Check-In. And I thought I was inconsistent.

The biggest downside, to me anyway about dairy-free, believe it or not isn't the fact that it's somewhat more pricey than the regular dairy options. It's not even the fact that in order to get dairy-free you often have to go vegan, or gluten-free. Or sometimes even, gluten-free, fat free, sugarfree, flavor-free.

What never fails to piss me off is the completely random and inconsistent ways that grocery stores seem to stock the dairy-free options. Sure, put them in the organic or natural section, I expect that. Put them in the Vegan section, I can even deal with that. Even better, put them in the same cooler as the organic dairy, I can deal with that. But when they're randomly intermingled with the organic "regular" dairy, it makes me want to cry.

Why is it so difficult to put the dairy-free/vegan all on one or two shelves at the top or bottom of the door and fill the rest with organic dairy? Why do should I have to sort through organic cheeses and spreads to get to the one tub of Better Than Cream Cheese at the back? Why is organic ice cream stocked between rows of dairy-free and vegan desserts? I stock shelves as a large part of my job. It's not like it's hard to put the Daiya shreds up or down one shelf.

And while we're talking about it, why does it seem like the dairy-free stuff is always randomly in and out of stock? Do they order by hand? (Ok, at Sign of the Bear, they do. But they're also way more organized than grocery stores I'm talking about.)

For the longest time, I was convinced that nobody but Sign of the Bear carried Better Than Cream Cheese. Now it seems that (at least our local) Wegman's has an over abundance of it, crammed in the back of the bottom shelf in the last cooler in the natural/organic section. They carried Tofutti Cuties in Key Lime and All Vanilla forever. Tonight I go, all they have is the classic vanilla with chocolate wafers. No sign that they ever even carried the others.

My Giant doesn't have any Soy Yogurt and hardly any natural, organic, dairy-free or Vegan options, even though the next closest Giant to us has an entire organic/natural market in the back and several other Giants in our area have an organic aisle. Nevermind, my closest Giant is on the opposite side of a city park from WEGMANS!!

This is a huge change for me and I'm trying to be good. I really am. Why are the grocery stores making it so damn hard!?!?! You wouldn't randomly change your regular ice cream flavors. Sure they add new and get rid of poor sellers, but the dairy-free stuff seems like it changes from week to week sometimes.

The regular dairy cheeses are always neatly organized, excepting when there's an amazing sale, why is the dairy-free/Vegan/Organic always a huge mish-mash that looks like there was a total free-for-all battle in the cooler?

Come on, be nice to those of us who need/choose to eat a little differently.

Check-In, Got a little naughty today.

I had Chocolate Cheerios for breakfast again.

Rotisserie chicken for lunch with Purely Decadent Peanut Butter ZigZag for dessert.

I had Taco Bell without cheese or sour cream for dinner, which was not the original plan. Apparently the Quakertown Primo's closed so we had to get something else, kinda last minute.

I had some more of my fake ice cream for a snack.

Spent the day, helping Lisa pack, but I did walk over to Sign of the Bear and found time to get new shoes to make my walk to work more comfortable. Famous Footwear actually carries sneakers in a 4E (men's Extra Wide), so I actually got the right size!!!!

Will probably have a bit of something when I get home.

See ya tomorrow!

All nettle is not created equal.

I've learned another something new about the stinging nettle. Freeze dried whole leaves work great for me. Powdered extract in a capsule - now so much. In fact for me, not at all. Plus it costs more. A lot more. Ouch.

I'll keep buying from Sign of the Bear, thank you.

A very tasty fix, and a not quite so tasty one.

So, since the doctor has nothing helpful to say about my allergies at this point other than "if you find something that works, stick with it," I'm pretty much willing to try anything. Yesterday, I saw an article in Woman's World that recommended Stinging Nettle as an alternative to things like Claritin and Zyrtec. So, I stopped at Sign of the Bear today to pick some up and we'll see how it goes.

This is where I'm at for allergy fixes.

Claritin - useless unless I take 3, then I can't function
Zyrtec - useless if I take if more than 2 days in a row
Allegra - works, but makes me unconscious
Benedryl - makes me groggy AND gives me night terrors (that's an awesome combination)
Clarinex - way too expensive for what little relief it provides
Xyzal - helped a bit, but nothing significant enough to be bothered with the Rx.
Flonase - useless except for when I'm severely congested
Alavert - see Claritin
Astelin - doesn't stay in my sinuses no matter what I do, therefore not helpful

Sinus rinses have helped a lot so far, but not enough. So the new plan is all natural - Stinging nettle once a day and sinus rinses as needed.

Now, the tasty fix - in order to keep exercising the way I need to, I need to keep my asthma and knee pain under control. My asthma's basically under control, that is, I rarely if ever need my rescue inhaler and we decided to take me off of the maintenance meds (Singulair) because I didn't seem to need them since I lost a little bit of weight.

My knee on the other hand, goes in spells, related to both the weather and my level of activity. Here's where the tasty fix comes in. Chocolate is a natural anti-inflammatory! The darker the better, it needs to be at least 70% cacao to work. Dagoba Chocolate makes a bar called Eclipse - 87% cacao - which I love! So, I'm going to be adding Extra Dark chocolate to my daily routine. (don't twist my arm!)

Wish me luck.

What exactly is a Diva Cup?

After much consideration, I finally bought a Diva Cup, so far so good. Honestly, I love it! I bought it earlier today, and I'm already thrilled with it. I have "good" timing, having puchased it when I could immediately use it.

So, what is a Diva Cup exactly? It's a menstrual cup, a tampon replacement, an environmentally friendly feminine hygiene product, one of the best purchases I have ever made. It collects your flow rather than absorbing it (it's a silicone cup), and it's re-usable. You wash it up and keep using it. It does cost about $40, and may need to be ordered online if your local health food store doesn't carry it or can't get it.

I had Sign of the Bear, in Allentown, get me mine. Here's the thing - it's FDA approved for a year of use. In other words, $40 once a year, rather than $5-10 every month for pads and/or tampons.

If you want the details or more information, please look at the Diva Cup website, or check in with the girls at LunaPads.