Take The Time To Fill Your Own Coffee Cup

Take The Time To Fill Your Own Coffee Cup

by | Apr 11, 2017 | Coffee and Stories

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This past weekend, I wrote about facing my inner demons.  I fight with myself sometimes.  Nobody throws punches, and nobody gets hurt.  Except maybe my own ego.

I can get stuck in a pattern of doing nothing while having the best intentions of getting through a whole list of things that need to be done.  There are days when I literally talk myself out of getting anything done.  It is a nasty little place to be in, and it happens when things are bothering me, or in the winter.  I am less likely to have the energy to do more than the basics in the winter time, and that is sometimes left too long.  In this endless loop of getting nothing done, I can become overwhelmed by how much there IS to do, and that doesn’t help me at all.

Spring is here.  I feel the change in the weather, and in my spirit.  The blog has started me off in the right direction.  I am wanting to get things done, and I FEEL DIFFERENT about life right now.  I am trying new things, making small changes, and thinking about what I need to do to make the leap from blogging to writing a book.

A year ago I was recovering from an infection in my knee.  It was not a pleasant experience, I would never recommend a knee infection as something for anyone to do.  I was away from work for 3 months, and sat around that whole time, as I was told to not be moving around very much.  I had nurses visiting me in my home for IV antibiotics once a day for two or three weeks.  I was taught how to bandage the wound when the IV was over, and they stopped the home checks.  I longed for the day that I could have a shower without medical tape and shopping bags protecting the bandages from getting wet.  I was on some strong painkillers, for the first time ever, and I was scared that I might become addicted.  I did not.

Spring cleaning didn’t really happen last year.  So I am on a mission to get it done properly this year.  I am writing about it, and puttering at it, and making a little more progress in that kitchen every time I get in there. I have made a few inexpensive purchases to help me to get this project accomplished.  I see the progress, but I am not ready to share it yet.

I needed to stop and just take a breath last weekend.  That’s what the title means.  When you worry about everyone or everything else and don’t take time for yourself, you can empty your coffee pot before you get yourself a refill.  That is a mistake that can build into a disaster if it is not made a priority.

It’s not Ok to neglect your own needs in order to make sure that everyone else’s needs are taken care of first.  Sometimes, it is necessary to take care of others first.  However, if you don’t stop and take time for you, the coffee at the bottom of the pot is going to have a burnt taste, and it will not be a pleasant thing to drink.

Whatever it is in your life that allows you to feel refreshed and recharged is something that you need to always make time for.  If it is the 5 am cup of coffee before anyone else in your home is awake, get up and pour yourself a hot cup of coffee.  If it is taking a bath at the end of a long and tiring day, make time to fill the bathtub.  Read a book for a chapter a day, at the time you can schedule it in.  If you have dogs, they can help you take the time to yourself to think when you have to walk them anyway.

Or, at other times you need to be around other people.  Friends and family are important too.  Find people that are fun to be around, and bring you up, not down.  I am not saying that you should ignore all of your other friends, but when you need to feel good, surround yourself with people, things and activities that help you do just that.

When I think about where I was a year ago, I had no idea I was going to make a leap into becoming a blogger.  I was waiting to be told that I could start going back to Zumba classes.  I was learning about the Trim Healthy Mama Plan, and trying new recipes.  I was already going through the motions of being back to work at my day job.  And I was miserable.

Now I have a blossoming new outlook for spring this year.  I will be working on my New Year’s Resolutions and branching out with what I am doing with my life.  I am chasing my dreams and making them into my reality.  One at a time.

Thank you for reading my 60th Blog Post.  Still having fun, and Always Thinking…

 

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 6

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 6

by | Mar 29, 2017 | Trust Your Gut

 

Trust Your Gut is a series of stories about real people with weight issues, and complications arising from those issues.  It will explain what the person is facing, what their options are, what they have decided to do to take action, and why they chose the path they are on.  Each person’s story will be based on truth, so it won’t all be happy, but it will be real.  The goal of this series is to get people talking about options that are available for people who have weight issues, on either end of the scale.  If you would like to contribute to this series, there is a contact form linked on my Homepage for this blog.  I know there are people out there that want to help people like them; as I do.

 

The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name.  If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story.  The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors.  I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.

This week I am pleased to share another of my own stories.

Here is  Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 6

When I first found out that I was a type 2 diabetic, I had experienced being at “goal weight” about 7 years before the diagnosis.  I successfully lost enough weight on the Weight Watchers program when I did it with my mom back in high school.  After that, I got sick and put on more weight than I had ever dealt with, and since then, I peaked at almost 320lbs.

