The dreaded time has arrived...

...now that Halloween is over, here comes the blasted xmas music. I can't fucking stand the shit. It makes my ears bleed. Over and over, everywhere you turn or SHOP, it's in your face and brain. UGH.

Anyway, this is the first year I attempted carving a pumpkin using a stencil (from the internet) and it didn't turn out too bad!

Look at that silly tit in the window...his first photo bomb! Awwww....lol

Accidental Halloween Bat (Chicken) Goulash

In using up some produce, I accidentally made what could be a great family dinner for halloween:


Sodium-free chicken broth (or water)
Two sweet potatoes, cubed
Head of purple cabbage, chopped
Carrots, sliced
Chicken (I used 10 thighs, skin on, bone in)
Mushrooms (the darker and ickier the better!)
Onions
Garlic
Seasonings of your choice (I used seasoned salt, sea salt, dry Italian seasoning mixture)

Bring all ingredients to a boil in your cauldron, then turn down to low and simmer for at least an hour.

Awesome Music: Ted Nugent

Speaking of Rock Star the movie (now I'm dying to hear some of the songs from the soundtrack!)...

Awesome Music: Alter Bridge

The singer, Myles Kennedy, was in one of my favourite movies, Rockstar. Unfortunately, they've disabled embedding, so here's the link:

Open Your Eyes Music Video

Wheeeee Fresh Food!

We got our first Wanigan delivery today! Lots of fresh fruit and veggies to consume. We got the small Wanigan box, which was $34 plus we added a bag of Gala apples to last us the two week period (the bag of apples is not in this pic).


A nice-sized pot roast has been relaxing in the crock pot all day and it smells delicious.

Edit:


Regarding my blood tests, the verdict (so far) is just that I'm low on vitamin D, which is no surprise, based on what I've read on the MDA Forum. The results haven't yet come in from the uptake and scan. I learned that there's a 5mm something-or-other cyst on my thyroid, too, which they said was "insignificant". The uptake and scan should tell us more detail about that cyst.

TGIF!!!

Mmm, Acorn Squash

Yesterday at work one of my co-workers came over to comment on how good I looked since I lost some weight this year. We got to talking about how I did it and she was genuinely interested in learning more. I told her about cutting out the sugar and grains, eating REAL FOOD, etc. and she was excited to try it out.

Today she stopped by my desk, again commented on how good I looked in my new outfit (lol) and told me about what she cooked for dinner last night. She was all excited that she made pork and a whack of veggies, plus she made her own apple sauce and DIDN'T add any sugar! I was very proud of her and her excitment. See, she goes to the gym several times a week and is finding that while it is a way to let stress out, it's not helping her lose any weight. Matter of fact, I've noticed her face rounding out a bit.

Later, we ran into each other in the washroom and again she looked me up and down before mentioning how good I looked. LOL Now, she's NOT a lesbian and she just got re-married earlier this year, so I know she's not being lewd. I sent her a message on our internal chat system joking that next thing you know she'll be asking me out on a date! (hahahaha!) She got a kick out of that. :)

For the hubby and I, today was workout day after work. After working out we prepared an acorn squash to go with our dinner of leftovers. Hubby cut the thing open and I did the rest. NO brown sugar touched this squash! I took a knife and scored the meaty insides, smeared butter all over them, and sprinkled cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice on them. I felt something else might be good as a liquid, so I added a tiny bit of (real) vanilla extract as well. Into the 400F oven they went for about an hour and 15 mins. Here's what one looked like:


Mmm, mmm.

I got a call from the walk-in clinic tonight as well. They have my blood test results back and the doctor wants to see me to talk about them. I hope to make it there tomorrow after my massage therapy after work.

And another thing...

I haven't yet mentioned that I've been getting some tests done to see if something is going on with my thyroid. In July my neck (n general) started hurting like as if I had pulled some sort of muscle or vocal cord. The way I describe it is if you were singing along to a song and try to hit a note that is too far out of your natural range - you tend to hurt something in your throat (done that before). It makes it hard to swallow, talk, and turn your head for at least a day.

In August I noticed a sort of lump on the right side of my throat. I went to the local walk-in clinic to get a doctor's opinion. He asked me some typical questions around potential hypothyroidism and I didn't really have any symptoms other than heart palpitations. He sent me for an ultrasound.

The ultrasound results came back and it was a different doctor at the walk-in this time (that's how it goes at a walk-in...you get whoever's there/available). He asked me a few more questions and said he wanted some blood tests and an uptake/scan. I haven't received the blood test results yet and I just went for the uptake/scan appointments this past Thursday and Friday.

Last night we had our best friends over for dinner and drinks, and I was drinking but didn't even catch a buzz (what a waste of rum! lol). I woke up in the middle of the night in a pool of sweat and my heart was palpitating like crazy. It was pretty discerning, but I had a pee and relocated to the other bedroom where I wouldn't keep my hunny awake and the room was much cooler.

I drifter in and out of sleep there, but at least I wasn't sweating anymore. I look forward to getting to the bottom of this issue.

I don't want to put too much onus on weight, but...

...this morning after a BM my scale read 148.7. YES!!!!

Been working on the wall push-ups and squats, so I expect to gain a bit of muscle weight...I should look into how to measure BF% someday.

For now, I'm happy with my progress so far. Since I've been recording my weigh-ins, the trend shows a loss of approx. 10 lbs over a 6-month period, so I hope to have lost 20 lbs by the end of the year. That would be sweet.

I'm drooling just looking at it...

Last night's dinner:

Today's Eats

- Bacon and eggs for breakfast (standard stuff; no pics)

- Yogurt

- Made some more primal cookies:


- Slow-cooked chicken with carrots, onions, mushrooms and kelp for dinner: