Food journal

Pumpkin latte, banana

protein plate and Dutch Bros freeze

lettuce and tomato salad with Caesar dressing; leftover lasagna and cheese Chiabbata toast; green tea

Food journal

188
Frosted mini-wheats with milk
red bell pepper with artichoke spinach hommus
(My FIL shared his lunch): 1/2 Cousins ham and cheese sub with lettuce, tomato, mayo, pickles; BBQ popchips and green tea
lettuce and tomato salad with Caesar dressing; lasagna and cheese Chiabbata toast; green tea
(everyone was talking about ice cream on FB today): Breyer's chocolate ice cream with banana and caramel

Brain Fog

I follow the "Spoonie" website and saw this about brain fog, a common ailment for those with diseases like Lupus, Chronic Fatigue, and MS. I felt a little emotional reading the paragraph on fatigue (this is ME!) and knowing others are experiencing what I go through.

Fatigue is one of the main causes that result in brain fog and let’s be honest….when was the last time that you felt really rested? I’m guessing if I asked for a show of hands, I’d see one or two of you reaching high. The rest of us would sit quietly. The sad truth of the matter is that Spoonies never get enough sleep. We never get enough sleep because we never stop hurting. Oh sure, sometimes the pain can be dulled to a low roar, but it never goes away. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night because you have to use the bathroom. Most of you would jump up, go in the bathroom and then happily jump back underneath the covers and drift off back to sleep. Not Spoonies. Nope, we fight to open our eyes that feel like they had been rubbed on with sandpaper for the last hour, slowly roll off the mattress as if our limbs were frozen and useless. Eventually, we make it to the bathroom only to return to bed and turn on the tv…knowing full and well that there would be no more sleep to be had for the rest of the night.

(emphasis mine.) And then she makes me laugh, actually and truly, laugh out loud. While I do not have much of an issue with insomnia (relative, of course--I still have times as she describes, but more so when I first hit the sheets, completely exhausted and yet wide awake), the rest rings so true. So when I'm not 100% there with you, don't take it personally--I'm giving you what I've got, but MS got the rest of me. (That's why MS is my bitch!)

Footnote: if you are new here, Spoonie is a person who lives the Spoon Theory.

Food journal

189. Breakfast was a small bowl of Raisin Bran with milk and sugar. I took Greek yogurt with kiwi berries and strawberries. I had a few bites but it was gross; I added sugar and tried a few more bites, but it was still gross. So I had a pluot.

For lunch, I went to Miracle Mile Deli to satisfy a beef craving. I had brisket on a kaiser roll with french fries and a regular root beer. I had two banana laffy taffys later.

For dinner, I was planning on halibut but M wasn't excited about it. We ended up having fish sticks and Velveeta shells and cheese. I also had an iced tea. I took my evening meds with some Good Belly beverage.

Weave 201

I was running late to class and everyone was paired up already, so we got to work alone, with some help from D. Cassi and I started out a little off. She went through the tunnel but missed the weave entries, but we were able to correct it. The first exercise was a jump to a tunnel to a weave, back around over the jump, through the other end of the tunnel (front cross) and back into the weaves. Our next exercise was with 2 sets of 6 weaves with jumps between. The entry to the second set was like a U from the jump. I was stepping into her line of sight for seeing the first pole but we got corrected again. Then we worked on the 3 poles and Cassi was looking at me for her treat bag (which she is getting very excited about playing with and shaking now), so D started throwing it after the third pole, working on getting her to turn her head close to the pole. So that's our homework. The other half of that exercise was the weave-o-matic and she had no problem at all.

D and I talked about next steps after this series of classes ends. It seems that we will continue Weave classes but she will be considering moving me to a handling class at some point. It sounded like novice. I explained Cassi's teeter issue and she said it's okay to use our homemade teeter, but I should use some weights on it so she gets used to the pivot always being different. She has open practice Monday through Thursday and thinks we might benefit from a private session followed by practice either there or at home. I'll need M and dad to make sure the teeter is in appropriate shape for use.

Why Companies Should Insist on Napping

When I worked closer to home, I used to drive home at lunchtime to let my dogs out and eat a quick lunch. Fairly often, I would lay down and rest my eyes while listening to TV; sometimes I dozed off. I didn't have a fear of oversleeping as the dogs would occassionally come in to check on me. This article talks about the general benefits of napping. I took a 2 hour nap yesterday and obviously needed it after the last week of unpacking and cleaning and so on, but it did take a little time to get going again. Those 20 minute lunchtime "eye-rests" really did the trick for me. I know a woman who takes her shoes off and naps under her desk. If anyone sees her shoes, they know she'll be under her desk for a few minutes. I may have to try that in my office (I can bring my yoga mat in to lay on) so I can make it through these long days and longer commutes.

