Gluten Free Love…
Hey ya’ll, I am totally off course with my posts, please bear with me as I attempt to get back on track. If anyone is reading you will love this conversation though.
I recently shared that I would be teaching Zumba classes again next month <sad face> lost my studio space. So, I am back to the drawing board. Oh, well, the time slot that was available wasn’t ideal anyway, probably for the best.
My “Test Don’t Guess” project is not going well…I have a follow up appointment with my doctor tomorrow for labs. I will update you on that adventure. The good news is that I am maintaining the weight I have lost, just can’t seem to lose any more.
Sport is getting an attitude because I haven’t been posting his page. Jeesh, celebrities!
I know you have been hearing some buzz about gluten. We have discussed gluten a little bit in previous conversations. Remember? It causes inflammation and autoimmune disease is inflammatory…yes, my lips are moving…no, I am not saying blah, blah, blah, I am sharing some really good news with you if you love popcorn. Following my hormone balancing food plan doesn’t really include popcorn unless it is organic and then only one cup…why bother, right? Well I found a great popcorn fix today. Maybe you have already tried it, but just in case you haven’t it is called “Just Honest Popcorn” and sold by the Rocky Mountain Popcorn Company. It is portion controlled, comes in several flavors, is gluten and nut free, hot air popped, no trans fats, and you can actually read the list of ingredients! Check out their website www.rmpopcorn.com , http://twitter.com/RockyMtnPopcorn , and http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=187228145243&ref=search .
Let me know if you try this yummy product and more importantly let Rocky Mountain Popcorn Company know. They say their product is “Real and good. Good and real.” I have only tried the Butter flavor so far, but look forward to investigating the other flavors, except Kettle Corn, there is just something messed up about sweet and salty popcorn, yuk.
Thanks for allowing me to share as I face life with lupus,
Ruby
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Do you attack life or does it attack you?
It is not that hard a question…do you attack life with a vengeance, wrestle it to the ground, and grab the championship trophy or does life attack you from every angle, does everything you step in turn out to be poo?
I guess there is a middle ground somewhere, but I can’t seem to find it.
This conversation may turn really weird, I’m sitting in Starbucks (SB) because the air conditioner went out at my house yesterday. Can’t get it repaired till tomorrow. If you know anything about Texas you know we had a miserable night last night. Anyway, why might our conversation “turn weird”, you should hear some of the conversations going on around me…really, I may have to comment on some of them. I promise you there is a “Fonzie” guy in here giving a young male barista advice about women.
Did ya’ll see “Hot Tub Time Machine”? I just heard him say “munchies”. Maybe I am not really at Starbucks, maybe I am dreaming…nope, I am actually writing so it can’t be a bad “retro” dream. The “kicker” to this story is the “Fonzie” guy says he doesn’t have a woman! Although he says he has lots of “young chicks”, LOL. Oh, he just said he isn’t a clean freak, he likes a clean house though. Not a clean freak, but you can eat off his “motor”, not what you are thinking, he works on cars, go figure. Please, if I am being a menopausal *$#@!, just let me know.
Hmmm, there is a young family here…eating breakfast…yea, they must hate their kids if they think any of the food here is “healthy”.
I must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
I really like working here at my local SB, the music is soothing, and I can always put in my ear phones if it gets too chaotic. Usually there are people meeting here to “sell” something, have a bible study, or do homework.
Ok, I have probably bored you enough. Tell me, please, do you frequent your local SB? Any SB? If so, what do you order? Do you hang out for a while? Drive thru? I just noticed they now have “free Wi-Fi” for everyone…that must explain why I can’t get online <smirk>. Whew, finally got online, I am so “not” techie and so “grumpy” this morning.
For what it’s worth this is a “Bonus Post”. Not one of my regularly scheduled conversations.
By the way I have added a couple of new pages to the site. In particular, I added a “Zumba” page. Check it out. Ok, don’t check it out until I get something posted on it J Our conversations may be a little erratic between now and September 13 as I am preparing for Zumba classes that will begin on that date.
As usual, thanks for letting me share as I face life with lupus,
XOXOXOs, Ruby
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Check out www.hersilverlining.blogspot.com , Tiffany is blogging about living la vida lupus too! She has a lot of great information.
