Habits

Those of you who know me know I love sugar. However, over the past two years I have come to the realization that sugar does not love me. So I have given it up. It took me two years of baby steps to do it, but I am proud to say that with Divine help I have recently been able to fully kick my sugar habit. I do still eat fruit, and will allow myself treats made with natural sugar (ie. fruit, honey, maple syrup, etc) on special occasions (translating to 2-3 times a year).

Unfortunately I will admit that I am not the kind of person that can just give up a bad habit. I am the kind of person that replaces one habit for another. In place of my sugar habit I now have a peanut butter habit. I've always loved peanut butter, and have always eaten it. But now it is a bit to the extreme. I have been averaging a jar of peanut butter every 3-4 days for the past couple of months. I know, it's sick to think about.... but delicious in reality. :)

To my credit I only eat all natural peanut butter. Only peanuts and salt. That's good, right? I have tried many kinds and brands over the past couple of months and have found a favorite.


                                                

I've decided that this habit is not beneficial to my health for many reasons, and I realize that I need to do something about it. This past Sunday I finished a jar of peanut butter and decided that I was going to try and not eat peanut butter this week. I realized that I probably wasn't going to be successful. I made it a day and a half. See, what happened was is I was at the store that had the peanut butter (you can't find it everywhere) so I decided to get a jar just in case. You know, in case I decided to cave at some point. Well, I caved the moment I got home. I actually did well on portion control that day. Today however, I have not done so well. Right before I wrote this I ate my fourth peanut butter on rice cake for the day. In my defense I didn't really have lunch today.

So, maybe tomorrow I'll be a bit better at portion control. And maybe after this jar is finished I'll last a bit longer than a day and a half before I get another jar. Right now I'm not too worried about it. I have a really good diet besides the overkill of peanut butter. I don't eat junk food, or eat out. Eventually I'll quit the habit. Hopefully it won't take me two years, like the sugar habit. I think if I kept eating as much peanut butter as I am now for two years I'd be as big as a house, and NO ONE wants that.

I'm Back!!

Let's face it, I couldn't stay away from the blog forever. So I'm back. However, I am going to do things a bit differently now. This blog isn't just going to be about Celiac Disease. It's going to be my personal, here's what's going on with me blog. There will still be information on Celiac Disease (and thyroid disease), because that's a big part of who I am and why I do what I do, but there will also be updates on my life, my thoughts, and any other random thing I can think of.
I decided to blog again for a few reasons. I am no longer on Facebook and so reading my friends blogs is how I keep informed on what they are doing. It's only fair that I allow them that opportunity to know about me too. Plus, it helps that I had a little push from one of those friends. :) Another reason is that I need an outlet for creative writing and humorous thoughts. It won't all be that, but I occasionally have my moments of glory, and I would like to share them and hopefully bring a smile to someone's day.
Now, I won't promise that I'll post regularly, or that I'll have something interesting to say when I do post. But at least I'm making a small step for friends to stay connected.

I guess now is as good as time as any for an update on my life. I'll give you the short and sweet version, minus all the boring details. Beginning of last year (January 2010) I finally was starting to feel really better from the whole being sick with Celiac Disease thing. I went on several trips for graduate school interviews and was looking forward to starting "real" life again. I got a really good offer and had accepted admission to a program. Only problem was that at that point (April 2010) I has started to feel bad again. But in a different way. I assumed I was getting gluten or something. I went back to the doctor and has some tests run. It actually had nothing to do with Celiac Disease. Instead I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease that targets the thryoid gland, destroying it and leading to Hypothyroidism. At that time the doctor also thought something more serious was wrong, so I decided to withdraw from the graduate program before I even started. Turns out it was just the thyroid thing.
So, I've spent the last many months just chillin' again. I have been trying to get regulated on thyroid medication, which takes a while. I am actually very glad that I had this extra year. I have been able to let my body recover more fully. I have been able to spend more time with my parents and actually do more with them. I wouldn't change the way things have happened for anything.
I am doing very well right now and am moving towards "real" life again, almost 2 years after I checked out. I am currently applying for jobs and am even considering doing an online graduate program. I don't know when an opportunity will open up for me, but I have full faith in the timing of the Lord. I am not in any hurry, but I'm ready whenever the chance comes.