This Single Serving Life

I quit smoking part 2 - A few weeks without nicotine

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:22:00 +0000

First, real quick I know there are comments in the blog that have been kindly left by readers, I will address them within the next 24 hours. Thanks!

So it's just over a few weeks since I quit smoking. Or "weeks into my Quit" which is a phrase I picked up on one of those quit smoking websites. I kind of like referring to this as "My Quit" rather than anything else. 1- it seems to take the stigma out of the word "quit" I mean no one likes to be a "quitter". 2- it personalizes it, which is good because everyone's quit is different it seems. So where have I been? Well... I've been kinda re-learning how to live day to day life.

I. Can. Not. Stress. This. Enough. That first week... Was. The. Hardest. Week. Of. My. Life.

Having gone cold turkey, I'm not entirely sure I made the best choice. Of course having said that, I'm not sure that it's not just my body thinking it really still wants nicotine. I'm sure going through some kind of six week patch or gum program might have worked, but then I think you're really just delaying the inevitable or giving yourself an out on your quit date.

So lets take this day by day... exactly what happened this past week? Well I'll line it up for you and I'll set it up along with what is documented happened to my body (your body too) as you go through withdrawal. These things I didn't read until yesterday because I didn't want to talk myself into having symptoms as they were supposed to be happening.

Friday Morning February 3rd, I woke up and as happened most mornings my chest was kind of heavy....it usually cleared within the first hour or so of waking up, but for that first hour I always felt like I couldn't take a deep breath. I rattled my pack of Marlboro Silvers to confirm only one smoke left and stepped outside to have it. Once it was finished I stared at my outdoor ashtray and made the mental note that anytime I wanted another smoke I would have to firmly answer myself with a No!

I then went back inside and prepared for the rest of my day which consisted of going to walk my sister's dog in the late morning, hair appointment late afternoon, and meeting friends for our Friday night tradition late evening. In between there I have a business I'm trying to get off the ground and a myriad of other chores, but for this day that was the highlight of my schedule.

Thirty Minutes after quitting blood pressure and heart rate which are both elevated by nicotine begin to return to normal.

I went and walked the dog, then decided to stay at my sister's place until it was time to leave for my hair appointment. I was already starting to think about smoking and figured the longer I stayed in a location I wasn't used to smoking, the better I would be. Oddly enough driving and not smoking isn't really a big deal like I thought it would be, I used to smoke in my car all the time and it hasn't bothered me yet that I'm not doing it.

I had an awesome hair appointment, which was easy cuz I don't smoke at the salon either. I got back home and glued myself to the couch and watched TV until just before it was time to go out for the evening. I couldn't run around my place much because I was thinking I needed to smoke and I have found when trying to quit in the past that if I just sit with the TV on and let the internal battle wage on I actually do better at winning.

Eight Hours after quitting CO (Carbon Monoxide) levels in my blood begin to decrease because I'm not inhaling smoke anymore, which also allows for the Oxygen levels in my blood to increase.

Friday night most weeks is the only time I drink alcohol in the form of beer... I was not about to cut that out this week! Fully aware that drinking and smoking go hand in hand for me I relied on the facts that 1- my whole group of Friday night friends are non-smokers and 2- it has been years since smoking was allowed inside so it's not like I'd be staring down an ashtray or anything.

I did really well!!! I didn't stop at one of the three 24 hour tobacco selling places of business on the way home.

I'd say I had a moderate level of craving for smoking, but nothing a piece of regular chewing gum couldn't resolve.

Saturday February 4th - I woke up earlier than I usually would, and nearly immediately the internal battle began. It was more of an internal monologue with a three year old. If ever that constant visual of the angel and the devil on each side were true it's moments like this. I should go smoke. No. Time for a smoke. No. Now would be a great time for a smoke. No. Oooo, just enough time to get in a smoke before I... No. All in all the firm No. was working pretty well. Since I never really got in the habit of smoking inside my apartment I decided I would make one run to the grocery store to stock up on a few things and stay inside my apartment for at least the weekend. If I don't go outside, then I'd have less temptation to smoke.

24 Hours after quitting the chances of having a heart attack begin to diminish ever so slightly.

Sunday February, 5th - Super Bowl Sunday - Even before I quit smoking I planned to watch the Super Bowl. Which some of you may find amusing, because I don't follow sports generally, and I know about as much about football as my cats do. However I am generally interested in all things that literally capture the world's attention, and of course there are the television ads. :-) This was the LONGEST DAY! All day from waking up thru the next day I wanted a smoke, more than I ever wanted a smoke in my life! I even peeked out my window a few times to see if any of my neighbors that smoke were out and about so I could casually bum a smoke. I spent most of the day watching pre-game, snacking on my carrots, pretzels and layer dip I treated myself to. I actually forced myself to sit on my couch for a few hours because I would have gone straight to buy smokes if I moved.

My mom called me at one point and told me I sounded very wound up and tense, because I was! Towards the end of the football game I needed to rant and roar and my Facebook status reflected as such. I then decided to turn to happier events such as the crazy last 52 seconds of the game and some of the ads.

When I tried to go to sleep that night, sleep just wouldn't come. So I picked up my handy dandy Nook Tablet, and dialed into my Netflix app. I then proceeded to watch the entire first season of Downton Abbey, which is an amazing show now airing in it's second season on PBS. Between each and every episode I wanted to go smoke, but instead clicked on the next one in queue. It worked! I found a new show to watch and sleep finally came at about 6am...Monday morning.

72 Hours after quitting the entire body will test 100% nicotine-free and over 90% of all nicotine metabolites (the chemicals it breaks down into) will now have passed from the body. Symptoms of chemical withdrawal have peaked in intensity, including restlessness and insomnia. The number of cue induced crave episodes experienced during any quitting day will peak for the "average" ex-user. Lung bronchial tubes leading to air sacs (alveoli) are beginning to relax in recovering smokers. Breathing is becoming easier and the lungs functional abilities are starting to increase.

So I would like to throw a warning out to those trying to quit, if you make it through day 3 without question reward yourself and be PROUD!

I woke up Monday February 6th, and I could immediately tell the nicotine was out of my system. That it was all about the battle of the habit from here on out. I made it to the middle of the next week before I broke down and ordered some herbal cigarettes. Calm down, they're the kind use in theatrical productions and movies for actors who don't actually smoke. They're filled with things like clove, tea, and other various essences that make them smell terrible and taste even worse. I ordered a pack just to try and shut my brain up, it still... STILL wants to smoke.

Well it's a lot quieter now, because I smoked about three of those herbal cigarettes in two days and tossed the rest, thus proving that my brain is not looking for a smoke, but looking for nicotine...which it's not getting so it's just going to have to deal.

My creative process has been severely interrupted. Although I'm noticing that copious amounts of caffeine or sugar or B12 seem to help. This must be why people who smoke gain weight I can't even describe for you what a sugar high feels like these days... it's pretty awesome. But I'm trying to keep the sugar intake to a minimum still. I had one can of regular pop today and felt like I was queen of the world for about three hours.

I do have to say that I may still be in crap shape, but I don't get out of breath as easily as I did a few weeks ago, although my back now hurts because I spend significantly more time in my desk chair. I'm not constantly getting up to go smoke or anything. That's my next big step.... taking this Single Serving Life Mobile and getting my ass in to the gym.

Still though, I feel like I've gone to slay the dragon and after so many before me have failed...after I have failed.... I have now SUCCEEDED!

Hi! My name is Kat... I'm a Non-Smoker. :-)

I quit smoking part 1--- Nicotine and ADD/ADHD.

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:37:00 +0000

Oh what a week! I haven't left my small apartment since Saturday... I have good reason though. See... on Wednesday of last week I watched the film "50/50" which if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter (@SingleServeLife) you read that I found it very powerful. It was a good movie, there were some things I would have liked to see a little bit more on, but over all well put together. In a nutshell the story follows a 30 year old guy who lives a very quiet clean lifestyle and gets a terrible form of cancer from which he has a 50/50 chance of surviving.

There was something about he way the lead character went through the moment of diagnosis and the way he handled his somewhat overprotective mother that just really hit home for me. Leading up to this viewing I'd been entertaining the idea of quitting smoking. I had tried after the fall I had (read about here) but I was only successful in cutting back to around 1/2 to 1 pack a day depending on the day.

Then I watched this movie and really identified with the lead character. I decided that I didn't want to get cancer, and I can't very well write about all these positive food changes I'm making and talk about how all of this can reduce my chances of getting cancer if I continue to participate in the one thing probably the MOST linked to cancer of anything in the whole world. Not only that, but I am not about to get diagnosed with cancer and have everyone around me say, or think "Well of course she has cancer, she smokes." No way Jose am I going to continue to open myself up to a battle like that, or comments from those I may rely on the most like that.

So I started to think really hard about not smoking, and what my life would look like if I weren't smoking. I've been smoking all but maybe a handful of days for the last 12-13 years...so, life is going to look and feel a lot differently! I smoked regularly as I planned my cessation, and my last cigarette was very unceremoniously smoked at some point on Friday morning. I think it's important that I didn't make a big mental deal out of quitting, I think that would have made this past several days even harder, if that's possible.

I will absolutely outline for you what the last several days have been like for me, but first I'd like to focus on how the body is addicted to Nicotine and how quitting it is affecting my ADD/ADHD brain.

Nicotine is nature's pesticide, it is! Nicotine is the tobacco plant's defense mechanism so that it doesn't get eaten by insects. In humans nicotine (and many other narcotics like heroin, meth and cocaine) increases the brain's release of dopamine. Dopamine is the chemical that our brain produces when we're in a good mood, so smoking makes our brain think that we're doing something good. Dopamine also gets released when we want food, water, sex, and receive praise among other things. Our brain gets used to that and craves it to unhealthy levels. Nicotine also stimulates the central nervous system to make the user feel a bit more "alert." So smoking makes the user feel good about themselves and alert, the more the product is used the more the user wants to feel that way.

One thing that isn't really discussed with Nicotine addiction, or addiction in general is the ADHD factor. I have written before that I am a card carrying member of the ADD/ADHD club which means the chemistry in my brain is done up a bit differently than the non-ADD/ADHD individual. I am not physically hyper, but mentally I can be all over the place, I notice things that others seem to let slide, I will sometimes hyper focus on a topic or task that interests me to some truly unbelievable levels, and I can become overstimulated (overwhelmed) much easier than non-ADD/ADHD people. Nicotine, similar to the prescribed medications actually seems to HELP ADD/ADHD SYMPTOMS. *sigh* I really had to think about this before I quit, I don't like when my ADD/ADHD flares up anymore than the people that have to deal with me when it flares up do.

So how does that feed into addiction?

Well.... it makes it that much easier to fall into the trap of addiction and a million times harder to get out of it. The medications that are prescribed to treat ADD/ADHD also cause the dopamine levels in our brains to increase, thereby being part of what helps us manage the world. It has also been linked several times over that individuals with ADD/ADHD experience a wider array of the disadvantages of immediate smoking cessation such as memory issues, slower reaction time to external stimuli (.05 of a second slower, so measurable but not really noticeable) and others. However because the ADD/ADHD mind does have such a varied response to the removal of nicotine (some studies have even recorded the opposite (faster) response to external stimuli) it is really hard to pin down an average set of additional or differing symptoms that the ADD/ADHD brain may experience.

I interpret all that to mean that each case of ADD/ADHD is going to react slightly different than another case. Well, I do pride myself on being unique! What all reputable sources I've read agree on is that the ADD/ADHD brain is more prone to obtaining and keeping an addiction that increases the neural transmitter dopamine, among others, and quitting is harder than that of a non-ADD/ADHD individual.

