It's not a diet: On changing my eating habits

Last Monday was International No Diet Day. I am very much of the belief that diets are terrible and that the best way to eat is unrestricted and in tune with our own bodies. Nourish your body, stop when you're sated, don't beat yourself up over your food choices and don't judge the food choices of others.

Having said that, on Tuesday I saw a naturopath who advised me to try limiting my starch intake to help with my ankylosing spondylitis symptoms. Since being diagnosed (years ago) no doctor has ever suggested I try this, but I did a bit of online research and it's a perfectly sensible suggestion. There have been studies into it and there's loads of anecdotal evidence online.

So, now I'm trying to reduce the amount of starch I eat. I've been very careful not to call this a diet or see it as depriving myself of certain foods. I can still eat starchy foods if I want to. Actually, I'm pretty excited about trying some new foods and experimenting with different recipes. I'm looking at this less like restricting starch and more like exploring new options.

So far the biggest change I've made has been at breakfast. Instead of eating two bits of toast or a small bowl of cereal in the morning I'm eating fresh fruit and yoghurt. And you know what? I'm enjoying breakfast! This morning I made it into a smoothie. It was awesome!

Other than that it's just been a case of having a salad instead of a salad sandwich or switching potatoes for pumpkin at dinner. I think the only things I would really miss are crackers and cake, but I can still have them if I want and I'm really interested in trying out some low-starch recipes I've found for them online.

As far as I'm concerned, I get to try out things like cauliflower pizza bases, zucchini 'pasta', almond flour cheese crackers and almond chocolate chia bites and maybe not be in pain for the rest of my life. That definitely doesn't sound like (or feel like) a diet to me.

Self-care Sunday: I forgot I had a blog

I accidentally took a break from blogging. With health stuff and going back to uni I got somewhat distracted and forgot I even had a blog. But I remembered today and here I am. Self-care has been interesting lately. I'm still enjoying my morning coffee ritual whenever I can. I was pretty excited about this latte art I got a few weeks back. It looks like a turkey!

I've also been treating myself to baked goods occasionally. Rodney's Bakery in West End is my favourite place at the moment. $2 lamingtons! Plus I like support local small businesses and they also do a killer vegetarian pie.

Speaking of food and eating, I'm finally reading Health at Every Size and it is amazing! I thoroughly recommend it to every single person ever. I don't want to get all gushy about it or anything, but thanks to this book I'm slowly learning to recognise when I'm hungry - and that is a huge deal for me. 

In other exciting news, I started getting hives. Every single day for the last month or so, in fact. So now I'm keeping a "hive journal" to take with me to the doctor. The chemist gave me a cortisone cream for it, but it doesn't seem to do much. Going to try aloe tomorrow since we have some growing in a pot on our front porch. Wish me luck!

2013: a year of self-care

I've been thinking a lot about personal goals recently. Perhaps it's just the new year or that other people are talking about them too, but they're on my mind. I like having goals. I like making lists and ticking items off as I do them. I think writing them gives me a sense of control and ticking items off helps me feel like I'm achieving something. And it just makes things seem more manageable when I break them down into lists. With that in mind, here is my list of self-care goals for 2013.

- Exercise more so I can feel stronger. I'd like to build my core and upper body strength which have both become quite weak. Working on my core will also help with managing my spondylitis.

- Stop putting off making medical appointments. Starting tomorrow by making the appointment for the CT of my jaw that was recommended before Christmas.

- Be more organised so I don't forget about things and then panic when they sneak up on me. Especially with regards to uni. I bought a pretty neat student diary from Officeworks that should help me with that.

- Keep a journal. Matt's mum gave me a beautiful hand-bound journal made from a vintage book for Christmas. I want to use it to document my thoughts on self-care as well as a more arty journal (with a self-care sort of theme). I've always had a sort of fear when it comes to writing in nice journals and books. I need to get over that.

- Continue to have fun with nail polish as self-care. Both Louie and Erin (best siblings!) gave me nail polish for Christmas. I may need a bigger box for my collection soon.

