Happy New Year! Let’s Make it a Good One!

Creative Business

A lot of starting points are completely arbitrary, but there’s something so awesome about flipping open a new calendar or planner that just holds out so much hope, you know?

New month, new year, new planner!

New month, new year, new planner!

Okay, it might just be me. I can live with that.

If you’re stopping by because you saw my Project Planner download in the Januar DIRT from Gauche Alchemy, welcome, and thanks for poking around a bit 🙂 If you’re one of my regular readers and you don’t get the DIRT each month, then you might want to check out that link, there, so you can download a free, printable project planner I designed.

My custom-designed weekly planner spreads.

My custom-designed weekly planner spreads.

For the past couple of years I’ve been using Planner Pads as my weekly planner system and it was working, for the most part. The only thing was that I found myself shoe-horning in the bits I wanted into one version or another, and that gets to be a bit tiresome after a while. So this year I decided (early enough to actually make it happen, I’m proud to say) I would design my own planner so it would be perfect for my needs.

Granted, I did a pretty thorough search of what was available out there–both pre-printed as well as downloadables–and just couldn’t find the right fit.

Some things I learned about designing my own planner and putting it together:

  1. It really wasn’t all that hard. I wish I’d done it sooner. (I actually had a custom planner in mind several years ago, but I thought paper planners were becoming passe, and I just never got around to it. The format I had in mind back then wouldn’t fit me, now, but I still wish I’d gone ahead with it. Maybe I’ll give it a revamp for next year!)
  2. Paper is really important. The first go-round was on your average copy paper, but it was a little too see-through, especially with certain pens. 28# copy paper may be harder to come by (I had to order mine online, nowhere local carried legal size in that weight) but it’s worth it for the final product.
  3. A black-and-white planner doesn’t have to be boring: fun pens and washi tape tabs can liven up any page. I found a set of scented glitter gel pens while standing in line at Books-a-Million and they are ridiculously fun to write with.

    jvanderbeek_14planner-1

    I used some of the leftover cork-patterned fabric and a few heart-shaped eyelets to make the covers for my planner.

  4. You can never have too many binder rings. While I did finally find a source for small binder spines, using the last 2 holes of my 3-hole punch and 2 binder rings totally does the trick to keep this planner together. My next cover attempt might include a built-in elastic cord and a pocket on the inside cover, but other than that I think it’s perfect. I also considered using my Bind-it-All to spiral bind it, but I really wanted to be able to insert extra pages on a whim, so binder rings win!

I’m only one week in, of course, so I look forward to tweaking my layout and components over the year to find a really workable set up. And then, maybe I’ll design the 2015 and put it up on Etsy next Fall. It could happen.

How are you planning to organize this year? Are you a paper planner or strictly digital?

 

Resources for Low-FODMAP Living

Nibbles

April is IBS Awareness Month and, as such, I though it would helpful to share the books and websites that have helped me so very much over the last few months.

My default reaction to a new idea or problem to solve is research. This used to mean hitting the library when I was in school and heading to the bookstore once I was a gainfully employed adult. Of course, the Internet is a fabulous resource, but you have to be able to weed out the truth from the fiction, tested theory from mere supposition. Respected authorities are still respected authorities, right?

image via Monash University

image via Monash University

Monash University, Dept of Gastroenterology These folks literally wrote the book on FODMAPs and are continuing to test and evaluate more ingredients as time goes on to determine just what effects they have on our delicate digestive engines. They recently released an iPhone app that, from all accounts, is quite helpful to its users. I can’t speak to it, personally, as I’m still waiting for the promised Android version (coming out soon, I hope). You can order their information booklet (link is to pdf order form) that goes over the basics of what FODMAPs are and how they can effect us, along with a handful of recipes to get your started. There are also some product information bits, but unless you’re in Australian those won’t help too very much. It doesn’t go into incredible depth on the subject as they believe (and not without good reason) that going through the low-FODMAP elimination diet and challenges should be  overseen by a qualified dietitian. But with FODMAPs stll relatively new in the US, it can be hard for those of us here to find someone who really knows about it and can guest you through the process.

image via the author's Facebook page

image via the author’s Facebook page

Which leads us to IBS: Free at Last! by Patsy Catsos. Catsos is a registered dietitian in Maine who is a great champion of the low-FODMAP diet for IBS sufferers. If you can’t find a local dietitian to work with, Catsos’ book is the next best thing and can gives very detailed information on what FODMAPs are, how they (can) effect us, and how to systematically remove the known high-FODMAP food sources from our diets and gradually test them through specific challenges. Catsos writes in a very approachable style, but also includes a chapter that goes into the nitty-gritty scientific details for those who want to go more in-depth. There’s an extensive Q&A section (in my Kindle version they were actually linked at the end of each chapter, which was pretty convenient) and a couple of recipes for basic bits.

