More Scarf Pictures and Thoughts

Well I just barely had any sun left by the time I got home last night but I took a few pictures anyway.

Here is the Baby Grande Alpaca scarf. I love this yarn but it does tend to "shed" a little bit so I have a feeling it won't wear to well with black. I like it...but like I said yesterday I don't love it.

And an extreme closeup of the My So Called Scarf

On my screen at least, it shows the colors pretty well. I forgot again (imagine that) to grab the tag at home so I could tell you the colorway.

A few notes from last night on how I felt...that would still be considered day four. Did not feel too well last night. A little achy as in flu type achy. I was sitting on the floor trying to get all of the stickers out of my dogs long hair and my muscles just hurt and cramped a little. I'm not sure if it's that I'm still low on potassium or if this is just part of all that bad stuff leaving my system? During my bath I skimmed through the book again and was reminded the author does say that you could have withdrawal like symptoms, flu like symptoms and other things. So I'm continuing on, will try and get some extra rest and take more potassium and drink extra water. I'll report on day 5 later.

Day Four and knitting pictures!

Ok...as promised here is at least ONE picture. It isn't great since it is inside...but it will have to do for now. I've left the camera out beside my purse so I'll remember to take it home tonight!

Is pretty no? I so love this yarn and it looks great in the My So called Scarf Pattern I think. I'm hoping this will be the scarf for my scarf buddy exchange...but it is a slow knit for me and I have to have it out by June 8th. So I'm still working on the Baby Alpaca Grande scarf (which knits very fast!) just in case I have to send it. I hope I get some real knitting time in soon so I can wrap these up. My fishtail lace scarf is calling to me but I refuse to pick it up until I finish one of these for my cool scarf buddy. I have to say I've had so much fun doing this exchange. I figured out who was making my scarf but that's ok because she is freaking hilarious and cracks me up! She is also about to take a trip to Ireland and I'm so jealous!

Now on to the healthy portion of our program:

DAY FOUR: Last night was hard because I was really tired and had a lot to get done. I slept great again but didn't exactly SPRING out of bed this morning. I only hit the snooze once or twice (compared to my usual NINE) but I would have liked to have stayed in bed a while longer today. I don't feel quite as sharp today and I'm not sure why. My breakfast shake really filled me up and I wasn't hungry by lunch time. So I had a snack of broth and put my lunch off until about 2:00. Today I had my chicken at lunch instead of dinner. I think this works better for me. I do feel better over all though, and I think my pants are not as snug in my lower stomach area today which is very cool :) After cooking last night I hope to stay out of the kitchen tonight and get in some knitting time.

Results and some observations: A little tired today...don't feel as sharp but still an improvement than before. So far (KNOCKING ON WOOD) I haven't had a headache or sinus pain since starting. My joints don't seem as stiff and achy as before, also, my eyes aren't puffy and swollen shut in the mornings. ALL good things!

So far no excruciating cravings for chocolate but I have craved the taste of something sweet. There is nothing that tastes sweet on this program except a few fruits. So I've tried to combat this with my banana and some fresh peaches in my shakes. This afternoon I have had an odd craving for coffee though. No idea why as I'm not a die hard coffee drinker or anything. I do love me some Starbucks but I mostly only drink it during the fall and winter.

Day Three

Sorry no knitting content lately! I keep forgetting the camera at work so that I can take pictures of my WIP's. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow. Please bare with me regarding the "program" talk this week.

Woke up BEFORE the alarm today! I slept so WONDERFULLY! It was just lovely! I followed the program to the letter today except for only having one of the shakes. I don't have a way to mix one at work. I was hungry today especially in the afternoon. An apple and some almonds helped hold me until dinner. I sauteed some garlic and chicken with asparagus and brown rice. Not too bad :) I've discovered a few things so far. Asparagus isn't bad if it is LIGHTLY steamed. Fresh ginger is cool and I like using it to spice things up...but I don't really like the taste of it if it's strong. For some reason I tend to add garlic and or rosemary to everything lol.

It was a stressful day today at work. Very busy! I stayed on the program but my attempt to stay calm and relaxed didn't exactly work. I felt achy this afternoon and tired. I also took one advil because I had a toothache. I'm trying to avoid all medicines except my prescriptions this week if I can help it.

Results: I feel pretty tired right now and would like to go to bed. However my broth has to cool and I still have my 12 minutes to do on the EFX machine.

So I'm off to finish up so I can have my wonderful hot bath! Pleasant dreams everyone!

