It's Been Weird

     It's been a weird weekend, and I still haven't adjusted to it just being me here at the house. I tried a few things off plan as well. The biggest was waking up and not meditating. I wish I could say that I felt off all day, but I didn't. It was just another day, but I of course was back at it this morning. The other thing I did was have an Entenmann's lemon pie. I wrapped up my latest 100 days earlier in the week, and forgot to even mention it. With that done, I decided it was time to have some sugar and see just what it would do to me. I can tell you, that it left me with an upset stomach, and water retention, that I really don't like at all. Here is what it didn't do. It didn't kill me, and it didn't ruin my progress, it is just hidden behind a layer of water right now. When I weighed in after having it, the scale was higher, but the measurements told the real story. I weighed in at my highest since hitting goal weight at 151.9 pounds. My waist measurement was up a quarter of an inch, but that was from stomach bloat. The body fat measurement was exactly the same, so everything is in place, I'm just holding onto water because of the increased carbs. The morning that I ate the lemon pie, I saw a noticeable difference in my definition. That should come back in a couple of days as the carbs burn off and the glycogen is depleted from my muscle tissue.

     This has affected my mentally in a weird way. Not really all that unexpected either, but I'm finding it hard to be satiated with my meals. My mind is wanting carbs, but I know that really isn't the case. I just up my salt a little in my water when that happens, and it rectifies the situation. There are a couple of reasons why I try these things out. The first is to gather the information so that I can pass it on. It isn't the end of the world when you go off plant, it's how you deal with it afterwards that matters. I just went back into eating how I have been, and other than the weird hunger, I'm feeling great. The hunger will go away with time as well. The other is to just satisfy that urge to have something that's terrible for me. It's fun sometimes to just throw caution to the wind. This is how I do it now.

     A little moms update for you. She is gaining strength and feeling a lot better. I had her stand up on her own yesterday, and she did it with ease. That was something that she wouldn't do a week ago. She is still wary of putting all her weight on that right leg. There is still a little pain in that knot that reminds her of the fall, and causes her fear. I was able to get her to stand up form the wheelchair, and then pivot so that she could get into bed. It took a hot second, but she did it with relative ease. The plan is for her to get out of the rehab facility within two weeks. Two weeks at the latest. That is when the copay kicks in, and it's pretty expensive, but no more than what it cost at the last place, which was a total disaster, so I consider the price a bargain where she is now, if she has to stay longer.

     I did something a little different for Pizza Friday this week. I'd been skipping Pizza Friday with my mom away, but since my buddy's wife gave me some cauliflower crusts for pizza, I decided to test out my pizza making skills and make one. This is what I came up with.

    It was amazing. That is fresh mozzarella, capicola, prosciutto, dried italian ham, and habaneros. It brought all the flavor and a nice amount of heat. I have to give credit to my grocery store for brining in some monster habaneros. These things have been huge lately, with high end habanero heat. They are the best that they have had in the store, so wherever they are getting them from, the are bringing the heat.

     Speaking of peppers, I've been potting and repotting my pepper plants. The plants that have outgrown their pots are going into bigger pots, and the seedlings are getting their first pot. I got a picture of all the pots that are done, and there are at least 11 more to go. This might be getting a little out of hand, but it is so fun, and rewarding to see them grow, and see them fruit. Here is the pepper are before I removed the Cherry Red Tomatoes from the area.

     Most of those will stay in the 1 gallon pots, but a few of them, like the Bulgarian Carrot are going to move up to 5 or 10 gallon grow bags soon. I'm waiting for the carrot to calm down on producing fruit, before I repot it. I don't want to mess with what it's doing. This is why the Bulgarian Carrot has it's name.

     That one is ready to go, but look at that deep orange color, with that green calyx at the top. It does resemble a carrot, but it doesn't taste like one. I actually don't know what it tastes like right now, since I have never eaten one, but the heat is supposed to be low to mid level at around 100,000 SHU. That makes it around 10 times spicier than a jalapeño. It's going to pack a punch, but it won't be the hottest pepper I've had by a long shot.

     Oh, before I go for the night, I just had to show you the Jemez Pueblo. This is a very mild pepper, with a SHU of around 5000. That makes it less than a jalapeño. These are supposed to be 4-6 inches long, but since the plant is still rather small, these are only 2-3 inches long. I'm still hoping that they are going to be tasty. These are just about ready to go as well. They are going to be a deep rich red when they are fully ripe.

     You can still see a little green in them, so they are taking a little longer than the carrot to ripen. These actually started ripening a few days before the carrot.

     Ok as I was finishing this up, I was watching the recording of SNL that I had, and David Byrne was the musical guest, and I just had to share this performance with you because it was so much fun to watch, I can only imagine how fun it was to perform. Oh yeah, David Byrne finally found a suit that fit. If you don't understand that, you aren't a product of the 80's. Enjoy this little video and peace in and goodnight.