We went on a road trip this last week, and it was very tiring. It was worth it just to see my son play with the sandy little rocks at the beach, but we are all absolutely exhausted now. The best day of the the trip was nearly done in by some Guava juice that had more in common with Tang than Guavas. I don't know why I drank it, it gave me a terrible headache due to the citric acid that it was no-doubt loaded with. I always make stupid food choices on trips.

This morning I tried Itaru's Green Tea for the first time. It is very green, and that impressed me, most green tea turns yellow after just 10 seconds in hot water. It smelled a little funny, but the taste is incredible. After a cup of that, I felt good as new, and fully recovered from the trip. It has a greater depth of flavor, similar to coffee in it's depth, though nothing like it in flavor. It put me instantly back in Japan, I have never found a tea in America that compared to the everyday green tea in Japan, but this is better. This is even better than the wonderful Green Tea Ice Cream. It's so good for my stress levels and heart palpitations. I'm not doing to well at reducing my stress, but I'm sure I'll work into some strategies and routines soon.

Here's to a week at home! It's good to be home.

Oops. That wasn't worth it. Tonight I was tempted by some ice cream, and I gave in. I just had a couple bites, but it gave me gas and a runny nose. On top of that I had one sip of crystal lite. Boy oh boy, the combination of citric acid and aspartame is a bad one for me. Just one sip was enough to give me just one tender bump on my head. Strangest reaction, I've always gotten it, I used to call them pepsi bumps, but they feel just like I got hit on the head.

I'm still learning my lessons day by day. Such is the life of a rebellious, stubborn non-secretor

I did make a nice dip for some buffalo hot dogs today. I was tempted to have ketsup, but instead used my olive oil/lemon juice/trocomare salad dressing, and added some nutritional yeast, and stirred it up. It kept separating, so I just stirred it with the hot dog each time I dipped. It was tasty, and reminded me of those awful but tasty hot dogs with the cheese embedded in them. It would be a nice sauce for boiled eggs, methinks.

Once the next step happens, and I get pregnant, I will boil a bunch of eggs each week, then "pickle" them with a dilute mixture of that dressing, and keep them in the fridge so that I'll always have a convenient protein on hand to eat first thing each morning. That was the only way I could combat morning sickness with my first pregnancy, but at that time my convenient protein was yogurt. This time I'll need to find something else, so I hope this strategy works. It certainly sounds like something I'd like during pregnancy. I cannot stand plain boiled eggs, but I've always liked pickled eggs, strange as that may be. No wonder where my son gets his strange tastes from...how many 2 year olds like artichokes, okra or plain sauteed onions? He may never try some of my strange combinations of avoids that I used to eat, poor, lucky, little guy.

I simply can't find it. My favorite T-shirt... It is a small grey t-shirt which simply says "Wheat Sucks" in black print across the front. I ordered it from silly-yak.com for my Christmas present.

Did I lose it? Misplace it somewhere in the laundry? Or did the Wheatie Illuminati send someone to break into my house and steal it, while leaving nothing else out of place?

I have an announcement to make...if it does not reappear within the next week, I will be buying three more, and you can't stop me from wearing them to the grocery store. It's my freedom of speach, man.



If I find it, I'll know they got the message Don't mess with me, you wheaties, it's enough that you nearly ruinied my health by my early twenties, it's enough that you made me sick, depressed, overweight, and antibiotic-ridden. Your gig is up! You've lost one addict, and stealing a T-shirt won't change my mind!

Not much to write about this week, so I'm using a little imagination. More lamb, beef, okra, sweet potatoes, greens, lemon juice, olive oil...pretty good week. My palpitations seem to be improving with the green tea and Armour thyroid switch, but it's too soon to really tell.

I've been working lately on relaxing. For an O, it can be hard to say "I can only do my best", but I'm trying. Also reminding myself that everyone around me can only do their best as well. My son acts out when he's bored or needs attention, he's pretty near perfect the rest of the time. Usually just taking a few minutes to tickle him or dance with him will make him happy and back to his perfect self. Works better than getting worked up over it.