Thanks for allowing me to share as I face life with lupus,
Ruby
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I may as well go ahead and do the unthinkable, it’s already out there in the universe anyway.
My test don’t guess project isn’t going as planned, results wise. I am learning some valuable things from the experiment though, so it’s not all bad.
Doing the unthinkable is my daughter Michelle’s fault. She is a “middle” child. I will have to admit I was shocked when she had the audacity to suggest that I post “progress” photos. I have really been in denial about the fact that I actually needed to lose 40 pounds and this “brat” thinks I should post a photo of myself at my absolute all time heaviest weight. Hold on a second while I take a sip of my Pinot Noir.
Ok, that’s better, so, I was at a Zumba Toning workshop last year when my photo was taken by another instructor. Did I mention I don’t do “candid” shots? That’s my new policyJ and I am sticking with it!
Yes, that’s me on the right hand side, my friend Jennifer is on the left.
So, here is a more current photo, and no, there are no spanx involved!
Down 15 pounds, half way through my “Test Don’t Guess” program.
<deep breath in>, <deep breath out>, that’s it for today. Thanks for joining me as I face life with lupus.
Ruby
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Hey Ya’ll, you know the drill, I have been off the radar for a few days. I can not get caught up so I will just give a quick update.
Last Monday which is usually when I prepare Tuesday conversation I was on an adventure instead. But it was a good adventure, really. Every year my church has a day when we can take an under privileged child (no, not our own) out for dinner and shop for school supplies. My daughter and I participated with the program last year, it was fun, exhausting, rewarding, did I say exhausting? Honestly, working all day and then taking 3 young girls shopping, need I say more?
This year my husband and I went together…we got a boy, nine years old. Shopping with boys is so much different than shopping with girls. We had a great time, ate pizza (not on our food plan), and figured out how to read the chart on a package of boys socks.
I really love to participate in activities like this because I remember when I needed assistance with my kids. You know it’s funny, but for the most part kids are ambivalent to financial circumstances. The year my kids dad left (after 16 years of marriage), we were in such financial straits. As I think back now I am not sure how we survived. I remember the two youngest having to be in the free lunch program. I had to giggle the other night when I asked our new friend if he had participated in the program the previous year he said “no” that last year his family had been rich. It says a lot about our economy and the resiliency of our youth.
So, anyway, there was no blogging Monday night.
Tuesday night I worked on my post, but alas as luck would have it…I couldn’t get the dang pictures uploaded. I had been on such a roll with the pictures too. So about an hour after my bedtime I through up my hands in frustration and there was no blog post that night either.
Wednesday evening I was preparing for a Personal Training session I had scheduled for Thursday night. I will share more details about that project at a later date. But on Thursday night there was no post because I was working out with two clients!
Friday night, hey what can I say…it was Friday night.
That it for updating tonight. I am going to attempt once again to get the photos inserted in last Tuesday’s post so I can share it with you tomorrowJ
Thanks for allowing me to share as I face life with lupus,
Ruby
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Hey Ya’ll, here’s Sport and me! I’m the one in the Betty Rubble outfitJ I thought I was looking good in the “mirror”, but cameras don’t lie!!! Mick took this photo last Sunday.
 Thanks for allowing me to share as I live life with lupus.
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Beauty sleep, yes, there is such a thing!
Important hormone production is regulated during sleep; human growth hormone (HGH) is released during deep sleep.
Getting enough deep sleep will help your skin repair itself.
Your cells produce more protein while you are asleep, these protein molecules form the building blocks for cells that allow them to repair damage.
This is the tip of the “sleep” iceburg my friends. I told you this conversation could be lengthy.
I have a question for you. Do you have “soap box” issues? Me too. Probably at the top of my list is dental hygiene, much to my husband’s chagrin. Second on my list is probably sleep.