I read all of this before I decided to quit...and I still did it... cold turkey (which I always used to associate with actual Turkey lunch meat or something)...and it was a FIGHT...still is... I'll give you a 3 day blow by blow of what was going on in my head in my next post. I didn't recognize myself inside or out for almost 24 hours on Sunday. It was one of the most unreal experiences of my current existence.

Sources for ADD/ADHD and addiction are:
You Mean I'm not Lazy Stupid or Crazy?! - Book by Kate Kelly and Peggy Ramundo
ADHD Treatments - blog
National Center for Biotechnology Information- Medical Library Website
WellSphere.com - Health website

Post Script Note... Even now I had the thought that I would step outside and have a smoke right after I hit "publish" on this post, and then had to remind myself that we're not doing that anymore. I guess I'll find an alternative.

Having the option...

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:58:00 +0000

I'm so pleased with all the discussions that are being had because of what I'm writing! One ongoing question I seem to get is "Why are you choosing to eliminate so much from your diet/life?" or variations there of. The answer is simple.... Because I can.

There is something that was brought to my attention about 6 years ago by one of my friends. To explain it properly requires a tad bit of back story...

One of my friends grew up in the USSR, in the country now recognized as the Ukrane. In the USSR my friend and his family were not allowed to practice their faith, which happens to be Judaism. When my friend was 15 or so they moved to the US and it was sometime after that when my friend decided to practice and honor his faith in a way he never could before. One of the practices he picked up was eating Kosher, which very briefly means that he restricts himself from eating certain animals, parts of animals, and certain animal bi-products as well as other dietary guidelines as outlined in the Torah. (It is of course much more detailed than that which you can read about here) I remember while we were at work one day I asked him why he decided, after he came to the US, where he could do anything he wanted, did he decide to restrict himself from some of what this country had to offer.

His answer was so painfully simple, three words that were said with no more effort or thought than one would use to say "Hello" to answer the phone.

"Because I can."

It was that simple... and my whole definition of what it really meant to have it all, and live in the "land of the free and the home of the brave" changed instantly. I didn't really recognize it until later, but for at least 5 of these years I hear that thick Russian accent in the back of my head "Because I can."

My friend had been denied the right to practice his faith and now he practices it because it's important to him, and because he can.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should, could, or want to... and... that's okay. I think I had fallen into that rat race we have here of "More, bigger, faster, better, NOW" that I lost sight of what having a choice really means. It means you have the right to chose what you want, AND what you don't want.

So I am doing this now, making a concerted effort at changing my diet, striving to be what I view as the best I can be, providing more than lip service and taking action, because it is what I think is right for me, and because I am fortunate enough to live in a place and time that affords me the choice to do so.

I choose to avoid foods that I know are going to raise my cholesterol and contribute to high blood pressure.

I choose to make the daily effort to do what I have to to lose weight and increase my endorphins, which help me feel better.

I choose to make my journey public because there are others that need to know they can do it and they don't have to face odd choices alone.

So what is it that you do just because it's there? What do you do because you can? What do you make an active choice to do because it's what you truly want?

What are some alternatives to animal based protein?

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:44:00 +0000

Why do you eat meat? Seriously...why do you eat meat, what is meat's primary function in your diet? (The term meat here is being used to define all forms of animal protein, beef, pork, poultry, and fish.) Please e-mail me if your first gut reaction wasn't to say "Well it's my source of protein." or something similar. :-)

That's right, we all eat or ate meat because we have been informed by just about everybody on the planet that we NEED the protein. Part of this whole new way of looking at food has taught me that there's a lot of protein out there in astonishing supply...and it has nothing to do with animals!

Protein is absolutely a building block that our bodies need in order to function properly, and it's essential in larger amounts if you are trying to add muscle or live an active lifestyle. Yes the highest amounts per serving can be found in animal based meats. However, what the body actually needs vs what the average American Diet supplies is really out of whack. Not only that, but animal based proteins are significantly harder to digest and metabolize.

There is a formula you can use to figure out how much you yourself need every day, read about here. The basics are as follows

1. Weight in pounds divided by 2.2 = weight in kg
2. Weight in kg x 0.8-1.8 gm/kg = protein gm.
Use a lower number if you are in good health and are sedentary (i.e., 0.8). Use a higher number (between 1 and 1.8) if you are under stress, are pregnant, are recovering from an illness, or if you are involved in consistent and intense weight or endurance training.

So you now know the total in grams of protein that you need for the day.... be honest about your lifestyle when you pick the number to multiply by...don't worry we can't see your calculator! :-) My number is 116. So I need to get as close to 116 grams of protein into my diet every day, and I don't want to eat meat... I could turn to soy milk, tofu (soy product), actual soy beans etc... that's one way to look at it...but too much of any one good thing ends up not being good.

In fact it has been documented that too much soy in a diet can make it harder for women to produce estrogen which is a hormone vital to little things like reproduction... sadly in all the research I did, no one could tell me how much was too much or what % was too much...they all just say..too much is bad.

That doesn't mean put the tofu down.... unless you are also eating soy milk, soy based meat look alike products, and soy beans all in the same day...I would venture to guess that's too much. (try Almond milk - yum!)

Tofu does in fact have 20g protein per 1/2 cup serving which is pretty much on par with most 3 oz servings of animal based protein.

French beans also have about 12 g of protein per 1 cup serving (ooo...more nutrient filled volume to make you full!)

In fact... most dark green vegetables carry about a gram or two of protein with each 1 cup (cooked) serving.

Popular nuts for protein (1/4 cup serving) are Almonds, Walnuts, Peanuts and Cashews which average between 7-9 grams. (Special shout out to Walnuts for also having the Omega3 fats you need, that most people can get from fish)

Even seeds pack a protein punch for their little size! Flax, Pumpkin and Sunflower seeds carry about 6-8 grams per 1/4 cup as well. (Shout to the Flax for also being a great Omega3 fat source!).

There are even grains with great levels of proteins, most notably Quinoa (said Keen-wah) which is up there with the nuts at about 7grams of complete protein.

So with a balanced diet of all this to choose from and more...getting near that 116g of protein per day isn't an issue. Not to mention that I didn't even TOUCH on all the other great nutrients these food items have in addition to protein that meat just doesn't have. I will be continuing to post about what I've learned and learning as we go.... but protein is a big one I wanted to get to first.

These sources of protein are serving multiple tasks within the meal plan I am working on.. for example- a piece of chicken is good for protein, but a handful of walnuts is good for protein, Omega3 fats, and fiber. Remember the idea is to pack as much nutrient punch as I can for each calorie of food that I eat. It's an ongoing mission that is actually a really fun challenge!

I invite you to please take 32 seconds of your day and watch this preview for Forks over Knives. I'm just about to go through my 4th viewing where I will be taking copious notes. (Took me 4 hours to do the same thing for "Chow Down") I find "Forks over Knives" to be absolutely essential to learning about this plant based/whole foods way of living...and strongly urge everyone to watch it once (it's less than 90 minutes long). It's also quite entertaining and very easy to follow. It may not make you pick up a fork at a vegan meal...but it may just inspire you to keep you from the knives at the operating table.

It is available to watch at www.hulu.com if you enroll in HuluPlus and is also available at most libraries, and for purchase on any major site that sells DVD's. If you're really nice to me... I may even lend my copy out :-)

Animal, vegetable, or mineral...my motivation for change

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:26:00 +0000

Did you ever try to go vegetarian when you were a kid? I did, a couple of times, with a friend of mine. We loved animals so much that we decided we didn't want to have any part of eating them. I think we were about 13 years old at the time, heavily dependent on our families for the meals we ate. At the time (very early 1990s) the only reason we had to go vegetarian was because of our love of animals. We decided to forgo anything leather and chemical based, and we learned all about animal testing too, we even became literal card carrying members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). I know... scary right?

Well I learned a lot in those months and years we flexed our rebellious muscles, much of which has stuck with me to this day. Including the fact that while I admire the goals PETA has, I find their tactics a little too extreme for my liking.

I also learned that I really like meat, dairy, and all other manner of animal food products. I still believe that we as humans are designed to eat meat, fish, cheese, eggs, etc as part of the fuel that feeds our bodies, but my attitude towards what and how much is healthy to our modern day diet has changed drastically.

Now before I go any further, let me say that the above are MY beliefs and I have absolutely no intention of pushing them onto you, or preach from a soap box about why you should or shouldn't do what I do. I am a firm believer in live and let live when it comes to these decisions.

So back to the really liking meat thing... I do... I think some animal proteins are beautiful things, and some are gifts from heaven above. I do have trouble with being able to recognize what I'm eating in it's living form, which I reason is because of all those PETA things I saw back when I was a member. (I now believe that PETA is way too aggressive in it's promotion of it's beliefs, no matter how much I agree with them)

Then I became unhealthy.

A few months ago, well several at this point, I was feeling like crap. There didn't seem to be a way out of it and I was looking for one. I would spend my days eating take away or cooking up a Paula Dean quality meal and then I would feel even more lethargic than when I started. Oddly enough Paula Deen just announced that she has Type 2 Diabetes, and instead of considering changing her ways, has decided to become a spokesperson for Diabetic medication.... this makes me sad.

Then I was introduced to the book Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Dr. Fuhrman practices medicine with his patients using a whole foods, largely vegetarian, and even vegan approach to help his patients reverse disease, lose weight, improve blood pressure and cholesterol. I love this book. It's not just Dr. Fuhrman's opinion, but it's also full of documented proof of results from his own patients and from some other very well known physicians that practice the same ideals.

Before this book, I didn't know that adult onset diabetes can be reversed, that people who take certain medications can work through diet and exercise to be off of them, and that with the proper fuel the body is significantly less likely to produce cancer. I read chapter after chapter screaming in my head Why does the world NOT KNOW THIS?!? I wasn't even finished with the book before I was buying vegetables I'd never cooked with before like Kale, Mustard Greens, Leeks and pound after pound of carrots to try and make these recipes in the book. I had to try this! I seriously thought the only REAL reason to go vegetarian or vegan was to help live a love for animals. I didn't know that doing this could so radically reduce my chances of an early grave!

Of course one of the main reasons why everyone doesn't know this (as featured in each and every item I read or watched) is that the US Government isn't in favor of anything that is going to hurt the Meat, and Dairy lobbyists, and of course there's no drug company that's going to be part of a major announcement that says you can reverse your need for their product.

The book asks it's readers, if they wish, to try the eating plan as mapped out for 6 weeks, and so I did. I have to tell you that I felt amazing after two weeks and dropped 11lbs without even going into the gym. Then I'm not sure what happened, but I stopped. I did continue my research though. I watched the following list of documentaries which totally and completely opened my eyes to food in this country. All of them are available for viewing on Hulu.com if you're enrolled in Hulu Plus.

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead - A really entertaining documentary about an Australian trying to live his best life through a juicing program, and whole foods.

Chow Down - Another entertaining documentary about three patients of Dr. Esselstyn of the Cleveland Clinic, and how they reversed their health issues with the Whole foods approach. There is also some great info about how the US government is advising us about what our diets should be based on which industries have the better lobbyists in Washington DC.

Forks over Knives - This is a very serious look at the diet in the US and how it compares to other countries. It includes a LOT of really great information on The China Study and statistics regarding how a change in diet can keep you off the operating table.

The Future of Food - Offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.

And countless blogs, news stories, and blurbs....

One of the most notable things to come out of these films (some to contain the same information, but I consider that learning through repetition) has to deal with the American Heart Association, an organization who's mission it is to educate and help prevent heart disease, the number 1 killer in the US today. The American Heart Association says that a cholesterol level of 200 is healthy, then why do studies show that 1/3 of the heart attacks that happen are with people that have cholesterol levels between 150 and 200? Basically, that leaves you with a 33% chance at getting a heart attack if you follow their guidelines.

