Monday Mimisms ~ Omega 3 Omega Me

My study perch

I woke up this morning feeling very clear-headed and centered. Happy. Calm. Healthy. Change your diet. Change your life.Change WHEN you eat and HOW you eatmight just reverse your diabetes. 
I'm on a new path of nutrition and healing. My glucose needed a good kick in the pants and out of my body for good...so....I took a deep dive into how my body actually works; binge-watching youtube videos by cardiologists and endocrinologists, kidney specialists and nutritionists. I had to weed through the quacko-pretend doctors first (!) but it was entertaining and enlightening.  The subject of lipopolysacchirides was intriguing. Did you know that there are fluffy LDL particles and small dense LDL particles? I never knew.  You want the big, fluffy kind (think snowflakes) not the little ones that wreak havoc on those pesky cholesterol numbers. 
And why do I think dietary changes will improve my diabetes even more? Precisely because I can tell you from my experience that quitting CAFFEINE reversed my hypertension. I replaced coffee with French chicory root coffee. It's a natural diuretic.

No more high blood pressure. This morning's reading was 118/77 and has been consistently so for many months. Such a simple change made a huge difference in my life. More importantly, NO pills, NO side effects, NO caffeine jitters. In fact, it helps with sleep as well.
Then I put my Milani knee-high combat boots on!I am NOT playing. All business.  I am not one to blindly follow the status quo. Knowledge is power. I hunkered down.I focused.
I'm on the first week of intermittent fasting and major dietary changes; only allowing myself an 8-hour window to eat and then nothing but water, chicory, or tea for the rest of the night. Rinse. Repeat. Since removing insulin some time ago, I've felt better overall, lost weight (I stay out of strong winds) and have had good-to-moderately-OK control on no medications with periods of perfect control and low blood sugar. In each season of your life your body changes. Diabetes, too, is always changing. 
THIS recent uptick in numbers is totally my fault. I really thought I could eat ...oh say...a bowl of popCORN at night? Seriously, Mimi? 
My diabetes started nine years ago just past the middle of my life.  As you learn to live with it, your body has to adjust to all kinds of new medicine chemicals and protocols and habits (finger-sticking yuck). Shots were not fun. Then I learned I had hyperinsulemia. Who needs that??! The shots had to go. 
Doctors hate patients like me. I'm allergic to everything (literally)..in particular, three classes of diabetes' drugs, two insulins, and most every antibiotic known to man. It's not that I'm opposed to medication, it's that it most always makes me sicker. And I'm just stubborn enough - and annoying enough - to ask 40 trillion questions at every single appointment. I want to control it myself because I have to control it myself.
That reminds me...Did you know there are 40 trillion bacteria in your gut?!This microbiome is incredibly important for your overall health.Aren't they pretty?

and critical to metabolic health
My struggle is nighttime snacking. I "think" I'm hungry when, in fact, it's emotional eating. I'm not eating past 7:00 pm now and it's totally reducing the morning basal reading which is EVERYTHING. 
When you start out low, you have somewhere to go! When you start out high, you might actually die!

Yes, I have an old-fashioned
telephone!

That is my motto from experience. Today I made an appointment with a nutritionist/dietician to help me navigate these waters and will have a virtual visit with an internist tomorrow. 
I'm currently researching Omega 3s & 6s. I learned recently that you're not supposed to overheat olive oil and cook with it but it's OK to put in your salads. What??! I do that every.single.day. I'll ask the doctor. 

Meanwhile...there's a real live Princess in the castle.

I'm a little distracted by all the wand-waving. I bowed and asked her name.

"I'm Elsa," she seriously declared, then wafted back down the stairs to re-accessorize.

 Her braid fell off. It was tragic. 

She told me her wand is "magic"Somehow, I believe her. 

Back to studying. I hope you all are healthy and happy.
P.S. I am not a doctor. Consult yours before embarking on major changes. Follow Me

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Saturday 9 ~ What's Love Got to Do with It?

Thanks to The Gal for hosting this meme.  I always learn something from Gal's meme questions. She sets them up so well.What's Love Got to Do with It? (1984)Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here. 
What's Love Got to Do with It is also the title of Tina Turner's film biography, which tells of Tina's escape from her abusive, controlling husband, Ike. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Spread the word that help is available. 
1. The video was shot around New York City in spring. Kids are seen jumping rope. Were you good at jump rope? Has it ever been part of your workout routine as an adult?NO and NO and NO

2. In real life, Tina Turner played basketball for her school. Were you good at team sports?
Yes. My dad coached Little League baseball, men's softball league and a girl's softball team. We were always at the ballfield. I could run like the wind in those days with my pigtails flying. I remember him picking me up from the bleachers fast asleep and carrying me to the car. I've done my homework many times on baseball bleachers or in a dugout.
3. In the video, Tina Turner wears a little black dress topped with a denim jacket. That jacket is a fashion staple 36 years later. Do you own a denim jacket?
I do not own a denim jacket. But I know someone who owns a really cool one! Does that count?


