I May Not Be A Rockstar, But I Have Rockstar Parking.
Posts tagged advice
What To Eat and Not To Eat If You Have MS
23 weeks ago
Okay, so I’ve quit the paleo diet for the time being because it’s a hairy pain in the butt from time to time to constantly be cooking all of your own food, and because part of me worries that it’s a fad.
That doesn’t mean that it’s a wrong diet to be on. It just means that for right now, I’m on hiatus from it.
I spent more than an hour on the phone this morning with a nurse from Shared Solutions, the care team from Copaxone, discussing multiple sclerosis, and how to treat it.
MS is a disease of inflammation, and so, if we’re going to do our part to eat well, we should eat foods that are anti-inflammatory.
You can best help your body eliminate inflammation by reducing stress, removing sugar and processed foods from your diet, and by getting more sunshine! Even if you’re not going for a walk, and you’re sitting on a computer, try to get it outside!
Foods That Help Eliminate Inflammation
- Vegetables in the Broccoli Family: Broccoli, Cauliflower, & Broccolini
- Oils high in Omega 3, such as flaxseed oil, canola oil, or hemp. Olive oil is ok too.
- Fish high in Omega 3s – Salmon, Sardines, Herring, and Black Cod
- Spinach has carotenoids, one kind of inflammation-reducing antioxidant and it also contains vitamin E.
- Onions contain quercetin, a potent antioxidant that can help your body fight inflammation.
- Garlic contains sulfur compounds that stimulate your immune system to fight disease.
- Tart cherries! They’ve got better anti-inflammatory powers than aspirin, believe it or not!
- Pineapple contains bromelain, an antioxidant that boosts your immunity.
- Soaked Walnuts. It’s important to soak them to remove the enzyme inhibitor.
- Ginger, Tumeric, Curry, Oregano, Rosemary, and Green Tea contain bioflavonoids and polyphenols that reduce inflammation and limit free radical production.”
Foods to Avoid
- Sugar – It causes inflammation. Nuff said.
- Corn, Safflower, Sunflower, Peanut and Soybean Oils that are high in Omega 6
- Trans Fats
- Dairy Products: Why? Because it has cassien, which is a common allergen that causes inflammation.
- Feedlot-Raised Meat: because the meat was fed inflammatory food, like soybeans and corn, which means when we eat the meat, we’re also eating the inflammatory agents of the legumes and grains that are in the meat.
- Red Meat & Processed Meat: Why? Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine found that red meat contains a molecule that humans don’t naturally produce called Neu5Gc. After ingesting this compound, the body develops anti-Neu5Gc antibodies – an immune response that may trigger chronic inflammatory response. And low-grade simmering inflammation that won’t go away has been linked to cancer and heart disease. And multiple sclerosis. Much as my husband will hate this, it means no beef, lamb or pork, including hams, sausages and salami.
- Booze. I don’t think I need to qualify this one.
- Refined Grains. They are devoid of fiber and vitamin B compared to unpolished and unrefined grains that still have the bran, germ and the aleurone layer intact. This makes refined grains as good as refined sugars, which are practically empty calories. UNREFINED GRAINS ARE OKAY! As long as you are not allergic or intolerant to gluten, go for minimally processed grains. Check labels and go for things made with 100% whole grains.
- Artificial food additives/Exitotoxins: NO MSG, aspartame, or the like.
- Nightshade vegetables like tomatoes and potatoes, if you’re having real problems.
As I put this together, I can’t help but notice that there are many similarities to the Paleo Diet, but there are a few differences that are obvious, like the inclusion of whole grains if you do not have gluten intolerance, the complete exclusion of all red meat, and the exclusion of tomatoes and potatoes.
Since I quit the paleo diet, I have broken out (yay acne!) and gained weight. So it’s obvious to me that I have unnecessary inflammation going on. I think if I tried to follow these rules, I would probably feel better, lose weight, and be happier.
