It's Totally A Thing...

Ok, so I actually did a bit of homework...

In my last post, I mentioned how I was feeling a bit down now that Christmas is over and wondered if feeling a bit sad after a big, stressful event was common. Turns out, it totally is a thing!

The phenomenon is called 'post-adrenaline blues'....can't guarantee that's the scientific name for it, but that's what a few articles called it!

Here is the link to one of the articles that I found on the topic, feel free to check it out ^_^

Going to start writing out my post on HS soon, probably this evening. Hopefully I will have it up in the next day or so! [I may break it up into a few different posts, just to make it easier to read and follow]

Missing Christmas...

Totally me!

Well, we've done it, folks! Give yourselves a pat on the back, you survived another Christmas season!!

Kidding aside, I hope that anyone that reads this blog had a wonderful Christmas ^_^ My little family sure did! The past week has been filled with as much holiday hustle and bustle imaginable...many, many family event hours later, everything is done.

Just like that. Done.

I noticed something a bit strange this morning. As I was going about my apartment getting ready for work this morning, I felt a tiny, creeping bit of sadness as I walked past our Christmas tree. It's no longer got a buttload of gifts tantalizingly waiting underneath it...instead there are only scraps of wrapping paper and the odd bow that had fallen off of its package. Instead of the anxious anticipation of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, I'm now filled with dread at the idea of having to find room and places for all of the gifts that we received. Now, instead of enjoying my tree, I sigh and dread having to take it down and pack away all of the ornaments...

It's strange...how pretty much the entire month of December builds up and up to Christmas and then **poof** it's all just...gone.

It was depressing to get into my car this morning. To the chagrin of my husband, I've been listening to our local Christmas music station for the better part of 6 weeks [yes, I'm one of those people]...and now, there are no longer cheery carols to listen to.

Now, the stress and worry of finding the perfect gifts for everyone on my shopping list is gone...but it's almost like a chunk of happiness is, too. I pretty much don't know what to do with myself now!

Funny, I remember the same sort of "event vacuum" the day after my wedding, last year. All the planning, fretting, anticipation....and then, just nothing!

Don't get me wrong, I don't ever truly love the stress of event preparation while it's going on...I moan and groan just like everyone else. But I seem to miss it once it's gone!

I wonder if there's some sort of archaic word for these 'post-Christmas blues.' I bet there is, I'll have to research it later.

How about you? Do you find yourself a bit sad at the end of the holidays or are you glad to have it all over with?

P.S. - 12 days until AIP overhaul! Hmm....maybe planning the transition can keep me occupied while I get over missing Christmas!

AIP Diet...

About a month ago, I finally started using Reddit. Now, I know Reddit has been around for quite some time and I've even had a profile for a little over a year, but I never really knew how to participate in the Reddit community until recently. [Attribute that to it being super low on my priority list and my getting older, I suppose] Once I discovered how to subscribe to subreddits and interact in those communities, I started looking for more subreddits to join! [I started off with joining the r/90DayFiance/ page...that show is one of my guilty pleasures] Shortly after, I found and joined the subreddit for the r/Hidradenitis/ community.

So, hidradenitis suppurativa [HS, for short] is the illness that I've been alluding to in my last two posts. It's a chronic, not contagious, auto-immune disorder that causes sufferers to develop skin lesions as a result of inflammation. It's a hidden disease, meaning that most non-sufferers don't even know about it! [We hide it pretty well!] Because it's not well known and very commonly misunderstood, a lot of us just don't talk about it. Not even with our physicians. Hidradenitis is going to be one of the main, recurring topics of my blog, so I will revisit it in depth in another post. 

So! I mention all of that just to get bring you all up to speed with my decision to start the AIP diet. 

While browsing through the HS subreddit, I realized that I was finally connecting with other sufferers and able to get information on how they handle daily life with the illness. Diet was a topic that kept popping up when redditors were talking about how they attempt to manage symptoms and flare-ups. As with anything, there is mixed feedback on how efficient dietary changes are when it comes to HS management, but I've reached a point where I am almost desperate to try anything to get some relief!

