Blessings Darlings!
Well .... uh .... you see ..... I'm starting over on this diet/fitness stuff. I let it go, again. I'm calling it another practice round. This time will be for real! Yeah, that's the ticket.
Weight is up. Endurance down. Don't know what's gong on with blood pressure. I assume my cholesterol and triglycerides are at their usual high levels.
Today I ate well and got back to beginning levels of exercise. Still HATE HATE HATE to exercise. Still don't have the knees or endurance to bike to the store instead of using exercise bike. Current plan is to walk tomorrow.
I've been meaning to take some psyllium fiber supplements before meals, but keep forgetting to do that. It's not only supposed to help you feel fuller but also block absorption of dietary cholesterol. OTOH, my cholesterol and triglyceride issues are not just diet but also genetics. Still, it's something to try that's cheap and doesn't have a litany of bad side effects. Unlike most of the cholesterol drugs on the market.
That's what's up here today.
Frondly, Fern
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Friday, April 27, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Recipe Modification
Blessings, Darlings!
So, since I'm trying to lose weight to lower my blood pressure, I suppose I'm going to have to modify a recipe or two. Like the chicken & Dumplings I'm planning on serving on Sunday. The guys like it, uh, with puff pastry instead of dumplings. That's probably not my best choice in starches ... and, really, it's not my favorite starch anyway.
I'll probably serve THEIRS that way, anyway, since I heat the chicken/veggies/sauce apart from baking the puff pastry. But for me, hmmmm.....
I thought about serving it over brown rice, sort of like chicken a la king. That would be okay. Over barley? No, not appealing. Lentils? Oh! Now THAT sounds good. I'll use brown, only because the red ones become more of a puree and I don't happen to have any green ones. And, yes, I'm using evaporated skim milk instead of cream in the sauce.
First-world problem solved!
Frondly, Fern
So, since I'm trying to lose weight to lower my blood pressure, I suppose I'm going to have to modify a recipe or two. Like the chicken & Dumplings I'm planning on serving on Sunday. The guys like it, uh, with puff pastry instead of dumplings. That's probably not my best choice in starches ... and, really, it's not my favorite starch anyway.
I'll probably serve THEIRS that way, anyway, since I heat the chicken/veggies/sauce apart from baking the puff pastry. But for me, hmmmm.....
I thought about serving it over brown rice, sort of like chicken a la king. That would be okay. Over barley? No, not appealing. Lentils? Oh! Now THAT sounds good. I'll use brown, only because the red ones become more of a puree and I don't happen to have any green ones. And, yes, I'm using evaporated skim milk instead of cream in the sauce.
First-world problem solved!
Frondly, Fern
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Can It.
Blessings, Darlings!
It's canning season again! I've been doing fruit so far, but tomatoes (okay, technically a berry) and corn and beans are going to be canned soon.
It's hot and time consuming work, but not exactly intellectually demanding. Which means I have time to do magic and to ponder things. I'll talk about the magic in this post.
Back in the day, when I was a kid, one of the stories we were told about Benjamin Franklin was that he and his father were putting up barrels of pork (no doubt layered with salt). Ben, who was NOT impressed by the long time spent at each meal saying grace, reported said something along the lines of "Dude, why don't we do the grace thing now, over the whole barrel, and get it over with? We'd get our eat on faster at dinner..."
Well, I'm not taking quite that approach to the canning, but I AM invoking the blessings of the Gods on each batch I can. Working for health. For wholeness. For it to feed us body and soul.
I layer flavors in my cooking (even the peaches I just canned had added cinnamon), it's time I started layering blessings in all I do.
Frondly, Fern
It's canning season again! I've been doing fruit so far, but tomatoes (okay, technically a berry) and corn and beans are going to be canned soon.
It's hot and time consuming work, but not exactly intellectually demanding. Which means I have time to do magic and to ponder things. I'll talk about the magic in this post.
Back in the day, when I was a kid, one of the stories we were told about Benjamin Franklin was that he and his father were putting up barrels of pork (no doubt layered with salt). Ben, who was NOT impressed by the long time spent at each meal saying grace, reported said something along the lines of "Dude, why don't we do the grace thing now, over the whole barrel, and get it over with? We'd get our eat on faster at dinner..."
