Just Too Damn Busy

I think the title says it all. I'm not bragging about being busy. I don't want to be busy.

In fact, I totally hate those people who act like it's a badge of honor to be totally swamped. Stop it you pretentious pricks. Insert eye roll here.

I can't seem to catch my breath since starting my new part-time job in the wee hours of the morning, and it's been much worse since the time change. Ugh!

In fact, I can't believe I have the time to update today but I brought my laptop to my doctor's appointment and I finished my feedback for this morning's classes...

So here I am.

No. I haven't died. I've just been busy and when I have a break the last thing I want to do is blog.

Between work, the gym, physical therapy, and trying to get a healthy dinner on the table, most days I nap or I want to binge-watch Netflix and relax.

I actually started writing this post last week, waiting for a doctor's appointment to start and after she came in, I closed my laptop and when I got home, I fell asleep on the couch, until #leohusband got home. Man, talk about being completely drained.

Me and My BFF (My Back Brace) on Vacay

I've also been out of the social loop, on vacation, so I tried to spend a week catching up, with friends, family, and doctor's appointments. Gosh, there's only so much energy to go around y'all.

To further complicate matters...? We've got our favorite festival coming up, the Texas Renaissance Festival. Once again, I'm going for gold to try to win the costume contest. I love that I have something to funnel my creativity into but I always end up waiting until the last minute to get my costume together, even though I started it in August.

Now, and here is the big news. We're getting a puppy, the day after Ren Fest, because I'm apparently a glutton for punishment. It's not good timing but it's never good timing to get a puppy so we might as well jump into the deep end.

Well, that about sums it up. I'm guessing you probably won't hear from me for a while since I'm going to be adding puppy training into my already charlie foxtrot schedule. I'm hoping to be back up and blogging in January 2020!

Wish me luck! Much love to my readers!

7 Steps for Learning to Live with Joy

I am learning to really live with Joy and Gratitude because I honestly think it's going to help with my pain.

That sounds weird simply because I have always thought I have been happy but the truth of the matter is that I'm not.

I have been coming to this conclusion for a while now, and what really blows my mind is that I don't think I've ever been joyful and happy. I don't know how to live in joy.

Sure I've had joyous moments like getting accepted to grad school, meeting my husband, getting engaged, getting married. However, I don't actually live in joy. Joy in the good times and the bad.

My mom always told me when I was growing up the story of the wrecked car. You can be happy and have a wrecked car or you can be upset and have a wrecked car, but either way, you have a wrecked car.

I couldn't ever do it though. I have been a slave to my emotional state since, um, forever.

7 Steps for Learning to Live with Joy
I've completed You Are The Placebo and am clued into the fact that to get out of pain I have to literally become a completely different person. Living in negativity for my entire life got me here, I turned on genes that are damaging by being addicted to stress and when tragedy struck, pain.

That's right.

Addicted.

You know how I truly figured this out in the last week?!? I honestly have been doing so well with my pain and working on transitioning to my new positive self that I totally sabotaged this direction by thinking that #leohusband is secretly having an affair everytime he works late.

How insane is that?

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I'm doing better in my consistency and my positivity that my brain simply said no I need stress like a crack whore on the street.

I want to bitch slap my conscious brain so hard.

Honestly though, how do you live each day in joy?

Well, this is what has worked for me.

1. Happy Memories

I like to first conjure up a moment of pure joy. Oftentimes I picture me walking down the aisle toward my soon to be husband. As soon as I came out I peeked around the corner because I just couldn't wait to see him. We locked eyes and it took my breath away.

I can feel the overwhelming happiness enter my chest and almost explode out of my limbs. Everything is affected and I feel my energy change. I feel lighter.

2. Joy for All Occasions

I know what you are thinking, how can I be joyful all the damn time? Well, it's a choice. I had a ton of stuff planned to do today. In fact, I even had this post completely written out and somehow deleated it. After one choice word, I reached inside and pulled up some joy. I was able to recover and not go into Disterville USA. The old me (literally a few days ago) would have bemoaned the rest of the day losing all that good writing.

So I turned to laundry, and I know what you are thinking, seriously Adina, how does laundry bring you joy?

A. First go watch Tidying Up with Marie Kondo (which is a joy bringer in and of itself)
B. It feels good to pour love into and thank my clothes

3. Breathe and Step Back

Part of this journey of learning to pull those joyful feelings up throughout the day is forgiving yourself when you fail. Be flexible with your emotions and don't feel guilty for a slip back into negativity. I've spent the last 30+ years being negative, this is going to be a long process. For instance, the day I had my breakthough I ended up driving almost 200 miles around my city.

