Wednesday, February 20, 2013
My day; Muscle Pain; Article
Up early today because I am watching a friend's kid for them for the morning. I normally don't babysit (haven't since I was 18 or 19!) but this kid will be relatively easy, I hope. He's four and precocious and will do all the talking and all the playing for me. I probably will just have to sit with him and push some cars around.
Ate a big breakfast to tide me over till after noon so that I don't snack on any of his little kid snacks!
Going to hit up the farmer's market on the way home! We don't have a lot of veggies in the house right now. I like to buy what is on sale at the supermarket.... and no veggies have been on sale for two weeks!! So it's been pretty much peppers, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes only for two weeks. Time to switch it up, get something a little more green in our diet.
Not a ton of exciting stuff happening to me other than that (not that babysitting and the farmer's market is exciting, haha). One thing I am living with right now: some weird muscle cramp/pain in my neck and shoulder. I can't turn my head right without some pretty intense pain. It happened after my little body weight strength workout last night.... I am sure I tweaked something. Chris tried to massage it out, but that was a no go. Took some aspirin this morning and we will see!
Leaving you with another article like the last one. This one also is a complete list of foods I do *not* bring into my house anymore. I do eat some of them super rarely (like I am sure there was a time last year a friend made microwave popcorn and I ate it, or I had white rice at an Asian restaurant.... but we do 90% of our eating at home, and I usually pick better options when we do go out now).
Nine Foods You Should Never Eat Again
Alright, hope all you lovely people have a great day and pursue some health and happiness :)
Namaste!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Good mood, good plans.
This weekend was awesome. We didn't leave the city! We got hours and hours of time to get the house and our lives in check. I got to relax insanely deeply. It feels incredible.
We completely renovated another room (my dad's old TV room which is actually a lovely converted porch with HUGE windows). Chris ripped out the carpet, scraped up old paint that was on the tiles, threw out the old furniture, changed the decorations and turned it into a lovely sunroom for music, plants, and hiking books/maps. I love it!
I also finally slept into today for the first time in a long time. Till 9 AM! Doesn't seem like much, but that changed my whole outlook on the day. I am excited to get going now :) My last dream before I woke up was of Jared Leto (as current day 30 Seconds to Mars headman, not as Joey Catalano, haha) and, well, that put me in a great mood too :)
Things are going well! I am at 125 lbs, so right where I would like to be (though goal is about 4 lbs lighter... I will take 125 anytime).
I wasn't perfect with eating this weekend, I had Indian take-out when friends came over on Saturday and drank wine two nights. But I tried to keep portions sane and not over-do it. Also, aside from those slip-ups, the rest of my food has been proteins (either lean meats or eggs) and veggies. My body has all the healthy fuel it could want! I also have stayed very active... continue my yoga and body-weight strength training in my home. This morning another hour long dog-walk is about to occur.
I know I found a great place to maintain.
At 125, if I stay moderately active and do a little strength training AND eat 85% paleo (allowing for not great choices like Indian take out and wine)... I maintain. It feels good. Finding a place I have maintained weight through all the stress and depression feels great. I realize now, that no matter what happens in life, I will never go back to obesity.
But, with a wedding coming up this year... I do want BETTER :) I want more muscle tone, I want a smaller waist. The wedding is 7 months away... and I am going to transition every month towards what I want. I will eat more and more paleo every month, I will drink less and less wine!, I will work out more and more (planning to get back to the gym soon, maybe when I get my tax return and have some extra money!).
Well, enough talking and time to get to it! A walk and breakfast of eggs scrambles with mushrooms/tomatoes/peppers/onions :)
Namaste <3
We completely renovated another room (my dad's old TV room which is actually a lovely converted porch with HUGE windows). Chris ripped out the carpet, scraped up old paint that was on the tiles, threw out the old furniture, changed the decorations and turned it into a lovely sunroom for music, plants, and hiking books/maps. I love it!
I also finally slept into today for the first time in a long time. Till 9 AM! Doesn't seem like much, but that changed my whole outlook on the day. I am excited to get going now :) My last dream before I woke up was of Jared Leto (as current day 30 Seconds to Mars headman, not as Joey Catalano, haha) and, well, that put me in a great mood too :)
Things are going well! I am at 125 lbs, so right where I would like to be (though goal is about 4 lbs lighter... I will take 125 anytime).
I wasn't perfect with eating this weekend, I had Indian take-out when friends came over on Saturday and drank wine two nights. But I tried to keep portions sane and not over-do it. Also, aside from those slip-ups, the rest of my food has been proteins (either lean meats or eggs) and veggies. My body has all the healthy fuel it could want! I also have stayed very active... continue my yoga and body-weight strength training in my home. This morning another hour long dog-walk is about to occur.