I've been doing alternate nostril breathing before bed, though I need to do it other times throughout the day. I'm also trying to make time to eat regularly, because getting upset on an empty stomach is pretty hard for me to recover from...takes me days to get the shakes out.

I got my exercise in yesterday by walking 3 miles on the treadmill. I probably won't make it on the treadmill today though, I had to work through my son's nap, but there's still a possibility. I think I'm making progress, anyhow.

Thought I'd use what little Italian I know to say "everything's fine"

I got my lab results back today on the halter monitor, and talked to my Dr. about them. He said the palpitations are nothing to worry about, just a nuisance. He did mention adrenaline possibly having something to do with them, so I'm going to get serious about not being so serious, and do what I can to relax. More exercise, more fun, more breathing exercises, warm tea, baths, and meditation. He also switched me to armour thyroid, since I wanted to see if it might agree with me better than the levoxyl. I'm on a very low dose, to keep my TSH in range, but I think in my case the natural stuff might be a better choice.

It's nice to know nothing's wrong, we will now return to our previously scheduled programming.

After eating ground buffalo and baked sweet potato for lunch, I only got to walk 1/10th of a mile before my son woke up from his nap. He then convinced me to finish his nap with him. I guess naps can be part of my stress-reduction plan, though I suspect exercise is better.

I finally got around to trying nutritional yeast. It took me a while to find some that is pure, gluten-free, and without added stuff. I was skeptical, but I knew my son liked some gluten-free casein-free macaroni and cheese that had it in it, so I knew we'd use it. I didn't think I'd like that weird vegetarian food, but I LOVE IT! It is great sprinkled on top of anything you'd put parmesan cheese on. It adds a lot of flavor, and cheese was something I've been missing. I don't like to use too much, it seems to me that less is more.

Also finally tried Lavilin, a natural deodorant. You have to avoid using anything else for a few days before trying it, so I bathed quite a bit more during that time than I usually get to. Then you just put a tiny bit of this on, and you only have to put it on again every few days. I'm not a stinky person, but it sure is nice to not have to think about it more than every few days.

I also discovered something about green tea that may, well it has, gotten me back to drinking it. L-theanine, also an ingredient in Tranquility base, helps you relax without making you drowsy (well, I've read on other sites that it can make you drowsy, but not a worry with green tea). I always wondered why I slept better and had more even moods when I drank green tea. It didn't make sense, since it has some caffeine. Now it makes sense. That extra bit of relaxation seems to really help me with my palpitations, therefore I have an easier time falling asleep. Hmmmm, something more to think about.

I'm feeling a little better now. I actually did make it to the treadmill, and that helped a little. I need to find something more vigorous though, for days like this. Maybe a punching bag. Running throws my back out, and I'm scared of karate because I don't want to get thrown around, but I need something that really lets it out, ya know?

Anyway, I'm off to bed, at a decent hour for once!

So yesterday I miraculously made it to my doctor's appointment, even though family emergencies and illnesses nearly took out all my babysitters. My doctor finally decided we should probably look into those heart palpitations, so I was going in to get a halter monitor stuck to me. I'd like to say I haven't been stressed about it, but I have a bit.

Everything went fine, but it was so windy here last night that my little one couldn't sleep without a cuddle, and didn't really like cuddling up to all the cords, electrodes, wires and belt thing. We ended up staying up till 3 am. I'm just exhausted. I woke up to a myriad of work-related emergencies, and a toddler who only thinks he's ready to potty train. I'm so sick of working when I'd rather be doing my own things and playing with my son. The more people they hire to replace me, the more work I have to do, and today my fuse ran out. So, my halter monitor may have some interesting data. I hardly even got it back to the dr. office on time to return the machine after running around putting out fires.