Well, I'm not taking quite that approach to the canning, but I AM invoking the blessings of the Gods on each batch I can. Working for health. For wholeness. For it to feed us body and soul.
I layer flavors in my cooking (even the peaches I just canned had added cinnamon), it's time I started layering blessings in all I do.
Frondly, Fern
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Playing With Fire
Blessings, Darlings!
As some of y'all know, I have some issues with depression/Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It started when I was very young, around age 10 or earlier. Over the years I've tried a large assortment of therapies and drugs, and currently it's pretty well controlled with Effexor and having set up a system of accountability (so I don't try to duck/ignore anything that makes me anxious, a 'solution' which of course causes more problems than it solves).
Still, there are times when stress is high and it kicks in, and I have to change or increase medications or add some talk therapy for a while. When that occurs ... I cut down or completely cut OUT doing deep spiritual work.
You may be asking 'why' - why would Fern 'turn from the Gods' when she seems to need them the most?
Well, I don't turn from the Gods - I still talk with them (and they get their messages across to me). Same with the nature spirits, and the ancestors. And I still meditate, since that helps (as does exercise, for that matter) But I do respect the intertwining of body/mind/spirit. And I've found that it's best to work with one variable at a time.
J. H. Brennan wrote about this in the introduction to Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki's WONDERFUL book "The Ritual Magick Workbook
". He talks of having nervous breakdowns after starting his occult studies, and goes into why esoteric training easily and often increases depression to such an extent that it will push you over the edge. The short reason is that MOST spiritual/occult things you do - in any system - are DESIGNED to influence all of your energy systems. And all of your energy systems (physical, mental, spiritual, chi, endocrine, emotional, sympathetic and parasympathetic, kundalini
, etc - ALL OF THEM ) interact in ways that are intricate and powerful.
So, the last time this happened ... probably not coincidentally while the coven I'm in was doing a year of Kabalistic workings (and I was prepping the working on Binah, for goodness sake!) .... I took a leave of absence from the coven I'm in that allowed me to have space to adjust drugs/therapy without the added variable of continuing the Kabalistic (and other) coven work. I felt it would be detrimental to MY mental health to continue at that time, and unfair for me to burden my High Priestess with mediating any effects my out of control spiritual/occult energies could have on the coven's Group Mind. (For the record, I'm SURE she could have handled doing that!)
And I bring this up now .... why?
I'm so glad you asked that! I bring this up because lately I've seen a whole lot of folks who have depression or other emotional and mental challenges who really really want to work on their spiritual development ... whose depression or mental illnesses are not currently under any control at all. And I'm scared for them. These paths we walk are dangerous even for those who aren't pre-disposed, and for those who are pre-disposed but controlled and aware of the dangers and early warning signs of trouble. For those whose mental/emotional issues are NOT in control - on this path lies madness.
Literally. Madness. Dousing yourself with gasoline and jumping into bonfire madness. Not peace. Not initiation. Not MORE control, but LESS control.
Stop. Don't do it. Don't do energy work. Don't do trance work. Don't do Pathworkings. Don't attend 'transformative workshops'. Don't attend Pagan festivals, where folks get ungrounded as it is from all the energy darting about.
Pray, yes. Talk with the Gods. Make offerings. Honor the cycles of nature. Attend generic public rituals. Stay grounded with exercise, good food, good air, talking with real counselors, try on the appropriate prescribed drugs.
Frondly, Fern
As some of y'all know, I have some issues with depression/Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It started when I was very young, around age 10 or earlier. Over the years I've tried a large assortment of therapies and drugs, and currently it's pretty well controlled with Effexor and having set up a system of accountability (so I don't try to duck/ignore anything that makes me anxious, a 'solution' which of course causes more problems than it solves).
Still, there are times when stress is high and it kicks in, and I have to change or increase medications or add some talk therapy for a while. When that occurs ... I cut down or completely cut OUT doing deep spiritual work.
You may be asking 'why' - why would Fern 'turn from the Gods' when she seems to need them the most?
Well, I don't turn from the Gods - I still talk with them (and they get their messages across to me). Same with the nature spirits, and the ancestors. And I still meditate, since that helps (as does exercise, for that matter) But I do respect the intertwining of body/mind/spirit. And I've found that it's best to work with one variable at a time.
