Kenna Morton's Journal, 22 Dec 19

You know the old saying that something or other put a “monkey wrench” into a plan or situation? Well, this little guy below looks like my life right now— my entire life is a monkey wrench due to sick sister and her sick boyfriend issues. But that is not what I am writing about. I don’t have any problem dealing with the medical issues or the actual emotional issues related to this complex situation. That is after all what I spent 40+ years doing for a living. I managed the illness and death of both my parents and the illnesses and deaths of several other people in my world. I can shut my emotional connection to a situation “off” just like turning a key. Sounds good but not always. But what you can’t turn off is your body’s response to these stressful things. It is so important to recognize this and deal with it. Part of how you do that is to feed yourself in the healthiest manner possible. Fruits, vegetables, foods high in antioxidants , no alcohol (contributes to depression), limit processed foods and added sugars, drink water, Try to sleep and here is that dreaded word EXERCISE. No ball busting weightlifting required. If you can manage to just walk at a good pace for 30 minutes it can do so much for your body’s ability to relieve stress. And, don’t all these things sound like what many of us here are trying to do anyway— eat healthier to not only improve our physical health but our mental health as well. There is a direct link between mental health and our gut bacteria. Hang in there everyone— this is turning out to be a really tough Holliday season for many people in my world and also in our FS world. We can all get through this but you have to put the oxygen on yourself first. You can’t care for others if you don’t take care of yourself FIRST.

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1543 kcal

Fat: 57.21g | Prot: 79.81g | Carbs: 181.50g.   Breakfast: Stop & Shop Mixed Pepper Strips, Steak (Lean Only Eaten), Whole Foods Market Christmas Lima Beans, Irish Guinness Brown Bread, Kettle & Fire Mushroom Chicken Bone Broth, Maxwell House International Cafe Orange, Adobe Milling Anasazi Beans, Food Club Large Egg, NoSalt Nosalt, Oranges . Lunch: Blueberries, Wheat Montana Milled Flax Seed, Tru-Nut Powdered Peanut Butter, The Greek Gods Traditional Plain Greek Yogurt, R.W. Knudsen Family 4% Milkfat Small Curd Cottage Cheese, Chobani Nonfat Vanilla Blended Greek Yogurt (Container), Sweet Heart Milled Chia Seeds, Date, Trader Joe's Pomegranate Seeds, Ranch Granola. Dinner: Potato and Cheese Soup, Souper Salad Garbanzo Beans, Dill , Olive Oil , Whole Foods Market Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Fillets, Kroger Radishes, Cauliflower , Persimmon. Snacks/Other: Grandma's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (41g). more...

1578 kcal

Exercise: Swimming (slow) - 2 hours, Resting - 14 hours, Sleeping - 8 hours. more...