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There's nothing like a little road rage to put you new positive, joyful, mindset like terrible traffic. When someone cut me off I felt that negativity and anger fill me and then I took a breath and pulled up that joy. I told myself that I actually had plenty of time to get where I'm going but the person ahead of me might not. I didn't berate myself for my slip.

4. Know your Triggers

Learning to live with joy everyday is also about knowing your triggers. Too much on my plate is mine. I feel overwhelmed and that leads to stress. Negative people could be one as well, or surrounding yourself with drama...sorry Handmaid's Tale you are just going to have to be put on the back burner.

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5. Immerse Yourself in Happiness

On that note, drive into fun and happiness. Start a family game night or spend time with entertainment that makes you laugh. We've started watching Brooklyn 99 and it's one of the funniest shows I've ever watched. You know the old addage about The Laughing Cure where the man healed himself from cancer by immersing himself in comedies. Then try it for you.

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6. Practice

So let's recap. To live in joy remember one of your happiest moments. Feel that feeling. Then try in 5 minutes to bring up that feeling without the memory. Practice throughout the day. If you don't succeed the first time then repeat the memory or try a different one and start again. Practice bringing up the joy throughout the day, especially if it's a task you don't want to do. Try bringing up the joy first. I find it amazing for my energy level as well as my ability to do more throughout the day.

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7. Bring Someone on your Journey

Tell friends and family, journey's are always more fun when shared with others. You are changing into a new, more positive person. Who do you want to bring on this journey? It will benefit the both of you more than you know.

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Tell me about your Joy Journey in the comments!

Does Routine Lower Your Pain Levels

We are now at the end of January and I'm posing a very big question for the rest of 2019. Does consistent routine and schedules lower your chronic pain?

Right now, I'm at the end of reading You Are the Placebo by Dr. Joe Dispenza and one of the several key points he makes about pain is always feeling overwhelmed, rushed, out of time, and panicked.

Um, yes. All of the above. All the damn time.

I constantly feel overwhelmed and behind.

I feel like I'm never going to catch up or gasp, get ahead?!?!

I've noticed that the more things I have left undone on my to-do list, and the more things I feel stressed over, my pain does skyrocket. As evidenced by this last December rushing around to get things completed by the time family arrives and I went into one of the worst pain flares of 2018.

I'm mentioned several times that my word for 2019 is consistency. Part of that consistency is developing a schedule for each day, tasks to follow at particular times, things to do each day. Ok, I've totally failed at it so far but I do get up and try every damn day to follow some sort of routine. More on that tomorrow.

What I'm thinking is, if I follow this daily, even if it's just a 30 minute allotment, I will eventually get caught up and then get ahead of my to do list.

Therefore taking the fight or flight burden off of my brain.

The next tricky part is getting my brain to quit the addiction of stress. That is a topic for another day.

Understanding Chronic Pain Sufferers

Last week I was contacted by a fellow health blogger, Shannon Johnson, who asked me a very pivotal question.

What do I wish I could do that I cannot because of pain?

Understanding Chronic Pain Sufferers

Honestly, I almost hate this question because admitting that I alter my life because of my pain is something I'm actively trying to overcome. My psychologist is convinced that I can completely overcome my adhesive arachnoiditis with the power of my brain, and gosh I sure hope she's right. However, that is another post for another day.

That said, I want to bring awareness to my readers that don't suffer from chronic pain to hopefully understand what it's like and what you take for granted on a daily basis. Maybe your spouse has chronic pain and you just don't get it, maybe it's your mom, or an uncle. Either way, I feel like their answer to this question would be very similar to mine.

What do I wish I could do that I cannot because of pain?

I wish I could bend over and wash my face without pain shooting through my back and up my body.

I wish I could be spontaneous without having to plan out social events, day trips, or vacations to finite details to ensure I'm not going to be in so much pain I can't go.

I wish I could go bowling with my family or play board games all day.

I wish that my life never fell apart.

I wish I could have children.

I whish I could sneeze without bracing myself for a wave of level 8 or 9 pain.

The fact is, there are too many wishes that I wouldn't even be able to narrow it down to three for the geine in the lamp.

I wish, I wish this never happened to me.

5 Tips for Chronic Pain and The Whole30

As I mentioned last week, I'm kicking off 2019 with a January Whole30.

While I consider myself a Whole30 veteran, I still find new ways to make Whole30 more accessible, especially since my last three Whole30's have been post-Adhesive Arachnoiditis.

If you have never heard of the Whole30, it is a 30-day eating program with two goals. First is health, detoxing your body by eating healthy whole foods and meals. Second, teaching you how to cook healthy, make menu plans, and realize that cooking is not hard.

