This was not just any day at the beach. It was a sculpting day at the beach. 

I was up early and excited. I thought I was packed the night before, but really I still had a lot to do before I left. 

FOOD - NO COFFEE. I packed a green smoothie, bone broth, 2 kombucha drinks, 1 probiotic drink, water, salad, plantain chips and green tea. 
I was fine all day with no dip in energy, until I got to the movies after a day in the sun and then... I felt a little tired. 

I did this amateur event in 2014 and won, Honorable Mention. I went into yesterday ready for a great day in the sun, and to have fun! I was excited to be there and once I saw the competition in action, I decided to just do my best! I still hoped maybe for, Honorable Mention, but I was not not sure that was happening! It did not, I GOT THIRD PLACE.  I was so surprised! 

My sculpture shown here was entitled, MY CUP OF TEA. In the tea cup was a beach with a sand sculpture in progress and shells. And water running over over the side of the tea cup. Next to the cup was a magazine titled, SK Beach. And then water was lapping up at the foot of the sculpture. I worked from 9:30 until 3 and stopped only to drink and eat. No dip in energy at all. 

I had on a floppy hat to protect, long sleeves, and made sure to eat. I also put on plenty of sun screen after working for a while without (Vit D).  

I moved to Florida in 2013 because we did not know what future had in store for me at I was diagnosed with MS. And I have to stay, that if you had asked me THEN would I be digging in the sand at an event like this, the answer would have been NO.  I love living here in Florida close to the beach. I especially love that my life has been transformed by water and waterside events like Cassi's regattas and hooping at the beach or poolside. And I have been known to hoop at regattas too. A great way to kill some time and get some exercise into what is usually a long day. 

Today I am feeling pretty blessed. Thanks Mr. B for moving us to Florida. 

COFFEE - A week without coffee has been a challenge for me. I love coffee, coffee shops and the habit of going into coffee shops. Yet this week has proved a number of things to me. Habits are hard to break, coffee is not totally necessary for my life and that maybe I should focus on what I CAN do, not what I CANNOT do.  This past week, Rich and I walked twice on the beach during what would have been my coffee stop time. I think that time was well worth it. If I don't stop for coffee, I can walk on the beach. Also, by Thursday I was not experiencing a dip in energy at all. If I don't drink coffee, I have energy all day long. And even on a few days I noted not sleeping well the night before and yet I had energy. This was going into the end of the week.  Additionally in the lattes, the Almond Milk used has sugar in them, so I may also have been dealing with a dip from the sugar I was drinking. 
SELF EXPERIMENT - Week 2 of no Coffee coming up! 

I will post at the end of the week before Thanksgiving week - the coffee update! 
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Day 6 was pretty amazing because I was up early and then ran through my day and found myself running into the evening before I realized that - wait - NO TIREDNESS LANDED in my face! What ? That was great! 

And since I am typing this on DAY 7 and I have big plans for today, I am pretty stoked. I am an amateur sand sculpture today on Siesta Key - well if I make the cut off. They only have so many slots. After I am done typing I am off and running again today. 

I have my plan and I am ready to go. So today, Since I did not sleep great last night I am hoping the beach and the sun have a breeze today. I know from the past I have a certain recovery factor from being outside and working hard in the sand. I LOVE CREATING LIKE THIS.

DAY 7 here I come....  

Today I celebrate no crash in my energy. At no time did I feel like I needed to nap. It was awesome. 
Here is the short scoop on the day and contributing factors. 
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Bedtime/Sleep/Rest/Rested: I did NOT sleep well. Up at 2:20 and 5:00 AM. Why I do not know. I did however have a headache brewing. I took something at 5:00 AM and generally something like develops into a migraine for me. But today it did not. 
Food: For the last few days I have felt bloated and just uncomfortable, so I decided to do bone broth for the day. I did it all day and then had a small dinner.  Three bacon strips, three small gluten free pancakes with ghee on them - lots of it.  Tea and water the rest of the day and one kombucha in the afternoon. 
Coffee: None - But late in the day when life was NOT going well with the kids and some holiday planning - I really wanted a cup!
Sugar: No sugar searching happened. I was good. 
Water: Check - doing it. Still challenging. 
Movement : Check - Walked on Siesta Key this morning and it was lovely. How lucky am I that I live so close. 
Schedule: Was good this morning and this afternoon it grabbed me by the tail and tried to run away with me...............but even with challenges I pulled it back in. 

5 Days - feeling pretty proud. 
I am kind of excited to see how my energy is tomorrow. I might be doing a bone broth day again tomorrow too. We will see. I feel worlds better today. 
Onward, 
Amy

So I am actually feeling pretty darn good today. And that is a good thing since my daughter has been home from rowing for two day and my husband is feeling "it" come on. His running nose started at dinner. And so the family goes. While I wish everyone was feeling better, with one week until Thanksgiving I am glad to maybe get the sickness out of the way. 

Energy was good today and I really did not have a crash in how I FEEL today. That was good and I look forward to a good day tomorrow. Really stopping for a latte is about the experience as much as it is about the coffee. I have always loved coffee shops, how they smell, meeting nice people, sitting and enjoying book or planning out the day. So  I miss THAT, but the coffee, we will see. Overall if I feel better without coffee - we'll stick with no coffee. 

Here is the quick scoop on the day. 

Bedtime/Sleep/Rest/Rested: I did sleep great and woke early. Felt refreshed and had a good day. I DID lay down for like 15 minutes and rested today. But it was NOT the all out overall feeling of - MAN I NEED TO NAP NOW. So I am happy. Today and my energy were good! 
Food: Two smoothies and dinner. Had plantain chips as a snack.
Coffee: None
Sugar: No sugar searching happened. I was good. 
Water: Check - doing it. Still challenging. 
Movement : Check - Lifted weights at the gym!  And taught a hoop class today in the community. I love teaching in community. 
Schedule: I got a lot done on my desk today and I was really happy about that.  Planning ahead and moving forward.

I have to say that this has been a pretty nice day! I am thankful! 
Onward - 
​Amy

Day 3 has been interesting. I so wanted to feel better for having said good-bye to my yum yum yummy coffee. Today seemed like a fail, and yet I know from past experience (yes, I have played "the getting rid of coffee blues" before) I might have a dip in how I feel, before feeling better coffee caffeine free.  

Here is what happened - I got up extra early today because my daughter needed to be up early. And while I am not doing anything for her, I just want her to know that I care about her and that if she needs to be up she is not alone. I did not go back to bed after she left for school and so I was down on sleep from the get go today. 

I napped in the car when I was waiting to pick up my daughter from high school. I was in a parking lot not a drive up line! I passed out for a solid half hour and it felt good. But I have to say I have felt sluggish all afternoon. That's the scoop............ one day at a time. I know tomorrow will be better. As for the rest of the modifications from the day - a quick update. 

Bedtime/Sleep: Did not sleep great. Wanted to make sure I was up with my daughter and I know that is why I did not sleep well. Heading to bed early tonight. 
Food: Two smoothies, and awesome lunch of leftovers. Dinner is veggie pizza on a gluten free crust. 
Coffee: None and it called my name! 
Sugar: I caved on a LARA BAR as I ran out of the door to get my daughter. I know this is just a habit I need to break. Yesterday I took some nuts with me. I resolve to be better tomorrow. 
Water: Check - doing it. 
Movement : Check - Lifted weights at the gym! 
Schedule: Not too bad. Got a lot done on the front end of the day. Still need to continue to tweak my planning for efficiency.

I rate myself a B+ today because I stuck to my plan for no coffee and I want to see if a whole week makes a difference. I got this.  
Onward Peeps! 
​Amy

Day 2 - To bring you up to speed. Yesterday I declared that I have been too tired and I was gong to tackle it the best way I know how, with food or I should say with food elimination. I said I would keep you posted on my tweaks to my life to hopefully chase away fatigue this week. Day 2 of no coffee has been almost complete and I really have had a very good day. I would say that when I picked up my daughter after school today - a yawn slipped out and I shook off a little bit of tiredness. It could have been simply that I finally sat down after being busy all morning. 
Bedtime 
Last night not late and I slept fairly well. Up at 6 and out the door at 6:30 am. Did not stop all day. 
Food 
Coffee - none and I missed it! Had match tea and I make it light. Drank kombucha and I think I might have had a little too much - felt a little bloated. It can do that to you. Such yummy stuff. Two smoothies today, good dinner, snacked on nuts and crazin mix (crazins are sugary often - have to watch that). No Lara bars - just because I LOVE THEM too much. 
Water 
Drinking some now. Not really my thing. Working on it! 
Movement
I got in some burpees, curls with weights and counter dips (Like bench dips but counter height - not ideal - but something!) Not my best workout, but I got something in and exercise is cumulative. So yippee for me. 
Schedule
The beginning of my day was awesome. Picture above. The day rolled out nicely. I still have a lot to do, but worked to put priority to my day. Still needing to get the day routed better with moving my daughter from school to activities and getting errands in. I feel like I could harness some MORE day for me if I planned a little better.

It is now 9 PM and I am ready for bed. Because of Day Light Savings Time, I know I am ready to turn it in early! 
Day with out Coffee and life tweaks - GOOD! Very good. 
Onward, 
Amy

​Fatigue

We all have it. We have a day we have not slept well, we are tired, we are dragging and we hope for a better day tomorrow. Or during the day you just get tired and can’t seem to fight it off. Maybe suffering from a sugar crash from the foods eaten earlier in the day?

For people with MS, fatigue is part of your life. For me it has been an on and off kind of thing. But when I get to the point where I simply MUST lay my head down (l liken to the way I felt when I was pregnant) it is something I pay attention too. Lately I have napped nearly daily and am bothered by that need. When I wake up and feel better, I am certainly happier about that, but I am still bothered that I am seemingly needing to nap more consistently lately. I count myself lucky that I can nap, and that I can alter work and home stuff to squeak in some shut eye.