J. H. Brennan wrote about this in the introduction to Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki's WONDERFUL book "The Ritual Magick Workbook
". He talks of having nervous breakdowns after starting his occult studies, and goes into why esoteric training easily and often increases depression to such an extent that it will push you over the edge. The short reason is that MOST spiritual/occult things you do - in any system - are DESIGNED to influence all of your energy systems. And all of your energy systems (physical, mental, spiritual, chi, endocrine, emotional, sympathetic and parasympathetic, kundalini, etc - ALL OF THEM ) interact in ways that are intricate and powerful. So, the last time this happened ... probably not coincidentally while the coven I'm in was doing a year of Kabalistic workings (and I was prepping the working on Binah, for goodness sake!) .... I took a leave of absence from the coven I'm in that allowed me to have space to adjust drugs/therapy without the added variable of continuing the Kabalistic (and other) coven work. I felt it would be detrimental to MY mental health to continue at that time, and unfair for me to burden my High Priestess with mediating any effects my out of control spiritual/occult energies could have on the coven's Group Mind. (For the record, I'm SURE she could have handled doing that!)
And I bring this up now .... why?
I'm so glad you asked that! I bring this up because lately I've seen a whole lot of folks who have depression or other emotional and mental challenges who really really want to work on their spiritual development ... whose depression or mental illnesses are not currently under any control at all. And I'm scared for them. These paths we walk are dangerous even for those who aren't pre-disposed, and for those who are pre-disposed but controlled and aware of the dangers and early warning signs of trouble. For those whose mental/emotional issues are NOT in control - on this path lies madness.
Literally. Madness. Dousing yourself with gasoline and jumping into bonfire madness. Not peace. Not initiation. Not MORE control, but LESS control.
Stop. Don't do it. Don't do energy work. Don't do trance work. Don't do Pathworkings. Don't attend 'transformative workshops'. Don't attend Pagan festivals, where folks get ungrounded as it is from all the energy darting about.
Pray, yes. Talk with the Gods. Make offerings. Honor the cycles of nature. Attend generic public rituals. Stay grounded with exercise, good food, good air, talking with real counselors, try on the appropriate prescribed drugs.
Frondly, Fern
Monday, April 12, 2010
Life Wellness Monday - How Ya Doing?
Blessings, Darlings!
Here’s an update on how I’m doing on my personal Wellness, since I’ve been blogging about it for the past few months.
Exercise: Been doing it more, not yet up to where I want to end up.
Weights: doing upper body routine twice a week, have gotten past the tendonitis in my left forearm.
Aerobics: Slowed by knee pain that kicked in when I increased the height of the aerobic step. But now it’s a bit less, and doesn’t seem to get worse by step aerobics as long as I just do the old up/down – it’s more a problem with lateral movements. So I’m back to step aerobics a few times a week. Asthma less of a problem since I started to exercise, even with the record amounts of pollen in the air!
Meditation: Was doing daily until the last couple of weeks.
Stress reduction: House we live in was auctioned at courthouse (landlord didn’t pay mortgage), so CAUSES of stress are still there. I’m way calmer, handling stress better.
Financial Wellness: I’ve been going thru’ personal financial papers and such. Posted about the health insurance findings a few days ago. Dropped Long Distance on the business line, we use cell phones for that, except for faxing. Now if we fax – and we haven’t faxed OUT in weeks – we’ll just switch the fax to the house line, which has inexpensive LD still. It was $25 a month to have Long Distance on business line (plus any calls) and it’s $15 a month for Long Distance on the house line (plus calls). HOWEVER – now Verizon has offered a plan for unlimited local plus LD for about what we pay for local only. So may make that change.
May change the husband and son’s cell phone plans, have to do a BIT more research.
Have paid down some bills, have organized paying them down by highest interest rates.
Eating healthy food: Didn’t make enough changes that actually stuck. Yeah, the only beef I’m eating is organic/pastured/etc, but that’s the only change that stayed. I’m hoping that summer fruits and veggies entice more changes! I AM eating all those beans/lentils/etc, of course…..
And how are all y'all doing? Time to check in!
