Wednesday, June 1, 2011

FIBRO - Fibromyalgia Food Diary Journal Entry Three

Dear Diary,


     Guess this thing is harder than I thought.  I called my nutritionist (using a phone card from a friend) asking if I could eat bread if it were made from bean flour.  I was willing to give it a shot in making some noodles and bread loaves with the bean flour so that my options were more open with what I could eat.
  Well.  That didn't turn out! lol  She said I could do that, it'd be fine. We hung up. She called back.  Apparently she doesn't have long distance, because she said she can't be calling me back.  (I can only afford local right now with my income).  Her words were, "I can't pay for you to be well."  That caught me up; I told her I wasn't asking her to.  I asked if she could possibly jump on chat with me online, but she, in a harried, hurried tone, told me that would take too long and she has too many clientel for her to do that for me.  She ended her services and we hung up.  I guess I should've caught the warning signs when she called for our appointment; she hurried through it, I didn't understand most of what she said because of phone complications and her being fast, and she ended up emailing me anyway with the overall stuff she called to tell me.
     I know for a fact her methods work.  I'm not bashing her.  She's so good, that she's too busy to take on more clients.  I just wish she wouldn't have accepted me as a client if she had too many people to worry about.  That $95.00 for the initial appointment could've bought diapers, wipes, household cleaners, laundry soap, paid gas for people who drive my family around getting groceries or to appointments. Normally, that's what that spare $95.00 was used for.
     I admit I cried.  Once upon a time, I had little to work with and could spread it much thinner than anyone else could.  I could work with nothing and turn it into everything.  Now I can't, my best skills are now my worst.  I felt as if I was being dumped again by yet again another healthcare provider.  Fortunately, I at least gained a little knowledge about my management whereas doctors I have seen have not even educated me, or treated me, and charged me almost $1,000+.  Should I be happy about that?
     So what am I going to do now?  I guess I'll breath.  Take some time to research more recipes and once again, take my own management into my own hands.  I have to. Besides me, my boyfriend and a friend from church (whom I appreciate dearly), there's nobody else who cares about me taking steps to be well, enough to be interactive with my management.


My next diary entry will be the research I've done on recipes for myself.  And a co-operative grocery list from the recipes.


Once again, on my own.


Sarah

Thursday, May 19, 2011

FIBRO - Fibromyalgia Food Diary Journal Entry Two

Dear Diary,


     This sucks.  It is not going well.  I have the options of vegetables (excluding corn), nuts of any kind, water, my olive oil, eggs and meats.  My recipe box:  peanut butter and celery.  Salad.


     Epic fail.  I portioned things out, ran out of energy to portion the rest out, shoved it all in the freezer and am hoping I didn't waste a bunch of money on all those fresh vegetables I can't stand to eat all day every day.  The portions asked of me are way too huge, I can't force myself to eat all that stuff all day anymore.  I'm sick of it and just looking at my inventory makes me sick of it.  I'm less than a week into my diet and seriously need some help.  I will be calling my nutritionist's office tomorrow after I research the heck out of the internet for some clues as to what I can make with my limited ingredient list.


     I'm hungry and running out of turkey slices to eat.  I've consumed at least two pounds of turkey in less than a week (eating straight sandwich slices) and I'm starting to get sick of my water portion, too.  I'm about to fry up some ground turkey, throw a little seasoning on it and start eating it straight.  I'm jealous of my son, who can sit down and make a sandwich and just eat it.  I can eat the meat and mayo from a sandwich, but not the bread or cheese.  Standing too long in the kitchen makes my legs and especially feet spaz out, so making bread from my bean flour is out of the question right now.  It's why I don't bake very often; I make something and have to sit down for a few hours afterwards.  My Fibromyalgia is the worst in my legs.


     If I can't figure it out, it will start to stress me out and I will get rid of the whole diet plan.  I know her plan's schematics work, but as to carrying them out, I can't do it by myself.  My motivation has changed from the want to be free of my symptoms to being hungry and just wanting to eat anything so that my stomach doesn't feel all the time like it's eating itself.  The diet is making me feel worse because I can't deal with this radical change.


This is me flapping my arms.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

FIBRO - Fibromyalgia Food Diary Journal Entry One

     All human bodies are unique.  They are put through different circumstances and that means that every person’s body is going to react differently to medications, diet, exercise, stress and substances.  This journal diary will not be an implication that my fellow Fibromyalgia community members should try what I do and get the same results; when I called my nutritionist for the first over the phone appointment, I had previously submitted a very thorough dietary history on top of some health issues that were individual to me in terms of severity.

