Day 19: Whistling while I work

Housecleaning can be fun
I think that quantum leap in health that so many people speak of with this diet is just around the bend. In fact, is that energy I'm feeling? I hardly recognize the sensation anymore, it's been so long. But here's what I got up to today: Woke up early, but tried as hard as I could to sleep in, finally emerging at around 7 or 7:30. My man has returned, so he was entertaining the children downstairs while I attempted to get my beauty sleep, which was not forthcoming. Gave up, got up, and immediately decided to clean the entire upstairs, where we have our bedroom and a bathroom. That took until noon.

I have to interject here to explain that one of the symptoms of a thyroid problem (and mothering young children) is a perpetually dirty house. I have not had the entire house clean all at once EVER, not since we moved here in 2003. I have desperately wanted to clear out and clean out for YEARS, but even keeping my head above water with the regular daily tasks has been an almost insurmountable challenge ever since I got sick. Another symptom of a thyroid problem is depression, and sitting around devoid of energy in a messy house does not help the situation one iota. Today, I FINALLY had the energy to start changing that.

I cleaned that upstairs top to bottom, removing all the cobwebs, dust and grime, washing all the bedding (yes, I have actually done that since 2003!), putting things away, going through things, reorganizing, until it was all so spic and span that I actually smiled inside. I have decided that all I want for Christmas is a clean house, and the energy to make it so!

I cleaned and I cleaned, and when I was finished cleaning upstairs, I came downstairs and cleaned some more, but I ran out of time because I had to get to my high-intensity Bikram yoga class. Darn!

Went to yoga, did every single pose without sitting down to catch my breath once -- and I haven't done that in over a year, probably. Additionally, I was more flexible in this class than I was the last class I took, which was about three weeks ago. How does that happen???? This diet is the Super Boring Incredible Diet. It truly appears to be beginning to work wonders, and just in time for my yoga competition in two weeks!

Eating fruit in the snow
About that vacation: Four days in the snow eating fruit, very strange indeed. But I made it through. There were times that I did not eat enough, namely the one day I took my son skiing. I brought some dates and a few bananas, but I didn't want to have to pee too much, so didn't bring enough bananas. I got a headache early on that day, which built up and built up. What really was the final straw was deciding to do a longer ski run with my sister, which set in some motion sickness for some reason too. In fact, it was so excruciating that I took a couple Tylenols in the car on the way back to the condo, but when I got in the house I immediately threw them up. So I'd call it sort of cheating. :-) I had a headache all the next day too. I do think some of it was altitude, plus I think I really started to detox pretty heavy, probably somewhat from ingesting less. I've had a pretty bad taste in my mouth since then, but today, man, my energy is amazing!

Following is my food since I last blogged. I did eat one avocado each of the three evenings I was away, and I think this was a good idea. Although it brought my fat intake to higher than 10% for those days (as high as 19%), it also helped me feel much more satiated when I was surrounded by a whole lot of yummy looking cooked stuff (pizza again!) on all sides. I intend to eat lower fat for then next couple days to bring it back into balance. I think the higher-fat strategy when I knew I was in a proverbial lion's den was a good move which helped me emotionally to survive the temptation; it felt like I was getting a "treat" too.

Day 19
Food:
5 cups orange juice
6 bananas, blended with 1 romaine heart
10 blended tangerines
2 stalks celery, 3 persimmons
Calories: 1559
Calonutrient ratio: 91/5/4

Day 18
Food:
6 bananas blended with 3 stalks celery
15 dates
3 bananas
5 cups orange juice
Smoothie of 6 red bananas and 1 romaine heart
Calories: 2024
Calonutrient ratio: 92/5/3

Day 17 (small headache still today)
Food:
4 persimmons, 1 mango, smoothie of 11 clementines
3 bananas
4 cups orange juice
6 bananas blended with 1 romaine heart, 1 avocado, 4 persimmons
Calories: 2235
Calonutrient ratio: 82/5/13

Day 16 (the really bad headache day!)
Food:
2 bananas, 2 mangoes
2 bananas, 10 dates
1 avocado, smoothie of 3 bananas and 1 romaine heart
Calories: 1314
Calonutrient ratio: 77/4/19

Day 15
Food:
4 cups orange juice
7 bananas
10 dates
1 avocado, 4 persimmons
Calories: 1601
Calonutrient ratio: 80/4/16