04/03/2013

Wow…ok, I am really sucking at the updates! What happened to OD and our crazy desire to write daily? The good ol’ days!

Umm…I am not a consistent cavegirl at the moment. Nutrition has been spotty and workouts haven’t been consistent. What does that mean? I am still trying to work off the rest of the weight I gained after Thanksgiving. Hello, it is April! I have also noticed an increase in my RA flares since my diet took a few (several dozen) hits and that is simply unacceptable. I am still wrapping my head around being required to stay on point with nutrition for a health condition. Before my diagnosis, my main motivation to lose the remainder of the weight was vanity. The initial 100+ lb loss took care of the looming health problems I had. BP, cholesterol, thyroid? Great! No diabetes. Super! Let’s get the rest of this weight off and be FINE! Ehh, well…vanity motivation only works if you truly don’t care for your "before" or "current". I wanted to look better, but I think I am gorgeous either way. LOL How is that for modesty? Hey, you have to be the President of your own fan club!

Anyway, my view on food (healthy and not so healthy) changed after my RA diagnosis last May. My Whole30 experiment showed me exactly what role food plays in my disease and overall well-being. It also challenged EVERYTHING I’ve been told about nutrition over the last decade+. So, what is the problem?!? Sometimes a b*tch still wants garbage food! Seriously, I am a recovering food addict (never cured, my friends…never cured), I will always love pizza, cookies and ice cream. Yes, there are plenty of ways to "Paleo-fy" these goodies, but it is not the same. Oy vey. Needless to say, I’ve returned to sanity (y’all know I only visit crazy every few months). I am back to focusing on whole foods completely and healing this body o’ mine. The Paleo lifestyle is restrictive, but I feel AMAZING when I adhere to it and it’s not in my head…the rheumatologist’s numbers confirm that this is where I should be forever + 1 day. With that said, I am going to stop obsessing so much over my actual weight. At this time, I am sitting at 50 lbs lost since May 2012…could have been more, but I am not complaining. I will still weigh but not weekly…maybe not even monthly. We’ll see how the experiment goes. I’ll let clothing fit and workout improvement be my success indicators for the time being. Scary, huh? I am still trained to weigh weekly…10 years in Weight Watchers will do that to ya.

Now that we have all the healthy talk out of the way, let’s chat about CAKE! Teehee. I went to a wedding cake tasting with the beau fiance and both of our Moms last weekend. We had a blast! I mean, it is free cake and frosting, y’all! (See food issues above). We tried 8 different flavors and were truly blown away. The best of the bunch? Pink champagne (white cake infused with pink champagne…sound odd, but it was grrrrrreat), lemon supreme (with lemon butter sauce…hi, cardiologist!) and cassata (golden cake soaked with amaretto and toasted almonds). Not sure if we’ll end up with 3 or 4 tiers…will depend on the # of RSVPs. Venue decision is still being made, but we’re looking at October of next year. Apparently, "October is the new June" for Texas weddings, so my desired date requires at least 6 months notice to the bakery. As for the look, our designer came up with a great concept that uses my favorite aspects from both cakes. My main color is aubergine (or eggplant/plum depending on who you ask), so the flowers will be in the shade of the ribbon pictured…and keeping the lace pattern from cake #2. Hooray…one thing off my list!
 

 
Well, I suppose that’s it for now. Work is so crazy, I don’t even want to talk about it! I’d prefer to just focus on my wedding and get paid, mmmkay? Hope you’re all doing well. Thanks for staying with me on this crazy journey. I will never stop updating simply because I will never stop working!

Until next time,
C