I know I found a great place to maintain.
At 125, if I stay moderately active and do a little strength training AND eat 85% paleo (allowing for not great choices like Indian take out and wine)... I maintain. It feels good. Finding a place I have maintained weight through all the stress and depression feels great. I realize now, that no matter what happens in life, I will never go back to obesity.
But, with a wedding coming up this year... I do want BETTER :) I want more muscle tone, I want a smaller waist. The wedding is 7 months away... and I am going to transition every month towards what I want. I will eat more and more paleo every month, I will drink less and less wine!, I will work out more and more (planning to get back to the gym soon, maybe when I get my tax return and have some extra money!).
Well, enough talking and time to get to it! A walk and breakfast of eggs scrambles with mushrooms/tomatoes/peppers/onions :)
Namaste <3
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Painting Results (joy comes after patience!)
So after a lot of annoyance and frustration... I am VERY pleased with my new house. I am actually at peace when I walk around the downstairs now. I used to feel a little sad and overwhelmed looking at the dated house full of TOO many memories. This change brightened it up and makes me think of it as MINE, as somewhere new where Chris and I can create memories :)
Thanks for bearing with me and putting up with my stressful blog posts during this process. It was a great place to vent and get some perspective on the situation.
Here are some Before and Afters:
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| Dining Room Before |
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| Dining Room After |
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| Dining Room After |
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| Kitchen Before |
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| Kitchen After |
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| Kitchen After |
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| Living Room Before |
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| Living Room After |
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| Living Room After |
Love and Light to you!
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Realities behind eating "Paleo"
Associating the Paleo Diet with what is known about the archaeological past and actual scientific knowledge about our ancestors and their eating habits is.... pointless. They are only tangentially related.
When the Paleo Diet came out and got its name, it was based on a fad and general bad, "TV" type science. Here's an article about archaeologists and other academics being overall displeased with the diet and its hype: Archaeologists Officially Declare Collective Sigh Over “Paleo Diet”
These two paragraphs of the article sum up my feelings about the Paleo Diet as well:
"The Paleo Diet is a nutritional framework based on the assumption that the human species has not yet adapted to the dietary changes engendered by the development of agriculture over the past ten thousand years. Proponents of the diet emphasize in particular the negative effects of eating large quantities of grain and its numerous by-products, which can lead to hypertension, obesity, and various other health problems. Instead, the Paleo Diet posits that a reliance on lean meats, fresh fruits, and vegetables while minimizing processed food is the key to health and longevity.
I started to really like this diet when the next wave happened. Where people were not following a fad of "Hey, let's eat like Homo erectus or Neanderthals!!" but looking more purely at the nutrition and its effects on the body. On grains and dairy and legumes and resulting inflammation in the human body. (Not to say some people aren't still buying into the fad of eating like a hunter-gatherer... but to me and many others, the diet is now about how awesome eating whole, clean foods and no grains/dairy make us feel).
So, it irks me a little when people who haven't done the research start making comments like "Well, a "caveman" wouldn't be able to use a food processor to grind up almonds, so you can't eat almond flour!" ... that's not the point. Why would I, a woman in the modern era, want to eat like they did 10,000 years ago? Everything is much more convenient now! I buy things to make my life easier. I don't devote all day to subsistence.
The point is that there are a lot of studies that say a lot of things, positive and negative, about eating grain-based diets (just use Google Scholar and you can find articles for or against any argument!).
For me, eating Paleo (and we will continue to use that term since people know what the diet includes, even with all the misconceptions of WHY) means getting OUT of the Standard American Diet. Americans and the Western world eat way too many grains, way too many super processed grains at that, and lots of processed, chemically foods.
Yes, eating Paleo follows food guidelines that mimic what pre-agricultural people would have eaten. But that's not the reason everyone eats paleo today. Especially for me, following this diet (with a few tweaks of my own since I am not a lemming and can make educated decisions) means being less inflamed... and to be less inflamed, I personally have had to eliminate grains, dairy and legumes from my daily life.
Everyone thrives in different ways and with different foods. This post is not meant to try to sway anyone over to my way of eating! It is meant to dispel myths about the paleo diet. As an archaeologist, I dislike being associated with the bad science associated with the paleo diet. So I am doing what I can :)
So there's my little two cents. I had some time this morning and felt like getting this post out!
Namaste and enjoy your weekend!
