weekend recap and update on FODMAP diet for IBS

Hello! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was filled with good things ~ a lovely wedding, a library book sale, and a friend's annual Fall Day party. 

 I'm still learning as I go about this FODMAP diet ~ there's a lot to learn, both in reading about this food plan and putting it into practice. But it's all worth it because I am feeling unbelievably better. It's such a relief not to have terrible bloating and stomach pain after every meal, not to mention having to run to the bathroom way too many times every day. And just as a little side note, just from giving up added sugar (no candy, ice cream, or baked goods/desserts) last April and eating a clean, healthy diet plus walking and doing yoga, I've lost another five pounds! (Oh - and Brian lost 10 lbs just from giving up sugar - and he wasn't even particularly overweight. Not fair that men can lose weight that quickly!) I think that makes 10 pounds now that I've lost in a year. I don't own a scale. I go by how my pants fit. I can tell if I've gained or lost a couple of pounds. Anyway, when I was at my friend's Fall Day party, I spied a scale in her bathroom. I weighed myself and my eyes bugged out. I stepped off the scale and back on to make sure I was seeing the correct number. I'm now at the lowest weight I've been since before having children 28 years ago! I almost did a happy dance right there in the bathroom. ;-)

 {a stone's throw from my house, right down the street}

 I wanted to share another resource with those of you who may be interested in the FODMAP diet. It's amazing how many people I've heard from who shared with me that they too, have IBS. It's the FODMAP Life Blog. Here you will find expert advice, health news, resources, foods to avoid, recipes, personal stories, etc.

{neighbor's maple tree which, as of today, is now totally red}

Of course, another biggie with IBS is stress and anxiety. You can be eating all the right foods but if you face a stressful issue (and let's face it ~ that's going to happen) or a situation that causes you anxiety, it can trigger an IBS episode. I'll talk about that at another time.

Here's to your health! 

 

socked with snow and other BS

 The snow hit us yesterday. Fast and hard. And with the high winds, they called it a blizzard.

This was the front of my house yesterday morning.

 You can see by this photo that it was white-out conditions. Mr. Squirrel was brave.

 Despite shoveling twice yesterday, this is what I woke up to today. Where's my porch?

We got 16-1/2" of this annoying white stuff.

Before I started in on the shoveling again (and I sure am thankful for the young

man that lives a few doors down that shoveled our driveway yesterday and today

while Brian was at work), I walked around and took some photos. I love how the snow

is hanging precociously over the edge of the roof. 

 My butterfly garden's under there somewhere, too. Don't let the pretty sunshine

fool you. When the sun is shining in the winter and the sky is bright blue, that only

means it's extremely cold. We're now experiencing the below-zero wind chill temps

that usually happen after a snowstorm.

 The back yard...

 

 My neighbor's cat, Gilbert was watching and meowing at me out the window.

I hope no one's offended by my blog post title today (the "BS"). I am just so fed up

and stressed out today. The well problems continue. The new pressure tank they put

in continually cycled on and off, even when we weren't using any water. And the pressure

was continually high. Also, the house filter we have was getting so filled with sediment

that Brian was changing the filter every few days. The well guys were just back out at

the house. They fiddled with stuff and said they think it was just the check valve, but then 

they started talking about a possible leak in the well and if they have to bring their trucks 

out here and dig down into our well, it's going to be huge bucks. What?! These problems

weren't happening until they installed this new pressure tank. As far as we're concerned,

they're responsible for these problems. Brian has a call in to the owner of the company.

 We do not have big bucks. Heck, we don't even have little bucks. We are a one-income

family supporting a college student and living as frugally as we can. And we're supposed

to get a new furnace and AC this spring because both of those are past their prime?!
(Original units of the house - 26 years old.)

And this may seem piddly, but for me it's big. And it just adds to all the stress of the above.

I have a dentist appointment tomorrow morning for a crown. The thing is, I have terrible

 dental phobia. So bad, that I dread my appointments for at least a week in advance. I

 consider cancelling (and I have - or procrastinated at making the appointment at all) but I 

know that it's best to just get it over with. So, I am feeling both on the verge of tears or 

vomiting right now. It's just all a lot to take in at one time. Thanks for listening. I so 

appreciate my blogging friends.