Now featuring a less pretentious blog title!!
Last night, I read Quilting for Dummies cover to cover. A lot of the particulars I was wondering about during the design phase for my first quilt were answered. Like the long tradition of stubbornness in my family, I only read instructions when I absolutely have to. I went online and snooped around, researching everything from the most breathable batting to how much people sell them for.
There is a quilt on Etsy for $6,000. SIX GRAND.
I'm a long, long way from selling anything, though the foray onto Etsy wasn't a complete bust. People make all kinds of things by quilting. I'll avoid the "holiday vests," thanks and you're welcome. But wall hanging panels intrigued me. They can be small - the size of a standard piece of notebook paper - or big - like the giant annoying, canvas stretched engagement photos you'll have to burn during your inevitable divorce. It's pretty cool what people can do with some fabric and A LOT of time. I'd love to make some modern things, like recreating my favorate artists' works, but "Cherubs In the Beginning in oil paint, chalk, and water color on tree bark" (yes, I made that up) will have to wait a while, too.
I think quilting was a good choice for me. All that artistic creative my art teacher told me never to lose has been quite lost for a long time, and I'm ready to return to it. I'm still fidgetty and impatient, wanting to fly right through to the finished product, but this will teach me some patience, I think. I hope. The more I come off my anxiety and anti-depressant meds, the more I need distraction. I've come a long way on that journey. I'm not cured; I'll always have what I have. In fact, the older I get, the more intense those bad times seem. As a teenager, things seemed like the end of the world. As an adult, they really can be in a sense. At 16, being fat was unpopular, not enough clothes in my size, and a boy deterrent. At 28, it's a diabetes type 2 diagnosis and heart palpitations. I want to avoid those obviously. There is also the interaction factor. In high school, everyone was hopped up on raging hormones. Tempers flared, girls sobbed - it was a cauldron of "Like, OH MY GOD, WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!?!" It can seem like that as an adult, but we can all hope we've matured enough not to rage against anyone when it happens. I don't have the necessary tools to always filter my interactions with others or my reactions to situations. It's been havoc on my adult life.
Luckily, I'm at least as good as Pavlov's dogs. I've learned my triggers, I know at least what portion of the manic spectrum my reaction will come from based on tiny little signs in my physical movement and thought direction, and I can brace myself and warn others accordingly. Sometimes, the strength it takes to pull in the reigns, both on outward reactions (30% of the time) and the inner hurricane (70%)is exhausting, and I no longer sleep to escape the world; I sleep to rest from managing it. Even then, I can control my dreams. Bad thigns start to happen, and I can choose to follow along out of curiosity or change it entirely, with full knowledge that it is a dream. I know a good portion of people can this, but when your brain is a battlefield in the waking hours, having to control dreams too is... stressful.
Ah well. Good Morning, Monday - the populace agrees, Fuck you.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Weight Loss Update - Set Back But Not Failure
Well, that didn't work.
I don't how long it is going to take to get it through my head - my body is very sensitive. It doesn't like big sweeping changes or chemical influences. (Unless it's Xanax. I need my Xanax.) The HCG drops weren't all that bad. They DID help with controlling hunger. Others might not have any of the problems I did, of course. I felt... stuffed. Not "Oh, I only get 250 calories this meal? That's okay. I'm stuffed!" That, I could have handled. I felt sloshy stuffed, that "I've had 25 weak beers - I'm not even drunk (rip off!), just sloshing liquid everywhere" feeling. I don't drink beer for that reason, so I'm not going to continue taking a chemical that does either. The daily nausea was too much.
On a really personal note, my period stopped. Now this reaction is likely a Me thing. If I get a sniffle, I'm late a week until my sinuses dry up. If I change my eating habits, from about 3,000 calories a day (my standard and why I'm fat), to 1000 or under, no period. I don't know about you, but when my period is late, I'm miserable. I'd rather have it and know that A) I'm not pregnant. Yay! and B) It will be over soon and take with it the bloating, cravings, moodiness, etc. The sooner, the better. For a minute, I almost thought I was pregnant due to the nausea and other symptoms. I am not, thankfully, and I don't want to be on anything that will make me feel that way.
