Friday, July 3, 2009

Random Thoughts for a Long Weekend, or, Welcome to My Brain. it's a Scary, Scary Place!

Well, first off, I'd like to report that, thus far, the GFCF diet is going well. WG has been sleeping through the night, waking up happy, and even adjusting well to summer school! She was a little clingy and cranky this morning, but I think it was because a) she was hungry (we all slept in this morning) and b) Hubby's out of town. That always freaks her out a little.
We're s-l-o-w-l-y getting LG onto the diet, as well. Thank goodness for gluten-free noodles! I've been talking to their teachers and therapists about the diet, and many of them have mentioned that autistic kids often become addicted to the foods that are harming them. So it may take a little longer to get LG on the program, but I'm determined to do it this time.
The only drawback is that Whole Foods makes these gluten-free, frosted, chocolate cupcakes. LG won't touch them, WG likes but doesn't love them, and Mommy LOOOOOVES them!!!!! They are seriously yummy!
I'm going to have to avoid them in the future. After all, cupcakes aren't on the food pyramid. (But oh, how I wish they were!) And I'd like to keep my teeth.

Last night i got caught up in a Bravo show called, I believe, "The Fashion Show." It's hosted by Isaac Mizrahi and Michelle from Destiny's Child. They have a group of designers who have to put together fashion shows in , like 24 hours, each one with a different theme. I think. I'd never seen the show before. but this one was about designing for "real" women ('cause, y'know, models are fake). So each designer had a client that they had to create an evening dress for. And, seriously, you would have thought they'd been asked to eat their young!!!!!! The complaints! "Oh my God, I've never been less inspired in my life! She's so big! I'm just not used to designing for someone like her!!!! Wah wah wah!!!!" These are actual quotes, including the "wah," because one of the designers ACTUALLY STARTED CRYING!!!!!!!!!!!!
At one point Isaac took the cryer aside and told her she was being sizeist. Which she was. Although I would have substituted "sizeist" for "a complete bee-yotch." This girl is 22, lives in New York, just graduated from fashion school, and, naturally, takes herself WAY too seriously. But is still a complete jerk. Not just to her client, but to her fellow designers. The sad thing is, she's quite talented (and actually won the fashion show challenge that night). But I liked that Isaac also told her "in the real world, this is the type of woman you will be designing for. Size 14 and up, so get used to it." Boy, did THAT piss her off!
At the end of the show, Isaac called the designers in and said "The show wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good. Did you giys understand what this fashion show was about?" Againn, that made me happy. Because if we can get well-known, respected designers to go on national TV, mentor younger desiners, and get it into their heads that WOMEN ARE NOT MATCHSTICKS, then maybe, just maybe, there is hope.
Of course, there are other parts of the show that depressed me. part of the "challenge' was to "fix" or hide "flaws" on these womens' bodies.
So maybe there's no hope after all.
*Sigh*

OK, on another note, I'm reading a few books that are interesting and/or fun and inspiring. One of them is my yoga teacher training manual. Yes, I take my first weekend og YogaFit training on July 25/26!!!!! I decided to go with them because I can do a weekend at a time, like I've done with my Pilates training, the workshops are at a gym that is literally a few blocks away (I'm going to ride my bike there!), and I used to go to their studio when I lived in L.A and I really liked it. In fact, when we first moved to L.A., I planned on doing the teacher training, but was too scared. And also thought I was too fat. because I was 27 and INSANE!!!! Now I'm almost 40 and 35 pounds heavier. But at least I'm not crazy.
I'm also reading "Julie and Julia," which is one of those books that's been sitting on my shelf for, oh, about 2 years. I'd been "meaning" to read it, but never got around to it. then i saw a preview for the movie, realized I REALLY want to see it, but not before I read the book. So I'm reading it, and it's really fun, and i NEVER want to eat French food again as long as I live, lol!
OK, let me re=phrase that; I never want to eat CERTAIN TYPES of French food again. Fresh fish? Sure! Cheese? Absolutely! Foie Gras? Never touched it, never will. ESPECIALLY if it comes from force-fed geese, which is just too cruel. I saw footage of it once, it's horrible! Plus, geese are my buddies. I feed them, I don't eat them.
I must admit to a conundrum. I'm feeling more and more guilt about eating animals. I've considered going back to being vegetarian, but it would have to be for just me. I don't know how I'd get my kids to eat ANYTHIG if they were GFCF AND veggie. (Alhough it might be easier with LG, who doesn't really eat meat as it is.) Hubby would go along part-time, but he loves meat too much to give it up entirely. So it means preparing about a dozen different meals every day.
Maybe I could puree some beans and put them in pasta sauce? Hmmm. I'll need ideas.
Anyway, the other OTHER book I'm reading is called "The 4-Day Win." I'm not a HUGE fan of self-help books, but this one is about changing the patterns in your brain, which I'm a big believer itn. It's ostensibly about weight loss, but it really works in all areas of life. Anxiety, depression, etc. She writes in the book that "not a single second of your life has been wasted." Everything has brought us to where we are now, and it has all had a purpose and a reason.
And that is a HUGE relief!!!!!
OK, I mentioned to the kids that we'd go swimming, and LG just showed up in the room wearing his swimm trunks and rash guard. So I guess that's my cue to sign off.
Have a happy 4th!!!!!!

3 comments:

Charlotte said...

Thanks for the check-in Alyssa! It's always good to hear what's going on in your head and at your place:) Glad the GFCS diet is going well. In regards to the veggie thing, just go flexitarian! I found that that took the all-or-nothing pressure off me. I too have moral issues with eating vast amounts of animal products. And I find that I often gravitate towards vegetarian cuisine. So it ends up that most of the day I eat veg but at dinner time I cook normally for my family and if my dish has some meat in it then so be it. Or if i go to a friend's house and they serve me meat, then I eat a bit and am grateful for their kindness. It also helps manage people's expectations. back when I was full-veg, people would freak over what to feed me, what I could eat and blah blah blah. I felt like if I wanted a taste of my husband's brat (which does happen on ocassion) that I had to hide it. Now I just have license to do what I want;)

azusmom said...

Flexitarian! It's so sensible! No wonder I didn't think of it.
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crabby McSlacker said...

Hope you had a great 4th! And I also struggle with feeling guilty for eating meat. I try to minimize it, but just can't face the logistical challenges of going veggie. So I try to buy as cruelty-free as possible. (Which is awfully dang expensive).