No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on January 13, 2020

Moderation is key

As of January 1, 2020, a new law went into effect. Food packaging must now show both the calorie count for a serving size and for the entire package. A couple of years ago we finally got real serving sizes rather than half servings or impossible servings like 5 potato chips is a serving. The food companies were trying everything make the unhealthy and barely health look healthy.

The diet culture in America is a very rapid moving thing. What one could eat last week could become one of those 5 foods you should avoid this week. 

Kale has gone from garnish to super food. One-week avocados are everything and the next week there are concerns about saturated fats but then it is discovered that it is the good kind of fat, so it is good for you. I think brussels sprouts will be the next super food. Doesn’t matter to me. I refuse to eat any of them. 

I grew up with a nurse for a mother who kept up on nutritional information and adjusted our diets accordingly. We stopped eating bacon back in the 60s for the most part. We started eating more chicken and less beef before everyone else. Fried foods were something we would only get eating out for the most part. She worked hard to make sure we had a good balanced diet all through our childhood and adjusted things as new discoveries were made. And she did take our dislikes into account which I appreciate to this day.

That upbringing gives me a pretty good relationship with food. Nothing is forbidden but moderation is the key. Now that we have this new information on the box, it will be even easier to sort out what a serving is for me. Harder to sneak a high calorie food as low calorie when you know what the entire container is.

Then there are the all fats are good that went to all fats are bad to some fats are good and others are bad. This one has been all over the map. Between Akins and modified Atkins to Paleo to Keto to whatever we have this week in the carbs bad and protein good diet, what we should eat can be very confusing. I follow my mother in this with keeping beef to a minimum. Fish and chicken make up most of our evening protein with occasional lamb and beef. I like protein for so many reasons.

Low-fat and no-fat does not mean no calories. In many cases they replace the fat component with sugar or an artificially sweetener. So, seeing what a box of fat free cookies is really calorie wise is going to be eye opening for some. Personally, I have to be very careful to avoid artificial sweeteners. My body does not like them and tells me so in many ways if I do accidently ingest them. 

Discussing carbohydrates these days can be a real hot potato. Low carb or no carb seems to be the mantra. What works for me is to have my carbs at breakfast and lunch then keep them out of dinner for the most part. My brain feels more energized with carbs and I am not as hungry during the day. By evening I am fine without them. But that is what works for me. Others are so scared of carbs; they do an impression of Donald Sutherland at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatcher as they point to the forbidden fruit (or bread or rice or potato).

When they redid the food pyramid, they tried to re-adjust our thinking and appease the big food manufactures. Now we have the new new food pyramid that no longer shows the foods stacked up but side by side and recommended for daily servings with amounts based on an adult who exercises. 

The nutritional fads are still out there under various titles and a number of groups have renamed themselves trying to get out of the diet business into the life-style business since the word ‘diet’ is currently on the naught word list. Weight Watchers has become WW and weigh ins are not the main focus anymore. Atkins rebranded itself a bit after the studies that showed this diet increased heart disease. Right now, the popular ones seem to be Keto and Paleo and the food companies are right there to provide foods for each. 

I take my direction from my mother. She keeps me up on various things and subscribed me to this wonderful newsletter called Nutrition Action which talks about food and diets and the like. I have learned various entries at many restaurants that I can eat and not feel guilty. They break down the data on various diets giving you the science or lack thereof with each. They take things like soy vs. real milk and lactate free milk and just about any kind of milk you can think of then explain what it all means. They also talk about the vitamin trends and supplements giving the good, bad, and ugly about these products. 

I will admit that my one temptation is craft beer. I love a good craft beer but that is pure empty calories so I have reduced my imbibing to about once a week. 

I am grateful I was raised in a household with sensible nutrition.

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By Kathleen David on January 12, 2020

It is January. It was also 60 degrees F (16 C). There was wind and a small craft advisory along with a gale warning. The wind for this of year is not unusual but the temperature is. This morning we have rain and fog where the past couple of years we had snow. The quality of light is a little on the orange side. 

This wacky weather continues until next week.

My bigger concern is for the flora and fauna is going to get very confused. I expect to see crocuses any day now.

Yesterday was a productive day and I am trying to keep the trend going. I do know that there does need to be some down time in there to avoid burn out. 

I think it will be a puppet day. Get back in the groove for that.

I am grateful I cleaned the cat boxes yesterday.

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By Kathleen David on January 11, 2020

Today I was expecting to go into the city for some friends’ art salon they have once a month. It is a fun afternoon and allows me to spend some time with fellow artists. 

Yesterday I awoke to my throat feeling scratchy and my body aching. I was hoping that this was the end of something then I would get up this morning feeling myself.

Nope. The throat is getting progressively worse and it no longer feels like allergies but an illness settling into my body. 

I am doing the responsible thing and staying home. I don’t want to expose my friends to any possible illness I am infected with and I don’t care to expose myself to more germs on the train ride in and getting uptown.

