Morning report

LOL!  My weight is down 6.5 pounds from yesterday!  But that is only 2 pounds from the day before yesterday--ah the dangers of daily weighing!  I've got to vut that out!  But yay!  I am back to trending in the right direction!  Wahoo!

New Year's Resolutions, Goals, and Action Plans

New Year's Resolutions, January 2008
A work in progress

GOALS:

1. WEIGHT:  lose weight, get to a healthy appropriate weight (135?  135 is the recommended weight for my height)
2. SOCIAL:  Marriage, family, friends.  Have friends and a social network in this area and maintain in a reasonable way my old friendships.  Explore what this means and how to do it.  (Take classes, join activities, etc), Maintain old friendship, begin new ones, Enhance marriage and family.
   
3. HEALTH:  optimum good health--take steps to optimize my personal health, social and family health and world/earth health, spiritual financial health
   
4. WRITING:  finish works in progress and send them out, pursue, play educate self and others.
   
5. ORGANIZATION: Organization:  clean, unpack, organize, daily plan
6. ART:  pursue, educate, do, play, send out, exhibit
7. FUN:  Have more fun!  Have fun with art, writing, friends etc.  Laugh more.  PLAY!  Smile!
8. FINANCIAL:  get fiances organized and straightened out
   

RESOLUTIONS:

1. I, Mary, hereby resolve to start a new diet and to stick with it until I reach my goal weight AND to then slowly institute a maintenance diet that works for me--with great care.  (see diet plan below and in separate file)
   

ACTION PLANS:

DIET PLAN 1b:

1. avoid white sugar and white flour
2. no snack foods (eg:  chips)
   
3. portion control phase 1:  one serving meats, whole grains, look up serving sizes (meat 3-4 oz.), no seconds.
4. no drinks other than water or herbal teas
   
5. Fruit only at dinner, one (or none)
   

1)health

1. physical
1. Diet-start a new diet, plan and execute it and pay attention
2. breakfast every day (small)
   
3. Exercise--strength training, start a plan
2. mental/emotional

1. make appointment to start therapy
   

1. social--make new friends, contact and visit old ones, make dates, join something
2. sexual
3. financial
4. spiritual
   

4)Writing
   New

• write poems
• write stories
• write novels
• write cnf
• create manuscripts
  

   Revision

• revise poems
• revise stories
• revise novels
• revise cnf
• revise manuscripts

   Send out (all the above)(AND RESEND!)
   organize and keep track of (All the above)

3)organization--clean, unpack, organize day and work

        a)daily schedule

1. eat breakfast 1 hour after taking synthroid (eat a healthy abstinent breakfast.)
2. in the hour preceding breakfast, walk, run, do exercises
3. bed by 11 PM, up by 7 am except when sleep is really bad

b)financial

6)SOCIAL

• get signed up for Dawn's class, join Springfed arts, call Dawn make appointment,
  
• contact Sam,
  
• keep in touch with distant friends,
  
• look for one new friend locally.

8)FINANCIAL:
   Financial Immediate and short term

1. change checking account to free checking or close account
2. divide direct deposit from annuity ?
   
3. change setting on investment account dealing with income from stocks--reinvest/direct deposit?
4. have a small direct deposit to La Salle from investment account if necessary?
   

diet improvements

YAY!  I have finished two full days of my new diet and gotten partly through day three.  Although I know it doesn't mean much, I've already lost a fair amount of weight!  I was very hungry all day, day one, and 2/3s of day two and then it subsided a little and today, it is better yet.  I'm still a little hungry, but not in pain (my stomach really hurt for 1 2/3 days) and I can think of something other than how hungry I feel.  This is a good thing because I have a lot of other stuff to do--like work ont he adoption etc.  I couldn't concentrate on it (or anything else) for the first couple days.  Piano Boy has gone off to Landslide, which is a skater Park 45 minutes away by car--he's gone with a friend, and Biker Buddy had to work today, so I am home alone and hope to be able to concentrate enough to accomplish something.  YAY!  Hope hope.

HUNGRY

I am very hungry.  I got up hungry yesterday, was hungry all day, and went to bed hungry.  I got up hungry today and have been very hungry all day so far.  My stomach hurts.  Diets are a drag.  I keep hoping I will lose my appetite a little.  I sometimes do when I am dieting, after the 3rd or fourth day.

A Portrait of Paul

A Portrait of Paul, by Mary Stebbins Taitt.

See original smudge painting.
See sepiaed version.

Vertigo!

I am having an episode of vertigo. It started before 7 AM when I got up and has lasted over 2 hours so far and is not gone yet. It seems to rise and fall in intensity. The room and everything in it is "spinning." It had the senses of spinning but actually appears to repeatedly move off to one side. It is accompanied by a feeling of dizziness and a slight sense of nausea that also rises and falls. I am having trouble functioning. I stagger and lurch when I walk, and when I look at the computer screen, it moves to one side and makes me dizzy and nauseous. I had a terrible time making the bed.

My Neurologist, Dr. Moudgil, says that my "Vertigo Episodes" could be caused by my brain tumor, which is in the area of the brain associated with balance.

I also wonder if it could be caused or triggered or affected by my food sensitivities. I know everyone will laugh at this notion, but the reason I wonder this is that this episode is accompanied by fevers and sweats, restlessness, poor sleep and other symptoms that have been related to food sensitivities in the past. This could be coincidental because I ate out last night.

So far, all my episodes of vertigo have begun with getting up in the morning.

Vertigo can also be caused by vestibular (inner ear) disorders.

I just did some research and learned that diet CAN affect vertigo! Here are some dietary considerations:

General Guidelines

Dietary strategies for regulating fluid balances involve modifying the amount of certain substances consumed (and reducing fluctuations in those amounts), as well as reducing or eliminating other substances that can adversely affect the inner ear. Components of these dietary strategies include:

• Distributing food and fluid intake evenly throughout the day and from day to day.
• Avoiding foods and beverages that have a high sugar or salt content. Foods with complex sugars (e.g., those found in legumes and whole grains) are better choices than foods with a high concentration of simple sugars (e.g., table sugar and honey). Sodium intake also affects body-fluid levels and their regulation. Each individual's physician will be the best judge of appropriate levels of sodium intake.
• Drinking adequate amounts of fluid daily. If possible, fluid loss from exercise or heat should be anticipated, and extra fluids drunk before and during exercise and in hot weather.
• Avoiding foods and beverages with caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant that can make tinnitus louder. Its diuretic properties also cause excessive urinary loss of body fluids.
• Limiting or eliminating alcohol consumption. Alcohol can directly and adversely affect the inner ear by changing the volume and composition of its fluid.
• Avoiding migraine triggers including foods that contain the amino acid tyramine. Examples of such foods include red wine, chicken liver, smoked meats, yogurt, chocolate, bananas, citrus fruits, figs, ripened cheeses (e.,g., cheddar and Brie), and nuts.

Non-dietary substances

Some non-dietary substances can increase symptoms of vestibular disorders as well. Aspirin can increase tinnitus, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, can interfere cause water retention or electrolyte imbalance.

Note that last night I had one and 7/8 large glasses of beer which is very unusual for me. It says above (and bears repeating) that: Alcohol can directly and adversely affect the inner ear by changing the volume and composition of its fluid. SO there are two possible causes for my problem: the tumor, and unusual alcohol consumption. However, since I eat simple sugars daily and do not experience vertigo daily, the dietary connection may not be the case of my problem.

I am still experiencing some vertigo 2 1/2 hours after it started.

leaf pattern

I love the colored leaves of fall.

Detail from Migration

Detail from my second to latest piece.

Grateful

Biker Buddy and I are grateful that we had the morning to play at giving each other things to be thankful for and we're thankful we still have the prowess and energy to make each other thankful.  LOL!  YAY!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Biker Buddy's spontaneous humor

This morning Biker Buddy and I were telling each other the things we were thankful for and I said, giving him a hug, "I am thankful you are such a long drink of water."

He responded, "Well, I guess that's better than a short hork of phlegm." (We both laughed so hard we almost choked.) (GAK!)

Happy Thanksgiving!