Sleep has been on my radar for some time now. The only reason itisn’t at the top of my list is I can’t seem to get it under control like I can dental hygiene. My sleep habits have been erratic for years. When I was taking the heavy doses of prednisone I had to use a prescription sleep aid to get any sleep at all. The prescription I used worked great, I slept good, woke up refreshed, but let’s face it, a natural night’s sleep is best. Recently, this year anyway, I had a brief few weeks of restful sleep, waking up energized, in morning person mode, it was awesome. But, alas it was short lived. Having had that experience has put me on a mission. I am determined to Currently I am not getting enough sleep and the quality is questionable, very questionable, no more morning person! Taking all this in consideration, if you have been following my “Test Don’t Guess” project you can understand why I am “OK” with plateaus. At least my weight is consistently going down. Usually I am in “yo-yo “ world and that doesn’t do a body good.
That’s it for tonight, ya’ll, we will talk more on Sport’s Page Day. Thanks for allowing me to share facing life with lupus.
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Before I dive into my update I would like to acknowledge that I have quite a few “comments” in my spam folder <eyebrows raised>. Not sure if they are really spam or not <sad face>, but Akismet says they are. Anyway, just for giggles I thought I would copy and paste a few in today’s post <big grin>!
The first one is from Jerome, thanks Jerome. 
Hey, thank you so much for the entertaining post. Wanted to add your RSS feed. However unfortunately it never seem to be working at all for me. Anyone having this difficulty? I’ll come back in a little while to check back. Regardless thanks again for this good read.
I don’t know if anyone else is having difficulty with the RSS feed or not. Hello??? Anyone out there having this problem, please let me and Jerome know <sheepish grin>.
Wilson wrote, I hope you will be updating your content constantly as you have one dedicated reader here.
“High Five”, Wilson, thanks so much for the encouragement. 
John is a real smooth “commenter” is that even a word? He wrote, ha,ha, I think Zumba it’s so fun exercise!
Yes, John, Zumba is very fun exercise…exercise in disguise…or so I have heard<cupping hand to ear>.
If anyone other than my family and my friend, Mary, is even reading these ramblings of mine, please bare with me here, two more, then I promise to get to work.
Timothy wrote, brilliant blog posting, I found your post very interesting, I think you are a brilliant writer. I added your blog to my bookmarks and will return in the future.
Thanks Timothy…Ruby’s are brilliant…ask any jeweler<blushing>. 
And now for the best comment yet, ta, da, da, da, from Aspergers Syndromes Symptoms, Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!
Aspergers, that’s what I’m talking about, those dang search engines!
Ok, enough of that, on to the update. I have to share this tidbit with you. I was listening to a tele-seminar this week and the comment was made that someone had been on a diet plateau for three years. Yes, I spelled that right…three years, forgive me for laughing, but here in Texas that is considered maintenance! Well, with that lead in I have to announce that, yes, I am still maintaining my four pound weight loss. But I am really thinking this next week is going to be different, I am tweaking one of my supplements this week and I expect to see a lower digital reading on my bathroom scale <smile>.
You know what the best part of this project is? The maturity I have reached in my weight loss efforts. Just a few short years ago, what am I talking about, last year I would have totally thrown in the towel by now. If you don’t get anything else out of following along with this project I hope you get that your weight is only a sliver of who you are. I have spent so many years letting the number on the scale dictate my happiness, my confidence, my sexuality and more I am sure. So, all I have to say today is “don’t throw in the towel, the woman who was on a three year plateau finally broke through it and reached her goal weightJ ”.
Thanks for following along as I face life with lupus,
XOXOXOX Ruby
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ZZZZZZZZZZZZZs, Baby!
Now for a conversation near and dear to my heart…sleep. This topic could go on indefinately. Don’t worry we will take baby steps as I am sure many of you are resistant to the value of a good nights sleep.
I am going to start with my sleep history. When my son, James, was born…he was not a good sleeper. The two of us slept on the sofa almost every night until he was four years old. I should also interject that it was around this time that I was diagnosed with Hashimotos, yes, an autoimmune disease. Once James started sleeping through the night I did the same. I was pretty consistant wilh getting seven to eight hours of sleep nightly for about ten years. I firmly believe sleep kept the lupus flares at bay during those years. I had mild flares during that time, but nothing totally debilatating. I did have total paralysis in my left hand for about six months (during a very stressful period), I had some digestive issues, some skin issues, joint issues (was diagnosed with carpal tunnel, wore wrist splints for three years) all these conditions appeared suddenly, ran their course and disappeared. The paralysis was attributed to a “virus” since the neurologist couldn’t find any other reason for it!
