ArtFossil PostW30 Log - Over 60 & Simple Living (Version 1.0)

[ArtFossil]

Post W30 Month 2! (It's too confusing to figure out what day). I'm waiting to try reintroducing rice when I go to my local Greek restaurant. Meanwhile, today I reprised my Christmas Day lunch of Moroccan Tomato soup and a cheese scone from the local vegetarian/vegan soup place. Fabulous! Meanwhile:

 

Perfectionism

 

Having sworn I would never “piece” anything, I’m in the middle of making a pieced and quilted reversible “skin” large enough to wrap a human body. It’s formal title is Prairie Skin but I call it the human burrito.

 

I finished the 57 twelve-inch pieced squares on December 22. Then I started trimming these blocks to exactly 12.5 inches square.

 

Every block is different, but they all follow an eccentric Log Cabin type of pattern. I tried to measure, sew and cut exactly but it seems as if every block has mistakes. A 1” strip is 3/4 of an inch. A straight line . . . slopes. 

 

So when I went to cut the blocks to size, I had to line them up as best I could, and then pick the best worst option. This was . . . difficult. 

 

My oldest daughter, an artist, says "Just pretend it was done by someone else," and when I do that, I just say, How beautiful! And move on to trimming another square. 

 

Along time ago I realized I'd rather have 80 percent of a huge thing than 100 percent of a tiny thing (or more often, 100 percent of nothing, as perfectionism kills work). But I have to keep reminding myself again and again that perfection is not possible in this world system.

 

One of my mentors in grad school was a wonderful painter, Ciel Bergman. She said:

 

“Forget perfection. Perfection is neurosis. What you seek is excellence and that is your reward if you love and are devoted to drawing.”

 

Just substitute any word you want for drawing. 

 

And yes, I think the quote is applicable to food and eating and exercise and much more.

 

(Top half of the exterior of the human burrito below. I finished the bottom half yesterday but haven’t sewn the two halves together yet.)

 

 

[thegoldengrahamgirl]

Liz, I love those thoughts on perfection!  I can remember scoring 50/50 on a test in middle school, but my teacher awarded me 99% with the notation "perfection doesn't exist on planet Earth."  A wise lesson!  (Actually, it was in French, because I was in French immersion).

 

I love the idea that you can/will be so much less critical when it's someone else - my inner voice says negative things to me that I would never dream of saying to a loved one!

[Cyndy]

I know this is your blog, but it seems I am weaving myself into it. We went to the movie and I admit, I kept my eyes covered most of it. The review i can relate to the most "...if you want to see Leonardo bleeding, drooling, crawling for two hours....." not my kind of movie, but I do love this cinema and we had coffee and nothing else. Dinner was great. Argentinian food with a lovely salad. I had a cup of butternut squash bisque, (vegan no corn or beans or grain). I did not ask about sugar (duh) and it was a bit sweet. So I may have failed on that one. It was delicious. I followed this by a salad with lemon vinaigrette, ate slowly. Everyone else had the classic meal of protein with a lovely sauce over mashed potatoes or french fries. I loved my meal and did not want anything else!  Did not miss the wine that one friend had, either. 

BUT, when we got home, there was a new jar of almond butter on the counter that had not been put away and I had two teaspoons of that. It did not have any sweetener and made for a nice consolation prize. But, it also reflects how tenuous my ability is to slip back into my old habit. Eating carbs and drinking wine after dinner has been a continuous battle for me. For 30 days we have done so well and i feel so much better. So, that is why in our home, we will stay W30. 

My spiralizer arrived yesterday, so excited to try it this week. Also, the deadly mandoline should show up. 

Today, inspired by Liz, I am going to take a pilates class. My core was always my strength in my youth. Built like my dad with strong thighs and core. Time to get that back. I have a horse and rode competitively for years. My friend and I (both over 60) have decided to take on one more competition. I had sworn this off as I always get a bad case of the nerves. But, it is a fund raiser for our local pony club and we have our favorite teens in that club. So, back to lessons and  regular riding. Good for me and good for my horse. But, my core is so weak and it is affecting my posture. The barre class and now adding pilates into the mix should help. I mentioned before I am pretty active. I play pickleball most every morning M-F. If you ever played tennis and have had a knee injury that makes that a problem, I highly recommend pickleball. I tore my ACL a few years ago.  A friend recommended this and it is so addictive. Love it, love it, love it. Super fast game with not much lateral movement, more forward and backwards.  It is a daily does of get the heart rate up and lots of laughter. The PBall group here is huge and wonderful and it is a free sport aside form the paddle that you have to acquire. 

