Primal journal : Coll page 18

[Candy in Wonderland]

That ^^. I'm quite jealous 'cause you seem to have such perfect weather! It's still cold and wet here in Belgium, didn't have much of nice weather yet . I hope at least the summer will be fine, but you never know in this country *sigh*.

[Coll]

Well, the perfect weather is only because we are living in a 'high desert' area - and this year is extremely dry even for here! I was reading today that the snow pack (that is the main source of water for most of the mountainous areas and those close) is only at about 10% of normal!! This means that unless things change radically there will be towns without water before the summer is over!!

And I have had a VERY stressful day as there is a wildfire raging out of control nearby. The smoke clouds just terrible and so I called the sherriff's department and they said that there were mandatory evacuations going on as the fire was spreading toward dwellings etc. She told me to be ready in case we got the call to say we needed to evacuate. I didn't realise how much that was going to stress me at the time. I found myself wandering around the house packing up odds and ends that are not replaceable, trying to think of what I might be missing, trying to plan how we'll get the chickens and dog transported, talking to SIL to arrange for help if we do have to evacuate. Trying to keep the kids busy with school and still look normal when I am wondering if this is our next challenge after two moves in one year and all the other stressful things that we have survived over the last years. It took me all the way through to this afternoon to start to pull myself together and relax. The vehicle has a couple suitcases packed with a couple of days worth of clothes and there are a few boxes piled near the door waiting in case. Got chickens feed mixed and packed up, birth certificates packed, wedding photos packed etc etc.

I was so stressed this afternoon that I felt nauseated and my tummy was not pleased with me Had a couple sips of kefir and felt better.

Breakfast: tea with cream and stevia
Lunch: 1/4 cup macadamias, half a leftover pork chop, 2 fried eggs, handful of baby carrots, date roll
Dinner: Bowl of minced beef stew - decided against having a whey drink even though I felt hungry -ish. I think it is the stress talking - may grab some veggies on my way to bed ...

Macros: Calories 1645
Protein:101.4 g
Fat: 105 g
Carbs: 78.1

So tired, need to head for bed now. Sleep tight all and sweet dreams

[Candy in Wonderland]

Yikes, not so perfect after all...I hope the fire is under control soon and you won't have to leave your house!

[Coll]

No internet all day, been making biltong this afternoon ... my back is sore and my feet are aching! I nearly couldn't fit all the meat into the dehydrator I can't wait for it to all be finished, of course it gets eaten so fast I can hardly believe it...

Breakfast: black tea with cream and stevia
Lunch: (3pm) 2 bratwurst, 2 fried eggs, baby carrots, portobella mushrooms, macadamia nuts - handful.
Dinner: (9:45pm) ground beef stew, bowl of berries with cream.

The fire is still burning, but they have managed to get a little more control over it - 45% contained this afternoon. However we just had some pretty strong winds, so hope they have not lost all the ground they gained today! It gets very smoky here at times and then I have to close the house up tight. We all have scratchy throats and stuffy noses from all the airborne contaminants. We just stay inside if we can smell smoke - kids bought some new lego's today with some of their Christmas and birthday money so that kept them busy inside.

I got the magnesium gel today and put some on my heel this morning and then again this evening. My heel is feeling amazingly ok considering I have hardly sat down all day. We'll see if this is the turning point for my heel, I really hope so. I have also been putting the Magnesium on my left arm as a starter spot to see how it goes. It does sting slightly on my arm, but that is not surprising if you consider that a pretty big percentage of the skin is damaged and very thin. I just leave it on for 10 minutes and then rinse it off and moisturize. No ill effects aside from the stinging while it is on. So we'll see how it goes.

I am feeling pretty good eating only afternoon and evening. Today was way later than I prefer, but I couldn't stop the biltong making process half way, so just had to keep going.

I am so tired, see ya tomorrow

[Sabine]

You inspired me to work on our emergency plan yesterday. We have 'bug-out' bags packed and ready to go in our hall closet, but I started a list to tape on the inside of the closet door, of the other things to grab, time allowing, in order of importance. Realized I need to get a few things to make any possible evacuation easier, top on the list: dedicated tote bags for photo albums! Been meaning to do it for a while, I'm glad I finally started. Thanks for the prod. (Although I'm sorry for your reality of maybe needing it.)

[Coll]

Yes Sabine, good idea! I have wanted to work on my list, but haven't. I was running around all day trying to figure out what to take and trying to make sure I didn't forget anything important - hard to do under pressure! Fortunately it looks like the rain (thank God) last night and today is helping the +/- 600 people fighting the fire!