So, of special note, when I had the flare that put me in the hospital at which time I was diagnosed with lupus, what major change in my lifestyle preceded this event? I was not getting my usual seven to eight hours of sleep. In fact I was probably getting around five or six, consistantly. This change in my sleep pattern weakened my immune system leaving me totally vulnerable for a major flare. Oh, and if you’re wondering why I wasn’t getting my usual sleep…new relationship…that’s right, cupid’s arrow can make you forget, your diet, exercise, and yes, your zzzzzzzzzzzzzs!
So, before we discuss what am I doing different now…lets take a look at the benefits of a good night‘s sleep.
Sleep helps boost the immune system.
Sleep deprivation can increase inflammation…can you say heart disease, stroke, diabetes, autoimmune disease, obesity, depression, and more.
Sleep deprivation can effect hormones that regulate appetite.
Lets elaborate on this a little, it only takes one night, that’s right, one single night of sleep deprivation to increase levels of ghrelin (the hormone that triggers hunger) and decrease leptin (the hormone that suppresses hunger). Wow, for years I have wondered why the day following a poor nights sleep I craved high-fat, high-calorie foods!
Poor sleep effects your concentration the following day.
Quality sleep will help you remember and process things better.
Sleep also seems important for the formation of memories.
While your body is resting, your brain is busy processing your day, making connections between events, sensory input, feelings and memories.
To be continued….
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“C’est La Vie”, Friends!
Yep, that’s life, so, please bare with me on the days that “life” gets in the way of our conversations. You know how guilty you feel when you “cheat” on your diet or exercise plan? That’s how I feel when I don’t meet my “post” goals. And you know what? It’s stressful!
Stress and autoimmune disease do not go together.
Do you sense the shrillness of my voice?
Stress is the evil culprit of cortisol.
You do know that cortisol has been shown to have negative effects like:
Impaired cognitive performance
Suppressed thyroid function
Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
Decreased bone density
Decrease in muscle tissue
Higher blood pressure
Lowered immunity
And inflammatory responses in the body, this is the “short list”, can you believe it?
The only item in the above list I don’t have is “High blood pressure”.
So, taking all this into consideration, I decided to cut myself some slack. Just like feeling guilt ridden for eating off your diet plan isn’t an excuse to ditch the whole diet, missing a “post” goal (or two) isn’t an excuse to throw in the towel and stop conversing with you guys.
Before we get engrossed in our topic I would like to give a “shout out”! Saturday night Mick and I went dancing and ran into our friends, Mary and Jerry. We were all on a Country Western Dance Team for a few years. I want to say a special “Thank You” to Mary for being part of my conversations! I appreciate you, girlfriend. Maureen and Brian were also at the club. “Hey Brian, Happy Belated Birthday”. And Jackie rounded out our group. We had great fun dancing, catching up, and getting a little exerciseJ
Ok, now for my update. I am not defeated, do you hear me, body, I am not defeated!!! Again, nothing to report except that I am on week 5 of my vitamin D and increased Synthroid dosage. Even though most days I am still feeling extreme fatigue I added some exercise this past week. Last Thursday I did on interval of stair climbing. Survived it. High five! So on Friday I decided to go for four intervals. Made it through two intervals. What ever. When I woke up Saturday morning, OMGosh can you say “excruciating pain”? My glutes, calfs, quads, and hamstrings were intent on disabling me. So, what did I do to alleviate my pain? I went dancing, two step, polka, west coast swing, and waltz. How did that work for me? Sunday was “EXCRUCIATING”!
Honestly on Sunday around 1:30 p.m. my battery died. I really felt like a feather could have knocked me over. I trudged through the rest of the day like slogging through water up to my arm pits.
Well, I can report some good news…my clothes are getting looser…how can that be when the scale is stuck? Who cares? I say “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”, what ever that means. Maybe I should Google that …
Thanks for spending your time with me,
Ruby
Facing life with lupus
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