindset, and how I might avoid it in the future. Valuable for my ongoing health, I think. And on brief thought, right now, it seems like adequate sleep has been critical in effecting the change. Back then, the entries are all about exhaustion and Benadryl and RedBull and wanting to curl up and weep, with the rest piling on top of that. For whatever reason, we've been able to sleep better here, so far. I hope it continues.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• bacon
  
• cashews - 1/2 cup and another handful later
  
• 2 almonds
  
• a handful of peanuts
  
• 2 pieces of cheese
  
• beef-vegetable soup - about 3 cups, I think
  
• 2 squares of Lindt 85% chocolate
  
• a small portion of potato chips
  

That was it. Salt in pretty much all of it, which is why I'm thinking we're looking at water. Probably not enough protein, either, which triggered the chips. I should probably work on increasing that today. Maybe some deli meat at lunchtime.

Party to meet the neighbors after dinner. No idea what dinner will be; I should probably figure that out. Maybe meatballs and spaghetti sauce, since it's quick.

some random observations

After making the statement earlier that I thought I hadn't been at this weight all year, I went and looked - and I had, in very early January for a while. Anyway, I read through about 3 months' worth of entries, just to see how things had been then, and to see if I really do feel better than I did, or if I'm just imagining it.

I'm not imagining it. In January-March of this year, at least, I was feeling pretty wretched - not sleeping regularly, having to rely on Benadryl every third night for much of it, aching all over, and being exhausted and cranky. And craving carbs in an insidious way. 

Compare that to now - getting pretty decent sleep on a regular basis (not perfect, but a ton better than at the beginning of the year, for sure), feeling pretty energetic not suffering from pervasive achiness, although my hips aren't great and I have some body mechanics stuff going on, and generally interested in life. Huge improvement.

I sure hope it's not the commute being gone. Because I'm 90% sure it won't be getting better once I get a job locally, and it may get worse. Other job stress is less because it's coming to an end, but has been supplanted by some level of worry about financials if I don't find something pretty quickly. Which is getting better, because Lee's getting paid a bit for his school stuff and decided to take his Social Security, so we should be able to live modestly in the interim if I can't start working November 2nd. 

So generally, stress is a bit lower. And for whatever reason, I'm currently able to stick with a better way of eating. So that's good. It may be helping with inflammation, too, and reducing the aches and pains.

Things could change drastically once I'm employed going forward. So I'm going to take full advantage of how they are now.

Thursday

I am not yet willing to say that I'm on a downward trend, weight-wise, but this morning, I saw 155.6. Not sure I've seen that this year before - I got down below it last summer for a while, but it was pulling teeth to do it, and didn't stick. This time, I'm in "flow" with eating VLC - and to some extent, not just C for Carbs but C for Calories - and things seem to be working rather like they did 5 years ago. But I'm being vigilant this time, and working hard at avoiding the sugar, in particular.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• bacon
  
• the usual supplements (back to 2000 IU of D3, since the cold seems to be ebbing away)
  
• 1/2 cup of cashews
  
• chef's salad with ham, chicken, cheese, blue cheese dressing
  
• 2 pieces of Kerrygold
  
• 1 piece of milk chocolate with almonds
  

Really short list. In addition, I did a late afternoon interview on nothing but bacon and cashews, both eaten several hours earlier, and had a lot of energy. So that's good.

After reading an email from the Bulletproof folks about earthing, I have made a couple of excursions to the lawn in my bare feet. No idea how long one is supposed to maintain contact for it to work, and I don't know if I would have felt worse without doing it. I did it Saturday morning, and again Monday and yesterday. On the latter two, my primary impression had to do with the quantity of acorns more than anything else - we have a big oak tree in the back yard. In general, the concept makes sense to me, but it could definitely just be a big dose of snake oil, too. Benign, though.

Sleep last night was patchy. I woke up sometime after 2 am, thinking it was 5, and put the radio on for what I thought would be an hour or so until the alarm went. When it started playing something that comes on at 3, I woke up enough to take a look at the clock again, and was surprised. And went back to sleep right away. I think I also had a leg cramp, but must say that they're REALLY not interrupting my sleep just now.

Making soup with grassfed beefstock this morning, in the crock pot. Sorry to say that the stock didn't gel, so I don't know how much dissolved collagen we got out of the bones. The fat cap on the refrigerated stock was crazy yellow, though, so they were good bones. And it smelled a bunch better than stock from conventionally-raised bones does. Much beefier. Not sure why. Anyway, that'll be dinner tonight, maybe with a small salad.

Wednesday

Ah, life at home! So, er, restful, and stress-free...

The dog ate Lee's glasses this morning. I caught him as soon as I heard him chewing on something solid, and got them away from him, but he'd managed to put tooth-marks in one lens and get that lens removed from the frame. We were able to put it back together, but the tooth-marks are permanent, and we will be paying for replacements. 

I guess Primal Man had similar problems. Saber-tooth tiger snatching child, something along those lines. Still, aggravating.

156.0 this morning. I'm about ready to say that weight loss has taken place. I hope so. And I hope it continues. I feel more energetic eating this way, with more stamina in particular, and that helps in dealing with life's little encrustations like glasses-eating dogs. It was, after all, his second pair. I have found a pair of inexpensive replacements for mine, but can function in my computer glasses for a while yet, so I haven't ordered them. As long as he doesn't eat the paper with the prescription on it...

