by Tish MacWebber | Jul 6, 2017 | Trust Your Gut
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 20
Vacation. It is that time of year when people are travelling and going to celebrations with friends and family. Vacation time can be a tricky thing on days when you aren’t in control of the food and drink that you may consume. This can pose a difficult problem if you are committed to your plan and goals.
You want to be invited to all of the events. You want to participate in the fun. For me, the fun includes eating and drinking the same things as everyone else. So it is a tricky tightrope to walk on when you are trying to fit in, even though it may not be the best way for you to stay the course.
I have to constantly check my blood sugars. That is helpful. I can adjust the insulin I have to take to adapt to what I am eating. But as I have written before, sometimes that dosage is a guessing game, at best.
I experienced a low last week. It was a bad one. Maybe more because it caught me by surprise, and also because of how long it has been since the last time I had a low. It isn’t a simple fix, it takes time for my body to recover from a blood sugar low. This time it took me two and a half hours to feel normal again.
Highs are no better. I feel really tired, to the extreme of me not being able to physically stay awake. There are times that I am literally fighting with myself to stay awake. It is not because I am needing sleep, this too is a side effect of the high sugars, and it is a little hard to explain. The closest I can come is that it is not something that you can control, only fight it. I am usually aware of what is happening at the time it is happening to try and recover. But it is not an easy thing to do.
When you have to think about the effects of everything that you eat and drink, it makes it hard to fit in at gatherings. A lot of them have sweets and cake and even alcoholic beverages are a source of empty calories. So what is a person to do when faced with all of these temptations?
Think about the occasion. What would be acceptable to participate in? What choices can you make? Skip the cake or the ice cream? Or eat salads earlier in the day so you can indulge a little at the celebration?
After all, only you control what you eat or drink. It is up to you. It doesn’t matter to anyone else whether or not you eat that cake or not. It really only matters to you. When you are planning a vacation, keep in mind that sometimes you will have complete control over what you eat and drink, and sometimes you will have to go with the flow. The trick is proper planning and to not go overboard when you do participate in celebrations. Remember to drink your water too, it can help speed up the recovery time of eating or drinking off plan. Really, it is all about balance, both on and off the scale.
#TrustYourGut
by Tish MacWebber | Jul 4, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Hello to you all, and thank you for your patience. I am a little off schedule this week, because as I expected, life got in the way of the weekend. Not to fear, I will be back on schedule for the upcoming week, and plan to post my next Trust Your Gut on time and on schedule.
I am going to keep this short as it is now Tuesday. Canada Day was Saturday, and there were festivities all over the country. There were public events, and house parties from one end of the country to the other. I wore my red summer top and Nova Scotia Hoodie with the Cape Breton patch I sewed onto it myself.
Sunday was my birthday. I turned 43, and it had a few little surprises. I was with my family, and that in itself was really special. There are 5 of us, my parents, and my two sisters and myself. My sisters have their families with them. We live in different parts of Canada, and we have not all been together in the same place at the same time in 4 years. I am getting ready for another family gathering tonight, and I had some help today making deviled eggs and big mac salad for the evening.
Pete Luckett’s Phone Book White and the bottle of Bodacious Smooth White wines were lovely at the gatherings we have been to so far.
I will say that this past weekend was another win for me, and I am still working on winning the whole week long! I am taking the time I have this week to be thankful for my family and friends, and enjoying the memories I am making. What did you do this past weekend?
by Tish MacWebber | Jun 24, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
It’s here! The first official weekend of the summer! I am gearing up to run errands and host a BBQ today. I have been working hard at my Spring Cleaning Challenge, and I am literally at the finish line! I have made it to the Master Bedroom and Bathroom.
Last weekend, I worked really hard to have the floors done, the guest room ready, and the main bathroom was cleaned. When I did this, I had to move things out of the way. I moved them into the master bedroom. A pile gathered on my bed. When it was time to crawl into that bed, the only logical place to temporarily store these items was in the sunken bathtub in the master bathroom.
This means I made a lot of progress in most of the house, but not all. Today I plan to work on that. The word purge is now in my weekend plans again, and it does not refer to food in any way.
I have been working on this project since last fall. I started with my clothing. I then went through the kitchen and didn’t have a lot to purge there, but rather spent time cleaning and organizing. I have purged my makeup to make room for new makeup. I am still in the middle of writing about that experience. Today I plan to purge and organize my craft supplies.
I have decided that I am not going to do this alone. I have asked a friend to help me with this chore. It is not going to be a hard thing to do, but it may prove to be difficult. Remember when I wrote I had purged my makeup? I gathered it all up and then was unable to throw it out until I bought the new makeup. I wanted to start with a clean palette, but I was very worried that I would not be able to afford to replace everything, and I decided to not throw it out until I had done the shopping so I would not be left without a critical item for my new makeup collection.
As I wrote, I am working on that story, and I plan to have it published sometime this week. If the zit I treated that promptly decided to cause a skin reaction to the treatment and blew up over my face would kindly heal and let me feel like I can safely try my new makeup on, that would be fantastic.
