March Goals

Alright, as I mentioned last week my life is a bit all over the place. I'm hoping that bringing back my monthly goals keeps me focused, more productive and less stressed.

Work out 3x week

Like I mentioned, in the midst of everything else the gym has been falling to the bottom of my list for the past few months. I'm really starting to feel it mentally and physically. I'd absolutely LOVE to get it incorporated to my everyday routine, but I'm going to start with baby steps. Following Bethanny Frankel's "do what you can" model.

Finish a book

I started  Sloan Crosley's The Clasp over the Christmas break. I got through almost all of it, but the last 50 pages have been hanging over my head for 2 months now. Time to wrap. it. up. and move on.

Find healthier snacks

I'm starting to accept that I will never by a 3 meal a day person. I've tried the the small meals 5 times a day thing, but it just requires too much cooking and time. I usually eat breakfast around 9 or 10 and then lunch around 12/1....not matter what I'm always hungry around 3pm. Because it's somewhat the middle of the day, I have to grab something small and quick. Between something laying around the office or running quickly to The Corner Bakery downstairs, I always go with carb heavy (usually sugar heavy) snacks. I'm going to start bringing more healthy items to work to be prepared for the afternoon crash. Fruit, jerky, hummus and veggies maybe? What are your go-to healthy snacks?

Start a better savings plan

For the 2nd year in a row, I did my taxes all by myself and finished them up last week. I will NOT be writing a 'how-to' or 'tips' post, because I'm pretty sure I took the longest way possible and I did not enjoy it. You should definitely try it though (especially if your single, not a homeowner, didn't make any BIG financial changes this year), it's very empowering.  Anyway, my tax refunds always go directly to savings, which I'm trying to build back up after my move and brief stint as a #ladyofleisure. The Everygirl blog (currently obsessed with) did a 30 day challenge last month and I'm going to take it on in March. I want to build up the emergency fund, start long term 'want' savings plan and figure out what the heck to do with my 401k's,

Keep track of my life more

Things have been going SO FAST lately. I really need to step back every so often, look at the big picture and reflect. I'm aiming to do this here which will also encourage me to blog more (woo!).

Gluten... and Dairy, AND Meat !?! {aka the Migraine Diet}

About a year and a half ago I started experimenting with the Paleo diet. To be honest I've gone on and off it, but still keeping focus on eating whole foods over processed. All the while, my weight has been yo-yoing (dramatically ~15-20lbs), my migraines have gotten worse, I've become severely intolerant of dairy and developed dyshidrotic ezcema.  All of which have been super sexy and made life a blast.

I also switched General Practitioners within that time period. The first time I sat down with her, she looked at all my 'illnesses' and flagged them all as textbook autoimmune responses. She suggested a gluten free diet which seemed incredibly overwhelming. She also referred me to a neurologist, but really pushed G-free and said I would need to try it for at least 3 months. I started trying it in April, but after 3 weeks it just became too overwhelming. The more I was reading about it the more 'trying it out' seemed pointless, because if you don't know your degree of sensitivity how do you know if you are feeling the results. Apparently some people can't even tolerate non-gluten foods that merely touched gluten containing food. How am I supposed to know where I am on the scale and control my food that closely!?

After my 8 day migraine I visited the neurologist. The first line of action was looking at my diet to identify triggers and, possibly, trying this 'Low-Tyramine' diet. Recording my food I can do. Low-Tyramine was another beast. There were so many odd restrictions. Not just foods to avoid, but no meat that has been at room temperature longer than 20 minutes. No meat that was cooked over 48hrs ago. I sat there with my cook books in my lap, exasperated, wondering how the heck I could keep protein in my diet without cooking a full lunch at work! Then I reminded myself that I was vegetarian all of high school and college. If I could do it then I could definitely do it again. I've been switching my proteins to fish, but that is only on the approved food list because of 'lack of research'. Still somewhat confused I made an appointment with a nutritionist, hoping to find some clarity and direction.

I had an amazing 2 hour introductory meeting and came out of it with tons of great tips an ideas! However, one of the first things that came out of her mouth was that I should try eliminating gluten as "all (my) symptoms are reflective of autoimmune reactions." I told her I was open to it, but had the concerns about length and sensitivity I talked about above. She told me that my GP had been wrong about the time it would take to notice the affects and said if I was truly intolerant I would notice effects a few days in. I mentioned my 3 week experiment in April and as soon as I said I had stopped in the beginning of May she interrupted me. "And when did your 8-day migraine start relative to eating gluten?" she asked.  I thought back and realized that my lead-in, tension headaches started the day after and the full blow migraine 3 days after reintroducing gluten to my diet. I hadn't realized that at all and she told me that is a classic reaction to re-introducing trigger foods after an elimination diet.

