Hey Lady, Why You Treat Me So Bad?

The Fall sickies are going around, and I was not spared a visit. While it sucks missing work and feeling awfully terrible, it’s also a welcome reminder to take care of my body. Well, it’s more than that. Because my body can’t talk to me, to submit a request that I do a better job of caring for it, it’s only method of communication is taking over. So this bout of sickness I’ve been experiencing is like my body submitting that request in all caps and exclamation marks in quadruplicate at the end of each… ah… request.

If I were to sit down and have a chat with my body, it might go something like this.

Body: Hey, lady. Can you spare a few minutes of your time?

Me: Sure. What’s up?

Body: Well, as you know, you have ignored the warning signs I’ve been sending you.

Me: Warning signs? Whatever are you talking about?

Body: Oh c’mon. You know. I know you know because the information is in your brain. You put it there.

Me: What?

Body: Really? I have to spell it out for you?

Me: Apparently.

Body: That’s because your brain is foggy. That crap food you keep eating is fogging your brain up, reducing your cognitive abilities. That’s a warning sign, lady.

Me: Oh. Yeah. That.

Body: And why do you continue to treat your headaches with ibuprofen? All you have to do is stop eating that crap food.

Me: [hangs head] *sigh* I know.

Body: You are putting more crap in me to fix the problems caused by the crap that’s already there! Are you insane?

Me: [blank stare]

Body: Yes, yes you are. You keep doing the same thing expecting different results.

Me: I’m not expecting different results!

Body: [blank stare]

Me: Ok, fine. What else?

Body: How’s your back feeling?

Me: Stiff. But I’m getting old. I’m in my 40s now.

Body: *laughs* Old? You have got to be kidding me. LADY, YOU AREN’T EXERCISING!!!! (there they are, in quadruplicate)

Me: But I don’t have time.

Body: Like hell you don’t. I can read your mind. I know you know how to make time.

Me: You suck.

Body: NO U!!!!  (uh oh)

Me: I see that you are frustrated with me.

Body: You could say that. You are not helping me help you and, in fact, are preventing me from doing my job. The next time you are exposed to a cold or the flu, my defense & offense teams will not be equipped to fend the buggers off. Lady, YOU are my enemy.

Me: Now, that’s crazy!

Body: No, it’s not. And to help me make my point, I’m taking you down and I’m taking you down hard.

Me: *gulps* Ouch. My throat hurts!

Body: [stares with piercing eyes]

Me: Hey! You can’t do that.

Body: [stares with even more piercing eyes]

Me: *coughs* I don’t feel good. *nose runs*

Body: [stares with the kind of piercing eyes that burn through souls]

Me: [crawls in bed, mutters softly to self: Mommy…]

Stay tuned for a continuation, in which I will discuss the concept of our human bodies as their own entities. I tried to fit it here, but I think it’ll work out better as its own post. Until then, you can feel sorry for my body and think about what your body would say to you.

In Which Ms. Newb Rambles and Starts Over

After a year of not blogging, it sorta feels like I’m starting over again. My two previous “return” posts could have been better. The title for the last one was all wrong and should have been something like, “What I’ve Been Doing The Past Year, With Photos!”

Originally, the Ms. in Ms. Newb was an MS, for Multiple Sclerosis—MS Newb. Because I want to talk about things other than MS, I changed it to Ms. I have often said that I feel like I’m new to this earth. Some people aren’t new, or it just seems like they’ve been here before, an old spirit, if you will. Not me. I feel like a little kid discovering everything for the first time all the time. Thus, Ms. Newb seemed to fit.

But don’t get me wrong; I do know some things.

This guy knows some things too.

So there’s an article I read earlier last month that’s coming to mind as I’m writing this. It was in the Yoga Journal magazine and the article was about starting over and embracing it as a positive way to make changes in your life and progress with personal goals. At the beginning of each year many of us make New Year Resolutions, only to find ourselves forgetting what we resolved to do just a few months later. We react by giving up. Instead, we should begin the practice of starting over.

It’s a lovely, and inspiring, article. I encourage you to read it when you have time.

