Running away to friends.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Indiana to the Higher Things conference at Purdue. I'm not officially going to participate, but I have a little favor I''m doing for a friend Friday and Saturday, so going up there early to be able to visit with friends was just too wonderful to pass up.

I miss people. It's hard living out in the country. I love my husband, and it's been really nice that we've actually been able to get away together several hours every now and then. Sunday afternoon we went on a hot date to Aldi, Kroger, and Starbucks. Mock if you wish, but Michael's needs made it hard to get away until he got to a certain level of independence (in a lot of ways, it's the difference between a 2 year old and a 4 year old), as well as Molly and Alexis maturing.

But getting back to missing people. Yeah. It's hard not having friends around here. When we went to Louisiana back in March, I made some decisions that brought about some changes, and they apparently aligned with others' decisions about changes regarding me as well, so instead of easing back and protecting myself, I found myself rather blowing out in the wind. And that's okay. It's really for the best. It just wasn't expected. Then again, is anything ever?

So, this week I see friends and extended family at HT at Purdue. I get a couple of nights (maybe alone, maybe with a friend or two, depending on their circumstances) in a hotel with a pool. I get to hang out with an extra day with a really cool kid before he takes off to the other side of the world (and get another night in a hotel room with him and Alexis). Hopefully I can ride the happy wave for a while, then come home and do some cleaning and organizing, because August will be a busy month. Two of my dearest friends will be visiting at separate times through the month. Oh, and we can't forget the local town picnic the last weekend of July to kick this all off. I also will be turning 41, but I'm sure that's an observation for another day.

I can't wait to be around people I love who love me in return that aren't my immediate family. That makes for a happy Faith.

Happy as the Arch under a blue sky with puffy clouds.

Carnivorous.

So, gluten-free since October. A couple of purposeful glutenings, many more accidental. But I'm getting a handle on this thing now. I have a better feel for what I can and can't eat. I have decent substitutions in my head.

But substitutions are my "issue" (yeah, I know, get in line). The dear friend who pushed me into finally making the GF jump seems to have no issues whatsoever with other grains, legumes, etc. I on the other hand, do. Obviously not huge issues. I can suck back a bag of Doritos as well as the next junk food junkie. But while I feel oh-so-much better without the gluten, the overload of grains that I've allowed in my diet as a substitute is causing me some grief.

About three and a half years ago, I was low carb. Felt great most of the time. I'm realizing that it's because I was stringing together long chains of days without gluten, but I think it was more than that. I had more energy. I just felt better in general... until I started downing crap like Atkins shakes because they were convenient and we were on the road a lot, and crazy busy with preparing to move to the Midwest.

Paleo appeals, but I love dairy. So, I'm aiming my dietary arrow toward Primal, ala Mark's Daily Apple. His is the most common-sense approach I've seen to the "fads" of low carb, paleo, primal, et al. Aim for 80%. Forget about studies on general populations (or on skewed populations), and focus on your own n=1. How is your own health improving? How do you feel? What are your results (and yes, including markers like heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol counts, blood sugars). Look at the guidelines. Start somewhere. Keep moving forward. Keep tweaking. Live it, don't expect someone else to live it for you.

It makes me happy. I'll never be totally "paleo" or "Atkins" or "low-fat" or "raw" or whatever the diet of the day happens to be. Studies have meant a crapload of nothing for my mental health. Why should I expect that my physical health be any different?

I have a family history of  high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Type II diabetics everywhere you turn. And they all depends on medication, and refuse to look at alternate solutions. Diabetic? Hey, there's a pill for that. Take it and "watch" your "sugars" and you can keep on eating all the crap you've always eaten  because hey, there's a pill and later when that won't work anymore there's insulin and really everyone's gotta die from something right?

Yeah, okay. Cool. I don't want to be Super Health Woman. I don't want to be scared of everything I put in my mouth. But I also don't want to be on meds - ha! I was about to say by the time I'm forty... too late! Been there nearly 9 months! Ah, the folly of youth. Anyway, I really don't want to obsess about things, overanalyzing every single thing I do, say, eat. I want to look and tweak and play and figure out how to best balance getting a bit healthier (or less unhealthy as time goes on) while just living my life.

Hopefully this will be a step in that direction.