So here I am, beginning the diary-free, gluten free, low-tyramine excursion. I'm already dreading the extra cooking, but we'll see where it takes me. So far I've lost 4lbs and have noticed quite a difference with 'brain fog'. Lucky for me a lot of blogger's have already started this journey and I'm finding tons of inspiration and recipes from these lovely ladies!

Against All Grain {remember that berry tart from the 4th?}

Deliciously Ella {MEAT FREE!!}

Goop

Balanced Bites

Have Cake Will Travel

Kati Heifner

Migraine Survival Kit

I can remember having headache's since I was little. I had my first migraine Junior year of High School and was out of commission for about 4 days. Over the last 10 years the symptoms and frequency have only gotten worse.

About 5 years ago I started getting migraines probably 2 or 3 times a year. I'd miss a day of work here and there, but it wasn't too bad. Over the last 2 years however, their frequency and symptoms have changed drastically. I would say have at least 2 A MONTH and miss at least 2 days of work because of them. I even spent 2 days of my Christmas vacation in bed with a migraine.

Early May, I started to exhibit my usual aura symptoms and I knew a headache was coming. My neck seized up, I was vomiting and nothing seemed to be helping. This went on for 7days. A week into it I was finally given lidocaine shots, which help a bit and the severity started to decrease. I was able to go back to work, but I have had a tension headache everyday since.  It's frustrating, it affects my sleep and my life. Laying in a bed for 6 days can get pretty boring and frustrating when your body is healthy and wants to do things but your head just can't. It literally hurts to think. These little luxuries help me get through it and ease some of the pain.

Chris Notti Silk Sleep Mask 

Too block out light. It is so soft and delicate you can barely feel it on your head.

Hot/Cold Pack from Elizabeth W 

I usually put it around my neck to ease the severe tension I always get

Tempurpedic Pillow 

Hands Down the best investment I have ever made. It offers great support, sometimes I can feel the muscles in my neck release when I lay down.

Water

Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate!

Wendy's Frosty

A little guilty pleasure. I don't know what it is but every time I get a migraine I crave one. Usually the only thing I can get to stay down. Thank goodness for lactaid pills.

Friday Five

Just a few things that have made a life a little better in recent days ...{or months}


1) Lemon Water
I had heard about the glories of lemon water before and started to give it a try. It's quite honestly been perfect. Soothing, sweet and quite easy to turn the kettle on, wash my face, brush my teeth and pour a cup of water.  It has plenty of other health benefits that Wellness Mama discusses here.

2)Laura Mercier Lip Glace
About 6 months ago a friend convinced me to splurge Laura Mercier's lip glace. I was in NYC and need a new neutral ASAP. She claimed it would be worth the $28 price tag and I have to say it is.
Winter in notoriously dry and having returned from a 2 week trip to the midwest, I was on a pretty heavy chapstick regimen, but was loosing the little guys everywhere. I'd often just have to turn to my Lip Glace and it seemed to work just fine. It wasn't until I brought out my Chanel lipgloss that I truly noticed the difference. I wanted a bright for NYE and turned to Tocade. My the end of the night my lips were basically peeling off. It was not pretty by any means. In that moment I realized what I had in Merciers Glace, not only a fun gloss but a powerful moisturizer for every day use. I went back and bought several shades, my favorite for everyday use is Blush.

3) Yummie Leggings
Tummy taming and a solid quality legging? Yes. Please.

4)Amazing Hairdryer
I finally got my fan-cay hairdryer for Christmas! My finger dry time is down to 10 mins, 30 mins for a blow out! Cannot get better than that. If you have thick hair, or blow dry daily I cannot stress how much you should invest in this!

5) Wunderlist
For some reason when I updated my iPhone, the Reminders app crapped out. I downloaded Wunderlist to keep my random daily thoughts and reminders and shopping lists together. I do my best thinking on public transportation in the morning and its great to have this guy handy to write things downs and set deadlines.

Paleo-ish Strong!

I've been doing "paleo" for about 2 whole months now. I say "paleo" because I sometimes eat gluten/aka delicious carbs, but have been trying to stick to veggies, protein and some fruit 98% of the time. Also, if I do eat junk I make sure I know every word on the ingredients list....and yes, I technically know what high fructose corn syrup is, but I stay away :).

I've been feeling great! I went a little hard core the 2 weeks before my Junior League event and did zero carbs or sugar. It was hard, but I was feeling great. After 2 weeks of being amazing at eating healthy and working out, I decided I could indulge on a scone or cookie....or bag of milanos here and there :)

That was last week and I crashed. Hard. Core. I was either exhausted or so amped up on sugar that I couldn't focus. I never knew what I wanted to eat. My tummy was constantly full, yet my head was constantly hungry (carb addiction). This used to be a normal feeling for me and seeing the differences really made me see how much better I feel focusing on Paleo and I'm looking forward to continuing it.


