plodding

 I got a phone call out of the blue from my Dad this afternoon, wondering how I was. He had just read my last blog post but didn't realize that it was from a few days ago, so I took a look back at it and saw that I should do an update! 

As I expected, the day or two of feeling down has passed. I'm not awesome though and am still struggling a bit with energy, and although I have still been walking on the treadmill for an hour or more every day, I have not been doing anything extra, and in fact barely get myself moving otherwise! I'm not sure if it's a side effect from the radiation, a release of adrenaline which has surely been coursing through my body for months, or maybe a combination of both. 

I have spent lots of time cuddled under the ‘cancer quilt’ that I got from Victoria's Quilts - I often seem to have a bit of a chill - there is something nice about being bundled up 😀 We did have a few cold, rainy days that felt like September, including one day that drenched us with over 3 inches of rain! Definitely needed a blanket then, but I still used it this afternoon on the deck.

I've been watching youtube videos of diet and health, one of which prompted me to buy ‘Eat to Beat Disease’ which is a fascinating foray into how the body works and what foods help and which hinder optimal health. There is nothing earth shattering as it's mostly a rehash of things that I've gleaned from reading health stuff over the years, but it does put together lists of foods that help with various aspects of the body. It is strongly plant based with some exceptions and has a looser approach to food than another plant-based doctor that I follow. I think it's a worthwhile read if you are interested in your health.

It seems that one of the worst things you can eat is artificial sweeteners! They not only disrupt a healthy biome, but also cause DNA damage, and contrary to what you'd think, they mess up your insulin response… and I think it was mentioned that they mess with your immune system as well. I'm not a big pop drinker but did drink a fair amount of G2 Gatorade which does have sucralose - I guess I have extra motivation to continue to cut that out!

Saturday we packed up the pets and went to the trailer for a night 😀 which was a lovely diversion! Other than that, we haven't seen anyone for ages - hopefully I'll get my energy back soon so that I can start cooking again! We've been living on tomato salads and beans cooked with kale for days now… oh, and a giant platter of chicken shwarma from the THIRD place that just opened up in the village!

It was nice enough, and I was energetic enough, for us to have our supper outside on the deck - it has been the rare night that we've done so this summer.

Awesome!

“sunshine”

“tomatoes from the garden”