30 Days of Little L - Day 23

Day 23 - Something you crave a lot

Spanakopita | Alexander Baxevanis

I was going to pause this here writing challenge to talk about some tweaks we're making to our diet, but then I opened the list, and saw this prompt, and I guess I don't have to do that after all! Yay!

So a few months ago, Big started having stomach problems.

To understand the full scope of Big's stomach problems, you need to know that before these stomach problems, this man had not vomited once in all of our 15 years together. And then, one day, he was in a lot of pain, and he ate anyway, and he projectile vomited all over the eat-in part of our eat-in kitchen.

Can I just say that going from basically dead asleep to rushing to clean vomit off a hardwood floor sucks balls?

After the first "episode," he ate light for a day or two, and the pain went away, and we swore off alcohol for a little while. But not too long because alcohol plays a big part in our celebrations, and Thanksgiving was coming up, and right after Thanksgiving is our wedding anniversary, and then Christmas, and then New Year's.

So we made a pact to only drink on those days (which I promptly violated because we didn't finish a single bottle of wine on those days, and I didn't want the leftover to go to waste), and eat sort of light between. And we did pretty good at first, but we drank SO MUCH soda, and by "pretty good," I mean that we had a salad once.

He had a tiny stomach ache between Christmas and New Year's Eve, but it wasn't that bad, so we drank more on New Year's than we did on the other days. I mean, it's New Year's!

Then, on the 7th, Big started to get another stomach ache. And then he spent the entire day in bed on the 8th in excruciating pain and unable to even drink water. On the 9th, he couldn't eat much, but he was able to drink water finally. And he's just now getting to the point where he can drink coffee again without pain.

He thinks it's pancreatitis, based on the research he's done online. He still hasn't gone to the doctor, and absolutely refused to go to the hospital when he was in the thick of it. He's a man's man, girl. He don't need none of that newfangled modern medicine.

Or something.

In his research, we found that if you follow a Mediterranean diet (sort of), it helps with pancreatitis. Lots of lean proteins, and veggies, and fruits, mostly. So we've been sort of doing that. I say "sort of" because, while we love Mediterranean food, we get bored with having the same flavor profiles over and over. So I've been trying to keep to the lean proteins with veggies and fruits theme while using different spices and recipes.

And I'm pissed about the cravings that I can't curb because I'm trying not to have any of the stuff I'm craving in the house because I'm back to my bad habit of eating it all in one sitting and buying more. (Holy run-on sentence, Batman!)

So listen...I call us foodies, and that's true, but I am a straight up junk food junkie. I didn't realize how bad until we started tweaking our diets, and I kept finding myself absolutely furious because I wanted snacks and I couldn't have them. I brood, and get really cranky, and really want to throw things. But like I said, I don't throw things anymore because I got tired of breaking my own stuff.

And like...I know I can snack on fruits and vegetables, but that doesn't taste even remotely like Chili Cheese Fritos. Or Dove Chocolate. Or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Or Dr. Pepper.

And I'm so pissed at myself because four or five years ago, we were sticking to a healthy diet. We'd dropped soda completely. Sweets were rare. We were still going to Dunkin Donuts pretty regularly, but I was ordering black iced coffee and almost never getting donuts. I was eating salads for dinner more than anything else and actually enjoying it. And I wasn't even using salad dressing!

Now I'm buying soda even though I know I shouldn't, and when I buy a two liter, it's gone in under 24 hours. I bought Chili Cheese Fritos and ate half the bag in one sitting. And even the granola bars with actual chocolate that I bought hoping to curb my chocolate cravings isn't helping.

That one, though, is kinda weird. The chocolate cravings, I mean.

"Yeah, yeah, Lil. Women crave chocolate. We know."

But not me. I mean I like chocolate, but I don't really crave it most of the time. And definitely not like this. Even when I'm on my period, I don't usually crave chocolate like I have been, lately. It's been really, really bad. I think about it constantly. I get really sad when I realize there's none in the house. I end up making baked goods that don't even remotely satisfy the craving.

I looked it up, and the internet says that's a magnesium deficiency. We've been taking a daily vitamin with magnesium in it, but it's not really helping. So I guess the next step is finding foods that provide magnesium.

This series inspired by a writing challenge from Living Off Love and Coffee. Find the full list here.