4. Tina's first marriage, to Ike Turner, was a painful one. Her second marriage, to German music executive Erwin Bach has been far more supportive. This has been a blessing, since Tina has had serious health problems in recent years. Do you have any medical/dental appointments scheduled?
At the beginning of the pandemic in March, I broke a perfectly good crown biting into a new chocolate recipe I'd created. Too much crunch on the bottom. Do I look happy to you?? Because of the pandemic, they no longer considered this an "emergency" even though I was miserable. I had to wait months to get it fixed (thankfully did!) which started me down a whole rabbit hole of appointments for other things and on and on and on it goes. It never ends! The worst part is dealing with the precautions before you even get in the dreaded chair. I can't believe all this happened to me during a pandemic when the LAST place you want to be is in a dental chair. I. was. terrified. to. even. go. in. Breathe in...breathe out.....breathe in......breathe out....It will be over soon. I hope!
5. Tina met Erwin at Heathrow Airport in 1986. He was there to help her prepare for her London performances. They immediately liked one another, but didn't become romantically involved until months later and were surprised to find themselves falling in love. Have you ever had a romantic relationship that crept up on you?
Yes. And maybe one day I can tell that story here. But not today.

6. The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards referred to Tina as his "favorite aunt." Is there anyone who isn't a relative of yours by blood but you refer to as aunt, uncle, brother, sister, etc?
I have two best friends who are closer to me than my own family. We call each other "sister" all the time. I love these ladies dearly.
7. Former President George W. Bush is also a big Tina Turner fan, and has praised her for having "the most famous legs in show business." What do you believe is your best physical feature?
Well. At the risk of sounding braggy....maybe my hair. That sounded braggy.

8. At home, Tina often doesn't always play music or TV because she appreciates quiet as much as music. What about you? Do you enjoy quiet?
I adore quiet. But my music needs to be loud.
9. Random question: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being "very lazy" and 10 being "very productive," what number are you?
Definitely a 10.And on a sidenote I'll tell you a story. I've been triggered, I guess, by the word lazy, which doesn't fit my lifestyle or my vocabulary.It got back to me, recently, that one of my now-former friends found out that I've been using grocery pickup since the beginning of the pandemic. Oh, the scandal! I'm diabetic. I'm careful. I'm not taking chances. Not that I should have to explain. She scoffs at social distancing rules, doesn't wear a mask and laughs at those who do, goes to crowded events like that's a bright idea, and thinks anyone who takes these precautions is a "sheeple" (whatever the hell that means). She remarked to someone that my grocery pickup habit is "just pure laziness." It didn't hurt as much as it infuriated me. Then I just felt sorry for her. How could someone I've known for years be so ignorant? So lacking in empathy and common sense? So cruel? So politically blinded?  If I ever see her again I'm going to pretend I don't know her. Because I don't.    God help us all.

Just. wear. the. mask.

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Monday Mimisms ~ Coronavirus For Baby Boomers

Don't blink or you'll miss it.
We're all just trying not to die. Life in the land of corona has turned fools into deep thinkers and the cerebral into fools. Do you feel the shift? Have you heard your doors whispering? Can you hear insanity calling?  Don't tell... but I think it might be the placebo effect weighing heavily on our collective paranoia - nothing to be concerned about really. It's just that for baby boomers we reluctantly understand that this long strange trip just got a lot stranger. We all read Orwell's 1984 in high school.
I see long lines of upper middle class SUVs waiting for loaves of bread and sacks of potatoes to be tossed into lifted hatchback trunks in food pantry drive-throughs. Masked people wearing worry like a sleeve. Unmasked people worrying about the people in the masks. We see you much more clearly than you think; there's something about hiding one's face that brings out bravado and brilliance -ask any bank robber, heart surgeon, or keyboard bully. I see confused children sitting alone with laptops in living rooms with no teacher - learning lessons they are too young to understand.  And then there's us. But don't worry about the boomers...we survived polyester pantsuits and Jim Baker. We'll be all right.
I've been alone a long time by choice. 
 I love my independence and enjoy my own company - but I've never felt this lonely.  I sensed it so keenly over Easter weekend. And it has given rise to that funky little byproduct of jail time  - perspective.
I've put off writing about how this pandemic has affected me. It seems so selfish. After all, I'm not hungry or unemployed or suffering physically from this unforgiving plague. I'm so sad for those who are. So sad I can hardly stand it.  What is WRONG with me?? I asked. I'm usually the voice of reason and peace. Why can't I handle a little bit of gigantic amount of stress??   Oh.  Maybe because it's not normal to keep an ongoing global headcount of people dying by the hour on the big screen TV we call life?  It's our new normal.   A normal we all hate.
I realized that if I don't get something scribbled on blog paper soon, I'm going to explode and
 maybe take a few people with me. It's been building in a way that made me worry more about my pride and less about snapping at people I care about. That can't be healthy: so here I am writing at midnight. It's my way of getting a grip on something nobody has  control over. Unrealistic much, Mimi? Maybe. But it's my way.
  I began self-isolating the first week of March, opening pick-up grocery accounts and exploring pharmacy delivery options. I've been determined to stay put for my own safety and in consideration for others.  I haven't been sick with any COVID-19 symptoms that I'm aware of, but since I'm in the high-risk category even the slightest cough or warm-cheek feeling sends my head spinning with fear.    I'm having trouble sleeping and my dreams are prophetically urgent. Is this what happens to soldiers in foxholes? Now, I get it. We've become instant hypochondriacs. Or maybe I should just speak for myself.
When this is over, we'll have a nation and world full of PTSD.  Some of us already had enough life drama to deal with thank you very much. We didn't need forced quarantine to mess with our heads.  Eternal solitude is not good for our mental health. But I'll tell you what it IS good for -  perspective.
Is anybody home? 

