Monday, January 14, 2019

Here I Go Again...

I literally sit down to write and music just floods into my head. Insert laughing emoji... do I need to a new blog? Why are there no emoji options here?

Anyways... as I'm sitting here singing Whitesnake in my head... I'm at a crossroads of many things that feels like I'm starting "again".  First being this blog.  While there are other posts on here that you are more than welcome to read, they're not exactly following the direction that my blog is going.  The second thing being that I am again on a nutritional journey.  The funny thing is when these roads first separated back in 2014... they both fell to the way side.  Now they're back! Seemingly hand-in-hand.

I have started a new adventure.  I am doing the Arbonne 30 Days to Healthy Living Program.  I'm already feeling way better and healthier, and am down some weight.  It has certainly been challenging but in an effort to sort out my health problems I am going to be documenting how I feel, what I eat, etc.

We are now on Day 11 of our 30 days.
So far we have cut out...
Alcohol. (Me more than Kevin. I have had 0.)
Gluten. (Again - same :-| )
Dairy.  (We are allowed cage free eggs, I have yet to cook with them and Kevin hasn't eaten any... but I can't eat eggs as far as I am aware because approximately 1/3 of the way through an egg, I will throw up. I'm just letting you know this in case it changes (laughing emoji) .... also FULL DISCLOSURE this ish will get graphic.)
Soy. - Not hard, I'm not a big fan... however it is in a surprising number of things. Like chocolate?
Sugar. - So no chocolate anyways... except I've discovered cacao which is life changing lol.
Vinegar ... now this has actually been really hard.  Like I am a sour and spicy person TO MY CORE. However, hot sauce has vinegar. Salad dressing has vinegar. Pickles have vinegar. SO MUCH STUFF HAS VINEGAR.  We can have apple cider vinegar... so like I'm not entirely dead.  Evidently ACV is an alkaline vinegar not an acidic.

So today I ate... a gross smoothie from Tropical Smoothie.  They evidently don't know how to work with healthy ingredients.  I got the Strawberry Granola which is new, it is made with almondmilk instead of yogurt or whatever dairy is normally in one.  It also has granola... which I made a point to ask if it was gluten free.  The girl said Mmm I don't think so, asked her coworker who said "Yeah it is" without even looking at a label... so I really should have just asked for it without, but whatever.  I asked for no added sugar, because they love to add sugar to the smoothies.  And I also added pea protein... because out of the protein options soy, whey (which I learned comes from the liquid part separated during the cheese process - so dairy) and pea... pea was my only legal option.  It was far below mediocre at best... I drank it and survived.

Then I had a second protein shake for "lunch" even though it was like 3:30.  This one I made and it consisted of:
2 scoops Arbonne Chocolate Protein Powder
1 scoop daily fiber
Uhh... an accidentally large scoop of Cacao powder
1 scoop of natural peanut butter... it should be almond but I'm on a learning curve here
2 cups of unsweetened original almond milk

Uh, it was super tasty.  And filling.

I am home today with a migraine.  I woke up Saturday morning with a headache which I could tell was from grinding my teeth over Friday night... not happy.  I iced my head and went on about my life.  Around 7/8 PM my head ache came back with a vengeance and progressed to a full blown migraine.  So I come home from my cousins' house and ice my head/neck and go to bed.  Sunday I wake up and I just still do not feel awesome.  My pain is now isolated to certain areas but not gone.  I take a migraine pill (Sumatriptan) and go back to sleep to avoid the nausea/dizziness I get from the medication.  I wake up feeling refreshed, ta da... problem solved.  SO short lived, within a few hours the migraine is kicking its way back in.  I end the day with a shower which felt like it was helping dramatically and peppermint oil to the face and another migraine pill before bed.  I wake up feeling like garbage.  I am totally unenergized from taking a double dose of migraine meds on Sunday and not to mention the pain is not gone... I call in to work.  THIS is the epitome of what I have come to know and love about my new healthy life.  Since starting allergy shots and going to the chiropractor, I can almost COMPLETELY avoid migraines.  Now I am still having occasional headaches, which I am hoping to remove completely with a change in diet that is progressing... but life without migraines is 100% tolerable.

So I went to the chiropractor today and got treated for this dreadful migraine... he basically said "Ugh, wow, oh boy" because my muscles neck, upper back and face were a total mess.  So he took new x-rays today so we can figure out if something may be shifting back or what is going on.

That is all for today.