So, I think my scale is broken. It hasn't moved at all the last 3 weeks. *Sigh* At least I know my eating habits aren't making me gain weight. I've been trying to eat better. Or, at least I've been trying to eat a balanced meal.
I've been making myself eat breakfast, which is nice. I don't feel as hungry during the day. Leamon wants oatmeal every day for breakfast, which I thought would be boring, but surprisingly it's not. But it can't be regular oatmeal, it has to be steel cut oatmeal, cause it's better for you. (He's done more research on things that are good for you versus things that are bad for you than I have, so I tend to follow his advice.) So, plus side to steel cut oatmeal, I really like it. It has a nice texture and taste. Down side to it, it takes 20 minutes to cook. Some nights I boil water, pour oatmeal into a Stanley thermos, add the boiling water, seal it up, shake it and let it set overnight. In the morning, all you have to do is scoop it out (which can be quite messy) and stir it up a little.
In my husbands defense, he doesn't want just oatmeal. He wants oatmeal, eggs, fruit, and yogurt. He's figured out a way to get it ready the night before so it only takes a few minutes in the morning, but we haven't tried it yet.
As for lunches, well, since I get up so late I kind of skip over lunch. I don't really get hungry until around 3, but I know that by then Leamon will be home in a few hours, so I just grab a snack. Some times I actually do eat lunch so I eat leftovers from the night before. Yeah, I know the whole thing about "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, and wealthy, and wise." But normal people don't really go to bed at 9 o'clock and wake up at 5, do they? What in the world can you do at 5 in the morning? 10 o'clock, I think I can handle. Maybe. I'm a night person, going to bed before 11:30 is just hard for me. (Except when I had to be at work at 6, then I could go to bed around 9:30 or 10)
Another saying that I've heard but yet to put into practice is "Eat breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince, and dinner like a poor college student." In other words, eat a lot at breakfast, a decent amount at lunch and hardly anything at dinner. Did you know that way back when, Lunch was the big meal of the day? For dinner, you ate leftovers or something light. I've heard that this is how they do it in France and other such places. Not sure if it's true, but if so, that's cool.
So, you may ask, if I know all this stuff why don't I just do it? Easy. I have no gumption. I don't want to sacrifice my late night reading, to go to bed early, so I can get up early and read. What fun would that be? (Can you hear the sarcasm?) If it would make my beloved husband happy for me to have breakfast waiting for him at a decent hour so he can get to work on time, why not do it? Ugh, I hate what this is saying about me. It's kinda hard admitting to yourself that you're lazy. When other people say it (like your mom), you can just brush it off, tell yourself that it's not true. When you tell yourself that however, it makes it kinda impossible to deny.
This making myself a better person is going to be harder than I thought. But in the end, it'll be soooo worth it. Right?
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Low Stomach Acid
OK, guys, I warned you last time that I'd write about this. It may be kinda boring, but it's one of those things that I just have to share. You know how you try a new restaurant, and it's amazing and you want to tell everyone? That's how I felt when I found out about this! I thought, if this is something I'm suffering from, who else do I know that's suffering in silence like me? I have to tell everyone!
OK, so here's the background story. For quite a while (and I mean like 6 months) I've been suffering from heartburn/acid reflux, whatever you want to call it. I would get acid in my throat and it would burn. It would only burn a little but it wouldn't go away. And it seemed like it would happen at random times. I chalked it up to stress (my job, the wedding, our families) and hoped it would go away. I had gone to the doctor before the wedding, and when I told her about it (I had gone for something else) she just wrote me a prescription for an antacid. Well, because the doctors office charged me an arm and a leg (I didn't have insurance), I only filled the antibiotic. I figured I could get by with what I had been doing of taking generic antacids a couple of times a day, a couple days a week, and that it'd go away after the wedding. Wrong!
When I was home at Christmas, we were at my brother's house letting my niece open presents when I had the worst heartburn attack ever! HOLY COW it hurt so bad! So, of course, since we were newlyweds everyone starts saying I'm pregnant. Nope. Sorry guys, I'm not. It took 20 minutes and various pills and milk and whatnot, before the pain lessened and then subsided. Now, I know I should have gone to the DR when I got back to TX, but I still didn't have insurance (still don't) so I kept putting it off. Then, the stress with my job made it so I was taking antacids every day. I had some on a shelf at work, I had some in my purse, I had some at home. It was crazy! I eventually quit that job (not because of the heartburn, or my cute kiddos) and the heartburn has lessened alot. Problem is, I still get it. It seems like it's at random times, but I bet if I tracked it for two weeks or so, I'd find a pattern.
