I don’t like to harp on the communication from Hunny, or lack thereof. I know the drill now, I know to expect these long bouts of silence where I have to live with my only knowledge of his health and welfare being "No News is Good News". But that doesn’t make yesterday marking two weeks since I last talked to him suck any less. I figure it can’t be much longer.
I’ve made some pretty good changes this last few days. I bought the right foods to start eating a little better. Mostly this consists of keeping bottled water around (something in our tap water triggers my IBS), replacing everything possible with whole grains. That part was amazingly easy. For example, most cereals now, including the sugary ones now contain whole grains and fiber. Velveeta shells and cheese has a rotini variety that includes whole grain pasta, and has acceptable amounts of vitamins. Adding a vegetable to every meal is another thing. Yes, this means I can make Mac n Cheese with a veggie and call it a healthy dinner. For our intents and purposes it is. None of us are really watching calories.
The trick for me is to still be making simple meals my family enjoys, without breaking the bank or taking away things they enjoy. Such as sloppy joes, mac n cheese, Spaghetti, hot dogs and fries. Rather, I add better things to them. Whole Grain buns, whole grain pasta and home made sauce, vegetables (Frozen, never canned). So far it’s working well.
After the run around I’ve had with tricare (our health insurance/network) I had no other option. I finally had the nerve to go in and talk to someone about some issues I’ve had for years. Mostly anxiety, mood swings, and depression. I’m not ashamed at all, I inherited them from my maternal grandmother. Shit happens. However, first you see the counselor. She says yep, sounds like bipolar and anxiety attacks. Then comes the BUT. We can’t prescribe for family members, only soldiers. Instead I’m referred to a program on post for dependants. Oh, but they can only do therapy. You’ll still need prescriptions, call and get an off base referral for that.
I was also having a pain in my thigh. I got referred to Physical Therapy. PT bounced the referral back to family medicine. It didn’t seem to be in their specialty…without ever seeing me.
So, my approach was to fix my diet. Add some vitamins (women’s Ultra Mega is great, thank you Ms Mo). Add some good sources of vitamins and minerals (v8 Fusion Blueberry and Pomegranate is AMAZING). Eat 3 meals per day, rather than nothing until dinner time. Yes, bad habit I know. Cut out soda, well I did that a while ago. I DID manage to get a consultation appointment for the stop smoking drug, Chantix. Not sure if I’m really ready for it’s side effects though. In the mean time, I have cut down drastically by not smoking in the house at all.
I also picked up a supplement called 5-HTP to balance moods. So far, so good I must say. The pains in my thigh are decreasing in frequency. I also have to wonder if the fact that I spend nearly all day in slippers with no support to my feet at all is contributing. Soon I’ll start walking in short amounts, and build up the distance. Eventually, once my system is used to all of this, I’ll move up to using my elliptical, and even maybe a yoga class at the gym.
Pleasant surprise, I lost 20 pounds since Hunny left in July. No, this isn’t unhealthy for me, I have always averaged 120. But without him here to send to burger king and mcdonalds several times a month, I’ve been eating less fat. Hopefully all this eating healthier and cooking healthier becomes habit and I don’t slip back when he gets home.
That’s pretty much all I’ve done that last few days. I feel pretty high maintenance right now, but if things become good habits, it’ll just feel normal in the long run right? I’m making myself my project for the deployment I guess. Here’s hoping it’s a success.
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