Anxiety, depression, laziness...Can the nameless wonder change? page 249

[namelesswonder]

I think I'll do a saline spray at night and a neti pot in the morning. You're not supposed to do the neti pot right before bed because of potential drainage and I won't remember if I have to do it an hour before bed or something. Right when I get up is easier (and I won't dally on the computer because I have something I need to do instead). I don't think the spray will be enough for all night, so I will probably have to look into a humidifier, long term. We had one in my sister and my bedroom when we were little, though I don't remember if it helped.

[Philmont Scott]

Boyfriend suggested last night that we make a Friday dinner & movie thing with our friend (the one Boyfriend is working/carpooling with, Boyfriend's best friend of 14 yrs, practically a brother). Boyfriend said I should pick the food since my diet ruled out any of their ideas. Sigh. I don't like having that kind of pressure on me. The only idea I have right now is roasted veggies, potatoes (sweet for me), and some kind of meat. Chicken is always good, I guess. Breading it would be nice, but I don't know if the coconut flour would taste too sweet and my gluten-free crumbs are rice based. I'll need to go get fresh broc and potatoes for roasting, but we have turkey breast, thighs, and quarters.

Don't ignore the possibility of doing a meal where you leave out one component for yourself. The rest of my family is not primal, so my wife normally cooks things where the grains are optional.

For example:
Tacos? Easy to make the same components into a salad, without the shell.
Breaded oven baked chicken? Leave the breading off of some for me.
Chinese food? Most dishes are meats and veggies. I skip the rice. (Commercial Chinese food, be aware it will probably be cooked in soy oil, and may have MSG, so you may want to do it at home.)

Most people eat a lot more chicken than steak, making steak more special. If you have budget for it, I would do steak, baked potato or sweet potato, and *fresh* sliced vegetables. I like cucumbers, green peppers, and tomatoes, if you can get decent produce. I prefer my sweet potato with real butter and ground cinnamon. (Pre-primal, I would have added brown sugar, so you might want to have some for the others.) If you don't have budget for the steak, oven baked chicken works, and it doesn't need to be breaded. I prefer the dark meat because it is a bit fattier so it has more flavor. You can sprinkle lightly with sea salt and fresh ground pepper, or you can look for various herb combinations that work well.

Good luck. Tell us how it goes.

[namelesswonder]

I think I'll stick to the meat we've got for Friday. I'm fine with making a Primal thing with non-Primal additions, just have to make sure there's an equivalent addition for me (like if they have rice, I have some other kind of carb). With any kind of steak-like meat (not ground), I'd have to worry about making sure the meat is done well enough for everyone's liking. Not ready for that right now. Not a problem for me and Boyfriend because I know he likes most things well done, but I mess up from time to time and don't cook things enough (has to be finished in the microwave). I don't want to feel increased anxiety over this thing. I think I will do some kind of potato thing (sweet for me, regular for them), chicken (not breaded because I'm not buying breading), and roasted broc (never roasted it before, but we could use some fresh veg in our lives). I'll just have to figure out the timing of preparing all of this, as I don't think I could cook it all in the oven at the same time (it's not convection & everything needs different temps). I might just have everything ready and waiting, but not start cooking until they leave from work. That gives me 1/2 an hr to start things, so they'd be home already when the food finishes. It would also mean eating late, but it's a weekend, so I don't mind.

Sleep: I slept better last night, except for being wide awake, sweltering, around 2AM (too cold when I go to bed, but always too hot at some point in the night, so I have to wake up to strip). Boyfriend was in bed, which means I didn't wake up when he joined me. He woke up right then with his back hurting a lot. I wonder why it suddenly started bothering him again. That hasn't happened in quite a while. He just started doing more push-ups everyday. Maybe he overdid it, or it's not enough to strengthen his back the way that he needs. I'm afraid this will make him depressed again.

Food: I made chicken with broc and some pearl onions for dinner. The onions should've been cooked first, they didn't get caramelized enough. I ended up eating the chicken skin because I was hungry, though I tried not to in order to avoid excess omega-6. I also made extra chicken for lunches & maybe dinner tonight, as well as a hot chocolate with full-fat coconut milk (half water, because it was only 1/2 a can, but that's still at least 240 calories of pure fat <3). This morning, I was not hungry until RIGHT before I left for work, then it faded and now I feel a bit queasy. It's still best for me to eat 3 square meals a day, so I'm hoping this doesn't impact my mood too much. I'm sipping tea until it's a reasonable time to eat lunch (chicken & broc...probably won't be enough). If I was going to try to cut back on PUFAs overall to give my body a break, I'm not sure what meat would be best. I'm talking to a friend (from my parent's church, he's a photographer and car enthusiast in his spare time) about possibly getting part of a cow that's leftover from a share he was involved in. I don't know how much it will be per lb, but he said the payment is pretty relaxed. I think we could afford it, if it's no more than $5/lb, but we'll see.

Body: Right knee hurts a little, and my right hand hurts a lot (sucks that my job relies on a lot of typing...and now I'm typing extra, because that's just how I roll). My left hand hurts a little too. I wonder if part of the increased pain on that side has to do with my overall imbalance (hips being askew throws everything off) and not just PUFAs. I've done my chiropractic stretches two days in a row now and am shooting to do them at least once a day until I can go see the chiro again. I can really tell my right side is tensed up because my foot doesn't lie as flat as the other and the right side doesn't stretch as far as the left (has always been the case, but worse than usual). On day 29 of my cycle, waiting for shark week. It seems like lately it's been coming at day 30 instead of 28, so might not be till tomorrow.