Speaking of eating, here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• cheese (3 pieces of Kerrygold Dubliner)
  
• 1/2 cup cashews
  
• a double-meat Whataburger, no bun
  
• about 6 french fries
  
• 1 milk chocolate with almonds
  

That was it. Makes life pretty easy when that can be it for the day.

Still no exercise. The reason that Lee's glasses were available for chewing is that he'd taken them off to lay on the couch because he feels fairly wretched this morning - got my cold from last week. And had a bun with his burger last night, which probably isn't helping his stomach. I'm only mildly gluten sensitive; I just don't think there's any evidence that grains are something humans should eat. He and Elizabeth both react to the stuff, and both of them continue to eat it and then bitch about it. They're adults, and I get tired of pointing out the correlation, so I don't, much.

Tuesday

I rather like the 0.2 pound weight losses. They feel more "real" than the larger amounts, more like fat loss than water loss. So I'm happy to be at 156.8 this morning. For real.

Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements, heavy on the D3
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• sausage (pork, 2 patties)
  
• a half-cup of cashews
  
• salad with a double chicken-breast, cheese, and blue cheese dressing
  
• 2 squares of Lindt 85%
  

Was that it? I think it was. Busy work day, and I never got around to anything resembling lunch, and my head was just stuffed up enough that I didn't want a lot of dinner. Even though I ended up getting a lot - we ate out. Couldn't finish it all, although I ate all the chicken.

Decent sleep last night - woke briefly at 2 am, turned the radio on, and was out until just going 6 am. I'll take it. Some part of me was achy and caused me to roll over a good bit, but it didn't wake me up enough to remember what part it was. Hip or shoulder, no doubt.

Going to get going on some beef stock tonight, for soup later in the week. Should be tasty.

Monday

Three days in New Orleans, and I managed to eat well, mostly. A little junk in the form of potato chips and M&Ms and a York peppermint patty on the drive home, but otherwise, low carb meats and veg. I even ate anchovies on Friday night - in a salad full of olives - exceedingly healthy dinner. 157.0 this morning. 

My headcold is close to being done - maybe another day or two. I did better living through chemicals all weekend, and it kept me functional. And given that Friday involved some shopping, Saturday was a party for which preps started on rising and which ran until bedtime, and Sunday was an outdoor tailgating event followed by a 5-hour drive home, I needed to be pretty functional. And my observation from Friday held true all weekend - I had a lot more energy than I had back in February. All of which says I need to stay on plan with eating. 

Yesterday involved breakfast, some meat and cheese, a hard cider, peanut M&Ms, the aforementioned York patty, a RedBull, and a package of peanuts. More cheese when we got home. A little higher carb than I would like, I'm sure, but I wasn't super hungry when we got home, so we never did have dinner. Salad is the plan for tonight. It appears that Lee's getting my cold, which isn't so great, so it may be a while before we get back out walking. If I start feeling in the high 90-percent region (I'm about 80 now), I may do a walk alone a few mornings this week. The weather is supposed to be pretty good from now until May, I guess. Works for me.

Sleep over the weekend was very solid for 2 nights. We occupied a room that gets pitch black at night, pretty much, and I went under easily and stayed there for pushing 9 hours both nights. Aided by night-time cold meds, granted, but when I woke up, I didn't have that drugged feeling, so I don't know that they were all that strong. The third night was less wonderful - got to bed later and was awakened earlier and had a hard time falling asleep. And I ended up napping in the car on the way home, a little. Hence the RedBull - so I could drive.

Hoping that this week wraps up the stupid cold, and that Lee doesn't get completely smacked by it.

Friday

Quick entry - no weight to report (not because I've lost all of it). Cold is still holding sway, but I took night time cold meds last night and daytime ones today, and I feel less awful than I did yesterday. Did sleep, which is key. Gonna be a busy weekend, so I need to feel non-awful.

An interesting observation, though. Haven't been here (New Orleans) since Mardi Gras last spring, and I was so horribly tired that trip. Not this time, despite the cold. I went to the doctor's after Mardi Gras, to make sure I wasn't actually ill - and I wasn't. Maybe just sleep debt? I really don't know. But I'm glad to feel better now.

Ate red beans for dinner. Tasty. Feeling the aftereffects today.

Thursday

Ugh. Woke up at 3 am, drowning. I took a Sudafed and had to sit up until it started to take effect. My head is all nasty and I feel somewhat less than wonderful.

And of course, we're headed out of town this afternoon, for a fun weekend. If I don't start feeling better, I'm afraid I'll be hoping that I have to spend Saturday working. Nasty.

157.8 this morning - much of it in my head, I think.Here's yesterday:

• tea with cream
  
• the usual supplements, plus additional D3
  
• scrambled eggs
  
• bacon
  
• cheese
  
• 1/2 cup cashews
  
• low-carb pepperoni pizza (half of one, 4 slices)
  
• 2 squares of Lindt 85% chocolate
  
• various meds, most of which appear to be pointless (just saying)
  

Anyway, my trachea is starting up with a burning sensation, and my nose is dripping, despite my regular doses of mucinex and sudafed, my ears are stuffed up, and I ache. Not sure why I opted to get a cold now - it's been a fairly long time. Letdown from all the stress this summer, I guess.

Crossing my fingers that this is hitting bottom and I'll be feeling better later.