Food journal

I haven't been reporting and I'm not going to try to go back to remember! Today is the first day of my monthly visitor, so I'm bloated and feel yucky. Breakfast was Cascade Fresh strawberry yogurt (the big container, not the little fruit on the bottom container) with banana and Grape nuts. This was my fourth time eating this breakfast.

At lunchtime, I was having cramps, so I went to Wildflower for tomato soup and a half Chicken Pesto sandwich on 9 grain bread, with ice tea.

I went grocery shopping on my way home so I just made ravioli (Fresh & Easy Spinach and Ricotta) for dinner. I attempted an artichoke but it didn't cook well. I finished the last serving of chocolate pudding with whipped cream.

Food Journal

Breakfast: banana and vanilla milk
Lunch at Bertha's Cafe with 2 co-workers: turkey sandwich (no mayo, the bacon and avocado were great) with salad (has fruit and cheese with 1/2 container of balsamic dressing) and mini chocolate cookie; ice tea
Social hour (networking): 1 glass Cabernet, 3 small Swedish meatballs, tiny dog in blanket, and 2 mini quiche
On way home/dinner: Dirty brand Maui onion chips (leftover from lunch special) and Dutch Bros. Cocomo freeze ($2 special)

Food journal

Still grabbing breakfast on way to work--need to get unpacked and organized: Starbucks protein plate (2 apples slices, 10 grapes, hard boiled egg, 2 small pieces of cheese, and some kind of biscuit, and peanut butter) with a small pumpkin latte (skim milk, no whipped cream--BTW, they don't use whip cream on lattes at Dunkin or Dutch Bros.)

With the big breakfast, I wasn't too hungry and expected to get home early so I thought I would just have Jamba juice: small strawberry something and low-fat blueberry muffin

I didn't have a key for the house and M wasn't there, so I went to Bashas and got a chicken salad sandwich on multi grain with lettuce and tomato; ate about a half bag of Lay's BBQ kettle chips (yeah the big one) and half a jar of Tejava (I was thirsty and had no water with me, and it's unsweetened.)

It was quite a rough day, a lot of pain until late afternoon, emotional meltdown when I couldn't get in the house or get in touch with M. Just seemed things weren't going my way, for anything, no matter how big or small. I guess that's my Tuesday Tirade!

Weave 101

There was only one other dog in class, so D paired us together and we got her full attention. We worked on the 3 poles--Teka is still being rewarded for turning back around the second pole. She took some reminding and it's only been a week since we practiced. (I was moving--I haven't set up the poles at the new house.)

Doctor

This was my quarterly visit, so I saw Dr M first. I was in a lot of pain today, coming and going, but it was starting to be more go than come. I think my vision was blurrier than usual, just a little. The balance tests he does after the eye test--he had me re-do them at the end of my visit. I was in less pain then, so I think I did better.

Dr. G made his comment again about losing weight will help with my pain issue. Just shows that no one is listening to me. Hello, this issue started when I was thin and recently diagnosed. Yes, I do need to lose weight, but I don't think we are all on the same page here. He also asked about my sleep patterns. I'm trying to change them with the move, but last night, after I got home from work (I had a meeting till 6, got home near 7), M made me go to Home Depot, fed me at In N Out, and then took me to the old house to clean. Between exhaustion and my general emotionalness, I was crying by the time we left. I went to bed around 12:30. Dr. G did not like that time! I am trying to go to bed earlier and only getting up a little earlier than before. I know that sleep is a factor in weight gain or lack of weight loss.

The research center went pretty smoothly. Lots of vials of blood, but N did a great draw. The entire process from Dr. G through the research center took a little over an hour and a half. I think that I will need to take 2.5-3 hours away from the office every quarter for this, including drive time.

Moving, moving, moving...

Long day, 2 moving trucks, 4 guys (and us and M's parents), not everything made it to the new house yet, but the cats and dogs did. The cats went in my car--M forgot to leave room for them in the truck and that I have no A/C. Jill was drooling and Kachina was panting. Then Jill started licking Kachina on the head and back of her neck. Later, when we let them out of the laundry room at the new house, Kachina looked like punk rock kitty. The dogs settled right in. This place is a mess!