Well, I've started having other symptoms, like I'm tired all the time, I'm nauseous sometimes, I don't want to eat anything but then I'll feel like I'm starving, acne (which I've always had, but if this helps, I'm not going to knock it), and a couple other things. Well, my awesome husband a week or so ago, decided to look up things to cure heartburn. What we found out is this:
Turns out, having too little stomach acid acts the same as when you have too much stomach acid. Makes sense to me. My sister-in-law, who's a horticulturist told me that plants that are over-watered act the same as plants that are under-watered. But most people who see a dying plant don't think "Oh, there's too much water", they think the opposite. Same with heartburn. So, people take antacids, hoping it will help, but it actually makes the problem worse!
If your body doesn't have enough stomach acid, it can't break down the food you eat, which can give you all sorts of infections (the acid can't kill the bacteria), plus it won't give you the nutrients your body needs. So that makes you have acidic blood, which looks for nutrients elsewhere, like your bones to get it back to the neutral state your blood is supposed to be in. But that leads to low stomach acid and the whole vicious cycle is repeated over and over again.
So, what can we do about it? Well, there is a test I'm going to try either tonight or tomorrow. Whenever you feel heartburn, if you take apple cider vinegar diluted in a little bit of water, and you feel better, then you have low stomach acid. (I'm going to try it later, because I don't currently have apple cider vinegar. I have to go buy some) Some remedies that are suggested (and they vary from website to website) are Bitter herbs, adding a Multi-vitamin, taking B complex, probiotics, ginger, licorice (gave me an excuse to eat black licorice, although that's not really the kind they were talking about), etc. So, I'm going to try some stuff out and see how it goes. If you can find a reasonable remedy, let me know and I'll probably try it.
Oh yeah, and my weight for this week is 188, same as last week. :( Well, at least I didn't gain!
OK, so here's the background story. For quite a while (and I mean like 6 months) I've been suffering from heartburn/acid reflux, whatever you want to call it. I would get acid in my throat and it would burn. It would only burn a little but it wouldn't go away. And it seemed like it would happen at random times. I chalked it up to stress (my job, the wedding, our families) and hoped it would go away. I had gone to the doctor before the wedding, and when I told her about it (I had gone for something else) she just wrote me a prescription for an antacid. Well, because the doctors office charged me an arm and a leg (I didn't have insurance), I only filled the antibiotic. I figured I could get by with what I had been doing of taking generic antacids a couple of times a day, a couple days a week, and that it'd go away after the wedding. Wrong!
When I was home at Christmas, we were at my brother's house letting my niece open presents when I had the worst heartburn attack ever! HOLY COW it hurt so bad! So, of course, since we were newlyweds everyone starts saying I'm pregnant. Nope. Sorry guys, I'm not. It took 20 minutes and various pills and milk and whatnot, before the pain lessened and then subsided. Now, I know I should have gone to the DR when I got back to TX, but I still didn't have insurance (still don't) so I kept putting it off. Then, the stress with my job made it so I was taking antacids every day. I had some on a shelf at work, I had some in my purse, I had some at home. It was crazy! I eventually quit that job (not because of the heartburn, or my cute kiddos) and the heartburn has lessened alot. Problem is, I still get it. It seems like it's at random times, but I bet if I tracked it for two weeks or so, I'd find a pattern.
Well, I've started having other symptoms, like I'm tired all the time, I'm nauseous sometimes, I don't want to eat anything but then I'll feel like I'm starving, acne (which I've always had, but if this helps, I'm not going to knock it), and a couple other things. Well, my awesome husband a week or so ago, decided to look up things to cure heartburn. What we found out is this:
my problems may be from having too little stomach acid.
Turns out, having too little stomach acid acts the same as when you have too much stomach acid. Makes sense to me. My sister-in-law, who's a horticulturist told me that plants that are over-watered act the same as plants that are under-watered. But most people who see a dying plant don't think "Oh, there's too much water", they think the opposite. Same with heartburn. So, people take antacids, hoping it will help, but it actually makes the problem worse!
If your body doesn't have enough stomach acid, it can't break down the food you eat, which can give you all sorts of infections (the acid can't kill the bacteria), plus it won't give you the nutrients your body needs. So that makes you have acidic blood, which looks for nutrients elsewhere, like your bones to get it back to the neutral state your blood is supposed to be in. But that leads to low stomach acid and the whole vicious cycle is repeated over and over again.
So, what can we do about it? Well, there is a test I'm going to try either tonight or tomorrow. Whenever you feel heartburn, if you take apple cider vinegar diluted in a little bit of water, and you feel better, then you have low stomach acid. (I'm going to try it later, because I don't currently have apple cider vinegar. I have to go buy some) Some remedies that are suggested (and they vary from website to website) are Bitter herbs, adding a Multi-vitamin, taking B complex, probiotics, ginger, licorice (gave me an excuse to eat black licorice, although that's not really the kind they were talking about), etc. So, I'm going to try some stuff out and see how it goes. If you can find a reasonable remedy, let me know and I'll probably try it.