Frondly, Fern
Here’s an update on how I’m doing on my personal Wellness, since I’ve been blogging about it for the past few months.
Exercise: Been doing it more, not yet up to where I want to end up.
Weights: doing upper body routine twice a week, have gotten past the tendonitis in my left forearm.
Aerobics: Slowed by knee pain that kicked in when I increased the height of the aerobic step. But now it’s a bit less, and doesn’t seem to get worse by step aerobics as long as I just do the old up/down – it’s more a problem with lateral movements. So I’m back to step aerobics a few times a week. Asthma less of a problem since I started to exercise, even with the record amounts of pollen in the air!
Meditation: Was doing daily until the last couple of weeks.
Stress reduction: House we live in was auctioned at courthouse (landlord didn’t pay mortgage), so CAUSES of stress are still there. I’m way calmer, handling stress better.
Financial Wellness: I’ve been going thru’ personal financial papers and such. Posted about the health insurance findings a few days ago. Dropped Long Distance on the business line, we use cell phones for that, except for faxing. Now if we fax – and we haven’t faxed OUT in weeks – we’ll just switch the fax to the house line, which has inexpensive LD still. It was $25 a month to have Long Distance on business line (plus any calls) and it’s $15 a month for Long Distance on the house line (plus calls). HOWEVER – now Verizon has offered a plan for unlimited local plus LD for about what we pay for local only. So may make that change.
May change the husband and son’s cell phone plans, have to do a BIT more research.
Have paid down some bills, have organized paying them down by highest interest rates.
Eating healthy food: Didn’t make enough changes that actually stuck. Yeah, the only beef I’m eating is organic/pastured/etc, but that’s the only change that stayed. I’m hoping that summer fruits and veggies entice more changes! I AM eating all those beans/lentils/etc, of course…..
And how are all y'all doing? Time to check in!
Frondly, Fern
Monday, January 18, 2010
WEEKLY WELLNESS POST: Improve Your Wellness 100 %
Blessings, Darlings!
It's now almost 3 weeks into the new year. Do you know what that means? It means that most of the people who have made resolutions involving ... well ... ANYTHING are beginning to slip up on them. By February 1 the long-term users of health clubs will be able to get at the machines easily again, and grocery stores will stop having great weekly sales on diet foods.
By April 1, health club memberships and home exercise equipment will be readily available in classified ads.
It IS hard to change life habits. Change is painful enough, but add hunger or sore muscles or tendonitis or (my usual one) getting sick 2 or 3 weeks into an exercise program on top of that, the probability that the change won't stick increases dramatically.
It doesn't have to be like that.
I say that you can improve your health 100% in 21 weeks by making a series of SMALL and RELATIVELY EASY changes.
We all know that wellness is multi-faceted. Most wellness professionals seem to break it down into 7 major categories, along the lines of Physical, Mental,
Spiritual, Career, Environmental, Relationships, Financial. Or they do a tripartite division - body, mind, and spirit - a la Dr. Andrew Weil, at DrWeil.com. While I'm a Celtic Reconstructionist and DEEPLY into triads, and I have been into Dr. Weil's books for almost 40 years now - I find his three categories too broad, containing too many subdivisions, leading to a feeling of being overwhelmed. I prefer the 7 part division.
Here's the theory I'm putting forth, and that I'll be expounding on during this health series: IF you make ONE permanent change within ONE part of ONE the 7 aspects of health every three weeks, aiming for a 10 percent improvement in your health from what you have now THEN in one cycle thru' the 7 aspects you get a 94% increase in your health in 21 weeks. Not quite the 100% I talked about in the title, but close enough. Besides, once thru' the cycle once ... you start the cycle over working on one other goal within each of the 7 aspects. Two complete cycles in a year will yield over 200% increase in wellness!
In this series, every week I'll be writing about - cheerleading, if you will - one part of one aspect. You don't have to wait till I start cheering you on in next week's post to start making changes. You don't have to make the change I write about, or do them in the order I propose. Start ANYWHERE, aim for a 10% improvement in that one thing. A few weeks later, make another change that you think will net you another 10% wellness increase. Small changes, synergistic and cumulative over time.
Heck, aim at the low-hanging fruit first. If you know an easy change that will net a big improvement, go for that first. Let success build on success by starting that way.
