Primal Journal (Judg) page 91

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Glad you are doing better Judg. Hope you can get the last bit of that URTI out the door soon. Glad you didn't have a major reaction to the wheat - and also glad you are not planning on indulging more That bath sounds interesting, but our tub is too small to do much more than stand in it unless you are 7 years old

[Judg]

Today the lower part of my gut was unhappy. That wheat seems to have left a trail of inflammation behind it. It was not a send-me-to-bed kind of sick, but still enough that I am telling family members about it. Not that they put undue pressure on me, but it will be a handy excuse when I am offered something I shouldn't have. True excuses are the best. And also, once I have said it in public to a few people, I won't dare cheat because they will all be on my case. "But I thought you said you couldn't have that, I thought you said it was hard on your system..." You get the idea. So then I would be embarrassed and my pride would take a beating. This is how I get my vices to work on the same side as my virtues... LOL!

The grandsons were at Sunday dinner this week. I barely had enough time to eat, let alone cheat. I was very good. The youngest can now sit up on his own, and is starting to make his presence felt more. Such a smiley little boy. I was so wiped when I got home I just crashed. Walked to church this morning, which I consider only about a half dose of exercise, but I guess the boys made up for that. I might be crazy enough to pick up the resistance bands in a few, you never know.

[Judg]

Yesterday's supper.

IMG_3194a.jpg

I was boning chicken breasts to throw in the slow cooker to make pulled chicken with and saved the little bits for a stir-fry. Fried up the Brussels sprouts (who knew they could be tasty?) in butter, then the red pepper (each ingredient separately), then the chicken. Drizzled the whole thing with olive oil I had heated gently with fresh garlic and dried oregano. Just wonderful. The biggest problem was not eating too much of the red pepper before cooking it. Just like candy, that stuff. The meal was inspired by DIL's method of cooking Brussels sprouts, but I just expanded it with the pepper and chicken.

The pulled chicken was ready when I got up this morning, so I had a bit of it over cauliflower for breakfast. Lots for future meals.

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Mmm, that sounds really yummy, and looks it too. And I love the sound of pulled chicken over cauliflower for breakfast What is pulled chicken? Excuse my ignorance - just wondering how you do that? How do you do the cauliflower? I am always looking for new ideas on the veggies. Grandson sounds adorable ... makes me wish I could have another.

[winencandy]

Eggs for tic-tacs! Whoa! Winencandy is tough.

The same rules don't apply to me! If they did, I would be COVERED in eggs!

I feel like I'm walking around in somebody else's body and am a little weirded out by it.

As requested, here is a shot of the fuchsia sweater, artfully arranged and posed to hide the bulge that is still there. I am actually wearing it with a long scarf, which is serving the triple purpose of keeping my heating bills down, distracting attention away from various bulges, and adding a shot of white to the outfit.

You look GREAT! I love the scarf (I wear them too. And yes, if I'm not wearing one, it's nearby)

I'm 33 and still write a Christmas List...

So do I, but mine includes photos

Conclusion? Wheat is not a severe allergen for me, but it is definitely a stressor. I don't need to voluntarily add another stressor to my life, I have enough of those already. Very small amounts very occasionally will not be the end of the world, but I will continue to avoid it as much as possible.

Good to know.

True excuses are the best. And also, once I have said it in public to a few people, I won't dare cheat because they will all be on my case. "But I thought you said you couldn't have that, I thought you said it was hard on your system..." You get the idea. So then I would be embarrassed and my pride would take a beating. This is how I get my vices to work on the same side as my virtues... LOL!

Love it!

[DCarr10760]

Mmmm, the food looks great and so do you!

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How are you doing Judg? Recovered from your little dance with the wheat I hope?

[Candy in Wonderland]

Nice pictures Judg! The sweater really looks good on you and your camouflage trick is working really well . Love the scarf too. I love scarfes on other people, for one reason or another I don't like myself with scarfes . When I see myself in the mirror the scarf has to go.

[Judg]

Mmm, that sounds really yummy, and looks it too. And I love the sound of pulled chicken over cauliflower for breakfast What is pulled chicken? Excuse my ignorance - just wondering how you do that? How do you do the cauliflower? I am always looking for new ideas on the veggies. Grandson sounds adorable ... makes me wish I could have another.

