A happy November

In October my sister told me about the Keto diet.  She and her husband had been doing it and they had both lost a lot of weight.  I was feeling really bad right then so I told her I'd look into it but I was very skeptical.  Then I heard my brother was doing it to and had lost 70 lbs!  My sister said it was supposed to help reduce inflammation and thought it might be able to help me.  I'm always so skeptical about these things.  People are mostly out to make money and profit off of people who are suffering.  After I talked to my sister I kept hearing more about it and did some googling.  I finally found a site that outlined what you can and can't eat.  While you can't eat bread, sugar, fruits etc you can have fatty stuff like meat and bacon.  I like veggies so that's not a problem.  Once I realized I could eat food I liked I decided to give it a try.  I started on November 1st.  Now it is the last day of November and I have lost 12 lbs!  I've lost 1.2 % body fat and my lean muscle mass has increased by 16.3%.  I've lost 4.5 inches off my waist. I even lost 1.25 inches from my neck!  I still have a long way to go so I really hope I have the will power.  Thanksgiving and my birthday sure were hard.  

For Thanksgiving I had planned out some yummy stuff for me to eat but it was still hard seeing the pies and corn on the cob etc.  I love corn!  Then my husband went to a poker party and we ended up with one of those assortments of cheese cake in our fridge.  OMG!  I was so so close to just wolfing one of those down.  I even had it in my hand but then I looked at the label and knew how bad it would set me back.  I put it away and put something in front of it to block it.  I've been bribing my kids to eat it.

Earlier in the month, I decided I wanted a new hair do to go with my new me.  My gray was starting to show at the roots and my cut had grown out.  My bangs were past my ear.  I saw a music video and liked the highlights the woman had.  I looked through lots of pictures before I finally decided on what I wanted.  It wasn't really like any of the pictures so I ended up explaining it to my stylist, who is amazing, and she did a perfect job.  I'm allergic to PPD (p-phenylenediamine) so I have to be careful with hair color.  I had her just clean up my ends a little and kept my hair long with no bangs.  It feels really good to have a new hairstyle.  The color looks darker in this picture but there is gold and a warmer brown blended in with my normal color.  The gold doesn't show up in that picture for some reason.  

My birthday was Tuesday the 27th.  My husband bought ordered me a treadmill so I could walk during the winter when it's too cold and slick.  It arrived on the 28th so I've only had it a few days.  It's a nice one that folds up easily and lowers itself when you push this bar with your foot.  That's great because I hate having to rely on other people to do things for me.  Right now it is in my kitchen so we still have to find a better spot for it.  I think I'm going to move it over by out front window so I can look out the window while I walk.  

Anyway, I've had a good month.  I've still had some flare ups when it snows or the atmospheric pressure drops but for the most part I'm feeling better.  I didn't have a single IBS flare up this month which is crazy since they told me it was caused by eating fat.  I was avoiding fats and oils for a long time but still getting really sick about once a week.  I didn't even think about that when I started the Keto diet where you decrease your carbs and increase the FAT!  Sometimes my colon would start spasming on the right side and it was like watching a baby move in a pregnant woman's belly.  That also didn't happen this month.  One person thinks it could be that I'm not eating wheat anymore but I can't really be sure.  Whatever it is, I'm glad I'm doing better.  

DJ

Blargh!

Currently reading: The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares

I have been really out of it for a while.  I have been kind of sickish alternating with very allergicky but the whole time I've been super exhausted. I have been sleeping so much and I'm pretty sure if I looked in the mirror right now I'd see a sloth. I have zero energy. I've even lost my reading mojo. I started to read the next Anne's Attic Mystery book I have and those are really fast to read. I just couldn't do it. I just stared at it and probably drooled. I have no idea what is up with me but my husband is feeling sick too and he said he feels super tired too.... so maybe it is just a bug, which is kinda funny because he calls me "bug." So, I'm a bug with a bug. I wonder if a bug with a bug is still cute.

