Mental Meandering....

I went on strike the other day. Refused to do anything. No one noticed. Kind of took the fun out of it. Next time I will have to announce my intentions and paint some signs.

Back again...

On my way in to work this morning I saw a bicyclist.

Note I type 'bicyclist' and not 'a guy on a bike'. A bicyclist conjuring up (to me at least) a guy who is serious about his chosen mode of transportation by wearing the lycra shorts, reflective vest, headgear, pads - whole nine yards.

The reason I mention this bicyclist is because as I was driving past I glanced over at him. Not because he was particularly 'fetching' in his lycra shorts, but because I'm always afraid they will do something crazy as I drive past - like turn left in front of me or something...

In addition to the above stated reason I glance over to look because there is a bit of deep seated jealousy that he is exercising in order to get where he needs/wants to be - while I, human slug that I am, happen to be gobbling up one of the world's precious resources and contributing to the cellulite level in my thighs by driving because I would NEVER dream of trying to ride my bike to work.

...I digress...

I am driving past him and I glance over. I get a glimpse of his face. He has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, puffing away as his legs are pedaling as fast as possible in order to keep up with the flow of traffic.

A cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Getting a mental image? Is it just me, or is that ironic on a level that goes WAY beyond funny into something very....odd in an omninous way..?

Anyway, I filed it under the 'strange things I've seen'. Just in case anyone asks...which they probably won't - but just in case.

Been trying out recipes that I have found trolling low carb sites. Here are a few of the good ones:

Ice Cream that is like...A Frosty! LOVED IT!

Pound cake. A little crunchy because I ground up my own almonds for the flour - but still..LOVED IT! Tried to be creative and make one that used a little coconut flour. Blech. I don't think I like coconut flour. It tasted like..It tasted like...Well - I don't know what it tasted like, but it was gross.

Brownies. Yes. That is what I said - brownies. Rich tasting, dark chocolate. I am beginning to drool just thinking of them, sitting in my kitchen - calling me.

I have been eating little mini quiches for breakfast every day this week - about three of them. I made them with egg, canadian bacon, swiss cheese, chives and some dehydrated onion. But I got the idea from here. I know, so simple I should have thought of it, but I've already said I am cooking challenged - so simple things like that may come naturally to some people - but not me.

In addition to the quiches for breakfast, I've been packing two hard boiled eggs to snack on and plain old celery. Lunch consists of a small salad (romaine lettuce) with a scoop of tuna salad and cesar dressing. If I am still hungry - I snack on some macademias.

Dinner tonight will be sausage and cauliflower fried up like potatoes.

Okay - have to go and try to cook without setting off the fire alarm.

Wish me luck!

I put it in such a safe place...

That now I can't find it.
Eventually I will find it. I am certain I will. I just have to stop looking for it or wracking my brain trying to remember it.

Stupid Fitday password. I swear I wrote it down somewhere.
*sigh*

Anyway, in the meantime I will record it here:

Breakfast:
2 hard boiled eggs
3 sausages
1 cup of coffee w/splenda and creamer (mmmm...creamer)

Snack:
3 celery sticks sliced up into matchsticks and dipped in 2 Tbls Ranch dressing
1/4 cup peanuts (which is probably not good considering I am on induction, but I *really* needed to munch on something and the water wasn't filling the empty space in the tummy)

Lunch:
1.5 cups lettuce (iceberg and romaine)
2 thin slivers Parmesan cheese crumbled up
Ground Black Pepper
4 ounce thingy of tuna
remainder of ranch dressing from snack

Dinner:
2 Scrambled eggs w/1 slice American cheese
Sausage
leftover cauliflower from last night (fried up like potatoes)

I also had 8 sixteen ounce waters. Two of them with orange spice herbal tea (yummers - much nicer then plain old water).

Now all I have to do is find my treadmill.

I have a sneaking suspicion it is under the clothes that need to be ironed.

Wowsers...Where did the time go?

Okay. Busy last few months of 2008, but I am back now and determined to get back on track with everything.

Did I mention that altogether - on the low carb plan - the husband lost thirty pounds (bastard!) the girl lost ten and I lost fifteen?

....However....