     I first learned of my nutritionist’s practice nearly a year ago, in the fall of 2010.  I was asked to view one of her videos, referred by a friend, and I did.  At first I thought the teachings about the causes of some of Fibromyalgia’s symptoms from improper diet were insane.  Something told me though, that if I stopped to dig further and research a bit, this fellow Wisconsin citizen, now my nutritionist, may have an important key to the management of some of my Fibromyalgia symptoms.  And so this diary is composed so that I can give her methods a try.  I only have two outcomes of an attempt – failure or success.  Let’s hope the result is success.

These are the ultimate goals of the diet change:  balanced energy (if not more energy gained), gastrointestinal problems lessened, chemicals needed to sleep balanced, weight loss (am roughly 40 lbs. overweight for age/height), skin problems lessened, cortisol levels balanced, pain lessened, vitamin deficiencies balanced, girly problems lessened, cognitive difficulties (like memory) lessened.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND Before you read this list, that this is specially created for me and the various symptoms or goals I'm trying to reach for my height, weight, age and symptom severity.  I recommend you get an appointment with Karen Hurd fromwww.karenhurd.com to personalize a diet for yourself if you have Fibromyalgia and are looking to manage the symptoms via diet.  Doing the same diet as me is NOT going to get the same results, you need a personalized one!!!!

No List 

(these things will worsen your condition and should be eliminated)

Sweets (cakes, pies, cookies, doughnuts, candy, ice cream, jello, pudding, muffins, sweetened breads [pumpkin bread, zucchini bread] etc.)  Unless they're made with bean flour and have no sugar in them!

Natural sweeteners (honey, jam, jelly, syrup [even 100% pure maple syrup], molasses, etc.)

Artificial and “natural-artificial” sweeteners (Splenda, Stevia, Sweet N Low, Equal, Nutrasweet, aspartame, xyitol, mannitol, agave nectar, etc.)

Sweetened beverages (lemonade, Koolaid, hot chocolate, punch, Gatorade, etc.)

Sodas (diet or regular, caffeine free or not)

Fruit juice

Fruit

Caffeine (coffee; black, green, orange pekoe teas; Anacin, Excedrin, etc.).  This includes decaffeinated beverages.

Dairy (milk, cheese, butter, cottage cheese, yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese, buttermilk, etc.)

Fragrances or perfumes (this includes scented laundry products, soaps, shampoos, scented candles, aroma therapy, etc.)

Saturated Fats (fatty meats [bacon, sausage, bratwurst, hotdogs, etc.], deep fried foods, fried chips, butter, margarine, cheese, sour cream, etc.)

Gum (regular or artificially sweetened)

Tea (of any kind, even if it’s herbal)

Beverages except for water

Starches (bread, rice, noodles, potatoes, cereal, crackers, chips, pretzels, corn, popcorn, grains)

Alcohol 


Allowed List

 (these things will neither worsen or improve your condition and are allowed ONLY if the do list is being accomplished everyday)

Nuts, seeds, and their butters (i.e. peanuts and peanut butter, almonds, and almond butter, etc.)

Soy products (tofu, tempeh, miso, soy nuts, unsweetened soy milk, etc.)

Condiments (mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, salsa, tartar sauce, salad dressings, pickles, olives, etc.)

Oils (olive, canola, peanut, etc.) except palm kernel oils, (i.e. coconut oil)

Unsweetened almond milk


Do List
 (these things will improve your condition and are required to be accomplished daily)

Eat a palm-size portion of efficient protein at every breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Efficient proteins are:  eggs, meat (beef, pork, venison, lamb, buffalo, elk, rabbit, etc.), poultry (chicken, turkey, pheasant, dove, duck, goose, etc.), fish (of any kind), seafood.

Eat ½ cup of legumes               3          separate times in the day.  Legumes are beans such as pinto, kidney, garbanzo, Great Northern, navy, lentils, limas, black, brown, white, red, black-eyed peas, yellow-eyed peas, pigeon peas, green split peas, yellow split peas, refried beans [without the added lard], hummus (ground chick peas), etc.

Eat       3-5         servings of vegetables daily with your meals or snacks.  (Remember that corn is not a vegetable.)  One serving = ½ cup, unless it is salad, then one serving = 1 ½ cups.  The vegetables can be raw, steamed or cooked.  They can come from cans or the frozen state.  Consider tomatoes a vegetable.