Sources
http://bodyecology.com/articles/top_ten_foods_that_prevent_inflammation.php
http://nutrition.about.com/od/dietsformedicaldisorders/a/antiinflamfood.htm
http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/anti-inflammatory-diet-road-to-good-health?page=3
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02012/anti-inflammatory-diet
http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/803649/the-anti-inflammatory-diet-eating-foods-to-heal-your-body
http://theconsciouslife.com/top-10-inflammatory-foods-to-avoid.htm
SMILE!!!
1HAWMC Day #22 – The Things We Forget. Visit http://thingsweforget.blogspot.com/ and make your own version of a short memo reminder. Where would you post it?
Before today, I’d never been to Things We Forget, but it’s very cute.
Here’s my post-it.
I would post it near bus stops, clinics, and mall parking lots… because the world needs more people smiling!
Did you know that when you smile, it boosts your immune system?
Not only that, but it also lowers your blood pressure and reduces stress!
What’s even better is that when you smile, the world smiles with you, and happiness multiplies for you and other people.
Smiling Releases Endorphins, Natural Pain Killers, Dopamine, and Serotonin!
So you can see, smiling is one of the best things that someone can do for themselves, doubly so for someone with MS!
An End to My Second Year of Fire
21 month ago
On April 17, 2011, I tried to kill myself.
At least, I crossed the intersection of Colorado and Central against traffic and admitted to police officers that I wanted to end my life. In California, that’s close enough to a suicide attempt to land you with a 5150 – making you officially a danger to yourself, and getting you locked up in a mental institution for a 72 hour hold until they can determine whether or not you are mentally healthy enough to rejoin the rest of society, or whether they need to keep you, for your own safety, for another two weeks inside a facility with truly dangerous people (some of whose mental illnesses had caused them to kill others) and powdered eggs.
I only spent 1 day with the really troubled folks before the psychiatrist on site decided I ought to be allowed downstairs with the people who were less violent. But I’ll tell you, the talks I had with Victor, a 19 year old Mexican mafioso, who was also in as a suicide-attempter, will stay with me all my life. He didn’t know another way out of his life when his whole family was “the family” and his grandfather was the guy who was his abuser from a young age.
My woes paled in comparison, I felt — yet when I told him my story, he cried because he couldn’t imagine having a chronic illness and making your whole family poor because you couldn’t work either. He actually hugged me in the yard and hid me while I was having a seizure because he said “You don’t want the nurses finding you like this. They’re awful.” And the ones upstairs kinda were. I think they’d hit compassion fatigue.
But thankfully, that was my last seizure during the 72 hours. Those few days helped me gain strength for what would be an epic year of change for me.
Long-time readers of my journal will remember 2005 as my First Year of Fire: Getting Divorced, Moving from My House (That I Owned!) Back to My Parents House, Then To Poppy’s, Then Moving to Los Angeles, and Starting Law School. It was like I started a whole new life. It was like God was forging me to be stronger and better so that I could be a better Rachael and do more in life.
This second year of fire is no different. I got hit with God’s Hammer over and over again.
After getting out of Glendale Adventist, Adam and I had to deal with the very real situation at hand that Mom and Dad had removed their financial support and that we could no longer afford to live in CA. We went through the process of selling as much of our stuff as we possibly could, and we moved to Adam’s brother’s home in Romeoville.
Here in Romeoville, there is no public transportation in the subdivision where we live, so for the past 9 months, I’ve spent most of my days alone, unable to go anywhere, and without any friends in the area. It’s a drastic change from the life we were living, but it’s taught me a lot about myself.
It’s forced me to learn how to be alone and to be okay with it. I’ve gotten better as a writer, have learned to crochet, have gotten more into jewelry making, playing video games, playing guitar and piano, as well as cooking and researching paleo recipes.
Adam was able to get a job right away here, though not one that gave us financial independence from Nick — though we are hopeful for one of the 3 jobs he’s interviewed for recently to come through soon! Fingers crossed!