I miss touch. I miss kisses. I miss hugs. I miss looking into someone's eyes knowing what they're going to say before they say it. Boomers are intuitive because psychedelic rock lyrics made us Grateful...but not Dead.   Did you catch that?  

One day soon, when all this is over and the world begins to turn again, I'm going to make sure all my face-to-face encounters mean something more than a hasty hello and goodbye.  I might wink at stray dogs and millennials for a change.
 There are people I'm waiting to embrace - I mean really embrace.  Oh, I'm making my list. And those kisses....well..... I'll keep that to myself for now. There are those I want to love on awhile and listen to their housebound war stories. I'll let them tell me all about it over cups of steaming coffee and vodka shots. Some I will never look at the same way again because when the long strange trip drops a sledgehammer of perspective on your quarantined doorstep, you suddenly have miles and miles of minutes to think about wasted time.   Ain't nobody got time for that. 
 BC (Before Coronavirus) was just stale cornbread in a souffle world.  We've just learned how alive life is supposed to be. 
We're all just trying not to die.




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Something Fishy

Sunday Stealing~ Another Food Meme

I did not know there could be so many questions about food.  A food meme should make you hungry, right? Nope. It just helped me make a grocery list. Thanks Sunday Stealing!

1. How do you like your eggs?     
2. How do you take your coffee/tea?     Cream only and a sprinkle of nutmeg. Did you know that this spice is good for many      common ailments? It's a mood stabilizer and tasty too.   I'm not a morning person. Spices keep me spicy!
3. Favorite breakfast foods     Oatmeal with blueberries and Ceylon cinnamon.  More spice!! Second only to a cheese omelette with onions.
4. Peanut butter: smooth or crunchy?
Smooth like Santana      
5. What kind of dressing on your salad?      O & V or Newman's Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette

6.  Coke or Pepsi?      I love Coke but it's not on my very strict diet. Did you know that Coke will rust your stomach right out of your body???!!! Just like a car engine...I read that on the Internet.
But I do keep one on hand in case of migraines. If you drink some caffeine right away, it will usually stop the headache. I haven't had a bad migraine in a very long time.












7.  You feel like cooking. What do you make?      A fajita with turmeric spice, pepper, red beans, onions, garlic, hummus and cheese. 
8. You're feeling lazy. What do you make?      Peanut butter and mustard crackers. Sometimes I join the birds in the forest. They've had a rough time in Bloggingham lately.


9. You're feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order?    

10. If there a food you refuse to eat?       Mussels and sushi
   No, just no.


11. Favorite fruit & vegetable       

12. Favorite junk food      
....with French Onion dip

13. Favorite between meal snack       Are we eating all day??!!!  OK. I'll bite.
14. Do you have any weird food habits      I don't think so.
15. You're on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on?               I'm always on a diet. This is my go-to snack attack food.... 
Dill pickles will lower your blood pressure...IF you can get the jar open.

16. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai?    
   It's spicy enough without extra spice. Did I mention that curry is good for you? Lowers your blood sugar, treats inflammation, boosts bone health, helps Alzheimer's and even cancer prevention and treatment. Sprinkle some in your dishes! 

17. The perfect nightcap?        A hot bath with lavender.  But since the meme asked...

Tea Goodnight.



Images: Pixabay Follow Me

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