Thursday, April 3, 2008

Detox (Part Deux)

So I kick sugar. This is a huge feat gentle readers. I am a sugar addict. Cravings will hit at work or home and I'll stop at nothing for a fix. A Coffee Crisp or Coke from the vending machine at work. A brownie from the cafe in the mall at work. Robbing the last cookie from the jar on the courtier at home. Imagine, I was such a hopeless user I'd take the last cookie while my children weren't looking. What kind of father am I? Shameful.
Sugar in the morning, sugar at lurch, break time, after supper, before bed. Relentless.
After discovering how much it was affecting me I decided it was time to quit. And I did.
Then things started to happen and really quickly. I stopped crashing at work. Dozing of in meetings and in front of my PC. I always blamed my crazy schedule. Up at 4:30 in the morning, off to the gym or onto the laptop to work. To work by 8:00 where I'd work straight through eating at my desk. Taking breaks for necessaries and eh hem,, sugar fixes. Home by 6:00 or thereafter Play with the kid's them send them off to bed. Do some more work, do some work on the Torah study then off to bed by 11:00. After kicking sugar, the schedule hasn't changed much other than I'm not sleepy anymore. I'm actually quite alert and firing on all cylinders. I feel like a million bucks when I get home from the gym.
After a week and a half the spare tire around my midsection is also deflating! Oh, you ask my DW about the weight I've lost and her cute little nose wrinkles up and a "WTH" look crosses her face. I know that my pants are just that much looser trust me. The once former six pack still may be a bag of milk but it's going down and I'm not backing down.
Then I fell. Monday night DW breaks out a chocolate cake from the freezer. A home made delight she made for Little Pilgrim's birthday. I decide to have resolve and not indulge. Then I cave when I see the thick layer of home made icing screaming at me. Two larger than normal pieces later and the guilt and shame I'm expecting, stay at bay. No balling up into the fetal position and crying at the remorse of failing. Instead I feel like a bag of crap and get a headache.
Then it strikes me. That's the first headache I've had since putting a lid on the sugar bowl. I feel better.
Today the doughnuts came out at work and I resisted. It was a pivotal moment. I turned down a Tim Horton's Dutchie! Success!
Kicking sugar hasn't been as difficult as quiting smoking (11 years since my fingers lost their yellow smelly tinge). It has had much quicker results.
Next battle is to kick the excess fat in my diet. I'll let you all know how that works out when living without sugar levels out.
Kicking the habit wasn't that hard my friends and the benefits have been quick and welcome.
Pilgrim

Detox (Thank You)

Blessings can be found in the most unsuspecting places. The purpose of the first part of this thread was to inspire others to stop eating junk. It's more than junk it's poison. I'll continue on in a moment. When I checked comments I was blown away to see comments offering prayers for me. It was very moving and and very appreciated. Although my mom is praying for healing like only a mother can, I never really thought of it as a prayer request. I just accepted that I was in this situation and that my sight won't be taken from me without a fight.
Thanks to you all for your kindness, you are all very kind and it is appreciated.
Time to start praying for healing.
Pilgrim

Detox

"By law I have to report you to the Province to revoke your license," the Opthamalagist said, "however you have learned how to compensate very well so I'm not going to report you yet...." LOSE MY LICENSE! Mama Mia, when I was a kid all I lived for was getting my driver's license now I could potentially lose it for life!?! I love driving.


Needless to say I was a wee bit shaken when DW and I walked out of the office a few weeks ago. I knew my eyesight was bad, I've been told that for the past 20 years but lose my license? What's worse, there's no corrective lenses, it is what it is.


When I saw my MD a few days later I asked him what the what what was. Turns out the condition that is robbing my sight is related to the arthritis that affects me from head to toe and both are stemming from an under active thyroid problem that plagues me. Drat that little metabolism controlling gland!


The macula;r degeneration, can't be cured. I can possibly slow down it's progression maybe even stop it from getting worse by taking mineral supplements and Omega 3. The mineral supplements are deadly at first, I was driving the porcelain bus for a few days trying to get used to them.


Then it gets interesting. Mom sends me some pages ripped out of a medical journal she has. I'm supposed to eat lots of spinach and dark greens and reds. Ingest flax seed oil, yummy. Then I pick up an old Prevention magazine for some light reading. DW buys the little health periodicals at the thrift store for a dime. There are articles on macular degeneration and under active thyroid. Both talk about diet. This months Reader's Digest comes in. A piece on macular degeneration and how diet can help. Another article on good cholesterol and how flax seed oil, yummy, is good for arthritis. All articles point to cutting out refined sugar. I read another article in Prevention on the evils of carbonated soft drinks. Sugar, is once again picked out.


Pilgrim goes cold turkey off of sugar and starts adrinking two glases of OJ with flax seed oil, yummy, every day. It wasnt easy to kick the sugar, I'm an addict. I started to get used to the flax sed oil, yummy. You wouldn't believe what happens next.


Pilgrim

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

New Kid on the Blog

Today marks the launch of my DW's professional blog career. Two and half months after writing her first post on Blogger, DW launches into the majors. Please drop by Organizing Connections and drop a note on the blog. You might as well add it to your link list whle your on-line because both of her blogs are some of the best reading you will ever find.
Pilgrim