Recovering after severe "Stomach 'flu"

After a bad bout of gastro, food poisoning, stomach flu or virus or whatever it was that made me a slave to the toilet and puke bucket, I'm wondering if I should have done anything different during the recovery.

As kids, my siblings and I would every couple of years come down with some kind of stomach/intestinal trouble. My mom would give us a little flat gingerale or gatorade, and if we were hungry: dry toast and bananas. Once tummies were more settled, we'd have applesauce, chicken noodle soup, saltine crackers, puffed rice cereal and skim milk.

After my recent illness, it got me thinking about better food choices  because I really don't eat some these foods anymore, but I fell back on them as standbys anyway. Looking at MedLine Plus Bland Diet , there doesn't seem to be anything new or groundbreaking when you're trying to over being so sick.  Mom knows best after all :)

Needing some sleep

Was able to eat well throughout the week, lots of greens and veggies, some meat, chicken and fish, and was taking it easy on the fruit and carbs. Had lots of fun working my new charcoal grill!

But when it comes to weekends, especially when I'm away from home, I'm having lots of problems keeping to plan. My menu is thrown out the window and so is my sleep pattern. There's a party, some get-together, or a late night rescue mission to pick up a stranded friend. There's always something.

For me getting a good 7 to 8 hours sleep is so important specially if I want my brain cells to actually function, most importantly when I'm at work.  Some weeks a good night's sleep is harder than others... especially when it's due to PMS. That was last week and it was rough. And here I am trying to get to sleep since 10pm. Tossing and turning like The Princess and the Pea. Just took some melatonin after a warm bath and am hoping to feel those eyelids get heavy soon. Nite-nite.

Muchas better!

Was able to eat mostly healthy meals and got all but one session of my exercises in. Salad is a definite staple every day and I'm taking advantage of the seasonal veggies as much as possible. This year, due to the drought, we have lower quality and less quantity veggies... but was able to score some kick-ass beets and some delicious Peaches and Cream Corn!

One of my favorite Friday night dishes is nachos! I do try to go easy on the cheese. But this time I made my own salsa with fresh tomatoes also incorporated black beans and adding some leftover corn... couldn't resist have a bit of guacamole on the side. I don't always have time to do everything from scratch so I kinda enjoy the taste more knowing that I can actually cook.

 The only cheats I had was a chocolate bar and two creamsicles. Not too worried about this. Will weigh in later in the month.

What was I thinking?

Went off waaaaaaaaaaaay off track  this week, especially with the dirty carbs:

- 1 large pizza from the Pizza Slut (3500+cals, 150g+ fat)
- 2 pastas with alfredo sauce (500+cals, 30g+fat)
- fries with mayonnaise (900+cals, 50g fat)
- 2 non-healthy muffins (680cals, 22g fat)
- 4 pieces of chocolate (300cals, 12gf at)

No, I did not chow all this down in one sitting, but it was slowly over the course of the week.

Big question now is... WHY?

So I've thought about it and it's basic loneliness. My man is still away on business and I'm feeling lonely and insecure. I ate my feelings. With gusto.

This song came to mind as I was thinking about what I had done:

I tried to exercise away the feelings, but that didn't work. I was able to schedule outings with friends  a few times this week to drive away the loneliness but when we ended up at restaurants, I made bad choices. I feel even worse. I'm not blaming anyone but myself.

All I can do now is learn from my mistakes and do better next time.

On the right path

Five pounds gone this week, hurray!  But... I'm guessing it was water retention from travel and t.o.m.  and then maybe a couple of pounds of fat lost. Was right on track with eating this week. Want to slide my ass firmly into One-derland soon!

For this coming week, I'm going to work on preparing and eating a decent breakfast. I'm saying "No more" to my skimpy toast and coffee on the run!

I also find it tough cooking for one. My man is not around for a few weeks and plus he's not on my regime. I'm going to try and plan a sensible two-week menu rather than deciding at the last minute what I'm going to eat. I'm fortunate enough to have a grocery store nearby, but still I want to set myself up advance to make good choices rather than heading into the store and impulse buy.

Back from France

...and the damage is done.  Sigh. At least it's not as bad as it could have been.

Although my man and I did get some very good exercise in from time to time, it couldn't offset the heavy meals, like lunch and supper, we were served by my man's family. Example: Duck with potatoes and lots of fresh veggies. Followed by a cheese course. Baguettes of bread. Desserts were mainly fruits like peaches, strawberries and apricots which are in season. I didn't know apricots are supposed to be so juicy and flavourful! Don't forget the wine--so good! 

One especially good meal was spaghetti, made by one of the Italian aunts. Ingredients: three meats--beef, veal, pork, fresh ripe tomatoes, white wine, garlic, basil and a hint of cinnamon. Grate fresh parmesan cheese on top. I certainly didn't want to offend anyone in the family by refusing to eat what they has prepared, but I didn't ask for seconds. My man told me that his family in France view food as love and if you refuse the food, you refuse the love.

And of course I had to deal with my own vice: tasty patisseries, like croissants, chocolatines, millefeuilles, tartes... I am salivating just thinking about them. I was able to control myself and limited the treats to one every third day.  It was hard when you pass by at least four patisseries every single day.

Now that long vacations for me are over until Christmas, it's time to get back to my real life and my own healthy routine. Not forgetting to make room for a tasty treat every couple of weeks :)

Vacation time

Taking a blog break because I'm off to France, land of croissants, baguettes, sweet treats galore and wine. And of course my fave meringues!

Temptations will certainly cross my path but I'm hoping to make the right choices most of the time to keep on track. Wish me luck!  I hoping that we can do a lot of shopping at farmer's markets rather than eating quick bread n' cheese meals. Looking forward to the people we'll and the fun times we'll have!

Like mother, like daughter

This past weekend, I went to visit my parents. I missed seeing them on the May long-weekend due to recovering from the flu. Spending time with them is always a good experience, although they are less active these days than in the past. My mother and I went clothes shopping because very few of our summer clothes fit (too big, hurrah for us!).  My mom is also trying to lose -- she's about 40lbs overweight. In certain lights, we could be carbon-copies of one another.

In one particular store, I became more frustrated with sizing for a certain brand line. A size 18 in a jean was too big, but a size 18 in a short was too small, and a size 14 capri was just right?!  My mother found the same craziness too with the tops.  We decided to take a break at the old Tim Hortons.

As our conversation progressed over Iced Capps and splitting a Honey Glazed, the topic turned to eating habits. She blamed herself for my weight gain."You learned about this from me, by watching me turning to food for comfort when your father wasn't around." But as I told her, I wasn't a fat child, I loved running around and playing until the street light went on in the evening and it was time to get home. My weight gain is something that began in my 20s and has continued on and off since then. "It's me not making the right choices Mom. Sure I turned to food instead of facing things and taking action, because it's so easy."

A lot of adults blame their parents for their poor upbringing or parenting skills, sometimes justifiably so, but at a certain point you have to take responsibility for your own actions. Know it and own it.

Keepin' it real food-wise: Average calories per day 1600-1900

Exercise: Lazy bonededness as in working out twice per week.

Goals for the next week: Getting to bed early! Exercise more!