It is snowing outside but it is sort of warmish, compared to the super cold we were having. I put on my husband's coat and shoes and went out to check the mail. There is so much snow and I noticed the handle of the snow shovel sticking up in a snowbank where it was leaned against the fence and thought that was funny.  I guess it is a good thing there is another shovel around here that the guys can use to excavate this one.  

I've been taking Dayquil and that always makes me sleep more and dream crazy stuff. I usually wake up and think, "What in the world was that all about?" and then try to forget about it but sometimes I just think about stuff while sort of dreaming. Sometimes I wake up wondering about something off the wall, like, "Why don't bananas have seeds?"  Then I google it.  Turns out they used to have really big seeds so they have been bred to not have them. Good to know in case you are ever on Jeopardy.  

This last time I was thinking about The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares. I've read that book a few times but even though I bought the other books in the series I never read them. I started wondering about what happened the next summer while I was deep in REM sleep. When I got up I was thinking I should just finish reading that book I started first but I just can't. I think I read too many of them back to back and I burned myself out on them. 

It took me a while to find the second book but I did and I've already read the first chapter. This poor book has seen better days. I bought it used and it was super cheap because it has seen better days. The spine is cracked in the middle so I'm waiting for it to fall apart in my hands. I hate throwing away books but this one isn't even fit to be donated. Oh well, I will read it one last time and then.... who knows. Maybe I'll ask one of my boys to toss it for me when I'm not looking.  

P.s. Spring, if you can hear me, please hurry up and come. I'm ready for GREEN!

DJ

Mops, Mice, and Bones

My computer mouse broke and it is driving me insane.  Trying to do things with the track pad on my laptop is so irritating.  I do have a touch screen so that helps some but I'm still out of my element.  I ordered a nifty new mouse but I have to wait for it to get here and I am not good at waiting.  Sometimes the darned thing will work for a little while.  If I get angry and throw it down on the floor I think it gets lonely after a while and feels bad for being so stupid.  It isn't working now though.  I think it is on a permanent strike but it will really feel bad when its replacement gets here ha! Until then I'll just have to deal with this darned trackpad, which is so irritating!  Whenever I try to use the trackpad to open my bookmark menus I allllllllmost get to the one I want and then it all just disappears for no good reason.  AAAARRRGGGHH!!!!!!!!!!

I did order a new mop as well.  I read this blog post about using natural cleaners to clean your home and she talked about how she mixes up a little vinegar mixed in water for moping her floor.  I love my Swiffer Wet Jet mop but I hate that I have to buy their refills for it.  One time I actually punched a hole in one of the bottles and had a rubber thing I used as a stopper but if it got knocked over it would leak and the hole wasn't really large enough to dump out what I didn't use.  I'm allergic to everything so I am always trying to avoid strong chemicals to clean with.  I like that the newer swiffer pads have the magic eraser stuff on the pads and it cleans better with less soap but I hate that they are disposable.  I try to avoid contributing to the landfills as much as possible.  Well, on that blog post she adds her vinegar mixture to this mop from O-Cedar.  It is just like the Swiffer Wet Jet mop only you can fill the bottle up with your own cleaner AND it has a reusable microfiber cover that you can wash.  I am sure I will be able to find someone else to take my Swiffer.

So last night I finished watching the end of the second season of Bones (again).  This song by Poco was on Episode 18.  I hate it when there are blaring mistakes in a show I love.  I remember this one episode from season 1 where they dug up this soldier who I believe was also a well known basket ball player.  When it showed them examining the body it didn't look like a body that had been buried for a year..... or a soldier/basket ball player.  It was a tubby white guy.  I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be so "white" if he had been buried for a year already.  Anyway, on episode 18 (season 2) Bones had secretly speed-dialed Booth when her felon father showed up with cookies for her.  So he was listening in when her father talked about "the trying song" and sang her a little bit (which was pretty sweet).  Then at the end of the show when Bones is telling Booth about the song it is like he was clueless about it or why she brought it up. I guess they forgot he was on the line.

 

Here are a few more songs I liked.

From Episode 19

 

From Episode 20