When the Paleo Diet came out and got its name, it was based on a fad and general bad, "TV" type science. Here's an article about archaeologists and other academics being overall displeased with the diet and its hype: Archaeologists Officially Declare Collective Sigh Over “Paleo Diet”
These two paragraphs of the article sum up my feelings about the Paleo Diet as well:
"The Paleo Diet is a nutritional framework based on the assumption that the human species has not yet adapted to the dietary changes engendered by the development of agriculture over the past ten thousand years. Proponents of the diet emphasize in particular the negative effects of eating large quantities of grain and its numerous by-products, which can lead to hypertension, obesity, and various other health problems. Instead, the Paleo Diet posits that a reliance on lean meats, fresh fruits, and vegetables while minimizing processed food is the key to health and longevity.
The nutritional benefits of the diet are not what the grievance is about, said Dr. Britta Hoyes, who organized the event. She agreed that a high-carbohydrate diet can have a detrimental effect on long-term health, as many studies have demonstrated. Instead, the group’s protest is a reaction to the biological and historical pediments of the diet, in particular the contention that pre-agricultural societies were only adapted to eat those foods existing before the Neolithic Revolution."
I started to really like this diet when the next wave happened. Where people were not following a fad of "Hey, let's eat like Homo erectus or Neanderthals!!" but looking more purely at the nutrition and its effects on the body. On grains and dairy and legumes and resulting inflammation in the human body. (Not to say some people aren't still buying into the fad of eating like a hunter-gatherer... but to me and many others, the diet is now about how awesome eating whole, clean foods and no grains/dairy make us feel).
So, it irks me a little when people who haven't done the research start making comments like "Well, a "caveman" wouldn't be able to use a food processor to grind up almonds, so you can't eat almond flour!" ... that's not the point. Why would I, a woman in the modern era, want to eat like they did 10,000 years ago? Everything is much more convenient now! I buy things to make my life easier. I don't devote all day to subsistence.
The point is that there are a lot of studies that say a lot of things, positive and negative, about eating grain-based diets (just use Google Scholar and you can find articles for or against any argument!).
For me, eating Paleo (and we will continue to use that term since people know what the diet includes, even with all the misconceptions of WHY) means getting OUT of the Standard American Diet. Americans and the Western world eat way too many grains, way too many super processed grains at that, and lots of processed, chemically foods.
Yes, eating Paleo follows food guidelines that mimic what pre-agricultural people would have eaten. But that's not the reason everyone eats paleo today. Especially for me, following this diet (with a few tweaks of my own since I am not a lemming and can make educated decisions) means being less inflamed... and to be less inflamed, I personally have had to eliminate grains, dairy and legumes from my daily life.
Everyone thrives in different ways and with different foods. This post is not meant to try to sway anyone over to my way of eating! It is meant to dispel myths about the paleo diet. As an archaeologist, I dislike being associated with the bad science associated with the paleo diet. So I am doing what I can :)
So there's my little two cents. I had some time this morning and felt like getting this post out!
Namaste and enjoy your weekend!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Article I found interesting..
Obviously, this article was interesting to me because it sums up some of the facts about foods I have *already* cut out of my life. And cut out of my life, I mean these foods do not exist in our home. However, I have been known to eat a cookie or crackers at a friend's house which are sure to break my rules (which is why we are trying to go back to paleo so we can more easily turn down those snacks).
Four Foods to Avoid if You Want to Eat Healthy
The foods: white sugar, white flour, dairy, trans fats.
Chris and I gave up these foods early on in our eating healthy quest. And not because an article or study or doctor said so.
We gave them up because we could see direct correlations between eating refined sugar, white flour, dairy products and processed oils (trans fats) and just feeling plain old crappy.
I'd drink milk and have intestinal upset.
I'd eat white flour products and get itchy.
Trans fat and I'd feel inflamed and bloaty.
Even when we don't eat paleo all the time, we still rarely eat those four foods. They barely feel like real food to me, as if I am not getting any nutrition and actually doing harm to my body. When I eat something with refined sugars or flours, I immediately get a rash (similar to hives) on my back and legs. That's inflammation.
And if I can see the inflammation so clearly when my body gets a dose of those foods when it was mostly clear of them to start with.... well, it makes me think about the fact that when I was eating them all the time, overwhelming my body with them, the inflammation was rampant... seen in bloating, weight gain, rashes, poor skin and who knows what inside me, in my organs.
And I will end this conversation with: This is about me, my body and what foods work for me!! Not telling anyone else they HAVE to give up those foods. Just throwing out an anecdote of what works for me (and since I've maintained 122-127 pounds for almost a year since really getting rid of those foods in our day to day life, I feel more certain than ever!).
I guess this is why people read blogs, for anecdotal evidence and life stories.... I know I did that when I was first interested in weight loss, and I took little pieces of different people's strategies to make a plan that worked for me.