Food journal

mini wheats and milk

apple

Bertha's cafe: chicken pesto half sandwich and cup of potato chowder with bacon; mini choc chip cookie and ice tea (YUM to all of that! Kept chips for a snack tomorrow and bought muffins for tomorrow's breakfast.)

Frozen pizza for dinner, Digiorno flatbread and one slice of 3 meat rising crust

Food Journal

started the day feeling alright but that didn't last long. About a 6 all afternoon.
leftover jambalaya for breakfast with vanilla milk
lunch with boss: BLT salad with balsamic dressing, small roll, turkey chili soup, and jasmine green ice tea (the soup and tea were great, the salad was blah, although the bacon was yummy.)
Hungry cause I had salad for lunch! Kashi go lean bar (yep, they still suck), 2 banana laffy taffy and an orange mint Lifesaver
Mahi-mahi with spicy sweet dry rub and potatoes and zucchini
chocolate pudding with redi whip

Food Journal

Yoplait smoothie with banana and strawberries
frozen burrito (Cedar Lane beef) with avocado and sour cream; green ice tea
chips with nacho cheese (was actually going to have carrots but they seemed old, kinda slimy, grossed me out)
apple
Dream Dinners jambalaya
vanilla milk

Asthma drug for MS?

This article talks about part of the MS puzzle and how Albuterol may have a positive impact on MS patients. It creates more questions than answers--that's normal for drug trials, right?!

Food journal

189 and feeling kinda okay

miniwheats with milk; Dutch Bros medium Chai latte (after picking up my car, again)

plum

Lunch meeting: Papa John's veggie pizza--2 slices; lettuce with Drew's tomato dressing

handful each of cashews and Annie's sour cream bunnies

Yoplait smoothie with apple juice and milk, strawberries and banana (before class)

2 Simply chocolate chip cookies

Weave 201

I forgot to blog this class, but Cassi and I went, and I'm sure we had fun. :)

Food journal

Monday, Monday....started out kind of okay and progressed to some pain throughout the afternoon. 191.

Dutch Bros large Kicker latte and pluot

Wendy's small chili with 2 packages saltines, and small spicy chicken nuggets (no sauce) with medium (really, that's a medium?) unsweetened ice tea.

small apple

mahi mahi with smoky sweet dry rub; potatoes and zucchini sautéed in basil oil

vanilla milk and one Simply chocolate chip cookie

New house

I spent today at the new house. I cleaned out all the cabinets (using Seventh Generation all-purpose spray cleaner) in the kitchen and bathrooms as well as a couple of hallway closets and the pantry. I lined the pantry shelves and unpacked most of the stuff that has been moved already. It's exciting to see things coming together. The tile is done, the painter has started, the electrician was there all day and is finished with his pre-move stuff, and M and dad are getting close to done with their big project. Quite a few workers will be in and out of the house this week. We still have a few things to schedule though. I'm trying not to stress out. But I'm stressed out! I have 5 days to finish packing. Everything. With my normal schedule of work and dog class and stuff. Almost done.

Food journal

The weekend.

Saturday: cheese omelet my DH made for me, with large glass of apple juice.

Leftover Italian sausage pasta from Babbos, with bread.

RSVC meeting--2 slices supreme pizza, cookie and piece of german chocolate cake.

Sunday: vanilla milk and banana; half a gigantic Costco size blueberry muffin

turkey and havarti cheese with tomato and mayo on wheat; BBQ popchips; green ice tea

Annie's frozen enchiladas with sour cream and a third of an avocado

NARCOMS

Today I completed a NARCOMS survey called Patient Decision Making. It included some of the normal questions but had more interesting questions about taking drugs with certain hypothetical side effects (such as death) with different probabilities. For example, would I take a drug that would cure my MS if there was a 1 in 1000 chance I would die that night; if no, what if it was 1 in 10,000, etc. Some were to reverse disability rather than cure MS. They also used Tysabri specific examples for questions, since that drug is associated with PML (potentially fatal) but is potentially the most effective drug for MS right now. I guess they are trying to determine how desperate we are!

Food journal

189.5 and in pain most of the day. (the seeing stars but not nauseous pain.)

