Tag Archives: health
Sick Day
Oh hey friends…excuse the fact that I haven’t gotten dressed yet today.
I’ve been in bed sick all day today. I got up for work but realized that I’m going to be completely useless there AND I would just be making myself even more sick/exhausted/unable to heal if I’m running around all day. It’s always tough for me to decide to try and do the right thing for my health and take a day off…I always feel like I’m letting someone down.
I thought I felt fine yesterday and was surprised when I woke up with a sore throat, headache, and the works…but in retrospect there have been warning signs. I have been suuuuuuuuper low energy and sleepy at work the past two days; I’ve had more achy muscles than usual; due to those two things I scrapped two runs this week; last night I couldn’t keep my eyes open past 5:15pm; and I’m sure the stress in my life is affecting my immune system as well.
Boo.
Today is supposed to be a “vegan eating” day for me and I’m not sure what else I’m gonna nourish myself with today. I have had a ton of green tea and lemon and I made some soup using a vegetable-based broth (it actually tasted really good). But now I want some honey in my tea and some jell-o…hmmm.
On the plus side….apparently Ritz crackers are “accidentally” vegan! I’d totally been avoiding the box in the back of my pantry because I assumed they were full of butter. Now I know what I’m snacking on while wishing that my eyes would just pop out to make room for all the crap clogging up my sinuses!
Vegan Update: Moderation
- Favorite vegan thing: Soyrizo burrito from Papalote
- Non-vegan thing I’m craving: cookies (I need an easy egg-less go-to cookie recipe. Just sayin’.)
- Last restaurant I ate vegan in: Urban Picnic (down the street from where I work!)
When I took on this half-time vegan experiment, I didn’t really set any major goals or think a whole lot about it, to be honest…my main goal was simply to stop eating so much crap (or, more whole grains and vegetables) without ruining my life (aka no calorie counting/portion restrictions).
There is also a fun element (for now) in that I get to be more creative with what I cook. I’ve made vegan donuts, strawberry basil syrup, cooked beets for the first time ever…there’s been some failed experiments as well (frozen chopped spinach does NOT substitute for sauteed fresh spinach as a side dish and vegan cheese, while useful, does not taste like cheese). Luckily I always have my fallback on hand: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised that some of the places I frequent on occasion are vegan friendly. Papalote (of Throwdown with Bobby Flay fame) is down the street from my house and makes a soyrizo vegan burrito. On Friday I was spent and felt that I needed something that wasn’t green and whole grain and this definitely hit the spot…but without cholesterol or ensuing heart burn of a traditional burrito.
om nom nom.
In addition to disappearing heart burn, I’ve generally noticed no decrease in energy when I eat vegan…perhaps even the opposite. I’m not climbing mountains now or anything, but realizing that eating the salad I already prepared will actually make me FEEL better than beef tacos makes it so much easier to make the right choice.
Does that sound kind of lame or “well duh” to you? Apparently I have to learn things the hard way.
On the flip side…in the past few days, I realized that I was lacking in dinner inspiration. Due to the stresses of my life, I’m in a no-effort dinner phase. Even when I do make something, whatever I whip up for dinner is not very satisfying. If you have something that you LOVE to make for dinner because it is tasty and easy (that can be made vegan)…please send it my way!
While I don’t really feel deprived of anything, the fact that I can’t consistently come up with my own meals tells me that I am not ready to become a full-time vegan eater. It will take a long time to get there, if I ever do at all. Moderation is, once again, the name of the game. If I woke up tomorrow and said I was giving up meat, I would of course obsess over it and want to have it all the time! (Tell me I can’t have something I like, and I’ll think about it and eventually justify it and then I’ll feel guilty about it later. Not a good cycle.)
I’m having fun researching vegan ideas and recipes…it’s a good internet pastime! A lot of the vegan diet books that I looked into referenced various aspects of The China Diet, so I put a hold on it at the library…it took less than a week for a copy to become available, so I’m now reading it. I won’t go on about the book because I haven’t finished it yet, but it is very interesting to say the least. The “never stop learning” nerd in me loves it.