I can remember as a child being sent to bed because it was my bedtime. I would declare that when I was an adult, I would stay up as late as I wanted to. All night in fact. My parents would smile a knowing smile and I would go to bed probably stomping all the way.

Now I could stay up all night but that would not be responsible. Also, my body has flipped from being a night owl to being an early bird. I go to bed at a reasonable hour and get up at a reasonable hour. Plus, I have a child to consider.

Once one has another human being to be responsible for, one’s priorities changed rapidly. 

Caroline is part of any life equation I am working through. As she has gotten older and more responsible for herself, the easier it has become to be responsible for her but harder as well. I have learned to let go of things I use to be responsible for with her that she has taken over. Funny that one of the few things we bûŧŧ hëádš over is the same thing I use to bûŧŧ hëád with my mom over which is what is the appropriate dress for the weather. We have worked out an agreement that if the temperature is below a certain number, she will wear hat/hood/gloves/scarf and a reasonable jacket and footwear.

Peter and I are married and feel responsible to help our partner be their best. That can manifest all kinds of ways. We have been together for 21 years now and have developed a way of communicating that is almost silent. We know each other and can sense things now that we could not when we first met. We are responsible for each other. It’s a partnership. 

I am responsible for what I put out on the Internet. I hope to educate and amuse the reader. I follow the simple rules 1) Does it need to be said 2) Does it need to be said now 3) Does it need to be said now by me. That stops me from saying irresponsible things that are not necessary to the conversation and could be hurtful.

I am grateful for people who take responsibility seriously.

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By Kathleen David on January 10, 2020

Warning for frank talk about depression and mental health. I know it is not everyone’s cuppa so feel free to skip and I will get back to talking about puppets and the family shortly.

I have things to do today but this is important to me because I really hope it helps others to pass this information on.

Yesterday I found an article on Facebook that described something I have been dealing with or not dealing with and beating myself up internally. It was a blinding moment of clarity and I wanted to share it.

The article on bored panda was taken from the tweets of M. Molly Backes (@mollybackes on twitter) and can be found https://www.boredpanda.com/hardest-parts-depression-molly-backes

She starts it with the following “Depression commercials always mention sadness but they never mention that sneaky symptom every depressed person knows all too well: the Impossible Task.”

“The Impossible Task could be anything: going to the bank, refilling a prescription, making your bed, checking your mail, paying a bill. From the outside, its sudden impossibility makes no sense.”

Oh, I know that feeling all too well. And she is correct that from the outside it looks a little crazy. 

It might be something that you have done a million times but it seems impossible to do when you hit a million and one. 

The psychiatrist might call it ‘executive disfunction’ which I have heard before, but I didn’t feel it was relevant to me.

This makes so much sense to me. And it is not logical. The problem being that the longer you delay the harder it is to do the task. The things pile up and a ten-minute task can become the entire day or week to get it done.

This is not only for depression but a laundry list of other mental health diagnosis that end up with the Impossible Task. 

I feel frozen and can’t get myself to take that step I need to take to just get the task done and the longer it goes on, the harder it can be to just get the task done. I end up wasting my time trying to get the energy together. And that stinks so I end up beating myself up for wasting time and the task that is still not done. It is a vicious circle.

I will say since I have been under a psychiatrist care, I am improving. I have been able to get things done that had seem impossible before. But there are still those tasks that I look at and groan. However, I am not beating myself up right now but creating a plan of attack so I can do those tasks. Which is a lot better than I had been doing.

Interestingly I find myself more recently spending less time noodling on the Internet which I find good. I hope to continue this trend and get more done by wasting less time. But I am not going to get mad at myself if I do find myself occasionally just poking around.

I can now recognize things that are turning into the Impossible Task and can find ways to get to become less overwhelming.

Depression is a tricky beast. It tells you falsehoods that you believe to be true when they are not. It is so much more than feeling sad and worthless. It can take over your life and guide it down a very dark path. You learn tricks to deal with it but the pull can still be there. 

I have gotten help before it turned deadly but it was a near thing. I recognize the fast that my brain chemistry is not the best and I need help from time to time to get me back to center.

I am grateful for everything that makes my tasks got from Impossible to Possible.

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By Kathleen David on January 9, 2020

Well I think I have met my annual visit of the sick. I am hoping that I am in error. I have been looking back and I seem to be ill this time every year.

My head is stuffy along with the joint pain and stuffy nose. The only missing piece is fever to call it the flu. So let’s call it the cold. It is an energy drain.

I just found out there is another series of Project Runway going and I am four episodes behind. There is what I am going to be binging for a couple of mornings.

Lack of energy makes it hard to do things but there are things that must be done. So one pulls it for somewhere and just get it done.

I did get some stuff done today and I hope to get more done before I go to bed.

I am grateful for energy.

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: