There are so many things that have happened in the almost decade since I wrote here regularly. Is it worth it to recount everything? I’m not sure I could remember everything if I tried =)
Maybe that’s not the approach….maybe meandering through my brain, things will come up, and we’ll leave it at that =)
Last night was fun. I feel like I’ve been running this whole week. One of my besties had her birthday last night and we had asked her what she wanted to do. She wanted to go eat gluten-free pizza and drive around looking at Christmas tree lights. Sold!
That’s me on the far left of the picture. We were out until almost 10, though, which is past my bedtime, so I’m sleepy this morning. I hadn’t felt much Christmas spirit this year, so it was cool to be child-like and roam around town, twisting and turning wherever it looked like we could see light displays. Still not a Christian, respect all belief systems, but tend more towards the solstices and nature-based stuff and generally eschew all organized religion. I like the season for what it is. I HAVE GRAND KIDS NOW!! Seven of them, to be precise =) It’s so much fun! I enjoy it for their sake, the looks on their faces. It doesn’t all have to mean something…or enjoying it for the sake of the magic it brings to our lives. I absolutely loathe rampant consumerism, so I tend to try to gift people experiences or less material things. Christmas is a cool time of the year.
There is a cookie exchange that I’ve participated in for about a dozen years that’s coming up this weekend. I feel sort of ambivalent about going, part of me wants to because this is the only time of year I see some of these folks, which in itself is sad. It’s also work. Baking six dozen cookies is no joke. Plus, just recently, I’ve started transitioning to a Keto lifestyle. There are conversations that go along with all this….I am basically making things I cannot eat for people I see once a year. Ahhhh, friendship…..hahaha…I will be glad I did it when we are all sitting around eating and laughing and wondering why we don’t get together more often on Saturday afternoon, but right now, it just feels like work.
So, about this Keto thing and the sad state of affairs for Americans. Our health care system is so broken. I know anyone who doesn’t have Congressional benefits knows this, but I got a very small taste of the degree to which it is broken this year and I’m so disgusted, I can’t even. I work for the state, so I have been pretty insulated with this type of thing and while I knew and advocated for things to become better, it was always at arms reach because I knew I had decent benefits. Then, this year, my insurance got into an argument with the large HMO provider in the area that covered us, and the HMO threatened to pull coverage. I saw the notices go by, but then they told us they had worked out their difficulties and everything was fine, we could still use our same providers and such. Except that was a lie. We can still use the same providers, but they have moved us from an HMO into some “premium preferred provider” service, which means nothing has changed….and everything has changed. They changed the pharmacy provider, because why the hell not?!? So, starting JULY 1, I had to start battling with the insurance companies just to receive medication I’ve been on for over five years. New provider means “proving” you need your medications again. I’m diabetic folks….I’m not trashing my liver for general fun and entertainment, I’m taking meds to try to stay alive. We need single-payer now. We need to take profit out of medical care, period. Ugggh….so disgusted, I cannot even.
So, basically, I decided if there were anything in my control I could do to not be dependent on this stupid, broken system, I had to do it or the medical establishment is going to kill me. I’d read about and done research on the Keto lifestyle and have decided to try it. I played around and slowly started cutting back carbs about a month ago, but went sort of hard core, 25-30 carbs a day five days ago. It’s kind of hard because changing routine behavior is hard. Learning how to cook differently takes thought and mindfulness. Reading ALL THE LABELS takes time and effort. It’s also disgusting to me how Americans tend to put sugar in ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING we eat. Regular, jarred spaghetti sauce? It’s made from tomatoes, it should only have the carbs of the fruit, but if you read the label, they almost always put a ton of sugar in it! So gross. I’ve often been lazy about what I’ve eaten and it’s easy to just not think about it. But we all should, because American’s, in general eat atrociously and with a mind towards convenience, not health. I hate preachy vegans or any other type of food person, but from my personal experience, so far, this is a way of eating that makes my body happy. This week is the first week I’ve had blood sugar values under 200 in a looong time, and it feels different, but good. That’s enough about that, for now.
That’s my immediate morning
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