Cliche to live by...

Good morning everybody.  Today is starting out pretty good, my body and mind feel a little more settled than usual. 

Right now I feel a particular affinity for the credo "Food is medicine".  Or is it "Food AS medicine"?  In either case, I'm taking baby steps in that direction.  And it feels pretty good.  Is it a simple matter of my (finally!) choosing to take some kind of control?  I dunno.  Was I ever really out of control in the first place?  Maybe not.  But I was getting there, that's a fact.

But really; Food is Medicine.  I'm attempting to baby-step away from my raging sugar addiction;  This morning I made a breakfast smoothie, and it's aaaaalmost too sweet: vanilla almond milk, banana, blueberries, 1 tsp psyllium husk, 3 Tbsp hemp powder (9 g plant protein), vanilla bean (not extract) and 2 fresh dates.  All natural, very sweet and very filling. 

Spent about an hour and half at my favorite health food store yesterday, spent waaaayyyy too much money (not hard to do) and will be taking this afternoon to prep for my work-week meals.  Meals that include tofu, tempeh, rice noodles, lentils and all things foo-foo.  I'm feeling optimistic, can you tell?

More later, with pix of all things foo-foo. 

Grabbed this pic from the archives, but it represents
 exactly how I plan to eat this following week.  Wish me luck!!

Way out'ta whack.

Hi folks.  I'm back.  And I have a statement to make.  It seems I'm officially ~ahem~ middle aged.  How so?  Hot flashes.  Crazy, mind numbingly frustrating hot flashes.  Hot flashes and night sweats.  Hot flashes, night sweats and stupid mood swings, oh my.  How many years of this will I have to endure?  ~sigh~  Actually, the question should be how many years of this will my friends and family have to endure?  Eh... I was right the first time.  It's all about me, after all.  Uh HUH!  Is too!!!

I went on a fantastic hike last week.  We were out for 7 days, covered 70 miles.  I spent that week hiking 10 miles a day with 30'ish pounds on my back, eating high-carb, high-sugar, high-salt trail food.  Up at dawn, in my tent at sunset... sometimes sooner.  My theory is this very fun but very nutritionally imbalanced week gave my system a strong kick into the world of menopause.  Peri-menopause.  Whatever.  Psh.

Upon our return from the trail, I indulged in a plate or three of Chinese takeout.  And every evening has seen ice cream.  And my days include very sweet, high-octane tea, and cocoa w/ hazelnut creamer, bread and butter, toast and butter, crackers and butter... 

I really need to get a grip.  I've been saying that all week/month/year, but I believe I turned a subtle corner today and am making my way back to relative healthy choices.  I know; just words.  The proof is in the ... damn it ... pudding.  I like pudding.

I started a rough food journal today, more so to try to correlate certain foods with my hot flashes.  I'll keep you posted.  But really, it seems like it's not simply a matter of weight anymore.  My shape is changing, beyond what the extra poundage accounts for.  I'm losing my waist.  I'm becoming less of a pear and more of an apple.  Well, not an apple, more like a linebacker.

My plan, starting tomorrow, is to resume my quest towards whole foods, vegetarianism, and ultimately veganism.  Wish me luck.

Now where's that ice cream?

Trail lunch: crackers, cheese, Nutella and a Clif bar.

Trail breakfast: instant flavored oatmeal, cocoa.

Oh, and a very special thank you to my friend at work who turned me on to cups of double cocoa with shots of hazelnut creamer.   You are an evil genius.  Damn you.  ;-)