First off, in my striving for perfection I struggle to find the perfect time to call it a day. If I post in the evening after dinner, that may be my whole day and when I’m rolling right I get to bed by 9:30. But then there are the days when I get involved in something engaging and stay up several more hours, get hungry again, have another snack etc.
Yesterday was just such a case. After I posted I had some late night snacks
9:00 1/2 Coconut Macaroon Bar I like these, they are a bit like Mounds, but organic and only 9 grams of sugar from coconut crystals
11:00 pm the other half of the macaroon bar and 6 squares of dark chocolate with almonds (14 grams of sugar) hmm. That is a bit much sugar for me, especially so late at night and without any other food. But that’s often when I want something sweet, after my usual bed time.
I feel best about sugar when I keep it really low, 5 – 10 grams a day. If I have dark chocolate and I can eat just a square or two, which is under 5 grams, that doesn’t seem to bother me. But recently I’ve been into eating quite a bit more. That includes chocolate, dried fruit and even some sweet fruit like apples and grapes will effect me. More sugar will keep me up later at night, can make me a bit agitated or anxious, increases inflammation (dry skin, achy joints, headaches) and gas. I pretty much have a hangover the next day. But worst of all it is a downward spiral into more and more sugar.
Sometimes I make myself a low sugar treat, but once I’m on the sugar kick I have found I just eat more of them. Hence it feels like time to reset my sugar intake back to zero for a while, which is easiest if I just have none in the house, ear plenty of good fats and go to bed earlier.
In any case, making myself wrong won’t help the situation. So I enjoyed my chocolate and kefir, took a hot shower and went to bed.
11:45 bed time
Sleep: 6 hours, deep and restful though a little short.
Day 2: Fri 5/18 the moon has moved into Taurus and I feel the energy get a little more grounded (I know, you thought this would be a “food” journal, but you see it’s all connected and I pay attention to the moon because I know it affects me. Since I like to teach I’ll be slipping in some little lessons about herbs, astrology, you name it as they come up. )
5:45 woke up. Feeling good and energetic this morning. Excited to get going on my day, though I have nowhere to be until 8 and could have slept in.
6:15 psyllium and water, 4 drops Cascara Sagrada (a NW native that stimulates the peristaltic action of the digestive tract. Another favorite. Slow acting and gentle. I mean to take it before bed, but sometimes I forget. Tastes like bitter coffee. Notice, bitters to stimulate digestion)
6:45 BM: med large, well formed, easy.
Two days in a row. That’s great! For months I’ve been passing a pile of little hard balls. In the type 1 – 2 range of the Bristol stool chart. And without the psyllium and herbs sometimes there is nothing at all. That does not feel good. Whatever I’m doing seems to be working, because that clearly qualifies as 3. I wonder if it is the quinoa. I have noticed in the past that when I eat a little more grain the first day or two it moves things, but then it slows down again. Or maybe I’m starting to relax a little more. We’ll see.
8:00 3 eggs scrambled, 1/2 cup tabbouleh, 1 Tbsp sour cream (home made kefired cream)
10:15 “Enter the Dragon” at Toast: pork belly, fried egg, cabbage slaw. Pot of green tea with herbs.
11:30 1 pint of water: Something has irritated my face, got all flushed, red and a little puffy. Stimulating food and conversation, or something else? Feel like I could use a run. Fed and inspected the bees instead.
12:30 Burdock tincture and some slowing down, breathing. Much better, flushed excited feeling has subsided maybe more of a 3 now.
1:30 digestive bitters, by 2:30 my belly was seriously yearning for some food. Gotta remember that with the bitters stimulating the digestive juices.
2:40 1 cup Kefir, blueberries and 1 Tbsp almond butter. Soothed, engaged, present in class.
5:15 lettuce with turkey, avocado, cucumber
5:30 Flushed again. Like a niacin rush, or red wine. Hmm?
“In a complex system it is very hard to prove causation.” Paul Bergner quoting a thesis on complex systems. Nutrition and medicine are the only branches of science not using systems theory. I’ll give up analyzing myself for a while and just observe my food and feelings with you all.
If anyone has any thoughts they want to share, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
8:00 Birthday party dinner:
1 cup baby greens salad, chicken sausage, 2 oz salmon, saurkraut, pickle, ketchup
gluten free strawberry short bread (almond & rice flour, stevia, honey), strawberries, coconut cream. small scoop of coconut bliss ice cream
1 small glass of white wine
11:00 I am tired. Going to bed now