More "amusing" still is that the spokesperson for the American Heart Association is in the film "Chow Down" stating that the reason they haven't changed their guidelines is because they feel it's to drastic for the American people and they fear no one will follow it.

Then, there was the nutritionist who was on the team researching and building the original food pyramid to advise the American people how to eat and be healthy. (This also appears in "Chow Down") She was offered a very large sum of cash in a very shady manner by a government official to NOT publish the actual findings, but instead make it so that the food pyramid and any other documentation published didn't upset the lobbyists for the meat and dairy industries!

It just makes me angry that things can't be simple... it would be so EASY if it was simple! I'll be writing quite a bit about the things I learned in all these sources about what is healthy, "healthy", and just plain junk. When I was learning all this, and taking copious notes because writing things down helps me to remember, I had one of those moments...one of those "Shit has got to change" moments and made some very radical changes to my diet. Which is what my next post is going to be about. I haven't gone completely to the other end of the spectrum and live a vegan lifestyle (vegan being no eating of any animal product or by product) but I am slowly working it more and more into my every day. Not just because I love animals, I do, the same way I did when I was 13 and tried to go vegan the first time, but because I know I already have high cholesterol, I already know that I carry around more than 100lbs of excess weight, and I don't want to die in the next 10 or 20 years because I couldn't put the cheeseburger down.

Now as I'm learning to do this, I have to do it on a budget as well which throws a whole new challenge into the...well... challenge.

New year, new attitude

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 21:17:00 +0000

Happy Birthday to me! (Well a few days ago anyway) Yeah, I know it sounds all cocky, not my general attitude, but I completely embrace my birthday and my age! I'm starting this, my 33rd year, with some new attitudes!

With this new year I'm bracing for some amazing new adventures and embarking on a new (official) career!

In my absence from blogging I've been neck deep in some hardcore research....if one could lose weight by reading, I'd be at my ideal weight already...

At the end of my last post I posed a question about knowing why you get hungry so fast after eating certain foods, and not when you eat others. The answer is nourishment! Foods you eat with a higher nutrient level give your body more to work with as it burns the food into energy so you can function.

Think about it... the more vitamins and minerals that are good for your body to nosh on in every calorie of food you eat the longer you stay full and the better you feel!

So for example if you have a bowl of your average run of the mill cereal, you know the ones that all advertise that they are part of a healthy breakfast? They are.... PART of that healthy breakfast, you really need to add some fruit, perhaps some green juice (like the one found at Trader Joe's) to round out those much needed nutrients before heading out for your day.

So part of this new attitude is making sure that my food is filled with as many nutrients as possible which can be accomplished by eating whole foods, nothing processed, and very little animal proteins.

I'm accomplishing this by cooking for myself, a lot. Which means I have to do dishes, a lot. There's a trade off for everything! It's worth it... I've never been so positively excited about food before! (I'm bordering on obsession) So, I will make that part of this blogging experience too.

I recently went to a work out class that made me fall in love with the endorphin rush again... man I tell you those endorphins have GOT to be better than Crack! (I don't know from first hand experience, but I would have to imagine that it's true). I haven't become obsessed with chasing that endorphin high yet, but I'm hoping to get there... Ok "obsessed" is a strong word, that rings of unhealthy negative behavior...but I plan on flipping the script on what an "obsession" can really be!

What are you hoping to put into and get out of 2012? Share your thoughts, plans, goals, wishes, hopes and dreams... lets get the missions accomplished together!

This just in! Follow me and the posts on Twitter! @SingleServeLife

Let Food Be Thy Medicine and Medicine Be Thy Food....

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:53:00 +0000

Hello dear readers!
I promise you I have not gone away, I just had to go and find my voice for a bit. I have been researching what direction I wanted to go in...life...eating...you name it!
The title is actually a very famous quote by the "Father of Modern Medicine" Hippocrates. Ever heard of the "Hippocratic Oath"? It's the oath medical doctors take that first states "Do no harm." It has also become one of my new Mantras!

I have recently taken a new direction in my dietary life, I'd been looking for one that made sense ever since the fall back in September. (For which I am still having one lingering mild injury). This new path started about a month ago when I was taking care of one of my neighbors, she had become ill and I was over making sure she had fluids etc. She showed me a book she was reading about an eating plan that focused almost solely on eating a plant based diet. I read a few pages and then quickly ordered us both a copy (the one she had was from the Library). Together we began reading the book, each taking from it inspiration and ideas. I, even though the book said not to skip around, immediately went to the menu and recipe section and decided that I might as well try to eat this way as I was reading this book. (I'm not going to divulge the name of this book just yet, as it is the mere tip of the iceberg and I want to make sure I can stick with it for a bit longer first).

I was intimidated by the recipes, but not by the book, I carried it everywhere with me! Thank goodness I carry a big purse! I was constantly seeing things in the regular American culture, food related, and medicine related, that this book swore against. The book even states that this way of eating will never catch on to the general public because it is so counter culture.

Then another scary health thing happened (well scary to me anyway), about a week after I purchased the book I was going down the stairs from my old bedroom at my parents house to let their dogs out, my knees sounded like marbles were rattling inside them. Then I remembered a little factoid that a friend had posted when she lost a few pounds...she said for every pound lost, 4 pounds of pressure comes off the knees. After caring for the pups I immediately made a comprehensive grocery list, and cost be damned I was going to start cooking some of those intimidating recipes! This was it, before I have to find a doctor and figure out if I'm hypertensive, diabetic or that my cholesterol levels have me at death's door....

Well the first attempt was a complete failure! I had attempted to make an intense vegetable soup, with a base of carrots and about 13 other ingredients, to do this one should juice the carrots...well all I had was a food processor which made the carrots a very lovely mush... all 5 pounds of them. (the idea was to cook and freeze portioned containers). Yeah, it didn't taste horrible, but it wasn't good either. I ate most of it over the next couple of days as I tried to devise a better plan. By the time I got to the last portion I could stand, I decided to chuck the rest, and start researching juicers.

I found one! It's not one that's really designed for daily use, but it's relatively easy to hand wash (I don't have the luxury of a dishwasher) and it gets the job done until I can put some money aside for one of those higher end models. Best part is, after some left over gift certificates and a coupon it only cost 9 dollars!

So I made some soups, I got to know my produce departments at my local grocery stores really well, and aside from the occasional uber craving for a nice piece of read meat, ok... ANY piece of red meat, I had lost 11 lbs without seeing the inside of a gym!

I continued to read my book, which contains tons of information about how being on a whole food/plant based diet can help your body find it's best weight naturally, how diseases can be reversed and/or prevented like diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. It also explains how the information we get from the government, and government sponsored "healthy eating" programs aren't telling the truth because of lobbyists in Washington D.C. and it goes on..... Well I'm all for a good rebellion, and this book is really well cited, the bibliography goes on for days, but if I was going to commit myself to this "radical" type of eating then I was going to have to find more evidence to back it up!

State your source....
"State your source..." is something my dad started telling me when I was in High School and really starting to get my own opinions about the world. Basically it meant that if you have an idea that contradicts mine or the general populous you better have credible sources to back you up. I'll still use it to this day when someone tries to come up against me on something I am really on a soap box about, and sadly nine times out of ten the response is something like "Wikipedia" or "TMZ". News flash, those are NOT credible sources! (I'll let you figure out why). I usually like to find two or three credible sources to back my new ideas up. Credible being defined as honorable, having a good reputation, and respectable. I found them and it didn't take long!

(As I write this now, perhaps I should have began writing this for you earlier, as a LOT has happened!)

Within days I had books and documentaries all agreeing with this new way of thinking I was developing, most cite the same sources as my book, but one really goes a bit further and has some nice interviews with some medical professionals, and former government employees. Another goes out on a limb to explain how the farming community that grows the food that's supposed to be healthy for us and the animals they feed (not generally the same crops, which scares me) is all twisted up in a genetically modified mess!

I will write in my next post how I found these sources what they are, and what they say... suffice to say it all made me, an all American, red meat loving, can I have a side of mayo with my duck fat fried potatoes, I'll eat the garnish and call it my vegetable, eating girl. Now asking for her dressing on the side, thinking of having a container garden in the spring, and wondering if her veg is dark and leafy enough.

Food for thought before I go... Are the calories you eat at every meal filled with enough nutrients to keep you full? Ever wonder why you can have a fast food meal, that consists of more than enough calories you should need for an entire day, and be looking for snacks in a matter of hours?

I know the answers.... do you?

Changes.... They Are Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 07:51:00 +0000

Hi Gang! Sorry it took me so long to do a follow up. I went ahead and implemented some changes that just made me a complete snoozer ... like literally. Sleeping ALL THE TIME!

Ok so first let's start off with post energy drink fall recovery. I probably SHOULD be icing something, well a few things, but in typical me style I'm kinda letting it go. My left knee, and shin area which seemed to take most of the weight in my crash to the pavement is still very sore. It makes it's presence known a lot of the time. I also have several deep bruises on both legs (joy) and both my wrists are showing some wear and tear when I try to do an action such as pick up my laptop or open a window, that kind of "pinch and lift" motion. Then there's my ankle... I have no IDEA how this happened. I have a long sorted history with my right ankle and it now hurts again too.

So, being that I'm not exactly feeling as 100% as I'd like to be. I've been concentrating on some changes I can handle. I'm still as committed to change as I stated before, I just have to go about change a little differently than I was originally hoping.

(My 64oz H2O Bottle)

Step one- Hydrate. To start out I'm drinking 128oz of water in a day. That's 1 Gallon. It's hard, but I have to tell you that 4 days in, and my skin feels firmer, my cough that's left over from my cold is better. I wake up feeling less groggy. It's totally worth the hassle. I know that once I get the rest of my diet in check I can cut back on my direct H2O intake, but for right now, because water is the #1 delivery system for nutrients to the body, and also helps flush out impurities (of which I'm sure my body is chalk full). Doing this and maintaining it will likely improve circulation, help with blood pressure and cholesterol (the latter of which I know I have an issue with) and just help my body be it's best, even on the days when I can't be good with my eating plan.

So, how do I manage to get 128 oz of water in me in one day? Well I'm starting with good old tap water. I found at my local drug store two 64 oz plastic water jugs (BPA free of course) that I rotate in and out of my fridge. I will be switching to a filtered water shortly because I am getting a chlorine after taste on some of my tap water that I don't enjoy. I just keep the jug with me all day. When I leave the house I have a much smaller and easier to carry around 32oz bottle that I bring with me. Here's the tip... if you live in a warm climate DO NOT leave your plastic water bottle in your car. There is a chemical that can be released as the sun warms up the bottle. It's not good for you. So if you're not comfortable walking around with a bottle of water, figure something else out.

Another tip about good old water, and this kinda depends on how your body reacts to additives. You can start with your own water regime by using an additive like Crystal Light, or Propel I know makes a water additive. Personally I'm on water ONLY and yeah it's kind of boring, but I've done the additives in the past and too much of those makes my kidney's hurt. How do I know? Well if you ever get this ache in your lower back from nothing at all, no strenuous activity, that kind of thing, switch to water for a day and I promise you it will go away. The ache is your Kidneys telling you they've had enough of trying to filter out all the crap that's in the additives. I also get this ache if I've had too much diet soda, which is something I only drink on the rarest of occasions. No calories does not mean it's good for you. In fact, it generally means there are so much additives in it that it does nothing but damage your organs a little at a time. Now I do have one night a week that I chill out with friends and on that night I take the opportunity to have some beer, but that's the only night I drink at present.

