A Frozen Option!

I'm so excited! Today I discovered that Amy's makes a frozen burrito that is mostly whole grain, vegan, and no soy! And it's yummy! Yay!!!

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - frozen grilled chicken breast, broccoli w/butter, OO, salt
Supper - 2 Amy's burritos, can of corn w/butter, small piece french bread w/little butter, Ghirardelli 72% square

Rough Day...

Well, it started good. Then this afternoon I was getting something by the door and it bumped our fire extinguisher and it discharged. All over the entryway. And the draft from our doorway blew a cloud of the substance into the living room where the majority of it settled on Ethan and Gabriel's toys... What a nightmare!

I've got most of it cleaned up from the entryway. Living room is vacuumed. Most of the toys have been cleaned. I did the ones that had to be wiped down with a washcloth. Jesse will do the others in the tub later, along with cleaning the entryway better.

Apparently the pin in the fire extinguisher had come out. No idea how that happened... So all it took was a bump to the handle for it to discharge. We immediately opened the door and window to air out the room as much as possible. And I called the office to see what to do to clean up. They brought me another fire extinguisher very soon after I called so we do have a good one again!

After hours of clean-up, supper was a joke. I ate leftovers (cheat), and ordered something for Jesse and Ethan. There was just no other way to do it :-(

Between washing my hands so many times and them staying wet while wiping down the toys etc, they feel dry and raw tonight. The chemicals in our water and I don't get along...

I have some chicken in the fridge I need to prep and freeze. I was supposed to do that today but with the fiasco this afternoon it didn't get done. I hope it's still good tomorrow! I did get the leftover boiled crawfish peeled and frozen. Two pounds of meat! Yeah! They probably have a fettuccine in their future ;-) Anyone have a good recipe?

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - usual
Before supper - Twix (fun or snack size)
Supper - mushroom Swiss burger on wheat bun w/mayo, fries w/ketchup, cheese bread, piece of turtle cheesecake

Can you tell I really didn't care tonight?! Oh well... Tomorrow's another day...

Breakfast for Supper - Again :-)

This time I tried out a new blueberry muffin recipe. I used my trick of substituting the white flour with half whole wheat, half oat flour and they were yummy!

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - cod fish (baked, seasoned with lemon, Essence, and pepper), can of peas w/butter
Before supper - medium salad w/croutons (Romaine, honey mustard dressing)
Supper - small bowl of grits w/butter, 4 blueberry muffins
Other - small brownie before salad

Today's Food

It's kinda been a survive-and-advance sort of day. I'm so exhausted from yesterday... The pest control guy came today about our fruit fly infestation. We need to get all the dishes washed, counters spotless, etc, then pour this stuff down the sink drain for a few days. So between trying to catch up on dishes (and not use any more) and being so tired that at one point I kept dozing off sitting up, we decided it would be best if I didn't cook supper...

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - usual (w/rest of rotisserie breast)
Supper - Chili's - usual burger, fries, ketchup, broccoli/carrots, cupcake (still have a few in the fridge)
Other - less than 1/2 cup coffee w/1/2 spoon demarara and 1/2 and 1/2 - between lunch and supper (was trying to wake up enough to cook supper...)

WOOHOO!!!

One week back on my normal dose of iron, and this morning my weight was a new low!!! Woohoo!!!

Hormones

I think my hormones are doing some funny stuff. My face is broken out. My back is broken out. My scalp is broken out! And I've had those cravings. I think part of it is postpartum changes. But it all started a few days after I started taking my iron again. So I'm wondering if the iron is forcing the hormones back to their normal cycle and my body is trying to adjust. Either way, the hormones need to settle back quick!

We went to my dad's today for a crawfish boil. We hadn't had them in years, and Ethan had never eaten crawfish. They were Yummy! And my dad sent us home with a lot of the leftovers :-D

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee, 2 bananas (everything separate)
1:30 - pack of Goldfish crackers
4:30ish - lots of crawfish! dipped them in Cane's sauce. 1 bite each of sausage, breakfast sausage, corn, potato

Another Cheat...

Jesse's been sick all day and Gabriel's been fussy. So nothing got done. Including supper...

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - rotisserie chicken breast, usual salad
Supper - Chili's - mushroom Swiss burger on wheat bun w/mayo, broccoli and carrots, fries w/ketchup, slice of turtle cheesecake

I need to go back through my cheats and see if they're happening at the same time in my cycle...

Meals Etc

It was another busy afternoon and evening and night! Brought Mom to an appointment then picked up supper for Ethan and me then went to another marriage seminar. We didn't get home till late and I'm pooped! But I can tell my iron is getting better - I'm tired but it's not that bone-tired exhaustion I get from the anemia.

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - usual w/chicken breast cooked in olive oil
Snack - small fries from McDonald's
Supper - Chili's - black bean burger with lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard and avocado, fries and ketchup. I had planned on eating the leftover broccoli too but was too full!
Other - piece of carrot cake at the seminar

Cheat + Iron Kicking In!

Well... I gave in... Jesse had been craving one of the same meals so we ended up eating it. I must say, I wasn't disappointed in how it tasted!

I think my iron is kicking in a little already :-) I've been so cold at night but last night I had to take off the extra blanket I've been using the past few weeks! I didn't start using it till my iron was low so hopefully last night means it's coming back up. Plus I had an easier time getting up this morning. And it's only going to get better :-)

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - usual (used the last of the baked chicken)
Snack - 1/2 apple
Supper - 3 hot dogs (98% fat free turkey dogs), 1 1/2 whole wheat buns, organic vegetarian chili, reduced fat sharp cheddar, mayo, mustard, onions, 2 cookies
Other - 1 tiny brownie, 2 sips chocolate milk

Struggling Today...

I want foods that would be cheats. Lowfat hot dog with lowfat organic chili and reduced fat cheese on a wheat bun with mayo. Mushroom Swiss burger with mayo - lean meat and wheat bun would be great! Thick bacon and eggs over easy with cherry pancakes. Sicily's Italian buffet. Sigh...

So I told this to Jesse and his response was that it all sounded great to him! :-P

Super Busy Day!

Not enough sleep. Got up. Packed big diaper bag for the day + small one for church. Made coffee. Grabbed fruit for Ethan and me for breakfast. Fixed lunch. Fed Gabriel. Picked up Mom. Went to 3 stores with Mom and boys. Brought Mom home. Picked up Jesse. Went to church. Came home. Fixed leftovers for Ethan and me (Jesse will eat later because he'll be up working). Ate supper. Put up groceries. Nighttime routine. In bed for 1030. WHEW! I haven't stopped all day! But I did pretty good with food today :-)

Breakfast - 1/2 cup of coffee, banana later
Lunch - usual
Snack - raisins
Supper - leftover white beans and pasta, snack size Twix
Other - 16 oz bottle of organic green tea with mint and honey (drank it over a few hours)

Today's Meals + Iron Dosage

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - baked chicken in the usual salad
Supper - whole grain pumpkin waffles (will post recipe eventually)

I started back on my iron today! When I was first diagnosed with anemia I was put on 1 tbsp iron in the morning and 1 tbsp at night for 1-2 weeks, then 1 tbsp once a day. Sometime before getting pregnant with Gabriel I ended up back on 2 tbsp a day. During the pregnancy I ended up having to increase it to 1 1/2 tbsp in the morning and 1 tbsp at night. Even then my level was low normal when I did my gestational diabetes screen. I kept taking 2 1/2 tbsp postpartum to get my level back up. I had just dropped back down to 2 tbsp when I had to start rationing it. So today I went back to 2 1/2 tbsp and will do that for at least a week. Then I'll reassess and see where to go from that point. I'm pretty good at reading my body. Especially where my iron level is! And I can't OD on it in this form so no danger there.

Hoping it kicks in really fast...

Iron!!! + Today's Food

I got my iron!!! I won't be able to get back on all my vitamins yet but I think the iron is the key. It'll be interesting to see what happens once it builds up in my body...

It was a super busy day so food was kinda weird. Rather than meals, I'll just give times.