Supplements: I have to keep in mind that the Vitex I'm taking (and the maca root I took for a little while) will probably impact the timing of my cycle, so I shouldn't worry about lateness yet. I remembered to bring Vitamin C to work today and am leaving a teaspoon with it (we have two sets at home) so I don't have to bring it back and forth anymore. When I can cut out a supplement, I will pick up iodine and try Pebbles' method of using maca root for only the first 14 days of my cycle. That will probably be at least another month, if not longer.

Mood/brain: I'm definitely still hyper-emotional. Blog post probably reflects that (writing it at the same time as this post, need to find former entries to link to). I worked 10 hrs yesterday (hooray overtime!) and ran off adrenaline. It left me feeling really dazed in the evening, but not drained, emotionally or physically. Weird. I might be busy for part of today, but so far it's been slow.

[Finnegans Wake]

I've really enjoyed roasted/caramelized broccoli lately. Made pajeon last night (Korean pancakes) as an excuse to use up veggies: some asparagus, some leftover broccoli, some red pepper, and some shallot, all chopped up and mixed and thrown into a nonstick with no oil until they were screaming for mercy. Then, add S&P and just a little EVOO, and reduce heat a bit. That really makes a nice "Chinese food" flavor, or I guess some sort of American idea of what Asian flavors should be. Then added the egg + tapioca mixture (3 eggs - way more than traditional - with 1/2 c. manioc and 1/2 c. water - traditional uses white or rice flour).

Anyway, you can get similar flavors from broccoli roasting at 375F (anywhere from 350-400, really). Cut broccoli into florets, and add in sliced onion or shallot, and whole garlic cloves or large chopped hunks. I think the onion/garlic is a nice add, but your call. You can add in red bell pepper slices for color and sweetness, too. Toss all that in a bowl with EVOO and S&P to taste, toss it onto a pan, should only take about 20-30 minutes, depending on your oven and temp. Toss those babies halfway through. You want some visible caramelization but obviously not little cinders. Damned tasty.

I have to wake up to strip...

*Thoughtful pause*

The PUFA/inflammation thing seems odd to me. I could see it more with junk food and industrial oils than with chicken or fish, but it's worth noting what your triggers are. Maybe try incorporating ginger to counter? Fresh, dried, or crystallized (although that usually has added sugar). Ginger tea...? Ginger does good stuff WRT inflammation AND gut issues. Also, what about an Epsom salt bath, or even just soaking your hand in a tub of Epsom? Might help.

[namelesswonder]

I love that *thoughtful pause* is still being used.

I mean it's not like it's good quality chicken. Just what the grocery store has. I love ginger tea. Investing in some more is probably well worth it. Candied ginger would be an awesome treat, but the sugar is definitely not gonna fly for me right now. I wonder how I should use it... I mean, a couple of mugs of tea a day? Just in the evening? Blegh, every new supplement needs a schedule. Epsom is a good call. Perhaps I'll let my hands get prune-y this evening while I wait for traffic to die down so I can get groceries. I'll have to alternate hands so I can read & soak.

Nameless Wonders: Almost-anniversary
Warning: lots of reading ahead. I think it's a good post though

Totally not relevant to anything: My hair. Almost had trouble falling asleep last night thinking about it, hehe. I finally decided that I'm going to dye it all pink again (including the roots that I bleached last week). The purple strip in the front will probably stay purple because I bleached that part before I put the color in. My hair would not stand up to further lightening, otherwise I'd bleach over the pink and put purple all over. Once my bleached roots and hair length are roughly the same color, I'll let the pink fade & then use up my pink and other dyes as I see fit. This means no more root bleaching for at least a couple of months. It'll probably look weird as the roots come in again, but if I decide to cut it short, that means I'm starting off with more "fresh" hair.

[Kymma]

One of my gal pals posted this detox bath, maybe it could help with inflammation. I may take one this weekend, maybe even tomorrow night. How to Take a Detox Bath: 10 steps (with pictures) - wikiHow

Everyone can use some detox!

[Finnegans Wake]

Yeah, but even grocery store chicken... I just wonder how strong of a trigger that could be. Seems odd that it would be as bad for you as soybean oil or something.

I'd think a couple of mugs of ginger tea, maybe when you're at work?, would be worth a try.

Liked the blog post, we all have those old-time resonances. Funny how immediate is when memories flood back. Pic of you with the dog is cute!

Put me down as a fan of the pink. There, that's about as much time as I've spent thinking about hair color in the last year! My thoughts WRT my own hair are Murrrrghhh... time to buzz again, and Blarrrrrgh... why is it coming out of my ears now?

[Finnegans Wake]

One of my gal pals posted this detox bath, maybe it could help with inflammation. I may take one this weekend, maybe even tomorrow night. How to Take a Detox Bath: 10 steps (with pictures) - wikiHow

Everyone can use some detox!

Epsom + ginger! I feels like a genius, I tells ya!

[tomi]

One of my gal pals posted this detox bath, maybe it could help with inflammation. I may take one this weekend, maybe even tomorrow night. How to Take a Detox Bath: 10 steps (with pictures) - wikiHow

Everyone can use some detox!

I'm doing THAT!

[jenn26point2]

I so want to take one of those baths! Gonna have to find me some ginger and see if I can find the time to take one this week/weekend. Not sure I want to sweat for up to an hour after though....