Also: just generally good to chew on new information!
Life is going well for me today, not much to report, actually, since it has been going so well! I have a little congestion in my nasal passages, but nothing major.
Namaste :)
Four Foods to Avoid if You Want to Eat Healthy
The foods: white sugar, white flour, dairy, trans fats.
Chris and I gave up these foods early on in our eating healthy quest. And not because an article or study or doctor said so.
We gave them up because we could see direct correlations between eating refined sugar, white flour, dairy products and processed oils (trans fats) and just feeling plain old crappy.
I'd drink milk and have intestinal upset.
I'd eat white flour products and get itchy.
Trans fat and I'd feel inflamed and bloaty.
Even when we don't eat paleo all the time, we still rarely eat those four foods. They barely feel like real food to me, as if I am not getting any nutrition and actually doing harm to my body. When I eat something with refined sugars or flours, I immediately get a rash (similar to hives) on my back and legs. That's inflammation.
And if I can see the inflammation so clearly when my body gets a dose of those foods when it was mostly clear of them to start with.... well, it makes me think about the fact that when I was eating them all the time, overwhelming my body with them, the inflammation was rampant... seen in bloating, weight gain, rashes, poor skin and who knows what inside me, in my organs.
And I will end this conversation with: This is about me, my body and what foods work for me!! Not telling anyone else they HAVE to give up those foods. Just throwing out an anecdote of what works for me (and since I've maintained 122-127 pounds for almost a year since really getting rid of those foods in our day to day life, I feel more certain than ever!).
I guess this is why people read blogs, for anecdotal evidence and life stories.... I know I did that when I was first interested in weight loss, and I took little pieces of different people's strategies to make a plan that worked for me.
Also: just generally good to chew on new information!
Life is going well for me today, not much to report, actually, since it has been going so well! I have a little congestion in my nasal passages, but nothing major.
Namaste :)
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Valentine's Paleo Grocery Shopping, Sharing the LOVE!
Keeping true to my word, I am determined to get back on track. Clean eating. No processed foods. Went out and tried to buy a paleo paradise at the supermarket :D
We have a lot more vegetables than pictured because Chris went to the farmer's market yesterday. But this is what I grabbed up:
Meat, eggs, vegetables, clementines and sweet potatoes. That's it!
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I actually really like Valentine's Day. But I am going to use it this year as a way to make a promise with Chris that we are going to treat our bodies right.
I think that's love :) I want us both to be around for a long time... and I know life isn't predictable, but I want to do MY part, the things that I do have control over to keep us around. And I want our time to be QUALITY time - full of energy and excitement and health.
I did a lot of cleaning the house and organizing today. A lot of running around. Hour long walk with the dog accomplished!
Food for the day:
Breakfast: egg, 2 slices turkey bacon, 2 slices gluten free toast
Lunch: Vegetable soup (nothing but veggies, broth and spices!) and coffee with almond milk
Dinner (to come): elk, sweet potatoes, peas and mushrooms
That is a DAMN good day for me.
Breakfast kept me full till 2 PM, which is awesome.
So, yes. I am very excited and bursting with hope and love. Wanted to share it on the blogosphere!
Namaste (and listen to the new Cloud Cult album if you can, it's great!)
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| http://www.cloudcult.com/love.cfm |
Celebrating health and love :)
No big Valentine's Day plans today since we got to have a dinner out and see Mumford and Sons in the city on Tuesday!!
However, I will be making a nice paleo meal with Chris tonight to celebrate love and health - elk burgers (no buns), peas and sauteed mushrooms, and roasted sweet potatoes!
Chris and I are attempting to get back to where we were with eating. So we made a rule to follow: no wheat products at all, not even at social events!! No nibbling on crackers or cookies, etc. We were put to the test last night when our friends put out a cheese and cracker spread, all sorts of store bought cookies, etc - we ate some of the cheese and shrimp and sausage. But stuck to our rule, which is a good step. We want to be in control again!
My other rule is no gluten free "treats." They sell so many awesome gluten free baked goods at our local co-op and I'll usually get some for the week. No more. I am going to buy ONE loaf of gluten free bread (it's a really awesome bread made by a local bakery with very few ingredients) per week for the both of us.
So the rules are really geared towards 95% of our diet being paleo, which works so well for us. We just naturally eat better food on that plan. We eat whole foods, mostly. We don't do a ton of "recipes" to make things look like non-paleo food. We just cook up meat and veggies and eat our fruits and nuts and there we are.
