Tenth Monthly Assessment - October 31st

If you've been reading, you know we traveled a lot last month, and I ate a lot of yummy meals and desserts!  Well, it has shown on the scale.  I gained three pounds, to 133, and haven't yet lost them since I've been home.  I must say up front that I don't for a minute regret eating all that great food - it would have been a terrible waste to try to eat paleo and stick to a diet on the cruise.  And, to give myself some credit, I didn't throw all my good eating habits out the window, though I did make good use of a convenient machine that dispensed various coffee drinks.  The mochaccino was especially good.

There's no point in showing off front and side views this month.  Here's how I looked last night as Stan and I headed out to our favorite wine bar, Vino at the Landing, for dinner.  I had a soup special - cauliflower with coconut milk and curry - and a glass of chardonnay.  Even though I'm slimmer than in prior years, I still love these tee shirts that allow one a bit of leeway at the waist and stomach! Couldn't face getting into the skinny jeans, so I'm wearing my old too-big slacks from last year.

January 31st

October 31st

New shoes from Hotter.  They recently added a "slim" size in a few styles - still a bit wide for me with nylons, but okay with socks.  Hmmm - keep or send back??  I cut the tag off and wore them tonight, so they are mine (and comfortable).

What went well this month:

• During our trip, through a lot of walking, standing around in museums and sleeping on a different bed, my hips were perfect - not a single twinge of the old hip pain.
• Even though I enjoyed the desserts, I didn't go crazy and eat everything.  I usually chose an appetizer and main course that limited carbs and if there were potatoes on the plate I left them or only ate a bite.  For breakfasts I focused on eggs, meat, veggies and fruit - skipping pancakes, French toast and hot cereal.  (I did have a small serving of oatmeal, which I love, and they cooked it perfectly!  I also tried the French toast, another favorite, and realized that is something I can pass up.)  I had mostly salads or meat and veggies for lunch.

Two typical breakfasts.  For an omelet, on the left, there were several choices of vegetable as well as meat and cheese.  On the right the veggies are carrots and yellow pepper along with scrambled eggs and bacon, pineapple chunks, some type of processed meat and cheese.  They always had some type of vegetable available at breakfast.

Lunch from the salad bar along with cream of vegetable soup.  The white square item was salmon with dill sauce - delicious!

Appetizer I chose from the salad bar:

• When we got home I made some paleo muffins and started making salads again.

What didn't go well:

• I got sick  : (   Soon after feeling lucky and a bit self-righteous that I rarely catch a cold when hearing that many people aboard the ship were getting sick, I came down with a very sore throat and head cold.  Fortunately, I felt fine below the neck and didn't miss out on any of the activities, but I was pretty miserable and coughed a lot. 
• When we got home I got even sicker.  It turned out to be a urinary infection and I spent several days getting more and more uncomfortable before figuring it out and going to the doctor.  Kudos to my doctor's practice for giving me an appointment 45 minutes after the time I called!  I was getting worse fast and I spent a pretty bad 20 minutes in Bartell's waiting for my Rx to be filled.  Three hours after taking the first pill I started feeling better.  I'm so glad I live in the times of modern medicine!
• I still don't feel well.  The infection symptoms are gone, but my stomach hurts - not as with nausea, but just hurts.  It reminds me of  how I felt when I was having chemo.  I did take a probiotic every day along with my antibiotic, to replace the good flora and fauna while killing off the bad, so perhaps it just needs more time to get back to normal.

So, bottom line - I've been working toward good health all year and I'm still not there yet!  I think it's not surprising to get sick when going halfway around the world, staying busy regardless of jet lag, and living on a ship full of strangers.  I could have been more careful and planned better.  If we go on another cruise, I'll use the hand sanitizer more often and pack my own favorite remedies even while hoping I won't need them.  I used to always travel with aspirin and Gas-X, but haven't needed either all year.  (On the other hand, a couple of our best memories are of when we headed out into Moscow on our own to find over-the-counter medication.  I wasn't impressed with their version of TheraFlu, but I got some really lovely cough syrup!)


What to work on next:

• Obviously, I want to lose my stomach ache and feel better!
• And lose the weight I gained 

My traditional favorites when I don't feel well are Campbell's chicken and rice soup, Saltines (with peanut butter and jelly if not too sick), and cream of rice with milk and sugar - nothing my  mentors Drs. Wahl and Rosedale would approve of!  I bought some soup, but thinking Campbell's wouldn't be good for me I got a healthier-sounding brand.  Progresso's Italian wedding soup turned out to be mostly noodles and tasted okay, but on my next trip I'm going to get the Campbell's.  I also have most of a deliciously ripe and sweet honeydew melon in the fridge and it has appealed so I'm enjoying it.  (Must mention Newcastle Fruit and Produce where I got it.  Their fruit is so much more delicious than from the supermarket, I should go there every week.  I don't because a) I'm too lazy to make the extra stop and b) their parking lot is hard to get in and out of.  They have improved it somewhat lately, so I should make it a regular weekly stop.)

I Googled "paleo remedies for upset stomach" and got some surprising suggestions from PaleoLeap.  Of course, I knew bone broth would be one, and I had some of my homemade bone broth for lunch yesterday, but I wanted something more solid too.  They suggest chicken-vegetable soup, winter vegetable soup, egg drop soup and tomato soup.  I love tomato soup!  They also mention banana - will get some - soft-boiled eggs, and steamed chicken or fish.  Here are some more surprising suggestions:

• potatoes, both white and sweet - I thought white potatoes were out for paleo?
• canned pumpkin with a bit of cinnamon and coconut milk - ummm, doesn't sound too good
• spaghetti squash
• avocado - they actually mention "bowl of guacamole" - I love guacamole, but only on chips.  Don't think I could eat a bowl full.
• fermented foods - I had my sauerkraut breakfast twice last week

I''m not vomiting, but PaleoLeap had an interesting recipe for replacing electrolytes.  They say "Water with just a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon will help replenish electrolytes if you’re throwing up. This is often easier to drink if you warm it up a little to room temperature."  (Stan says add sugar and whiskey!)  Sounds much better to me than that bright green Gatorade.

We're planning a more quiet and restful month for November, so hopefully I'll get feeling back to normal and back into my healthy routines.

We always get a lot of trick-or-treaters on Halloween.  We waited until the last day to buy the candy, but, gee, some of the bags seem to have gotten opened.... Happy Halloween!