In early October, the husband called me upstairs to our bedroom. He was laying on the bed, breathing rapidly and his skin was sweaty and cold. He told me he got dizzy and everything started going black as he came out of the bathroom into the bedroom. He managed to make it to the bed, but was afraid to get up because his heart was racing.

Okay -yeah, so I freaked out and started harping on him to call our doctor (who is a very nice fellow by the way and has been our GP for over fifteen years).

After all, he doesn't have the best family medical history (father died of arteriosclerosis at 50, mother with high blood pressure, etcetera).

He called the doctor, went in for an ECG and an EKG, then our GP sent him to a cardiologist. The following week, the cardiologist set up an appointment for an angiogram.

The conclusion? He needed heart surgery. So we met the cardiac surgeon (while the husband was still waking up from angiogram - they knocked him completely out for the procedure because he was such a nervous wreck) and agreed to schedule the surgery for the following week.

Doctor: I'm not saying it is an emergency, but I wouldn't put it off.
Me: What..? Wait - he's barely coming out of the drugs for the angiogram and you are telling us he needs surgery right away, but it isn't an emergency?
Doctor: Yes, this is not an emergency surgery. I just wouldn't put it off too long.
Me: Well, if you wouldn't put it off, what exactly would constitute an emergency?
Doctor: If he came in with an ambulance, in the middle of a heart attack or without a pulse. Which is a distinct possibility at this point.
Me: Oh.

Now - before all the nay-sayers start in on it being his high protein, low carb diet - it wasn't. He was born with a defective valve - a congenital heart murmur/defect. An aortic valve that was bicuspid instead of tri-cuspid.

There are lots of people with this type of heart murmur - however - there are those who are born with the gene that will cause the valve to harden - or stenosis - which will usually happen in their fortieth year...And guess what? He turned 41 in July of last year. A little late, but almost on time.

Funny that his arteries were pretty darned clean - except for a (I'm quoting here) Teeny, tiny one that doesn't really matter.

THAT is saying something. Especially considering the man was a two pack a day smoker, and needless to say - he no longer smokes.

Anyway, I won't drag it out. He had the valve replaced. A tissue valve instead of a mechanical one because he is so active. Also, because he was in such great shape, they expected the surgery to go well - and it did. It only took four and half hours - four and a half hours of feeling like I was in hell - or at least purgatory - which is nothing compared to what he went through over the following months of recovery.

And now - if he doesn't have his shirt off, you would never know that he ever had heart surgery in October.

I'm glad we caught it.

I'm glad I can be such a rag that he does what I want him to do just to get me to shut up.

*sigh*

I'm ecstatic that he is still here with me because I am not done torturing him yet.

SoOoOo - all this happened in the month of October - then there was recovery in November and December, not to mention holidays...And well, time slipped away from me.

Not only did time slip away from me, but everything else did too. AND because of the STUPID DIET the nutritionist at the hospital put him on - we were all eating that way (no animal fats - lots of whole grains and fiber), and now we have gained back the weight. Which I am sure is not good for him..Nor myself and the girl child either.

So the hubby has asked when we are going back on "my" diet - the one where we lost all that weight and felt good. *grin*

As soon as I clean out the 'healthy' crap from our house and I can get to the grocery store, or in other words, as soon as possible.

You'd think I would know better then to take advice from a barely out of college kid who does her hospital rounds in a pair of yellow stilettos..

Oh well, live and learn - and I have learned that by listening to dietitians that twirl their hair while they talk, you will have to go through induction again.

Okee-dokee. I will chat with you later. I have to catch up on my blog reading and recipe hunting.

God's Creatures, great and small...

I am having a small ongoing battle with one of my neighbors.

This neighbor covets my flowers and has begun eyeing a dwarf lilac tree (which I received in memory of my grandfather) with a lascivious gleam in his eye.

I have tried reasoning with this neighbor and even offered him gifts of bread, fruit and such (seeing how I'm not eating them anymore)- but no. I even offered him some of my precious macadamia nuts. He turned up his nose. He would rather munch on the roots of the gorgeous flowers that I planted - dig them up and leave them scattered about the lawn every morning.

