Better Health Through Better Eating?

I'm going to give it a try.

I've been having lots of digestive issues lately and after doing a lot of research and self diagnoses, have come to the conclusion that I've got some irritable bowel syndrome going on and have been trying to figure out which foods seem to cause it to flare up. Plus, I am way way way way too fat and need to at least make some kind of effort to lose some weight.

I have found that dairy seems to not agree with me much anymore, which really isn't that much of a problem because I've never really liked milk all that much even though it's supposed to be so darn good for you. I've discovered almond milk, which has way more calcium and tastes much better. Yogurt seems to disagree with me and gives me pain and gas, so even though I do like yogurt, it really has way too many carbs and too much sugar for me to be eating anyway. Greek yogurt is totally disgusting even though it's all the rage now, so that is not an option and it has too much sugar in it, too. Cheese, now, I do like cheese but don't usually eat a whole lot of it unless we are having mexican food that is. I did make some mac and cheese a few weeks ago with my high fiber carb control macaroni, and all that cheese and extra fiber really made my stomach hurt and gave me nasty gas, so...

I have to be careful with certain vegetables, too, like bell peppers, much as I like those they just don't like me. No more green ones ever, but I can do small amounts of the sweeter red, yellow and orange. I like them in sweet and sour chicken and in a couple of salads that I make. Also, Keith likes stuffed peppers.

I've also had an incredible sweet tooth lately (well, always, actually) and want candy and cookies and the donuts from Vons that have icing and sprinkles on them, and maybe a little crack too because they certainly are addictive. So, out with any sweets because if they are around I can't seem to stop eating them.

I decided I'm going to do the Washington apple diet and see how that goes, basically you eat an apple with each meal or before each meal or something like that to help you fill up and also give you extra fiber. We'll see how long I can stand to eat apples 2 or 3 times a day, though. I've eaten so much of certain foods that I just can't face them anymore, like the low carb yogurt and cottage cheese and sometimes eggs. Blech.

I got some glucerna snacks and shakes despite the high price tags on those kinds of things, and a big bag of apples, and stuff for salads and so far today have done very well. Apple and oatmeal for breakfast, an apple, chicken, and walnut salad with raspberry viniagrette dressing for lunch, and 2 multi-grain rice cakes for a snack. So far today my stomach feels okay and no issues in my gas making regions, so...we will see how it goes.

I did figure out why Mimi sat in the cement mixing pan out in the back yard the other day, and kind of went 'duh'. Instead of regular cat litter pans we use cement mixing pans in the house for the multitude of peeing and pooping cats. Regular cat pans are really just too small, especially for some of the more rotund cats like Pepper, who on occasion would hang her backside over the edge of the pan because she just couldn't fit all of herself inside of it. So, what looks like a litter pan is sitting outside, and Mimi is used to getting inside litter pans, so voila! into the cement mixing pan she went. Or she just likes any opportunity to sit in something.


Here is my new short hair. With some help from Mimi.