Be flexible when the boat comes in

[clevermanka]

A new Tumblr collection: Tuesday, August 21, Smoking 3.

Yesterday was my third (third?) visit with Dr. Khosh. He is keeping me on the stuff to decrease my estrogen, the adrenal support capsules, and the anti-anxiety/sleeping capsules. He added back in the original cortisol regulator tablets. I take two of the adrenal support pills and an anti-estrogen pill with breakfast; one adrenal support pill, an anti-estrogen pill, and one cortisol regulator pill with lunch; and an anti-estrogen pill and two cortisol regulators with dinner. Then two of the sleeping pills before bed.

I need another weekly pill-minder container.

I need to see some improvement in my abdominal swelling issues.

I need a massage.

I need to buy a winning lottery ticket.

Last night I decided to hit the fuck-it button and I opened a bottle of wine. It wasn't a very good wine (I think someone had brought it to one of parties or something--it wasn't something I would have purchased) and it was pretty awful. I had two sips and quit. I didn't have the inclination to open a new one. So I guess I'm still Whole30-ing it.

My appetite isn't so great the past few days. That's not helping to build muscle. I know I haven't been getting in 100g of starchy glucose every day, either. I am terrified of overdoing it with the starch. I wish there was something I could take that would be like "take two tablespoons twice a day for 100g of glucose." Incorporating bananas and such into my diet scares me because I worry it's a recipe for disaster. I have emotional eating issues when it comes to sweets, and being told I should eat more sugar (in whatever form) makes me uncomfortable. It took me a long time to beat the sugar demon and I don't want it back, thanks.

I'm concerned that I'm not eating enough, or eating too much, or not eating of protein/fat/carbs, or eating too much protein/fat/carbs. But even the idea of keeping a food diary is exhausting. Do you know what a pain in the ass it is to include something as simple as tuna salad in a food diary--when your tuna salad contains seven or eight ingredients, and is never the same twice? Or when you make mostly one-pot dinners and never measure while you're cooking? Or when your lunches are usually reheated dinners, and are usually frozen so you don't get tired of eating the same thing for two weeks and when you finally thaw it out you have no hope of remembering what all was in it, much less the quantity?

*sigh*

I did almost ninety minutes of mobility work this morning. Half an hour of rolling out my entire lower half (including some awkward maneuvering to roll out my adductors) and back, then nearly an hour of yoga. I was distressed to realize I can't get into plow pose anymore and my shoulder stand was wobbly and crooked because my back is tight (I looked like this, and could only hold it for about five breaths). On the plus side, side angle pose was great and I held it for a full ten breaths on each side. Yay for increasing lower body strength.

I'm committing to doing yoga on Tuesday and Thursday mornings when I don't go to Crossfit. This decreasing flexibility stops now.

Comments

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I really need some ermahgerd yrga time.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

YOGA TIME IS GOOD TIME

[ms-danson.livejournal.com]

How does an anti-estrogen pill work? My brain keeps supplying Pac-Man images.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Ha! I'm not sure how they work, other than it tells my body to stop producing so much of it.

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

Ummmm - just a weird thought that popped up in my head, which may have absolutely no rational grounds, but:

Are you taking BC, and is the anti-estrogen going to render it inoperative?

I'm NOT asking for an answer; that's private info, but you may want to keep it in mind....

I wouldn't want to find out the hard way that yes, it did stop my BC from working.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I stopped taking HBC in 2004. Got my tubes tied. Major health problems were a huge motivator in that. I firmly believe that HBC (however wonderful it may be) played a big part in my current health issues. =(

Thanks for asking!

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

Ah. Well, good for no unexpected pregnancies, and bummer for the side effects of HBC!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_luaineach/]

The food diary is very easy once you just get going. I cook all from scratch and it is only a pain in the ass to enter a recipe once. And if it is changed up (as is often the case), I don't sweat the fact that now it doesn't have a cup of onions but DOES have a cup of carrots. And for stuff that is frequently switched up (salads, stir frys), I just have a 'base' recipe saved with things I know are always in it (like the salad is a base recipe of lettuce, onions and the dressing but i don't ever have a salad without at least those three things) and then just add the additions as single items ('.25 cup green peppers', etc.). Even estimates are better than nothing!

All that said, I do think it is a TOTAL pain in the ass to get going with it. I have 240 either recipes or items (i.e. brands or styles that didn't come in their data base that i had to manually enter) in "my refrigerator" in my food diary and it is entirely the reason why I stick with the food diary I use, even when it went to being a pay service. But, even with it being a total pain the ass, time is going by whether you start it or not and a year from now you'd rather you'd have started it then still be right here.

DISCLAIMER: the opinion above is from a person who finds it inconceivable to not use a food diary, even if only to track vitamin levels. Input is the one shot you have at controlling your body chemistry for the better, so for me it is impossible to treat that as something not worthy of having all available data on. Plus, i like systems so it is hard for me to imagine treating body chemistry in an unsystematic way. Huge bias aside, though, I still think you'd be happier a year from now for having started than not! :)

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Which one do you use, and how much is it? Fitday makes me want to cry. It's so horrible to use.