So I already know all this, my problem is that I know cooking isn't hard and that eating healthy definitely makes a huge difference in my pain levels. However, due to my limited mobility, I can't stand up longer than 15 - 20 minutes to food prep! I had a food prepping nightmare back in the fall that took me 3 weeks to recover from.

I had to get smart this time around.

5 Tips for Chronic Pain and The Whole30

1. Precut Veggies

Every grocery store has them. Cut up onions, celery, carrots, butternut squash, just to name a few. Yes, they are slightly more expensive but it is worth it if you are going to stay on track. Plus, it will enhance the desire to cook your own food if you are not doing massive amounts of chopping vegetables. My local grocery store even has pre-washed and chopped cilantro!

2. Frozen Veggies

I cannot praise frozen riced cauliflower enough. It is my best friend. Along with, frozen green beans, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. Frozen veggies are my go-to for almost everything. They're inexpensive and easy to cook with. Toss them in a bowl with olive oil, S&P, and Herbs de Provence...veggies are done!

3. Plan your Whole Month of Meals and the Grocery Lists to Match.

They really stress planning. In fact, all of the literature you read about the Whole30 emphasizes planning. Plan when you are going to do the Whole30, plan out your month of meals...in fact, plan for when you can plan. LOL!

I take mine a step further and also write out my grocery lists. This is because I want to
A. Maximize my time and not be wandering around a grocery store during a pain flare.
B. It also helps me keep track of what I bought when...exactly how old is this avocado?

With chronic pain and illness, the last thing you want is food poisoning. Our immune systems are already compromised, our guts are definitely leaky, let's not add to that.

4. Make a Pinterest Page Just for the Whole30 (or put post-its in your cookbooks with dates)

This year I took my planning to the next step and made an entire Pinterest page. All the recipes for my January Whole30 are there, maybe not in the exact order, but easy to access and get to when I'm ready to cook.

Not a Pinterest fan or maybe you have a snazzy Whole30 or Paleo cookbook you are going to use. Then grab some post its and write the days and dates down that you are cooking that meal and mark them in your book. I do this on a weekly basis after my meal planning.

5. WalMart has Whole30 Approved Frozen Meals Y'all!

Ok, so Melissa Hartwig has been super awesome in 2018 about making Whole30 accessible to more people and through a partnership with WalMart, they have created frozen dinners.

I have all 4 in my freezer as an emergency back up meal. I have not tried them yet, but let's be honest, if you are in a lot of pain and need to eat something immediately to take your medication, this is it! As soon as I try one, which will probably be next week, I'll get a review up.

For any and all things Whole30, check out the Whole 30 website and their many books!

Whole30 and Paleo Mexi'cauli Rice

I would love to say that I'm totally prepared for this January Whole30 but I'm not. This will be my 4th Whole30 since 2015. I do cook paleo on an 80% basis so I'm not completely caught with my pants down, still, I don't feel prepared.

Actually, the only thing I'm not really prepared for is breakfast and snacks. First I know what you are thinking...snacking is not on the Whole30.

I have stage 3 Adrenal Fatigue and I have to snack. It's part of my functional medicine doctor's program. Whole30 is about a healthier you so snacking at designated times is healthy and necessary for me. #youdoyou

Second, we had a lot of family and friend time during the holiday's and unfortunately, some of our guests departed 3 days early due to health issues. That left us with a fridge full of uncompliant Paleo and Whole30 food. I froze what I could, gave away to friends what I could, but I'm still left with a great deal of tempting food I can't eat.

So I did what any good Texas girl would do. I threw everything into a skillet and made Tex Mex.

Boom!

Whole30 and Paleo Mexi'cauli Rice

20oz (two bags of frozen cauliflower rice)
1 t of Cumin
1/2 - 1 t of Salt (to taste)
1/4 t Smoked Paprika
1 t of Minced Garlic
1 can of Rotel or Hatch Tomatoes and Chilies
1/4 c of Pace Picante or any salsa without Sweetener
Avocado Oil
Guacamole
Raw Pepitas (Pumpkin Seeds)

Make it!
Heat the oil in a deep skillet. When oil is hot but not smoking add the minced garlic. Sautee garlic until aromatic, about 1 - 2 min. Add the cauliflower. Break up any clusters with a spoon. Sprinkle on the cumin, smoked paprika, and salt. Stir well to combine and saute about 3-4 min to really let the spices meld with the cauliflower. Add in the Rotel and Pace. Bring to a simmer and stir frequently. Simmer about 2-4 minutes.

If you're vegan you may just stop there! Top it with guacamole and pepitas and you're done. Easy peasy.

We topped ours with my instant pot pork carnitas. Look for that recipe next week! Yum!