It’s true. The new forum board is getting to be quite addictive. It cuts into my online time and I put off my blogging for too long again.

I’ve been to six yoga sessions so far. I really like the thorough stretching that is involved. Last night we did alternate nostril breathing. I really appreciated it, because that is the exercise the book Meditation as Medicine says I should be doing on a regular basis to control blood pressure. I have attempted it several times at home, but just couldn’t keep it up. As I have said many times, I haven’t learned how to meditate properly yet. Anyway, in the yoga setting, I really got into the exercise, and had a glimpse into how calming it can really be. I want to start doing it at home, too. I just have to make the push to find the quiet time and the quiet place on a regular basis.

I also have been trying to fall into that relaxed state at the end of the yoga session. It’s about ten minutes of laying in repose and focusing on breath and letting things go and - oh yes, of course - meditating. It’s not working very well yet. I’m wondering if it has something to do with what fellow blogger Erika mentioned in her blog yesterday. Music is not relaxing to a musician. I was trained as a music therapist. I started piano lessons when I was six years old. I studied music all through college. My critical mind turns on when listening to music. They usually play chants and ohms during the relaxing part of the yoga class. But I find myself listening for the rhythm and music in it instead of letting it carry me along. Must control. Must control.



I’m going to keep working on it. One of these times I will feel it click.

Nemaste

Just taking a small break here. I’m allowing my natural ‘B’ proclivity for flexibility to take charge today. Hubby and I had great plans for a beautiful fall motorcycle ride this afternoon. He can’t find the ignition key to the bike. We spent quite some time searching for the tiny, elusive little thing. He thinks that maybe it fell out of his pants yesterday when he was riding the smaller bike and stopped for gas. Oh well. I feel badly for him. I know how I feel when I do things like that. And he tends to take these things a lot worse. It’s not good for his ‘A’ cortisol levels.

So, I decided to tackle the bedroom drawers and closet this afternoon. Making a Goodwill pile of things I haven’t worn in over a year. If it has dust across the top of the hanger, then out it goes! If it’s all wrinkly and smells musty like it hasn’t been laundered in over a year, then bye-bye! I’ll probably go on to the mess I have on my desk after doing the clothing. It’s a harder task. I like to save these things for rainy days. But, sometimes those rainy days take a long time in coming.

Anyway, it’s after 3:00 pm and the sun never came out as they promised it would. It would have turned into a mighty chilly motorcycle ride, come to think of it.

I took the plunge and bought a Green Star juicer. Just like fellow blogger Jim has. It was a spendy thing, that’s for sure. I did have an Omega juicer before, but it was a centrifugal juicer. I’m sorry I bought that one. Centrifugal means that the machine juiced by spinning around really fast and creating a high heat that oxidized the juice. That would force me to stand there and drink the juice immediately, so that I could get the most nutrients in as fast as I could, otherwise the air in the juice would dissipate the good stuff and render it just south of so-so in the nutrition department. So, I’d stand there gulping the juice while cleaning the machine and not really enjoying the whole process. Especially, since just shortly after I had bought it did I learn that it was the wrong type.

So, anyway, this Green Star machine is a masticating juicer. It processes by squishing and tearing and smooshing the produce to make the juice. It creates a minimal amount of heat. I can cut up enough veggies and fruit at one time to make leftovers and store in the refrigerator and still retain most of the nutrients. The instructions say I can store the juice up to 72 hours. That way I can have fresh organic juice everyday without having to spend so much time making it and cleaning the machine each time. I’m hoping I will follow through with my juicing efforts. I think I can make myself do it as long as I don’t have to mess with the process every day.

How are you doing with your vegetable and fruit intake? Let me know how you keep up with the recommended servings.

The experiment is over, and I wasn’t successful. Last May, my blood lipids and glucose levels were darn near perfect. I had been taking Red Yeast Rice for the previous six months for elevated cholesterol. I also had made some changes in my diet. Mainly I was trying to eliminate as much animal fat as possible (without being driven mad) and to keep my starchy food intake to a minimum. So, in May my naturopath wanted to know if it was the RYR or the diet changes that had made my readings so good, and had me stop taking the RYR for three months and get tested again. Well, everything bounced right back up to the levels they had been last December. Total cholesterol is back up to 249. Triglycerides are triple digit again, as is the glucose level. HDL also jumped from a healthy 59 to 70. Heart health ratio is at 3.5. Up from 3.1 three months ago.

I’m pretty discouraged. I was hoping my level of compliance with BTD was enough to keep me at near prime health. Obviously I have a lot more work to do. First thing will be to get Dr. D’s new book on Cardiovascular health. Of course, I will start in again with the Red Yeast Rice. Now.

Daughter and Hubby left me alone again. This time they were gone three nights. They went on another motorcycle trip. They went to a town on the Washington/Oregon border where there are lots of neat road trips to take on bikes.