I’m now comfortably a part of the other side of my family, and I feel like wearing the Majka last name is appropriate and not just something I put on.
And I see the value in being a housewife: something I swore as a child I would never be. It was a position I looked down upon because I didn’t understand its beauty, necessity, or worth. I’ve been able to redefine success for myself, because with my conditions I can say that I am successful on a day now if I: 1.) shower 2.) do at least 1 load of dishes and 3.) do at least 1 load of laundry. I’m totally awesome if I have dinner ready by the time Adam’s home from work. All of that on top of watching foster kittens, writing blog entries, and being a Rae is enough for me.
I think the biggest success of the year, however, is that I no longer want to die.
Part of it is medication – Abilify has made a huge difference.
Part of it is meditation – Tao/Buddhism and being present in the moment makes a huge difference.
Part of it was working through things in EMDR in therapy – and it was a LOT of work going through the traumatic events of my early childhood, being honest about what I was feeling when it was shame based and scary.
But ALL of it is choice.
Happiness, contentment, solace – they require consistent choice in their favor, especially when times seem their bleakest.
I ask that if you know anyone who is suicidal that you please encourage them to get help, to learn about meditation, and to tough it out. A good life is possible, but it is constant work.
And it’s worth it.
Give yourself over to what really matters to you.
01 month ago
by Rae
in Just Life.
Today on Facebook, one of my longtime friends wrote,
[He] had a great talk with one of his young students last night about careers and the future. During the talk the revelation hit, “I enjoyed my career in IT for the most part, but if someone came along any time during it and offered me ten million dollars with the condition that I could never have an IT job again, I would have leaped at it. In contrast, if I was offered that money but I could never fence or have anything to do with fencing again, I would refuse it on the spot.” Sounds like a good litmus test for figuring out one’s vocation in life.
Right then, it hit me: The only thing I would refuse $10,000,000 for would be leaving Adam. I’d be willing to change my life in almost any other way. I don’t feel passionately about anything the way my friend does about fencing — except for my marriage.
I used to feel that way about music, back when I was performing with an orchestra at Sewanee Summer Music Festival — way back when I was 14 and 15. But it’s been so long since I was part of a symphony. It was half a lifetime ago, and back then, honestly, my parents were paying for the privilege of symphony being my day and night, even if I was constantly working on stuff.
There are a few things that bring me real happiness nowadays: songwriting, cooking well (when I can), going to karaoke sometimes, and designing architecture and decorating it in Sims 3. (Yay for virtual dollhouses and creating towns for my electronic paper dolls. It helps stave off boredom.) I’ve started crushing cities and rebuilding them the way I want them.
I also am participating in coupon trains and doing my best to bring value to the family. I feel like there’s a lot that goes into being a homemaker, and I’ve just hit the tip of the iceberg.
BTW, if you haven’t been to A Full Cup to print off coupons, then you’re spending money that you don’t need to. Just Sayin. 
Life is pretty good right now. I think the most important part of what my friend’s story and advice really impart are this:
Find what matters to you, and throw yourself into it with all your heart and soul. It will be worth it.
Sleep is the best
11 month ago
by Rae
in Just Life.
I just want the world to know that almost everything is better after 10-12 hours of sleep.
I highly recommend it for just about everyone.
Seriously.
Enjoying your riches…
02 months ago
by Rae
in Just Life.
This morning I had a good talk with my brother in law, Nick, about life… about how we, as humans, all have a tendency to fret about things rather than seeing the riches on the opposite side of the fear.
We worry about getting a job when we don’t have one. We worry about job security once we do have that job, and if we’re not worried about job security, then we tend to be overly concerned in too short an amount of time about upward mobility or whether or not we’re being valued for our efforts.
There seems to be a pervasive toxic attitude throughout society that whatever our situation may be, it’s simply not enough, and if it is enough, then you ought to be worried, because something is going to go horribly wrong.
Now, I may have gone through an awful lot of shit in my life, but at least I own up to the part I played in all of it, including the self-sabotage: and I continue to try to integrate those experiences into my life by going to therapy and focusing on being in the present.