When fatigue starts to get out of control, and I feel it is, I know I need to start assessing a number of things that lead up to this past week.
What happened that might have contributed to my fatigue? Bedtime, food, movement, schedule changes….

Bedtime
I have to ask myself, Am I getting to bed early enough? Not stupid late and stuff like that? And the answer is, Yes - Mostly! Good!. Oh but one night last week I did stay up with my daughter as she fought through some homework issues.  Contributing factor - Yes!

Going into the weekend prior we had an early morning regatta get up, and because I never went back to sleep that morning, by the end of the day I was headlong into the beginnings of a migraine. Migraines for me usually last 2-3 days, with one day usually being unbearable.  And it was not just the early get up for the regatta that set off the migraine, it was a night of poor sleep leading into the weekend. I was upset by something just as I was heading to bed and just could not shake it all night.  Contributing factor - Yes!

Monday was a challenging day and I slept as much as I could because of the migraine.  I had a commitment to assist with a school project all day on Tuesday - Halloween’s Thriller at my daughter’s High School. Napping helped and then on Tuesday I was functional, migraine gone and ready to go. I napped in the car after doing a lot of latex make-up all morning. Once awake, I was off and running into the rest of the day and into the evening for the fun Halloween event. It was a my husband’s idea to make sure I brought a pillow with me for the car. I was sure glad I did.  I slept well the rest of the week at night and was still napping each day.

Food
Any food factors maybe causing some issues with fatigue? Yep - I think maybe coffee. And I really hate to say that out loud because now I really have to do something about it.  Recently I returned to my yummy delicious almond milk lattes made with organic, fair-trade coffee. How can this be wrong? I have two places that serve this coffee, one cafe place near me and a cute little place on the way home from dropping my daughter off at school in the morning.  And along with that daily yummy latte, I've often picked up a cup to-dgo as well. I was back to doing full caffeine again, and I suspect it was leaving me with a crash later in the day feeling like I needed to refuel. Near the end of the week, I switched to half caffeinated. I was feeling guilty and tired. In the week ahead I am moving away from coffee once again. I decided to kick the lattes to the curb and focus on kombucha or green tea. Masha tea still has caffeine but it is about a 1/3 the amount of coffee. Kombucha is a fermented tea and from a quick Google search on the internet I find that kombucha generally has 1/2 the amount of caffeine as the tea it is made with. Another site noted that GTs Kombucha is naturally decaffeinated and contains only 8-14 mg caffeine per 8 oz. Where coffee packs a much bigger punch at 100 mg. OUCH! No wonder I think that coffee latte is smooth and yummy going down and a real pick me up. It’s a cup of pep-me-up happy!

I am not against coffee and quite possibly I never will be. I have danced with coffee for years on again and off again. It’s the caffeine I am working to assess and how I respond to it. I am working to assess if I have more energy this week by leaving coffee behind. The truth is, if having coffee and over doing it as I have done the last few weeks, makes me need a nap every day - it truly is NOT worth it. Energy is what I need back in my life.

Stay tuned - I am going to report in each day. And give you an accounting of how the week is going being caffeine free. I started my caffeine free today. Sunday, November 5th. And I am doing it on my HOOG to keep me honest.

The other foods I am making sure to eliminate are anything with  a sugar punch. I tend to lean towards the lower glycemic index foods, but have also been enjoying the ease of grabbing a LARA BAR on the way out of the door in the afternoons to pick up my daughter. While I love them for their limited ingredients and whole foods, they are sweeter and I am going to focus on grabbing a smoothie or a water instead.

Water
Adding water to my day. Sounds easy right? It is not the easiest thing for me, because I just have never liked plain water that much. That said I know that coffee and teas can dehydrate and thus, zap energy too. Hello water!

Movement
We all know movement helps bring up our energy. If I am tired, I am going to try getting some TRX in or Jump Roping. Or get a walk in with my husband. :)

Schedule
My schedule has been packed with a lot of driving lately and while it is necessary to get my daughter where she needs to go, we are working on finding some ride options here and there to make my life easier.

SO the week ahead is the following

• No coffee. It is only a week I know I can do it and the big question will be, Am I less tired? If so - it will be a win. This is mentally tough for me however, I love meeting people for coffee! It’s a thing! But again a win if I am less tired.
• Sugar. Watch what I snack on in the afternoon. Am I less tired?
• Movement. Get some movement in everyday! Am I less tired? (I do hoop 3-5 days a week, some weeks are more challenging to get more exercise in.)
• Water. I can do this! It is only a week. Am I less tired?
• Schedule. See where we can find me a break!

So peeps that’s the scoop on fatigue. I will report back into you. And what is totally awesome, if it helps move me past my fatigue with my MS, then it could likely be something to look at even if you don’t have MS, but do have fatigue you cannot shake. And yes I know this is not totally scientific because I am focusing on a number of different items this week, but last week really was tough and I just don’t want that this week. So I am all in, seeing what I can do to make this week - AWESOME.
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Onward - Amy