[miischelle.livejournal.com]

I used one of those food diary sites for awhile too, and if I'd had internet access at work at the time I totally would have kept up with it. It was excellent at storing recipes, counting everything and I think it had a fitness tracker as well....
myfooddiary.com maybe?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_luaineach/]

MyFoodDiary (https://www.myfooddiary.com) is the one I use. It is VERY easy and intuitive. It is 9$ a month.

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

That sounds REALLY helpful for me too.
I have the same problems as CR for tracking food choices.

It may also stop me from being lazy and making food choices like something called Bourbon Chicken today at the cafeteria. There are no options for getting ingredients and info on cafeteria items at, of all places, a HOSPITAL. grrr.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I've been playing around with MyFoodDiary a bit over the noon hour and so far it's worlds and away better than FitDay.

SAY NO TO THE BOURBON CHICKEN.

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

I had to eat it today. It was tasty as hell, and it was the only thing on the line that wasn't breaded, some sort of pasta or served on a bun.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_luaineach/]

I was telling CR that I frequently find myself using it as a food "planner", in that I'll plug foods in for the day to see what works with the numbers I want to achieve, and then eat those foods (as opposed to eating and then recording). It helps to keep me from going totally off the rails and eating the entire box of Frosted Flakes that I let Jet get as a treat. For example.

The database it comes with is not exhaustive but it's pretty full (for example, for Bourbon Chicken, it pulled up items from six different restaurants and/or prepared food product (i.e. foster farms frozen bourbon chicken) so it helps you narrow in on things like that. And, as i've commented elsewhere, I find the adding of items and/or meals and/or recipes to be non-horrible. Enough so that I actually use this thing (and have for years) which is saying a lot.

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's a great plan.
It can probably give me an idea of what I might be seeing here, although it's my understanding that our hospital prepares everything on the premises and doesn't use frozen food products. I'll have to ask the food service/catering director to find out for sure.
(Granted, hospitals are the worst places to get decent up-to-date nutrition information, but this one does do cool things like Mongolian BBQ bars and taco bars on certain days, and has a great line cook and a decent salad bar.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_luaineach/]

er, commented in the wrong place. See above (or below, or wherever it is).

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[tama-grey.livejournal.com]

Do you know what a pain in the ass it is to include something as simple as tuna salad in a food diary--when your tuna salad contains seven or eight ingredients, and is never the same twice? Or when you make mostly one-pot dinners and never measure while you're cooking? Or when your lunches are usually reheated dinners, and are usually frozen so you don't get tired of eating the same thing for two weeks and when you finally thaw it out you have no hope of remembering what all was in it, much less the quantity?

YES. YES I DO.

All I can provide here is a warning of what not to do: Don't use MyFitnessPal or SparkPeople. I tried them both and they were epic fails (MFP makes you reenter the *entire* recipe if you want to change a single ingredient measurement).

[http://users.livejournal.com/_luaineach/]

I second that sparkpeople is a nightmare. I tried it thinking i might change awhile ago but no chance. My Food Diary is GREAT with recipes and/or meals (which you can save as either). it lets you 'copy' a recipe and thus opening it up with all the same ingredients as the original, ready to change (helpful with things like chili, where i'll sometimes use one type of beans and another time another type). It also has a "my favorite recipe items" list that pulls all your most commonly used items from you to pick from when building a recipe. So, just not having to type "onion" or whatever in the food search field seems like a time savings! :)

I know I'm probably glossing over or glamorizing in my head the effort involved in setting up the recipes in the first place but I also know, given it is me, that it couldn't have been TOO bad because I am both extremely lazy and extremely prone to procrastination and yet I still use this thing daily! :)

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Info on what not to do/use is always welcome!

[nottygypsy.livejournal.com]

I'm back at Weight Watchers and their online site drives me crazy, but my phone app is easy to use. I did use the online site to enter my recipes, it wasn't TOO terrible.
This post reminded me to enter today's foods.
Hope you find something that works well for you.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I'm liking the MyFoodDiary.com site so far. My biggest gripe is I can't change a custom food once I save it. And that's...pretty minor, really.

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

That's the hardest part about building muscle; it is almost directly opposed to flexibility (as in the stronger you get, the less flexible you get, so you have to work at staying flexible as you build strength).

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say that's the hardest thing about building muscle, but it's certainly easy to forget about until the lack of mobility catches up with you!

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, CF gets you to go through full range of motion, so mobility should not be hampered but improved as you get stronger. :)

For flexibility, I must say, doing the splits while both feet are wrapped in silks is awesome/painful/effective. Heh....

[sherwood21.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. I might be able to watch Benedict Cumberbatch smoke for hours. That's not good for my productivity level.

Is there a range that you could shoot for with the starchy glucose? Like 50 - 150? Would that help you stop beating yourself up for not getting enough/getting too much?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I'm supposed to shoot for 100g. But it's still a difficult addition, even when I have a target range.

[sherwood21.livejournal.com]

Bleh. You do need to win the lottery, so you can have a personal chef/nutritionist take care of all that stuff for you.

I just started following you on Tumblr, but I haven't really figured out how it works yet.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Winning the lottery would be so awesome.

Yeah...Tumblr is weird. I just sort of stumbled around until I figured things out. If you have a specific question, feel free to shoot me an email. I can't guarantee I'll have an answer, but I can try!