I am only able to act reasonably outside of crisis by acknowledging that I have been in crisis many times. It is only by recognizing who I am today: a happily married woman who is NOT in danger of being the victim of violence, or in danger of living on the street, that I am able to work through the fearsome past that I have already conquered.
It is by fighting the ghosts of my past and the phantom fears of a future that does not exist that I become stronger for a genuine tomorrow that will exist in integrity with my real, un-protected genuine self.
I know that I only have a chance for happiness when I look at what I am truly grateful for, which is why I take the time to list what things, lessons, and people I am grateful for when I engage in an exercise called the Gratitude Rampage.
All you have to do is sit down and write for 10 full minutes about what you’re grateful for, and you can feel your resentment for the world start to dissipate. You can feel your “I can’t” feelings go away as you creatively problem solve for yourself.
When you are grateful for your problems, the solutions present themselves. Or at least ways to cope with the problems…
If you’re too busy thinking about the “what-if’s” of life, you won’t be able to enjoy the riches that are right in front of your face… like the screen you’re reading this on.
I’m grateful for your attention, for your time, and for the opportunity to have influenced you to see what wonders exist in your world.
Do you have new chances to grow? Is life giving you an opportunity for new happiness? Or is now about learning to let go? Is your current bag of riches filled with beautiful memories?
Whether you’re gaining new insights and skills or just learning to appreciate what you had, grieving, and taking stock of what’s in front of you, what matters most is that you take the time to take stock of what’s right in front of you, and that you use it to the best of your abilities… whether that means seeing the people who happen to be in your town, or picking up an old instrument, whether it means taking advantage of your half-painted rec room and finishing it off, or making the most of having a day off just by sleeping in.
You’re only truly rich if you are happy with exactly what you’ve got. And it doesn’t take millions of dollars to get you there. It just takes humility and gratitude.
6 Important Modern Gadgets for Going Paleo
52 months ago
by Rae
in Paleo Diet
Hey folks! I’ve been thinking recently about what stuff Adam and I use every day of the week that makes it so that we can live a Paleo Lifestyle while living frugally. I know that it’s because we have certain gadgets and products that we are able to budget differently and to afford more meat, vegetables, and nuts at lower costs.
Here are 6 must-have items for living a paleo lifestyle and keeping costs down.
1. A Vacuum Sealer
Adam and I have a FoodSaver V3835 Vacuum Food Sealer with SmartSeal Technology
that we purchased as of our wedding presents to each other.
Any good vacuum sealer
You can get a FoodSaver V3020 Vertical Vacuum Sealing System With Starter Kit
2. A Food Processor
Another kitchen appliance we couldn’t do without is our food processor
. How else would we be able to make Almond meal and flour?
Adam and I were lucky enough to be gifted a Cuisinart for our wedding. (I swear, if we hadn’t gotten married, we wouldn’t be able to afford to be paleo!) They range in price from $25 to $220. I wholeheartedly recommend the one we use, as it’s middle of the road, price-wise, and works reliably: Cuisinart DLC-8S 11-Cup Pro Custom 11 Food Processor
3. A Digital Meat Thermometer
Nothing is more important to me than safety in the kitchen, but deliciousness is right up there. Fortunately, a digital meat thermometer ensures both, and it costs less than $15.
For $13.99 the Taylor 1470 Digital Cooking Thermometer/Timer
4. A Slow Cooker (or Crock Pot)
I can’t think of a more helpful appliance in our kitchen than our programmable slow cooker
. At least 2 nights a week, it makes our dinner. Whether it’s chile verde, pot roast, roasted chicken and vegetables, or country ribs, I’m making it in the Hamilton Beach 33967 Set ‘n Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker. Another very welcomed wedding present, it gets used constantly!
These tend to range in price from $29 – $90, so ours is right in the middle again.
