You Ain't Going Nowhere (from this blog)

Um hi? Welcome back to me?  A blog I had completely forgotten about 2.5 years ago bounced back into my mind when I woke up to a comment from someone who found my little corner of the internet (thank you Sana for the comment!).  So, a quick recap of what has happened to me in the last 2.5 years:

• When I was last blogging we were living in Raleigh, NC.  Well about 4 months after I stopped blogging, my husband was approached with an opportunity to relocate to Washington, DC....so off to DC we went where we have lived now for the last 2 years.  
• I have changed companies twice but still in the same line of business.  
• We unexpectedly lost our 4 year old lab right after we moved to DC.  The vets couldn't determine what happened but basically his heart stopped in the middle of the night.  It was a very traumatic event that still upsets me but a few months after Max passed, we adopted a lab/hound mix from the local shelter.  High energy is an understatement but Arlo is one of the best dogs ever.  
• I regained all the weight I lost.  Yes, all of it.  FML. It started the minute we moved to DC and after going to 3 allergists, an endocrinologist, 3 OBGYN's, a gastroenterologist, a GP for a year, and a holistic doctor, the third allergist has found out that I am highly allergic to the environment we live in (AWESOME!) and now I am on four prescription antihistamines.  
• I became negligent about remaining sulfite-free.  I have learned that my reactions have either lessened OR are being masked again like they were when my cortisol levels were high.  I'm going with the latter.  

So with all that said, I didn't realized I had blogged this little blog for a few months in 2012 and it was kind of a fun morning when I didn't feel like working to instead read what I had previously wrote.  Also noted, damn I was so skinny back then!  I have been working with a health coach the last month or so and she really wants me journaling.  Also my husband learned that bloggers can make fairly good money by blogging (obviously the successful ones that have sponsors, ads, etc) and his response when I told him about how much some of the bloggers I read make was, "why aren't you blogging?"  Good question (my answer to myself - because I am fairly boring).  So why not mesh my blogging and my journaling together?  Efficiency at it's finest. 

Here is where I am at diet wise: I have been playing around with different macros/diet plans with my health coach.  Last night we determined to move me over to a high fat, low carb diet to see if it could somehow jump-start my body...again.  Seriously - I am right back to where I was 4 years ago....this is the worst case of deja vu ever.  Interestingly, I found my post where I listed all the foods I avoided because it gave me issues (I have enough of those already).  While I feel like I have made leaps and bounds with being able to tolerate certain sulfited foods again (like garlic, onions, broccoli, eggs, etc) I am wondering if all my environmental allergies are masking the reactions and I just think my sensitivity is lessening but the reality is that it's not.  whomp whomp.  

To re-hash what I had previously wrote HERE, I noted a lovely list of foods that bothered me and that I avoided like the plague (or to keep this up to current times - Ebola).  Because I need to see this now, I am hitting good ole copy/paste on that list (you can just scroll through if you are like OMG Cassie NO1CURR).

My Sulfite No-No's
Wine and Beer
Colored liquor
Soda (except for plain carbonated water)
Soy
Malted anything (which is found in most breads and flours)
Canned foods
Jarred foods
Cured Meats (especially all pork products)
Grapes
Shrimp
Lobster
Corn anything (this is on the newer scale - I know I cannot have corn syrup and corn starch but I am almost finding I cannot have polenta and corn chips FML)
Pre-made stuff (like frozen meals, pre-made biscuits or pizza dough)
Eggs (if I have 1 once a week I seem to be okay)
Kale
Broccoli
Asparagus
Chips, cookies, crackers, pretzels (unless homemade)
Caregeenan (which is found in heavy cream, almond milk, and protein powder)
Pre-packaged meat (the pads they put underneath the meat helps keep it fresh and is soaked in sulfites)
Bottled juices
Onion and garlic
Bottled lemon or lime juice
Molasses
Salad Dressing
Ketchup/Mustard/Condiments
Pre-shredded cheeses
Deli Meat
Chocolate
Cortisol steroids
Ice Cream

The sad truth?  I eat a LOT of these things again.  I don't know what changed about my attitude toward my sensitivities with food - maybe I stopped giving any fucks, maybe I thought I was okay, maybe I was depressed and love to torture myself by re-gaining 30+ pounds.....honestly, I couldn't really tell you why I allowed this to all happen.  So I am putting it nicely in e-writing - starting today no more of this crud in my system.  Yes, I will cry some crocodile tears over eggs and broccoli (which have become staples in my diet) but I have done this before and I lived through it and I know I can do that again.

Now my fitness plans.....when we moved, I attempted to find a new place to get my boot camp on but holy hell doing anything fitness-related in the NOVA/DC area is 3 times as much as it was back in NC.  I was still doing HIIT when we first moved here but I could no longer do it in my living room (hello neighbors) so I would walk to the apartment gym but I felt like walking 5 minutes over there to do a 12-20 minute work out to walk back home for 5 minutes seemed kind of...silly? So I moved away from HIIT (big mistake) and started weight lifting, running outside as much as I could tolerate, and eventually moved to incorporating yoga and barre into my weekly routine.  My current plan includes barre twice a week, HIIT 2 times a week, and then 1 day where I can do whatever my little heart desires (I can lift, I can run, I can do another HIIT....or shit all three if I feel like being a beast).

I think I talked enough for a day....or maybe to fill in the 2.5 year gap.