girljen

This swimsuit.  I still have it.  I still *wear* it.  But it was significantly more comfortable when I had about ten fewer pounds on my person.

YAAASS!!  I'm on Week 4 myself.

What do you get when you cross the Atlantic with the Titanic?

About halfway.

I was about 25% through the pacifist playthrough of Undertale when my computer broke.  Seriously wanted to give that damn thing a non-pacifist solution, but then I wouldn't be able to finish the game.  Seriously jonesing for my computer right now.

Also just finished Harvest Moon: Animal Parade and am currently having lots of feelings about that.  

Last year:

4'x6' patio container garden.  Tomatoes and strawberries (success!) along with bell peppers and basil (fail!).

This year:

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Shruggiest of shruggy guys.  I don't know where we're moving. (Partner and I are buying a home. Yay!)  I don't know if we'll have a yard, and if so, how big it will be.  I don't know what I'll have time to grow, if we don't move until the end of May!

But.  I have good luck with tomatoes.  I have a strawberry plant that survived the winter outside. So...those two will definitely be involved.

What's your snack profile, Girljen? What are the snacks you tend to reach for? 

When I'm at home, I usually snack on fresh produce.  I'm a huge fan of sugar snap peas, carrots, apples, bananas, and berries.  But those things either require refrigeration or create waste that I don't want to shove in my purse until the next time I see a trash can.

I've tried a few different granola or snack bars, since they can go with me in my purse.  So far, KIND bars are my favorite.

I too am in the gets bored of something if I bulk cook camp. I really really want to get a vacuum sealer so I can cook slightly more of each thing and freeze a few helpings and eat a few helpings right away. I've done the bulk cook and then freeze a bunch of it and then I just never eat that because I got burnt out on it. And when I get burnt out on something it can be from a few days to months before I will want to eat it again. Or in extreme cases years. Whee! And when it's that long anything you have frozen and not put in some sort of vacuum sealed bag is now freezer burned beyond belief and EWW.

Put food in a plastic container.  Get a sheet of plastic wrap about 2-3x the size of the container.  Put plastic wrap over the food, so it's directly touching it, then drape the remaining plastic wrap over the sides of the container and put the lid on.  That will prevent freezer burn.

I do really well with lunches:  Cook a big batch of stuff, freeze, and throw it in a bag for work.  Soups and chilis are great for that!

My problem is snacks.  I need a healthy, reliable, inexpensive calorie stick that I can throw in my purse so I don't get desperately hungry and hit up a drive-thru.

You're doing well! 

I have trouble moderating food intake and alcohol intake as well.  (Especially alcohol. I freakin' love beer and vodka.)

Here is what works for me:

1.  No sweets at home.  They just straight-up don't enter my house.  Same with white bread.

2.  Alcohol is hard to get to, in the back of the cabinet (or fridge, for the beer) behind all the cans of beans and tomatoes.  Herbal tea, however, is sitting out on the counter by the electric kettle and the mugs.  And I've made a rule for myself that the only liquor stores I go to are the ones with "points" programs so I can save money...coincidentally, both of them are far enough away to be a pain in my ass to go to.  So, I don't buy alcohol too often, and never on impulse.

YEAH!  Good for you!  Swimming is a great way to increase your life expectancy, and it also means that you can go on water slides.  That alone makes it worth it.

Keep getting in the water, and ask your friend to teach you to swim.  The worst she'll do is give you a straight-up no, but I highly doubt that'll happen.  Maybe she'll say yes.  Maybe she'll refer you to a swim class or a different instructor.  No matter what happens, keep at it!

Maybe the stress of changing your lifestyle is affecting your immune system.  Maybe some other stress is affecting it.  Or maybe there's just a REALLY BAD virus going around; my daughter had something similar a couple weeks ago (minus the death rattle).

I will say that "Two days of straight sleep" was a GREAT idea.  Seriously, sleeping is the best.  Do more of that!  And good job tracking your symptoms; if things get worse, you'll have a record of how the whole disease process is going down.

Make it as easy as possible.  I go to a gym that is less than a block from where I work.  I pack my gym bag the night before I go.  If I really don't want to go, I throw a swimsuit in there so I can soak in the hot tub and reward myself.  I choose exercises that I like (walking, running, and lifting!) and skip exercises that I don't like (spinning, swimming). And I schedule time to work out, I block out an hour to go to the gym so the time is there for me to use.