Raisin bran and milk

plum

Babbo's lunch special Italian sausage pasta (half) and mista salad with ice tea and bread with oil and vinegar

2 slices Digiorno 3 meat pizza with a little ranch dressing; salad (lettuce, tomatoes, green pepper) with olive dressing; ice tea

strawberries and nutella

Food journal

Okay, I don't really like the title "Humiliation Diet" although it made sense when I started. But I know that I'm just writing this for myself, so how is it humiliating? I may go back to Spark People eventually and just use the blog for the food log instead of the time consuming food input. But for now, I'll share here.

Today: 190, and a lot of pain the first half of the day--did NOT cry. somehow.

Mini-wheats and milk

low sodium V8

Wildflower pick 2: half chicken pesto feta sandwich on 9 grain and chicken gumbo (I was really hungry going in, but once full, I saved half my soup for later and ate it in the late afternoon.)

2 banana laffy taffy

peach

chicken with kickin chicken spice (too hot for me, I only had a small serving) with red potatoes and zucchini (I used too much basil oil) and green ice tea

still hungry, one serving rice pudding (the last one)

Vanity sizing

The size on the tag is a starting point for what to try on--this is what women have dealt with for years. I was recently shocked to purchase a pair of shoes in a size 9. I haven't worn size 9 shoes since I was in high school. I currently wear 3 different numbered sizes of clothes. I generally consider the largest size the "true" size. How can this be? It is known as vanity sizing.

Men are subject to vanity sizing too. It never occurred to me since men's pants are sized in inches. I bought a pair of 5.11 pants and they were sized in inches, whether women's or men's. I think I tried on 5 pairs before I got down to my size. It was the first time I bought pants sized in inches in many years. When waist size is considered an indicator of health issues, should clothing manufacturers be able to mislabel pant sizes?

Humiliation Diet

190.5 and not feeling so well the first half of the day, but it finally clears up

Breakfast: mini-wheats and milk

Lunch: Low sodium V8 (not feeling well enough to eat before doctor appointment)

After appointment: Chick-fil-a 8 nuggets, waffle fries and unsweetened ice tea; I was going to have the Polynesian sauce but realized after the first nugget that the ingredients included HFCS (first ingredient) so I had the honey mustard instead

Snack: one serving Kozy shack rice pudding with a little caramel sauce and a tiny Reese's cup

Dinner: salmon with dry rub, Ricearoni, and broccoli

Snack: box of vanilla milk

Doctor, doctor, give me some news?

I went to the endocrinologist's office today to review my latest blood test (TSH) results for my thyroid. The T3 is down from 8 to (I think it was) 1.9, which she said is very good. She said the T4 was within the norm but was on the edge so we'll see what it looks like in a few months and I'll continue on the medication as is. It's too soon to retest the Vitamin D. She mentioned that I should consider a B complex with some other stuff that I forgot already but I didn't really understand why. So my next ultrasound and blood work will be in January.

Humiliation Diet

191.5

mini-Wheats with milk and a peach

frozen entree ravioli (it was gross but I didn't have time to go out and get something else) with broccoli

handful each of cashews and Annie's sour cream bunnies (like goldfish)

package of pretzel M&Ms (only 150 calories and they were awesome)

apple and slice of sharp cheddar cheese before class

spinach cake with Drew's salsa

leftover rice with milk, sugar, and butter (sweet rice)

Weave 101

Teka started with the channel weaves, about an inch open; the purpose is to close them. I ran with and sent and called and she was very bouncy, especially on the call and send. I think I make her nervous when I run with unless I run ahead of her, which I've started doing with Cassi to get her to go faster. I've been babysitting Teka through the weaves for so long, I have to break this habit!

Next we did the weave-o-matic to work on focus by using toy torture. We played tug with her "rabbit" toy beforehand and she actually did really well ignoring it for several runs until it was very close and then she popped out and grabbed it.

Next we worked on the two pole exercise, clicking as she turned her head around the second pole. We are now working on distance and my homework is to get her (and Cassi) to 15 feet, with the four positions in the 45 degrees, basically 3:00 to 6:00 and back, with her on both sides of me.

Last, we worked on a sequence in a circle. It was a jump, 6 weaves, tunnels, 6 weaves, jump. D told me to STOP CHEERLEADING, which is going to be very hard since I've been trained to do this with her to keep her going. She said to think about doing a problem while someone is constantly in your ear saying yes that's it, yes that's it, over and over. So NO clapping or let's go, etc. Hmmm, we'll see how that goes. Teka does seem to be gaining some confidence.

Humiliation Diet

Raisin Bran and milk

(I forgot what I ate for lunch by the time I blogged--must have been really good!)