I am hovering at the edge of “twoville” again, and really hoping that this is the year for me to find my way back to “onederland”.  Twoville is in the 200 lb range, and it starts at 299.99lbs.  Onederland is in the 100 lb range and starts at 199.99 lbs.  That would be an amazing accomplishment.  I can only imagine how that will feel, as it has been longer than a decade since I have weighed in at under 200 lbs.  I think it is a reasonable goal, for one year, and if I make it, fantastic, if not, I will keep fighting the good fight.  Because I believe I am worthy of living a healthier lifestyle, and I can do it if I just put in the effort.  A goal needs to be realistic, and if I put too much pressure on myself, I will fail and be crushed under the weight of that failure.

So I keep going to Zumba, twice a week.  I am preparing to start walking in my neighbourhood in the evenings.  That is also preparing for adopting a dog.  Part of the reason that I want to bring a dog home to live with me is that I know I will HAVE to go for walks more than once a day, EVERY day.  The dog will benefit from living in a loving home, and my health will have to benefit from all the walking.  It is a good plan, and I will have until next winter to prepare myself for walking in the snow and ice.  By then I will be in the habit of the daily walks, and I will be ready to tackle the bad weather walking as a healthier version of myself.

I am so looking forward to having a dog in my life again.  I have friends with dogs, and friends with cats.  I visit them when I can, but it’s not the same as having my own pet here all the time.  My house has been very quiet this winter, with no pitter patter of furry friends to come home to.  I needed time to mourn for my cats, and decided it was time to get a dog, in the spring.  We will be getting ready for that in the next couple of months, and when the right dog crosses our path, we will give it a furever home.

When I first found out I was pre-diabetic (there is no such thing, it is a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes; the doctors just break it to you gently by saying not yet, but really you are a type 2 diabetic).  I was told that I would have a chance of not needing medication for it if I removed sugar from my diet, and ate according to Canada’s Food Guide.  I tried.  I failed.  I was so tired all of the time.  I was drinking up to 2 litres of cola a day for the caffeine because I was so tired all the time.  The sugar was making me tired, so the caffeine was not keeping me awake.  I began drinking more cola for more caffeine, and it never worked for very long.  I know now what I was doing wrong.  Then I switched to diet pop.  Aspartame is something I have removed from my life since then.  I now choose stevia and erythritol for my sweeteners and drink very little pop.  I have one can a day, and not every single day.  I choose pop sweetened with stevia, and it took a bit to learn to like it.

I now drink my coffee black.  It is healthier this way, and now that I am used to it, I like it like this.  Less fuss to prepare it in the morning, and no worries about not wanting to drink it because there is nothing in it.  I sometimes drink green tea.  I sometimes drink oolong tea in one of my THM drinks.  I do not use cola as my main source of caffeine anymore.

I did not tell everyone about being a diabetic for a long time.  I feared the food police.  I learned this term from a diabetes educator.   They are those people who immediately point out what is wrong with everything you eat.  You are the person with diabetes, and everyone else thinks they are the expert.  It is embarrassing to be an adult and have someone tell you that you shouldn’t eat that because you are a diabetic.  Out loud.  In front of a room full of people.  Or to say that isn’t good for you, because it has sugar in it.  People don’t mean any harm, I know it is being said because, on some level, they care about me as a person, and want me to be healthy.  However,  I am an adult, and this type of criticism is not positive, and can have very negative effects on my self-esteem.

I am a lot tougher than I look.  Even if you find me bawling in a quiet place, it is not always because I am sad, it might be because I am SO ANGRY that I sprung a leak.  It is a self-defense mechanism that I have had for most of my life, and I hate it.  It is the quiet, private way to vent.

Other times I would eat my feelings.  I would go buy junk food and regular cola and binge eat.  How dare someone point at what I am eating when they are eating something just as unhealthy, or worse than what I am eating.  They eat whatever they want, well so will I.  The problem with that, other than me gaining weight, is that really I am only hurting myself.  That other person doesn’t even know that they did something wrong.  THEY THINK THEY ARE HELPING ME.  They mean well, but if I am having a sugar low, I might actually NEED that candy I am crunching as fast as I can because my sugars are dropping.  It can happen quite suddenly, and I now have juice boxes and suckers with me all of the time.  I don’t use them unless I need them.

Maybe I have made plans to take extra insulin because I wanted a treat.  I want to be normal, and eat like other people do.  I am not, and that is why I am trying SO HARD to change. I have learned that if I give in a little when I have a craving, I won’t be as likely to binge eat as I would if I suppress it.  So I do have things that are not on the diabetic diet.   I am human.  It is more convenient to grab something quick sometimes.  I am working on that, just like I am working on me.  Most of the time I make healthy choices.  So when you see me eating something that isn’t one of those choices, let me be.  I know the consequences of my actions, and I will recover to my sensibilities when I am ready.

Just like no person is the same as any other person, no person with diabetes is the same as every other person with diabetes, and no person has the exact same issues with weight that every other person has.  That is why it is important for me to write about how I feel, and to share the stories of other people and their issues with weight.  We all are experiencing life as a journey, but we still forge our own paths as individuals.

