Monday, April 11, 2011

MSG- What?

I now have the answer I've been looking for, it just isn't the answer I want.  I've been feeling really sick after I eat most days.  I knew I must be allergic to something I was eating, but I couldn't figure out what on earth it was.  I would eat things that seemed to be from similar food groups and one time I would get really sick, and another only slightly sick.  Yeah, believe it or not it was pretty much a variance of degrees of sickness, there weren't many times I ate something and felt great afterward.   Perhaps this is why I've never understood why some of my friends love food.  I have a love hate relationship with food.  It tasted good, and it gives me energy, but then most of the time I feel like crap after I've eaten it.  Doesn't really make you want to eat.  I have the luck of also being hypoglycemic, so if I don't eat my blood pressure drops and I become a zombie- no one wants that.  So not eating just wasn't an option for me- which meant finding out what I was allergic to was very pressing.

It was my dad or my sister who suggested MSG.  My grandmother Rolison is allergic to it as well.  So I did what any person would do.  I went to the internet.  I found a reputable site that had information on MSG and what side effects they could have on someone.  What do you know- every single side effect I had was on that list.  I was one step closer to diagnosing myself (I hate going to the doctors office).  Then once I read up on it- which was crazy and I highly suggest you do some research for yourself.  Did you know that MSG can cause brain damage and reproduction problems?  Yeah, kinda frightening.  Anyway, so now I had an idea of what might be wrong, so I did a test.   I looked up the things I had been eating that had made me really sick- every one of them contained MSG.  Then I had some meals with absolutely no MSG, and made sure I went without it for a day.  I felt great that day- well compared to normal anyway.   I didn't feel sick at all after I ate, it was fantastic!

So now I breathed a sigh of relief- I know what is wrong with me, and it's something I can fix.  I just need to not eat things with MSG in it.  Easy, right?
      Yeah... not so much.  Just about EVERYTHING has MSG in it.  Except they don't just say MSG, they have code words- lots and lots of code words.  "Seasoning", "Natural Flavors", "Yeast Extract" the list goes on an on and on and on.  I do not understand how something that can cause brain legions is allowed to not be properly labeled.  Someone is making a lot of money for looking the other way, that's for sure. 

But now I am off to an MSG free life- which is a healthier life and also a cooking life since pretty much everything that is prepackaged contains the offending product.  So now I am going to attempt to cook, and find a way to live and eat without having MSG.  It's daunting- let me tell you.  But my sister is a great cook, and she eats healthy and doesn't used over processed foods.  So I am going to try and take after her and see if I can come halfway to being as good a cook as she is (it's doubtful, people) 

Here's to a healthier life that is sure to be full of tons of FAILED attempts at cooking!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Angels Among Us


So I just took a slightly frightening undertaking.  I have officially signed up for my very first 5k!  I am not a runner (yet), but this is my first step.  I want some someday run a half marathon, hopefully by the end of this year.  So I figured a 5k would be necessary to complete before I started full on training for the half. I know, all of you are thinking I am crazy right now, and you're probably right.

This is how it all started- I had decided I wanted to do a 5k in maybe late May or early June.  I figured that would give me enough time to train up and be able to run 3 miles no problem.  But of course things never happen the way I think they will. 

I was studiously researching different races and looking for some 5k in my area.  So I saw one on the list in Durham.  I thought "sweet, that's really close to where I live."  So I clicked on it and saw it was a 5k and the date was April 30th.  Yeah, right!  So just as I was about to x out of that site I took a quick glance at what the race was for, and for that I am now signed up to run a 5k at the end of April.  Eeek.  I still haven't been able to run 3 miles.  I'm not sure if I've even pulled out a straight 2 mile run in the past month, but I'm working on it, and sloooowwwwlly but surely I will get there.  I am determined to finish the race and not "quit and sit down" as my Granny so graciously told me I could do without remorse, thanks Gran.  Haha.  But that's another story.  So the whole reason I am now in this crazy thing is because I saw that this race is a fundraiser for the Duke Tisch Brain Tumor Center research. 

As you know by now by my previous posts, my mother died of a brain tumor when she was 47 years old. So I am doing this for her.  But more so, I am doing it for all of the other families out there, so that hopefully they won't have to lose their loved ones, but can walk by them day to day throughout long lives. 

So now I am asking you, dear readers, to please donate.  Please help me fund research to find the cure for brain cancer.  You can check out my fundraiser page:

http://dccc.convio.net/site/TR/Angels/TR-AngelsAmongUs?px=1051708&pg=personal&fr_id=1080

Thanks guys!  I'll keep you updated on how the race goes.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Winter Wonderland?

It seems like all I've been hearing about lately is the crazy blizzards people are having. Up north some people have barely been able to get out of their homes. Down south, the unusual weather is having kids put socks on their hands - I guess they don't see any need for actual gloves. Who needs fingers anyway?




I hear complaints from everyone about how cold it is. (Although, not from my sister who lives in Florida. When she says it's cold, I ignore her.) Weather can be a real issue. It's not always just the polite conversational piece for when you don't know what to talk about. For example:



Being without my own car for almost a month gives me great sympathy for these people. "So where is your car?" "Oh, it's on the interstate, most likely getting run over by a snow plow."

While everyone else surrounding North Carolina was getting snow. We were at a balmy 70 degrees.




True to my prediction, the very next day we were here:

Cold and rainy.



All this time I am sitting here wondering-
    Where is MY winter wonderland?



I admit I am not the average North Carolinian who loves warm weather and complains when it gets down to 40 degrees. Although I get cold easily, there is such a thing called winter clothing, it really is a fabulous creation. I want nothing more than to look outside and see white everywhere and it would be even better if that somewhere happened to be in NYC. But for now, I am trucking through the rain, dreamily transporting myself to my very own winter paradise.