For some reason, I’m having a terrible allergic reaction to something yesterday and today — I have some hives breaking out on my upper arms and legs, and I am sneezing up a storm. I would swear I’d missed taking my antihistamines but I haven’t.
Was very briefly sleeping a normal schedule but that went out the window in the last couple of weeks during the push to release the Joomla site. Now my internal clock is screwed up — here it is 7am and I have been up since about noon on Sunday. Not good. I’ve also bitten all my nails again. So, “backsliding” is the word to describe the last few weeks. But not this one. Nosirree, bub.
Have decided to try to follow a semi-vegetarian diet. Actually, technically I’ve decided to follow a more natural, less processed diet, which conveniently enough happens to be mostly-vegetarian. I’m not prepared to start eating tofu at this time, but I want to try to cut out the heavily processed foods I’ve been eating. Had a bad hypoglycemic attack yesterday because I’d been too busy working on a site to eat properly. (Contrary to popular belief, peanut M&Ms, while chock full of peanutty protein goodness, do not help balance your blood sugar. I know — it surprised me, too. Next thing you know, they’ll decide that chocolate isn’t one of the major food groups and refined sugar is bad for you.)
I’ve also decided to try to cut back on (back on, I said, not out) the cheese (OMG did I write that out loud???) and other foods, like orange juice, that make me phlegmy. I’m hoping that will help clear up some of the problems I’ve been having lately as a result of my allergies. My digestive tract will probably be happy about the cheese thing as well — I’m mildly lactose intolerant. Also, though I don’t eat much of it, I’m going to try to give up tomato sauce — my body has never tolerated tomatoes well. So, no pizza, no cheesy/tomatoey pasta. I can feel my colon singing out in anticipated relief as I write. (No, you don’t want to know what a singing colon feels like.)
I’d like to say I’m going to start this right away, but I refuse to waste the food I’ve already bought. So, I will finish up the food I’ve got on hand and just try not buy any more to replace it when I next get groceries.
Life Begins at 41...or maybe 43 
First, you must stop thinking of food not eaten as “wasted”. Isn’t there greater harm in consuming things that aren’t good for you or consuming too much of something just because you don’t want to throw stuff away? Second, have you tried goat cheese? I know you have a notion of it being all goaty and yucky, but it’s not. We don’t eat any cow products anymore and it makes a huge difference. Goat cheese comes in a big variety of formats these days: mozzarella, old and mild cheddar, cream cheese, brie — and it’s all good and much better for you than cow (much less or more easily digestible lactose, too). You might also look at reducing wheat in your diet. That’s another popular allergin these days. There’s a lot of great bread made from Spelt now or even Kamut — less gluten, less allergens, more protein and good nutrients. And the sugar needs to go, of course. Have you looked into Chromium supplements? Check with your doctor of course, but Chromium helps to regulate blood sugar levels and so also staves off the sugar craving. It’s usually part of a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement anyway, but a little extra for those trying to regulate blood sugar is helpful. I applaud your desire to switch to a more vegetarian diet and look forward to reading about your vegetarian adventures.
When you’re unemployed and facing the end of your EI claim, it *is* waste to throw out perfectly serviceable food you just bought. (I’m not talking about the junk food snacks here — I agree that those wouldn’t be a waste to throw out.)
RE: goat cheese — Mmmm, I think I’m gonna have to say no on that. 😉 Soy cheese might stand a chance, but not goat cheese. (If I’m going to go to the trouble of eventually dumping the cow dairy products, I don’t think I just want to replace it with other animal dairy products, you know what I mean?)
RE: wheat — Yeah, that’s next on the list. Thought I’d start with baby steps, cutting back on the cow dairy (think of me like a 3-pack-a-day smoker) and trying to eliminate the processed foods first before tackling the dreaded, omnipresent wheat, sugar, and other bugbears. We’re talking about a lasting, long-term goal here, not a quick — or quick-to-drop — change.
RE: seeing my doctor — That’s a whole ‘nother post, requiring intense therapy and/or copious amounts of medicinal chocolate.