I want us to both feel healthy, fit, strong and sexy sooner than later. I want us to be proud of ourselves :)
We needed to get to a place where we weren't exhausted all the time, physically and emotionally, to start this eating regime. A little over four months out now, and things just aren't as hard as they were.. we still get sad and overwhelmed, but not as much, it's not crippling.
It is definitely time to put life back on the path we wanted... the path we WERE on before all this happened!
The painting is done, by the way (sooooo happy) but I am not going to take pictures till the curtains are up to complete the look :)
BUT
What this means for me: I have my dog back!!!!! Yay! And I am about to go take an hour walk with him to start BOTH of our days off right. I am excited.
Namaste, enjoy your Valentine's Day!
However, I will be making a nice paleo meal with Chris tonight to celebrate love and health - elk burgers (no buns), peas and sauteed mushrooms, and roasted sweet potatoes!
Chris and I are attempting to get back to where we were with eating. So we made a rule to follow: no wheat products at all, not even at social events!! No nibbling on crackers or cookies, etc. We were put to the test last night when our friends put out a cheese and cracker spread, all sorts of store bought cookies, etc - we ate some of the cheese and shrimp and sausage. But stuck to our rule, which is a good step. We want to be in control again!
My other rule is no gluten free "treats." They sell so many awesome gluten free baked goods at our local co-op and I'll usually get some for the week. No more. I am going to buy ONE loaf of gluten free bread (it's a really awesome bread made by a local bakery with very few ingredients) per week for the both of us.
So the rules are really geared towards 95% of our diet being paleo, which works so well for us. We just naturally eat better food on that plan. We eat whole foods, mostly. We don't do a ton of "recipes" to make things look like non-paleo food. We just cook up meat and veggies and eat our fruits and nuts and there we are.
I want us to both feel healthy, fit, strong and sexy sooner than later. I want us to be proud of ourselves :)
We needed to get to a place where we weren't exhausted all the time, physically and emotionally, to start this eating regime. A little over four months out now, and things just aren't as hard as they were.. we still get sad and overwhelmed, but not as much, it's not crippling.
It is definitely time to put life back on the path we wanted... the path we WERE on before all this happened!
The painting is done, by the way (sooooo happy) but I am not going to take pictures till the curtains are up to complete the look :)
BUT
What this means for me: I have my dog back!!!!! Yay! And I am about to go take an hour walk with him to start BOTH of our days off right. I am excited.
Namaste, enjoy your Valentine's Day!
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Mumford and Sons, exhausted and trying to stay on track!
I got through my bad mood yesterday, drove down to the city with Chris, had a great dinner out and went and saw Mumford and Sons in Brooklyn.
They played great! Really amazing. I enjoyed their songs even more than when I hear the album. His voice is divine and their energy is through the roof. The only regret of the night: they didn't play Sigh No More, which I think is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard!
Fun night :) Our friends were in the section next to us, so we got to see them, as well, which is always great.
I slept in the car on the ride home (we didn't want to lose a day of work/painting/etc by staying overnight in Brooklyn on a Tuesday) but am still exhausted. We got home around 3:30 AM because of terrible traffic on the BQE. At midnight. On a Tuesday. I will never, ever, ever be a NYC kind of person -- I will go there to visit, enjoy concerts, see a museum, hang out with friends. But then I am out and back to my quiet, little city where the streets are deserted at midnight!!!
Painters said today should be their last day. They promised to fix all the mess... in fact, the owner seemed pretty angry that the mess even happened. Said his workers were sloppy and should never have done that.
Cannot wait for it to be over!! I want my house/routine/life back :D
I've definitely been eating a little junky because of stress. Going to try hard not to do that today. Especially since I am SUPER tired and that is often a trigger for overeating. I want to get that all in control ASAP.
Talked to Chris about going strict paleo soon. I am thinking I will finish up the gluten free stuff that's in the house and then hop to it! I will definitely buy some non-paleo foods for my housewarming party (some chips and bread will be there) but I am going to make a ton of paleo awesome treats I found online. I definitely won't be a having a big beige spread of crackers, breads, pastas and dips! Lots of veggies, fruits and meats!
Also been working out in my house, using small weights or my own body weight.... loving having some sore muscles again. My shoulders, calves and quads especially today.
I might stumble (and freak the hell out like yesterday) but I am trying to get back up quickly so I don't lose too much time in this short life.
Namaste, friends!
They played great! Really amazing. I enjoyed their songs even more than when I hear the album. His voice is divine and their energy is through the roof. The only regret of the night: they didn't play Sigh No More, which I think is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard!
Fun night :) Our friends were in the section next to us, so we got to see them, as well, which is always great.