Rambling on and on....I can't believe tomorrow is day 30! I have a doctors appt to follow up on my blood work. Should be interesting. Also, I will step on the scales and let them tell me the results.

[ArtFossil]

Weave away, Cyndy! I enjoy your contributions. And how exciting to be finishing your 30 days!

And it's great you have physical activities--riding and pickleball--that are fun! Enjoying the movement is key. I think, to sustaining the habit.

I can't say enough good about Pilates. It's helping me to keep my "bad" left hip side of my body from weakening and it helps me to keep correcting the unconscious guarding of my left side that I start to do as the work week goes on. And it helps me sit, stand and walk with much better balance and alignment. Plus, I'm getting serious muscles! I also like that for 55 minutes I must focus and breathe and move with intention and be absolutely present. I find that exhilarating and always feel so alive after a session.

As for snacking. I have no magic cure. Except that I used the Whole30 and its recommendation to eat three meals and not to snack as an opportunity to stop . . . snacking. I'm just trying to shift to "fueling" at meals instead of "recreational eating."

Please

[ArtFossil]

Sometimes it's the little things. A snowy day, my studio, an amaryllis.

[Cyndy]

Whole30 DONE!!!! 

Doctors appt. down 10 pounds! lower cholesterol, blood sugar is normal, no drugs for me. My cholesterol is still high (always has been), my good cholesterol is very high and I don't buy into the high cholesterol means you need lipitor. Will continue to work on my weight and exercise to see what happens with my numbers.

Introducing dairy in small amounts. Having 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee this morning. Guess what? Not the bug YUM, I was thinking it would be.

 

Love the spiralina. Made the noodles ands shrimp romesco last night. Even my mom liked it. The sauce is so good.

 

Liz, I didn't make it to pilates. I don't know what held me back. When I get back from Chicago, i will revamp my schedule and see how I can make it work. I have taken a class before. I know it is tough. Perhaps I will start with a pilates video to strengthen my core a bit to get motivated. 

 

Feeling great, feeling proud of ourselves (hubbie and me) and ready to carry on with W30 plus a bit of dairy.

 

C

[ArtFossil]

Whole30 DONE!!!! 

Doctors appt. down 10 pounds! lower cholesterol, blood sugar is normal, no drugs for me. My cholesterol is still high (always has been), my good cholesterol is very high and I don't buy into the high cholesterol means you need lipitor. Will continue to work on my weight and exercise to see what happens with my numbers.

Introducing dairy in small amounts. Having 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee this morning. Guess what? Not the bug YUM, I was thinking it would be.

 

Love the spiralina. Made the noodles ands shrimp romesco last night. Even my mom liked it. The sauce is so good.

 

Liz, I didn't make it to pilates. I don't know what held me back. When I get back from Chicago, i will revamp my schedule and see how I can make it work. I have taken a class before. I know it is tough. Perhaps I will start with a pilates video to strengthen my core a bit to get motivated. 

 

Feeling great, feeling proud of ourselves (hubbie and me) and ready to carry on with W30 plus a bit of dairy.

 

C

Wow! That's fantastic! And, you've inspired me to try spiralizing!

I do private Pilates sessions, as mine are half normal half rehab. My first session all we did was work on how to stand! By now, we are doing "real" workouts but I need assistance getting my left leg in some of the positions. I would try to find a studio that uses all the equipment: Reformer, Cadillac, Chair, floor mats, balls etc. You can do all the movements on the mat or Reformer etc but there are differences in how much and in what ways your core is engaged which makes the variety useful.

[SimpleNotEasy]

Elizabeth - your quilt is going to be gorgeous! I liked reading your thoughts on perfectionism, and your daughter's comment to pretend it was done by someone else is brilliant!

 

 

Weave away, Cyndy! I enjoy your contributions. And how exciting to be finishing your 30 days!

And it's great you have physical activities--riding and pickleball--that are fun! Enjoying the movement is key. I think, to sustaining the habit.

