What do I eat from here?

These past couple weeks have been absolutely craziness!

The Highlights

• last Tuesday (August 31) I went to my endo appointment and he confirmed my suspicions that my strain of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto's.
• Army Bro got married in Manteo, NC (just outside Nags Head) over Labor Day weekend, so future sis-in-law is now Sis-in-law!
• I turned 30
• Baby Bro proposed to his girlfriend today. I now have a new future Sis-in-Law! 
• I spent a majority of my day off at DMV getting my license renewed (to the tune of $617!)

I guess it's really been the past week, week and half. Still. I'm glad it's the weekend, not that I'm stopping any.

It's been a busy one! With it all I've been mulling over the fate of this here blog. I enjoy doing this, it's kinda like therapy for me, but it feels sorta directionless. Sure, I'm trying to lose weight, but there's so much more going on!

I am still trying to figure out what sort of food objects my body is happiest on. I know what my mouth likes . . .

• chocolate
• coke (translastion: soda)
• chocolate milkshakes
• fast food french-fries
• Lays potato chip

But that's not what's best for me (or my waistline). And I will freely admit to having indulged multiple times in the past month. Especially coke.
The coke fiasco has been bad enough that I had a migrane (started out as a stress headache) from Saturday afternoon through Tuesday evening. How did I finally get ride of it? While I was grocery shopping I picked up a 20oz Dr. Pepper and slammed it down my throat on my way to pick up my Italian from the pool.
Unfortunately, I've not really cut back on my soda intake this week while at work.
But the headache through the ArmyBro's wedding weekend (maybe it was more alcohol than I'm used to drinking contributed slightly? But an almost permanent hangover, that sleep won't knock out? Naaaah) has cleared one thing up in my head quite clearly. Coke . . . soda . . . pop . . . whatever you want to call it has GOT to go.
I thought I had kicked the habit earlier this year. I guess it's one that I need to stay away from a little bit longer.
The other strange thing about the headache was that I normally am soda-free on the weekends. The reason I indulge during the week is that it's sitting in the fridge at work calling. "Em, Em. Come drink us. You know you want one. Come on. Just one won't hurt. You can pour us into a smaller cup and pretend like you're not drinking as much. Just one, come on Em."
Then two or three of them end: up from my hand into the recycling bin by the end of the day. Some days more. It's a rare day, recently, that it's less. (Ugh . . . the craving for a soda has kicked in now! Fortunately we don't have any in the house.)

To be honest with you, I'm tired of writing these types of posts. I'm tired of trying to figure out what my eating pattern looks . . . what my healthy eating pattern looks like.
Though if I were truly honest with myself, my search has truly been half-hearted. I go full speed ahead into something and it lasts 2 . . . 2 1/2 weeks, then I get bored, overwhelmed or just simply lazy and move onto the next thing. Or revert back to my old habits.

HOWEVER, my dabbling in various forms of eating has led me to this knowledge of myself (and that's what life is right? A journey of figuring one's self out?) :

My body likes fats. It operates better on a fattier diet. It's not big on grains though.

Reading that, going primal or paleo sounds like the best way to go. For me the pure amount of meat I ate was overwhelming. And I missed legumes. I grew up more flexitarian than anything, if I had to put a label on it. Mom traded meat out for beans and that sort of thing. She went through a mercifully short tofu phase. None of us really liked it. I just remember it tasting like huge chunks of peanut butter. I think Mom made a stir fry or something with it. 

So I'm thinking, based on what I know about myself and the way my body works.

• fat is good
• soy is out
• gluten is out
• grains may be phased out or at least minimized
• too much meat is overwhelming
• no meat is not an option as I don't do soy. (Is there another option to meat besides soy?)
• soda needs to go
• sugar needs to say bye-bye-bye.

The Italian and I have joined back on Weight Watchers. We're doing the online version, but it still really helps. I don't know when he decided, but on the way home from Manteo, NC, my Italian informed me that he was not eating sweets anymore.

WHAT! 

He tells me this, on my birthday, while I'm talking about the cake that I'm going to make for myself for my birthday the next day (which didn't happen as I was at DMV for half the day). That is definitely going to make it sorta easier. But then it's not because I'll just eat it when I'm not home or out with him. However, not having an allowance anymore will make it easier because I won't have the money to buy the junk food, but when I do get money is that where it will go?

What about the Hashi's diagnosis? What can I eat to help my thyroid defend itself from my immune system? Or distract my immune system from attacking my thyroid?

What do I eat from here?

Wedding Faux Pas . . . Maybe?

So . . . I finally figured out how to fit into the god-awful bridesmaid dress I have to wear for my brother's wedding. (Trust me, I'm not just saying it's awful. It REALLY is! Even the bride, once she saw it on her Matron of Honor wasn't so thrilled with it!) I just had to rip the under skirt out.
The good stuff about the dress:

• it fits
• I don't have to wear a bra

The bad:

• BOOBIES! (Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, but when I'm showing more boob then I did at my wedding (and that was a lot), it's NOT a good thing)
• It's UG-G-G-G-LLY!
• The dress makes me look 9 months pregnant (Okay, maybe 7 months, but STILL!)
• Three of the 4 of us are wearing purple, we're going to look like the friggin' California Raisins!

source

Okay, maybe not as wrinkly. But still! YEEP!
And my darling Italian won't let me go get the skirt altered so it looks better on me. (Grrrr!!! BAD ITALIAN!) Though I understand his point of not spending money on something that I'll wear once for an hour.

