I Am Large, I Contain Multitudes

Apparently it usually does take me 3 weeks to get this posted, but down the line I won't care how belated it was, so here it is. :-)

( 10 goals from 2016 )

( more things that happened in 2016 )

( 10 goals for 2017 )

Around the end of September -- shortly after Sukkot -- I started experiencing some swelling in my hands (both hands equally), especially in the mornings.

Since then, it's turned into genuine stiffness/aching and been getting progressively worse, especially in the last week or so. Just today it's bad enough that I am having trouble typing, which was not the case even last Friday.

As someone who does computer-intensive work, I do experience some (OK, fairly chronic low-grade) tenderness in the forearms, mostly on the right, which is my dominant/mousing side. But I've never experienced anything in my hands before. I really don't even know where to begin with this!

( more specific notes )

(I suppose sitting here typing to you all about it is counterproductive, but I need sympathy, dammit, if I'm even going to make it through tonight's band rehearsal. Advice based on either experience or training is also welcome.)

So about this low-carb thing I mentioned in passing the other day.

Yeah. I started last week -- I was going to say Sunday night, when I had my 7-hour crazy bus ride, but since that was on the heels of fabulous waffles and cinnamon rolls from brunch, I suppose that really means it was Monday. So, just over a week now. justom was going to be away the rest of that week, through Thursday, and I felt like that was a good time to be experimenting (not the only possible time, but a good time).

( why? )

( how? )

( findings, to date? )

No, I don't expect to do this forever, but I feel like I should give it a solid couple of weeks before deciding anything further.

But right now I'm finishing a lunch consisting of a bed of lettuce (including beet and radish greens), a can of tuna, half a cucumber, and half an avocado -- dressed with sesame seeds and a little Bragg's Healthy Vinaigrette. What's not to love??

[I was thinking about posting this friendslocked, but... what the heck.]

Today is Tisha B'Av, which commemorates the destruction of both the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, as well as a host of other catastrophes of Jewish history.

What I want to write about here, though, is not the religious aspect, but the fasting.

Three weeks ago (June 29) was the minor fast day of 17 Tammuz. For the minor fast days, especially in the summer, I often will do a liquid fast rather than the traditional not-even-water.

One of the interesting things about religious fast days is that by the time I get to the end of them, I invariably feel like I could keep going pretty easily. The first 24 hours are the hardest, no?

( So I successfully did ~4 days on liquids-only at the end of June. )

( It was... interesting, but tiring. )

So, yeah, as for today, I'm continuing to drink water, but nothing else. A different sort of experience. (I had a massage appointment with chaiya 10 days ago where she expressed serious concern about my hydration levels, as well as muscle tension and usage patterns in general, so I'm sticking with the water.) Also, work is officially closed until 1pm today, so I think I'll go put laundry in -- if there's still time! -- and then come back and stretch and rest until I need to go anywhere else. Still haven't decided whether to do the shul break-fast tonight; I think I'll just wait and see whether I feel like it, or if I have a better impulse by then. ETA: Now, of course, surrealestate's post about kimchi is making me think about sushi and Korean places. :-)