Reboot Reboot - Plan day 1

We went off the plan because of availability of food (i.e. we paid the entire year of property taxes and relied on what we had on hand in the freezer and pantry before we had gone on The Plan).

We went off the plan and we have paid for it. Jackie and I are hurting really badly after 2 week of being off and there's really no physical reason why my pain should be higher other than change of weather/colder temps.  We also had a bit more energy before.

So, we're going back on the Plan.  This morning I had rice for breakfast, lunch will be salad and broccoli soup with salad.  Tonight will be chicken and salad or pollock and salad.

Gotta start feeling better again. These pain levels are really hard to deal with. 

Sleeve Kitty!

Alannah decided the jacket that Jackie had pulled off was a perfect bed and that the sleeve was quite cozy.  She stayed in the sleeve for over an hour and curled up in the jacket for hours.

Grady decided my military satchel is a perfect bed. If he fits, he sleeps, I guess

Ugh fricking Ugh

Okay, we're back on The Plan.  We got back on a few days ago after a frustrating week.  I'm down several pounds from where I started.  Not the very quick loss of weight as highlighted in the testimonies of the Plan but I'm not surprised.  The Plan suggests not having any food or drink 4 hours before sleep.  I need to eat a graham sized cracker or something when I take my codeine, stuff makes me sick to my stomach.

Yes, a glitch that I have.  I could never become a heroin junkie.  After my first back surgery I was throwing up for 3 days.  I couldn't keep water down.  Mom asked what pain meds they were giving me, morphine.  She suggested changing to demerol. Viola! The opids make me sick.  I've been on codeine for decades - I take 1-2 at night with a little bit of food and try to go to sleep before the nausea hits.  So, about 8lbs down in 2 weeks. 

We also had our first major reaction to food.  Yesterday we had grilled hamburgers (patties, no buns) and eggs for breakfast.  We've tested beef and it went fine but the Plan suggests not to have well-done meat - to avoid extended high heat - the chemical makeup of the food changes.

We're not sure if we reacted from the burgers or eggs.  Shortly after having the eggs and hamburger (breakfast and lunch) I began to be down. By nightfall at 7:30 I was in a major depression and my muscles were hurting more than usual.  I was in a bad place last night and today has been kinda hard.  We've avoided any new foods today but I've had more sugar than usual.  I feel off, unbalanced and blah.  Jackie's legs were killing her today and she hadn't done anything yesterday.  Enough so that it has to be noted as not ordinary aches and pains.

So both of us had extreme reactions to either well cooked meat or eggs.

We're going to test eggs again and see how it goes and I'll know what's happening if I start a down slide.  My psych is really pleased with my progress and how I've developed tools to handle things coming our way.  So much so that my PTSD symptoms are way down (Thank G-d!).  The depression last night was horrible!

We'll see if this Plan keeps working.

Day 0

we're going to have to redo the Plan at this point. Jackie is reacting very very badly to something and the only thing new in the meal plans was romaine lettuce and crimmi (sp?) mushrooms and we don't think she'd be covered head to toe with a welt-like rash that started out small and spread over the last 24 hrs.  I'm going to take her into the emergency room at the VA in Atlanta tomorrow.

Worried as heck

Day ?

Yesterday was almost a disaster as far of the healthy eating went.  We were out of Cream of Rice cereal and I didn't want to test something new. Okay, I had some blueberries and the errands shouldn't take long. Right?

Got tobacco for Jackie and then headed to AT&T right across the street.  Jackie's phone is stuck in an Apple software glitch - which AT&T can't fix.  We have to go to Marietta to Apple and get it fixed.  Oy humbug.  Jackie has been wanting to get me a decent phone since my charity given phone's battery is going out.  So we got me a rugged basic phone.  It does some higher tech stuff than mine including coming with a camera and since I don't get new phones every year, this one should last a long time.  We also got 2 tablets for $1 each, $10 service fee a month.  Okay, that's a nice deal!

What's a tablet/I-Pad/whatever?

Seriously, I've never played or worked with one.  And the company figures you know what you're doing so they didn't include a manual.  Thank Adonai for the internet!

So I get to learn a new phone and a tablet. 

Anyway, we got stuck at the AT&T shop for a long time. By the time we got out of there after signing contracts for the phone and tablets it was mid afternoon and we were starving.  We went to Kroger for groceries. 

Man oh man! Every damned craving was hitting both of us hard and heavy! 

We resisted. We got out groceries and a rotor chicken, rushed home and had chicken and salad.

I didn't have enough water during the day and drank water until late at night so I had a gain of a couple of ounces.

Today is Yom Kippur, the most holy day in Judaism.  I caught several services in synagogues online - very enlightening and wonderful since I wasn't up to a drive to Atlanta. Now I feel a bit fuzzy and tired. 

Today for lunch I had a salad - mixed greens, craisins, sunflower seeds, goat cheese and raspberry dressing.  Nothing new there.  A snack was a rye cracker with almond butter.  Nothing new. 

Dinner will be roast chicken with carrots and zucchini and mushrooms with a salad (see above) - the new item will be mushrooms.

The Plan - Day 8

Was sick last night (still "off" today) - got hit with a migraine that lasted for hours. I took a hot bath by candlelight and then laid in my room in the dark.  I don't know if it was eye strain, a food reaction or if I'm sick.  Today my stomach is still upset with a very slight headache.  We didn't try any new food yesterday.  The only things new the last 2 days was rye and beef.

I'll retest beef in a couple of days.  Today we're going to try wild caught Pollock fish.

Day Eight: Optional Test Chickpeas or Test New protein

Breakfast Smoothie Or  Test new cereal with 2 tbsp chia seeds & sunflower seeds- approved fruit 

Lunch Grilled vegetable salad Leftover vegetables on a bed of greens with goat cheese and sunflower seeds 
 
Snack Carrots with 4-5 tbsp homemade hummus -TEST Or Watermelon   

Dinner Protein that has been tested on a bed of baby romaine  OR Test new protein Roasted, Sauteed, Grilled or steamed vegetables that have been approved with 2 tbsp grated manchego

cats and more cats

alannah - she fits!

Alyssa - she hates to be photographed

Oscar has a new bed. We came in to find this

LG - Little Guy