Happy New Years!

So it's 9:42pm on New Year's Eve 2009, and I'm going to climb into bed and pass out with a virus.

Meanwhile, happy New Years all, and hope 2010 is the best year yet for everyone. All the very best to you all and your loved ones, hope you stay safe and happy and just remember to keep on smiling.

Merry Christmas!

So I'm a little late here, but Merry Christmas to everyone, and hope everyone has a wonderful and safe silly season. :)

Christmas was a little bit down cast with the family this year (Australia = Christmas today). Not only do I have the Crohn's and various other crap (no pun intended), but my brother has disabilities. He's never had seizures before, but last night he had an ever so delightful one that saw two amazing paramedics arrive (seriously, angels, and I can't thank them enough) and cart him off to hospital in an ambulance. He did make it home a few hours later, and so Christmas did happen, it was just scary as shit when it happened (the noises would have been enough alone, not to mention afterwards he couldn't talk or move for a while and didn't remember any of it later) and no one really got much sleep last night as a result. Did discover however in the absence of a lovable human or a pet to curl up with a bawl and howl like a lost, scared child, a childhood teddy bear, a glass of wine and an amusing action flick (enter Mr and Mrs Smith) will suffice for comfort.

In the weight arena, I'm lighter than I was last Christmas which is bloody fantastic in my books (82.2 kilos!). Still a teeny bit of the Pred weight to go, and then I'm back to my old battle with the original weight issues. I'm so sad about the stretch marks that have been a consequence of the meds, particularly as there was no warning, but I suppose there's not a great deal I can do about them.

Last few days have been a bit icky with stomach pain and randomly running through the house trying to find an empty bathroom, which you would assume would be an easy task when there are three in the house. You assumed wrong. Most likely this is a result of going away from the low fructose diet. Been eating waaaaaaay more bread than usual, along with a gazillion other things (like my beloved onion). Looks like I need to watch what I eat. Again. Sigh.

Anyway. As mentioned above, hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas, and a safe and happy New Year (because if you know me, I'll forget to get my sorry white butt back on here before then! :P ).

The usual sort of spiel...

So me and my weight. How's it going? Glad you asked. :P Currently down to 83.2 kilos, which is what I weighed this time last year, before all this Crohn's stuff started (well, at least before I was diagnosed). I do have just under 3 kilos to go however to lose the Pred weight, but that'll come. Have vaguely been watching the story of the guy below, the fitness trainer who became obese and then attempted to lose the weight again to better understand his clients. It make me feel so much better that he struggled too.

http://www.news.com.au/national/paul-james-almost-back-to-his-original-weight/story-e6frfkvr-1225811164362

See? Even perfect people aren't so perfect!

Meanwhile, I've got the cranky pants on with the rhumy. Went and saw him nearly a week ago now, and he basically didn't listen to a word I said. Stuck with his usual story of heat, exercise and massage will fix it, gave me a shot in each shoulder and sent me on my merry way. Shots didn't work and I'm more than a little disgruntled about it. It would have been nice to be in less pain for Christmas and new year, but hey. Obviously that's not going to be the case.

The Crohn's is behaving itself, as best as Crohn's can behave, and the fructose stuff seems to be non existant (I had a self indulgent moment yesterday and had a few slices of garlic bread for lunch. No effects.).

Hold onto your hats ladies and gents, it's an update!

Wow it's been a while since I actually posted something worth writing about, huh?

Well. The old hag is behaving herself (fingers crossed, knocking on wood and praying to every God I believe in!) for now, which is lovely. Have even ventured into the dreaded fructose foods, and guess what? I survived. For now.

In the line of the weight, I yo-yo-ed (that really doesn't look right spelled like that, but it looks more right than any other way I try...) for a few weeks, but I'm down to 84.7 as of yesterday, which is nice. Lost more than 10 kilos (22 pounds), have 1.3 to go to what I was at the beginning of the year, but 4.4 to go until I reach my pre-Crohn's weight. Will be over the moon when I hit that.