I need to figure out how though. I no longer live DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET from a grocery store. What's this 'meal planning' business people do?

What the Heck is Coconut Flour?

If you remember about a month ago I started the Whole Living 'Cleanse'. It basically focused on eating a lot of, easily digestible fresh fruits and veggies and thats about it. No dairy. No carbs. Nothing processed.

After spending a day in the kitchen preparing my meals for the week, it was fairly easy to maintain and very filling! I felt great, still had energy, was full and felt a whole lot 'cleaner' than I had been.  My cleanse week was immediately followed by the Denver Girls Weekend which, although I gave it my best shot, wasn't exactly cleanse approved.

The 'cleanse' was great, but is very limited in food choices and recipes. After some chatting with friends and further internet investigation I've decided to give Paleo a whole hearted shot. Being dairy free really helped my digestive system, and avoiding carbs is always a good thing right?
I ordered Practically Paleo on a recommendation, but to get a head start I went to the website for the book and found a recipe for a great, paleo friendly, grab and go breakfast. Breakfast is the hardest for me, because I don't want to get up 15 minutes earlier to make a smoothie or an omelet. I want to sleep that extra 15 :) These Apple Streusal Muffins looked like a delicious and convenient option.

ingredients:

• 3 large green apples, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (approximately 2 cups) – peeled if you like
• 3 tablespoons warm water
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil (to make it dairy-free), melted
• 9 eggs
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

preparation:

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 350F.

• In a medium skillet, sautée the apples, water,  1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and butter or coconut oil until the apples are the consistency of chunky applesauce or apple pie filling. Allow the mixture to cool before combining with the egg mixture.

• In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk the eggs,coconut milk, coconut flour, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Add the cooled apples, reserving 1/4 cup for a garnish.
                                           
• Spoon egg and apple mixture into parchment cup lined muffin tins—1/4 cup each. Gently spoon about one teaspoon of the remaining apple mixture onto the top of each muffin.
• Bake for 40 minutes.

                                             

Back in the Swing of Things & January Goals!

Diving back into real life after an extended vacation is always hard. It's even harder when it feels like you've been living a different life. I moved away from "home" right after college; well, actually it was before the end of college. I was living the life of your typical college, sorority girl on Friday and the next Monday I was suddenly a young professional on the other side of the country. My 2 lives have never really linked up. My friends have met my friends here and my family has come to visit, but I mean in the way that the way I spend my time at home is a lot different than the way I spend my time in  in California.

In real life stuff happens, like I get bored. I watch crappy TV. I find time to workout. I need to sleep-in on weekends to maintain my lively-hood. I cook. I make my own decisions.  At home, mostly because I have to see a lot of people in a short period in time, but also because a little bit of that college sorority girl comes out, I feel like I'm ALWAYS going and there's always something going on.  Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it's weird to go from go, go go to Kardashian marathons and pajama pants over night. It brings up questions like "What am I doing with my life?" "Should I be going all the time?" "Am I wasting my time right now?" "Is the fact that I'm asking myself these questions mean that I'm living my life wrong?" "What's your 5 year plan?" "Maybe I should move back home and work at the Starbucks?" Really you just have to tell those questions to shut it, but sometimes you have a moment of weakness and buy a plane ticket to go back in 2 weeks........oops.
All in all I miss college and I need something else to focus on!

Thus my January Goals!

1) Budget Better {no, SERIOUSLY}
2) Write Christmas Thank You notes by  January 11th
3) Blog Twice a Week
4) Find a new workout routine that doesn't cost $250/month {see goal #1}
5) Plan an awesome, Belated 26th Birthday Party!
6) Finish Decorating My Room
7) Be A Kick-A** Social Media Manager for the Fashion Show
8) Practice These:

Obsession: My Fitness Pal

Back in November, when Kingsley came back to Cali for a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving she introduced me to a lovely app, "My Fitness Pal". Essentially it helps you track your daily calorie intake and exercise.  I was hesitant at first since I've tried Weight Watchers and that turned into "Well, I have 30 points/day and if double-stuffed oreos are 5 points each I'll just starve all day and eat six oreos for dinner". But I fired it up and gave it a shot anyway.

Turns out, I LOVE IT!!!

The app has 3 options. Lose Weight. Gain Weight and Maintain Weight. When you start it up you enter your current height, weight (and measurements if you want to get serious) and your goal weight. It will then give you a daily calorie allotment so, in my case, you loose about 2lbs/week.