And then there is the lilac tree that he has made several false starts toward - but has thankfully been chased away by the rabid barking of the vigilant Rolo-dog.

Squint at the picture to the right and you will see him. That little rat bas - er, the chipmunk.

*And* I found out this weekend he has friends. Four of them that dart from hole to hole - in my yard, the soy field, the space between my yard and the soy field.

They pop out at you at unexpected times. Most often, it is only worth a shriek of surprise, but if you are walking the Rolo-dog, who feels it is his duty to eat (or at least *taste*) anything that crosses his path, it can be a shriek followed by a long scream that slowly fades as the Rolo takes off after the little rat, dragging you along for the ride.

I've tried reasoning with my neighbor, but he won't listen. I hope it will be better once we have a fence put up, but I suspect he would just tunnel his way under it.Don't you dare coo: Awww...Isn't he cute?

He knows he's cute. He's counting on his cuteness to keep him out of prison. Don't fall for it. He's cunning, stealthy and evil.

Anyway, the tree is safe for now. I've planted some more flowers around it to distract him from chewing on the bark of the lilac. Of course, if he *touches* my hydrangeas - I'm letting Rolo loose and all bets will be off.

Green acres..

Ah! The smell of cow manure in the morning.

Less then a year ago, we had a house built in the middle of nowhere, well - actually in the middle of what was once a corn field but is now a tiny little subdivision (tiny meaning a plot of land that was supposed to hold 290+ houses, but has only 35).

Needless to say, unlike living on the north side of Chicago, there is not a lot of ethnic food to try out, but there is a lot of land. A lot of big, open spaces - and a soy field behind us that was a corn field last year.

It's nice. Seriously. I love it. Especially the weekends when I don't have to commute.

I like not living in the big city anymore - but honestly, small town living (actually, it is a village of 1100 people - not having enough people in it to qualify as a town) takes a lot of getting used to - like everyone here waves at you, whether they know you or not. In the city, we waved at people too - but usually with one choice finger and not all of them.

Another thing, everyone knows everyone out here and that means everyone knows your business. Recently, there were cougar sightings in the local newspaper. One of the village cops saw me outside walking my Rolo dog one evening and told me that I should carry a flashlight to use as a club because of the cougars and (get this) because I walk my dog so early in the morning....! How the hell do these people know I walk my dog at 4:00 am?! No one is up at that time but me, the dog and God!

And the wildlife. Ah, the wildlife. Every Saturday and Sunday morning I sit in my backyard and stare off in to the soy field, serenaded by the sound of yipping coyotes while I watch deer tentatively graze at the edges of the property. Not to mention my on-going battle with a little rat bast...er, never mind. That's a completely different post.

True Story to further illustrate:

I wake up last Sunday morning looking for my husband. I know he was next to me sleeping some time during the night because his snoring woke me.
As I stumble to the kitchen, I see the basement door open.
I yell downstairs: "What are you doing?"
After all, it is 7:30 am on a Sunday morning - football doesn't start that early, or does it?
"You have got to see this! Come down here!" He shouts back.
I pull a face - after all, this could be a ploy to 'get some' and I have not yet had coffee nor brushed my teeth.
"No." I reply, thinking it may not be a ploy - after all, he never gets that excited a tone in his voice when he's trying to get lucky.
"C'mon - seriously, come down here and look at this."
"Why?" I yell back, pulling a face because I am slightly afraid to see what might be in the basement since he recently found a questionable lump of gray fur in the yard.
"Hurry up!"
This is said with such childlike glee that I cannot help but go downstairs - to find the images below in the window well, or 'escape hatch' as we like to call it.
Do you see that at the bottom there? WHAT THE HELL IS IT?!
Now, I have gotten used to finding frogs, toads, even a stray field mouse who got stuck trying to escape the resident hawks, falcons and owls - but I have never seen anything like that thing in my window well. Rather, things - because there were two of them. Just when I get used to my property looking like one of the Plagues of Egypt after it rains, I now have *this* to contend with...Not to mention the damned dog trying to eat every single toad that wanders haplessly in or around our yard.
"What do you think it is?" He asked, leaning closer to the window.
"I have no freaking idea." I reply, my breath steaming up the window as we both press our noses to the glass.
"Should we take it out to get a closer look?" He asked.
I turn my head and I suppose my face says it all because he grins. "Or not." He finishes.
"We need to find out what it is before we touch it." I say, eyebrows pulled together and slightly tentative as if it could attack me through the window. "Looks slimey."
"Yeah."
"Well, don't touch it til I find out what they are."
It was a salamander. Two of them.

