Last year at this time I went Sugar Free.  Yes.  OOBER low GI eating.  It worked. I felt healthier than ever, my energy was back, and I managed to shed 45 pounds.  A year later I have been quite proud of myself over my success and the fact that, until a month ago, I had only gained 2 pounds back.  Yes there were periods where the low GI was LESSSS than ideal and I would tell myself to climb back onto the wagon again but overall I did well.

Then the last month hit.  Like childbirth, the memory of how bad things can be fades!  In a matter of a few weeks ( and many bags of the lovely Ms. Vicky’s potato chips later ) I am up 5 MORE pounds.  Now that doesn’t seem like a lot but what is hitting me the hardest is the flaring of Fibro, the fatigue, and the down right depression that is settling in with every nommed on sugary goodness.

Dieting Doesn’t Work!

Amen to that.  An entire society based on the cycles of boom and bust over fad diets, misapplied information, and every changing standards for Healthy Living.  Countless meal plans, diet plans, food pyramids and eating regiments are wrapped around interpretations and marketing studies of researchers and doctors.  Each version of the story a spin off in another direction that, we all know, will change soon enough as another research grant is given out.

Am I against research and guidelines?  Hell no!  But they aren’t the whole picture and I am against the blatant creation of fads and celebrity endorsements.

Shut Up and Just Listen!

The one area that is not overly encouraged is Listening to YOUR Body.  If we close our eyes and turn off the world for a moment, we can hear what our body is telling us in volumes. It may be telling us that aspartame makes our nerves over active, it may be saying that the third cup of coffee makes our cheeks burn, it may be saying that we have sat at our desk too long.  More than likely it is telling us that we haven’t seen enough ( or any ) veggies lately and that sleep is not an option.

So 6 pounds up and a good 20 pounds from where I want to be it is time to get back on the wagon of LISTENING and RESPECTING ME!  Not the ME that likes Diet Coke and Potatoe Chips and Turkish Delight by the pound!   No the me that knows that moderation includes the sweetness of red peppers and more time with my xbox360 Kinect!

It’s time.

     I want it!  

          I can do this.

It’s for me.

1)  If the 20′s are Bullet Proof, and 30′s are Achievers, are 40′s the PAID OUR DUES?

Friends with Wheels

As we moved furniture around family homes in the asset-swap of home design needs, I half jokingly commented on how I missed the ages of 20′s and early thirties where friends could be bribed to help move the heavy stuff with a case of beer and an order of pizza.  Hubby and I have hit the age where our circle of friends are more inclined to toss in cash towards a moving company than battle to move a sofa off a second floor landing!

An email arrives from a friend and I hear in it so many concerns that supper guests and myself were debating just the night before.  The financial concerns of outflow verse income, employment prospects or lack of, and the eternal sale of our soul to the Bank of Hades.  Stomping our figurative feet at the injustice of ‘ tha man’ and groaning over the frustration of just moving forward, we only half joke about being ” too old for this shit”.

Is that how we truly do see things though?  Having spent 40 years plus on this revolving ball we begin to feel like we are DONE, Paid our Dues, ready for it to be Our Turn?  Did my parents feel that way?  Grandparents?

2)  Are we holding to antiquated expectations of status and milestones?

We set out markers for ourselves that we describe as Goals, Achievements, or Status Symbols.  All tick marks on what we consider our own personal levels of success or ” adult-ness” that we celebrate or glare at depending on if we attain them.  Careers, educations, children, or personal explorations all fall into collumns of pros and cons. How many of these, though, are now antiquated?  Symbolic of success from an era gone?

A passion for a simpler past

In the 1950′s the Leave it to Beaver successful home had one car, a 3 bedroom home, one career/job and a neat and tidy yard/life.  In the 80′s we added the microwave, post secondary education, second car and second job while maintaining the markers of the neat and tidy 1950′s.  In 2010?  Now it is expected to not only change JOBS 5 times in your working life but that you will change CAREERS 5 times.  Job security is a thing of the past with fluctuating markets, natural resources impacting environmental trends and down scaling the inflated industries and management of the 80′s.  Instant gratification of shopping leading us to a national average of debt far exceeding household incomes factors in to our ability to manage what we have and weighs us down emotionally and fiscally.  Both of these considerations leading to less and less households actually owning the Family Home let alone children only ever knowing ONE address that they grew up in.

Have we adjusted our personal expectations to align with the changes of our society’s tribal behaviors?

3)  What tools do I use to moderate and move forward from this?

Can WE even imagine what THEY will experience?

Should I care?  How do I cope with my feelings of having ‘ not made it’?  Am I contributing to the peer pressure with a false front of success?  How do I prepare MY  children for a world that won’t even be able to imagine, let alone relate to, the Leave it to Beaver ( pre microwave and TV) world that TRULY was not that long ago?

Or is this ultimately just how a 40 year old woman throws a socially acceptable temper tantrum about not having ‘ All the COOOL Toys!” ? Answers will not change the fact that tomorrow I will get up and walk a day in my grandmother’s footsteps:  Get up, make breakfast, feed the kids, put lunch boxes in backpacks and send hubby and kids off to their days.  Make beds, vacuum and prepare for supper.  Supervise homework, remind kids to set the table and eventually tuck the kids in bed after kisses from their father.  I will close my eyes and fall asleep reviewing the To Do list for the next day…

… and worry that I have not prepared my child for what they will face.

( and that I really want that new stove I saw them advertise yesterday!)

Amidst all of this goodness I am clicking and sauntering my way through old cross links, messages and tweets in an effort to catch up on Wheat Free Family and general gluten free stuff.  What have I found?

They LIKE Me!  They REALLY Like Me!

I’ve always wanted to use that quote.

There is a new Social Media tool out there that is drawing in ALL the tools into one. Paper.li is a  RSS Feeds, Twitter et al that is composing news into a personalized newsletter.  I have come across the Wheat Free Family posted in at least two of those and that is without too much looking about.  It is a neat idea as even I have a hard time keeping up with Tha News.  Will have to look into it further.

• the “15 days” writing campaign was noted at “Great Contradictions Daily” complete with a graphic link
• some retweets over at AnitaMJohnson’s

(… some time later…)

Ahh ta hell with it! Being a sucker for technology I set one up to play with!  Don’t do the TWEET thing but scared you are missing something?  Check out the ” The Wheat Free Family Digest” at Paper.li.  Apparently, it will refresh daily with that day’s information.

Until later … Enjoy the Sunshine!

A gluten-free option with the same beloved sound

Canada’s new food allergen labelling regulations will come into force on August 4, 2012

For more information….  check out the Health Canada Site.