Weighed in at 196.5 this morning My jeans come off without undoing the button - yeeha! My next size jeans can get on but are not what I would call comfortable enough to wear yet! My old faithful shorts that I wore to death the last few years got a big tear in them the last time I wore them and I didn't have a panic attack trying to replace them. I have all kinds of shorts that fit really nicely now that were way too small before This is fun. This morning DH very kindly made a lovely omlette this morning - but I set it aside for later as I am really not hungry yet. I did have a couple of bites of the biltong to test readiness and just because it is so yummy. But am not going to eat again until I am hungry - probably a late-ish lunch... just go with the flow.

It is raining again and there is something so wonderful about the clean air after being so smokey for the whole week! I have the windows cracked to get the fresh air in even though it is chilly today. We tend to take clean air for granted living outside of town, not anymore after this last week. There is such a palpable feeling of relief today - the evacuation center is just down the road from us and there are fleets of forestry service vehicles going up and down the road to the fire. So grateful for the men and women who put their lives on the line for us... I could never be a fire-fighter. I nursed too many burn victims in ICU and since I saw my brother get burned when we were little (boiling water) I have always had a bit of a phobia about hot things. But I am deeply appreciative of those who are so brave!

[lopisheep]

Love the idea of the pants sliding off. WTG.

So sorry about the fire. Not a happy thing. I used to live in S. California so can certainly relate.

I think I'm going to light tea fast!. I'm just getting nowhere with food, and now I find out even wild and organic rices carry molds, so...

Maybe I'll just have to get primal figured out as vegan is sure throwing me around.

[Coll]

Hey Pam, California certainly has more than their fair share of the fires! So sorry you are having a tough time figuring out what to eat. I have to admit I wonder if there is some way you could tweak the primal to work better for you. I never did read your whole journal ... did you ever go totally grain free? For how long? I know you were having trouble with the protein side of things too. I hope you can work out what is going to work for you. Don't give up! There is a solution for you - just need to keep trying different combo's until you get it down.

I had a busy morning and then this afternoon I just flopped on my bed and read a nice novel. So relaxing to just let myself off the hook of doing a bazillion things. I have started unpacking our suitcases that I had packed to be ready for evacuation. The fire is 85% contained now and it is cool rainy weather! Relief.

Breakfast: Black tea with cream and stevia
Lunch: warmed up omlette with ground beef stew and a little cheese. Biltong
Snack: a few macadamia nuts, biltong, black tea with milk and stevia
Dinner: Artichoke with butter and garlic, 2 sausages and more biltong

I have always LOVED biltong, I am finding that I have so much more restraint than ever before though! I can enjoy a little and then stop. I seem (at the moment anyway) to be doing better with listening to my body's signals. A lot of salt today with the biltong as I was eating the bits that are small and dry faster and they are also the ones that absorb more salt. Will be interesting to see what the scale says in the morning. It is not the best salt but is better than your usual table salt too.

Well, going to hit the sack as I am pooped again My body says enough already, get me to bed. Okiedokie

[lopisheep]

Yeah, I totally went off grains and legumes. The quandry I'm in now is that grains are bad and legumes are bad. Meats, fowl, and fish don't work. Nuts make me break out and cause migraines. Fruit is bad -- except a little.

This leaves me with dairy, which I love. Goat's milk, goat butter, goat yogurt, yummy! I can manage without cheese if I have to.

But it leaves me with vegetables (except nightshades) and dairy, and dairy is supposed to be bad. I think the first answer is to not get on MDA, as I feel bad about pretty much all food once I get on here. Yes, that's what I have to do. It's been great but really gotten me off kilter. Silly to not be eating animal and being on a site that tells you how bad you are (whether they mean to or not), yes?

So, I think I'm off here for good. Oddly enough, your compassion gave me the strength to do it. So, here's what I'm going to try. Vegetables (except nightshades), light teas, coconut water, a few fruits, goat dairy, and herbs and spices, B12 and D3 and try to not hate myself 'cause I'm not eating meat.

Thank you for helping me on this.

[Siobhan]

I'm glad to hear the fire situation has improved! I grew up in southern California, how well I remember. I remember one day there was a knock on the door - a fireman was standing there in full gear - I could see the fire behind him. He said, "Ma'am, you have to leave NOW!" I had three cats and two dogs. I grabbed them all, shoved them in one huge carrier (luckily they were okay with this) and drove off with it bungee corded into my truck. Took nothing else except my purse. It all turned out okay, my home didn't burn and we all were just fine. I'll never forget that feeling though - it was pretty much as scared as I've ever been.

Lopisheep, I'm sorry you're having problems, I just want everyone to do well! I wish I could help.