This is my party, I'll cry if I want to!

My flip flops have been filled with a personal pitty party as of late.  I got out of my routine and into a rut once again.  Today is the day where I am going to turn this bad boy around again and get back into the groove.  (At least that's what I said to myself last Monday)

 I had every intention of getting rid of those excuses.  I left work and headed home... was going to put some dinner on the stove and head up to my room of pain...  as in exercise room people, has nothing to do with Christian Gray.    However, Life had a different plan for me.   I come home to this...

Anyone who knows me will know that this was enough to send me over the edge!  Dishwasher was full of clean dishes, but no one had emptied it, and of course the sink was loaded with things that needed to be washed.  And I am supposed to be controlling my stress response!  RIGHT!  Needles to say... my Monday ended with a bang and a good cry! And ended with one of these... which of course is not good for my inflammation!!!

Last Tuesday, was my body wrap day!  First, I need to add in that I didn't make my weekly doctors appointment the prior week, too much going on between home and work.  I did talk to her on the phone though... we rescheduled my body wrap for this week, and planned to get caught back up with her next week.   I was looking forward to getting stuffed into saran wrap like a sausage in a casing!  .  Between the dish episode, deadlines at work and the fact that my period was due in 3 days... well you get the picture.  Oh and let's not forget that I hadn't worked out in um... 4 DAYS!!!!!





I was put in the little room, and told to strip down once again... I am just glad there are no mirrors!  Yikes!  So, only in my undergarments, standing with my arms up, legs spread like I'm under arrest... it begins.  They start by rubbing an exfoliating substance on your skin and, and then wipe it off.  The cream is rubbed on, and the stuffing of the rolls into the saran wrap is on.  It was really hard to get pictures while laying like a mummy, and I couldn't bring myself to tell the girl that I was taking pictures of my sausagness!  Here's a leg...

 



It went well, but leave it to my body to actually gain an inch in one spot!  Go figure!  Just my luck lately. 

The week ended with family coming to visit, still no workouts, and my period!  Peachy!

So today is Wednesday... the following week and I actually have been working on this post for a week!  I figured I would just finish it up and catch you up! 

Still in my funk!  Doctor's appointment today... I haven't had time to get my blood work done, and I am sure she is going to give me a swift kick in the ass!  Haven't worked out in, let me count, 13 f-ing days!  Are you kidding me?  No wonder I'm feeling like crap... slipping back!  So... guess I need that swift kick from doc today! 



Excuses, Excuses!!!

Have you every noticed that once you miss a day of workouts... it's so easy to keep missing them?  Once you make one excuse, the others just come so easy!  I also notice that's when I start making bad decisions.  You know... the little devil voice sitting on your shoulder... "You already missed your workout... you might as well enjoy yourself".  Ugh!  Hate that devil!  That pretty much sums up my last 3 days.  Then of course the disappointment and disgust  in myself kick in.   You know the drill!
I also missed my doctor appointment last week, and my wrap!  Can you hear the violins?  I am just having a freaking pitty party this post aren't I?

Ok... rant is over and so are the excuses!  Today is Monday... the start of a new week!  Let's talk about some good things shall we?

One of the highlights of my weekend... purchasing my new Keurig!  I was very worried that it wouldn't be a practical kitchen gadget during the holidays... but I think it's going be even better than a regular coffee pot!  You can brew a cup lickety split, and you only brew as many as you need... no left over coffee sitting in the pot, or a crew of angry, hung over, caffeine deprived people sitting around with blood shot eyes waiting in line for a full pot to finish brewing!  Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Juan Valdez (we name all of our kitchen appliances).

Tomorrow is body wrap day!  Looking forward to wrap #2.  I'm going to try to be sly and get first hand pictures, but any of my body rolls jump into the picture... I can assure you they will not be posted! 

 

Creamy Pesto... My new obsession!

This week was kind of a strange week at our house.  My hubby was on a fishing trip, and gone for almost 5 days.  I used this time to experiment with some new recipes that I've been wanting to try.  I must say that he has been really good about this diet, he feels better and for the most part, stuck to it on his trip!  I'm very proud of him. 

You will notice when you start cooking Paleo, you really have to change your way of thinking and sometimes that takes a while to do.  Who would've thought that you could use walnuts, avocados, and other things of that nature to make things creamy?  I mean, you think creamy... you think CREAM!  Well brothers and sisters... cow milk is intended for baby COWS!  Not humans!  We are the only species on earth that drinks milk as adults!  Seriously... think about it.   You don't see cow's walking around in a field drinking off of each others cow boobies do you?  Nope! 