Paula from Earthbound.  That's why she's my icon. My first impression of her probably matched quite a few other people's:  WEAK SAUCE.  She's not physically strong.  Her power is praying, which is mildly beneficial at best (most of the time, anyway).  She gets kidnapped twice over the course of the game.

BUT.

She bashes monsters with a frying pan.  She goes up to these attack dogs and exploding trees and giant moles and the freakin' KRAKEN, knowing that she will be the first to get wiped out, knowing that her only hope (unless someone is carrying a Brain Food Lunch) is to pray, and smacks them with a frying pan anyway!  She gains her experience and levels up, never to catch up to the rest of the party, just to do as well as she can.

She is brave, determined, and she is enough.  And she has helped me, another small and not physically strong person, be brave and feel like I'm enough.

I've been on a huge video game music kick lately, mostly Retro Remix Revue.

I love oats for breakfast, but they are very carb-ful. I like to add cinnamon, banana, and coconut oil to mine.

YAAAASS!  Huge fan of coconut oil in oatmeal.  I also add banana if I want something sweet, or serve alongside scrambled eggs if I need protein.

Just get her into Shopkins.  They're cheap and small and not sugar.  (Only somewhat kidding)

More seriously, though, I am in the process of limiting my eight-year-old daughter's sweet treats.  I don't keep candy or pop in the house. I buy Shopkins or Minecraft minifigs as random little surprises when I go to the store without her.  The big problems for me are Dad's house (I have no control there and I know this), and restaurant meals.  If we're eating at a restaurant, it's usually because it's late and I'm rushed or tired, and by that point, I'm not making the healthiest decisions for either of us.

My kid is old enough to know that she's heavier than most of her classmates. We talk about food, and how it affects our bodies, but her reaction to sweets is still more "I WANT IT!" than "I can make a healthier choice."

My first thought to your first post was this:  WOW.  This is too hard to answer.  I haven't been through most of this, and when I have been through something similar, the cause has been different!

I still have no advice.  I honestly can't imagine what you're going through.  All I know is that you WANT to get through it, and that's a huge bonus. 

Yeeeeikes, that is hard core.  (There should be a much better word for "respawned by having spawn organs ripped from my unconscious body.")

 

I'm glad you feel better and the pain is gone.  Now you can get on with your life.   Walk that walk!

Thanks!  Maybe it's a "New Game Minus." x_x 

Re. going through menopause: would it be possible to get hormone replacement therapy?

 

Congrats on the newfound lack of pain, though!

Thanks! The doctor eventually wants to start hormone replacement therapy.  We're both hoping I'll be able to deal with the menopause symptoms until June, which would give my body 6 months with no estrogen.  That would kill off any remaining endometriosis. 

Right now I'm on a herbal remedy that the doctor recommended (Remifemin, if anyone's interested).  It should start working soon, it apparently takes 4 weeks to start having an effect.  I'm also taking a Calcium and Vitamin D supplement, and exercise has gone from "good idea" to "absolutely required" in order to keep my bones strong.  I'd hate to trip over my own feet and end up with a broken bone.

THE BOSS:  I've been doing battle with endometriosis for YEARS.  I tried everything: ablation, hormones, and simulated menopause (which worked, but wore off, and then it was back to pain and suffering).

THE IDEA:  Since nothing else worked, at least not for more than three months at a time, I asked my doctor for a hysterectomy and oophorectomy.  "Hey Doc, can I please have major surgery that will remove some body parts and probably shorten my lifespan?"  Since the pain went away with simulated menopause, and was limited to my uterus and ovaries, he agreed to do it.  He tried to talk me out of it; it's not a good idea to remove ovaries from women younger than about fifty, but he went for it.  Living extra years won't matter if I'm in pain all the damn time!

THE FIGHT:  Surgery on December 17th, 2015.

THE RESPAWN:  I woke up with NOTHING.  No strength.  No endurance.  But, hey, no endometriosis pain!    The first two weeks were nothing but drugs and TV.  Slowly, I recovered.  I started walking.  Two weeks after surgery, I walked one whole block! 

NOW:  I can walk for 30 minutes straight.  That's almost two miles!  I walk at least four times per week.  I have the doctor's okay to start running on February 8th, and I can start lifting on February 22nd.  I am going through menopause, which is slightly obnoxious, but WAY better than being in constant pain.

NEXT:  Couch to 5K (running) and Beginner Bodyweight Circuit (lifting).