Step two- Cut the nicotine. I'm on day three of being smoke free! In some respects it's harder than I thought and in other respects it's easier. The part I hate most is that I feel like I can't trust my inner monologue anymore. I'm constantly reasoning with myself about going to get smokes, or doing something or not doing something that will make me want to smoke. I may still end up buying some kind of nicotine delivery system to hang on to the sanity I feel like I'm losing, but I will NOT buy cigarettes ANYMORE! Even in the few days I'm also feeling physically feeling much better. I will also mention that I have attempted to quit many many times before... but let's face it. I'm done. I can't afford to smoke literally or physically anymore. So far I'm munching on carrots to handle that whole oral fixation issue with quitting which is helping so far... I think I may pick up some celery too. After all it is the only food on record that you burn more calories eating than it actually contains. :-)

Step three - Cut the Caffeine. Yeah I'm pretty much a "rip the band-aid off" kinda chick. So I've also spent the last several days without ANY caffeine. THAT didn't go nearly as well as the rest of these changes are going. I would sleep well for 8-9 hours, then wake up do some chores for a few hours and then go back to sleep for 2-3 hours. Now, some of that could be avoiding the nicotine, but the majority of it is my body just missing the nicotine. So I did have some coffee today (I'm not doing any energy drinks/shots at the moment) and I felt a million and one times better than I did after my nap. I'm not much of a napper usually anyway so it felt very strange. I'll just keep the caffeine to a minimum, you know.. enough to keep me going, but not over stimulated. Now that it's fall I love tea and coffee anyway.

Next step is to get organized into a daily routine again, I have been fitting in some stretching for the last two weeks but I need to start some low impact cardio, at least low impact while I figure out these post fall injuries.

Any suggestions for low impact workouts?

American Spirit

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 10:42:00 +0000

You can be sure that the American spirit will prevail over this tragedy. --Colin Powell

I've always been proud to be an American. It was on this day 10 years ago that I became FIERCELY proud to be an American. So it is on this day that I would like to take my small corner of the web and celebrate the American Spirit. Celebrate the strength we have and the unity we've shown. Honor the heroes and those that have gave their lives on that fateful day. I thank you.

I will never forget....

The Wake Up Call....

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 04:30:00 +0000

This evening I ventured out to one of my favorite Chicago Irish Pubs to celebrate a birthday of a dear friend, I'd call him my BFF again but he'd likely not take to kindly to the emasculating verbiage. ;-).

I will preface the following re-telling of the events by saying that I did have a fantastic time with my friend and his girl friend, as I usually do. But this evening I received a wake up call of one of the highest orders.

I arrived at the pub shortly after my friends and after some hellos went to the bar to order my pint of Guinness. It had been an especially long day for me in particular and I was feeling quite drained, but there was no way I was going to skip out on my friends. I drank that pint and as we were chatting waiting for the musician to begin we began commenting on how awfully stuffy it was in the bar this evening. Great, I'm tired, the bar is warm, and I'm drinking alcohol, this is a sure recipe for disaster I thought to myself. Thinking more in the terms of my current actions were going to do NOTHING for my current frame of mind. So, next drink up I ordered an energy drink, straight up, no vodka or alcohol of any kind. I NEVER mix an energy drink with booze... the idea of mixing an upper with a downer has always seemed dangerous to me and counter productive. Not to mention, expensive. I will take this opportunity to let you know that I had also had the majority of another type of energy drink while driving to the pub, so this would have been my second in a short amount of time. Something I have done before and wasn't concerned about. I just wanted to rally for my friends and be in a good mood.

As I was finishing my drink, and we were talking away, I was sending a few texts to other folks about ideas and to see if maybe they wanted to join us. I occasionally get ideas about things that I feel the need to tell a potentially interested party about immediately, once I did I was back in on the conversation at hand. We then got up and went outside for one of our classic smoke breaks. Yes, for those that don't know me in person I am currently a smoker. As the case was my two companions for the evening also partake in this rather nasty habit which only makes it easier to have. While outside there was what I would call a non-descript guy standing up against the building also puffing away. He decided to introduce himself to us, which is slightly unusual since we were very clearly a threesome and he was very clearly alone. As we finished up all three of us made some cordial comments about "see you inside" and the like, I somehow managed to catch his attention and I got an extra special pat on the shoulder as I headed in, that was accompanied by a very flirtatious look. Oh crap... here we go. Was the only thought that came to mind.

As we resumed our seats I told my friend's girl about the "extra special pat" I got upon re-entry and we both rolled our eyes I made a sad face and we giggled about it to my friend. Moments later as I finished my seriously caffinated beverage, Mr. Non-descript decided to test his luck with me. I will tell you that it is the rare occasion indeed when I allow a beverage to be purchased for me, not that it is offered all that often, but I'm of the mind that I wouldn't encourage a man I'm clearly not interested in getting to know in any way shape or form.... My friend on the other hand has told me time and again that "it's only a drink" and I should allow it. I will give Mr. Non-Descript credit, he was very polite when he came over and said "You look like a lady that could use a drink, what'll you have?" and before I could self-edit I uttered "[energy drink] straight up, please." This... was where I went wrong.

Mr. Non-Descript brought my drink and then decided to join us with one of his own, followed by telling us he'd just come from home after having 10-12 beers of his own, and then asking my friend where in Ireland he was from (My friend is American). Where I knew there was going to be a problem was when my friend had to tell Mr. Non-Descript he was from America and then Mr. Non-Descript repeatedly asked when my friend came to the US. Hmmmmm.... this is officially the last time I deviate from my norm of not accepting drinks. At least my friend and his girlfriend were having a bit of fun with him, I just sat there my sense of humor becoming exceptionally sarcastic and I'm staring at my friend hoping against hope that there was nothing I was doing to encourage further attention.

Turns out nothing is exactly what got me additional attention. At one point Mr. Non-Descript almost thought I was a lady of the night, which is just the most ludicris thing there ever was, and I quickly corrected his drunken assumption. My friend's girl went to the bathroom and as she was gone Mr. Non-Descript tried to hit on me some more, (joy of joys) and decided that my green top, wasn't actually green but was a lovely "green like" shade, and slurred on to include...

"You have very nice.....ummm....redish...um...yeah (he's actually touching my hair at this point)...this isn't natural is it?" I'm fuming, I reach up and sweep his hand away from my hair, which I happen to love, and rather agressively tell him that it's not natural, while my friend starts laughing hysterically telling Mr. Non-Descript that he really does know how to compliment a gal, not in so many words.

Cut to another smoke break at the end of my third energy drink, and as we're outside laughing about the situation I seem to have landed myself in, I reiterate for my friend the conversation about being in the world's oldest profession. He makes a comment that popped an image into my head that I found absolutely hysterical. I start uncontrolably laughing, which then started some of the "ah-oooga" coughing of a few weeks ago.

Then it happens, nearly simultaniously I'm coughing, I can't inhale, I double over, I start to get dizzy and disoriented, I fall against the front wall of the establishment, and I then crash to my knees and I watch my purse plop like it was dropped from the sky about two feet in front of me. All around I hear some shouts of concern and for a split second I didn't know who I was, all I knew was that I had fallen, I was dizzy and my purse was out of reach. I quickly found my breath, paused for the briefest of moments to take the mental inventory of any possible injuries and state that my purse is out of reach. I also remember that the first time a voice asked me if I was ok... I actually didn't know. Thankfully as luck and fate would have it a paramedic happened to be outside also getting his niccotine fix, he helped me to my feet and my friend's girl grabbed my purse. By the time I stood up I was shaken but ok. The paramedic asked if I was drunk and I remember looking right at him saying "No, it was just too much [energy drink], thank you." I'd only had one Guinness at that point, alhtough I did remember that I hadn't eaten much before I left the house, which is never a good plan either.

Minutes later back at our table, I was given some water, and I felt fine, I felt damn near great! With the exception of a scrape I could feel on my knee and that lasting feeling that happens when your palms hit pavement, I felt like it never happened. In the back of my mind, that scared me. How can I go from a moment of wondering who I was to total and complete clarity. We talked a bit about the whole incident and I of course slightly played down ALL of the feelings I had in that breif moment, for fear of actually sounding looney toons. As we discussed the possibility that it was the energy drinks I checked my pulse and sure enough it wasn't out of control, but it was going. I was then on water, and WIDE AWAKE, for the rest of the evening.

Sadly, Mr. Non-Descript kept trying to hit on me, and after the fall I didn't even speak to him. At one point just before last call he actually picked up a bag of potato chips I finished and SNIFFED IT!!! Stranger still... as if that wasn't strange enough, he only did so after confirming that they were actually mine. *sigh*

I left my friends just after last call, a good 2.5 hours since my fall. My friend, being mindful of Mr. Non-Descript, kindly escorted me to my car just in case. On the 30 minute jaunt home the evening's events came feverently to the surface.

Bottom line, and please excuse my course language, shit has got to change, and it's got to change NOW. Do I know what caused my brief lapse in sanity and my fall? Beyond a shadow of a doubt it was the energy drink combined with lack of proper diet, but who's to say I'll get another wake up call regarding my health? At my current height and weight it is entirely possible that I could fall again (without losing my mental faculties) and actually break a bone, or worse. It is entirely possible that if I decide to go in excess on caffine that my heart won't handle it as well. These are real concerns, especially now! There is NO WAY I want to go through that again, there is NO WAY my friends want to see that again, it scared them too. There is NO WAY I can walk through this life being a wickedly smart individual, and simultaniously take that intelligence and toss it like garbage when it comes to my health.

This night is going down in history as one we'll be telling around the pub table for years undoubtedly, and it's probably one of the biggest wake up calls I've ever had.

Extreme Makeover

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:30:00 +0000

So I've ranted, and I've raved and now it's just time to talk.

I'm excited that I finally started my workout program! I was waiting for that little switch in my head to flip. Long story short, I can't actually make a change in my life unless I get fed up with the current life I've got, and TODAY my inner monologue aka the constant voice that I have conversations with inside my head, most people have little voices... there isn't anything about me that's little. ;-) Anywho I said to myself The writing is off to a great start! But get your ass off the couch already! Which I thought about appropriately, see I've been writing a lot...which doesn't lend itself to a whole lot of movement, and when you're me that's something I can maintain for a long time, which is NOT in anyway shape or form healthy. Mentally I'm sharp as a whip CRACK! But physically, I'm soft as the Stay-puff marshmallow man from Ghostbusters. Just about as big too, but way prettier. So as I was trying to nail down some more chapter outlines for the novel I'm writing I remembered a show I had watched a few weeks, maybe months ago.

Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition. Yeah I know.... I generally avoid shows like this too. Not because they're bad, but because they very often sensationalize obesity, when I gotta tell ya there is nothing sensational about it. I am an obese person and I don't find it all that much fun, but it is sometimes funny. I digress... So on this Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition they feature a person that is classified as Super Obese and follow them for a year with a personal trainer, at the end of the year they have made some marked progress towards a healthier body and lifestyle. I have noticed that they rarely actually make the goal that was originally set by the trainer, but they do still manage to move forward. So, what have I taken from this program?

Well one big thing is that working out is non-negotiable, but I had to wait for my brain to get on board with it. Exercise, now I don't know what you think of when you think of Exercise but mostly for me I think of pain. Which is oddly kind of funny given how high my pain tolerance actually is. It just feels like voluntarily putting myself in pain, and that is not something I can get my brain on board for. Then I remember the Endorphins from when I used to dance and I know there's a pay off in there with those, still it was the ever on going debate, could I make it through the pain to get to the rush I would be looking for?