And time for an arthritis update. Where I live has been hot. Very hot actually. And with it, the oh so delightful agony of arthritis. So much for using heat to get rid of it. Am saving up the pain, turning it into angry, and will deliver a dose of cranky-pants to the rhumy on Friday when I see him. In, of course, the most polite way posible. Just very fed up with doping myself to the eyeballs on Nurofen every day (which I'm not supposed to take because of the Ibuprofen), and still being in a rather high degree of pain (say 9/10 instead of 10/10). Needs fixing. Pronto.

Am trying to enjoy my time off work, and have just started redecorating my room. Been busy sanding some timber for some shelves today, and threw the first coat of paint on. Absolutely love the colour, and am so happy that it's come out exactly as on the sample chip. Second coat should go on tomorrow, and hopefully put them up in the next week or so. There's also curtains to be made (bought the fabric yesterday for somewhat of a bargain), but they'll have to wait until after Christmas before I can tackle them. Should also be enough to make a cushion cover or two out of the leftover fabric. Am really enjoying the prospect of my shoebox looking a little nicer. :)

Didn't end up making it to Sydney for the Gluten Free expo. If anyone who reads this did make it, could you let me know if it's worth going next year?

Umm...... Anyway, I think that's really it. Finally something to write about huh? Now off to clean the shoebox before it's time to put those shelves up.

Food photos as promised

So occasionally I've been promising to post photos of food here. Okay, so more than occasionally. Now this is my thing, I wait and wait and wait and then BAM! Photos. So prepare for bombardment. :)

These are wonderful, wonderful brownies and passionfruit slice.
Both proudly made from a packet, brand is Melinda's. :P

Cake. Also proudly made from a packet.
This one was FreeFrom.

Cake, as above, prior to icing/frosting.
Have also made chocolate variant,
which looks the same, except brown. :)

These are my failed attempts at frittatas.
See that bit of egg coming over the side?
I may have perhaps put somewhere closer
to 14 eggs in as opposed to the 8 the
recipe recommended.....

And here we have the tins after the
frittatas came out. They really
didn't taste nice either.

Close up of chicken stew, made by mum.
It was yummy. The stew, not the close up.

Not so close up of chicken stew.

So there you go. Food for thought? These are all edible by me for the record, so not just Crohn's friendly, but fructose as well. Finally got 'round to sharing.

Introducing the new pico prep!

Pico prep? So yesterday. And so disgusting! Seriously, would rather drink vomit. Today's solution? My mother's curry!

Damn I love that stuff. And so tonight when she said 'We're having curry tonight, would you like some?', of course I couldn't really refuse. Full of delicious, spicy goodness, and full of vegies too- cabbage, carrot, onion, garlic.... Chicken added to it for the meat, and then cream for creamy goodness. Serve hot over rice. I think this is about the only meal that outdoes mashed potato for me. Though I am sad to say it is the much more consumable version of the not-so-beloved pico prep. Straight through and liquid. Though, seeing as the god Imodium has come to the rescue, I think I'll brave leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Think I'm ready for a colonoscopy now......

Always look on the bright side of life (sing it with me!)

And now that I have that stuck in your head, on with a post! :D

So weight wise I had a bad week. In general I had a bad week. Ditched for reasons I can't fathom, sick, best mate moving to another state.... I put on half a kilo. Blergh. Must do better. Have gone back above the dreaded line I've been keeping under, and it'll take work to get back under it again.

In Crohn's news...... I'M OFF THE PRED!!!!!!!!! Dancing and jumping about like a five year old occurs! And about bloody time with that too. Took my last milligram of it yesterday, and I pity the poor fool who tries to put me back on it one day. Hopefully though if I ever need anything to stop the guts being stupid they'll have something else I can have instead. Still on the Salofalk for maintenance, but seeing as I can't really determine any side effects of that, I'm happy enough to stay on it for now.

