dieting and fire
Jul. 1st, 2013 01:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hummingbirdmadgirlI remember once, years ago, before I got sick even, talking to someone about how they were allergic to white gas...and at the time I was sort of confused as to how one came to know they were allergic to white gas, what it was, and why someone would want to play with it.
This past Feb I got a pair of fire fans as I just thought they were gorgeous and kind of complimentary to the pseudo voguing goth dancing style. i practiced with them for ages and learned some basic tech moves, but when it came time to light up, i chickened out. part of this was because my left leg was in a cast and I didn't want to remove it, part of it was because i felt like a beached whale, and part of it was because i remembered having a conversation with someone about how they had reacted to white gas.
we went to seattle last month and when i got back i weighed myself and was just despondent about how the scale wasn't budging. i knew i had had some major setbacks this year that included multiple long term rounds of prednisone which is just evil stuff that makes you (or me) psycho and very into eating everything. i'd also had surgery that meant I couldn't work out, and the whole leg in a cast thing. so circumstances weren't on my side, but i wasn't eating super healthy so i had to own the blame as well. but even living in LA kind of screws with you (if you are me) because everyone drives everywhere and walking is next to impossible...ok it's not impossible but i hate wandering aimlessly, I feel under-stimulated and get bored very quickly. which of course is such a pathetic thing to complain about "oh how boring the consistently gorgeous weather and beaches and canals get"
Anyway when we got back from Seattle (less than a month ago) i buckled down on the food (which meant cutting out the carbs and the dairy) and upped my walking (thanks fitbit! having a dog helps though, especially a dog that -loves- to go on long walks.) and that coupled with teaching regular hoop classes resulted in an awesome 10lb loss this month alone. aside from losing weight i -feel- 100x better.
i know that paleo centric diets are sort of magnets for bad press lately (the most common, and most stupid in my opinion is the whole "well it's not truly paleolithic" which to me makes as much sense as saying "well not everyone in south beach eats that way") i don't think anyone who adheres to that style of eating thinks they are representing the paleolithic era, but it's a name and it's easier than saying, "i am on a strict elimination & anti inflammatory diet". So I guess we can say that I've either been sticking to a paleo diet or a strict elimination & anti inflammatory diet; either way i've been losing weight (something that is historically very hard for me) and I feel really good. A lot of the cognitive stuff that comes with masto seems to be abating, I'm actually taking less medication, my skin looks great (and really, when you are chronically sick, it tends to show in the skin)...I'm totally sold on this as a lifestyle choice. there are days where i miss bread or cookies but i'll take experiencing less fatigue, bloating, and cognitive impairment over a cupcake any day. plus, there is something i enjoy about bringing things back to basics and cutting out the dyes, preservatives, and food that could potentially have a longer shelf life than i do. I think it helps that when I got sick I had to pare down on a lot of more common sensual pleasure anyway (a lot of different food, alcohol, spices, perfumes, some makeup, some material) so the idea of paring food down to being fuel vs something decadent is really appealing as well. there are still many many aspects of my life that are, in my opinion, quite decadent, so I have no problem cutting out some of the basic things.
So losing weight and feeling better gave me the confidence last night to light up my fans. at first it was terrifying as there is a lot more fire in a much smaller area when it comes to fans vs hoops, but by the 3rd time I lit up I was all "raaar this is empowering" and really it was. i still have an easier time doing tech stuff when the fans aren't lit, but i'll get there and it will be awesome. I also did some hooping and that was 100x better than the first time I did it. Way less fear, way more control. I am sold.
And I didn't react to the white gas. I will react to cinnamon or chocolate, but white gas is fine.
This past Feb I got a pair of fire fans as I just thought they were gorgeous and kind of complimentary to the pseudo voguing goth dancing style. i practiced with them for ages and learned some basic tech moves, but when it came time to light up, i chickened out. part of this was because my left leg was in a cast and I didn't want to remove it, part of it was because i felt like a beached whale, and part of it was because i remembered having a conversation with someone about how they had reacted to white gas.
we went to seattle last month and when i got back i weighed myself and was just despondent about how the scale wasn't budging. i knew i had had some major setbacks this year that included multiple long term rounds of prednisone which is just evil stuff that makes you (or me) psycho and very into eating everything. i'd also had surgery that meant I couldn't work out, and the whole leg in a cast thing. so circumstances weren't on my side, but i wasn't eating super healthy so i had to own the blame as well. but even living in LA kind of screws with you (if you are me) because everyone drives everywhere and walking is next to impossible...ok it's not impossible but i hate wandering aimlessly, I feel under-stimulated and get bored very quickly. which of course is such a pathetic thing to complain about "oh how boring the consistently gorgeous weather and beaches and canals get"
Anyway when we got back from Seattle (less than a month ago) i buckled down on the food (which meant cutting out the carbs and the dairy) and upped my walking (thanks fitbit! having a dog helps though, especially a dog that -loves- to go on long walks.) and that coupled with teaching regular hoop classes resulted in an awesome 10lb loss this month alone. aside from losing weight i -feel- 100x better.
i know that paleo centric diets are sort of magnets for bad press lately (the most common, and most stupid in my opinion is the whole "well it's not truly paleolithic" which to me makes as much sense as saying "well not everyone in south beach eats that way") i don't think anyone who adheres to that style of eating thinks they are representing the paleolithic era, but it's a name and it's easier than saying, "i am on a strict elimination & anti inflammatory diet". So I guess we can say that I've either been sticking to a paleo diet or a strict elimination & anti inflammatory diet; either way i've been losing weight (something that is historically very hard for me) and I feel really good. A lot of the cognitive stuff that comes with masto seems to be abating, I'm actually taking less medication, my skin looks great (and really, when you are chronically sick, it tends to show in the skin)...I'm totally sold on this as a lifestyle choice. there are days where i miss bread or cookies but i'll take experiencing less fatigue, bloating, and cognitive impairment over a cupcake any day. plus, there is something i enjoy about bringing things back to basics and cutting out the dyes, preservatives, and food that could potentially have a longer shelf life than i do. I think it helps that when I got sick I had to pare down on a lot of more common sensual pleasure anyway (a lot of different food, alcohol, spices, perfumes, some makeup, some material) so the idea of paring food down to being fuel vs something decadent is really appealing as well. there are still many many aspects of my life that are, in my opinion, quite decadent, so I have no problem cutting out some of the basic things.
So losing weight and feeling better gave me the confidence last night to light up my fans. at first it was terrifying as there is a lot more fire in a much smaller area when it comes to fans vs hoops, but by the 3rd time I lit up I was all "raaar this is empowering" and really it was. i still have an easier time doing tech stuff when the fans aren't lit, but i'll get there and it will be awesome. I also did some hooping and that was 100x better than the first time I did it. Way less fear, way more control. I am sold.
And I didn't react to the white gas. I will react to cinnamon or chocolate, but white gas is fine.