I just rub the chicken with a spicy dry rub (in this case it was chili powder plus ground coriander plus salt and pepper), put them in a slow cooker and cover with passata, which is strained tomatoes. Much better than tomato sauce, because the only ingredient is tomatoes and because it comes in glass bottles, so no issues with plastic linings leaching chemicals into the tomato sauce. And I can reuse the bottles, so another win.

The cauliflower in this case was just boiled cauliflower cut up rather fine to imitate cauliflower rice. I had some left over.

Nice pictures Judg! The sweater really looks good on you and your camouflage trick is working really well . Love the scarf too. I love scarfes on other people, for one reason or another I don't like myself with scarfes . When I see myself in the mirror the scarf has to go.

We each have our own style. There are all kinds of things I love on other people, but which I would never wear.

Mmmm, the food looks great and so do you!

Why thank you sir.

Sorry I haven't been around much. I'm trying to spend a little more time in real life, as in, away from the computer and getting productive things done. Especially with Christmas coming, I have more to do. I'm also just trying to get things better balanced. I will get all this figured out bit by bit.

I am reeling a bit from the possibility that I might be suffering from a long-term oral Candida infection. I noticed several years ago that when I ate more sugar than normal (and the amount kept going down) that I would get a burning tongue and sometimes even sores on my tongue. I found it convenient, to tell the truth. It was a great motivation to cut back on sugar. Well, I just found out that the burning tongue and sores are symptoms of Candida (which I always thought of as being a "down-under" problem), which we call thrush in babies. Man, this has been going on for a very long time. I'm mulling over what to do about it. I'll start by stocking up on camomile tea, because it's an anti-fungal agent (you can water seedlings with it to prevent damping-off, or soak your feet in it for athlete's foot, which is apparently also Candida). Maybe get some deodorized garlic capsules. I would be quite happy to use fresh garlic, but that could be hard on everyone around me... And cut back even further on sugars and possibly eliminate all fruit for a while. *sigh* There's a complicated dance going on between CFS, Candida, food and environmental allergies, and it's almost impossible to tell what is causing what. I'm not sure if I should see my doctor about this or not. Antibiotics do as much harm as good, although in this case it might be worth it.

Had my Greek yogurt this morning with no berries or sweeteners of any kind. Seeing as the stuff reminds me of sour cream anyway, I decided to make it savoury, as opposed to sweet, and added a wee bit of salt, garlic powder, and a not so wee amount of oregano. Very nice, with the normal assortment of seeds and nuts. There must be more people demanding full-fat dairy these days, because both the full-fat Greek yogurt and cottage cheese have suddenly appeared in the fridges of chain groceries that never had them before. I am pleased.

Slowly wrestling my weight back down to the low. I've been under 142 the last couple of days, and hope to get under 141 as a stable, not exceptional, weight before Christmas. I've also been trying to gradually ramp up my physical activity. Did my slo-mo resistance band routine the other evening (note to self: doing it just before bed does not promote sleepiness) and did some cautious mini-sprints yesterday. They were very simple. I had put on my dance music, and once a song I would run on the spot as fast and as hard as I could until I started to flag. Which was a question of seconds, but a girl has to start somewhere. Both sessions made me feel good. This means I now have to fight off the temptation to do them too often. Just walking today. I have to go out to mail Christmas presents.

Hope I'm not boring you too much with all this, but I just want to show that it's possible to make small improvements even with health challenges. I can't go full-bore into primal fitness, but I can take the principles and apply them at a level that I can handle. Hopefully, over time, I will be able to gradually increase it to get into genuinely good shape and health. Even if I never get back to normal, at least I can get better.

[tomi]

I think you're doing great with the issues you have to deal with. Adjusting things to meet your individual needs is the right thing to do.

I do wish I had your patience. Persistance and stamina I think I have mastered (at least in the fitness and weight loss department) but I'm still very impatient and want this whole process to move much more swiftly!!!! I wanted to be under 180 by tomorrow......... seeing 185 on the scale today means I won't make that goal. Thats what I get for taking 4 days and wasting them with treats.............

When will the Professor be home for the Christmas break?