- Do a wardrobe clean-out and get rid of any clothes that don't make me feel good. Make a list of items I want/need and either make or buy them (preferably second-hand). Also, stop just wearing thongs (flip-flops) all the time and wear more supportive shoes instead.

- Remember that it's perfectly acceptable to say no to things. It's also perfectly acceptable to not answer my phone when I don't feel like talking. 

I'm also going to make Self-care Sunday a monthly thing from now on because I want to blog about other things too, but I don't think I have the energy for posting more than once a week at the moment. I'm really looking forward to writing about other things!

Self-care Sunday: 30.12.12: Some musings on self-care

Yesterday our friend Nic came to visit after having been overseas for three months. It was awesome to see him again and I love the conversations we have. We ended up on the topic of self-care and Matt mentioned the idea of a self-care triple bottom line. Nic suggested it might best comprise of mind, body and spirit. I'm not sure about how the 'spirit' part fits for me, but the concept of a self-care triple bottom line really resonates with me and it's been in my mind ever since.

I want to think more about self-care in 2013 and be more active about it too. Matt's mum gave me a beautiful hand bound journal for Christmas that I'm planning on using as a self-care journal. I want to write/draw/whatever in it every day (if I can - I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't feel up to it). I'm not really one for new years resolutions, but I feel very much like I'm at a turning point at the moment. Making changes and setting goals for myself right now feels kind of organic.

I feel like I'm still fleshing a lot of my ideas out at the moment, so here are some wonderful self-care related things on the internet:

Sad Teen Queer's self-care comic is just lovely.

Tonight I stumbled across Cosmoqueer zine and issue 4 is all about self-care.

I will forever love Stephen Fry's response to a letter from a girl struggling with depression.

I thoroughly recommend Maranda Elizabeth's writings on self-care.

 Treat yo' self! [video]

I save a lot of self-care related links to my mind + body Pinterest board and regularly peruse it. Is there anything that you specifically do for self-care? Are there any awesome self-care resources you've found? I'd love to hear from people.

Self-care ...Tuesday: 11.12.2012

On Sunday my lower back decided to throw a pain party and it's currently still raging on. As such, self-care at the moment is basically spending a lot of time stretched out on the couch with my buddies heat-pack and codeine.

I'm pretty bummed because it's meant not being able to do a lot of the things I want to do. I was hoping to have my embroidered felt Christmas decorations finished by now, but they still need putting together. At least I can still use my computer on the couch or I would be so bored right now. I've been spending a fair bit of time on Pinterest though - so I'm not exactly being productive.

Hopefully my back will be feeling better before the week is over and I can get some things done. Fingers crossed!

Self-care Sunday: 02.12.2012: A little late

This week I had some MRIs and x-rays to check up on my spine and also to see what the hell is going on with my jaw. I hate getting stuff like that done, so self-care was super important. I did get to wear this totally bitchin' hospital gown for one of the MRIs though.

Mostly my self-care involved keeping myself occupied with cleaning, craft and reading. It's been quite hot in Brisbane this week so I took a trip to the (air conditioned!) library and borrowed a couple of craft-related books. I also indulged in a celebratory gin and orange juice (well, three) on Saturday night to congratulate myself on getting through all the diagnostic stuff.

I don't really drink very often, but I so enjoy the taste of gin and it was particularly satisfying on Saturday night. I spent the night watching television, embroidering felt Christmas ornaments and chatting with a friend on Facebook. It was most enjoyable!

Self-care Sunday: 18.11.2012

After months of only charging sporadically, my laptop battery appears to have finally given up on charging all together. So, until I get to actually purchasing a new computer I'm stuck blogging from my phone. Which sucks because I was actually going to do some blog posts not relating to self-care this week. I may still try to do so. We'll see.

Anyway, this week my self-care included liberally applying refrigerated vitamin E aloe gel to my poor sunburnt shoulders.i usually wear sunscreen everyday, but earlier in the week I forgot and then went on a big walk with Matt. The walk was brilliant and I felt great about it. The sunburn, not so much.