I slept in the car on the ride home (we didn't want to lose a day of work/painting/etc by staying overnight in Brooklyn on a Tuesday) but am still exhausted. We got home around 3:30 AM because of terrible traffic on the BQE. At midnight. On a Tuesday. I will never, ever, ever be a NYC kind of person -- I will go there to visit, enjoy concerts, see a museum, hang out with friends. But then I am out and back to my quiet, little city where the streets are deserted at midnight!!!
Painters said today should be their last day. They promised to fix all the mess... in fact, the owner seemed pretty angry that the mess even happened. Said his workers were sloppy and should never have done that.
Cannot wait for it to be over!! I want my house/routine/life back :D
I've definitely been eating a little junky because of stress. Going to try hard not to do that today. Especially since I am SUPER tired and that is often a trigger for overeating. I want to get that all in control ASAP.
Talked to Chris about going strict paleo soon. I am thinking I will finish up the gluten free stuff that's in the house and then hop to it! I will definitely buy some non-paleo foods for my housewarming party (some chips and bread will be there) but I am going to make a ton of paleo awesome treats I found online. I definitely won't be a having a big beige spread of crackers, breads, pastas and dips! Lots of veggies, fruits and meats!
Also been working out in my house, using small weights or my own body weight.... loving having some sore muscles again. My shoulders, calves and quads especially today.
I might stumble (and freak the hell out like yesterday) but I am trying to get back up quickly so I don't lose too much time in this short life.
Namaste, friends!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Letting things get to me
I went into full out melt down mode yesterday. I let someone else completely ruin my day. I didn't even leave the house.... even though we were supposed to go try on tuxes for Chris for our wedding (canceled the appointment) and all my friends were having a drink just down the street that would have been easy to pop into.
No. Instead, I completely wasted a day and was sad, stressed, anxious and generally upset.
Now, mind you: I am generally pretty stressed/depressed every day but I hold on by a thread and keep it together and get through every day usually pretty well. Then this happened:
The painters came to "finish" yesterday. We are on our FOURTH week of a one week project. My house had been in disarray for weeks. I've been missing my dog as he is away for weeks for them to do the work.
They only had to paint the trim yesterday.
Only.
They smeared paint EVERYWHERE. I cannot fully explain to you how awful it looks. There are drips and smears of white paint (the trim is all white) on every single wall, in the middle of the walls! And, every single piece of trim... they smeared the paint up and down, like kindergartners. Some pieces of trim, they just didn't paint the side pieces. They painted my windows WHILE THEY WERE SHUT so that when we open them, the bottom two inches are old, yellowed paint.... uh.
It looks wretched. Not only did they mess up the trim, but they messed up all their previous work, as well.
I told them about it, and they left.
I called their boss, he seemed unconcerned.
Finally, I had Chris call their boss.
He is coming today.
And I still feel like nothing will ever look nice in this house.
Why am I paying someone thousands of dollars to cause me stress and do a bad job for A MONTH!!! I wanted to hire someone so that I would be unstressed and the job would be nice and go quickly. It's insane. I feel insane.
Chris and I then had a big argument, because he thinks I'm overreacting. I'm not overreacting... I am just tired of this. I am angry at these people. I feel taken advantage of. I'm overwhelmed. I am stressed enough and tired enough and sad enough without someone I am PAYING adding to that.
So, yeah, lots of stress last night. It completely physically affected me. I'm exhausted even after sleeping.
And Chris and I were supposed to do our Valentine's date today, we were going out to eat in NYC and then seeing Mumford and Sons in Brooklyn. I am completely not in the mood for it as I type this. I am going to try to get happier... we will see.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Skiing and the need to go paleo
Had a pretty great weekend, the monster blizzard storm didn't really affect daily life around here except for the need to shovel, we did lots of really easy and chill hanging out with friends on Friday and Saturday, and went skiing on Sunday!
Skiing was really fun, Chris and I skied from the second we got there and got our boots on (about 8:40 AM) to the moment the lifts closed (4 PM)! We were with a different group of people than we have been going with lately, and their style doesn't really fit ours... we like to ski hard, all day. We usually take a 15 minute break in the morning and one in the afternoon, but NO breaks between 12 and 1 because that is when all the children hit up the lodge for lunch... so it means the mountain is super quiet! This group did a lot of hanging around, mid-slope, and took a lunch at noon. Chris and I decided we did so much hanging around with the group during the day, we weren't going to take a break at all in order to get in the most amount of skiing we possibly could.
