Natural High

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Tired of Feeling Tired

I am tired all the time. All the time! And there are life reasons. I have 2 kids, and I am home with them all the time. In fact, I am rarely away from my children. That is reason enough to be tired all the time! But not really. I eat fairly well (I do eat junk, but both my husband and I cook, and make healthy meals) and I've been exercising more in recent weeks. And when I sleep, I sleep hard. Now granted, I don't sleep as much as my body would like. I compensate for a looooong day of parenting by staying up later than my body would prefer. So I sacrifice a little sleep for some down time. Some desperately needed and wanted down time! But there are nights I am SO tired that I can't make it through my kids bedtime, and I conk out with them. I am TIRED! And I would like to get some energy back.

I feel that while there are probably several things I could do right now that would help, the one I feel I can change right now is diet. I did some research tonight on fatigue, gluten and eczema.

In recent weeks I have had some long hoped for success with improving the condition of my skin. I have attributed this to my recent switch from steroid cream to Bergamot essential oil. And perhaps it deserves all of the credit. But I have also started taking fish oil (omega-3) supplements in recent weeks, and probiotics in recent months. These things could be making a difference too. And a brief reduction in gluten and dairy occurred as well, but I didn't stick with it for very long. So some part of this, or a combination of all of it, has helped me to improve my skin. But it plateaued again, and I want to see more improvement. So what of this am I not currently doing? The diet thing.

Oh, and after feeling fatigued and irritated for what seemed like forever I started this blog, and after working on a more holistic lifestyle, which included all of the above changes, I started feeling better. Less tired, and much less irritable! But it's coming back. It's coming back.

So I'm at it again. Now I am not going to go crazy over this and erase all gluten and dairy from my life and from the diets of my family members. But I'm going to try really hard to keep them both very low in my diet. And it's hard. I mean, in one sense, it's simple. Eat things that don't have gluten, right? But I'm a grazer, and many times throughout the day I grab a handful of this or that. I don't even think about it as I'm doing it. So today, day 1 of my renewed efforts with diet, I grabbed a handful of goldfish crackers that were out for my daughter. It was down the hatch before it even registered that I had done it. Shoot!! So that is hard for me. But I don't call the day a loss. I have not had much gluten or dairy overall.

I am less tired than I was yesterday. I had a short period of time after lunch when I felt really fatigued, but it was probably just a result of blood working on digestion rather than energy. Overall I feel better. But I am long way from feeling energized and wakeful. At the moment it's just degrees of fatigue! But I'm hopeful that I can make a difference through diet and exercise, and if my skin improves, well, this would become a life change!

But 1 step at a time. I will report back with an update in a while. So hopeful!

How Do You Know?

How do you know what is causing your mood?

I am getting seriously grumpy. It started yesterday. I was able to curb my mood by getting us out of the house. Today once again we've been in the whole day so far. I am getting moody again.

Is is diet? I had coffee this a.m. as usual. I made pasta for breakfast. Ravioli for one child, Pasta "Mama" for the other (olive oil, seasoning and black olives.) Too many carbs and no protein? Seems like an obvious thing, right?

Could it be that I got kinda ticked at someone this am?

Could it be that while on winter break we have spent that vast majority of our time at home? I am a people person. Is it that I basically haven't seen anyone all week? Not even for a kids' play date?

Or is it all of those things?

I guess I'll have to systematically go through each thing and do something it about. So why then did I make English muffins with cream cheese? Will that help? Only as a quick hunger fix. Ah, the spiral! That's how it goes, isn't it? I slip with feeding myself properly in the morning, and the spiral begins. I get grumpy, then start cutting corners with everything else. Oh it is hard to be on top of things! SO! RESET!

First, I'll find some protein......peanuts.....high in fat....shoot......then, I'll make a decision about the situation that irritated me this morning....done....now....I will get us out to a play date....done. Ah, let's see if all of this helps.

Hm. Well, getting out was nice. But I realized while in the car that I am tired. I stayed up later than usual last night just because I wanted more me time. I got greedy with it, and the result was predictable. Today I'm grumpy, tired, and less able to manage stuff. The answer would be to go to bed earlier tonight, but chances are I won't. And thus the sleep spiral begins. I'll keep this up until I can't fight the need anymore, than I'll fall asleep with the kids before 8:30 p.m. one night. Perhaps I could try reasoning with myself....

Food and Mood

I decided a while back that one key to feeling better, both for myself and for my kids and hubby, is to eat better. Well, duh, right? But isn't it one of the hardest habits to start and maintain? I think so. But I want to....I want to..... So I restart and restart and restart. I joined the local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture-organic farm-fresh produce each week during the growing season) again this year. And I am buying lots of fruits when I get to the store. Which is infrequently, so we go through it very quickly and are then out for a while. And when I make something healthy to eat, the kids love it. SOOOO. What is the problem? I don't like cooking! I don't like shopping! I don't like the process. However, the process is here and isn't going anywhere, so I have no excuse but to make our meals healthier. Maybe these will help:

I was in the mood, a few days back, to buy books. I got these, and some others. I am interested in moving towards a more whole-foods diet, and getting rid of some of the crap that we ingest on a daily basis. But ya gotta see how big the book on the left is: holy moley. I guess I have my work cut out for me! It's supposed to have all kinds of interesting information....maybe it'll scare me into eating better! 

I'll share what I learn...for now, I just need to get cracking with a meal list and a shopping list for the rest of the week. Gotta get some good stuff in this house. We're still working on two birthday cakes....I think I'll save reading about the evils of sugar until next week! ;)

Ah geez. All I did was pick up the book on the right and randomly flip to some pages in the middle. Geez. =(

Here's a random weird food thing. When I eat cold foods, I get cold. It's almost instant. I just ate some cold pasta. Not that much. And I'm freezing. Yeeks.