Now, do an internet search for salamanders in Northern Illinois. Not much information, is there?

Anyway, the salamanders are gone. I asked the neighbor kid to remove them and he happily did so - putting them in the pond behind the house where they belong.

Yeah, I sure do like living in the country. All sorts of interesting flora and fauna - which I will show you more of in the next post.

Note to my mom....Quit eating all that bread..!

And noodles, and rice and those other processed-to-death things that you like so much.

Anyway, to answer your questions (she says in a nicer tone):

Breakfast:
Egg salad made with two eggs, mayo and dijon mustard
Three sausages (typically brown n serve turkey cuz I can nuke them at work)

Lunch:
Tuna salad made with mayo and dill. No onions. No relish. Nothing that would turn to sugar in my body.
Wrapped up in lettuce leaves (preferably romaine lettuce)

Dinner:
Chicken strips fried in butter (yesh - I said butter) and coated with parmesan cheese. Usually about four ounces, which is one of those Perdue pre-prepped chicken breasts in the bags - you know, the individual serving ones?
Cauliflower steamed in the microwave and then mashed up with butter (yesh - more butter) and bacon bits and some cheddar (nom-nom-nom).
Big old salad with lettuce, spinach and cucumbers (no tomatoes, but you know how squidgy I am about tomato guts)

Snack:
Two deviled eggs (four pieces, so two whole eggs) made with more mayo and yellow mustard or dill or celery seed. NO RELISH. Or maybe cucumbers (with the guts removed) and celery or jicama with some ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing. I used Maries dressing.

I also drank one cup of coffee a day with three splendas and creamer - real creamer.

I didn't eat more then 20 carb grams a day. I didn't notice a lot of weight loss in the beginning, but that might have been because I was addicted to my treadmill and building up muscle again.

Not seeing a weight loss did not mean I was going to go back to the way I was eating. I am really not on a diet, so don't worry about ribs showing. It is a way of life, and changing bad habits never have a quick fix to them. I need to be healthy inside instead of just looking good on the outside.

I drank ALOT of water - and I exercised. You should try exercising too. I know how much you hate it, but even walking around the block is something - do as much as your RA will let you, but don't hurt yourself.

Okee-dokee?

If you want to try losing weight this way, I am more then happy to lend you my books. Read and learn. Learn and experiment. Experiment and grow.

Not that the viewing public needs to know, but when I got um...bathroom challenged so to speak - I had one piece of sugar free candy...WHOOSH! I shouldn't be eating it, but my system needed to adjust and after the first week, I didn't need the candy anymore. Of course, you should use psy - silly - psyllium? Whatever - I couldn't say it let alone know where to look for it - though I now know it is metamucil. (ick - er, yum!)

Oh - also find a low carb community to stalk. *insert creepy chuckle here* There are plenty of low carb, inexpensive recipes online too. Find some that look interesting and try out your mad cooking skills. Unlike me - you are not a klutz in the kitchen (did I tell you I sliced off a good chunk of my finger on a mandoline I got from work?), so your recipes will probably turn out better then mine.

Finally, if you want to try it - wonderful. Give it two weeks and let me know how you are doing. Getting your body past the addiction to all that sugar is a lot of work and a lot of cravings. You will not always succeed, but you need to look at the big picture.

Personally, I feel pretty good and I know from the way I feel that my blood sugar has not plummeted to below 80 like it had that night you and gram highjacked me and stuck me with gram's diabetes poker thingy to take my blood sugar.

Anyway, read the books and then try it - you might like the way you look and feel. Oh yeah, before I forget - go to Fitday - sign up for an account and log your food in there so you can see how many carbs and calories you are eating each day. Good information to have.

I am not a registered dietician, nor do I claim to be - but I love you Mom and want you to be around to torture your daughters and grandchildren for many more years.

*hugs*