I still think it's fine, and my former doctor was right about me just being an irregular beater, but if not, this test will DEFINITELY show it, with the kind of day I had.

I wish my son would nap again so I could get rid of some catecholamines on the treadmill. Oh well, we'll run around later I'm sure.

For some time now I've been contemplating why the Blood Type Diet has helped me so much with depression. As you know from reading my blogs, I have bipolar Seasonal Affective Disorder. I remember being depressed and angry at myself as early as 9 years old. I always blamed it on school, even though I loved school, it seemed to wear me down pretty quickly in the fall. If it weren't for a doctor who had SAD himself, I may have never gotten the diagnosis. I was on various antidepressants for 5 years, with Wellbutrin being the one I ended up on, though I didn't like the side effects. Spring of 99 I started jogging and got off it, then hurt my back, but stayed off it except for one winter I took some Zoloft for a month or two.

December of 1999 I started the BTD, mainly for my back pain and weight. Since then it's become more and more clear to me how food affects my moods. Of course, I don't eat wheat anymore after my celiac diagnosis a few months ago, but the last time I ate a tiny cookie I cried for two days. Milk also throws me into anger and anxiety. Corn dulls my mind, and puts me in a fog. I'm sure sugar does something too, though I haven't totally figured that one out yet.

On the forums I learned from Dr. D. that some neurotransmitters are manufactured in the intestines. So all these avoids that hinder my digestion could very well result in biochemical imbalances. Then there's the havoc their lectins can wreak in my other systems...I'll save that for another blog, once I research it.

Of course, as an O I need exercise to totally deal with things and keep all my stress hormones under control (especially during spring, my manic time). It still never ceases to amaze me the benefits I get from just the diet, on those off weeks that I don't fit in the exercise.

This is a good week exercise-wise. The second my son goes down for his nap, I drink a protein shake, use my neti, put on my socks and shoes and hop on the treadmill. I open the blinds and turn on a movie to pass the time. I got the extended versions of Lord of The Rings, those certainly fill the time!

Wheat: One Grain to rule them all, one grain to find them, one grain to lead them all and in their darkness bind them.

Lunch worked out well, with no avoids. It's been a very busy day for me, as I've been working full time today and taking care of the little one. Lots of to-dos, but I still made time for lunch. I fell back on my salad kick, and had a big salad with a little more avocado, and sardines, and of course the lemon/oliveoil dressing. It could get boring, but spring greens never get boring (the day Costco started selling the organic spring greens was a good day for my diet, the dandelion and frisee are my favorites, radicchio is still a bit too bitter for my tastes.)

The junk food in the house still called my name, but I didn't answer it. Instead I mixed up some dark chocolate and glycerine, with a sprinkle of almond meal on top.

My son is eating well enough now that I don't need to have junk around just to get him to eat something...I'm contemplating tossing it. It probably doesn't even help him grow, even though it's fattening. When he'll eat yogurt, avocados, turkey meatballs, peas...who needs fritos?

Off to drink a big glass of water and try some of that chocolate, and maybe I still have time to get some treadmill in before he wakes from his nap.



Just One Day...I did it!

Phew...I made it through the day without eating an avoid. My dinner was a bit sad as I hadn't thawed out any meat. Ended up having canned salmon on rice cakes with a little lettuce on top. Tomorrow my meat will be thawed though! I always have too much meat thawed, or not enough, never just right. The chocolate, while compliant, wasn't the best choice; same goes for the sparkling pear juice. Those coupled with lack of meat and I ended up with a bit of a tummy ache. I took some DGL and that helped.

I never got my treadmill time, but am making time for a bath now, before bed. I figure it will do me some good and help me sleep. Today was a bit of a daze, as I got woke in the night and had trouble getting back to sleep, then I decided not to let my son sleep in (or myself), so for a busy day, it has been tiring. At least I did it...the withdrawal should start decreasing and I can get back on track!