Isn’t it a gorgeous day? The leaves are changing, fragrant coffee perks, the weather is decidedly sunny, crisp and warm. Just breathe it in for a second, take a mental snapshot for when the climate is colder and feeling less friendly!
In my G.L.A.D. corner, it’s been a week of revelations and realizations. Still dealing with medical tests, I had a Holter heart monitor attached to my chest for forty-eight hours. If that wasn’t fun enough, add a Pulmonary Function Test on Monday and I was beginning to feel like the display model at a medical convention! The heart monitor revealed that I have abnormalities, but not enough to call for medication at this time. The PFT, which makes you feel a bit like the Big Bad Wolf trying to blow down the Three Little Pigs houses with all the huffing and puffing required, indicated that I have asthma and will benefit from an albuterol inhaler. I used an inhaler years ago when I was an avant outdoor exerciser, enjoying over one-hundred pounds less on my body. Sorry, just had a rosy memory of when I could walk a twelve-minute mile. I enjoyed the time at the pulmonary office, as I learned loads about asthma, breathing, and how to make my life easier. I have been so convinced that all of my problems are because I’m overweight (I’m sure a number of them are), to hear that the breathing issue is not related to my weight gave me a certain mental freedom. It’s as if… now I can get on with the life I’ve been trying to pursue this year. Exercise outdoors doesn’t have to be horror to avoid anymore.
Watch out walking trails, here I come!
I mentioned a discovery last week. I’ve finally been able to stop dousing myself with hateful, negative self-talk. This week I’ve pondered all the times I tried praying about it, asking God to help me stop loathing myself, but the negativity continued. What changed things was the time spent waiting for these tests to happen and the results. At the time, I did not know they’d come back with such positive results. I asked myself, “What if you’re dying, or have a bad disease to deal with; how do you want to spend your time?” and that’s when I finally became able to see what a total time waster self-loathing is. I started living each day as if it could truly be one of my last. I found out that I liked a lot of how I spent my time. The one thing that blared out was the self-negativity. The first time it started, I stopped, and said, “Really, this is how you want to talk to yourself? This is how you want to go out?” and I saw the absolute insanity of what I’d been doing.
Here’s the funny part of this story. As I said, asking God never seemed to help. Last night, I was having that thought and a quiet voice inside of me said, “Who do you think set up those circumstances?” D’OH! God was there all the time, right in the middle of it. Who would know better than Him how hardheaded and resistant I am to change? Talk about a humbling moment. Once again, I have reason to thank God for His grace and knowing just the right way to reach me, when that seemed all but impossible.
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One thing I want to do more of is home cooking. I love using my crock pot. There’s something so nice about coming home from work and smelling wonderful things bubbling away in the pot. I’ve acknowledged that I don’t care for cooking in the evening. For whatever reason, it doesn’t bother me at all to do the meal prep in the morning before I leave for my day job. So, work with your strengths. I asked friends this week what type of recipes they like to see. A few responded ‘meatless’. I might add that the few meatless ladies are slim, very pretty and have beautiful skin. I think that’s something all of us could enjoy a little more of, so I shall be happy to pop a meatless recipe in here and hope that some of their wonderful ways rub off on me!
One of my favorite cookbooks is “Fix -It and Forget-It Lightly” by Phyllis Pellman Good. I’ve used many of the recipes in this book. The one I’m showing here is new for me, so I invite any of you who might be interested, go to the grocery, get the ingredients and try it along with me. Please come back and tell me what you think of it. In future weeks, I’ll use a variety of meats and meatless recipes, maybe even a few for desserts. (Life is short, don’t forget dessert!) Feel free to say what type of recipes you’d like to see. I’d love for us all to get healthier together. Wow, I just looked at Amazon, you can get a used copy of this cookbook as cheaply as one shiny penny! Plus $3.99 shipping. That’s considerably less than I paid, but mine was bought at a school fundraiser a few years ago.
Oh, a D update: the Depression has definitely been snoozing contentedly this week, I’ve been continuing to Declutter my sanity room (where I pray, meditate, write, etc.) I had an extraordinary gift while decluttering. coming across two cards from my mom, who passed away in 2004. Seeing those cards made my insides light up like a lighthouse beacon and I hugged them to myself for a few minutes. Another precious discovery was a packet of letters from my niece Kelly, who died unexpectedly at the age of fourteen in 1986. I read the last letter from her, written a few months before her death, and a torrential downpour of tears ensued. It’s okay though. It feels like I have this lovely connection to Kelly that I’ll treat myself to, one letter at a time, every so often. Those two things alone have made the whole decluttering project worth it! Mind you, the cleared out space and fresh start are lovely too.
Now for that recipe…. White Bean and Barley Soup.
