Picnic and inflammation

I've been anything but loyal to the plan lately.  Yesterday my coworkers and I had a picnic and played beach volleyball.  I used it as an excuse to go completely off plan for the day.  It was nice to indulge, but the scale payed me back with almost a pound and a half gain.

I'm sure it wasn't all food, though. 

I skipped the volleyball playing because my arm was still hurting.  By the time I got home, it was a bit swollen and hurt pretty bad.  That's even with sitting out on volleyball (which was torture!)

I saw the chiropractor this morning and the inflammation was worse.  I wasn't able to do much of anything with my right hand.  I had it adjusted and it was clearly out of alignment.

At the office this morning, I was trying not to use my right hand, but just wasn't successful.  The pain got worse throughout the morning and by lunch I had it in a sling again.

All that said, I know I'm dealing with inflammation in this injury.  You can still see the swelling. 

I think I need to push pause on the testing until the inflammation from the injury passes.  I'm going to try to stick to "safe" foods, but I have to admit that after all this time with such a limited menu that it gets harder everyday to stay on plan.

Tonight, I had some macaroni salad with my dinner that was left over from the picnic.  My body isn't happy.  While I don't usually have an MSG reaction to this particular macaroni salad, I seem to be having one right now.  My left arm and leg hurt pretty badly and it's almost enough to make me forget about the pain in my other arm!

The first time around I really loved the Spicy Vegetarian Soup and I've been out for a while.  Tonight I made more so that I can try to enjoy the next few days.  I had to take a few liberties with the menu since cutting vegetables is out of the question right now.  What I could get frozen I did, and I swapped out the zucchini for yellow squash since it was available frozen. 

I still needed to cut up the onions and carrots, since I forgot to buy those frozen and my little chef Lindsey lent a hand.

I'm so thankful for her help today!

B

Injury

For a few weeks I've been dealing with a injury to my elbow with pain that radiates into my forearm.  The chiropractor said my radius was rotated in my elbow in a bad way.  I started three weeks ago and has been slow to heal.

Well, Friday at a birthday party my daughter grabbed me by the hand and pulled me through the room.  By the end of the night it was clear that I had re-injured my arm.  Saturday it wasn't too bad and seemed to be healing again. 

The I did something stupid.  I decided to do a little work on my car.  I changed the headlight and had to take the battery out to get to it.  Lifting the thing was very painful.  Then I changed the sparkplugs.  That doesn't seem like a strenuous task until you consider that it was half an hour of using tools with both hands...especially difficult after I had lifted the battery.

By late afternoon I had to ice my arm.  By the end of the night I had it in a sling.

I tell you all this because I gained weight yesterday.  Is it because of my injury?  There doesn't seem to be a lot of swelling.  I just don't know.

I'm tying this left-handed with my right arm in a sling, so I'll keep this short. 

B

Let's March

Well, if any of my band or colorguard friends are reading this, you'll be surprised to find that the title of this post isn't referring to that kind of marching.

I meant this kind of marching
. 

 

Yesterday, Lindsey and I participated in the March Against Monsanto in Blacksburg.  It was just one march site among many across the country.

Neither of us has participating in any kind of protest, so we didn't have any idea what to expect.  At our location, we found people who are passionate about their right to know what they are eating.  That's why we were marching.  I simply want products using GMO ingredients to be labeled so that I can make the choice for my sweet Lindsey.

She's not entirely convinced yet.  That's OK.  She's 9.  She understands that Monsanto's seeds grow corn that have insecticides IN them, not just on them.  She also understands that those insecticides are designed to make a bug's stomach explode, killing it.  She even goes as far as to say this isn't likely to be good for us to eat.  But when I tell her that Monsanto's corn is used in thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of food products that she loves like candy and soda, she's a little hesitant to commit to giving them up.

That's OK.  She's 9.  For me, it's enough to know that I'm raising her to take a critical look at her food, to ask questions, and to make choices.

I won't go into detail on everything wrong with our food supply.  There's tons of information out there and I hope that you might go out in search of it.  Here's a few links to get you started:

• March Against Monsanto:  This is the national site for yesterday's march.  Click on their Links tab and you'll find a good starting place for your own reading and watching with links to research and videos.
• The march in national news on USA Today.
• The Blacksburg march in local news on WDBJ7.  Lindsey and I are in the video three times.

Now on to my progress with The Plan.  Yesterday was a test for rye, using a rye cracker.  That thing barely qualifies as food as far as taste in concerned.  It's just a step above cardboard.

Since the cracker isn't something that I want to eat again, I'm not so upset that my testing results aren't certain.

I gained 0.2 lbs.  Maybe it's the cracker.  Maybe it's the inflammation in my ankle from standing for so long.  Maybe it's the handful of chocolate chips I ate last night.

For now we'll just call it a maybe.  It was a maybe last time.  I'll have to test rye again, but I'll find a better food, maybe rye bread.

B

Undoing the damage

Well, friends....I've not been very good at taking my pictures the last few days.  I have a few, but am missing about as many as I have.  So I'm not even going to try to reconstruct them.

They key them in the last two days was undoing the damage of the four day break last week, as well as the five course meal I had on Wednesday.

For the most part, I've been sticking to the menus.  There's a few notable exceptions.