An hour? That's it?
Okay, so here's my plan . . . the day of the wedding, I'm going into Nagshead to the beach house and get changed into the California Raisin dress. Meanwhile my parents are taking my Italian out to breakfast and I'm going to give Mom my reception dress.
I'm planning . . . after the ceremony, pictures, and all that formal schmormal stuff that you have to do with weddings is over and the reception starts, I'm slipping out of that dress into something that:

• looks good on me
• is comfortable

Is that a faux pas? Is that a bad thing? I mean, I know, agreeing to be in my brother's wedding, I have agreed to wear an ugly dress to honor my brother's happiness. But . . . really? The reception too?

Dear etiquette-wise peeps . . . besides running the risk of an upset brand-new sister-in-law . . . am I breaking any "rules?"

Doin' The Happy Dance

This weekend was FABULOUS! My Italian is pretty worn out from getting up early for work all week (not that he wasn't in the first place. He was getting up with me). We've decided to get up at 5 so I can get some sort of movement in before work.

Saturday he decided to sleep in. The poor man still woke up at 8. I got up an hour later, fed the cats and closed the door to our room to let him sleep. Or so I thought. Apparently he laid in bed for 4 hours trying to go back to sleep . . . it didn't happen. (I probably should have put Moulin Rouge in for him. That would have knocked him right out!)

We had to get all of our chores done Saturday, since we were spending Sunday at my folk's. Grocery shopping, laundry, cat box scrubbing (thankfully just a once a month chore. My Italian (Lord, bless him) cleans out the box every other day) and other various things. I'd vacuumed Friday morning since we had poker at the house on Friday night (another reason we slept in).

Sunday we got up raced off to church and while my Italian stayed for Grace Cafe (once a month our church has a meal after church) and the pinewood derby I raced out to pick up Baby Bro & Dad's birthday presents. Then it was back home to pack up the van (seriously! Going to my parents with my Italian, since his surgery, is an adventure).

Manual wheelchair . . . check
Accoutrement to wheelchair . . . check
Presents . . . check
2 sticks of butter Mom asked me to bring . . . I'll grab them in a minute
Husband . . . check
Off we go!

Yeah. I forgot the butter. No worries though because Mom sent Dad to the store for ice right after we got there, so he picked up butter too. Phew! Crisis averted.

Future sister-in-law and . . .

wait for it

ARMY BRO!

arrived next!

I haven't seen him since Christmas. It was SO SO SO! good to see him. He's on leave for a week. Tomorrow bright and early he and future sister-in-law (I'm really gonna have to find a new name for her) are headed down to North Carolina to do wedding stuff for a couple days only to turn around to head back to Virginia to meet with the guy who is marrying them for marriage counseling. (That's kind of hard to do when you're on opposite coasts).

Army Bro flies back on Saturday I think. I'm hoping to get to see him on Friday for lunch. That would be fabulous.

Once he flies back to California, he won't be back until Labor Day weekend. He's almost literally flying in to get married. He'll fly in Friday, Baby Bro will pick him up and they'll go down to NC with the other groomsmen for a bachelor party. Saturday is the rehersal and rehearsal dinner. He gets married Sunday and flies back to California on Monday.

A whirl-wind wedding weekend!

In other news . . .

My Italian is LOVING his job. He told me "It fits well with my OCD" one evening when we were driving home from work. I quite literally had to stop the car and pull over I was laughing so hard! He is so happy too.

We're still ironing out the kinks of transportation, but we're getting there.

Picking him up in the afternoon . . . SUCKS!

It takes me 20 minutes to get from his work to mine in the morning. 45 to get from mine to his in the afternoon! Eeewww!

I still want to move over there though. Next summer . . . Hopefully . . .

OH! Speaking of weddings (Yes, I'm a little ADD). I did mention that I wanted to be under 200 lbs for my brother's wedding right? Well, we're a month away and I weight 210 lbs. (Solid. No point anything.)

Needless to say, I'm getting a little nervous about it.

The bridesmaids' dresses have come in and future sister-in-law is dropping mine off at my parents' on Tuesday. So Saturday I'll be able to try it on and see how it fits.

AND

Go shopping with Mom for a rehearsal dinner dress and shoes for both dresses (as well as a pair of black flats for work and more sheets for our bed.)

It's been great! I've gotten to see my parents three (will be) weekends in a row! That NEVER happens. It's not like we're that far away, but its far enough away that when I do go up there, I want to be there all day long.

(Which reminds me, maybe I can get up there early on Saturday and Mom and I can go blackberry picking! YUM! I heart blackberries)

Okay, I've got 15 minutes left in my lunch. I need to go make my salad and food my self . . . er . . . umm . . . feed myself?

Romaine lettuce, carrots, almonds (maybe), grape tomatoes and pepperonis.

Okay seriously . . . Off I go!

OH! I forgot the pictures for the last post! I will pull those off my camera soon and repost it with all the loverly pictures. (And maybe some beach ones too?)