Before I end this, let me make one thing VERY clear - wellness isn't just for the 'able-bodied' or those without chronic diseases. Wellness is about living the best life you as a UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL can live. It's not a once-size fits all thing, and all improvements for are based on where you are starting.
Frondly, Fern
It's now almost 3 weeks into the new year. Do you know what that means? It means that most of the people who have made resolutions involving ... well ... ANYTHING are beginning to slip up on them. By February 1 the long-term users of health clubs will be able to get at the machines easily again, and grocery stores will stop having great weekly sales on diet foods.
By April 1, health club memberships and home exercise equipment will be readily available in classified ads.
It IS hard to change life habits. Change is painful enough, but add hunger or sore muscles or tendonitis or (my usual one) getting sick 2 or 3 weeks into an exercise program on top of that, the probability that the change won't stick increases dramatically.
It doesn't have to be like that.
I say that you can improve your health 100% in 21 weeks by making a series of SMALL and RELATIVELY EASY changes.
We all know that wellness is multi-faceted. Most wellness professionals seem to break it down into 7 major categories, along the lines of Physical, Mental,
Spiritual, Career, Environmental, Relationships, Financial. Or they do a tripartite division - body, mind, and spirit - a la Dr. Andrew Weil, at DrWeil.com. While I'm a Celtic Reconstructionist and DEEPLY into triads, and I have been into Dr. Weil's books for almost 40 years now - I find his three categories too broad, containing too many subdivisions, leading to a feeling of being overwhelmed. I prefer the 7 part division.
Here's the theory I'm putting forth, and that I'll be expounding on during this health series: IF you make ONE permanent change within ONE part of ONE the 7 aspects of health every three weeks, aiming for a 10 percent improvement in your health from what you have now THEN in one cycle thru' the 7 aspects you get a 94% increase in your health in 21 weeks. Not quite the 100% I talked about in the title, but close enough. Besides, once thru' the cycle once ... you start the cycle over working on one other goal within each of the 7 aspects. Two complete cycles in a year will yield over 200% increase in wellness!
In this series, every week I'll be writing about - cheerleading, if you will - one part of one aspect. You don't have to wait till I start cheering you on in next week's post to start making changes. You don't have to make the change I write about, or do them in the order I propose. Start ANYWHERE, aim for a 10% improvement in that one thing. A few weeks later, make another change that you think will net you another 10% wellness increase. Small changes, synergistic and cumulative over time.
Heck, aim at the low-hanging fruit first. If you know an easy change that will net a big improvement, go for that first. Let success build on success by starting that way.
Before I end this, let me make one thing VERY clear - wellness isn't just for the 'able-bodied' or those without chronic diseases. Wellness is about living the best life you as a UNIQUE INDIVIDUAL can live. It's not a once-size fits all thing, and all improvements for are based on where you are starting.
Frondly, Fern
Friday, November 6, 2009
Long Term 'Care' Rantfest
Yes, Fronds, I'm ranting.
Mom's still in the nursing home, getting rehab.
"Everyone" thinks that Mom now needs care 24/7. She has limited eyesight & hearing. She is paranoid and somewhat delusional (she thinks that people come into her condo thru' the walls and steal things). She doesn't feel that folks come in when others are staying with her - I assume because she gets stimulation with companionship so her brain doesn't fill in new things to see and hear. She has muscle weakness which along with her limited eyesight contributes to her falling. She has some level of dementia. This, to them, equals incompetence. This, to me, equals disabilities.
Mom would like companionship after the cousin that has been staying with her goes back to Florida.
The same cousin who wouldn't get her husband the lawyer to help Mom give me Power Of Attorney (either medical or financial) now wants me to make all medical and financial decisions for my mother. Which I can't legally do, because I don't have the bloody POAs. And which is hard for me to do since I am in DC and Mom in is Chicago. And NOW can Mom legally give me POA if she is 'incompetent', or do I have to bloody go to court and PROVE that she is 'incompetent'?
Let me guess - I'm supposed to hide the fact that she's 'incompetent' to get the POAs and then use the 'fact' that she's 'incompetent' to USE the POAs.