One thing that I really found useful–and this is the only place I’ve found it put so plainly–was the explanation of just why High Fructose Corn Syrup is such a questionable ingredient. Yes, it’s true that HFCS is a combination of glucose and fructose (the “same” as table sugar, according the HFCS lobby, right?), table sugar is always 50/50 fructose and glucose, the glucose making the fructose easily digested by bodies with IBS. HFCS, on the other hand, can come in various ratios, three of which are the most common: 45% fructose/55% glucose, 55%fructose/45% glucose, and 90% fructose/10% glucose; and there’s no knowing which one the manufacturer is using. Fructose that’s not “balanced” by equal amounts of glucose are a problem for many IBS sufferers. I can this the free-range fructose problem 🙂

Catsos maintains both a website and facebook page to support her book and is very good about responding to questions on both.

image via Kate Scarlata

image via Kate Scarlata

Kate Scarlata is a Boston-based dietitian who is another proponent for the low-FODMAP diet. It was her guest post on Fooducate that started this whole journey for me. The author of the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Well with IBS (I have not read this one, yet, but understand that it has a chapter on FODMAPs, but it’s not the main focus). Her blog, however, is a great source for inventive recipes that are frequently low-FODMAP friendly. Her Homemade BBQ Sauce is really tasty and even includes finely-grated carrots for a bit of extra vegetables. I used it to make BBQ Chicken Pizza one night and it was a big hit.

The easiest way to adjust to a low-FODMAP lifestyle is to cook most of your meals at home. If you’re already comfortable in the kitchen, this isn’t such a big change, but if you previously depended on a host of pre-made convenience foods or eat out for most of your meals, this can be a big adjustment. Finding good sources for recipes, then, is paramount.

Which is why I’m happy to see that Scarlata has put together 2 pdf ebooks: Low FODMAP Cooking with Kate Scarlata and a 21 Day FODMAP Friendly Meal Plan. I have purchased these but have only glanced at them so far. Still, they look like good resources, especially for Todd when he needs ideas when it’s his week to cook.

image via pilcookbooks.com

image via pilcookbooks.com

Finally, on the book front at least, I picked up a copy of this 3-in-1 Gluten Free Cookbook at Homegoods just before the holidays. Since it was an overstock-style store it was only $8 and I figured it was a low-risk investment in the event I didn’t need to continue wheat-free after the Elimination Phase, but would give me some pointers in the mean time.

Turned out to be the best $8 I’ve spent in a while! The cookies and cake I made over the holidays were well-received by my family and Todd and I continue to cook out of the book for dinner ideas. Because the focus is one gluten-free cooking, there are still plenty of recipes that won’t work for low-FODMAP living, but the bread and dessert chapters really are huge helps.

Of course, once I was out of research mode and into the day-to-day, I needed to stay on top of what was going on and the best way I’ve found to do that is by banding together with others of the same purpose. There’s a Low-FODMAP for Foodies facebook group that works both for inspiration and support, and a Pinterest board of Low-FODMAP Products and Recipes created by a fellow member of that group.

Then there are three recipe blogs I follow that focus on FODMAP or similar issues:

Granted, not all of the recipes available on those sites (or any other, for that matter) will be perfect for every IBS patient that responds well to a low-FODMAP lifestyle because everyone’s individual tolerances are different. It’s perfectly possible to be sensitive to only one or two of the five FODMAP groups or (like me) to be sensitive to all of them. It’s also possible, over time, to increase tolerance to certain foods over time.

It’s also entirely possible to be in that 25% or so of IBS sufferers that do not respond to a low-FODMAP lifestyle, which can be incredibly frustrating.

Products and tactics for eating out (fast food and fine dining, both) deserve their own posts in due time. For now, I think this is a pretty good start, don’t you?