Have been venturing into the realm of gluten free (as most gluten free stuff is wheat free, thus fructose free, thus my guts can deal with it) recently. Orgran (brand of food) is awesome, as is the Woolworths brand FreeFrom. FreeFrom have cake mixes and pizza base mixes, while Orgran just seems to have everything. :) Made a cake the other day, just to see how it came out, and really, it tasted damn similar to a cake I used to make from scratch, so not bad for a packet mix, and pretty darn good for gluten free. At some point, I promise, I will get photos of said cake and possibly other cooking ventures up here.

Am in quite a degree of pain right now, my gut is giving me hell. Went to an open day at a lapidary club (jewellry making and stone cutting/polishing type stuff), and they had a sausage sizzle. Stupid got a sausage sandwich. On bread. With onion. Stupid is currently paying for it, with what feels like my life (I will live, I assure you).

Have a job application in with a company only a street or two away (walking distance on a good day). It's for an office administrator. Half of me wants the job. Close to home, and even if I chose to move out soon it'll be an area I know. Half of me doesn't want it. That half is itching to move interstate (yes, same state as above mentioned friend). Have been wanting to go for a few years, now may well be my opportunity. *shrug* Will keep the world posted, though really, I'm sure my blatherings about moving and jobs are boring.....

Oh yeah, and I've been going to bed and waking up with rotten headaches the past few days. Aches and pains, and general illness means I'm a whingy whiney brat, but hey. I think we're all entitled to those days when we feel up to crap.

Slightly late weekly post.

So on Sunday (ignore that it's now Friday) I had my weight down to 86.4 kilos. Happy dance occured, though it was less than a kilo, so not quite as happy as previous weeks. Am considering with the weight loss buying some shorts or skirts. Yes, shock horror, I'm considering stuff that isn't ankle length and denim. Shoot me now. Summer is just around the corner and it's starting to get just a little bit warm.

Also dropped down to 1mg of Pred. 1mg!!! Just over a week and I'm off the stuff for good. *dances*

Have been boldly venturing out into the world of food again, with some successes and some failures (oh the pain!). Some foods (like onion) can be eaten in moderation, some foods (like bread) are more of an issue.

Mr Anonymous didn't work out. Sad at the time, not so sad now. *shrug* As they say, as one door closes, another one opens. Don't know who they are in this instance. Actually in any instance....

In news that is sad (at least to me), one of my catfish died yesterday. I got all three at the same time, they were the same size, and all equally cute, but I get the feeling this poor little one didn't get much food. The other two got a little bit territorial and unfortunately the only way to get any food to them without the garbage disposal units (aka goldfish) getting it was to dump it in the others' logs. Poor little thing.

Still hoping to get to Sydney for the Gluten Free Expo (http://www.glutenfreefoodshow.com.au/index.html - shameless advertising for something good), though I'll have to see how things are going closer to the date.

Hope eveyone is healthy and alive.

Not so alone

So I was just randomly scrolling through a news website I read regularly, and happened to stumble across the article I've linked to below.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26239877-29277,00.html

It just feels really nice to know I'm not alone! :)

Still alive, I promise.

Skip an update, 'cause I forget my weight from the other week, and here's this one. 87.3 kilos, so yay!

Saw the dietician last Thursday, and all's going good. I'm allowed to start reintroducing foods as I see fit, I've just got to remember that fatty foods will make me fat again, etc, etc.

Went tenpin bowling on Friday arvo. Lost all three games, which was a little disappointing, though I think in the end I've still won. Lovely first date with a certain someone, so despite it taking a few days to get over the "Oh God there are muscles I haven't used in forever!" pain, I'm still grinning like a mad woman. Knowing that there's a second one lined up makes that grin even bigger.

Anyways. I'm off to brush the dust off the cross trainer and try to do something on that, I've not been able to make myself go near it the last few days so I've got some making up to do.