Monthly Archives: January 2012

Found 2 More Great Paleo Recipe sites!

Posted in Paleo Diet by

I am, as always, looking for new recipes for our family.

Today, I came across two sites I hadn’t seen before that are both awesome! They are Health-Bent.com and PaleOMG!

Both sites have too many great recipes to feature just one from each site, but I will say that Health-Bent has what I consider to be some of the best uses of plantain that I have seen (Can you say Thanksgiving stuffing hushpuppies? I can!), and PaleOMG! has an entire section devoted to the art of Crockpot cooking. That alone stole my heart.

Hope you enjoy surfing their sites as much as I do!

Feeling Existential…

Posted in Just Life., Spirituality by

You are more than what you think.
You are more than what you say.
You are more than what you do, what you own, or control.
You are bigger than the legacy you leave behind;
Or the fantasy of who you think you are.
You are a part of something more.
And as a cog in that massive everything machine,
You are necessary
Even when you do nothing,
Even when you’re silent,
Even when you doubt and seethe in pain and cry and scream.
Because without you there is…

Happy Saturday!

Posted in Just Life. by

Happy Saturday, party people!

What’s new with you? Not a hell of a lot going on here. I know that this week has been bereft of entries, and sometimes that happens. At least when I do post, I try to make it quality.

This week, overall, has been a good one. It’s definitely had its ups and downs dealing with PTSD, though.

I think that its safe to say that there’s no comfortable way to tell someone in your family, who you care about, that they have triggered you, and not to engage in a particular activity around or with you again. You’re already neck deep in awful, so anything that comes out of you is going to be noxious.

And there’s certainly no comfortable way to say you’re sorry to friends when you’ve acted out, as though the false reality were real. It’s just a big ole helping of humble pie with a side of “fuck you.”

Fortunately, I know what humble pie tastes like and am okay with admitting my wrongness the moment I realize how totally not-right I am in situations. The unfortunate part is how frequently it happens, surrounding the economic climate, politics, and utter catastrophization of our future.

So I avoid politics now. I avoid political discussions, especially with Republicans. I avoid the news, which is really just set up to scare people about things they have no control over. I use a credit union, and I’m not scared of my birthday this year. 12/21/12 (Woo!)

I try to focus on the things that I do have control over, like the food that I eat, the people I hang out with, the jewelry I make, and the pets for which I care. There are better things to think about, like what to make for dinner.

Positive attitudes are crafted by choice, not by chance, and things only improve with a positive will.

I knew when I woke up this morning, I was gonna have a good day. What about you?

Fatty Foods May Cause Brain Lesions In Your Hypothalamus.

Posted in Just Life., Multiple Sclerosis, Science by

According to a study just released in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, consuming a diet filled with high-fat foods could lead to multiple sclerosis, with the lesions appearing in your hypothalamus.

In the study, scientists fed rats a high-fat diet that is typical in the United States and were astonished by results that showed them that within 1 day, there was inflammation within the hypothalamus. After an eight month-long extension of this diet, the doctors believed that gliosis occurred while the brain tried furiously to heal from the inflammation.

Gliosis, for those of you without a medical dictionary handy, is just another way of saying “scarring of the nervous system.” It’s the step after demyleniation. Gliosis is the term that is used when a lesion has been created.

To make sure that it wasn’t entirely rodent related, the doctors took 34 obese humans to an MRI machine to check how their hypothalamus activity was looking. They found inflammation and repair activity taking place, but nothing was reported for those subjects regarding lesions or gliosis.

Some scientists believe that, like our pancreas’s insulin jump right after eating, our brains may react similarly with this inflammation. Others are more skeptical, especially since the rodents on a high-fat diet lost about 25% of their POMC cells during the 8 month trial, and those protein cells are critical to regulating appetite.

In any event, it’s clear that there is more research to be done, and that it is wise to watch your intake of fatty foods, not just to keep you fit and trim, but also for your brain health.

Threatening to switch meds just to get help.

Posted in Just Life., Multiple Sclerosis by

4 days and no posts.

It’s shameful, really. I could at least translate a chapter of the Tao, one might think… but life hasn’t given itself to that, or the posts would be there.

For those of you who are clucking your teeth, know that I have self-berated.
For those of you who are giggling, know that I am smirking as I write this.

It’s hard to believe that I just got off the phone with Shared Solutions, letting them know that it’s been more than a month that I have been without Copaxone on their account and that I am suffering through a relapse – and that if they’re not gonna help me, I’m gonna have to switch meds. Rebif is givin a year free right now, though I don’t know how wise it is to go that route. I am done with my Medrol dose pack, but I am still dealing with numb tinglys off and on throughout my side and top of my chest and my left pinky and ring fingers. It’s weird typing with them, but it can be done — mostly because I know to will my way through it. I’m sleepy all the time. Even with ZipFizz. I don’t care that it’s not Paleo. I’m tired. Very tired.

Right now, I’m just trying to keep going. I don’t think sleeping all day is the answer, much as I wish it was. Instead, I think it involves a smoothie, picking out some recipes to try this week, and convincing Adam to make a trip with me to Trader Joe’s to pick up some bananas and salsa (not to be used together!) and Whole Foods for whatever other ingredients we need.

In the battle of Rae vs. the totally lame, I cannot let lame and boring win!!! Mostly because that means I’m bored. And I can’t have that, now, can I?

Hope all you readers are rockin it out in the free world… or some other awesomely awkward quote that would befit a reading by Paul Rudd. Peace.

R.I.P. – Tonks

Posted in Just Life. by

Nothing sucks quite like waking up to a dead foster kitten.