But let's add to that issues with Mom's Long Term Health insurance. Which I can't talk to, because I don't have the financial POA - and let's not pretend that insurance is about her medical issues, health, or safety. I need a FINANCIAL POA to get information from them.
The insurer that she has been sending thousands of dollars to for years and years and years is, shall we say, severely financially unsound. So, rather than saving that coverage for when she gets really frail and vulnerable and care is even more expensive, the cousins think we should use it now. The company may die, and, 'let's face it, she's 94, she's not going to live that much longer. In their 90's they go quickly'. This from a cousin whose father lived to 99.
But it IS true that our family members die soon after they go into nursing homes. Is it because they are old, because they are frail, or because they give up (or because of some combination of the above)? They last a month or two, then die of pneumonia.
Anyway, the Long Term Care insurer doesn't accept what any silly doctor, nursing home, social workers, therapists, etc, say a person needs. First, Mom needs a date when she'll be released from the nursing home. Then Mom will need to call them and ask for care, they will set up a phone evaluation of her, then they will send paperwork to the doctor, then a nurse will evaluate her, then they will decide what THEY think she needs. A 30 day process. They can't even tell me what her policy covers, since I don't have a financial POA. Never mind that I'm asking what MEDICAL/CARE coverage that is. So even if I had a medical POA I'd be screwed.
At the end of 30 days, of course, what THEY decide to cover is not guaranteed to be 'what the doctor ordered'.
And the policy only runs 3 years. Not to worry, says cousins, both she and insurer will be dead by then. Let's hear it for the Death Panels!
Frustratedly, Fern
Mom's still in the nursing home, getting rehab.
"Everyone" thinks that Mom now needs care 24/7. She has limited eyesight & hearing. She is paranoid and somewhat delusional (she thinks that people come into her condo thru' the walls and steal things). She doesn't feel that folks come in when others are staying with her - I assume because she gets stimulation with companionship so her brain doesn't fill in new things to see and hear. She has muscle weakness which along with her limited eyesight contributes to her falling. She has some level of dementia. This, to them, equals incompetence. This, to me, equals disabilities.
Mom would like companionship after the cousin that has been staying with her goes back to Florida.
The same cousin who wouldn't get her husband the lawyer to help Mom give me Power Of Attorney (either medical or financial) now wants me to make all medical and financial decisions for my mother. Which I can't legally do, because I don't have the bloody POAs. And which is hard for me to do since I am in DC and Mom in is Chicago. And NOW can Mom legally give me POA if she is 'incompetent', or do I have to bloody go to court and PROVE that she is 'incompetent'?
Let me guess - I'm supposed to hide the fact that she's 'incompetent' to get the POAs and then use the 'fact' that she's 'incompetent' to USE the POAs.
But let's add to that issues with Mom's Long Term Health insurance. Which I can't talk to, because I don't have the financial POA - and let's not pretend that insurance is about her medical issues, health, or safety. I need a FINANCIAL POA to get information from them.
The insurer that she has been sending thousands of dollars to for years and years and years is, shall we say, severely financially unsound. So, rather than saving that coverage for when she gets really frail and vulnerable and care is even more expensive, the cousins think we should use it now. The company may die, and, 'let's face it, she's 94, she's not going to live that much longer. In their 90's they go quickly'. This from a cousin whose father lived to 99.
But it IS true that our family members die soon after they go into nursing homes. Is it because they are old, because they are frail, or because they give up (or because of some combination of the above)? They last a month or two, then die of pneumonia.
Anyway, the Long Term Care insurer doesn't accept what any silly doctor, nursing home, social workers, therapists, etc, say a person needs. First, Mom needs a date when she'll be released from the nursing home. Then Mom will need to call them and ask for care, they will set up a phone evaluation of her, then they will send paperwork to the doctor, then a nurse will evaluate her, then they will decide what THEY think she needs. A 30 day process. They can't even tell me what her policy covers, since I don't have a financial POA. Never mind that I'm asking what MEDICAL/CARE coverage that is. So even if I had a medical POA I'd be screwed.
At the end of 30 days, of course, what THEY decide to cover is not guaranteed to be 'what the doctor ordered'.
And the policy only runs 3 years. Not to worry, says cousins, both she and insurer will be dead by then. Let's hear it for the Death Panels!
Frustratedly, Fern
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