So, using knowledge I've gained from other HS sufferers, I've decided that the Autoimmune Protocol Diet [AIP] has one of the best track records for controlling HS symptoms. It's basically a modified version of the Paleo diet...lots of meat and veggies, no processed foods, no grains, no dairy. But the AIP diet is even more restrictive: no nightshades [tomato and eggplant], no eggs, and several sauces and seasonings are also excluded.

Basically, I'm going to die.

Okay, probably not. But still!! I'm definitely not looking forward to having to ditch practically everything that I'm accustomed to eating. And woe to my family who is going to have to endure me giving up my Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi!

Thankfully, the list of allowed foods is fairly long. Almost as long as the list of what's not allowed!

Dreading this diet as I am, I am trying to keep focused on the benefits of such a dietary overhaul...I was telling my husband that I can't even remember what it's like to have days where my HS flares aren't some degree of painful...so maybe, just maybe, the AIP diet will be the key to changing that! And I might just be okay with giving up carbs for more 'normal' skin!

I plan on chronicling my journey into the world of AIP dieting on my blog. Feel free to follow me as I ditch all of my culinary comforts and strive towards beating back HS!

Edit: I forgot to add my start date! I plan on starting my journey to wellness on January 7, 2019! I didn't start earlier because of the upcoming holidays...no one wants to suffer through a Thanksgiving just days after giving up carbs!

Holiday Prep...

**Happy Dance!**

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend, I've been incredibly busy! The good news is that I think I've about 98% done with all of my Christmas shopping ^_^ Less fun, I've been wrapping presents for hours today. Our poor little dining room has been absolutely flooded with wrapped parcels of love and my back is definitely feeling every single one. Funny, I don't present wrapping resulting in back pain before...ahh, I love getting older. [So much sarcasm in that statement, it's practically tangible] Next year, I'll have to remember to actually use the table for present wrapping rather than do everything on the floor! I guess I can blame my Asian heritage for my tendency to sit on the floor for things...right? *shrug*

I'm working up to writing those posts about the AIP diet and chronic illness...sorry it's taking a while, I want to do a good job on them. I plan on posting [or at least partially posting] at least one of them in the next week or so. Until then, enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a good work week!

Introductions...

Hi, welcome to my blog! I figure that a blog's first post is a good spot for introductions, so here it goes!

My name is Tammy and this is my third venture into the world of blogging [I'll post the links to my previous blogs at the end of this post, just in case you'd like to check them out]. I'm 'thirty-ish', a mom to an awesome 10 year old boy, and I'm just recently married. Life keeps me and my little family fairly busy...I work with my family's business, appraising real estate, and my husband has a desk job with SouthernPower and runs his own lawn maintenance business in his off-time. When we're not working, there's always tons of 'home stuff' to do: homework with the kiddo, extra curricular activities, things around the house, etc. That being said, I will do my best to write posts as regularly as possible, but bear with me if it seems like it's taking me a while to post. I'm probably being pulled in a dozen directions!

I plan on using this blog to more or less chronicle some fairly big changes that are coming up for me in the next year. In a couple of weeks, I'm planning on starting the Autoimmune Protocol Diet [AIP diet, for short]. I've got some chronic health issues that I desperately need some relief from, so I'm going to give the AIP lifestyle a serious try. I will be sure to write a few posts on the AIP diet and all it entails soon! And I will also write a few posts on my health conditions that I'm dealing with, hopefully I'll be able to bring some attention to a health condition that many people suffer with but very few outside of sufferers know about. [I know I'm being vague, but I'll talk about it soon!]

I will also write about things that me and my family like, such as video games, movies, goofiness in general...expect posts on parenting ups and downs, married life, and the frustrations of being an adult.

Mom duties are calling, so off I go! Check back in a day or two for my next post!

See you soon!

As promised, here are the links to my two previous blogs: Confetti Mumbles - my second blog and Great Expectations - my first blog.