Dream Dinners chinese chicken with jasmine rice and salmon

Humiliation Diet

Low sodium V8

chicken tenders and french fries and root beer

McDonald's cheeseburger and apple pie

leftovers from Arriba and green ice tea

Humiliation Diet

Okay, I haven't been keeping up. Here's what I had in the past week....

Saturday: cereal and banana

Subway 6" ham and turkey with pepperjack, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, olives, pickles, oil and vinegar on wheat; Sunchips and chocolate milk

2 beef tacos (I made) with green ice tea

Sunday: cereal

1 chicken tender with fries and ranch

Native New Yorker honey hot boneless wings with Ranch

BJ's chicken parmigiana with spaghetti (half order)

shared a Pazookie (cookie and ice cream)--ate about half

Monday: Miniwheats and milk

Wildflower tomato soup and chicken pesto feta sandwich (on Ciabatta; I forgot to change it.)

Leftovers from BJs and potatoes and zucchini

Tuesday: miniwheats and milk

Went to lunch with some ladies from the office--had chicken taco and carne asada taco with rice, beans, and guacamole, and ice tea

half package coconut M&Ms

turkey and havarti on wheat and chocolate milk

Wednesday: D'lights egg mcmuffin and Dutch Bros medium kicker latte

spinach cake with Drew's salsa

2 glasses F&E green ice tea with orange slices

tilapia vera cruz frozen entree

artichoke with mayo

a few bites of rosemary chicken with rice, green beans, and carrots (frozen entree--sucked)

2 scoops chocolate ice cream with banana and frozen cherries

Thursday: Dunkin Donuts egg white and turkey sausage flat bread and iced caramel skim latte

Kyoto bowl teriyaki chicken bowl, 2 California rolls without the wrapper, with soy sauce, and ice tea

chicken, potatoes and zucchini

chocolate ice cream with bananas and frozen cherries

Friday: miniwheats and milk

Fuddrucker 1/3 pound Cheddar burger and french fries with honey mustard, ice tea

salmon and salad with vinaigrette

Saturday: mini wheats and milk

Macayo's (ate half) carnitas enchilada, green corn tamale, veggies and rice, guacamole and cheese crisp slice, 1.5 chocolate mini chimis and mini sopapilla, ice tea

Arriba's (ate half) mixed burrito with beans and rice and sour cream, small margarita

Glass of red wine and some snack mix

Agility Coached Run Through

Today was our first time at a coached run through. There is a fun run on the other side of the facility, where people were running dogs on a standard course without any coaching. The run through is essentially a jumpers course with some extras (a tire, tunnel, chute, and weaves) but no contact obstacles. The course had 17 obstacles, starting with the tire, chute, jumps, and so on. Cassi and Teka each ran 3 times, alternating with the other two pairs running the course.

With the tire being the first obstacle, Cassi's tire issue was on display right up front. For the 2nd and 3rd runs, D had me work the tire (low) with Cassi a couple times, then start the course at the chute instead. After "class," we discussed Cassi's structural issues--I know that she kicks up with her back feet and kicks the tire on top. D says that Cassi is hyper-extending her back too, which is not good for her. Anyway, she said we should work on getting her to put her head down more when she jumps and it will improve (not correct) her jumps. She showed me how to use a low jump to direct her head down by giving her a treat lower than the bar as she goes over and comes back around. By keeping her close and treating low, she will learn to turn in the air and lower her head. She worked with Cassi, who is very food motivated, so she had to sit before every jump.

I also learned with both of them to treat by my thigh when they come into my side (and I want them to). There were 3 places we practiced this. The first was when we had jumps in a U, and after the second, I needed to front cross to bring her back around the jump 3 after taking it to take the jump 2 the other way. Then we sent out to a jump, brought back over a jump, and wanted her to essentially wrap the jump to go to a tunnel. After coming out of the tunnel, she had to come over a jump at an odd angle before going into the weaves.

Teka did really well on the weaves the first time, hesitated the second, and skipped a few near the end on the last try. Now that I've started running out ahead of Cassi on the weaves, she is doing really well. Pretty good overall.

D also talked about lining up the "dots" (tape wrap or stripes) on the jumps and pointing at those. She pointed out that I pointed higher on a jump so they both went over expecting to continue in that direction; by pointing lower, they both collected more afterward for the turn.

Frankenfish

This is a frightening article about the first GMO fish being considered by the FDA. Eww.