Anyway... on that note.  Getting the family to think outside the box has been a bit challenging.  But at some point, a piece of chicken and some broccoli just gets boring for dinner, especially when you are a house hold of foodies!  So, with him gone, this was my chance to experiment a bit.  The kids just didn't have a choice.  A few good things came out of this week, however, my favorite had to be the Creamy Pesto recipe that I found on Everyday Paleo. 

 

I know that the picture above does not do this deliciousness justice!  I seriously can't keep my fingers out of this stuff.  Just put your big people panties on and get over the fact that it looks like a pile of poop! 

 

The recipe was called Sun Dried Tomato Meatballs with Creamy Pesto!  I made the whole shabang.  It was easy peasy and extra yummy!  You should click on that link above and get cooking!  Check out these babies cooking!  Delish!!!

 

 

Shoot on over to Everyday Paleo and give them a try!  



Chili Verde... MMMMM!

Now that we have got the hang of this Paleo lifestyle... I just really want to start experimenting and try to make some creative dishes.  There are a lot of people out there who have already started doing this and why re-invent the wheel I say.  Later I will probably get daring and start experimenting with my own, but right now I just want to focus on this new way of eating! 

Some of the people I am currently stalking... Sara Fragoso over at Everyday Paleo, and Juli Bauer over at PaleOMG!  First, Sara has been doing this for a long time.  She has recipes that are super easy to make and fit in with a family lifestyle.  I just ordered her new book, I will let you know how it is.  Juli?  What a hoot she is!  Love her!  I love her writing style... she tells you how it is and she comes up with some pretty awesome recipes! 

So this Chili Verde... it's a Everyday Paleo Recipe!  (Click on the Chile Verde and it will take you there)!  I'm a huge fan of Tomatillo's and every chance I get to cook with them, I jump on it!  I cooked this pot o' goodness all afternoon on Sunday while I cleaned the house!  It was absolutely delicious.  As as side dish... I made some baked okra.  I've been loving the farmer's market lately, and honestly, I think that's the only thing I like about summer.  Anyway... they always have fresh okra there.  In the olden days of yore... I would have breaded, fried and threw in a green tomato!  In most recent "gluten free" days of yore... I would have done the same but with gluten free flour.  How am I going to Paleo this I wondered?  Well, one thing I have learned with the Paleo lifestyle, that most of the time, simple is better!  That's what it really is all about you know, taking fresh food and not adding tons of crap to it.  Real food DOES taste good!  I washed it, cut it up and threw it in a bowl.  Tossed it with some coconut oil and some seasoning and baked it in the oven at 425 until the outside was crunchy!  It was just my son and I eating that night, and honestly there was not one okra morsel left!  It was awesome! 

So head on over to Sara's page, go get some Tomatillo's and give it a shot!  You're gonna love it! 

This Paleo Thing Called Love!

It's been a few weeks since I posted here... I really haven't promoted this site in anyway, yet have noticed that A LOT of people keep peeking in at it.  Makes me wonder how many people out there are suffering! 

This Paleo thing has caught on in my household like wild fire.  Hubby is even sticking to this diet, and for him to keep not eating cheese and making cream sauces... you have to know that it has made him feel better.  My doctor and I are going back in forth with how much weight I have lost.  When I said that I had lost 5 pounds, she said 7.  Ok... I can live with that!  However, this morning I got up and my scale says I've lost 9 pounds.  Does that mean I lost 11 on hers?  Oh how I have to wonder.  Don't see her until Friday, so inquiring minds will never know.  I didn't start this to actually lose weight... I started it to start feeling better, but I can't deny that fact that losing the weight isn't the most freaking coolest thing ever!  Anyone with a thyroid problem can relate I am sure!  Maybe the creature living in my gut has done an Elvis, and left the building!  Whatever it may be...It's awesome! 

