It's all about the food

My energy has continued to be up and I've been at work at least a few hours each day. I love being able to get things done, even if I have had to accept that I won't get as much done in as short a time as I used to. I recently heard a quote that resonated with me by Joseph Campbell, American writer of comparative mythology and philosophy: “You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” Upon awaking each day, I try to have the attitude that I am greeting the day on today's terms. I'm no longer interested in engaging with the struggle inherent to the human condition. When I get tired, I go home. When I need to sit down, I sit down. When I need love and support, I ask for it. Of course, this is all much easier these days without an egg sized tumor squishing my brain. I feel like finally the brain I have left is recovering on its own terms. My mental capacity is wider, clearer, sharper, etc. I've not felt this cognitively capable in a very long time. It's amazing what brain surgery can do for a person!

Lately I've been all about the food and trying to have some fun with it. I'm constantly finding new, easy recipes! These butter cookies (http://ketosizeme.com/keto-cinnamon-butter-cookies-recipe/) are fantastic because I can have a little something "sweet," I can dress them up with different flavors, and no one else wants to eat them because they are more buttery than sweet and that makes them all mine! One realization we've had is that 1) I am having trouble getting enough vitamins and 2) Sometimes I can't get enough fat within my calorie count. After much research and debate we settled on two foods that would help my diet and offer some variety. The first is liver, very high in nutrition. I hate liver but when I was a kid I did eat fried chicken livers occasionally. I told Jason that if we could deep fry chicken livers with my keto breading (egg wash dip followed by equal parts almond flour and parmesan cheese), I could probably do it. I will have to work up to beef liver maybe...possibly...I'm not sure. I guess it depends on how it's cooked.

So the other food has been a lot harder for me to deal with. I've had to reintroduce bacon into my diet. I hadn't had bacon since I stopped eating all mammals when Aidan was an infant (he's now 12). I had originally given it up for humanitarian reasons. In the last few years I've owned a pet pig and for me, that solidified the deal because I love that pig and they are very intelligent animals. I wouldn't eat a dog and pigs are so much smarter than dogs. After much waffling in my head, I decided that I'd still not eat ham or sausage (because it looks too much like flesh) but I will eat bacon. At least bacon tastes good (I did remember that much). What I did not remember is how salty it is. Mom was laughing at me because my mouth was raw from the saltiness. I'm wondering if the fact that it's uncured bacon means it is more salty than usual (I'm not sure), but I can't have the nitrates or sugar in cured bacon. After having bacon and eggs this morning for breakfast, I actually found that my day started out better than usual. It may be that bacon is the solution for some of my morning issues. Who knew?! I'm not telling Pancake but I'm telling myself he'd eat the bacon if given the chance and that makes it ok.