I can't say enough good about Pilates. It's helping me to keep my "bad" left hip side of my body from weakening and it helps me to keep correcting the unconscious guarding of my left side that I start to do as the work week goes on. And it helps me sit, stand and walk with much better balance and alignment. Plus, I'm getting serious muscles! I also like that for 55 minutes I must focus and breathe and move with intention and be absolutely present. I find that exhilarating and always feel so alive after a session.

As for snacking. I have no magic cure. Except that I used the Whole30 and its recommendation to eat three meals and not to snack as an opportunity to stop . . . snacking. I'm just trying to shift to "fueling" at meals instead of "recreational eating."

Please

 

I feel this way about yoga. It's one of the best aspects of it for me. 

 

Cyndy - congrats on your Whole 30 and improvement in your health markers. Well done!!! 

[JenHZ]

Your burrito/skin piece is amazing, thanks for sharing photos.

 

great thoughts on perfectionism too

[Cyndy]

As we begin to navigate ourselves through postW30, we are examining all the things that we feel good about and want to keep as lifestyle habits. Number one, dinner is the last of our eating for the day. Snacking-none, unless meals are too far apart. Protein and veggies for meals, keep sugar at bay and limit dairy.  After 30 days of this, it is not hard to keep going. 

 

Liz, thanks for the pilates thoughts. Going out of town for a few days, when I get back I am really going to find a way to commit!

 

happy days everyone

[ArtFossil]

As we begin to navigate ourselves through postW30, we are examining all the things that we feel good about and want to keep as lifestyle habits. Number one, dinner is the last of our eating for the day. Snacking-none, unless meals are too far apart. Protein and veggies for meals, keep sugar at bay and limit dairy.  After 30 days of this, it is not hard to keep going. 

 

Liz, thanks for the pilates thoughts. Going out of town for a few days, when I get back I am really going to find a way to commit!

 

happy days everyone

 

You have a good plan going, Cyndy!

 

I'm definitely limiting dairy. And limiting grains. As for "added sugar" in any quantity, that's still an open question. I do think the emphasis in Whole30 on meals, not snacks, has been the most valuable habit I've carried forward (in addition to the insistence on vegetables). 

[Cyndy]

Post30 reflection: added some dairy, had two glasses of wine with our dinner last night. My knees hurt. Yes, I have played Pickle ball every day this week. Yes, sometimes, the knees hurt if I play this much.  But, it does make me question either the sugar in the wine (it was organic) or the dairy,  Plus, I feel puffy.

This is going to be a challenge to figure out until next week. Going out of town this weekend and staying with relatives. Probably can easily not have dairy. 

W30 raises food and body awareness for sure. 

 

Carry on

[Zoe]

About 8 months ago, I resolved that I would NEVER lose and gain and lose and gain and lose and gain weight again. I resolved to never diet again. That resolve led me to address my emotional eating. I looked at a lot of resources but the most helpful for me was Eating Mindfully: How to End Mindless Eating and Enjoy a Balanced Relationship with Food, by Susan Albers.

 

 

Hi ArtFossil

I am so with you on the trying not to lose / gain / lose / gain / diet etc

I got the book by Albers - so enjoying it - about 1/3 way through - hope it will settle my awful relationship with food for once and all 

THANK YOU 

lol 

z

[MeadowLily]

On 1/21/2016 at 1:04 PM, ArtFossil said:

 I do think the emphasis in Whole30 on meals, not snacks, has been the most valuable habit I've carried forward (in addition to the insistence on vegetables). 

Would you answer a question. You know this program. Forward and backwards, every which way.  I quit drinking coffee.  Doing that was instrumental in healing my insulin resistance and leaky gut.  Do you believe there's nothing in fruit that cannot be obtained with a vegetable. Is that in the books. 

I don't believe that. Fruit has digestive enzymes and fiber.  I need both of them. Without coffee making my gut leak like a sieve...fruit enzymes help me digest all of the quality proteins I eat.  Oooo, there's whopping boatloads of vege but for digesting the kind of protein I eat, fruit enzymes at the end of the meal work for me. Papain, actinidin, bromelain, ficin and so on. There's a reason they use papain and bromelain as a natural meat tenderizer. Broccoli, green beans and zoodles just don't have the same effect. 