When I went through my clothing, I did it all on my own. I reduced my wardrobe by 50%. I donated it to a friend who upcycles fabric. So far, the only items I have really missed were some of the more lightweight tank tops that I gave away. One of my errands today is to replace those tank tops. I have some, but I have not had a clothing shopping budget regularly for many years. We have been working insanely hard on our household budget, and we are making some changes to that. I am looking forward to the days when I don’t feel guilty about buying a new article of clothing to wear. Or about buying a new book or magazine. Things I like to buy from time to time. Mostly beading magazines, and more recently, a writing magazine. It will also be useful to know what I have on hand for craft supplies, so I don’t purchase items that I don’t need because I don’t know what I have in my stash.
The last area of my house that needs TLC is my office, a corner of my living room. I have been building up to getting this area ready for spring cleaning. It is where I plan to do my writing, and a fitting final task for all of the cleaning I am doing to prepare for writing. I have organized the desk several times since I moved here, and it is long overdue. Time to fire up the paper shredder when I am ready to tackle the last big area. I am really proud of how much I have accomplished this year with my cleaning projects, and although I still have some smaller areas to work on after my deadline, the larger, more complicated projects will be done and over with, so I can feel confident about my home not falling apart when I start writing my book. Maybe I will even be able to make time for more creative projects after it is all finished.
Phase 2 will be starting when I am settling into writing my book. With the larger cleaning projects being finished, I will have to switch gears and get the maintenance cleaning done, to keep my home from ever becoming a disaster like it was when I decided to start the spring cleaning for real this year.
I also hope that this weekend is a start of more entertaining at my house. I am feeling good about it, and not too embarrassed when I look around at the progress I have made here, the last 6 months. Time to get going and finish this stage, so I can close the chapter of Spring Cleaning 2017, and open a new book to start writing it.
I hope my friend enjoys bouncing the house with me this afternoon, I need the extra push when it comes to purging craft supplies. She is invited to stay for the BBQ as a thank you for her taking the time to help me out. What are you working on this weekend?
by Tish MacWebber | Jun 17, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Egads! I am up REALLY early on a Saturday morning. There must be a reason. Oh yes, there is. A friend wanted to go Yard Sale Shopping today. It is a bit rainy, so we may not do a lot of that, but we have errands, and he doesn’t have a car. I am trying to make more time for my friends, as they are important in my life.
As soon as we are done, Operation Spring Cleaning is going to be completed. I am expecting guests this month, starting tomorrow! I will still have some to do, but today will be the day for the final push. I need to be ready. My parents are coming, and I have not seen them in two years. I am over the moon excited to see them.
I have a plan. I thought it up when I was supposed to be sleeping last night. I will start in the guest room, then the bathrooms. After that, the floors will need cleaning. All of that will take time, and I hope I have more time when I finish all of the chores I have for today.
My Makeup Blog story is in the draft phase. In the next 2 weeks, I plan to publish it. I know it has been taking a really long time for this, but I am writing it without pictures. When I have everything organized after cleaning the Master bedroom, I will then have a place for all of my new makeup, and then I can try it out. See, I DO have a plan, and I have been buying bits and pieces of organization supplies along the way. Maybe today I will find something to help with that.
I wanted to write this early this weekend so I can focus on what I need to do. I am taking on this weekend with a full, running start, and fueling myself with coffee. Lots of coffee.
I hope you are all having a productive, fun-filled, happy weekend! I am going to give it my all, and then some. What are you doing this weekend? What do you do to prepare for guests that visit? Let me know! Maybe I can learn something new!
by Tish MacWebber | Jun 8, 2017 | Trust Your Gut
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 16
My hormones have gone CRAZY! When I was sick my body got a little confused, and now that it is getting on track, I WANT CHOCOLATE! Not the square or two of the 85% cocoa that is on plan, but regular, easy to find, totally bad for me chocolate. I am fighting with myself a lot right now. I know what I should do, and then there is what I want to do. Sometimes, the want is more than average, and my brain makes it a need. So this week I gave in a little.
I also made the lasagna last Sunday, and I have been eating a piece a day for lunch this week. I needed suppers, and I have planned an adventure in my kitchen that happened yesterday…
I love making Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole. I don’t have any chicken breasts ready in the freezer to make it with. So I poached some salmon pieces and made Salmon Bacon Ranch. It turned out really good. I swapped the chicken for salmon (poached in water with onion powder, dill and garlic) and made the recipe. I doubled the dill, added spinach, and extra Miracle Whip and Plain Greek 0% fat yogurt. I used extra old cheddar, and bacon bits. I kept the parsley, cream cheese, garlic and pepper as per the recipe.
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Salmon Bacon Ranch Casserole
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Salmon Bacon Ranch Casserole 2
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Salmon Bacon Ranch Casserole 3
I was surprised at how good this turned out. It is rich and heavy, but carb free. I checked my sugars right after supper, and they were at 10.2. For after eating, this is really close to normal range. Considering that it was a Zumba night, and I had a juice box, a G2 and a snickers bar before supper, (I was hangry and dropping) this is what I needed to see. It means that I was correct about being low, and I didn’t do too much to overcompensate. YAY!
So what I am getting at this week is that sometimes, chocolate is a necessary evil. More importantly, it is good to experiment in the kitchen with healthy recipes. You might surprise yourself.
I am not going to have Zumba classes for a few weeks. I am in charge of keeping the Zumba Crew motivated until class starts up again. I have a few ideas, but I need to get the gumption up for me to work on it as I need to be active too, especially when classes are cancelled. Dance off, anyone?
#TrustYourGut