Next is the duration of the workouts, these folks who often start in the program weighing 500-600lbs a good 200+ lbs from where I'm at and they're exercising FOUR HOURS A DAY. Yeah, that's right, four freak'n hours a day, yeah there was more than one time I felt like the biggest loser while seeing that. It would be my dream to be able to push myself to that level of insanity. Then six or so months into the year they would do some crazy thing like bike in a long distance race, or run a marathon, or some other totally crazy thing... and you know what THEY STILL WEIGH MORE THAN I DO at that point. Even re-reading this as I go my voice is telling me well shit, out of excuses now aren't ya?!?! Yeah I totally am.

The last thing I pulled from this program, and I really started to look for it as I was watching. I still have one episode saved on my DVR to have as an example. The workouts... what the heck are they? I still have to research what the workout program is, but one thing I noticed that the trainer had on every show was the simplest concept. See, my big thing is that I'm so out of shape I'm embarrassed to go to my gym. I'd like to start working out at home and build up some confidence before going and dying all over an elliptical machine or treadmill. So I watched.... and I found the easiest, yet hardest thing. Get down on your hands and knees, ok now get back up, ok now do that 30 times alternating the leg you use to stand up on.....Go ahead... go do it now, even just a couple of times.... I'll be here when you get back.....

So...what do you think?.... I KNOW RIGHT! It's freak'n brilliant! And freak'n HARD too!

It's exactly what I did today, well I did that after I did a little stretching in front of the TV, stretching is my favorite part so I do before and after stretching. Honestly I died after 20 reps, my knees were not happy, but then they haven't been in a while. I'm going to have to try that again tomorrow, I may just be on to something here. I didn't really break a sweat today, but I did get all red in the face and my heart rate was absolutely elevated, mostly because of the down and up, but also because I got upset with myself for not pushing. Since I am making a concerted effort to take this one day at a time, I refuse to let this deter me, tomorrow is another day, and I have another 30 down ups to try. Also, tomorrow I get on the scale... :-/

I Really Must Chime In....

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 07:22:00 +0000

On this whole Chaz Bono thing. As a student of ballroom I am, as would be anticipated, a fan of ABC's Dancing With the Stars. Generally I actually watch it for the professionals. (Tony Dovolani being my personal favorite) I view the Stars as fellow students of Ballroom. They're just doing it on TV. I especially enjoy the rehearsal packages because they very often remind me of something I have struggled with or do struggle with in my dancing with my own instructor.

So why can't the world just see it that way too? I mean come on, I checked the "celebrity" cast list a few hours after it had been posted and saw a majority of snide and negative comments about Chaz Bono being in the cast. Then there were the news stories and the rag mag coverage ("rag mag" is a term I use for tabloid type publications). None of which I could possibly re-post here, as I refuse to fill my little corner of the web with such vile negativity.

Here's my take on it. I don't know what it's like to be born feeling like I should be a different gender. I know kinda what it's like to be trapped in a body that's too overweight to do the things I'd really like to do, but that's about it, and I have a feeling that's not even close to feeling like I'm the wrong gender. I can't even begin to imagine the mental and physical anguish it must have been to literally change the physicality of the body to go from one gender to the other. Not to mention the fact that every damn body thinks they have an opinion on what Chaz did with his own body.

However I have to say that I think I'm the most upset with Chaz himself. While I appreciate how open he is about his gender re-assignment and that he's a out and proud spokesperson for the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgendered (LBGT). I don't think he needs to be all in your face and tell the press "America needs to see this." Let me tell you... no we don't. Those that are fans of his and likely fans of his parents are going to want to see him dance. I'm mildly curious if he has any musicality, I'd imagine with his mom being Cher, dad Sonny Bono and all he'll probably have some kind of innate talent. I don't care if he's a boy or a girl or somewhere in the middle I just care that he doesn't make a mockery of Ballroom Dancing. Which I personally feel is happening with all this back and forth. I can't think of one person who NEEDS to see Chaz dance. Fighting fire with fire in this case simply creates more fire, and I know that creating a firestorm of press is exactly what Chaz and ABC were likely after... well done. Mission accomplished.

Now.... SHUT UP AND DANCE!

30 Days....

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 09:06:00 +0000

Ok so 28 days ish. :-) How are you all doing? I hope you have some amazing Labor Day weekend plans if you're in the US and I hope you have some great regular weekend plans if you're not!
I happen to have some great weekend plans, but I'll write about those after they've happened! (Who knows, they may end up being not that great, we'll see.)

So September 1st came and went and I have set a few goals for myself over the next 30 days... some monumental, some not so much. I am treating them all with the same level of importance. One of which is extremely special to me, but I'm not going to write about it because I want to have a "big reveal" when it's finished. You're welcome to guess though ;-).

Health wise I've decided to take the next 30 days to begin working out again... YAY! Yes, YAY really I swear. It may hurt, and I my ache, bitch, moan and complain but as of September 1st I'm back to it!

I'm willing to hear some suggestions for what types of workouts to try. Right now I'm doing some Yoga type stuff for 30 min every day. Just trying to get a little more limber before I start hitting the cardio big time. My goal for that is 2 weeks from now. I've already spent the last two days eating MUCH BETTER as well... and you know what is amazing? I am not currently craving the bad food! I'm LOVING THAT! I made the decision to cut out the heavy foods, I've increased my vegetation intake exponentially and my hydration is at an all time high for the last three months.

Once this weekend has passed I will post my current schedule (I warn you that I'm rather nocturnal now so the times may seem strange, but I work better at night on some things anyway).

Please send me what you have on ideas for meal planning! It seems to be an area I'm still really lacking in. Also, again if you have any workout ideas I'd love to hear them! I know what I'm planning on starting in two weeks is going to get old pretty quick.

Thanks so much! I look forward to updating you very soon! Happy Weekend!
(don't forget you can e-mail me directly at Kat@ThisSingleServingLife.Net)

Food Inc. - My Take on Food in the US.

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 07:27:00 +0000

First, I'm very pleased to report that, with the exception of a minor cough, Cold Watch 2011 is over and I can now resume my regularly scheduled life.

So tonight I embarked on a mission I've been meaning to do for a while. I watched the US Documentary "Food Inc." I have many reasons for wanting to watch this film and I have many reasons for not watching it. My reasons for not watching it center around not really wanting to know more than I already did about the United States mass production and genetic engineering of food. I for a long time have been what I would call reasonably well read on the subject of food production especially focused on the animals we use for our food. I am disturbed by most of it, and would very much like to not be a part of that whole chain. I hope that anyone interested in becoming healthy and wanting to be aware of the world around them would be so inclined to at some point watch this film. I will also say that this film is responsible for some changes that have happened with the US Government and food produced for consumption.

Much like the documentary Super Size Me, another of my "must see" films, focused on the American Fast Food industry, "Food Inc" actually focuses more on the production of the food direct from farm, or processing plant to grocery store shelves. Issues abound left and right, in particular I was shocked at the use and abuse of Corn and Soybeans. This is something I currently know little about, aside from what was presented in the film, but I have no doubt that if I dig a little deeper I'll only find more of the same. I am also ashamed that I didn't know this, given all my past research that cattle is NOT meant to have a steady diet of corn, and in having such a diet, as they do, one of the cow's four stomach's produces E-Coli which causes food poisoning and can lead to death. It is this E-Coli that when the animal is not processed or handled properly contaminates the meat and then causes the consumers of this product to become ill and sometimes die. THAT I found exceptionally disturbing. 90% of my grocery store's product contains some derivation of corn, creepy. There are so many other things, all of which I would love to rant and roar about here. I could spew facts and cite sources... maybe someday I will. Right now I'm more interested in expressing my opinion, it's up to you dear reader if you want to find it well informed and do your own research, or take with a grain of salt.

I had made a statement earlier in this blog that I wasn't going to commit to eating organic, and I'm still not, because it's just not practical, not for me and not for a majority of other folks, I will commit to seeking out and looking for ways to become better at it. I would like to someday be on an organic diet, but I believe it presents issues of it's own.

So what are MY issues with the food industry? It is my firm belief that the food industry is largely to blame for the health of the public. I'm not talking about the obesity epidemic, although that's a faction of it. I simply think that back in the 30's 40's and 50's etc when "we" the almighty collective "we" were making advancements in food technology and trying to grow a better bean stalk that the generational side effects to the public weren't taken into proper consideration. I don't think I've come across more than a handful of kids in the last 15 years that don't have either an allergy, or a developmental issue, sensitivity, or even asthma. Heck sometimes I even feel like one of the last of my generation that isn't allergic to something.

Why do I suppose that is? Well, in my own humble opinion I think it goes all the way back to the womb- I really do! I was in the womb out in the middle of bumble, well it was the Northeast corner of bumble that is labeled the great state of Wyoming (and PROUD!). Where there are lots of cattle farms and small home grown communities, that at the time didn't depend on the multinational big box stores for their food supply. It's largely that way today as well. I can currently trace all of my ailments to the fact that I'm overweight, which I can trace back to the fact that I grew up since I was a week old just outside Chicago, as part of the generation that loved computer games over kick the can.

Moreover, if you look at the very small dynamic that is my immediate family you can see a trend. My father who is also from the Northeast corner of bumble known as South Dakota has shockingly minimal health issues for a man his age (60's). My sister (3 years my junior) who was in the womb right here in Chicago where we both grew up is having some long running digestive issues. (More details cannot be provided, as I have not sought out permission to discuss health conditions). What I find remarkable about my sister's developments is that they are the EXACT same as my Mom's (also a native Chicagoan) only my sister began presenting with issues a good 20 or 30 years before my mother started presenting with them. Quite frankly it freaks me out.

Also, the argument of all organic all the time, I'm not sure if I like it either. What if you go out to eat? Over to a friend's house? Chances are these places are NOT going to be all organic all the time and then you could be eating a plant, protein, sugar, sugar substitute that will spend the next three days reeking havoc on your system because all the resistance and such that your body was accustomed to before you went all organic all the time isn't there anymore. Same argument for raising kids on all organic all the time, their little bodies won't have time to adapt to real world food scenarios before the real world gets into their food. I'm a huge proponent for keeping the processed stuff to a minimum, a bare minimum if possible. There's a reason my fridge is full, but my freezer is empty. I don't keep the processed stuff around much. (and actually my freezer contains frozen versions of meals I've made in my own kitchen)... what costs more, buying real food or paying doctor bills?

I have to admit I don't hate being on a "soap box", but I do hate forcing my opinion on others... if you don't like it? That's fine, I'm sure you have totally reasonable reasons for believing what you do, doing what you do, and getting on your own "soap box" for what ever reasons really put fire in your belly. In fact I welcome you to bring it on and jump on your soap box in the comments section... the worst that will happen is a good healthy debate. ;-) I will absolutely be taking a lot of what I was reminded of, and what I learned tonight watching "Food Inc." and try to put it into my own life. I suggest that everyone watch it and take from it whatever you can.

Oh.. and I just may go to someplace remote like Alaska to raise my kids, on a farm. I'll jump that fence when I get to it. ;-)

Sounding like a Model-T

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:21:00 +0000

Chest Cold watch 2011... Much like Hurricane Irene coverage in this home has been monitored 24 hours a day. I do have to say that there is nothing like getting sick to make me focus on being healthy. So maybe this is the way it's supposed to be right now. Rather than focus on being delayed, my track to a healthy life style and weight loss starts now. I have a very specific regimen when my immune system takes on a virus, some of which I'm going to adapt and make an every day occurrence.