I also spent a few days on the Sunshine Coast visiting family. I went op shopping with my sister Erin and it was awesome hanging out with her. She bought me a funny face shortbread from the Bli Bli Bakery and although they aren't exactly the same as I remember them it was so good! I picked up some summer clothes at the op shops. I might make a separate post about that during the week though.

Oh, and last night we got another visit from neighbour Nick. He was waiting at the bottom of our stairs when we got home. I think he just wanted somewhere dry to ride out the storms Brisbane has been getting. Either way I got fat kitty cuddles!

[Edited to add: My battery hasn't given up after all! I just forgot that I unplugged the charger during the storms we've been having haha.]

Self-care Sunday: 11.11.2012

For the past few weeks I've been wearing my hair up in some form of messy bun pretty much every day and washing it has been getting to be a huge pain in the butt. So, this morning I grabbed a pair of scissors and hacked over 2 inches off.

I wandered into the bathroom for a shower and decided I just had too much hair. That's not really surprising given that my last haircut was over a year ago. I just put all my hair in a low and loose pony tail and cut below that. After my shower I trimmed up a few wonky bits and that was that.

It feels so good! Not just physically (washing it was way less effort than it was before and I feel so much lighter now too), but also emotionally. Taking decisive action for myself is a great feeling.

Self-care Sunday: 04.11.2012

Right now I'm in the midst of completing my final assignment for this semester of uni. Constantly reminding myself that it's ok to take a break and resting isn't the same as procrastinating has been really important for me this week. I'm a chronic procrastinator and it's gotten me into some tight spots on more than one occasion so I've really working hard to change that. You may notice I've changed the layout of the blog slightly this week. That was very much treading the line between taking a break from study and procrastination haha.

In changing the layout I've tried to improve accessability. There's definitely more I'd like to do, but that will have to wait until my assignment is out of the way. I've downloaded Glenda Watson Hyatt's excellent (and free!) eBook which is easily the best blog accessibility resource I've found so far. I definitely recommend taking a look at her website. I've also been making sure to get out of the house every day even if it's just a walk around the block. I find that being outside and moving around improves my mood and it sure beats being hunched over my computer all day (apologies to my physiotherapist - I swear I don't hunch all the time and I'm sitting up straight right now!).

I've also been painting my nails and making regular trips to our local coffee shop.

I got some awesome Essence Colour & Go nail polish half price from Priceline. It's usually really cheap anyway, so half price was a freakin' steal. I'm really impressed with the quality too. It's quick dry, but not gluggy like some of the other cheap quick dry nail polishes I've tried. The above photo is the morning after I applied two coats and it lasted another three days before some minor chipping (which is pretty excellent given how I generally bash my hands about). Thanks to Patchwork Cactus for recommending Essence.

I best get back to my assignment, but I'm really looking forward to dusting the blog off when I'm done. I want to post more regularly, work on accessibility more and make a fancy header image haha. Thank goodness for uni holidays!

Self-care Sunday: 28.10.2012

Inspired by Iris of Bossy Femme and encouraged by Pip's Blog School on justb, I've decided to start a series of weekly posts dedicated to good stuff and self-care. Partly to remind myself that there's nothing selfish or indulgent about looking after myself and partly because I think it's really important to share that message with others. I'll be sharing things that make me smile, things that remind me to relax and things that make me feel like maybe everything will be ok.

This last few weeks have been tough on me. My TMJ disorder started giving me regular headaches again and I've been caught up in the final weeks of semester at uni. So, these are the things that have been getting me by this week.

Our neighbour Nick came to visit. He never shuts up and I love him.

I've started using the Sleep Cycle app on my iPhone. I love the way it wakes me up gently in the mornings and it lets me track how different things affect how well I sleep. I haven't woken up feeling groggy and tired at all since I've started using it. I also set myself a regular bedtime and I have an alarm that tells me to go to bed so I don't lose track of time. I'm hoping that after a few weeks I won't have as much trouble falling asleep as I have done in the past.

Taking my study to our local café and drinking iced coffee.

I was lucky enough to score a free neck and shoulder massage right before an exam at uni on Wednesday. That worked out really well because I'm pretty sure it helped with my TMJ and I haven't had a headache since.

This video of Mudd the bulldog on a trampoline.