Happy Things

I didn't mean to leave such a sad post up for so long! Here's a happy one to counteract the heaviness of the last post. It's good to focus on the happy things in life.

// Avocados have been 3 for $1 which means SO MUCH GUACAMOLE. Like so much I want to cry from happiness. As I'm writing this I'm eating a bowl of guac made from not one but two avocados and I don't have to save any for Vince. I get to eat the whole bowl tonight with some cucumbers and mushrooms because we have six more avocados on our fridge. I think Mexico might be heaven if it means fresh guac every day.

// Chia seed pudding that is soooo easy. And it is paleo. Tonight I'm making it with raw milk and it'll be even better.

// Laundry is finally finished. I know it seems like a simple thing to do, but I won't admit to how many times we've done (or haven't done) it in the past two and a half months. Once I was pregnant my body was like COUCH BED KITCHEN FLOOR ANYWHERE TO CLOSE MY EYES so I did nothing. When I say nothing I mean nothing at all but eat Hot Cheetos, apples, and drink insane amounts of water. I may have cooked once or twice when I felt so overwhelmed with guilt for making Vince do everything. And since Vince was doing everything, including delicious dinners, as well as working full time, we never got around to laundry unless we were out of underwear. And then we only washed underwear. (Gosh, I can't seem to just write a simple thing I'm happy about, it's like I'm writing a book.) Anyways, we never did laundry, it is now done, and we can now give away a ton of clothes to the thrift store so it's not taking up space and I can give it away clean instead of dirty.

// The semester is over. I shouldn't have to say more than that but I will because I can. The semester is over. The semester is over. The semester is over. I can't believe it. Once again it went by way too fast and I feel like I've learned nothing new but at the same time my brain is so full of anatomy and chemistry terms it might just stop working any minute. I also have all A's to prove I learned something as well as an associates degree. Oh, and this happened:

Yep, I've officially reached nerd status and it happened without my knowledge; I received the CCC Science Student of the Year award. Thanks to my mama for the beautiful flowers!

(Oh, and my hair? So frizzy here! I had to dry my hair with a blow dryer which I rarely do and clearly my hair didn't appreciate it. The picture on the right showcases it beautifully.)

Fellow Sci Club nerds and friends Jenn and Molly. We're all such awesome people.

// Mangos are also $.69. And they're organic. Not that it matters since I cut off the peel anyways. But $.69 mangoes means lots of mangoes being peeled and eaten like apples.

// This face.

// Raw milk is now at our local farmers market which means I can buy it whenever I please between the hours of 7am and 6:30pm. (5pm on Sundays.) It's a bit pricier than when I was buying it through the co-op, but unfortunately the lady running it had to move out of town but luckily she set everything up with the farmers market. Ultimately it's worth the extra price to have a consistent supply of raw milk instead of every couple weeks!

// I'm feeling good. I'm still having some physical side affects from the miscarriage, but overall I'm doing well. I'm extremely happy that it's getting warm outside so I can get my body back in shape and get healthy again. As I stated above, I had the appetite of a five year old and my body really didn't like it, even though it was forcing me to eat those things. So it's nice to finally get back on the mostly paleo bandwagon and be healthy. I had a little breakdown the other day because for .2 seconds I was so happy to not be pregnant and to be able to go on long hikes and eat normal, and then I felt so guilty for feeling that way. It was like I was happy to no longer be pregnant, which in a way I am!  I would have much rather become normal because I actually had a baby, though.  Luckily the feeling passed pretty quickly and it's something that comes and goes.

// Juice, possibly my favorite one yet. Lime, cabbage, apple, cucumber and kale. The lime just puts it out of this world.

 Tell me some happy things that have been going on in your life.

And then miscarriage happens.

Just wanted to give you a brief update on my life to let you know I'm alive.

I haven't been posting because I was pregnant and when you are trying to keep it a secret but want to start every post with, 'Boy, do I just want to barf on everyones shoes,' it's hard to write. So I just decided not to write.

Over the past week, however, I've been dealing with a miscarriage (it sounds like it should be a simple thing that happens and it's done with, but it's been kind of the worst eight day of my life that seems to continue dragging on forever) so now I'm able to write again because I have no juicy secrets I want to share. I wrote up a more detailed post about my miscarriage because I believe it is something that shouldn't be so taboo, I'm just waiting for Vince to read through it because it's not just my experience to share.

For those of you that Vince or I have talk to about this and shared your own stories, THANK YOU. It's been oddly comforting to hear about how we aren't the only ones who have gone through this. With 20% of pregnancies ending in miscarriage, it's hard to feel alone!

For the family and friends we haven't told about this and are upset that we haven't come forward with this information, don't be. It's been rough and we've only told the people we've had to tell because they had to know about the pregnancy for some reason or another.

Other than that we are happy and healthy, and I'm ready for the semester to be over after finals next week. Then I'll have three glorious weeks off of work to do whatever the hell I want. I have a zillion posts that are half finished that I hope to get to. And camping and hiking? I think yes. Let me know if you want to get together.

Spring is here and I'm off to watch my 8 year old brothers baseball game, take hime out to froyo with Vince after, and help him make a wizards hat.

Homemade Toothpaste

Toothpaste! It's something you grew up using and it's always worked, so why change something that isn't broken? To me, there were a couple reasons. 1) I haven't used a toothpaste I actually like. I don't like the flavors or the aftertastes. 2) I hate buying things. 3) It's a waste of plastic. 4) There are toxic ingredients in it.

I honestly can't say it's one thing or the other when it comes to why I decided to make my own toothpaste, rather a combination of the reasons I listed. Regardless of why I did it, I knew it was something right for Vince and I so we did it. Many people will think we are crazy because of it, but we'll just smile our pearly whites at you and say, 'Ok!' We've been using it for a couple months now and really like it. Our teeth haven't starting rotting away, and one of my teeth that used to hurt (but doesn't have a cavity, according to my dentist) has stopped hurting! Read here about ways to actually counteract light decay.

Vince and I don't agree on flavors (or so I thought, he usually sneaks mine), so I have two little jars for each of us.

Mine is orange flavored and his is plain. I also used two different ratios for each of ours to get different flavors. Vince doesn't mind if his is salty and doesn't notice the taste, but I didn't like the original recipe because it was too salty. So if you don't mind saltiness, use his, and if you want it less salty, use mine, or a variation of either. At first I was worried about messing around with the ratios, but after reading about how many people only use water and a toothbrush and still have good teeth, I wasn't too worried.

Steffani's Toothpaste

5 Tablespoons virgin coconut oil

3 Tablespoons baking soda

7 drops tea tree oil

10 drops orange

20 drops trace minerals

Vince's Toothpaste

4 Tablespoons virgin coconut oil

3 Tablespoons baking soda

7 drops tea tree oil

20 drops trace minerals

Directions: Mix in a bowl with a fork until throughly mixed and smooth. Apply to toothbrush with a little spoon. Store in a dry place.

I mixed both of ours together in a bowl, minus the orange oil. Then I spooned out half into Vince's container, added orange oil to mine, then spooned mine into the container. I really like the orange flavor (as does Vince because he usually ends up using mine) and I keep meaning to buy mint or peppermint oil for Vince. He tells me he doesn't care if he has it, though, so I don't think about it very often! 

The tea tree is added because it's an antibacterial. A lot of people don't like the flavor (Vince and I don't mind it) so if it's too overpowering you can leave it out. Coconut oil is antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral enough without the added tea tree oil. I buy my virgin coconut oil from Tropical Traditions. If you don't like the taste of coconut, you can use expeller pressed.

The trace minerals are not completely neccasary, but I think it's important for healing teeth and I already had some in my medicine cabinet. I use Liqumins ConcenTrace Trace Minerals.

Lastly, I painted different colors on ours to know whose is whose.

Do you think it's crazy to use homemade toothpaste? Would you ever do it, or do you already?

Paleo-o-o Part 2

This is Part 2 of 3 on living the paleo lifestyle. Click here to read Part 1.

Why did I start eating Paleo?
Honestly? Because of Dooce. A year and a half-ish ago, Heather posted about how she was going gluten free, and then paleo. Since I was already gluten free, I was like, 'Yes, welcome to the dark side! You'll love it!' Then she talked about how she switched to paleo and I was like 'Eh, no grains? A ton of meat? I'll pass.' A year later she posted an update about how she was still eating paleo and how she still loved it. Wha? I have a high opinion of her so I had to look into it, and look into it I did. I read a million blogs, bought the book Practical Paleo, and then finally took the plunge into eating paleo. It just made sense. My life had transformed.

How do I feel?
Amazing. Simple as that. Before eating paleo, I was already gluten free because I have celiac disease, so I ate pretty healthy in general. I made most of my meals at home, ate plenty of vegetables, didn't drink very often, etc. I did snack on things like gluten-free bread and crackers, made fried chicken, drank soda here and there, and ate plenty of candy. I didn't feel like I was on my A-game everyday, but I also didn't feel bad, or so I thought. After switching to paleo, I noticed a difference in my energy. It was easier to go to bed at night and easier to wake up. It no longer took me an hour or two to be 'awake' and functional in the morning and I no longer needed caffeine from green tea (or on some days a Pepsi!) to think clearly. I was just awake when I got out of bed! I was also the kind of person who would do a shift at work and be tired the rest of the day, lazying around on the couch. Now I can go go go from morning until bedtime and not feel like I am utterly exhausted. I get so much more stuff done.

I've also noticed a difference in how much I eat, or rather how little. Don't get me wrong, I did not switch to paleo to lose weight like some people do. I am happy with my weight. I did, however, eat a lot of food before. I have a very high metabolism because I have a hyperthyroid so my body just quickly burns through anything I consume. I used to have to eat a full meal every two hours or I would get light headed, dizzy, nauseous and lethargic because I was so darn hungry. I'd have dinner and then would have to eat another full meal immediately before gong to bed or I'd wake up sick in the morning because I was so hungry. Now, I can easily go 4 or 5 hours in between meals and only need three solid meals a day, sometimes even two with some snacks instead. I'm not starving in between meals and I rarely get shaky with hunger anymore. This makes things tremendously easier for me because I don't have to cook nearly as much and it saves us some money!

My skin is another thing that is healthier. I already use oil to wash my face which has helped with acne a lot, but my skin cleared up even more, and when I 'cheat' and eat something non-paleo like a soda or frozen yoghurt, I break out! It gives me incentive to not cheat, knowing that not only will I feel lousy, but I'll have bad skin for a week or two.

What's it like when I eat something non-paleo?
I do sometimes 'cheat' (though I never cheat and eat gluten because I have celiac disease) and as I mentioned, my skin breaks out and I feel lousy, even if it's just eating a bite of Vince's gluten free pasta. I notice that my stomach is noisier when it's digesting non-paleo food and I get gassy, but I don't have bathroom issues like when I accidentally eat gluten. I do get very tired easier for a couple days after as well and feel 'off'. I can tell enough of a difference that I rarely eat non-paleo foods because it's not worth feeling like crap!

When I eat something that's not paleo, I do not feel guilty about it. I will not submit my mind to that kind of thing and I will thoroughly enjoy the food or drink I'm consuming. So far this year, I've had one can of Pepsi and one can of Coke and my god were those the most enjoyed sodas I have ever had. But after? When my stomach feels bloated and my skin starts to break out? I do wish I hadn't done it, but at least I enjoyed it while I was consuming it. By listening to my body after, however, I am reminded of what happens which affects my decision in the future when I really want a soda.

How did I 'go paleo'?
I started small. I took a couple months to transition to a full paleo diet and it was very helpful. I stopped eating gluten free bread, then cut out grains, then cut out beans, then cut out diary, etc. It allowed me time to find new recipes I enjoyed, it gave me the motivation I needed when I saw a body change with every new step, and it allowed my mind the time it needed to accept what I was doing to my body and for it to acknowledge that good things were happening despite my desire for a chocolate chip cookie.

How do I stay motivated, aside from the good feeling I get from being paleo?
These are all bloggers that, if you spend more than two minutes researching paleo, you will come across. They are well known for a reason:
Civilized Caveman Every recipe I've tried of his has been off the charts amazing.
PaleOMG Her recipes are awesome. She's also very real about her life, so it's fun to read her blogs even if you are not interested in her food! You just can't not fall in love with her. I also follow her on instagram and she does post a lot of non-paleo food though, so if you're new to paleo I wouldn't recommend following her there. It's a bad temptation!
nom nom paleo
Everyday Paleo
Life as a Plate

Websites dedicated to recipes:
Foodgawker (search paleo)
Punchfork (search paleo)
Fast Paleo

And the book that got my ball rolling:
Practical Paleo

Because I shouldn't keep it a secret...

No, sorry, I'm not pregnant. I did come across a super awesome cold prevention, though, which is way more exciting to most of you!

I read the blog DIYNatural and one of the writers also has a separate blog, Matt Jabs. He posted a health tonic and it just so happened to be a few days before I started getting a cold.

A couple weeks ago I was feeling awful. I started getting the super exhausted, whiny, grumpiness I get before I get sick. Then I started getting all mucousy and had a bad headach from the sinus pressure. I started complaining to Vince and as I did, I remember Matt's post for his health tonic! I quickly rushed to the store for Vitamin C powder after some research told me that Vitamin C powder is different from a Vitamin C pill. (For one thing, Vitamin C powder is one ingredient and a pill has like 8...what?!) I came home, mixed up a cup, and gulped it down expecting it to taste awful. It didn't taste too bad, and Vince and I came to the conclusion that it reminds us of Emergen-C, just without the fizz. (And it's healthier!) Well, I wanted the fizz, so I made it fizzy with some sparkling mineral water. Here's a little how-to for the health tonic:

In a small mason jar or any jar with a lid, add 1 tablespoon raw honey(+ local is best!), 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar (you can get Bragg's from the regular grocery store and it's cheap and the best), 1 teaspoon Vitamin C powder (don't just crush up a pill!) and 1/3 cup water. Put the lid on and shake, shake, shake. If you used raw honey it will more than likely be a solid, so after shaking for a minute or two I let it sit for a 1/2 hour to dissolve, shaking every five or ten minutes. When everything is dissolved, I poured the tonic into a larger cup and filled it to the brim with sparkling mineral water for the fizz. This is optional! Sometimes I drink it with the sparkling water, and other times I just add a little regular water and drink it. It tastes good either way.

I drank some the night I was starting to feel sick, the next morning before I went to work, and then that night as well. I started off Friday feeling the same as I had Thursday night, still not 100%, but by Friday night I felt great! To be on the safe side I also drank one cup a day for four days after.

This will be my future go-to for when I feel sickly again, and I hope it continues to work just as well! Vince is feeling a little sick right now and I've been loading him up on this and elderberry. I'm also loading myself up, because there has never been a time when he's been sick and I haven't gotten sick. This test will tell!

I know a lot of you believe things like this are bullshit, and if you believe that, by all means, support the drug companies and buy yourself a bottle of NyQuil. I am no doctor and cannot tell you that this will cure you of anything, but it can't hurt, right? Vince and I now drink this a couple times a week, especially if we wake up and just feel a little off or need a boost of energy. He calls it the 'orange drink' even though it's not really orange and doesn't taste too much like orange? Either way, he approves.

Lastly, to those of you who are intimidated by the 'raw this' and 'raw that', don't be! I get my raw honey from the farmer's market and it's $12 for a quart, compared to $11 for pasteurized local honey. Only $1 extra for raw? Yes please. (And if you are buying 'regular' honey from the grocery store, I encourage you to do some research because you're not actually buying real honey!) Also, raw ACV? You can get it at the regular grocery store in the vinegar section! Can't get any easier than that.

Healthy Inklings #2

This series will consist of healthy tips, recipes, and random things I've learned along my paleo journey.  To learn more about the paleo lifestyle, click here. This is not necessarily paleo specific, just overall health.  To read previous Healthy Inklings posts, click here. 

I cannot tell you how many times I've said, 'We're never going out to eat again. Every food I buy will be healthy. NO MORE processed food!' as I throw away all the bad food from my cupboards. I'd maybe last two days, three at the most, before I caved in to the cravings of a popsicle or the mexican food restaurant down the road. My body (but more likely just my mind) could not handle such a sudden change. To have everything I loved food-wise ripped away from me in one fell swoop? Made me miserable.

So for the Healthy Inklings Tip #2:

Choose one meal to focus your healthy efforts on. Start with the easiest thing, such as breakfast or snacks. Just worry about that one meal until you have it down and are comfortable with it, then add another meal and another until you are eating the healthy foods you want throughout the day. When I started transitioning to paleo, I didn't do it all at once and I believe that is why it's such a success for me now and why I can be 99% paleo and happy.

Here are some simple healthy recipes for breakfast and snacks that I've tried:
Avocado-Lime Deviled Eggs (personally, I leave out the lime)
Regular Hard Boiled Eggs
Breakfast Smoothie - So. Many. Options.
Mini Crustless Quiches
Paleo Banana Muffins (I eat these every day I go to work!)
Sauerkraut and Over-Easy Eggs
Fruit & Coconut Milk
Almonds
Sautéed Spinach and Onion in Coconut Oil
Guacamole with Carrots, Cucumber, and Tomatoes, or just plain!

What meal will you start with?

I'm not a doctor (yet!) so do not take any advice I give as medical advice. If you have anything you want to hear about, let me know in the comments or email me at iffyinklings@gmail.com.

Already?

My Car I’m thankful for my Subaru that can romp through the snow. For a couple years Vince and I chose not to have a car and for the most part, it was wonderful. But riding the bus on snowy days? Sucked. The buses were always running WAY late, yet I would still feel the need to get to the stop on time just in case, and my stop didn’t have any kind of shelter and was on a busy street. That meant that I was always so cold and when a big truck would fly by snow would go everywhere and a huge breeze would freeze me to my bones. I’m thankful that I now have a car that can get me safely and warmly to where I need to go.

Medicine I’m also thankful for Zicam. Over Thanksgiving Vince got sick, and then he got me sick. When I have a cold I’m usually not the coughing type, my head just gets overloaded with gunk and my eyes get swollen and watery and my face feels like it’s going to explode. It hurts so bad! But Zicam came to the rescue this time and I love it. My cold isn’t totally gone but it helps a LOT with the pressure in my head.

Food Homemade Turkey Noodle Soup. I used leftovers from Thanksgiving and this was SO perfect for my cold, as well as Vince’s. I forget how easy-peasy it is to make this soup (and chicken noodle) but I am definitely going to remember to make more of it throughout the winter!

Diagnosis' And the last thing I’m going to mention today is how thankful I am that I know I have celiac disease. I remember SO many holidays as a kid that I just felt awful and couldn’t explain to my parents why. I would just be so sick and I’m so so thankful that I’m not this year. I’m glad I have the knowledge and ability to prepare delicious food for my family and that I can be a healthy happy person eating it.

1 thing Barbara, George Bush and I have in common...

Among my many medical conditions, I have this awesome one called Graves Disease. Apparently, my doctor felt it necessary to inform me the George and Barbara Bush also have Graves Disease. How cool does that make me?! On a scale on 1-10, I believe that's a 10. I mean, take a look at these rediculusly awesome people:

{{Except I don't necessarily like either of them}}

Anyhoo, I have this disease, and it makes my thyroid work overtime. In comparison, my body is 'working' ten times faster than a normal person. So as I sit on my couch eating potato chips, it's really like I'm running 15 miles. Up a mountain. In 10 degree weather. Not really. But in all seriousness, my body does work ten times faster than most peoples, and it's caused me to be extremely tired, but at the same time my body always feels so antsy so I can rarely get to sleep quickly at night. Fortunately, though, I don't have eyeballs that stick out like some people get!

Luckily, there is a 'cure'. For now, I am on a medication called methimizole.

I first started taking it about a year ago. I successfully took it for about 4 months and then I got some more blood work done and my numbers were back to normal! I confessed to my doctor that I only took the pill once every two days instead of three times a day. So I was taking it A LOT less than I was supposed to. After I got the good results back, I freaked out because the medicine worked so well, even at such a small dose. I don't like the idea of taking a pill that is that effective at killing off my thyroid even when taking a sixth of the prescribed amount. Know what I mean? So I just stopped taking it.

Then when I got more blood work done a couple months ago, my thyroid was working in overdrive again, so back on the medicine I went. I still only take one pill a day, but I've noticed a huge difference. It's easier for me to get to sleep at night, when I wake up, I'm awake, and I have energy to keep going throughout my day.

While I still HATE the idea of having to take medicine, I do like being able to function somewhat normally! I've talked to a naturopath and unfortunately I can't do anything to help my thyroid naturally. The naturopath said it would take years (like a decade) to get it under any kind of control...and that's totally not worth it to me. So until then, bring on the medicine!

P.S. I love this man.

And this little man.

[[My 'baby' brother William]]

Sundays of Randomness

So today will be a random post.

About random things.

Ooooooh ya.

I have loads of laundry to do today. Not excited AT ALL.

I went and saw a wonderful naturopath on Wednesday and she wants me to record the time I wake/go to sleep, what I eat, how much I exercise, and all my wonderful symptoms for a week. It's been really interesting so far to see what I'm eating! I notice I eat a lot of WEIRD things for breakfast, such as pickles, but it's cool. I like what I eat and eat it when I want it...like all those cookies I eat throughout the day. O_o

A girl just yelled 'fuck you' at my boyfriend because my dog barked at her little rat dog. Oops.

I've been trying to wake up at a consistent time, even on weekends, and it's HARD. I don't like waking up, I'd be totally fine sleeping for 15 hours a day. I mean, who wouldn't?! But I do have a life I have to live and I would prefer to be awake for it.

I hate that my local New Frontiers, a health food store, is so damn expensive. I paid $6 for a 1/2 pint of coconut milk ice cream yesterday. It better be the best ice cream ever. Damn not being able to just eat dairy...

I am about to eat a tamale my love just made me. Smells delicious!

Today I am planning on making gluten-free, dairy-free, gelatin free and corn-free marshmallows with a modified recipe from this little lady. I am also going to use her modified version of "corn" syrup. While I don't have a corn allergy, I am trying to stay away from highly processed food because there's something in processed food that I know makes me sick, but I don't know what. Maybe it's just that my body can't handle things that are already processed? Either way, I like to stay away from things like that and I love the modified recipes from Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom! She always has such wonderful ideas.

If the marshmallows turn out great and they aren't all eaten, I think I'm going to try a kind of rice krispie treat, but do it with these GF/CF honey cheerio type things I have. It sounds like it might be delicious and I could have it for a snack at work!

I figured out last night that my dog loves raw carrots! Good for her. =D

The tamale is calling my name.....

I need to take a shower.

Bye!