First of all, hydration. Hydration is KEY to many many things flushing out toxins, keeping cells moving, maintaining blood pressure, and aids in mental clarity. This is absolutely something I will continue to focus on as I kick this cold. Especially because I am fighting a chest cold my main method of hydration is hot tea with honey. I believe that this combination is one of the greatest things to ever be part of my diet. ("diet" is generally a bad four letter word in my vocabulary... I usually prefer the term "eating plan" but in this case it's ok). Tea with a small dosing of honey becomes this wonderful coating for a sore throat, it's sweet, and honey has some wonderful health benefits with it as well such as being an antioxidant, anti-bacterial, and a natural energy booster. It is a million times better for your than regular sugar too!

So I've been drinking tea by the mug full about 8 a day of some wonderful green tea I've found with peach, and for every mug of tea I also drink a mug of water so it all balances out.

Vitamins are also key to getting well and staying well. In addition to a daily multivitamin that I manage to remember to take most days, within hours of first feeling sick I also start a habit of taking Emergen-C. I swear by this little powder. It's a powder of 24 nutrients, 7 B vitamins, antioxidants, and electrolytes, as well as 1,000 mg of Vitamin C. You mix the packet with some water and drink it down. I usually only mix it with about 4 oz of water to make the whole process quick. I do this every day from the moment I begin feeling sick, and continue for up to a week after I'm feeling better. If I start doing this at the right time and maintain it throughout my cold or flu I have noticed that I'm feeling under the weather for about 50% less time than I did when I got sick before. I DO NOT suggest making this a daily supplement, which they even suggest on the label. DON'T DO IT! What happens then is that your body becomes accustomed to some of the properties and then it doesn't work as well when you need it. I also just stick with the normal original product, I don't buy into the fancy variations that claim to have a ton of extras thrown in.

So enough about the liquids...what about the solid food? Well.. oddly enough my food intake when I'm sick usually also contains a bunch of liquid! At least when I have a cold it does, flu viruses and the like that mess with my stomach usually get met with little to no food, but for a cold I just stay away from dairy. I usually stick to my normal breakfast Clif Bar. Lunches are usually when I would eat the most, so a soup and sandwich or chicken and vegetables will do the trick. All of course accompanied by tea. Dinner will be something light, last night I had a homemade chicken burrito with sauteed veg and a little rice. Tonight my neighbor mom dropped by some chicken soup from the grocery store which was SO very kind of her, so that was my supper.

The final component to my treating my own cold is REST. My body gets very tired from fighting off this thing, and my entire core aches from all the coughing. I firmly believe that most of the fighting my immune system does happens while I'm sleeping so I will let myself fall asleep whenever my body wants to. (of course if I were working in an office that would not be a possibility and that's where the vitamin dosing totally comes in handy). I ended up sleeping most of today because I was coughing so much yesterday that I just couldn't get any rest.

Which brings me to over the counter (aka OTC) medications. I ONLY bring in modern day medicine when I just can't handle it anymore. That moment happened when I was talking to my neighbor mom yesterday and I started coughing, the sound I produced was nothing short of the horn from a Model T... that Ah-WOOOO-ga (if you don't know the sound go here.) sound was raspily and painfully making it's way out of my chest and there was no phlegm to accompany it. I quickly decided I needed some help to get this cold moving along and I went immediately to my local drug store to pick up some medication. (I had to buy it all because I don't generally keep medication in my home except for Aspirin, and Ibuprofen).

Once at the drug store I was overwhelmed with the amount of product to select from. It seems the section keeps expanding every time I have to select something. Still I have some standbys that I always get. Did you know that most cough medicine has been proven to actually do NOTHING for a cough? Did you also know that if you're on a medication for ADHD 98% of OTC cold medications contain an ingredient that could cause a heart attack in patients that are taking a stimulant for their ADHD? Yeah, it's a minefield out there! Anyway, armed with the knowledge I've acquired over the years, I decided on three things after reading labels and checking prices. (when it comes to OTC, I always buy generic).
1- Antihistamine to stop my post nasal drip, which I generally have on a regular basis, and is one of the main sources of phlegm in my chest causing coughing. I'm not sure if I have a mild allergy or what but I know this will help it.
2- Cough suppressant to calm my cough, if it is only being painful and non productive then I don't need to have it keeping me awake.
3- Cough expectorant to make my cough more productive during the day.

Let me be clear, the cough expectorant and suppressant will NOT be taken together. There are many many cold medications on the market that claim to do both... a little contradictory if you ask me, I don't understand how a medication can claim to calm a cough AND to make it more productive. I prefer to keep mine in their separate corners.

So last night I took the antihistamine and the cough suppressant, the latter of which only lasts for 4 hours, and went to sleep. I slept great, except that when I woke up I was making all kinds of wheezing sounds due to the icky stuff residing in my chest. So 9 hours after I took the suppressant I took the expectorant which also only has a lasting power of 4 hours..and tried to go about my day.

I really don't know if it worked, and maybe the expectorant is one of those things you have to take a few doses of so that it works better, I thought I coughed a slightly less than the previous day amount, and found the tea and vitamins helped more than anything, maybe I didn't give them enough time. I was making less of an "Ah-WOOOO-ga" sound though, and my chest and throat didn't burn each time I coughed either which I thought was a HUGE step in the right direction. I also took a nice long nap with my kittens (they have been trying so hard to take care of me, they sniff my face regularly to check on my progress). That may have been the best thing in the world for me because all symptoms are down, and the only OTC medication I'm taking today is the 24 hour antihistamine. I'll save the other cough medicine for the next time (if it doesn't expire by then, which is often the case).

I'm officially on day 4 of this cold, and I have a feeling I'll be set to rights by the start of day 5. Wish me luck!
If any of you have any cold remedies that you believe in, let me know I'd love to hear them!

Come on.. Let's Get Going... Hurry Up!.... And Wait...

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 06:17:00 +0000

Couple of really awesome things to report... I say I'm going to do something and I'm doing it! I have spent two days now eating more regularly and I dare say ALMOST balanced! I still have my Clif Bar in the morning, with hot green tea this week. Lunch consisted of a bowl of cereal (a portion only slightly larger than the ridiculous serving suggestion on the side of the box) and dinner was an organic beef cheese burger with grilled onions, tomato and a home made Greek Salad (one of my favorites). THAT is what I call a pretty damn good food day considering where I was at the day before.

I had also wanted to start some kind of a work out, I was thinking Yogaesque to try and get limber again. I have to ease into kicking my own ass in a workout, it's been a good chunk of time since I was properly physical.

BUT

I woke up yesterday with a bronchial chest cold kind of a thing! BOOOO! So now it's "Hurry up and get your life started...now WAIT!" Life is a bunch of "Hurry up and wait" moments sometimes, and I am generally not a very good waiter. I know now that if I attempt to exert myself while my chest feels like a hairball is stuck in it 24 hours a day it'll only end in a big long, sound like I'm dying, coughing fit. No-Thank-You. So.. I'm now all primed and ready to go...and waiting for my cold to pass... I'm also very weary. You know that kind of weary you get when your immune system is taking most of you energy to do it's job. I'm all about giving my immune system all it needs when I'm sick...so I'm not going to push it.

My cold regimen is pretty much the same no matter what kind of cold I have... as much rest as humanly possible, LOTS AND LOTS of Vitamins, LOTS AND LOTS of hot tea (I'm on this wonderful green tea kick at the moment), 2-4 Ibuprofen per day, and I've added a twice daily steam bath for my face to attempt to clear out my chest.

My kittens tried to take care of me today too when I was napping on the couch, poor dears... they just don't understand that all three of them on my chest and shoulders is NOT helpful... my tabbies were actually laying over each other because there simply wasn't enough room. I do appreciate the purring though. I had read an article in some well known pet publication a long time ago that said that people that have cats heal better from illness and injury if they let the cat lay on them due to the frequency of a cat's purr.... well let me tell you.. if it's true I'll be fixed by tomorrow! :-)

Anyone out there have any cold treatments that work for them? While I'm waiting for my cold to pass I'm going to work on some organizing I've been avoiding.

The Mysterious Metabolism

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:14:00 +0000

One of the great mysteries in my life centers around the human metabolism... well not THE human metabolism, more like MY human metabolism. As with most things I'm involved with that I have control over or not, I seem to buck the trend.

Reason dictates that losing weight is a simple matter of burning more calories than one would eat. I know it's a lot easier said than done, trust me I'm not trying to play that challenge down, but there's a little caveat to this calories in vs calories burned challenge. There are many small factors to consider including the Absorptive (the four or so hours after you've eaten something) and the Postabsorptive (the time between when you eat or are sleeping when your digestive track empty and calories burned come from stored sources) periods. It is going to become key for me to use the knowledge I have about these rates to time my work outs and calorie intakes accordingly. (I never was a great fan of math, but this I seem to get)

Ah, yes but there is YET another metabolic rate we have as humans, I don't know what it's called but it's a pain in my behind. It seems that if I don't keep my metabolism on an ongoing cycle of Absorptive and Postabsorptive rotations, my metabolism goes into reverse. ONLY burning a portion of the calories I've consumed and storing the leftovers... mostly in my midsection. I'm fairly certain that I'm missing that whole Postabsorptive stage or something.

I don't know if I've always had a slow metabolism, and I'm sure I never found out what my optimum formula is to increase it's speed, but I'm CONVINCED that my latest trend in eating habits has absolutely thrown me out of whack.

I know when most non-fat people see fat people they think (when they bother to think of them at all) that said fat person should just lay off the potato chips and start eating fish or something to help themselves to lose the weight. Maybe park at the end of the parking lot and walk a few steps further to get to the office burn a few more of those calories How do I know this? Because I, as a fat person, have thought this about other fat people that I've seen. Why have I thought this??? I don't even know! I blame years of diet propaganda and fake success stories myself. While I do think that swapping food choices and walking an extra dozen feet aren't bad steps to take, I think it depends on who's taking them.

Take today for example... I was just thinking about this as I was eating a yogurt (100 calories) at 9pm that it was only the second thing I'd eaten today. I woke up at 10am, didn't eat my breakfast which was a 240 calorie Clif Bar (I love them, highly recommended) and a 16oz glass of green iced tea (0 calories) til around noon. Aside from some more calorie free green tea as the day progressed, that was it until my 9pm yogurt. Woo hoo! Go me.. I made it on 340 calories today... (sarcasm, major sarcasm).

Now I KNOW that in the 16-20 hours that I am awake every day that I burn more than 340 calories...ok, not sure if I do, but the average adult human would for sure. So then the logic is faulty, calories in vs calories burned is not fool proof. (And yes, you would be a fool to think you could lose weight on 340 calories a day and nothing else).

There have been other days when I don't eat or drink a thing until the dinner hour and then it's generally around 1,000 calories. NO WONDER I CAN'T LOSE WEIGHT! My poor metabolism is in "Starvation Mode" where the poor thing thinks it has to hang on to every calorie it can for fear that I may never eat again! By the logic of the calories in exceeding calories burned theory I should be well on my way to dropping a huge chunk of weight.

I do feel the need to state that, if I were working out regularly, like I will be very soon, then this would not be humanly possible for me... I'd get on the elliptical machine for two minutes or go up and down the stairs twice and double over with hunger pangs and exhaustion. I'm not currently trying to count calories, if I were I'd want to have a minimum of 1200-1500/day, and I'm not purposefully ignoring eating. I just don't feel hungry and I lose track of time as I get about my day, and I literally forget to eat. Of course I won't actually feel all that hungry until I start eating regularly again and my metabolism starts going on a somewhat normal cycle again.

Side effects of doing this to myself include; depression, mood swings, weight gain, blurred vision, loss of sleep, lack of energy, and I'm pretty sure some other chemical balances including but not limited to insulin production which is not cool for folks prone to diabetes. If I let it get super extreme then we're talking insulin dependent diabetes, malnourishment which among other things can cause muscle atrophy and much much much worse.