If you work out with a heart monitor or on a machine that counts calories then you can enter your calories burned in the exercise tab. If not, it helps you estimate based on what you did and how long you did it for. 

You also have to enter everything you eat. Which I thought was going to be a pain and make me sad, but it actually is very helpful. It takes everything you eat and breaks it down into your daily nutrition and graphs that show you where your calories are coming from. Its become a game each day to get different numbers up (or down) and I'm kind of addicted!  

It's a good addiction though because I've lost 5lbs in the last month!!

Thankful Thursday

This week has really demonstrated that my goal to try and be more positive about things is a lot harder than just saying that I am going to be. You actually have to change your perspective and, especially if you don't know anything else, it's hard! Trying is what counts though, right??

#1 People that Put Up with Me
As I said in my previous post, one of the reasons I chose to start being more optimistic is because I can be pretty negative sometimes. Yes, it makes me sassy and yes, sometimes I'm hilarious and yes, some times I'm a huge B and I can't even control it. Believe me I know it and believe me I get just as frustrated with myself about it as I'm sure people around me do. I'm slowly learning (and working on admitting) that this comes from sensitivity, maybe even an over sensitivity, but meanwhile there are few who have managed to weather the storm that is ever so often my personality. This week was a tough one and there is no way I could have gotten through without them. I don't tell them enough how thankful I am that they're there to put up with me, even more than I'm willing to put up with myself.


#2 Zicam
Superficial? Yes. Lifesaving? Also yes. Everyone at work has been battling a super cold and I woke up Tuesday with a hint of a sniffle. My ever so wise self, popped a Zicam and haven't sniffled (for cold related reasons) since. A former roommate and now close friend told me about it. I rolled my eyes and brushed it off as some crazy "california hippie thing". A few weeks and tissue boxes later, I was still struggling to breathe. So I sucked it up, tried one and have been hooked ever since. Take it at your first incling of a cold and you'll be golden!


#3 My Roommates
For those of you that actually know me on a daily basis, you are going to think this is a sign of the apocalypse  but it's true. I have been crazy busy lately with work,  Junior League, Theta, drinks with friends etc and my house has become a safe place of rest. Away from muggles and cold weather and things other than sweatpants and netflix. I've really needed to know that I have that place lately and, after going through a lot of craigslist crazies I feel like I'm FINALLY in place where it 110% is that place for me.

#4 My Old School Pajama Set
Yes, I'm talking cotton, button up top with matching pants. It's been chilly here at night and they keep me nice and warm. I've loved them so much I'm considering upgrading from my VS pair to J.Crew, monogrammed of course :)

#5 Christmas suggestion e-mails/texts from my Mom
Okay so maybe this one is a little greedy, but I'm allowed to cheat once right? Even though I don't want a "knock off keurig thats on sale for $39.99" it means she's looking for suggestions and it's time to start compiling my list!!

National Health Blogpost Month

Since I was slacking on the blog front in October I completely missed the chance to give a shout out to Dysautonomia Awareness month and my friend, and fellow blogger, Kingsley over at Life as Griki who was spending October blogging about her experience with P.O.T.S, a  condition of dysautonomia.  Lucky for me November happens to be National Health Blogpost Month and I can make up for it, because she's spending November continuing her posts!

MyWegoHealth is sponsoring the blogging event and providing prompts for everyday in November.
Yesterday's prompt (day 4) was "What do you have to carry in your purse for your health needs?".

My biggest health issues are chronic headaches and severe migraines. Mind numbing, vision affecting, limbs go numb, can't eat, can't sleep, "Am I having a stroke?" migraines. For those I carry Maxalt dissolving tablets with me everywhere because you never know when those first symptoms will hit you. When they were first prescribed I only took them when my headaches would get to that can't eat- can't sleep phase. Serious medication like that made me nervous. I've slowly begun to learn that the best way to avoid those life-inhibiting headaches is to take it BEFORE it gets that bad. Before my migraines I usually get a pinching feeling on the bottom of the right side of brain and the light sensitivity and nausea start coming in waves. THAT's when I have to pop a maxalt, not when I'm already laying in bed and can barely stomach the tablet on my tongue.

The other thing that goes with me everywhere is Advil (yes, my purse often makes the sound of pills shaking in the bottle). I used to be an all tylenol girl and then I found out tylenol can actually cause backlash headaches, especially when you take it 3-5 days a week so I've converted to ibuprofen  I've just recently read that the gel capsules absorb more quickly so I've just switched to those. Every second counts when you're living an active life!  It usually takes me a little less than a year to go through a 350 pill, family sized jug and I always joke that I have a bottle from almost everywhere I've traveled because my travel bottle ALWAYS runs out.