I think my point is that while I don’t have this blog completely figured out, i.e., when to post, how to name posts, a strategy and if I should even have one, or even the “right” blog name, I will continue to write & post and make mistakes along the way; learning as I go. So, it’s no biggie that I went a year without posting. I did not fail. I gave myself the opportunity to start over.

Which brings me to how I’ve not been living a healthy lifestyle.

Starting over. Roses do it too.

The past year has been spent semi gluten-free and semi dairy-free. I have not incorporated exercise at all. My brain is foggy, my body is a pile of jiggly jello, and my energy reserves are low; I’m functioning at a reduced capacity and I don’t like it.

I’m starting over, once again, and it does not make me a failure. Starting over, over and over again, is truly the key to success. It may take some time to get there, but the lessons learned along the way, about ourselves and the world, are invaluable and worth every painful setback.

Bring it on!

Can’t vs. Don’t

I’m working on the way I perceive the food choices I need to make on a daily basis. It truly is an exercise in mental fortitude. I’m discovering how much my emotions come in to play when I’m presented with making a decision about what or what not to eat.

I have also discovered that it’s much easier to make good choices when I’m feeling great and energized. Whereas when fatigue has set in hard, or I’m PMSing and feeling crappy anyway, it’s much easier to make bad choices.

I recently came across a fantastic post over at Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis, Foods to Enjoy, which has encouraged me to switch my thinking about food choices from “I can’t eat that.” to “I don’t eat that.” What a difference one word can make!

It is important to just say, I don’t eat this anymore and be done with it, rather than tormenting yourself with what you are ‘missing out on’.

And boy, have I been tormenting myself!

I need to plan ahead so that I’m prepared for the times when I’m emotionally down and tempted to lift my spirits with food I DON’T eat anymore. Food is my medicine. I’m taking a dose each and every time I eat. If my dose is bad, it’s going to hurt… and it does. It’s probably like missing a daily/weekly shot, if I had chosen that type of treatment.

Image via Wikipedia

So… planning ahead… what does that look like?

Predetermined options to combat cravings.

I may have to research this a bit. What could I replace for a fast food burger craving? Something salty, perhaps.

Don’t get caught with your pants down.

Always have the right food choices available, else I am at risk of taking a bad dose. We have gotten in the habit of making sure there are always veggies & chicken in the freezer, so I’ve almost got this one covered. I think we just need to get into a good habit of buying more, bulk style, so my pantry doesn’t get caught with its pants down. So instead of one bag of veggies, buy two.

Food prep.

Life is just fantabulous when I take the time to do this. And really, it doesn’t take that much time. An example would be to chop up a cup of walnuts to put on my salads for lunch at work. Easy peasy, right? I just have to be diligent about setting aside the time to do this (well, not just chopping walnuts!). Sundays seem to be an ideal day. And if Sunday is taken up by something else, I still need to set aside the time.

Meal planning.

Ugh.

It seems easy. It seems productive.

Ugh.

I would definitely need help from the husband and kids to make this work.

Plan for eating out.

For restaurants, look up their menu online. If they don’t have one, call and ask about their gluten/dairy free options. If they don’t have any, suggest some restaurants that do. If there aren’t any, move.

For eating at other people’s houses, politely inquire as to what will be served. If you don’t eat any of it, make your own dish and bring it to share. It’s an opportunity to share how good healthy eating can taste!

This is something I’ve been doing and it’s worth it. I made gluten/dairy free pumpkin bars that were a hit at a birthday celebration this past weekend. I was so proud of myself!

To sum up.

• Practice trading out the word can’t for don’t: I don’t eat ice cream! (and I haven’t for some time now)
• Plan, prepare, anticipate, look ahead…
• Have fun with trying new things!

Oh, and I just received my Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis book today! I am looking forward to reading it!

Related Articles

• How Planning Pays Off in Weight Loss (weightloss.org)
• Gluten Free Diet for Kids (justslimming.com)
• Finding Your Very Own Gluten Free Diet (justslimming.com)
• Foods You Can Offers Lifeline for Food Allergy Sufferers (prweb.com)