#TrustYourGut

Coffee Station Complete!

Coffee Station Complete!

by | Mar 27, 2017 | Coffee and Stories

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Coffee is Here

I decided to get back in action yesterday in my Kitchen Cleaning Challenge.  Well, it continued today!  I have gotten to all the countertops and cleaned and organized my 3 sections.  FINALLY! I had lost my gumption somewhere after Christmas, and I am getting it back!

I realized that the dishes not being finished before I got started, although it is a logical way to plan the cleaning of one’s kitchen, it was HOLDING ME BACK!  So I dove in and started cleaning and organizing one section of the countertop.  I decided that it was time for me to revamp the countertop organization, and get caught up with the rest of the world.  I needed to redesign and organize a new coffee station!  

I have a Keurig.  I have an electric tea kettle.  I have a tiny little space of countertop.

This is what I did!

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Tish’s Coffee Station!

I have continued all the way around the countertops.  The rest of the kitchen progress will be added into my next Weekend Warrior story, but I couldn’t wait to share this! I still have a lot of work to do, but I feel like I have made progress, and that will inspire me to keep going.  Well, that and the coffee! 😉

 

Weekend Warrior #4

Weekend Warrior #4

by | Mar 19, 2017 | Weekend Warrior

 

Today started with  Scotch Lick and grab and go.  I had scheduled my morning to help a friend look into setting up her own blog.  I am in no way an expert at blogging, and I don’t claim to be.  But as a few friends helped me get this Blog up and running, I decided to pay it forward.

It was really neat to see someone else put their own creativity into action!  We started with some basic conversation, and she figured things out.  She has some work left to do and is capable enough with her own experience and training to move forward on her own.  I am only a message away if she needs any more help.

I am fighting to stay awake.  Waiting to find out the plans for the evening.  If it is a Game night, I will have to start preparing snacks and get done what I can here in the meantime.  If it ends up being a guys gaming night, I will work on the cleaning challenge.  Either way, I will be busy.  I have the kitchen to clean, a grocery list to make, and general cleaning to do.

I have had 2 cups of coffee with breakfast.  I am having a sugar free vanilla iced coffee now.  I AM STILL TIRED!  So I have cranked the tunes and will make 1 more coffee.  Soon it will be too late to have any more coffee, but if I am busy enough, I can still tire myself out enough to sleep tonight.  I need the help today.  I am a night owl with a day job.  So I tend to be more active in the evenings.  Sometimes a little too late.  I struggle with it, but my health is better with the 9-5 schedule, so I try to go to bed early when I need to.  Sometimes I even make it to bed early.  Not on the weekends, though.  That is the problem I am having right now.  So I am going to make 1 more coffee.  A power snooze might have to happen, though.  When my body wants sleep this desperately, I have to consider if it is necessary or not.  A power nap may just what I need, followed by that one more cup of coffee.  Then I’ll head into the kitchen, and unload that dishwasher, that I ran last night.  I need to focus, and that is a good place to start.

Had the nap.  Never found any energy.  I have spent some time on Linked In today.  It was time for an update, and it is another way to share this Blog.  I am disappointed that I did not get more accomplished around the house today, but the networking has to be worked on also.

My Linked In Profile

Tomorrow is a new day, filled with possibilities.  And a new To Do List!  Enjoy your weekend!

Weekend Warrior #4

Weekend Warrior #3

by | Mar 11, 2017 | Weekend Warrior

 

I have been a little lacking in the cleaning department in February. I have been planning but not doing.  This weekend will be different, and therefore today’s story will be short.

I added to the mess, last night.  My butt bumped a tray of beads.  So along with my list, I have to play a game with my broom called 5 million pick-up! Ugh.  At least I had the covers on the bead containers I had already finished sorting.  10 million pick-up would have been much worse!

I am going to work on my house this weekend.  In the words of a sport I do not understand enough to actually spend a lot of time watching, I plan to, “Hurry, hurry, hurry hard!” at it today.  I will be Bouncing the House today and tomorrow.

So a brief outline will involve the never ending dishes, prep cooking for the week, and laundry.  I am not good at the putting away part of cleaning.  If I manage to get this all done today, (or most of it) I will then tackle the bathrooms, which really need me to get to them THIS weekend.  I need to get the basic chores out of the way so I can get to the Spring Cleaning.  I need to get this done, it is holding me back from other goals for the year, the biggest one being writing a book.

I value the benefits of an organized house, so I am trying to better my environment with the challenges I have set out for myself.  It will also help me be more efficient in my daily life when all the cleaning is done.

There is so much to do, and my coffee is calling me.  I will report tomorrow.  Maybe I will be able to start sharing progress pics by then.  I plan to get a lot done today!