[ArtFossil]

8 minutes ago, MeadowLily said:

Would you answer a question. You know this program. Forward and backwards, every which way.  I quit drinking coffee.  Doing that was instrumental in healing my insulin resistance and leaky gut.  Do you believe there's nothing in fruit that cannot be obtained with a vegetable. Is that in the books. 

I don't believe that. Fruit has digestive enzymes and fiber.  I need both of them. Without coffee making my gut leak like a sieve...fruit enzymes help me digest all of the quality proteins I eat.  Oooo, there's whopping boatloads of vege but for digesting the kind of protein I eat, fruit enzymes at the end of the meal work for me. Papain, actinidin, bromelain, ficin and so on. There's a reason they use papain and bromelain as a natural meat tenderizer. Broccoli, green beans and zoodles just don't have the same effect. 

I don't know.  But for me, I like to think fruit helps my digestion. And for sure it is a source of pleasure. 

For me the day is just better all round if I have fruit in the morning. 

I also agree with what you've surmised--which is we do ourselves no favors when we restrict foods to too few categories. 

[MeadowLily]

If I knew it worked for the long haul, I might change my mind but I don't see the evidence that dialing it down to a few twigs, pinecones, dirt and old tennis shoes works for the binge eater or food addict.  Over-restriction doesn't work for me. 

[jmcbn]

21 hours ago, MeadowLily said:

Do you believe there's nothing in fruit that cannot be obtained with a vegetable. Is that in the books. 

It is in the book, but they're referring to macronutrients rather than micronutrients (phytonutrients, vitamins & minerals). The common phrase is, as you know, 'don't let the fruit push your veg off your plate', but IMO that is to encourage folk to choose veg over fruit, and to not rely on fruit to get through their 30 days as this will not help them create change simply because the fake sugars we are all so accustomed to eating are an attempt to mimic the sweetness of the naturally occurring sugars in fruit - HFCS being a fine (or rather completely UNfine!) example. Fruit consumption is also pretty high up there with digestive stress.

That said over-restriction never works for the long haul - studies prove this time & time again - but in the short term reducing the consumption of fruit (or at least being mindful of when & how it's consumed) helps build better habits.

And as you know, some fruits are better processed by the body than others.

And after how many years of eating this way? What, three without relapse or re-bound? And having developed your own long term eating plan without the need for any re-sets or repeats? I think it's safe to say that you're doing okay with whatever amount of fruit you're including in your food rotation.

And that's how it should be.

[MeadowLily]

13 minutes ago, jmcbn said:

It is in the book, but they're referring to macronutrients rather than micronutrients (phytonutrients, vitamins & minerals). The common phrase is, as you know, 'don't let the fruit push your veg off your plate', but IMO that is to encourage folk to choose veg over fruit, and to not rely on fruit to get through their 30 days as this will not help them create change simply because the fake sugars we are all so accustomed to eating are an attempt to mimic the sweetness of the naturally occurring sugars in fruit - HFCS being a fine (or rather completely UNfine!) example. Fruit consumption is also pretty high up there with digestive stress.

That said over-restriction never works for the long haul - studies prove this time & time again - but in the short term reducing the consumption of fruit (or at least being mindful of when & how it's consumed) helps build better habits.

And as you know, some fruits are better processed by the body than others.

And after how many years of eating this way? What, three without relapse or re-bound? And having developed your own long term eating plan without the need for any re-sets or repeats? I think it's safe to say that you're doing okay with whatever amount of fruit you're including in your food rotation.

And that's how it should be.

Thanks a million. Really.  Thank you, thank you.  Thank you's are so hard to come by. 

I can see how it works in the short term but we've been around long enough to see that after all of the constant restarting and Whole 30 Forevers right after a binge fest or thrill eating ride that something is amiss.

How in the world can you do a Whole 30 Forever when you can't make it through a week or two. Then doing a round of Whole 30 penance is another disconnect.

I know this is not a diet but....I blew it and I'm going to do a Whole 30 Forever now to make up for the week of binge eating. 

I won't be starting over.  I will eat fruit at the end of meal and nuts for a decoration.  Ahhhh, heckatoot, if I want a handful nuts vs. eating a faux candy bar, I will eat them.