Jennifer

I am completely saddened right now.  My ear eczema is at times getting the better of me and I really can not deal with a bandaid solution of cortisone from the doctor.  This is clearly a situation where I must respect myself and my diet and keep the stress low/nil.  I am ON this Elimination diet so this should help.  No more bad fats-even good oils that are baked in store bought chips.  I seem to have flair ups after stress, lots of protein and bad fats.  OK.  I am going to breath and try not to be petrified.  Frick I sound melodramatic, but this is how I feel right now.   I will get through this WITH OUT CUTTING OUT MY EARS from the itching!  / :(   One saving grace - Yah I am not apparently contageous.  Though I am apparently my own worst enemy! - this being an autoimmune thing.  *rolls eyes*  Tell me something I don’t know! 

I have studied plenty about eczema, but not ear eczema so much.  Though I have to say, I have read enough on the Net and I am GOOD now.  I have some information and gathered bits and pieces here.  Now I will just do what I do.  Relax my mind (not easy, but I am working on this) and be committed to the plan.

Weight loss is not my issue or concern.  My goal is to maintain.  My plan is remaining itch free in my ears, keep them moisturized, taking my flaxseed and flaxseed oil, other supplements and lotioning up as my whole body is kind of dry.  I LOVE cocoa butter!!  I am avoiding all glycerin products because they bug me.  Oh did I say I LOVE COCOA BUTTER.  I smell like a giant cookie!  NOW, who needs sweets when you can smell your sweet self all day?! lol  Though I am craving fats ( is my body not getting fats?, so I am taking plant enzymes including lipase and will be talking to my doctor), I am not at all craving sweets.  In fact they actually look like poison to me and I could care less at this time.  Yuck, and yucko to many things…..alcohol, anything refined, bad fats, even most meat.

I am going to keep up with the contract - 3-4 days of strength, 30 or 30+ !  I also need to walk, do yoga and some unique cardio activitites that help me drain my lymph nodes.  It is all good.  Excercise will keep my spirits up.  Just need to listen to my body and not over do it.

Note, bathing is a treat as those will know!  Must avoid water in ears.  I think after a few experiences, I have it down.  lmao.  Living and learning as I go…. I find a drop of mineral oil in each ear and having extra cotton balls near by to switch when they become wet better then just coating the outside of the cotton ball with Vasoline.  That messiness did not work for me and I thought it was really coated…nope.

All right, I feel excellent at this moment as this seemed to be good spiritual detox, so I am going to enjoy the moment!

Any personal stories are welcome.   Especially if you can share some light and good stories of people recovering.  Thank you.

So I have gone 13 days of NOT eating after supper unless hungry.   I feel the joys of a metabolism and I’m appreciating.  I do believe it just settled down into hybernation over the winter.  I am not kidding either.  I have made some changes, but STILL!  That was just craziness!  Anyways I think I learned some things that will help me keep the metabolism going.  So, the 13 nights have been great.  Now I am fairly sure that I consumed sugar last night.  We spent the day with a couple yesterday which was very nice - played some board games (crappy weather) and watched hockey.  Enjoyed some sushi together for lunch and then I just forgot about my goals.  Not a big deal, but I am almost positive that I had sugar in a dressing that I put on my Greek and spinach salad.  It was a balsamic vinegarette that was so tangy and sweet tasting and I enjoyed, though it did seem a bit rich for my stomach later, oh yeh in combination with a thin crust chicken and vegetable pizza w/ pesto sauce instead of tomato sauce.  The fact that the meal stayed with me so long, could have just been the fat content or the flour because I did not over eat at all, at any part of the day.  I enjoyed it anyways.  I did feel like I had let myself down momentarily because of the sugar, then I grabbed some perspective!!!  It was a fun day with some good people.   I went 8 days with NO SUGAR/sweetener OF ANY KIND.  That is a record for me and I feel great because of it.  My next and completely usual thought was, “well I blew it so, now I can have sugar again.”  Well no way!!  This is a lifestyle change and having a little sugar in some dressing (of which I maybe had a tablespoon and a half) is not a huge deal.  Sure I made the commitment, but one of my unspoken commitments is to be gentle with myself and progress with my lifestyle changes.  So making the choice to continue on with the no sweeters and sugar is exactly what I intend to do.  I am firm on the no mindless eating at night though.  This is just VERY good for me.  Eating at night, mindlessly, is a behavior that I recall so well and has become a very unhealthy behavior for me.  I just do not need that food in me, unless I have exercised that night and need a little something something….fruit or something.

So, that is that.

Freedom from night time eating - 13 days

Sugar/sweetener free - 8 days, a trip-up along my path…moving on…

Chemical free - doing the best I can in this society of ours and I am not over thinking things too much.

*Yesterday’s activity: cleaning condo quickly, with my sweeties help, before company came over.  Hey, we have stairs so it was a complete and good work out…  :)   Today:  Muscles!!!

We want weight loss. The body wants glucose from carbohydrates, but if we primarily eat protein and fat (less then 130 grams of carbohydrates) the body will resort to making its own glucose by the process gluconeogenesis. This I read creates toxins with in the body and can lead to a variety of issues and so began my search. WHAT TOXINS? I found some interesting tidbits and thought I would share. Found a lot, but thought this was accurate (from the little that I have learned) and also had some other interesting information.

http://plaza.ufl.edu/coyoteco/biochemistry.pdf

http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/myths.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluconeogenesis —-ooooh! Science. lol

I am not at all miffed that I lost what I wrote 5 minutes ago. Nope, this is a new moment and I am living it. Besides is less of my humor, less words and more to the point. Ha! I think a little less fluff is in order today.

I became side tracked yesterday when I wanted to escape some fluff as I perceived it (current studies) and wanted more science. And so it began.

Which of the following best explained Jennifer’s escapism from her current studies yesterday?

a) education

b) procrastination

c) both a & b

d) c, but mostly a

- I believe d) is the correct answer.

I just can not escape myself!
Thunder storms and rain today. I love it!

Lately I have been just eating whatever. *sigh*  But I have been portion aware.

Weight loss is desired! Portions and exercise. Will I have a loss this week? Time will tell.

Have a great day Everyone!