Midlife - bloody - crisis... literally

Hej å hopp!

So yes, I've definitely been contaminated by midlife crisis. LOL. And what are the obvious signs? well, what do people do? buy stupid toys? jump out of a plane? get tattoos? leave their wives and go off with someone 20 years younger?
Oh... and then there's the one regarding piercings :-) Yes, sirrreeee..... Yes, I admit, I went for it. And yes, I am (already) 26 years old. But to my defence, I have been thinking about it for the past few years. So, last monday (23rd October 2006) I walked into Harness Bodypiercing Studio (www.yazka.com) and decided to have it done... Well, the first thing the sweet young lady did was that she demanded I go eat something to get my blood sugar levels up. So I had a banana and a yoghurt. But I was still determined to do it. I had been thinking it over even more seriously during last week. Dunno why, maybe the planets were in some wierd position.
Oh, you want to know where I took it? The tongue.
So after a few deep breaths and choosing a Bioplast(tm) plasticy 'stud' (what are they called?), out came the clamps, grapped my tongue, and ZAPP it was in. Did it hurt? Well... what shold I say? A little, I mean, it was quickly over, it was kinda like a pinch. So, it doesn't hurt like pulling out wisdom teeth, but it's not as painless as.... gettin your ears pierced. So, go figure if it's for you or not. But afterwards my body had some kinda reaction cos I started to sweat really profusely. But it only took about 5-10 minutes to calm down.
So, now I'm on a no-lactose, no-alcohol diet for a few weeks (and I only just got rid of the fasting diet!!). The last few days have gone trying to get acquainted with my tongue again. I feel a bit like a cow as I'm trying to chew food without biting my tongue. Only once I got the 'stud' caught on my teeth, and OH BOY, it hurts!! cos your tongue's reflex is to pull back the tongue, which means it rips at the hole. OUCH. I'll try not to do it again :-) So that's the bloody bit. So, eating soft foods, washing out with Corsodyl (which truly tastes like shit) and trying not to sound like the campest camper, there's just a few of the challenges I'm dealing with. But it's fun. Can't wait to put a bling in there. It's a shame they don't do Svarowsky for tongues. Wouldn't that just be über-camp.
Yes, and I'm also on a no-mucous-membrane diet for a few weeks... you figure out what that means :-) It's all for the sake of not getting any infections. That would be uuuuugly.

Sorry for not informing before now, but I had to keep the suprise moment for my darling hubby. You shoulda seen his face when he saw it ;) I think he was gonna faint.

So that's what I've done. Deal with it. I just 2 years ago got rid of my ear piercing, so now I've got a new toy. :-) tee hee!

I'll try and put up some pics once I get around to it... It's just a hassle with combining old laptops, memorysticks, yadda yadda, complications... yadda yadda... crash boom bang... yadda yadda... "fucking computer" WHAM..... "oh shit, I'll just go to bed".

Well, tomorrow's Friday again. Whoodles!

PFS - Post Fasting Syndrome

So yeah, I'm suffering from PFS. It's a quick degradation into same old bad habbits. Eating unhealthy food, drinking, smoking etc etc. That's what weekends tend to cause.

So, last friday, ate at Serata (www.serata.net). Very very good food, highly recommended. The snails we had for starters were divine!! The main course was good. Not extremely wow, but nice and good. Sadly, didn't have time for dessert as we had to rush to the theatre accross the street. We saw Kertakäyttötavaraa, a kind of cabaret-musical-blend. And it had Jarkko&Osku, the ultimate drag-queens! It was very funny, but the plot was quite weak. But as a funny show it was excellent. No regrets.

Saturday, lol, more shopping, new champagne flutes and martini glases from the Crazy Days.
And then out to DTM in the evening. Another late night/early morning. VERY good reason to curse the Finnish taxi system to hell and back. I mean HOW difficult can it be to get a taxi at 4:30am????? And it's not even pikkujoulu-time... so it's only gonna get worse. Really makes me miss New York where one never has to wait more than 30 secs to get a taxi!!

So that was the rant for today!

The weird thing with PFS is that the normal cravings for food have returned. I mean now the automatic 11am hunger at work has come back. It just feels odd after almost 2 weeks of not eating.

