The past weekend has been a real eyeopener in a lot of ways. We had planned a secret party for a friend and traveled to SF for the weekend. I told myself before I left to adjust with everyone, never complain, relax, loosen up and enjoy.
It was an exciting trip. We went biking from SF to Sausalito island through Golden Gate bridge. I took loads of pictures and thanks to all those who posed and waited patiently while I kept re taking some of the pictures. The highlights were, breathe taking views, a good blend of serene locations and everyday hustle-bustle of a growing city , beautiful weather and my surprising ability to remember how to bike and balance.
Throughout the biking experience, I kept asking myself, who was actually biking and balancing. It could see myself making the effort to bike but, I sure wasn't trying to balance the bike. It seemed to come to me automatically (auto-magically?). When I tried to ride the bike without my legs on the pedal and hands on the steering bar, I could feel fear kick in as I lost balance. Immediately, my limbs would snap back in place almost involuntarily to get back the balance. But I could never figure how I had the balance in the first place. How can my muscles remember something I learned so long ago, when I cannot recollect a simple VLSI topic I read about a few years ago? I tried my best to concentrate on my core or muscles but nothing told me it was helping me out.
After a nice bike ride, we went back to the hotel to get ready to party. Once we were all sufficiently prepped, we realized we were late for the appointment. So we rushed to a Starbucks nearby. I ate a egg salad sandwich and headed out. As I had decided to loosen up, relax and enjoy, I thought a couple of drinks might not be a problem. So I did drink and danced continuously asking myself to relax and see how it felt. I stopped drinking when I knew I was at the edge of getting tipsy. Was a weird feeling. I spoke sense, acted sensibly but I could feel my head being a little disoriented.
I was still confident I could take care of myself. But I noticed that, my feet weren't completely in control. I actually had to make an effort to walk in a particular direction. Brain-to-Feet messages seemed very slow. Now, I know why in Tamil movies, they had funny swaying Drunkards all the time :) .. After the late night adventure, we went to JackInTheBox to take home a quick coffee or snack. I ate some Stuffed Jalapenos, my favourite. After that, is when I felt puckish in 2 minutes. I vomited a couple of times before we hit the sack. I thought it was the drinks.
The next morning we all woke up fine. I sat and spoke for a nice hour, before I realized I wanted to throw-up again. And then it never stopped. My friends brought me bananas, Gatorade, lime water, water but nothing helped. I kept throwing up everything I ate/drank. I got weaker and my knees were giving up. I couldn't support myself. And then again, I saw myself talking to me, watch what is happening to you!
I could feel my tummy wanting to curl up inside and did not want to digest anything. It was almost as if it was asking me not to put anything in my mouth. My eyes were refusing to open. Everywhere I kept sleeping, at the restaurant, in my friend's car, in the cab, at the airport, in the aircraft and at home. I decided to go home with a friend and skip flying back, because I thought I did not have energy in me to travel. But sometimes, I choose to listen to my husband, because my gut feeling said I had to trust his opinion on this. Also, I wasn't sure myself if I was making the right decision or taking the least resistance path. V suggested that I sleep in the airport, and eat/drink nothing unless I felt hungry/thirsty (the same thing my tummy was telling me). He said, come home, you will be okay. So after bothering my friends for a good 3 hours, we headed to the airport.
I slept, ate the anti-vomit chewy my friends had bought for me and before we boarded the flight, I was slightly better. I again slept in the flight, continuously, even though it was the last row in the flight and the seats could not be pushed back. V picked us up from the airport, we reached home and I slept again. When I woke up the next morning, I was weak, due to no intake of food or water but I knew my tummy was alright. It wasn't curling up anymore. I felt light in my tummy and a very familiar hunger. I ate curd rice with vathakuzhambu. And then I was back in action. I did not sleep that afternoon, decided to do my chores, so I can be ready for the next work day and grocery shopping.
And at the end of the day, as I was craving for some junk food, I relaxed and sat quietly for a few moments and realized my tummy wasn't craving the food. I made the sensible choice to pass on the junk food this time. I felt even better when I realized, I had learnt how to listen to my tummy. I write this, so I can come back and remember this experience. It was awe-inspiring to see how quickly and efficiently my stomach knew that it had to digested something bad, and stood up for itself almost immediately. I had learnt a valuable lesson from my stomach that day. To stand up for myself, when I need my help. And this shall be my motto until this continues to inspire me.