When I was researching the HCG Diet, I saw people who have had success on it scoffing at doctors who encouraged a 1,000 calorie a day diet over the 500 calorie protocol. One thing they all had in common was the desire to lose as much weight as fast as possible. There were people who were actually saying, "You've only lost 15 pounds this week? Drop your calories and lose 25 pounds like I did! Those doctors just don't understand the science of it." Now, I've dealt with doctors, and they can be God-complex assholes with no bedside manner, but I'm fairly certain most know a thing or two about the biology of the human body. Not to mention the main clinical trials and studies for this diet were done in the 1950s. We've come a long way since then. Twenty-five pounds in one week just isn't normal; I don't care who you are. If it works for them and they can keep it off, let me know ten years from now and I'll happy dance with you.
So now what? You mean do what they've told me to do all along? Crap.
Okay, fine. Vegetables, fruits, portion control, drink water, and exercise. The one plan no one really wants to follow is the only way I'll likely be able to go. No more pills or chemicals, no more pregnancy hormones are going in my body. It's time to simply be smart. I don't have to be a scientist to know a fast food burger is not the healthy option for lunch. This is the new plan: eat better foods and move around more.
I've also decided to start a hobby. I picked sewing because it's something I've always wanted to do. I'm good with distractions, and learning something new, being creative again, and learning to focus on something different will go a long way in keeping me out of the kitchen. I've also looked up events and places in the area. I love museums and art galleries.
To be at my healthy weight (for age, height, blah, blah, blah), I need to lose 140 lbs. I NEED TO LOSE AN ENTIRE PERSON. It won't take 3 months. More like 1 year or two, and that's with dedication. But hey, I've got time - "If the Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise" as I've heard. Little by little.
I'm going to be just fine. :)
I don't how long it is going to take to get it through my head - my body is very sensitive. It doesn't like big sweeping changes or chemical influences. (Unless it's Xanax. I need my Xanax.) The HCG drops weren't all that bad. They DID help with controlling hunger. Others might not have any of the problems I did, of course. I felt... stuffed. Not "Oh, I only get 250 calories this meal? That's okay. I'm stuffed!" That, I could have handled. I felt sloshy stuffed, that "I've had 25 weak beers - I'm not even drunk (rip off!), just sloshing liquid everywhere" feeling. I don't drink beer for that reason, so I'm not going to continue taking a chemical that does either. The daily nausea was too much.
On a really personal note, my period stopped. Now this reaction is likely a Me thing. If I get a sniffle, I'm late a week until my sinuses dry up. If I change my eating habits, from about 3,000 calories a day (my standard and why I'm fat), to 1000 or under, no period. I don't know about you, but when my period is late, I'm miserable. I'd rather have it and know that A) I'm not pregnant. Yay! and B) It will be over soon and take with it the bloating, cravings, moodiness, etc. The sooner, the better. For a minute, I almost thought I was pregnant due to the nausea and other symptoms. I am not, thankfully, and I don't want to be on anything that will make me feel that way.
When I was researching the HCG Diet, I saw people who have had success on it scoffing at doctors who encouraged a 1,000 calorie a day diet over the 500 calorie protocol. One thing they all had in common was the desire to lose as much weight as fast as possible. There were people who were actually saying, "You've only lost 15 pounds this week? Drop your calories and lose 25 pounds like I did! Those doctors just don't understand the science of it." Now, I've dealt with doctors, and they can be God-complex assholes with no bedside manner, but I'm fairly certain most know a thing or two about the biology of the human body. Not to mention the main clinical trials and studies for this diet were done in the 1950s. We've come a long way since then. Twenty-five pounds in one week just isn't normal; I don't care who you are. If it works for them and they can keep it off, let me know ten years from now and I'll happy dance with you.
So now what? You mean do what they've told me to do all along? Crap.
Okay, fine. Vegetables, fruits, portion control, drink water, and exercise. The one plan no one really wants to follow is the only way I'll likely be able to go. No more pills or chemicals, no more pregnancy hormones are going in my body. It's time to simply be smart. I don't have to be a scientist to know a fast food burger is not the healthy option for lunch. This is the new plan: eat better foods and move around more.
I've also decided to start a hobby. I picked sewing because it's something I've always wanted to do. I'm good with distractions, and learning something new, being creative again, and learning to focus on something different will go a long way in keeping me out of the kitchen. I've also looked up events and places in the area. I love museums and art galleries.
To be at my healthy weight (for age, height, blah, blah, blah), I need to lose 140 lbs. I NEED TO LOSE AN ENTIRE PERSON. It won't take 3 months. More like 1 year or two, and that's with dedication. But hey, I've got time - "If the Lord's willin' and the creek don't rise" as I've heard. Little by little.
I'm going to be just fine. :)
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