I feel bad for my metabolism, I do.... the poor thing got stuck with me and now we have to work together. Today's realization really put the first order of business in perspective for me, and that is to come up with a meal plan. Something that's high in protein, minimal complex carbs, throw in a few good fats, and load up on the plant life (aka fruits and veg), oh and it has to be based upon ease, I am no graduate of the culinary institute or anything and I want to be able to prepare in advance as many meals as is possible.

Does anyone out there identify with any of this? Most of the people I know, they don't eat much, they end up losing weight... this is definitely NOT the way to go about doing things, please DO NOT only eat 400 calories in a day.... NOT HEALTHY AT ALL!

I'm just saying... it seems like I have an uphill battle that is on the path less traveled. Which is one of those things that gets me excited... the well trodden road is so unappealing.

Mission one is to plan a three day meal system consisting of all I've mentioned...and to make sure I actually eat at regular intervals tomorrow.

My Best Life...

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:30:00 +0000

I have this problem of speaking in terms of "I used to be..." I used to be.... a bunch of things. A model, an actress, a cowgirl, singer, a theatrical technician, painter, dancer, on the journey to my best physical health... and the list goes on...and on.

The only positive thing about that list is that I can definitely say that I've lived an exciting and varied life...

BUT

I am SO SICK of "I used to..." I can't even tell you. I don't know what it is about me (yet) that doesn't allow me to maintain a level of motivation that keeps me going until I actually acheive what I'm after. I usually get to the point where I start being proficient and then something happens and I lose it all.

Which is why, when I think about living my best life... as has become a constant theme in my daily grind since that conversation with my mother... I need to jump back into it, and I'm positive it's going to be better than it ever has been before.

I mean I'm an excellent observer, and quite good at it actually. Observing a lot of life as I've been living it has taught me a lot about a lot. It's time I got back out there to live and start teaching the other observers out there.

So, in order to live my best life I must re-address the biggest elephant in my life. My current physical condition... the weight. I've gotten my hair to the point where I love it, I've always loved my eyes, my nose doesn't need any fixing, and most days I even love my height. My weight is the primary and mostly singular reason for all the pysical bits of me that I don't care for, and if you know anything about mental health, it's probably the primary and mostly singualr reason I find myself in the occasional depressive states that come around, which equate to losing motivation... and it's just one big nasty cycle.

Thus I've hit on the head what www.ThisSingleServingLife.net is all about!

So again we come to "Ok great Kat, you're going to lose weight again...why do we have to read about it?" - (A question I imagine one or more of my friends/family members want to ask me)
Well that's the beauty of the internet, you don't HAVE to read about it! ;-) Smart alic responses aside. I have yet to find a partner in this, someone who is coming from my same spot, trying to get to the same destination. So, it's up to me to be THAT voice.

There are a lot of blogs out there that are all about living your best life, and weight loss, and I like a lot of them too, but I don't identify with them...

I'm not going to take my new found fitness and run a marathon, the very idea of running unless being chased gives me hives.

I'm not a great cook aspiring to have my own cookbook, I'm proficient in the kitchen, and learning all the time about how to make healthy meals for one.

I'm not committed to eating organic, it's a lovely idea but a total budget buster. I AM committed to not living on frozen dinners, the sodium and nitrates alone will work against me at every turn.

I'm not married and trying to get my own family to jump on board, I'm Single, and I take This Single Serving Life one serving at a time.

I'm not going to just write about weight loss, I'm in the beginnings of a major career shift, and I'm on an extreme budget, so I'll be adding all that in.

I also feel that Food (yeah that's right.. Food is an entity in my world) and I have a unique relationship. I don't fall into any of the "classic" categories, I've never been anorexic, bulimic, or a obsessive over eater, so I'll be documenting that as well. (As a side note, if you or anyone you know suffers from an eating disorder, please check out the National Eating Disorders Association for advice and assistance.)

So... would you like to follow along with me and maybe even take the journey? Even if you're just looking for a good laugh, I'm generally good for that too!

Solving the Sensory Overload Issue...

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 07:18:00 +0000

I know how you feel kitten, but you can't just make it go away...

Does anyone else get Sensory Overload? I'd imagine some people do, I've heard that with the advancement of technology we've got huge sections of the population suffering from it, but I've never heard it described they way I generally feel it. I can actually give myself sensory overload simply by thinking about too many things.

I just figured that last part out, but I'll get to that in a minute. My sensory overload probably comes from my rather healthy dose of ADHD. Yeah that's right I officially have that mysterious brain chemical balance that has been dubbed "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder." I've known about the diagnosis most of my life and most of the time I've had it, it has been untreated by modern medicine. In my experience when most people think of ADHD they picture kids, generally skinny kids, with over active imaginations that are constantly on the go and have difficulty sitting for any length of time and difficulty completing such tasks as reading a book, finishing a paper or in some cases even a train of thought. That's what I call the "Running, Jumping, Climbing Trees ADHD"

MY ADHD has good days and bad days generally related to how much sleep I've gotten, or how much sugar and caffeine I've consumed, although not always. I also don't generally have a problem sitting for extended periods of time, I sometimes wish my chemical imbalance would manifest itself in that "running, jumping, climbing trees " sort of way that makes it hard for me to be still, as that would make the whole weight loss issue pretty much non-existant. My friends that now me well can tell when it's an ADHD day when I seemingly have three or four conversations at once with little to no warning when I'm changing topic. It's actually pretty hysterical. Anyway, this is what I attribute to my sensory overload issue.

Oh yes, it's an issue. The longer my to-do list becomes the harder time I have of prioritizing things and I thus become overwhelmed and will generally end up ignoring the whole list all together and diving into a good book, or watch a movie, or just about any singular activity that keeps my over active thought processes at bay. Another coping mechanism I've noticed is "forced forgetting." It's pretty rare that I don't recall things, I mean it happens honestly in the moment...but then after the fact it comes rushing back to me in a tidal wave of Crap! I should have this completed by now, or I knew I told them I'd have this to them by this time! It's highly aggravating for myself and those around me.

So what does it feel like? Well I just had one of those days today actually. I was thinking about all the things I need to have accomplished. Not even with a due date necessarily and my mind wouldn't quit. I think I started and re-started about 6 short stories, thought and re-thought a plan of attack for an event coming up where I have several friends and acquaintances coming along (it doesn't matter that the event is planned and nearly put to bed) and I structured and re-structured my budget to make sure I can have the funds to accomplish everything else I need to do. I also was mentally starting on a menu for this upcoming week, trying to think of a way to keep one of my kittens from jumping on to a hanging mirror, and determining how quickly I can get into a workout routine. All of this was done in my head before I even got out of bed ~~this morning~~ this afternoon. I would have been out of bed and up and running at a normal human time except my brain wouldn't quit. I mean I would have literally gotten out of bed, stood there for a few minutes while my brain raced, gotten overwhelmed, perhaps jumped in the shower, but more than likely would have grabbed my book and went to the couch. Instead I just bypassed all that and quelled it with my current read right where I lay, I dove in blocking out all other senses (including the passage of time) until I felt it was safe to remove myself from my bedroom and not get a headache over what to start first. Later, after accomplishing a few things, but still swimming in extra thoughts I put on a movie and as most movies do, that put some extra thoughts into my head and instead of silencing the beast that was my thoughts the film only made it grow. I quickly decided to start word documents for the top three stories that wouldn't get out of my head and it was only then that I felt like I could carry on a conversation with myself and we could all get along with our day. (I have constant running inner monologue and occasionally it feels like an extra me in my head hence the "we" reference).

Now this is not by far the only way I experience sensory overload, I can get it from external sources too...night clubs in general want to make me run for a dark quiet corner almost immediately, all the lights and the "music" and the feeling the base thump thump thump it's way into my being. Las Vegas is a city built on the idea of sensory overload and therefore, I am not a fan. Large crowds and festivals have about a 50/50 chance of making me nuts so in general I do stay away.

Here's the really funny thing, I can turn it off... I can, I do somewhere have an involuntary switch that can remove the chance to experience the dizzying effect of sensory overload. The key being involuntary, in most cases anyway. I find that if it's a crowd or festival in a location I've been to previously or am working at (thus having a perfectly good reason to be in the mayhem) I'll be just fine. I have yet to find a solution to Las Vegas, I suppose it will just have to be as it is... :-) Finally, I can generally be fine in a night club setting if I get there early enough and allow the crowd to build around me instead of walking right into it.

I am also superb when it comes to emergency situations, although the longer the emergency situation lasts the more of a physical toll it takes in the way of muscle fatigue and joint malfunction. I do know that if ever presented with an emergency I can absolutely handle myself with grace, speed, and precision under pressure. I have to tell you, that is some serious piece of mind for me.

Becoming a List Maker...I suppose I can live with that!

However... when it's just me, I have trouble shutting it off. I am finding as I did today, several hours after using the avoidance technique I've developed over the last several years, that if I sit with my computer and make a list or start that "first line" of that story that was just rattling around in my head to get it out I seem to be ok. So I, who was NEVER a list maker, in fact teased those that are incessant list makers, will begin to make a list for things that won't get out of my head. I think my brain is making a writer out of me yet, as for each thought, good bad or indifferent that makes it on to the digital or physical page, silences itself from my head and visually being able to manipulate the list from greatest to least importance, or from start to finish as the case may be... just may be what I need to make sure I'm actually productive before an ungodly time of day.

So for those of you out there that experience sensory overload... what are you techniques for managing it?

Don't You Hate It When...

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:28:00 +0000

Someone says something and it just STICKS with you? I mean worse than white on rice it just won't get out of your head!

Ok so maybe not hate... but it's definately an annoyance. The thing is most of the time when MY brain does that to me..it's something I really have to think about. That phone call from my mom the other day has me non stop thinking about living my best life....
Dag nabit!

So am I? Not currently... What does "Living my best life" mean to me? Well... first of all I think every individual person needs to have their own answer for that question. My answer actually hangs on my bedroom wall, and I know it's there, and I never read it.. and it's THERE SO THAT I READ IT! (funny how that works huh?)

What the thing is that reminds me (or is supposed to) live my best life is this speech my all time favorite guidance counselor gave about me when I was in college. How do you get your guidance counselor to write a speech about you?? That's a really long story but suffice to say I didn't know it was going to happen.

I'm not going to re-type the speech for you here..but I will cover a few of the highlights, the bits that get me "right here" every time I read it and I remind myself to live my best life.

I refuse to starve!

"One of my all time favorite fictional characters is a character by the name of Auntie Mame. Auntie Mame's most famous line is 'Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death.' Kat truly lives life as if it were a banquet."

"She enthusiastically approaches obstacles as a new challenge for her to prove to herself and others that she can succeed."

"Kat has personal courage to push through fear and take chances."

Each time I read these words I can feel THAT Kat... the one that knows how to live her best life. She's been fighting to get to the surface for a bit of time now.... So I think I'm gonna let her have at it and see what happens.

So my question for you, my dear readers is... do you live your best life? If not...what are some steps you want to take to get there?

You must remember: "Courage does not always roar, sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying 'I will try again tomorrow'" -Mary Anne Redmacher

So... I called my Mom.

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 07:09:00 +0000

Uh oh... she's writing about her mother... everyone duck and cover!

This is the first time I've ever written about my mom.. out loud. First of all... I have to tell you that I love my Mommie! And I am absolutely doubtless that my Mommie loves me.

That being said.. if there were ever two people that were designed to misinterpret each other while speaking the same language, it's the two of us.