Lastly…through no conscious efforts I’ve also lost a couple of pounds…This un-anticipated benefit is also motivating, without all of the guilt of a normal calorie-restrictive diet (mama’s gotta have her carbs and chocolate.)….
Well that’s pretty much what I’ve noticed and learned in my second week of being a part-time vegan. Taking control of my health and what I eat are not easy, but definitely worthwhile.
Weatherpalooza
The weather is schizophrenic here. Sun one day, wind the next. I never know how to dress! Eh, it’s okay. Sometimes my mood is like that too!
I'm pretty glad I'm inside the train instead of on the street right about now.
This weather means that I’m going to try out this little craft project, even though I should be doing laundry or updating my bookkeeping records or filing my income taxes. Or adding to my inventory of merchandise that will be sold in my Etsy shop!!
True story: I got this mug in a white elephant gift exchange two years ago.
It also means that tea time is all the time. And that you have to drink the tea quickly or it will get cold =(
I bought some Good Earth brand Super Green Tea at the supermarket the other day because I decided that I should be getting more antioxidants, nutrients, and calm into my life. I didn’t realize it had citrus in it as well….not really my favorite, but I’ll have to try it out again with water that is hotter next time and see if that makes a difference. (I’m not sure how leaving the tea to steep for 10 minutes instead of 5 made the water cold…) If all else fails I’ve got a stockpile of Bigelow’s green tea.
Anyways…
maybe tomorrow I can share what crafty mess I got myself into while it was raining!
School vs Life
I spent 16 years in the public school system, and I was really good at it. Well I wasn’t great at coloring in the lines or getting to my first class on time. But I generally rocked it and did well enough to become my high school class valedictorian. Then I went on to graduate from a high-ranked university. But after finishing school I’ve found out that school is not quite like “real life”:
- In school, you work for grades. In the real world, you work for money. (What you do and why you do it might be different, but you are usually “paid” in those two currencies.)
- In school, waking at 11am is totally normal. After college, waking up at 5:45am somehow becomes the norm.
- In school, if you didn’t have any D’s…this was a great thing. In your blood, if you don’t have any vitamin D…this is not a good thing.
Necklace via Precious Pastimes on Etsy
And guess what? I don’t have any D’s! So basically, I’m turning into a vampire. And I don’t even like those Twilight movies.
Earlier in the week I went to the doctor and she ordered some blood tests to make sure I’m in tip-top shape. All of my results came back fine, except for Vitamin D. I’m deficient in it. The doc is putting me on what I can only imagine to be giant vitamin pills that I will have to choke down. This seems less than ideal, but ultimately do-able.
Some of the symptoms/complications of vitamin D deficiency include: chronic fatigue, weakness, muscle cramps, bone pain, bone fractures, osteoporosis, depression, low immunity, and mood swings. I definitely exhibit some of those symptoms.
Ironically, I was raving about how sunshine puts me in an amazingly good mood a few weeks ago. I was pretty sure this was all in my head, but I guess it isn’t…because the most effective way to get your vitamin D is through exposure to sunlight. A lot of foods are also fortified with vitamin D, but I guess my fortified soymilk is not enough.
So again, I repeat, I’m turning into a vampire!
I am sure a lot of this contributes to my current lifestyle. I get up and go to work before the sun comes up and after work I go straight home. Then I usually am cleaning, working on Paper Gatti things, or just relaxing until the sun goes down. All of which happens indoors.
Oh, and working an overnight shift is really common in my line of work. (It’s also a bad habit I picked up in architecture school — I would often times spend days working on projects nonstop.) I usually sleep during the day when I work the overnight hours. No wonder I’m a vampire.
I am thankful that this is a problem that is easily solved. There are so many other health complications that are not easy to fix, if indeed they have a cure at all. So in that respect, I feel pretty lucky. I really hope that an extra dose of some D is all that I need, because I have been incredibly tired all of the time lately. It has been absolutely no bueno!!
On the up side, salmon and tuna are good sources of vitamin D, so I am treating myself out to sushi soon. (I’m at the point where diet and sun alone won’t fix me, but that is irrelevant to my stomach.) Yays!