Hooray for tiny steps!  Respawning is hard, but you can do it.  Also, DDR is great.  It kicks my ass and makes a fool out of me, and it is great anyway.

--Keeping kids healthy.  What's best for them to eat?  Sneaky (and not-so-sneaky) ways to get veggies into them?  Fun activities that other parents may not have thought of?

--Mental health for kids.  Parents want to be the people their kids go to with problems, but sometimes we accidentally say the wrong things.  What are the right things to say?

--Postpartum depression.  SUPER IMPORTANT.  Nearly killed me.  How can new parents recognize it, treat it, and help friends and relatives going through it?

--Also, feel free to throw in all the dad jokes you want.

I really hate labels. I don't understand the necessity of saying what kind of parenting style you hold to.

 

• My daughter co-sleeps. It's what works best for us and honestly, she's likely to be my last child, so if she's not ready for her own bed yet, I'm not about to force her out just so I can have a little more of the bed for my husband to hog.
• She breastfed until she self-weaned at a mere 14 months. Honestly, I miss it.
• We learned baby-sign together, she even still uses some even though she knows the words. (She's 20 months and she prefers to sign 'more' and 'diaper' instead of saying them even though she can say 'mo' and 'duppy'. XD)
• She hated the sling/Moby - a friend bought it for me especially, so I was kind of bummed when she didn't take to it. I believe my daughter leads ME in parenting her.

Just do what is right for you and your child.

My daughter and I will still throw around thank you, potty, and sorry; especially when we're trying to communicate across a room or over another conversation.  She's in first grade.  Sign language is such a good cheat code. 

I love the rest of your post, too. 

Another week.  This challenge is not going well.  I just know I'm trying to change too much, too soon.

The lifting is awesome, I'm all over that.

I never did order Starting Strength, and I'm starting to realize that I really need it.  That'll be my gift to myself next payday, but that's still a fail for Goal #2.

I set three food restrictions for myself.  One is at least seven paleo meals a week, which is going surprisingly well.  One is a limit of one sweet treat per week.  I've made it once.  The last is a limit of four alcoholic beverages per week.  I've made that once, had five drinks the other couple weeks, but it's never that far from my mind and it pisses me right off. 

I went from 8 drinks a week to 4.  >_<  I love and savor my alcohol.  I would give up chocolate, makeup, facebook (YA RLY), my Wii, or coffee before I'd give up beer.  So.  While limiting my consumption has been helpful (easier mornings! pounds lost! money saved! even greater appreciation for the drinks I have!), it has also been aggravating.  That, more than anything, has tempted me to throw my hands up and say "Screw this challenge, it is Beer:30 up in here!"

The granny square challenge went right out the window, effectively replaced by the "I must clean my house every day because apparently I'm allergic to cats and I don't want to turn into a boogery mess" challenge.  That one's going well enough. 

I could give up now.  I could pour myself a tall, strong drink right now and enjoy the hell out of it while cleaning my house (because challenge or not, that's a necessity).  I could order dessert on my date tonight.

But...NO.

This is important.  This is one of those character-building learning experiences.  I will complete the challenge.  I will assess myself fairly.  I will look back at this thread, and emails, and journals, and figure out what exactly was going on when I made bad choices like another sweet treat or drink #5 for the week.  I will save a link to this challenge and look back at it when I do my next one to compare how I'm doing.  This is going to suck, I may not level up, and I'm going to own it anyway.

"I'm not allowed to say bad words, except for "What the hell was that?" because Mom says that all the time."

  LOLOL!!

One time when Liz was about three, we went to a Christmas party up in the mountains.  I was attempting to drive home, sliding all over the place, and I dropped a few f-bombs.  Liz piped up from the backseat, "Don't say fuck, Mom!  Be brave!  Be HAPPY!"

I love this thread so much. 

All of these are from Liz, my six-year-old.

"Mom, I can have a sparkly first day of school if I want to!"  (successfully convincing me that sequins, rhinestones, and leopard print are a perfectly fine first-day outfit)

"Mom, it's okay. It could be so much worse. It would be worse if you had to clean up barf and then you also spilled your coffee. So, see? This isn't so bad."

"If you're happy and you know it, go sit in a corner and think about your life."

"These video games aren't gonna play their selves!"

I'm sure I can find more...I haven't even gotten into her unauthorized entries on my shopping list.

Thank you!  I needed that!  After grabbing a few pairs of undies off thefitcoach, I've gotten a bunch of helpful info.  But, it's time for me to get off the computer and go lift some more.