The Organizing Journey Day 23 -- It's That Time of Year

I remember reading, while I was pregnant many years ago, that in the days before going into labor many women have a burst of energy specifically geared toward "preparing the nest".

This is sort of how I feel about New Year's Day.  Starting in late November, I start feeling like I want my house in order.

And so here I am back at it in earnest (between all my other life obligations and segues).  I've kind of managing to keep the kitchen and living room clean (okay, it's mostly because I've had a lot of company lately).  But I also made a decent dent in my bedroom.  And as I was cleaning/organizing, I kept finding things and going, "Oh wow, I have been looking for that."

Hmph!

So last week a friend was over and was mentioning that she needed to pick up some scrap leather.  I have some!  Bah!  You guessed it... I have no idea where.  I have no less than 20 boxes of stuff that needs to be sorted for the workroom.  While I won't be getting rid of everything, I will be storing the less used items off-site (meaning, in the garage or something).

It bugs me, seriously bugs me that I don't know where something is when I want it.  I am determined to put an end to that.  A place for everything and everything in its place.

As a start to that, there is that "first step" which is just the bulk organization tactic.  It works, though.  For example, I may not have time to SORT all the pieces of paper in my life, but if I have all the unsorted papers in one pile, at least, that's just one pile I have to look through when I'm looking for something.  It sounds daunting but not HALF as daunting as running around LOOKING for pieces of paper hither and yon.

So yeah, I'm excited to get this over and done with once and for all and then just MAINTAIN.

I also am hoping (fingers crossed) to get all the things listed on eBay or Etsy that I no longer want/need in my life yet are too good to just throw away or donate (yes, I'm stingy like that).  But seriously, a lot of what I have is niche stuff... and I'd rather have it go to someone who actually wants it than to think it's going to sit in some thrift shop for life.

So this is going to be brief because I have to get back to it now.  But I just wanted to touch base and let you know I *am* working toward the goal and I'll show you some of the good ideas I am implementing (when I get around to taking photos).  Right now I'm just gonna say the dollar store is your friend.  Don't go elsewhere for storage bins.  :-)

Seven Months After Starting the Elimination Diet: Follow Up

Yeah, so organizing has taken a back seat for now.  I'm not happy about that, but it is what it is.  I've got two more jewelry shows then I can get back to it with renewed vigor.  In the meantime, I've decided to share a personal experience with you.  This is one I'll be blogging about hopefully on a semi-regular basis.  It has nothing to do with jewelry making or with organizing, but that's why blogger has tabs. :-)

The short version of the story is that seven months ago I decided to try the "elimination diet" to see if I could pin point any food intolerances that were zapping my energy.  Yes, I'm overweight and that contributes to being tired, but I felt there may be something else going on.  We need to listen to our intuition. I'm a great believer in that.

In April 2017, I did six weeks of the hardcore elimination diet--where you cut out the foods that are most frequently the culprits (gluten, sugar, dairy, nightshade, citrus, corn, alcohol, soy, nuts, coffee, etc). [You can get lots of info if you google “elimination diet”.] Anyway, I re-introduced the foods one at a time and take note of any symptoms.

The other way to do this is just cut out one food for a certain amount of time and see if you notice a difference. As I see it, though, the problem with that is that if you are intolerant of multiple foods, you’ll never know it by cutting out only one at a time.

It was a pretty strict diet but it didn’t seem as hard as I thought it was going to be.

The results: cow's milk gives me migraines, yeast gives me eczema, sugar gives me the heebie jeebies, corn makes my ears itchy inside and stuffs them all up.

Of those four items, corn is the hardest to avoid.  I just got back from grocery shopping and it's pretty clear to me that I can never again buy even the slightest of processed foods. Things I thought were "safe" (regarding all my food intolerances) have hidden agendas.  I'm doing a 3-day show this weekend and wanted to find foods I can snack on throughout the day because meals are hard during shows, and I thought "Oh I'll get some roasted almonds". But no. They are roasted in oils that most likely contain corn. Hmph!  (Either that or canola oil which I want to avoid.)

I have to accept that my life is now "Make it yourself or you don't eat" (pretty much). I'm leery of anything that says "spices" or "flavoring" or other vague things. So I picked up celery, radishes, carrots, and raw almonds (I can roast them myself at home in coconut oil).

The days of convenience food are over but I am now migraine free, eczema free, and free of stuffed ears. It was worth it.  I do think I have more energy but that one is a work in progress.

Am I mad at the medical community for telling me (for seven years) that my ears itch because I must be getting shampoo in them when I wash my hair?  Am I mad at the medial community for never considering that forty years of migraines might have been avoided had someone thought to consider food sensitivities?

I don't know.  I'm certainly disappointed, but I can't say I'm surprised.

When we look back on archaic medicine and laugh (or shudder) at some of the things they did (ingesting mercury to cure irregularity problems) or thought (smoking cigarettes cures asthma and cancer)... it makes me realize that the early 21st century will eventually be looked back at with the same (or at least) similar shock and derision (assuming the human race survives).

But I do see a time in the future (I mean, it's in the present too but in such minuscule amounts!) when people will have a better understanding of the gut's role in our health.  The importance of a healthy, whole-foods based diet will be clearly understood.  Sugar will be a thing of the past (I can't picture that, but it's so detrimental to our health it saddens me no end).  I believe most illnesses stem from inflammation in the body and I believe that most inflammation is caused by what we eat.

I realize that doctors are excellent for trauma situations but I'm hesitant to make them the "go to" for illnesses or other complaints.

Anyway, just wanted to update you on the latest with my elimination diet.  In my next entry I want to share some of the foods I'm enjoying.  Due to sensitivity to copyright issues, I won't be re-posting recipes from books that I own, but I will be referencing them and the page numbers.  I'll also be giving you hyperlinks to online recipes I'm trying.  I will give you my opinion on the outcomes as well as informing you of any tweaks I make.

Here's what I'll show you next.  This was awesome!