First...I'm really digging pumpkins seeds.  Kroger's Simply Organic bread has some raw unsalted pumpkin seeds and they were on sale this week.  I'm eating them like they are going out of style, and they are perfect for the unscheduled munchies that have been plaguing me for the last few days.  It's good to have a go-to snack.

Even with all that munching, I lost 1.4 lbs after Thursday and 2 lbs after Friday.  I'm almost back to the lowest weight I was before the break.

Another break from the menu is my Friday doughnut.  I actually spent half a minute thinking about not eating it.  I knew I was going to a birthday party last night, so the logic went like this..."Doughnut or cake?  Doughnut!"

So I ate it unaplogetically. 

My previous doughnuts replaced my afternoon snack.  This time I just added an extra morning snack.  I know I can't get away with it everyday, but it seems I can get away with it once a week!

Last night at the birthday party, I had two waffle fries and 3 bites of cake.  It didn't seem to affect me at all.

I've noticed that I can have a bite of almost anything.  I've yet to see a bite or two cause an issue since restarting.

I'm so glad I restarted.  I'm finally getting good data.  I know now that goat cheese and almonds are friendly.  The first time around I wasn't sure.  It feels good to be getting good information and that helps me to be motivated to move forward!

B

Excess....

Wednesday can only be summarized one way.

Excess.

Maybe gluttony is another good word...

I was on a good track.  Really.  Look!

Then a certain coworker popped into my office and told me about a beer tasting dinner that night.  The road to hell is a slippery one, friends!

Obviously, if craft beer is involved, I was gonna go.  So I did.  Then this happened.

I couldn't exactly photograph a five course meal...plus beer...so the menu will have to do.

Wow.  So much food, so much beer!

I had a wonderful night.

I love that the plan isn't about control and guilt.  If I want to eat a five course meal with LOTS of beer, I can.  Then I'll slip in a rest day and move on.

Life's good.

The number on the scale wasn't....but I'll deal with that another day!

B

Beer is good!

 I know it's not normal to drink beer during the cleanse days...

Beer is one of the few things that tested well last time around, so I went ahead and had a few after work today.  Good beer at a great bar with even better company just seems like a fantastic way to unwind.

Yesterday's food was almost a repeat of the day before, with addition of almonds.  I was surprised to have them so early on. 

It's also great to know that the almonds are probably friendly,  Check out today's weigh in.

Score!  I'm down 1.2 lbs!

Almonds AND beer are friendly!

I know I probably can't drink beer everyday and expect to still lose weight, but it's nice maybe once a week.

B

Starting Over

Well, friends, after a little break, I'm back on plan.  I basically got frustrated.  My test results have been hard to read because there weren't big weight changes on my test days.  The big moves were happening on the rest days and I think it's probably pretty normal not to have big losses two days in a row.

Combine that frustration with the super busy week I had last week, and it was just so easy to fall off the wagon.  It all started with the anniversary party we had at the office.  I ate a muffin and the world's best cookie cake, and had a Coke on account of the migraine I had that day.  I went home and was in too much pain to eat, so I took meds and crashed.  When I woke up I was hungry, but didn't have the strength to fix anything so I ate potato chips for dinner.  The road to hell...

Friday I kinda tried in that I had Plan meals for breakfast and lunch, but the leftover treats called my name during the afternoon meeting, so I had some.  Then I had planned pizza for dinner as I had my neighbors over as a little farewell shindig for Shelley and Dana (who were moving.)

My body didn't like Friday at all.  I woke up in the middle of the night, sweating and puking.  It was awful. I wish I knew if it was the pizza or the combination of that, beer, and the sweets at the office.  Who knows.

Saturday I traveled to Tennessee to visit family.  Breakfast was a bowl of cereal, a chicken salad sandwich for lunch with cole slaw, and steak with a baked potato and salad for dinner.  It didn't sound so bad, but all of it was untested.  Oh...and M&M's.  Yeah.

Sunday was a mess too.  I was starving at breakfast and couldn't seem to get enough cereal.  For lunch we went out and I had a stromboli, then ate the leftovers for dinner.

Ever wonder what four days off plan looks like? 

It looks like a 5.5 lbs gain.

That's what.

Holy cow!

I'm pretty sure it as the pizza and stromboli since they both made me feel like crap.

I decided to start over on day one.  I really need some test results that expand my food options.  I didn't feel like moving forward from day 14 was very constructive since all the menus at that point call for food that haven't tested well.

So, here I am.  Back "on plan."

Life hasn't gotten any less busy, I'm just planning for it.  Yesterday Lindsey had a soccer game, so I ate dinner at the game.  

It's kinda weird having dinner on the soccer field.  It's not eating there that's weird, it's that I'm eating healthy food.

Most people who eat at the games are bringing fast food with them.  I haven't seen other parents pack food from home...ever.

Is fast food that much a part of people's lives?  I don't get it because I haven't eaten fast food on a regular basis for years.  It's part a health issue, and part a money issue.  I could have paid 5 bucks for processed crap, or just brought my dinner from home.

I'll admit dinner is never that hot by the time I get to the field.  I warm it up at the office and put it in my cooler.  But after a 30 minute drive to the soccer field, it's just "not cold", at best.

That doesn't really bother me though.  I know I'm doing the right thing for my body.

Check out how it went on day 1!

1.6 lbs gone!  Woo hoo! 

I'm glad I got back on plan!

B