Ok, speaking of which, I'm getting hungry.

Later!

Backlash

Oh shit x 2!

Forgive me oh whoever-is-listening... I have sinned. I have done the dirty, i.e. shopped and eaten well.
Yesterday I did give in to temptation and bought some nice food, most of which was consumed in the evening. (What't the point in buying a lot of good food and then eating it all in one go? or is that EXACTLY the point? to eat as long as u have it? or is that just something quite Lutheran? "enjoy what you have fast, you never know when it'll be taken away"). I even had 12cl of a nice red wine. And I think my stomach is trying to tell me something since it's being a bit dodgy... Nothing too dangerous yet, just dodgy.
I mean, how can anyone resist a little of my lovely soup, nice Stockmann Greek bread, prosciutto (or something similar), cherry tomato-mozzarella salad, paté and fries???

And this stomach drama is NOT going to stop me from eating even better and drinking even more wine tonight!!

Other than that, we didn't go too mad. Just bought some new knives for the kitchen and frying pans (how domestic!!).

No more doggie in the house now :'( Sad. The little bitch kept us such good company and she truly is the sweetest thing ever.

On that note, TGIF!

Fasting is over - back to reality

So, it's done and I'm slowly trying to normalize my diet. Small steps.

Yesterday I spent hours making an organic potato-onion-mushroom-garlic soup, which turned out pretty good. It just took forever to make. All the chopping and peeling. Cooking would be more fun if the ingredients were ready-chopped...

What I'm really looking forward to is having my first G&T in weeks. Friday should be a good time for it.

So as I have left fasting behind, the next challenge is surviving Hullut Päivät/Galna Dagar/Crazy Days at Stockmann. Yesterday I just quickly walked through it and didn't buy anything. Today I'm afraid I'm giving in to temptation and going there in the evening. Like most people, I have looked through the catalogue and circled the stuff I wanna get. We'll see what I'll drag home. I suspect the result will be either that I only get some food, or alternatively I go mad and buy shitloads of stuff. I do think their selection of stuff gets worse every year. And more expensive. It used to be a chance to get some really cheap stuff, but not so anymore.

What is it that makes us go nutz and run through stores during sales, pulling at clothes, swearing at people? It just all seems so primitive...

Hmm.. note to self, should learn how to post some pictures here :)

Days 4 - 6 - fasting and social events...

Sorry about lack of update... how many thought I'd starved to death?

Well, no I didn't. It was just the weekend and I didn't much feel like writing.. And I had other stuff to do. Like pressing lemon juice and mixing it with syrup, cayenne pepper and water to drink. And drinking herbal tea and water.

So, my biggest realisation is really that fasting is most difficult for OTHER people, i.e. people who aren't fasting. To the individual who's fasting it's not really difficult. I mean, sure I think about food. But, I'm not hungry, I don't feel the NEED for food. And the thing is, it really gets easier the longer you do it. Now I'm on day 7 and it feels like I could go on like this forever :-) (Don't worry, I won't, I already have a restaurant booked for Friday :) )
I mean, being at a party, everybody else is drinking wine and eating snacks and I drink water. Do they all think I'm suffering cos I'm not eating and they are? (Would I be there if I was suffering? The people who know me probably know the answer is "no") If I was suffering, I'd be at home bitching and groaning and whining about how miserable I was and trying to get sympathy. Of course, some of the stories people start telling after copious amounts of wine aren't as funny when you're sober, but hey, you can always laugh AT people, not WITH them ;)
But fasting generally sure makes for conversation. Everybody has to ask about it. Maybe it makes them feel uncomfortable...

So I do think about food. In a way I really learn to appreciate food. I mean not eating gives a person time to reflect on what one WANTS to eat. Not so much "oh god, I HAVE TO eat something today, what should I get?" but rather "NOW I can eat, what do I WANT TO make, I have so many options". It's a wonderful feeling. Of course I have to start with some simple soups so my guts don't turn inside out. But on Friday I'm already hoping to eat something "real".

For anybody who's thinking about fasting I can warmly recommend it ;) BUT it's not for everyone. And it's no miracle cure.