Drink   ½ gal   water daily.  The water must be purified.     
                        1 quart is 32 fluid ounces, ½ gallon is 64 fluid ounces, ¾ gallon is 96 fluid ounces

Sleep/rest         8                      hours in a twenty-four hour period or a total of        56__  per week.  The hours do not have to be consecutive.

Eat ½ cup of nuts or seeds (lightly salted) daily. Keep them 1 ½ hours away from beans. 

Monday
 May 16th 2011

 Dear Diary,
     I was given a list of do’s and don’ts.  The don’ts list was more than the do’s.  When I went to the grocery store today, I was loathing the day.  I confess my heart wasn’t in it.  I looked at the grocery store differently; it was suddenly my enemy.  I made a lot of changes.  I thought I made a lot of changes and looking at that list today, I realized I didn’t make enough.  Maybe that’s what made me bitter while grocery shopping.

    It was one of the few times I went under my limit for shopping for groceries.  Normally I get the same things every month because I have a budget to work with.  It’s good. I realized tonight, after portioning out my fresh vegetables, canned beans and mixed nuts that I had purchased enough frozen and fresh foods to keep me on the diet I’m asked to do for at least half the month.  Of course, I had to purchase things that were on my don’t list because my children still need to consume them.  I did forgo the butter; and ended up making to-go bags of groceries I had at home for family/friends because I could not use the groceries I had in my diet.  But with the little I have left, maybe I might be able to find a ride into town again and grab the last of the supplies I need.

    I’ll tell you by the time I was done portioning, I had to sit down for the last half of portioning and am severely sore.  Tired.  I’d like to dance around in the living-room to music and pass out from the immense pain that’d induce, because I know that when I lay down in an hour (It’s 1am) to try and sleep…I won’t be sleeping, I’ll just be hurting.  One side of my body won’t bear the weight of the other side of my body, my back will twitch and tense up when I lay on it and there’s no laying on my belly; I can’t breathe correctly when I do that.

     It is one of my goals to see that this diet gives me enough energy to portion out my food and not keel over from lack of energy, lots of pain and the inability to work at the counter for a long period of time or stand up like that in one spot for long.

     It reminds me that once upon a time I used to work as a prep cook.  I was fluent at my job; standing for long periods of time portioning and preparing foods at the restaurant I worked at.  With the way I felt tonight, and how bent over and pent up I was just trying to accomplish what I did, I don’t think anyone can fathom that I did that in my past.

     Tomorrow’s goals:  Portion out and freeze meats, hard-boil eggs.  Sit down with my grocery list and figure out what cost was for what my food-planning diet demanded.  Er.  Requested.  Change my attitude into a confident, desiring the diet one.  Complaining will get me nowhere.  Neither will dread.

     I officially start the diet in entirety tomorrow.  Today! LOL

Monday, January 17, 2011

LIFE - The Pros of Kons

From zombies to anime, steampunk, comics and sci-fi...they're WISCONSIN CONS!!!
(I posted them in order of dates.  Also, if information is N/A, I couldn't really find the info for 2011.)


Anime Milwaukee in Milwaukee -  http://www.animemilwaukee.com/
Topics: anime
Activities: cosplay, panels, video programming, rave, exibit hall, AMV contests, children's programming, video gaming, maid cafe
2011 Date: February 18 - 20

KitsuneKon in Appleton - http://kitsunekon.com/
Topics: anime
Activities:  cosplay, dance, panels, AMV contests, vendors
2011 Date:  February 25 - 27

No Brand Con in Eau Claire (first anime convention in WI)- http://www.nobrandcon.com/
Topics: anime
Activities:  AMV contests, panels, gaming
2011 Date:  April 15-17

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NakamaCon in Madison - http://www.nakamacon.com/News/
Topics: steampunk, anime, anthropomorphic
Activities: N/A
2011 Date:  May 27 - 29 (Safari theme, con trying to go entirely anthropomorphic)

WisCon in Madison - http://www.wiscon.info/
 Topics: sci-fi
Activities:  panels, bake sale, auction, art show, vendors
2011 Date: May 26 - 30


NADW Con in Madison - http://www.nadwcon.org/
Topics: sci-fi
Activities:  charity auction, masquerade, gala banquet, vendors
2011 Date: July 8 - 11

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Geek.Kon in Madison - http://www.geekkon.net/
Topics: anime, sci-fi, gaming
Activities: AMV contests, talent show, masquerade, masked ball, mixer, panels
2011 Date:  September 9-11

TeslaCon in Madison - http://www.teslacon.org/
Topics: steampunk
Activities:  N/A
2011 Date: November 18 - 20

