. I am grateful today to be working from home, in anticipation of some snow, but I'm feeling very distracted.
I called my dad's ex to wish her a happy birthday, and she told me my dad wasn't feeling well, thought he had pneumonia and is unsure whether or not he got in to see his doctor after waiting 5 hours at the hospital.
My mother called and left a wailing message the other day that her phone wasn't working, her computer wasn't working and couldn't I please help. Obviously her phone was working or she wouldn't have been able to leave me that message.
I am planning on calling my dad later today; his ex made me promise I wouldn't let him know it was her who told me about his not feeling well, so I'll have to pretend it's just a random phone call on my part. So stupid, but my dad doesn't' like people worrying about him but I need to make sure he sees a doctor as he's 81 and has diabetes, 2 risk factors and yes, i know pneumonia at his age can be dangerous.
I'm prepared to drive the 3 hours down there to help him out, maybe buy some groceries, whatever's needed, but he probably won't want me to. He lives alone; not ideal.
I'm anxious to get my next paycheck next Friday as it should reflect both my W4 adjustment and a small extra kick-in from my merit raise.
I had to fill up my oil tank. Prices rose somewhat compared to my last fill-up in January at the cheap cheap price of $2.15 a gallon. I got it for $2.49 but then saw it at $2.36 elsewhere so same day as I got the delivery I called them back as they advertise a "price guarantee." She said normally you have to tell them about the cheaper price elsewhere BEFORE you place the order but would credit me for the difference this one time. It's just a difference of $22, but psychologically I like the sound of $2.36 a gallon better than $2.49 a gallon!
Waiting for 1st mason to give me a price on redoing the front walkway and stairs to my home; a 2nd one is coming sometime today. He was supposed to come tonight but due to the expected messy weather, i called and told him i was working from home and if he wanted, he could come earlier. He's going to let me know. I suspect his price will be cheaper than the 1st guy, based solely on where these 2 different masons live: one in a high-priced town in Fairfield County, the 2nd in a depressed city in New Haven County.
I am reading a great tome of a book called Becoming Vegan. For someone who really likes to analyze and delve into details on things that interest her, this book is perfect. I am having little trouble being vegetarian, but eating vegan is much more difficult because there is cheese in practically everything you buy that doesn't have meat or fish in it. I don't have time to cook 100% of what I eat. And I also know that you can't simply go vegan and expect your nutritional needs will be met; I'm already supplementing with Vitamin D and B12, and I am armed wtih my recent bloodwork results from January physical, but I will be taking a much closer look at things. One mystery to be examined is why i haven't lost any weight. I do use some olive oil and coconut oil, but not to any great length, but I do also have a huge bowl of non-whole wheat pasta probably once a week. The sweet tooth is being contained, but not totally eradicated.
My quasi-vegan diet game plan is as follows:
1. I will eat eggs, but ONLY the truly free-range ones I get from my local organic farmer. The ones in the store may be cage-free, but the birds are still shoulder to shoulder, debeaked, etc and that just sickens me.
2. The only cheese I'm buying myself now are Parmesan or the reggiano hard cheese i grate fresh for my pasta and very occasional goat cheese. There is other cheese I'm getting on certain things I buy and don't look carefully enough at, but not a whole lot. But some.
3. No meats, fish or other dairy, generally. The meat and other dairy are pretty easy to follow and I very occasionally have a bit of fish.
I'm eating lots of fruit, veggies, beans, whole grains and even seeds. I've gotten into the habit of getting at least one container of fresh berries every week. Nuts I love anyway, but am trying to be content with some unsalted and non-roasted. Trying to avoid rice due to concerns about high arsenic levels, especially in US rice. (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/01/fda-data-show-arsenic-in-rice-juice-and-beer/index.htm)The study noted that more than 10 percent of the rice in China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh is estimated to have arsenic concentrations exceeding 200 ppb, while in the U.S., more than 50 percent of the rice is estimated to contain arsenic at those elevated levels
So much on my mind...
March 20th, 2015 at 03:28 pm
March 20th, 2015 at 05:04 pm 1426871045
Another way I've lost weight successfully (I just don't like it as much) is having a defined period of time (eg. 4 weeks) where I avoid all the high calorie "trigger foods" that cause me to want to eat more calories than I need. I allow 3 "cheat" meals per week (can be breakfast, lunch or dinner). For me that's potatoes & potato products, chips of any kind, pasta, rice, sugar, and flour products like bread & tortillas. This works, but it's very dull because it cuts out some of my favorite staple foods. I end up eating a lot of corn tortillas, non-wheat cereal with unsweetened soymilk, non-rice grains, and peanut butter smeared on bananas to feel "filled up."
March 20th, 2015 at 08:00 pm 1426881638
March 20th, 2015 at 11:39 pm 1426894791
I eat a vegetarian diet, but even so I know I probably from time to time consume things which have meat byproducts in them. It would personally drive me crazy to nitpick every single thing ... so I avoid the things that are obviously meat containing, and mostly avoid the things that aren't so obvious. I love marshmallows. And Peeps. And Twix. So ..... And as NE pointed out to me, a number of pizza places use lard in their pizza dough .. something I didn't know. And something he found hilarious when people who he knew were vegetarians ordered pizza from one of those places ...
Hope things go okay with your dad and it's nothing serious.
March 21st, 2015 at 01:58 am 1426903082
March 21st, 2015 at 02:42 pm 1426948952
Good luck with the process of becoming vegan. I was more than 90% vegan for two years, but then a health care provider suggested that I go gluten-free because of thyroid concerns (Hashimoto's), plus my ferritin (iron storage) levels fell really low, so I went off it last August. Trying to balance multiple health concerns is really hard. I did see some benefit from going GF, so for now, I try to eat mostly whole foods and opt for ethically raised animal products when I use those--if I'm cooking for myself.