200 - baked chicken in Romaine salad with honey mustard dressing
445 - medium fries from Checkers
615 - snacks at bible study - veggies and dip, few bites each baked pita chips, baked potato chips, bagel chips. piece of chocolate cake with chocolate icing, 1/2 cup french vanilla cappuccino
930 - leftover white beans and pasta, piece of french bread with butter

White Beans and Angel Hair

Needed something quick and easy for supper with what I had on the shelves and this is what I came up with! It was light but filling. And of course yummy ;-)

White Beans and Angel Hair

12-16 oz angel hair
2 cans white beans (I used great northern)
Olive oil
Lemon
Salt and pepper

Cook angel hair according to package directions. Drain and return to pot. Open and drain the beans. Mix beans into pasta. Drizzle in some olive oil to coat. Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.

Yay for Jesse! + What I Ate

Jesse was frustrated because he was stuffy tonight and asked me for some Sudafed. I told him he had to try the neti pot first ;-) The first side didn't go too well but then he got the hang of it and the other side went better :-) It's been about an hour and he said the stuffiness is a lot better! Woohoo!

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee with whipped cream and demarara, 1/2 apple later
Lunch - baked chicken breast in Romaine salad with honey mustard dressing
Before supper - 1 cookie
Supper - white beans and angel hair, broccoli with butter and olive oil and salt, piece of french bread and butter, fun size 3 Musketeers, fun size Milky Way, and I licked the scraper after I made brownies for tomorrow

Correlation?

Facts:

1. Fall 2006 - after months of increasing fatigue, started to notice symptoms of low thyroid
2. October 2006 - hair analysis revealed very low iron levels
3. Iron deficiency affects numerous hormone levels
4. Iron deficiency can cause hypothyroidism (under-functioning thyroid)
5. After taking angstrom iron for a short time, my thyroid symptoms disappeared (and I got pregnant after trying for over 2 years)
6. One of the functions of the thyroid is to regulate metabolism
7. When I reduce the amount of iron I take, my symptoms start to come back

I've been rationing my iron (ie taking a smaller dose) for about 6 weeks. The past couple weeks I have barely taken it at all. I can tell my anemia is back... And the number on the scales hasn't changed in 2 months...

So what's my point?

Theory:
Low iron -> low thyroid -> low metabolism -> cessation of weight loss

What do y'all think??? Correlation?

Seriously, please leave me some feedback and let me know what you think...

Wedding + What I Ate

Jesse's younger sister got married tonight :-) Ethan behaved as well as can be expected I think! Gabriel enjoyed being passed around and interacting with Jesse's family :-) I spent most of the reception chasing Ethan. He had fun running around! I'm exhausted! I can feel the difference of the anemia being back. It's zapping my energy :-( Hopefully Monday or Tuesday I'll be able to start back on my iron!

Breakfast - nothing (late night so we slept in)
Lunch - sirloin steak in Romaine salad with honey mustard dressing
Supper - leftovers from last night
Wedding - small piece of roast (beef? pork?), deviled egg, few bites of macaroni and cheese, couple bites of spinach dip, cake

Today's Food

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - the usual ;-)
Before supper - 1/3 lb LA strawberries with a very small amount of Reddi-Wip
Supper - garlicky black-eyed peas and greens, brown rice, multi-grain french bread with butter, small brownie
Other - 2 cookies, truffle

Nothing exciting to report for today... Had a fussy baby so most of the day was spent with him! Not a complaint, although I am a bit sore from being used as a human pacifier :-P

What I Ate + Issues

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - 93/7 ground beef seasoned with homemade taco seasoning (will post recipe soon) in Romaine salad with honey mustard dressing
Supper - chili burger on whole wheat bun with mayo, mustard, and 1/2 avocado (caught it on sale!), fries with ketchup, 1 cookie
Other - 1 small brownie

Not taking my vitamins and supplements as often as I'm supposed to is really catching up to me... I've been rationing them for money reasons but my body doesn't like it :-( My anemia is kicking back in, and I'm having nerve issues (B deficiency). Also fighting another cold because of not taking my immune booster regularly. Hopefully I'll be able to get back on normal doses of everything soon! In the meantime, I have to find a way to get my iron or I'm gonna be in trouble soon...