Love you my stomach!!!
It was an exciting trip. We went biking from SF to Sausalito island through Golden Gate bridge. I took loads of pictures and thanks to all those who posed and waited patiently while I kept re taking some of the pictures. The highlights were, breathe taking views, a good blend of serene locations and everyday hustle-bustle of a growing city , beautiful weather and my surprising ability to remember how to bike and balance.
Throughout the biking experience, I kept asking myself, who was actually biking and balancing. It could see myself making the effort to bike but, I sure wasn't trying to balance the bike. It seemed to come to me automatically (auto-magically?). When I tried to ride the bike without my legs on the pedal and hands on the steering bar, I could feel fear kick in as I lost balance. Immediately, my limbs would snap back in place almost involuntarily to get back the balance. But I could never figure how I had the balance in the first place. How can my muscles remember something I learned so long ago, when I cannot recollect a simple VLSI topic I read about a few years ago? I tried my best to concentrate on my core or muscles but nothing told me it was helping me out.
After a nice bike ride, we went back to the hotel to get ready to party. Once we were all sufficiently prepped, we realized we were late for the appointment. So we rushed to a Starbucks nearby. I ate a egg salad sandwich and headed out. As I had decided to loosen up, relax and enjoy, I thought a couple of drinks might not be a problem. So I did drink and danced continuously asking myself to relax and see how it felt. I stopped drinking when I knew I was at the edge of getting tipsy. Was a weird feeling. I spoke sense, acted sensibly but I could feel my head being a little disoriented.
I was still confident I could take care of myself. But I noticed that, my feet weren't completely in control. I actually had to make an effort to walk in a particular direction. Brain-to-Feet messages seemed very slow. Now, I know why in Tamil movies, they had funny swaying Drunkards all the time :) .. After the late night adventure, we went to JackInTheBox to take home a quick coffee or snack. I ate some Stuffed Jalapenos, my favourite. After that, is when I felt puckish in 2 minutes. I vomited a couple of times before we hit the sack. I thought it was the drinks.
The next morning we all woke up fine. I sat and spoke for a nice hour, before I realized I wanted to throw-up again. And then it never stopped. My friends brought me bananas, Gatorade, lime water, water but nothing helped. I kept throwing up everything I ate/drank. I got weaker and my knees were giving up. I couldn't support myself. And then again, I saw myself talking to me, watch what is happening to you!
I could feel my tummy wanting to curl up inside and did not want to digest anything. It was almost as if it was asking me not to put anything in my mouth. My eyes were refusing to open. Everywhere I kept sleeping, at the restaurant, in my friend's car, in the cab, at the airport, in the aircraft and at home. I decided to go home with a friend and skip flying back, because I thought I did not have energy in me to travel. But sometimes, I choose to listen to my husband, because my gut feeling said I had to trust his opinion on this. Also, I wasn't sure myself if I was making the right decision or taking the least resistance path. V suggested that I sleep in the airport, and eat/drink nothing unless I felt hungry/thirsty (the same thing my tummy was telling me). He said, come home, you will be okay. So after bothering my friends for a good 3 hours, we headed to the airport.
I slept, ate the anti-vomit chewy my friends had bought for me and before we boarded the flight, I was slightly better. I again slept in the flight, continuously, even though it was the last row in the flight and the seats could not be pushed back. V picked us up from the airport, we reached home and I slept again. When I woke up the next morning, I was weak, due to no intake of food or water but I knew my tummy was alright. It wasn't curling up anymore. I felt light in my tummy and a very familiar hunger. I ate curd rice with vathakuzhambu. And then I was back in action. I did not sleep that afternoon, decided to do my chores, so I can be ready for the next work day and grocery shopping.
And at the end of the day, as I was craving for some junk food, I relaxed and sat quietly for a few moments and realized my tummy wasn't craving the food. I made the sensible choice to pass on the junk food this time. I felt even better when I realized, I had learnt how to listen to my tummy. I write this, so I can come back and remember this experience. It was awe-inspiring to see how quickly and efficiently my stomach knew that it had to digested something bad, and stood up for itself almost immediately. I had learnt a valuable lesson from my stomach that day. To stand up for myself, when I need my help. And this shall be my motto until this continues to inspire me.
Love you my stomach!!!