Daisho Con in Steven's Point - http://www.daishocon.com/
Topics:  anime, gaming, sci-fi
Activities: panels, online contests
2011 Date: N/A

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Edge Comic-Con in Edgerton - http://www.edgecomiccon.com/index.html
Topics: comics
Activities: N/A
2011 Date: N/A

WausaubiCon in Wausau - http://www.facebook.com/WausaubiCon?v=wall#!/WausaubiCon
Topics:  anime
Activities:  N/A
2011 Date:  N/A

ZombieCon in Milwaukee - http://www.zombieconx.com/index.html
Topics:  zombies, horror
Activities: N/A
2011 Date:  N/A

PROSE - The SteamPunk Artist of Wisconsin

It's Monday. I'm cold. I'm bored and looking for something light to do when my son's homeschooling doesn't demand my attention. So.

I'm going to start drawing SteamPunk-style! Picking up my old habit of drawing; but with a new spin on it. I'm interested in the lines and mechanics that the topic reveals in the artwork; rather lack of...in artwork I am coming across nowadays that is SteamPunk. You could get some totally awesome designs from just studying the drawing of mechanics alone and combine that with spectacular characters of various degree. But does anyone go that extra mile? Not really. I've seen one element really pop out in a picture, but lack in the other elements of SteamPunk. I would like to try and go that extra mile. This blog is dedicated to the SteamPunk artists of Wisconsin :) (Unite!)

What is SteamPunk, you ask?

"Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Specifically, steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne or real technologies like the computer but developed earlier in an alternate history." - Wikipedia.org

It is a chance for the artist to delve into something new and change a style of painting or drawing to include the detailed and the daring.


Find out more about SteamPunk here:
I highly suggest you look over all pages for a very thorough response to this question!



How to Start Drawing SteamPunk-Style

Disclaimer: This DIY Drawing SteamPunk-Style is suggestive only; it is the opinion of the blogger and not really based on anything else like advertisement or favouritism :P It is basically how I'm going to be drawing.

The four elements of drawing SteamPunk style are (in no particular order):

- Mechanical. Learning how steam-powered mechanisms work and how they look like is important in designing flying, land-roving, nautical or the useful tools used on one's person.

- Characters. The artist should learn what styles of characters are generally used in SteamPunk. They are primarily the Aristocrat, the Gadgeteer, the Scientist, the Explorer, the Officer, the Citizen, the Air Pirate, or the Ragamuffin. What would a Victorian aristocrat look like? What would they wear? What tiny details of his garb or personal belongings reflect on his lifestyle? What is the difference between an air pirate and an explorer? Ect. It is learning how to draw the hairstyles, the shoes they wore, how to draw textures and include colours that pertain to the Victorian era that also make your characters really stand out as SteamPunk toons.

- Scenery. The Wisconsin artist learns all about cool things of Wisconsin that can go into backgrounds or be incorporated into a character's pose or actions. Maybe behind a gadgeteer toon's figure is a steam-powered car rolling down the world's first speedway, the Milwaukee Mile, in West Allis. This can be applied to where ever you live; I suggest local scenery because where you live is where you can get the best opportunities to create realistic scenery.

- History. Learn your history, noobs. This is where what ISN'T SteamPunk and what IS SteamPunk can really be defined for you in what your designs convey and negate the majority of negative feedback you might get in your artwork given by your fellow SteamPunk fanatics.



Mechanical Drawing
Mechanical drawing is very important to the SteamPunk artist. Any idiot can draw a circle shape (even badly-drawn) but can any idiot draw a bolt and have it look like a bolt? If you can't get mechanical drawing down, I suggest you stop trying to draw SteamPunk style and just stick to illustrating children's books. Not that that's bad, either, we do need someone to continue drawing hungry caterpillars for our wee ones :)



Characters
This name generator is pretty cool when needing names for drawn characters, characters in a text-based game, writing stories or coming up with a new title for yourself in cosplay:



History

By the 1830's, factories began to use steam power instead of water power. Many machines that were driven by steam were powerful and cheap to run. Also, factories that used steam power could be built anywhere, not just along the banks of fast-moving rivers like they had been before. As a result of this, American industry expanded rapidly. At the same time, new machines made it possible to produce more goods at a lower price. These more affordable prices attracted eager buyers. Families no longer had to make clothing and other things in their homes. Instead, they could but factory-made goods.

Jules Verne's SteamPunk Wisconsin
Wikipedia - Victorian Era
Victoriana
Wikipedia - Timeine of Steam Power


More links will be added as I continue my artwork and research :)

This is Sophronia Rosse Paxton, airship merchant's daughter, out.