Today's Meals

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - chicken breast in Romaine salad with honey mustard dressing
Before supper (had a hungry baby to feed and I was getting weak) - 2 cookies
Supper - red beans, brown rice, multi-grain french bread, cookie

ETA - Oh geez... I baked a pan of brownies earlier to bring tomorrow to a family that just had a baby. I wanted some so bad! But I reminded myself these were not for us. Well... I got a phone call a while ago and we won't be delivering food till Monday. So... Jesse asked me to cut them so he could have some tonight. So I did. And sampled. And sampled. And sampled... I only ate what amounted to one serving. Oh well...

Today's Meals

I took my mom and the boys to Chick-Fil-A today so Ethan could play on the indoor play center. And I discovered that I can eat their grilled chicken garden salad and take off the cheese since it's all in one corner. Then it's not a cheat :-)

Breakfast - coffee, banana later
Lunch - Chick-Fil-A chargrilled chicken garden salad with ranch dressing
Supper - leftovers - chili burger on whole wheat bun with mayo and mustard, fries with ketchup, broccoli - 2 cookies

Yesterday's Meals

Breakfast - nada
Lunch - chicken breast in Romaine salad with REGULAR honey mustard dressing
Supper - chili burger on whole wheat bun with mayo and mustard, broccoli with butter and olive oil, fries (frozen, baked with olive oil Pam) and ketchup, 2 cookies

I went to Walmart and they had my full-fat salad dressing! I used it, and I didn't hungry till suppertime, and I didn't have the munchies! So I think I can safely say it was the lite salad dressing causing the problems. Yay that I figured it out and it was easily fixed!

Another Productive Day + Another Case of the Munchies

We were so exhausted today we didn't make it to church :-( We all needed the rest! But I was productive after I got up! I threw out 2 bags of trash, did 2 loads of dishes plus a bunch of handwash ones, cooked lunch, cleared out some more of the stuff in the dining room, went through a basket of bottles, toddler utensils, etc and sorted everything out - packed up the bottles since I like the new ones better, and got the utensils ready to wash and put up for when Gabriel is ready for them. I also fed Ethan all day (think there's a growth spurt coming!), changed out the birds' food dishes, and did the meal plan and grocery list for the rest of the week. Also made Jesse 3 pots of coffee since he's working late. Whew!

Here's today's meals:
Breakfast - (slept)
Lunch - steak and Romaine salad with lite honey mustard dressing
Supper - red beans and brown rice, multi-grain french bread with butter, cupcake

I had the munchies again tonight but not as bad. That pretty much confirms to me that I'm not getting enough fat at lunch. The steak was lean but fattier than my usual chicken breast. And the munchies were less. I purposely ate steak instead of chicken today to see if the fattier meat would make a difference. I really think it has to do with the lite salad dressing. Hopefully Walmart will have my other one when I go tomorrow! Then if I'm still getting the munchies with eating the full-fat dressing, I'll start trying to figure out what to do next. Somehow I don't think it will be an issue...

Night of the Munchies

Today was so busy! But lots of fun :-) We went to the bird fair then brought Ethan to the park. We packed an ice chest in the car for lunch, and I had supper in the crockpot.

I snacked on not-the-best foods more than usual tonight. I don't know if it was my hormones, or if I didn't eat enough earlier in the day. I think I need to stop using that lite dressing at lunch...

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - (frozen) grilled chicken breast in Romaine salad with lite honey mustard dressing, Ghirardelli square
Snack - banana
Before supper - piece of white french bread
Supper - multi-grain french bread with butter, red beans (vegan), brown rice
Other - Ghirardelli square with (at most) 1/2 tbsp natural peanut butter (peanuts and salt only), lemon cookie

And I still have the munchies... Not going to eat anything else till breakfast though!

Oops! And Today's Meals

What happens when it's suppertime and you realize your stove is taken apart to clean it? Unfortunately, it means take-out... Oops!