I had to take charge of both stores while they were gone, so didn’t have a lot of free time to indulge in being alone. Also didn’t give me a lot of time to spend on personal computing or blogging. But, I did enjoy the evenings. Two nights of liver and onions again. Had leftover rib roast and salad for the third dinner. I was also able to enjoy three evenings of movies on the TV. A rare treat.

But, I’m glad to have them back. I think they had a great time, even though it was pretty cold and rainy for them most of the trip. I really don’t mind compromising living styles with others. It’s just nice to have it all to yourself once in awhile.

My household is a diet nightmare. I’m married to an ‘A’ who eats and exercises like an ‘O’. Ever since he has embraced the Atkins way of life, which has been about two years now, he has aged in the looks department about twelve years. He is definitely thin. In fact, yesterday he was saying he needed to add some carbs to his diet because he’d dropped too much weight (again). He bought a rib roast and three huge baked potatoes to cook for dinner last night. I asked him why he hadn’t bought me a sweet potato instead. He said, he just wasn’t thinking about sweet potatoes. I told him not to bake a potato for me and picked up a salad on the way back from rehearsal. I also did NOT eat any of the chocolate birthday cake someone brought to rehearsal for everyone to share.

My daughter is a twenty-two year old ‘O’ who would benefit from the Atkins diet that her father espouses (constantly). But, she immerses herself in junk food. She is obese. She doesn’t like being fat, of course. But, at this point she is not willing to give up any of these poisons that she comforts herself with. She joined a gym this summer, and has only gone twice. My theory is that she is using overeating as a form of rebellion. I’m sure it is more complicated than that. People tell me she will come around in time to make an effort to take care of herself. I feel really helpless in the matter.

I follow the BTD diet to the best of my ability. I try to live a healthy lifestyle, while not being too rigid. My family hasn’t learned by my example. Drat it all!

On Sunday we participated in a charity golf tournament. We play in the same tournament every year. I’m on the board of the organization, and am pretty involved with it. Anyway, it is a day that I really look forward to. Mostly because of the food. And most of it the food is full of avoids. Wonderful, yummy avoids! This is the day I start off with my annual hot dog. I smother it in kraut, onions, relish mustard, ketchup…you know, the works. Then, after the tournament the dinner is fabulous. Always pretty much the same. We hire a couple who runs a pig barbecuing business. They roast a whole pig on a spit. The pork is served with a terrific sauce and horseradish. There are sides of potato salad, and other kinds of salads. Generally cookies or brownies are for dessert. In between times there are dishes full of chocolate treats and licorice and bags of chips. I did my best to eat as much as I could. I did find it hard to eat the sweet things. They didn’t taste all that good to me. The hot dog and the pork were the savories I craved.

So, I was expecting to feel pretty out of sorts and bloated all day Monday. But woke up feeling pretty good and went through all my normal activities without any problems. Went to Pilates, to work, and ate normal BTD compliant foods. It took 36 hours for the avoid foods to catch up with me. Woke up early Tuesday morning with the heartburn. It lasted all day, along with a gassy stomach. I was so lethargic mentally and physically that it was all I could do to make it through a round of golf. And a very poor round it was. Couldn’t concentrate.

Hah! And I thought I had gotten away with something!

Sometimes life’s little pleasures are the best. Hubby and daughter left last night for a two-day motorcycle training class. They will be learning lots of new skills that will make cycling a lot safer for them. So, being left alone for two days with my own eating choices, I swooped into the grocery store last evening and bought a pound of calves liver and two huge Walla Walla Sweet onions. I was so excited! I am not allowed to cook liver in the house. Hubby can’t stand the smell. He says it makes him sicker than cigarette smoke. It’s a shame, because liver is one of my favorite foods. It makes sense that he is affected that way by it, since liver is an avoid food for A’s.

But, before I enjoyed cooking and eating the meal, I delved into something new. I went to my first Yoga class ever. My chiropractor encouraged me to join this Gentle Yoga/Healthy back class to try to get control over whatever is going on in my hip. It was definitely something new. The class was 1-1/2 hours. The impression I got was that it was a Pilates mat class in slow motion. Lots of familiar moves and stretches…..just real slow. I think I’m going to like it. I am so bad at slowing myself and my mind down. This yoga stuff is really into relaxation. I did have a hard time doing the meditation thing at the end. I guess that takes practice, too. I definitely haven’t been successful at practicing meditation on my own. Also, my lower back had a very nice warm glow while driving back home. I bought an eight-class package, so will give it the old college try and see what the results are.

Anyway, back at home I enjoyed the process of preparing my highly beneficial meal of liver and onions cooked in olive oil while sipping on a little bourbon (okay, the bourbon is neutral). The taste of the food was phenomenal. And to think, tonight I get to cook and eat the other half!