5. The Magic Bullet Blender/Mixer Set
Adam got me Magic Bullet MBR-1701 17-Piece Express Mixing Set
for my 31st birthday present. That’s how I know I’m an adult. I’m still excited about a blender for my birthday present, and it’s 3 months later.
But what I really love about this thing is that I can make smoothies every morning and put the mugs in the dishwasher every afternoon to wash! It’s so much easier than using a great big blender. That, and it’s really easy to make paleo mayo and other sauces in it. I just know I use it every day, sometimes twice a day – so I can recommend it without reservation.
6. Air-Tight, BPA-Free Food Storage Containers
Leftovers! We all have them, we all want to make the most of them. That means food storage containers. You want them without harmful BPA, and you want them airtight so that they decompose slower.
I recommend Rubbermaid 12-Piece Premier Food Storage Container Set
Hope these suggestions help you out as you start on your way!
Why it’s always better to MAKE your almond flour instead of BUY it.
02 months ago
by Rae
in Paleo Diet
So this may come off as a little “Radical Homemaker”-y or, heaven forbid – ANTI-CONSUMERIST – but Adam and I don’t buy our Almond Flour. EVER. It costs too damn much!
We make our almond flour!
How? We put it in the food processor and eviscerate the almonds, then sift apart the solids from the flour. It takes less than 5 minutes.
And, did you know that 1 cup of almonds yields MORE than 1 cup of sifted almond flour? True fact! There’s air that gets trapped in there.
We buy 3 pound bags of almonds at CostCo for about $9-$10. They have ~9 cups of almonds in there, and it makes about 12 cups of almond flour. This costs us less than if we bought the $4 bag of “Just Almond Meal” at Trader Joe’s which translates to $1/cup almond flour or (Heaven forbid) Bob’s Mill who charges $18 for a pound of flour. It’s half as much for us to make it ourselves.
We did an experiment at home and took pictures so you could get this cute infographic out of it!
Don’t let any recipe that says you have to use a fancy-schmancy brand fool you. ALMONDS ARE ALMONDS. Sometimes blanching beforehand helps, but ultimately, their nuts are no better than yours.
And I know I’m not crazy for sayin it. 
How to Find Well-Farmed Meat Near You
03 months ago
by Rae
in Paleo Diet
Well, I told you I was going to teach as I learned, so here we go!
Step One: Go to Eat Wild’s Website! The wonderful folks over there are obsessed with eating grass-fed, free-range well-farmed food.
Step Two: Head on over to their maps/lists of local grass-fed meat, eggs, & dairy, where it says “Shop for Local Grassfed meat, eggs, & dairy” or just click here.
Step Three: Read the page, and make your choice accordingly. They have an alphabetical-by-state listing of farms, which is what I used to find the farm nearest to me (which is fewer than 10 miles away!), and they also have links to farms that ship directly to your home.
For the purposes of this tutorial, I’m going to assume that you’re like me, and that you don’t want to have a full side of beef in your freezer. Instead, you would rather go to a Farmers Market or grocery store and buy your groceries weekly. In that case, go to the alphabetical-by-state listing, find your state, and once you’re on your state’s page, select the link for “Beyond the Farm.”
Here is Illinois’s Beyond The Farm page. It lists the stores, restaurants, and markets that sell grass-fed, free-range meats that are appropriate for the Paleo diet by city.
There are several stores in the Chicagoland area, both in the north and south regions, that carry good cuts of meat, and also several buying clubs that exist. According to the EatWell website, “In a typical buying club, farmers consolidate orders from a number of customers and deliver them to a central location, typically a customer’s home.” Hopefully, there are plenty near you too.
I found a store that carries the meat that I’ve been looking for, and it’s within a 20 minute drive. Hopefully, I can convince Adam to take a drive and check the place out sometime this week. I’ve heard there’s a real difference in the taste of the meat between grass-fed and the stuff that we’re used to having in box-stores. I’m really interested in giving it a try.
I hope that my detective work has helped you out some too! Happy Valentine’s Day!