It was a crowded day at Stratton, but the conditions were nice, and I did some of the best skiing I've done in a long time -- had to put my skills to use on a super icy, narrow, steep mogul course I accidentally ended up having to do. People were gathering at the top, worrying about how to ski it. One person at a time would go (because it was so narrow) and many of them would fall.. I hate being watched by people at the top on a very hard course, but I sucked it up, told myself I had the skills and went for it! I was super proud at how I maneuvered on the ice and over the bumps. Chris was waiting for me at the bottom to congratulate me on how well I did it. Good feelings :)
Afterwards, we went for sushi - I had a miso soup, one small veggie spring roll, and one and a half rolls of sushi. Not too much food, really enjoyed the way my body felt after eating the raw fish (I could almost feel the healthy fats get into my exhausted body, haha!).
Koda has been an EXCELLENT dog all weekend. We asked someone to check in on him while we went skiing because we'd be gone for 12 hours, but the person forgot (augh!)... however, Koda was a perfect angel at home!! No accidents, nothing destroyed, and we came home to a sleepy, happy puppy :)
So, a very nice weekend for us. We had a conversation where Chris feels that he will never be as fit as he was last spring (when we were paleo and working out all the time) but I reminded him that he is not even a whole year older than he was then.... and all we have to do is what we did last spring! Go paleo and workout -- make it a priority. We drank significantly less, ate significantly better and were super active (Chris is super active... he has an active job and hikes with Koda nights and weekends, but food is a big issue).
I want us both to be as fit as last spring. We deserve to feel that good about ourselves. It is going to take some serious MENTAL work (we were in such a good mental place last spring... felt so positive, so full of potential and life.... my dad's death and the resulting changes have really done some damage, which we are slowly repairing). We need to get our heads back in the game so that we treat our bodies as well as they deserve.
I want us to feel like rockstars at our wedding :D
I want us to love ourselves and each other as much as possible.
I have a feeling we will be going paleo very soon. And it will have to be strict, or else we will find ourselves eating bread and cheese at a friend's house within days, haha. We still buy almost exclusively paleo food (except for a weekly loaf of gluten free bread)... its the restaurants and the social times we need to be strict with.
Hope everyone is recovering from the winter storm here in the North East, hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend. Namaste :)
Skiing was really fun, Chris and I skied from the second we got there and got our boots on (about 8:40 AM) to the moment the lifts closed (4 PM)! We were with a different group of people than we have been going with lately, and their style doesn't really fit ours... we like to ski hard, all day. We usually take a 15 minute break in the morning and one in the afternoon, but NO breaks between 12 and 1 because that is when all the children hit up the lodge for lunch... so it means the mountain is super quiet! This group did a lot of hanging around, mid-slope, and took a lunch at noon. Chris and I decided we did so much hanging around with the group during the day, we weren't going to take a break at all in order to get in the most amount of skiing we possibly could.
It was a crowded day at Stratton, but the conditions were nice, and I did some of the best skiing I've done in a long time -- had to put my skills to use on a super icy, narrow, steep mogul course I accidentally ended up having to do. People were gathering at the top, worrying about how to ski it. One person at a time would go (because it was so narrow) and many of them would fall.. I hate being watched by people at the top on a very hard course, but I sucked it up, told myself I had the skills and went for it! I was super proud at how I maneuvered on the ice and over the bumps. Chris was waiting for me at the bottom to congratulate me on how well I did it. Good feelings :)
Afterwards, we went for sushi - I had a miso soup, one small veggie spring roll, and one and a half rolls of sushi. Not too much food, really enjoyed the way my body felt after eating the raw fish (I could almost feel the healthy fats get into my exhausted body, haha!).
Koda has been an EXCELLENT dog all weekend. We asked someone to check in on him while we went skiing because we'd be gone for 12 hours, but the person forgot (augh!)... however, Koda was a perfect angel at home!! No accidents, nothing destroyed, and we came home to a sleepy, happy puppy :)
So, a very nice weekend for us. We had a conversation where Chris feels that he will never be as fit as he was last spring (when we were paleo and working out all the time) but I reminded him that he is not even a whole year older than he was then.... and all we have to do is what we did last spring! Go paleo and workout -- make it a priority. We drank significantly less, ate significantly better and were super active (Chris is super active... he has an active job and hikes with Koda nights and weekends, but food is a big issue).
I want us both to be as fit as last spring. We deserve to feel that good about ourselves. It is going to take some serious MENTAL work (we were in such a good mental place last spring... felt so positive, so full of potential and life.... my dad's death and the resulting changes have really done some damage, which we are slowly repairing). We need to get our heads back in the game so that we treat our bodies as well as they deserve.
I want us to feel like rockstars at our wedding :D
I want us to love ourselves and each other as much as possible.
I have a feeling we will be going paleo very soon. And it will have to be strict, or else we will find ourselves eating bread and cheese at a friend's house within days, haha. We still buy almost exclusively paleo food (except for a weekly loaf of gluten free bread)... its the restaurants and the social times we need to be strict with.