As I said, today is my 7th day, and it looks like it's gonna be my last day, fasting. They say 7 days is minimum for this method, and they recommend 10, but as I did this same thing also at the beginning of the year 7 days should be enough.

Ok, gotta go pee... talk to ya later ;)

Day 3 - advertising...

Day 3. To proove that I'm not doing this to loose weight I will have to tell you that I didn't weigh myself before starting this thing and I still haven't. :-)

Eating lunch with work colleagues is fun. I sit there with my two mugs; one with water, the other with tea. And they look at me like "you're nuts". I have to admit food does smell good. I mean, somebody today had these crepes with some meat filling. YUM.

So, one thing I usually start noticing when I'm fasting is the prominent role food plays in our lives. We are surrounded by food, if we're not eating or thinking about eating, we are bombarded with cooking programs, advertisements on tv, in newspapers, on billboards. It's mind-boggling. It's just everywhere. And I must admit, I am a sucker for advertising. I usually go "oooh, nice new product, looks interesting, must try out, I'll just go and buy it". But now I can't really do that so I can instead say "HA, you're not getting me today, I'm not gonna buy that new whipped cream, even though it has some hot model in the ad".
Of course I understand that we have to eat and cook to stay alive, but can we not make it easier for ourselves? Does somebody think that we'll suddenly forget to eat if we're not constantly reminded that we could or should be eating. :-)

That's a bit of today's rant. :-)

*cheers*

...I stand corrected

The kid in the movie is actually a British actor.... Born in Hertfordshire, the same county I used to live in in the UK... maybe that's why his English sounds so odd, a bit like mine... *tee hee*

Day 2 - evening

Yes, I'm still alive! Feeling a little tired, but that can be due to a million things. Like lack of sleep.

Why am I doing this? they ask...
Because last time I did it I felt very good afterwards and it gave me more energy. And another fact is that it allows you to empty out all the "shit" from your guts... All that yucky rotten red meat that doesn't go anywhere but is stuck there... :) Don't complain if I'm disgusting :-) You asked for it.

Big Warning! Do not go and see Alex Rider & the Stormbreaker. (even if it's the only thing you can get tickets too, just ask yourself "why can I get tickets to this show but none of the others?". "Because it's shite" I tell you). Thank god the tickets were freebies. Seriously, do something radical instead... like rent all movies ever made based on Jane Austen books and watch them in one go, without a pee-break. For example.
It was agony, and it didn't help that I actually needed to pee... I'm sure the kid in it was actually American because his accent was just odd. A bit like Rene Zellweger in Bridget Jones (it always disturbes me).

Anyhoodles, time to go to bed soon. Or at least to slouch on the sofa for a little while.
I'll try and see to it that the clock on this thing is adjusted.

Good night pumpkins!

Fasting - Day 2

So, as I'm fasting I thought I could write a kinda diary while I'm doing it.

It's day 2, I'm still alive. Don't worry mommy, it's not gonna kill me.

I started "this madness" yesterday. It's the one where you're supposed to drink this maple-palmsyrup stuff with lemon juice, cayenne pepper and water. And then I'm allowed to drink herbal tea and well... water. This is what I'm supposed to do for the next 7 to 10 days. As you can imagine, I'm saving a lot of time not having to cook. So, :) I can write a blog-diary instead.

It's always amusing to see people's reactions when one begins fasting. 5% have tried it themselves. The rest are on a scale of "are you mad? are you trying to loose weight? you can't do it for that long!! a human being has to eat every day....". It's funny.

Tiredness: People say fasting makes you tired. I have to say the opposite. Fasting gives me sooo much energy. It also gives you a kick to do all those things you've put aside... Like last night for example, I actually read books instead of watching TV. And that is a big thing!! Ususally I just slouch on the sofa from approx 7pm to midnight. But yesterday - after Prison Break coz I HAVE to watch that - I actually picked up 2 books I'd taken out from the library and browsed through them.

Hunger: Pish posh, hunger is a state of mind... :) Yes, occasionally I feel hungry or my stomach growls, but then I just drink some more of my tasty drink and I'm fine again.

Well, we'll see how I feel in a few hrs. Get back to me with comments or other thoughts! ...or just to check that I'm still alive.