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - chicken cooked in olive oil, cut up in Romaine salad, with lite honey mustard dressing
Supper - Chili's - black bean burger on wheat bun with mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and avocado, fries and ketchup, broccoli and carrots
Snack before supper - 1/2 banana
Other - 1 square Ghirardelli 72%, 2 cookies

I bought lite honey mustard dressing because the store I was at yesterday doesn't have the non-lite one I like. It wasn't as good but I liked it! BUT it didn't keep me full till supper :-(

Time Outside + Meals

The boys and I went to a friend's house today. Ethan got lots of time outside! Something he gets very little of :-( The weather was just a little cool so it was perfect! I sat outside too. It was nice :-)

Here's what I ate today:
Breakfast - banana
Lunch - leftover crockpot chicken in Romaine salad, honey mustard dressing
Supper - piece of multi-grain french bread with butter, packaged Spanish rice, burrito "salad" - basically everything I would have put in a burrito, with pieces of tortilla in it - refried beans with homemade taco seasoning, canned chili peppers, green onions, grape tomatoes, ranch dressing, whole wheat tortilla
After supper - 1 Lindt extra dark truffle

What I Ate Today

Because of circumstances, we ate out tonight :-( After church a group of us went to Chick-Fil-A. At least we had good fellowship while eating!

Breakfast - nothing (got some much-needed sleep instead!)
Lunch - leftover crockpot chicken in a salad of Romaine, honey mustard dressing
Snack - raisins
Supper - Chick-Fil-A - grilled chicken sandwich on wheat bun with lettuce, tomato, and BBQ honey mustard sauce, fries
Midnight snack - banana

Busy Day with a Couple Surprises!

Today was the day we've had planned to work on some major cleaning/organizing projects around the house. One of the teens from church came from 9am to 5pm to watch the boys so we could work. And the friend I ran into before bible study last night came to help! She had offered to let us borrow some plastic bins she wasn't using. But instead of just dropping them off and going home, she stayed the whole day! She helped me sort through some stuff, and mopped the floor when we were done. How awesome!

My mom called a few hours into the workday to tell me that my uncle and cousin were unexpectedly passing through town and were on their to her house! She asked if they could stop by and see us. Of course I said YES! It had been years since I had seen them... I asked my mom to please explain that we were in the midst of major cleaning and organizing and that the house was a wreck! They came by and stayed for about 1/2 hour. It was so nice to see them :-D

We got almost everything accomplished I wanted to. We needed to get the birdseed vacuumed up but the vacuum quit working :-( There's something stuck in it. I tried a little while to get whatever unstuck but couldn't. So that will have to wait for another day. Hopefully tomorrow...

So with such a busy day, how did I do with food? Well, I started the day sipping a cup of coffee. I was waiting 1/2 hour after finishing my cup to eat breakfast but by the time I finished, it was almost lunch! So coffee was "breakfast." Here's the rest of the day -

Lunch - chicken breast (crockpot), salad
Supper - leftover chili burger on whole wheat bun with mayo and mustard, baked potato with salt, pepper, and ketchup, cupcake

I didn't get enough sleep and worked with few breaks so I'm pooped! It's so nice to have the one big project done :-) I feel such a sense of accomplishment!

Ibuprofen :-(

I took some Sunday night :-( I was laying in bed and I sneezed. No big deal. I blew my nose and laid back down. And sneezed again. And again. And again... I sneezed for most of the next half hour! I blew my nose a few times, did my neti pot, put VapoRub under my nose, went in a different room, anything I could think of! I don't think anything I tried worked. I think it just stopped. I still had a tickle in my nose like I would sneeze again though. And boy, was I congested! All that sneezing had swollen my nasal passages to the point that I could barely breathe.

I decided to take some ibuprofen hoping it would take out the inflammation enough so I could breathe. It helped :-) I didn't want to take Sudafed and I didn't really want to take the ibuprofen either. But I figured it was the lesser of two evils...

Hoping I don't have a repeat tonight!

Today's Meals, and Some Encouragement

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - chicken, salad
Supper - cornbread, lentil soup, cupcake
Midnight snack - banana

I had to eat supper at 5 tonight and didn't get home till 11:30 so I was hungry!

It's so awesome when God really speaks to you :-) I was walking out the door to go to bible study tonight and God told me that a certain friend was outside and I needed to talk to her. I walked outside to my car, started it, and saw her coming around the corner :-) I'm so glad I stopped to talk to her! She really encouraged me and I needed that today!