Hope everyone is recovering from the winter storm here in the North East, hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend. Namaste :)
Friday, February 8, 2013
A little TMI
So, I don't normally go into this because it's usually not a problem. It was a huge problem last night. A problem that woke me up four times and kept me awake for three hours the last time I woke up.
Cramps. Killer, killer, killer cramps.
It's been interesting to watch my body change with regards to menstruation as my weight changed. When I was heavy, my periods were random and irregular. They were often long... way too long and way too heavy. But there was almost no pain associated with them.
As I lost weight, my periods became more regular. Showing up in monthly intervals and behaving more predictably. Really predictably... Almost exactly 31 days after my last one started. I also get a little twing about two days before it will start to warn me. When I got down to around 130 and under, my periods have been very short, more on the three day spectrum than the five day that they were while I was 135-145 lbs. However! The lighter I have gotten, the more intense the cramps have gotten.
And what's weird, the cramps themselves are so predictable. About 12 hours after my period starts, I am in for about four hours of pain with the last hour being almost crippling. When I was at work and they hit, no amount of paid meds would help, and I had to take a long lunch and just sit, read and work through the pain. I have to sit pretty much doubled over. Bleh.
Unfortunately, last night, the cramps hit at 11 PM. I had already been asleep for an hour. They were tame enough, I fell back asleep till they woke me at 12ish... same process till I got woken at 1ish. Then the monster cramps hit at 2 AM and rocked my body for about an hour. I tried to distract myself from the pain by playing games on my phone... but it was a long hour. Then, I was so jerked awake and reeling from the experience, I had a hard time falling back asleep. But the pain stops IMMEDIATELY after the really bad cramps... there is no slow ebbing of the pain. Just about an hour of pain and then back to normal. I am usually exhausted, after, though.
So. One day a month, I get three uncomfortable hours and one where I feel like I am giving birth (not that I know what that feels like, but I cry almost every time this hits). It's not the worst situation. 12 days a year with a section of that day being pretty uncomfortable.
Just throwing this out there, wondering about other women's experiences!
Did your period change for the better or for the worse after losing weight, or not at all?
I think, in the end, mine changed for the better, despite the pain. They are short and predictable. After living a decade of unpredictable and super long periods... to the point I was sure I would be infertile!... I am glad for regularity.
So, yeah, maybe TMI, but an important topic, I think. Our bodies and our reproductive bits deserve to be understood!
Have a great day!
Cramps. Killer, killer, killer cramps.
It's been interesting to watch my body change with regards to menstruation as my weight changed. When I was heavy, my periods were random and irregular. They were often long... way too long and way too heavy. But there was almost no pain associated with them.
As I lost weight, my periods became more regular. Showing up in monthly intervals and behaving more predictably. Really predictably... Almost exactly 31 days after my last one started. I also get a little twing about two days before it will start to warn me. When I got down to around 130 and under, my periods have been very short, more on the three day spectrum than the five day that they were while I was 135-145 lbs. However! The lighter I have gotten, the more intense the cramps have gotten.
And what's weird, the cramps themselves are so predictable. About 12 hours after my period starts, I am in for about four hours of pain with the last hour being almost crippling. When I was at work and they hit, no amount of paid meds would help, and I had to take a long lunch and just sit, read and work through the pain. I have to sit pretty much doubled over. Bleh.
Unfortunately, last night, the cramps hit at 11 PM. I had already been asleep for an hour. They were tame enough, I fell back asleep till they woke me at 12ish... same process till I got woken at 1ish. Then the monster cramps hit at 2 AM and rocked my body for about an hour. I tried to distract myself from the pain by playing games on my phone... but it was a long hour. Then, I was so jerked awake and reeling from the experience, I had a hard time falling back asleep. But the pain stops IMMEDIATELY after the really bad cramps... there is no slow ebbing of the pain. Just about an hour of pain and then back to normal. I am usually exhausted, after, though.
So. One day a month, I get three uncomfortable hours and one where I feel like I am giving birth (not that I know what that feels like, but I cry almost every time this hits). It's not the worst situation. 12 days a year with a section of that day being pretty uncomfortable.
Just throwing this out there, wondering about other women's experiences!
Did your period change for the better or for the worse after losing weight, or not at all?
I think, in the end, mine changed for the better, despite the pain. They are short and predictable. After living a decade of unpredictable and super long periods... to the point I was sure I would be infertile!... I am glad for regularity.
So, yeah, maybe TMI, but an important topic, I think. Our bodies and our reproductive bits deserve to be understood!
Have a great day!
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