I have a very close family, a lot of times we collectively remind me of a 1950's TV family trying to make our way in these new and modern times... my Mom is undoubtedly the star of the show. If I ever go into stand up.. and who knows it could happen... my mom is going to have to be barred from the venue as she is the source of most of my material. :-)

So, I called my mom, not realizing until the phone had already started ringing that it was nearly 11pm and I was probably waking her and my father up... then during the following rings it was the great internal debate.. Do I hang up now? No, they've already heard it.. they'll wake up and check the caller ID then just call me back...no I should hang up... surely they're not awake yet...maybe the phone is broken...no just wait for someone to answer and apologize for the late call and hang up...no, just hang up now.... no... wait.......

She answered... and was awake! I apologized for calling so late, she said it was fine. We discussed some things, this and that and settled on some plans for the weekend we were trying to hammer out. Then I lead into an area I knew was going to be dangerous.... this blog.

Now I had explained the topic and the quote from "Fight Club" to my mom prior to this conversation... she has since read the first post and maybe the second.. and she..as anticipated... has some reservations.

Now, this is MY INTERPRETATION of what my mother said... I don't remember the exact words, but I do remember when I reminded her that this blog, unlike the previous was going to be more general in topic and not all focused on one aspect of my life, and that since I am in fact single it would be ok for me to call my blog "This Single Serving Life" her response was "But not forever right?"

*Thunk* <---that would be my head hitting the desk I was sitting at

I started my litany of "Of course not forever.." which she interjected with "I just think you're going through some stuff..." Which I retorted with "No, really... I'm fine." and an internal monologue of EndTheCall or ChangeTheSubject or EndTheCall or ChangeTheSubject or EndTheCall or ChangeTheSubject EndTheCall or ChangeTheSubject

Good News! Subject got Changed! Well, kind of...we got into whether or not I believe I'm living my best life, and what living my best life means to me.... WAAAY to deep to start with my mother at 11pm on a Wednesday night. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure my mother's idea of what my best life is for me, and what I think it is for myself is possibly not even in the same book, ok maybe the same book but totally separate chapters. So the internal monologue was pretty much End The Call.

Actually, that call went pretty well... there was even a moment when I got the classic...

"Oh, honey hang on your father has his finger up in the air like he wants to say something. (moves hand over receiver) What? Oh. (comes back to speaking with me) He says it's probably going to rain, he hears thunder."

How... tell me.. how can you not be in love with cute parent stuff like that?

But you see what I mean with my Mom and I? Love her dearly, best mom in the world....but sometimes we just don't speak the same English or something. I end up doing something for which she doesn't really understand the motive and she starts asking if there's something wrong... We do this misinterpreting each other a lot... and we're both at fault... although I'm pretty sure I'm the only one of us that ends up finding it funny. :-)

I'm off to prepare a succinct description of what my best life is to me and how I am going to continue living it... actually, that sounds like an excellent post.

This Single Serving Day- So Much for Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 01:22:00 +0000

So it's around 8pm... not nearly what I'd call the end of my day, but I'm ready to write about it so here we go.

Accomplishments for the day... well... As we know I had PLANNED on methodically cleaning, I had PLANNED on preparing for the grocery store.

I did start both tasks.. and then for some reason as I was pulling coupons I could use, and compiling my first ever to-do list... my computer and brand new printer decided they hate each other and neither wanted to work with the other. I think after many patient moments waiting to re-install printer drivers and actually reading the troubleshooting guide I got it to work. Well that killed my afternoon, but my to do list is printed and hanging on the fridge.

I do have a basic basic grocery list, and printed coupons that aren't really worth the time I spent trying to get them printed out ready to go...I'm sure I'll be heading over to the grocery store as soon as I'm finished here. I still have yet to come up with an acceptable meal plan though.

While waiting for this that and the other thing to install, update, and be stupid I did hit the web for some more research into what it takes to BE a writer. So far so good and potentially doable. :-) Check that off my today's to do list.

Tomorrow's goals are to finish my to do list and come up with a menu for the food I'm buying tonight.. I know how backwards that sounds... BUT I have the perfect solution.. RecipeMatcher.com! Coolest thing since Google I swear. You enter all the potential ingredients in your kitchen and it will find recipes with all or most of what you have on hand. There are lots of recipes, it doesn't seem to have caught on too hugely yet where there are a lot of contributors, but I've made several main dishes based on what I found there and enjoyed them.

Additional goals include putting together a wardrobe for working out. I recently washed and sorted my entire closet by color and discovered two things. 1- A large percentage of what I own is purple, and 2- I don't have a lot of anything. There is a reason for my not having a lot of clothing, which I'll address in a post coming up very soon if not later tonight. I actually have a decent amount of business casual clothes and a nice jacket for interviews. It's the workout stuff I seem to be seriously lacking.

Also today the kids (read kittens) turn 9 months old! Yay Babies! I celebrated by giving them a can of tuna to share (I'm fully aware that they don't know what's going on... like I said..I celebrated...they just enjoyed the fish) Oh.. yeah the teeny bopper children gave me a gift today too... some time over the sleeping hours they knocked over their entire dry food bowl and left it all there for me to sweep up and throw away. Way to go guys...thanks.

So tomorrow will be completing my 36 item to do list...but for now.. it's off to the (ew) grocery store (blah)

Night!
Kat

My #1 Issue with Being Single

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 05:45:00 +0000

"Hi Babies!" (LtR Salsa, Tango, ChaCha)

What could this possibly be? There are many things I could take issue with This Single Serving Life. I could lament that every time I get a "plus one" invite to any kind of event I don't have a go to person. I could argue that I sometimes feel down because I LOOOOVE to dance Salsa and don't have a go to partner for that either. That when I get home, I have kittens to talk to and say "Hi Babies!" when I come home instead of "Honey I'm home!"

Blah.. first of all... I don't know many people who can rock a room solo as well as I can, and I value each and every experience, some of which I would miss if I had a date. Secondly I know where to go to pick up a few dance partners and there isn't quite anything like dancing with a professional anyway. To address the final classic issue most "Attached" people (what I call people who are married or in a committed relationship) inquire about. In all honesty even if I had someone to come home to... my first attention would likely be paid to the kids (read kittens) when I first arrive home regardless, and I am by no means lonely.

In all honesty these would be issues don't even compare to my #1 problem with being single... it's the bane of my existance.

The Grocery Store

Oh how I HATE to buy groceries!!! There is nothing about any food market I've been to in this country that is made for a singular single person. Especially when I'm on a budget! I've nearly reached my wits end with trying to take advantage of the sales too. 10 for 10 dollars is annoying. Unless I plan an entire week based on the 10 for 10 item there isn't any way I'm going to use them before they go bad.

Buy one get one (BOGO) is another annoyance. If 64oz of Orange Juice is on BOGO then it's a great deal for the two... but as I'm the only human here I can't go through 128 oz of orange juice before it turns bad, and then it's a waste. This same theory goes for salad dressing, mayo, milk, eggs, just about anything. Since I don't generally keep overly processed high sodium foods around this makes grocery shopping the most labor intensive chore I have. (we'll get into how I shop, and what I eat as we go here).

Don't even get me started on bread. I hate frozen bread for sandwiches, the only thing frozen bread is good for is toast or maybe a broiling application. I have yet to use an actual loaf of bread before it goes bad. The wildlife in my neighborhood loves me.

So I have devised a plan for tomorrow's trip. 1- BUDGET 2- MINIMAL WASTE 3- MEAL and SNACK planning 4-BRING A LIST. Oh how I wish I cold have a farmers market or some other small neighborhood local place where I could shop daily, you know like they do in Europe. I'd feel so much better. It's just not worth going into the grocery store every other day to shop. It's not very cost effective either.

So to all the people who are living the single life... how do you eat healthy and stay on a budget? I'd love to know your secrets! As soon as I figure out how to plan meals for at least 5 days effectively I'll share my plan, and my menu.

This Single Serving Day

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:39:00 +0000

In an effort to journal more generally I will attempt to include a daily recap of activities and accomplishments, or lack there of.

So today was a pretty good day! I'm currently working through a bout of Unemployment, this is my second time on Unemployment in three years. So I've got loads of free time in between looking for gainful employment. My problem with having loads of time is that I have a huge problem optimizing it. I've been better about it this time around which is good, but still I'm having trouble meeting all of my daily goals.

I'm working on my writing, professionally speaking. So every day I read about writing and look into writing careers and freelancing. I've taken some reputable online tests for editing, and I'm not quite scoring where I want to, so I have some studying to do. Today I took a few more tests and only scored in the 70th percentile which is not nearly where I want to be for my professional editing. Back to the drawing board.

I'm also attempting to get my butt back in gear for losing some weight. Which is proving difficult. What ideas might you all have? What works for you, what doesn't? I had a system going for a good long time, but it proved to be too expensive. It was ballroom dancing, which you may be familiar with if you followed my previous blog. So I'm on the search for the source of motivation. I've recently found a dance based workout that I quite enjoy. I just have to find the consistency.

I also started this new blog, which was something I wanted to do for a long time. It feels really good to have a venue for all the voices in my head ;-)

Two of the three kids found the TP and used it to redecorate!

Goals for tomorrow include, applying for at least one job, getting a real fine and detailed clean finished in my apartment. Which also is more of a challenge because I have three "kids" (read Kittens- You'll meet them later!) that are in the height of their teenage moments and dang it all if nothing is ever where I put it, and there is always a surprise of some kind if I don't keep an eye on them.

So, in addition to cleaning I have some writing projects to get to, and then I would like to prepare for a trip to the grocery store. I'm also entertaining the idea of a book review. It's been a while since I read a book and shared what I thought.

So that's it! Sleep tight everyone!
Kat

This is the Life... The Single Serving Life!

noreply@blogger.com (Kat Elizabeth) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 07:57:00 +0000

What do you think of when you read the title... "This Single Serving Life"?
No really.. what do you think of?

The way I see it, it could be interpreted a couple of different ways...
One- I live my life for a single purpose.
Two - I cook meals that only contain one serving.
Three- I as the author am going to write about my life traveling around the globe living off of things especially designed for the single traveler.
Four - I am single, I am quite happy being single, and yes, when Edward Norton's Character in "Fight Club" talks about his single serving life, I realized that I actually live a Single Serving Life.

This thought has stuck with me since that film's 1999 release. Nothing like waiting 12 years to allow an idea to come to fruition.

So why did I wait 12 years? Why now all of the sudden am I deciding to go through with it? Well, I'll tell you new and gentle reader; I am practicing what I preach.

I, for years, in public and private have encouraged others to find their truth, to not be afraid of what others think.... and yet... there was one small part of me that hung on to the fear. In particular the fear over being 32 years old, straight, single, highly intelligent, funny as a rubber crutch (and other various items that are twice as funny when constructed with rubber) and I was afraid to embrace the single serving life for fear that it might stick that way.

Come on ladies, gents too!...you all know what I'm talking about.. the whole thing our mothers, fathers, elders, whatever have instilled in us "Oh yes it's fine that she's single, but just wait till she gets ___________. (Married, finds a man, finds a woman, settles down)

Well I'm here to tell you that I refuse to live on the what if's. What IF I meet the man of my dreams next week? Month? Year? Tomorrow? Who cares! I have to live my life for and with what I have now or it's simply being wasted. I'm not waiting for that man of my dreams to get here before I start living! How lame is that?!

And since I have the nasty habit (that I know we love) of living my life out loud for the world to hear about... I present to you "This Single Serving Life" where I will cover such novel topics as:
Staying Healthy
Losing Weight
Books I Read
Meals I Eat
Food I Cook
Events and Adventures I Experience
Hobbies I Have
Opinions I Have
Stuff that Makes Me Mad
Stuff that Makes Me Happy
And many many more!

Welcome one and all! I hope to hear from you as well, life is way too short to keep your opinion to yourself!

I promise you'll get to know me, let me get to know you too!