Day Two

Despite my rocky start on Monday, I slept good and this morning I woke up (on time) and started my checklist. The green tea was nice and I felt pretty alert although not energetic by any means. I did not feel sluggish and horribly tired as I normally do on Monday mornings which was wonderful!

I did not eat enough today as I still had no blender for my breakfast until this evening. Lunch was great and the broth was even good. I drank all of my water and even walked my 12 minutes that I've committed to every night this week. I'm not doing more than 12 because I think my body is going through enough this week so I don't want to push it.

I had more energy this evening and found myself up and doing things rather than sitting. Still feeling a tiny bit weak though and I'm having muscle cramps. I think all the vitamin C making me tinkle all the time has depleted my potassium so I did take a big dose of potassium tonight and had a banana with my shake for dinner. (For those familiar with the plan I switched my meal order today).

I ended the day with the recommended hot bath and it was HEAVENLY. So nice to relax and feel good about taking the time to take care of myself today. I stayed "unplugged" while at home. No tv, Internet (well its not working anyway) or news or anything. I did listen to music while exercising and during my bath.

Results: I feel good today and I feel great about doing this for myself. Some things may be hard to do and not taste good but I'm proud of myself for scheduling this for myself. I've cancelled all "extra" activities this week such as bunko and lunches so that I won't be tempted to eat and can focus on myself.

Day One

Day one of the program did not go well and it was my fault. For this reason I really am not considering it day one and will do the program for one extra day.

First mistake was that I stayed up WAY too late the night before. Also, even though I know not to drink any alcohol what so ever if I have a sinus infection...I did on Saturday night. So I was not feeling well to begin with and did not get to "prepare" everything on Saturday so therefore was behind. I attempted to make the shake and my blender would not work right. I was a bit timid making the vegetable broth as most of the veggies going into the pot I had never purchased before or cooked with. I should have taken a picture...my fridge was PACKED with green leafy veggies! (side note: Waco doesn't have a Whole foods or organic store. However two stores in town are attempting to carry a nice selection of foods, supplements, and such. They were very helpful for this poor clueless girl and her list).

By the evening I was starving (not having my ultrashake or anything else I could eat). I was cooking a generous pot of spaghetti for Mom. So for dinner I did have a small portion of spaghetti and salad.

The vitamin C I started taking certainly started working!

Results: By the end of the day I felt terrible and stressed and very weak. All my own fault and not the programs.

Amy's Adventures in getting healthy

Hmm...yeah. Remember me? I am still around. I have NO PHONE or INTERNET at home and I've been so slammed at work there hasn't been time for much blogging or blog reading. My blog roll is getting terribly backed up I'm afraid. HOWEVER I wanted to post quickly about the MAY DAY tales from the scales and what I've been up to.

Well first over at Elizabeth's Blog I read about the May Day Weight Loss Challenge going on over at tales from the scales. (See the button in my side bar.) Honestly I forgot to weigh in this morning to post my progress. I will tonight so I can keep up with the May Day Challenge. I'm actually doing another program as well that has me focused not so much on losing weight this week. I have been following Lolly and her journey.

I have been feeling very Blah the last few weeks. I think it's a combination of many things really. Not eating or being healthy. Over doing it at the garage sale. Not having a vacation in FREAKING FOREVER. No knitting time and not getting to go to the monthly little knitting meet and a tiny bit of just hanging in limbo with the new business thing. So after reading Lolly and the 7 day detox she just completed I bought the Ultrasimple Diet book and have read through it. I have started the 7 day program to try and get all the "junk" out of my system and hopefully stop the cravings for bad things I don't need. I am not looking as this week as a weight loss program. Hopefully that will go along with it, but I am more interested feeling better. I know I have been putting crap in my body...and as a result I felt like crap. Also at the end of the program you can add back certain foods and find out if they cause you to feel bad. For example I had already determined that dairy (mostly milk) increase my sinus problems. So I'm very interested in testing to see which foods make me feel good and bad.

There is an inflammation "test" of sorts in the book to see which areas of your body are the most inflamed. I of course scored off the charts which did not surprise me. I'm really hoping this will make me feel better and have more energy, so I can keep up with all that life is throwing at me. Also, I'm going to budget in time and money for a pedicure in the next week or so. A little me time away from the office and family. Then hopefully Memorial Day weekend we'll head down to our friends Bay house for some "drankin and carrying on" and hopefully some R&R and knitting time.

Since I've had no Internet I've been keeping a written journal and I'll try to get it typed up and posted tomorrow. Not having internet at home puts a big kink in things let me tell you!

So...more soon, I promise!