Oh yeah, and my weight for this week is 188, same as last week. :( Well, at least I didn't gain!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Pity party turned Pep talk
Hi guys. Thanks for your comments; they've made me feel better. I'm not sure if I'm going to make my goal of 3 pounds this week or not. It's, uh, that time and I've just been feeling like crap. Earlier I was feeling really bad (when I first started writing this post), and in the middle of a pity party when I got a phone call from my sister-in-law. We spent an hour on the phone just chatting. It was nice. It helped me break out of my 'I'm good for nothing' attitude. I make mistakes. Everyone does. It doesn't mean I can't learn from them. It also doesn't mean I'm good for nothing either. The Lord knows I'm good for something. My wonderful husband thinks I'm good for something or else he wouldn't have married me (as he likes to remind me). My friends think I'm good for something. So I need to think I'm good for something! I CAN do this! I am a great person and I shouldn't let my mistakes get me down. I should hold my chin up and say "I made a mistake. Heaven knows it's not the first, and it certainly won't be the last. But what can I LEARN from it?" The day is not over yet, so I'm going to move forward.
PS Did you know that if you have heartburn that won't go away, that its not from having too much stomach acid, it's from having too little? I sure as heck didn't! Leamon and I were looking for ways to get rid of my heartburn, when we came across several articles that talked about having too little stomach acid and what that does to your body. I was amazed! Anyway, that's all I'm going to say on the subject, but my next post will probably be all about that. Just so you know. :)
PS Did you know that if you have heartburn that won't go away, that its not from having too much stomach acid, it's from having too little? I sure as heck didn't! Leamon and I were looking for ways to get rid of my heartburn, when we came across several articles that talked about having too little stomach acid and what that does to your body. I was amazed! Anyway, that's all I'm going to say on the subject, but my next post will probably be all about that. Just so you know. :)
Monday, April 12, 2010
Hi Everyone!
Hello! I finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and start a blog. I don't know how many of you will read this, but that's ok. I felt the need to start one because I want to work on my self-improvement and, unless I feel like someone is holding me accountable, I may never get very far. What, you may ask, are my self-improvement goals? They are as follows (for now anyway):
~Become healthier. To achieve this goal, I'll need to start eating healthier, which I plan to do by eating Low GI foods. I also plan to sneak exercise into my daily routine. My theory is, if it feels like exercise I probably won't do it. Don't get me wrong, I love going to the YMCA, but I have to distract myself while I'm there or I start feeling downhearted.
~Adopt a "Why Not?" attitude. Why not learn Spanish so I can live in Argentina for the summer with my husband? Why not take cooking classes? Why not finish college? Why not learn scrap-booking? Why not sell everything and live in Europe for a year? Why not live on a farm and raise chickens and goats? Do you see where this is headed?
~Stop being a procrastinator. Ah. This one, I have a feeling, will be very hard. I am very much a procrastinator. Why clean the trailer today when I can do it tomorrow? There are more important things to do than clean! But I like the feeling I get when I have a clean trailer. I don't feel embarrassed if people come over and my house is clean. I don't have to freak out to get it clean before someone comes over either! So I need to stop putting things off until tomorrow, because I won't want to deal with them tomorrow either!
Ok, well, that last one got kinda long. Sorry. So, for now, those are my goals. I'm going to work on them for one month. If, after one month, I don't see any progress, I will reconsider my goals and then go from there. Oh, and once a week I'm going to post my weight (gulp) so that any of you can push me to do better (or encourage me) if you want.
So, today's weight is: 188. (Hey I actually lost a couple pounds already! Wahoo!) Think I can lose 3 pounds by next week?
~Become healthier. To achieve this goal, I'll need to start eating healthier, which I plan to do by eating Low GI foods. I also plan to sneak exercise into my daily routine. My theory is, if it feels like exercise I probably won't do it. Don't get me wrong, I love going to the YMCA, but I have to distract myself while I'm there or I start feeling downhearted.
~Adopt a "Why Not?" attitude. Why not learn Spanish so I can live in Argentina for the summer with my husband? Why not take cooking classes? Why not finish college? Why not learn scrap-booking? Why not sell everything and live in Europe for a year? Why not live on a farm and raise chickens and goats? Do you see where this is headed?
~Stop being a procrastinator. Ah. This one, I have a feeling, will be very hard. I am very much a procrastinator. Why clean the trailer today when I can do it tomorrow? There are more important things to do than clean! But I like the feeling I get when I have a clean trailer. I don't feel embarrassed if people come over and my house is clean. I don't have to freak out to get it clean before someone comes over either! So I need to stop putting things off until tomorrow, because I won't want to deal with them tomorrow either!
Ok, well, that last one got kinda long. Sorry. So, for now, those are my goals. I'm going to work on them for one month. If, after one month, I don't see any progress, I will reconsider my goals and then go from there. Oh, and once a week I'm going to post my weight (gulp) so that any of you can push me to do better (or encourage me) if you want.
So, today's weight is: 188. (Hey I actually lost a couple pounds already! Wahoo!) Think I can lose 3 pounds by next week?
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