Whatcha Eating Today, VSGers? Thursday, 1/31/19

Good morning. Just came back from breakfast. Had two cups of delicious coffee. It really is the best time of day. That and when I get to take my sleeping medicine and go to bed! Emotional work is more tiring than physical work. I am overly tired anyway at the moment, my Seroquil is continuing to increase once a week to see when it will stop intrusive and obsessive thought patterns. Or help them, I should say. Today thought me and my psychiatrist are going to bridge the topic of doing electroconvulsive therapy (shock therapy, only painless and humane) since medicine isn't really doing the trick.

QOTD: Is anxiety an issue for you? What do you do to tame it?

I have been learning coping skills for when my anxiety is high. An on the spot one I have developed is using my bumble bee locket as a grounding item. I rub my thumb over the raised, brass bee.

Menu:

All day tube feed

B- Half a belgian waffle with scrambled eggs

L- Flat bread pizza, bean and artichoke salad, melon

D- Roast pork, half a twice baked potato, green beans, angel food cake

S1- Yogurt and animal crackers

S2- Cottage cheese

S3- PB and a banana

Hi Mersh! I'm really glad you're posting again.

One of the things my therapist told me when my dad died was that emotional work was just as exhausting as physical work. I was annoyed because I hadn't changed my physical routine at all, but I was just wiped out. She reminded me that all of the emotional work of grief was also hard work! Which, when I thought about it, made complete sense :) I just needed someone else to tell me that :P

Today is more work work work. I didn't finish nearly as much as I wanted to yesterday, but I did stop working at 6pm in order to do dinner and play through a scenario of the Arkham Horror Card Game with Art. I'm glad I made the choice to stop working when I did!

QOTD: I had an actual anxiety problem probably in 2010? I started having serious problems in cars and anxiety for me exhibits itself as diarrhea, so I was at the point where I couldn't even make a 20-30 minute drive across town without needing to stop to use a bathroom somewhere. It was awful. I ended up with a Xanax prescription and I'd take one about 10-15 minutes before I needed to drive. It helped a LOT and I was able to stop taking it after about a year. Other than that, I will get stressed out with all the things I need to do, but making a list or "writing it out" both really help me to get a handle on all the things that I need to accomplish and what sort of timeline will work.

1: protein shake
2: eggs, slice of toast, cheese
3: pork and broccoli stir fry with ginger and hoisin sauce (I feel like I made a really similar recipe last week..)

liquid and vites: on track
exercise: Sadly my exercise has gone to **** this week due to all the work I have. I'm displeased.

Coffee is the best! Keep on eating, Mersh!

QOTD: It is a really good question. I think I deal with anxiety by pushing it down and trying to not think about what is causing it, though I usually can identify what it is. I eventually will deal with the issue or decide it wasn't important enough to feel anxious about ultimately. I think knowing the cause is at least half the battle for me.

2 Years 10 months post-op (maintaining below goal for 2 years, 2 months)

Always lots of coffee...

B: eggs, cottage cheese and Canadian bacon

L: tuna salad, pickles and cottage cheese

D: Taco green peppers

S: sweetened cottage cheese

Good morning! I agree Mersh, mental work is definitely more tiring than physical work! Our thoughts control our bodies and when our thoughts are consumed with hard emotional work, it reflects in our physical body! Sounds like you and your team are exploring all options:-) ECT has come a long way over the years.

I worked this morning, so not sure what the rest of the day holds. I need to make some phone calls for my mother, I despise phone calls.

QOTD-Yes, anxiety is an issue. For the past few months I have been working on breathing techniques and meditation. It is a work in progress:-) I like the idea of your bumble bee locket as a grounding item Mersh.

B-1/2 Quest bar

L-2%Fage with mango and pecans

S-Hot tea

D-tbd

E-walk or hike with Emmy

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Its good to see you back, Mersh.

Hello all- I have to have my coffee every morning. I switched to decaf after surgery but now I'm back to regular caffeinated coffee- yum! I agree with everyone emotional work is tiring and very physically draining at times.

QOTD: I feel that anxiety can be a issue for anyone- its a part of human nature. Wether we admit it or not. I have found that when I'm anxious it comes out in the form of agitation. I will be thinking of the issue and therefore any other little thing sets me off. I have started to be very cognizant of this because I do not want to take my anxieties and frustrations out on my daughter. I work daily on recognizing my emotions and ask myself why I'm feeling that way. Honestly my surgery has made me have to face my emotions and anxiety- I can't eat it away anymore!

M1: chef jerky

M2: ground turkey with Lipton onion mix

M3:ground turkey with Lipton onion mix

S1: 1.5 oz of harvati mixed with Gouda