But that’s what happened this morning. After 4 days of us syringe-feeding her antibiotics and KMR, Tonks passed away in her sleep.

I bawled my eyes out this morning, and I think I’m doing better simply because I know I tried my absolute best for her during the week I had her, and I know she’s not suffering anymore.

She was a very good kitty.

❤

Free(ish) Paleo(ish) Yogurt!

Posted in Just Life. by

This site will give you a free $0.55 coupon when you fill out their form, for dairy free yogurt.

Many grocery stores double coupons up to a dollar on special days, and price that yogurt at a dollar or just under.

If you’re willing to eat rice starch, these coconut products may be right for you!

503: Service Unavailable

Posted in Law by

503: Service Unavailable

In It For The Parking is offline today, because the US Senate is considering legislation that would certainly kill this site forever. The legislation is called the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), and would put us in legal jeopardy if we linked to a site anywhere online that had any links to copyright infringement.

This would unmake the Web, just as proposed in the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). We don’t want that world. If you don’t want it either, visit AmericanCensorship.org for instructions on contacting your Senator. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has more information on this and other issues central to your freedom online.

Thanks,

Rae

Life Update

Posted in Just Life., Multiple Sclerosis by

Well, it’s been a while since I did a proper update just on me and not on the diet. There’s a lot going on here.

First, we have a new pair of foster kittens in the house – Tonks and Luna. They’re a pair of black & white sisters who are about 10 weeks old. Tonks isn’t doing too well, unfortunately. She has a congenital defect in her esophagus that makes it hard for her to swallow at this point, so we’re having to feed her KMR using a syringe so that she gets some nutrition, as well as giving her an antibiotic twice a day. It’s really wonderful having kittens back in my life, but I feel so bad for the little one, having such a hard time getting food to her tummy. Adam and I are doing our best with her.

This is Tonks

This is Luna.

Then, there’s the relapse I’ve been going through. I just finished my last day of a Medrol Dose pack yesterday. Corticosteroids stay in your system for a bit, though, so I have some energy this morning, thank goodness. I really need to make some coffee though. I wonder, honestly, if I would have had this last relapse if I had been on Copaxone. It’s now been a month without it.

I didn’t intend to go off Copaxone until we were trying to conceive a child, but sometimes things just happen. Dr. Analytis took his sweet time calling in a verbal prior authorization, so I couldn’t get my December meds for the December cost, and ACS (the new pharmacy working with Shared Solutions) has yet to call me about getting me the meds for January — and it’s already past the 15th. It makes me wonder how serious they are about keeping people on their medication. I can tell you, I truly do not miss giving myself an injection every night.

Hey – on a multiple sclerosis note – a friend of mine sent me a link to an article that was pretty cool just the other day: MS damage washed away by stream of young blood. Apparently, giving younger blood to mice stimulated myelin repair, suggesting that similar type blood transfusions may help humans. So, another non-pharmaceutical “win” in the MS column.

Other than that, life’s been a lot of napping, practicing/playing guitar and piano, watching old TV shows and new cartoons that I didn’t have time for in high school/college/law school, and hanging out with my favorite pup, Brisco. Right now, I’m on season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’ve finally talked myself into watching it because my good friend Deb (and so many of my other friends) are fans, and it’s campy in that non-offensive way that says, “Go ahead, make fun of me. I’m already too dumb to care.”


What? 😉

Adam and I are still enjoying the Sims Medieval – Pirates and Nobles. It’s a cute game. Very choose-your-own adventure. It takes most of the good parts of Sims 3 and puts it with the structure that Sims 3 was really lacking for folks who enjoy Adventure games.

This is from someone else's game, but it's still totally cool!

Other than that, not much is going on. I’m still making earrings, but I haven’t been posting them on Etsy because I still haven’t taken the time to properly market my shop. I’m still really enjoying finding and creating Paleo recipes… and that’s about life in a nutshell right now.

Adapting to a Paleo Lifestyle

Posted in Just Life., Paleo Diet by

This way of eating is not for everyone. Removing dairy, grains, and legumes from your diet is something that most folks only consider doing if they have a condition that calls for it or if they’re interested in being as nutritious as possible for their body in the hopes of life extension, which, if you ask me, ain’t a bad thing! (Maybe this way of eating is for everybody!)

Regardless of your reason for changing your day to day noms, there’s gonna be some “body backlash” – some “Hey! Where’s my bread and candy?!” coming from your system. It happens to everybody, whether you’re a bodybuilder or someone weak from a combination of many ailments.

The most important thing to remember when beginning or even maintaining a change in your eating habits is that long-term changes are what matter most. This means that occasional glitches or “cheats” are the norm, not the exception to the rule.

Does this mean that you should “cheat?” Heck, no! Why on earth would you want to self-sabotage? But are you going to anyway, despite your best efforts? Probably. And that’s okay.

It’s not like you’re making a small change from the standard American diet. Being a Paleo eater and following the Paleo Diet means giving up all the artificial crap that we knew and loved and that sustained us and brought us up to be the people we are today, for better or for worse. And the great thing about it is that we’ve come to the point in our lives where we’ve decided that we want to be healthier and to take a step towards feeling better by eating a specific way.

There’s nobody who’s going to punish us if we stray. Our bodies won’t reject the other food, and odds are we’ll just enjoy it. If something bad occurs, we’ll be able to tell exactly why.

If you’ve chosen this path, it’s because you’re doing it for yourself, for your health, and for those you love. So don’t ever think it’s all or nothing.

It’s meal by meal, bite by bite, day by day that you’re making your insides feel better and letting yourself heal.

The secret to success has always been the same: just don’t quit. 🙂