Bible study was good. Hopefully what I shared was an encouragement to someone there! And a friend encouraged me afterward as well :-)

After bible study I met with my mom's night out group. We get together once a month, and I hadn't seen any of them since we met a month ago. They said I looked thinner! I told them the scale had not moved but they assured me that I had definitely lost more since they had seen me last :-) Considering the scale has not moved in a month, this was definitely encouraging!!!

Today's Food

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - roast, beef broth, mashed cauliflower
Supper - multi-grain french bread with a light spritz of olive oil Pam
Other - 1/2 cup coffee with a bit of 1/2 and 1/2 and demarara before breakfast, raisins after church before lunch

The roast didn't sit too well today. It hasn't the past few times I've made it even though I love it :-( So that's why I only ate bread for supper. And my stomach did better after :-)

What I Ate Today

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - roast, "mashed potatoes," salad
Supper - chili burger, potato salad
Other - piece of multi-grain french bread while running errands before supper. Cupcake after supper.

Neti Pot Info

As requested, here are a couple of websites about neti pots and nasal cleansing.

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/sinus-pain-pressure-9/neti-pots

http://healing.about.com/od/ent/ht/netipot.htm

"Mashed Potatoes"

"Mashed Potatoes"

1 head cauliflower, broken into florets
Heavy cream
Salt

Rinse florets and place in large glass bowl. Cover and microwave for 7 minutes. Put florets in the bowl of large food processor. Turn on, pouring cream in until desired consistency. Add salt to taste.


*It didn't make as much as I expected! Next time I'll do twice as much, but do each batch separately.

Food for Today and Prep for Tomorrow

The past couple weeks have been crazy and my eating has been mostly good but I haven't been perfect. Part of the reason I started this blog was to keep myself accountable and I've gotten away from that lately...

So here's what I ate today:

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - aromatic chicken breasts, Romaine with honey mustard dressing
Supper - chili "burger" on whole wheat bun with mayo, half a large potato with salt, pepper, and a little butter, leftover broccoli and carrots

I also ate the other half of a dessert from Chili's about an hour before supper. And a cupcake after supper. Should've done one or the other probably but I started getting weak before supper and it sounded good. I can also blame PMS :-P

In addition to cooking the chili burgers, I also prepped the lentil soup for tomorrow (just have to throw it all into a pot of boiling water), and got lunch ready for tomorrow. I cut a rump roast into large pieces and put it in the crockpot with a carton of beef stock and a few handfuls of split garlic cloves. I also made some mock mashed potatoes. Last time I used turnips. They came out okay but I had hoped for a milder taste. This time I used fresh cauliflower. Even Jesse likes it! Definitely a keeper!

Neti Pot

I started using a Neti Pot right before I got the flu last October. But when I started using the Neil Med brand packets, I noticed a difference! They're awesome! Don't burn like water or other packets I've tried. They work better too!

So what made me want to blog about my neti pot tonight? Simple. I truly believe I would have a cold and/or sinus infection right now if I wasn't using it. I started to get a little stuffy the end of last week. I mostly noticed it when I'd wake up during the night to feed Gabriel. I always use my neti pot about 1/2 hour before bed and it was unusual that I was stuffy and sneezy.

Well... A few days ago I rinsed as usual and flushed green mucus out of my sinuses! Not a lot, but it was obviously there. At that point I realized that I was fighting a cold and this is where my stuffiness and sneezing was coming from :-( I started flushing twice a day in addition to taking my normal supplements. I noticed more green mucus for a few days. One morning when I blew my nose before flushing, it was thick and yellow-green. But I didn't have hardly any symptoms! My nose ran maybe two or three times a day. I still was a little stuffy and sneezy when I woke up during the night.

But after a couple days, the mucus I flushed was less green and more clear. Tonight there was very little green in it at all. And I wasn't stuffy and sneezy when I woke up last night. So I think I successfully fought this cold with no meds! :-)

I truly believe that if I had not been using my neti pot every night regularly and every morning when I first noticed symptoms, I would have developed a full-on yucky cold. What I flushed was definitely not normal! Not in color, not in amount. It's consistent with what I blow into a Kleenex when I'm sick. But it never got that far!

I am really excited about this success!