New thing I had done this last week was a body wrap!  Ok... so the main reason the doctor recommend this was to help start pulling the toxins out of my body. The only side effect However, is you could lose inches off of your body!  Ah shucks!  And after my treatment, I showed a 5 inch loss across my body.  You must note that all body wraps are not created equal! Most will cause you to lose water weight, so once you leave and drink a glass of water, it's right back on.  The wrap I had was a body wrap by Herbalogica.  It works from the inside out to stimulate your lymphatic system and to remove toxins.  Those toxins that we store in our fat cells are the targets here!  Those are also the little creeps that cause cellulite.  Anyway, I being the scaredy cat that I am about and procedure... I was a little freaked out.  I usually am when put in a situation where I don't know what to expect.  All I can say is that I am totally pumped about my treatment this next week!  It wasn't bad at all!  They started me off by putting me on this machine that shook my booty like you wouldn't believe.  I think I was on it for 10 minutes.  It stimulates your lymphatic system, but seriously takes your breath away until you get use to it. I later heard that it burns 300 calories.  Ok... now this kinda pissed me off because there's no way a shakey machine could burn as many calories as I do getting kicked in the ass by Jillian Michael's videos, and if it did, wouldn't everyone have one.  So I'm just going with the fact that it stimulated my lymph, and kicked it into gear!  Next step was to get exfoliated, slathered with cream and wrapped like a mummy in saran wrap!  It looked something like this...

Mine looked similar, however I don't think this broad has had two babies, two miscarriages and a c-section... so needles to say, mine looked a smidge different!  The strange thing is you waddle to a bed, and lay there under a blanket for 45 minutes.  The cream to me smelled like those scented pine cones that are out around Christmas time.  It smelled yummy!  It can get a little warm on your skin, but that goes away pretty quickly!  Laying still for 45 minutes for a high strung, cortisol loaded human being was the hardest part for me I think... but I think most of that went back to the just not knowing what was going to happen!  Oh and there is the fact that you have to stand in a room and basically bare all your rolls to a complete stranger... I got to keep my panties and my bra on, but this just didn't make it easier!  Once again... I got over it! 

This week I have been inspired to try some new Paleo recipes... so be on the lookout for those.  Now, I am off to visit my workout room, where Jillian Michael's will once again point her finger at me and tell me I suck if I can't finish my push ups!  Love that woman!  She frightens me! 

Where did the weekend go???

I'm not sure what happens these days... the weekend just flies by.  In my opinion, we should have three day weekends and four day work weeks.  Two days just isn't enough time to get chores done and have down time too. 

As far as the diet is concerned, I have lost 5 lbs.  I am taking all my supplements religiously and am feeling pretty darn good.  I love the Paleo way of eating... I don' t feel swollen anymore.  My stomach is flatter and all in all I just feel good.  The hubby is feeling pretty good too!  Our bloat seems to all be a thing of the past, which is freaking awesome.  However, it can be hard... like this weekend we went to dinner to celebrate our daughter's boyfriends birthday.  Macaroni Grill!  Italian food???  The first thing they bring to the table is BREAD!  Now for me, I haven't had bread in so long it didn't bother me, however, hubby was another story.  He wrote a letter on the table to the Paleo Diet...

 

 

 

Dear Paleo,

My husband is just feeling deprived... he will get over it!

We feel better and look better... Thank you!



Is this a dream... Nope it's Friday!!!

 

 

Friday's are glorious day's aren't they?  They are filled with such hope of restful weekends and time away from work.  For those of you with families though, you know that that hope is only wishful thinking.  We spend our weekends getting everything ready to do the next week all over again!  It's a vicious cycle. 

 

I blew my diet last night and paid for it!  I had a glass of wine... OK.. maybe two!  Who's counting... Geesh!  Anyhoo, I am not supposed to have any alcohol during this 30 days to a better me kick I am on.  But, yesterday was a hard day at work and alcohol just seemed to be inviting!  It was until bed time at least!

 

 

Along with the stool sample that scarred me for life... you know the one that told me of my little house guest?  I also did a Cortisol test.  My Cortisol levels at night are through the roof.  Apparently the cause is related to my blood sugar dropping between the time I go to bed and the time I get up, causing my body to produce excess cortisol.  Controlling my blood sugar has been one of the main goals of my doctor.  I am taking Proglyco-SP, 2 tablets 3 times a day with food.  I really think it has made a huge difference, and if I miss a dose, I notice it.  That along with the Adrenalcalm that I am using... which is a cream, 3 times a day, really has helped my sleeping habits. 

 

 

 

 

I've been sleeping a lot better.  I really noticed it last night when I decided to be a little rebellious and drink my glass of vino!  I also forgot to take my nightly dose of Proglyco with my dinner!  OOPS!  I woke up to pee at 12:30, and again at 2:30.  Both times I didn't feel good, I felt jittery, heart beating fast, and had a hard time getting back to sleep!  I use to feel that on a nightly basis, but knowing now how it feels to rest at night... I don't want to do it again.  

