Salt

I know we are supposed to be the salt of the earth, but have you eaten in a restaurant lately?  We ate at Applebee's the other night and the tomato basil soup was so salty I couldn't eat it.  Then the seasoning on the fish was so spicy I could barely eat that.  An hour later, I had a headache.  I don't know what seasonings they use in restaurants, but I am getting very picky about where I go and what I eat.  They say no MSG but there are other forms of MSG that people don't know about.  We are supposed to have less than 1,000 mg a day of salt; I am sure a meal at most restaurants have over that for ONE meal.  I'm not whining here....just saying.....Do you know what I mean??

Animal Crackers

Animal crackers, and cocoa to drink,
That is the finest of suppers, I think;
When I'm grown up and can have what I
please
I think I shall always insist upon these.

What do your choose when you're offered a
treat?
When Mother says, "What would you like best to eat?"
Is it waffles and syrup, or cinnamon toast?
It's cocoa and animals that I love the most!

The kitchen's the cosiest place that I know:
The kettle is singing, the stove is aglow,
And there in the twilight how jolly to see
The cocoa and animals waiting for me.

Daddy and mother dine later in state,
With Mary to cook for them, Susan to wait;
But they don't have nearly as much fun as I
Who eat in the kitchen with Nurse standing by:
And Daddy once said he would like to be me
Having cocoa and animals once more for tea!
Christopher Morley  published in ONE HUNDRED BEST POEMS for BOYS AND GIRLS.  Compiled by Marjorie Barrows Copyright, 1930

I had some animal cookies today for tea; one of my favorite treats. 
Nutrition facts in one serving (17 crackers):
2g fat
100 mg sodium
25g total carbohydrate
Less than 1g dietary fiber
6 g sugar
2 g protein
No hydrogenated fats

Healthy Brownies?

                                                                      
I think the only thing healthy about these Brownies was the flax seed and whole wheat in them.  They had butter and oil, but then after I put the butter and oil in I saw the low fat recipe using applesauce.  I will make that next time.  I usally like Hodgkin Mills products.  These were very good and hard to resist.  Brownies is something you chip away at like a little mouse piece by piece.  The powered sugar was a nice touch.

Weigh-In

I've held my weight for another week which made me happy.  I really think exercise is a big factor in losing weight and also maintaining weight loss.  I am fortunate that I have found something I like and is easy for me to do.  Although getting up early and leaving in the dark and walking into rather coldish pool water takes all my will power. 
I am now keeping a food diary to track food and headaches.  I had heard that bananas are a trigger (I think I read it somewhere) so about 1/2 hour after I ate a banana this morning I got a headache.  I jotted it down.  Of course the MRI last night might play some part in today's headache, but I think food sensitivities are an issue.  Also I am going to try my hardest to stay away from wheat. 
God answered my prayers of yesterday in keeping the headache away so that wasn't an issue when I had the MRI.  The issue was CLAUSTROPHOBIA!!!!  This was the tightest MRI machine I have been in.  I guess they have several different kinds and this one was very narrow; casket-like.  I was praying the whole time and thinking about Florida.  Granted the prayer was more like "Jesus, Jesus, Lord help, me tolerate this so I can finish the test and get out of here."  He heard, He answered my prayers and those that I asked to pray for me.  Thank you Lord. 

Carbs

I'm eating way too many carbs today.  I will have to exercise them off tomorrow.  It's just a carb day.  Started out with wheat-free blueberry pancakes,(you would never know they didn't have wheat in them).  Then had a few slices of thin-crust pizza flat-bread (with wheat go figure!) for lunch with a salad and apple.  My pants are already feeling tight :(  I'm resisting the chocolate though, because it's a chocolate kind of day; rain, gray, cold, damp, and dreary. I don't need the chocolate right?
 Why is it I am so cold at night?  The minute it gets dark I start shivering and layering the clothes on.  This is the first year this has happened to me.  Right now I am drinking a lime La Croix sparkling water, that is quenching my thirst but making me colder.  I will probably have a steamer in a little while....more carbs..... and protein. 
Sometimes I can't avoid the wheat....but I haven't proved it makes me feel better or worse.  So I eat as little as possible when I can avoid it. 
Gotta run (I wish I could run).  Be healthy!

Migraine Headache Triggers

18% of women and 6% of men get Migraine headaches.  There are many triggers for these headaches that is why it is so hard to cure them.  The food triggers are cheese, chocolate, beer, and red wine.  External triggers can be odors including perfume, hunger, and dehydration.  Other things are the computer and TV screens especially the glare or flickering from them. Insomnia, tension, irritability and stress can also contribute.  I don't know here, I think the headaches cause tension and stress; sort of like a vicious circle. 
And then there is the weather, the barometer and the changes in them which can bring on a migraine. 
So I guess I need to stop the cheese and chocolate; it's all very complicated because when I am not getting headaches, most of these things don't bother me except maybe beer and red wine.  Ooops and better get off the computer; I think that's one of the major culprits for my headaches.

What's For Dinner?

This chicken stew looks very good.  I will bake it in the oven rather than use a frying pan and I will skip the flour coating.  The bisquits look good also-but more flour and carbs.  We will have the cooked pears in rum for dessert; we have to use the pears up.  I have an idea for a lo-carb apple dessert; will be posting that sometime this week.