 

Tonight... herbal tea, two Proglyco, and Adrenacalm... mmmmm sllllleeeeeep! 

 





It's all about the Poop!

This is precisely the reason I started this blog to go along with my other. Poop is just not something you discuss on a food blog! It's natural and we all do it, but we rarely ever talk about it. I discussed previously seeing my new doctor, and going through my new regimine for my Autoimmune disease treatment. On my visit this last week, along with my hand slapping for not taking some of my supplements exactly how I was told, I was also told that I had lots of bad bacteria in my gut and a parasite. Excuse me? A parasite? Now mind you, I am a visual person... so this image came to my mind...

Ok... so I have an imagination! I also have a foreign beast in my stomache! As many probiotics that I take, and all the digestive enzymes... he must be one resilient dude! And yes, I call him a dude because no woman would ever want to live and thrive in an environment like an intestine or a colon! Gross! That was enought to scare me into taking a new set of botanicals, Let me tell ya! Bring it on! This intestine is no longer a parasitic bed and breakfast.

The product I am taking is called the Repairvite Program. It constists of a powder that I drink twice a day, two pill pouches that I take twice a day, and some probitotics. Today is day 6 on them! My bowels have been on a roller coaster! I was expecting to have the runs, stomach cramps, but nope, quite the opposite! Total back up! I am pooping like a rabbit! My tummy is bloated and I am exhuasted, and I'm grumpy! I keep visioning the beast in there... sucking up all the things that I am pumping in me, laying back looking full, picking his teeth and feeling so happy! My only hope is that inside that parasitic ass, he's bubbling like an alka seltzer plus and getting ready to explode! Unfortuantely... I think when he does... I better be by a bathroom!

The Journey Starts Here...

For those of you who have followed our To M's In The Kitchen blog... you know that I have Celiac Disease. I also have an autoimmune disease of the thyroid, which is why we have done all our gluten free cooking.  I have recently started seeing a wonderful doctor who is teaching me alot, and getting me to start thinking about things a little differently. First thing she told me was to quit focusing on the fact that I have two different diseases and realize that I have one... Autoimmune Disease, which caused the two different ones. Boosting my immune system and controlling the inflammation would be our first goal. In doing that we had to take a look at my diet. I needed to be on an anti inflammatory diet... and for the most part, I already was due to the celiac. However, prior to knowing I had Celiac disease, I avoided most carbs, too many carbs actually. But, nonetheless, my weight was good, my blood pressure was good and I had the really low cholesterol, which is not usual for someone with a bad thyroid. When I found out that I had celiac, and that it wasn't carbs that were bothering me, but the gluten and wheat containing carbs... man did I have a hay day! Potatoes, brown rice, quiona... became a staple. I even cut down on my meat consumption. A few years later, here I am... my blood pressure is the highest it's ever been. I can't lose any more weight, and my autoimmune flare ups are occurring frequently even avoiding the gluten. It's time for a change.
I started researching the Paleo diet, which is commonly known as "The Caveman" diet. It is an anti-inflammatory diet, and it truly makes sense based on my history. So... M2 is goin' Paleo!

 

So here is the dealio in a nutshell. I don't have this blog looking like I want yet, at all, however, I wanted a place to start writing about my journey. The program that I am currently going through and all the ups and down. I have recently started the Paleo way of eating, as I stated above. I am currently doing a new exercise program and am embarking on a 30 day to a better me program.
Years ago when I was diagnosed with my thyroid problem and before my Hashi's diagnosis, I had read a book by Dr. Kharrazian called Why do I still have thyroid symptoms. He spoke of ways to live life normally with Hashi's and how do that. If I would have taken it to my General Practitioner he would have laughed at me. For years, my mother told me to go visit him. He was down in San Diego. As busy as my life is... do you think that was going to happen? Mom stumbled across a lady in our area that actually has studied under Dr. Kharrazian and uses all his practices. She's a firecracker I tell ya! She know's what she's talking about, and just expects you to listen and follow her directions. Now keep in mind... I am not a pill popper. I take minimal amounts of anything. Yet, I have an arsenal of concoctions and pills (all botanical of course) that I am currently embarking on. When I first started this program with her, I was leery to take anything in the amounts she stated. So me being who I am, was taking it the way I wanted to. Well, after my last visit, and a good scolding... I am following her directions to the T! As hard as that is for me to do... I am hoping that if I blog about it, someone out there might just benefit from this. I am also hoping that I start to feel like the vibrant 40 year old woman that I am.