I listen to the Foo Fighters our Journey on my 45 minute commute each morning. Those type of lyrics help me focus.

During planning I take 10 -15 minutes to exercise. Lately its been doing stairs by the gym. While I'm doing them I daydream and get my mind de-stressed.

To keep my diet right I bring all my food, snacks and three big water bottles. If I go off diet much my RA will reappear with a vengeance, so diet is critical.

I also spend $6 per week on lotto tickets every Wednesday when I fuel up. So I'm always in powerball and mega millions. Often I win $10 which pays for the next round of tickets plus a coffee. I'm in a great mood then. No I don't think I'll ever win it big. But nothing will de-stress you like daydreaming of life after winning it big :)

So find ways of de-stressing that works for you and BRING healthy snacks to munch on.

Good luck!

Hi Frannie, I think it can be very overwhelming if you try to tackle everything at once, and that exacerabates your physical pain. I've actually sat down and made lists to help me figure out where to begin, what things in my life are most important, and where to put my energy. I too try to bring all my food to work as there is ALWAYS junk around. When I see snacks I want I try to tell myself "that is disgusting" . Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Best thing you can do is NOT beat yourself up each day.

with the food, you say you were eating very healthy - i think that's important to feel good regardless if you have rd or whatever. i would say up your water intake and focus on breakfast and snacks; for now, let yourself have some comfort dinners if it makes you feel good! i usually have a bowl of cereal with unsweetened almond milk (my cereals of choice are cinnamon life or cinnamon chex). sometimes, like today, i make a two egg omelette with about 1/2 ounce of cheese, or i might have one english muffin with butter.

healthy snacks for me include either an apple, carrots and ranch dip or hummus, or a handful of snyder's pretzels. i only buy snyder's pretzels because they use unbleached wheat flour and no high fructose corn syrup. sometimes i'll have some nuts or naturebox snacks, which i love. they are like $20 a month and i get five packets of healthy snacks - they're gmo free, organic, some are vegan.

i try to make healthy eating fun by researching different recipes and ideas to make things healthier. i found an excellent muffin recipe that uses coconut oil instead of butter. i started cooking udon and finding new vegetable combinations to make yummy lo mien-like meals. pinterest can be your best friend or your worst enemy looking for recipes - along with yummy healthy recipes, i found a KILLER pretzel recipe that includes like a stick of butter.

i absolutely think that eating poorly is a way to rebel against your 'new normal'. i went on a regular ice cream and chocolate candy binge a couple of weeks ago when my pain level increased again despite a month on enbrel. my husband and i had worked very hard to clean up our diet last year and recently have been struggling with it - he wants to start cooking meat in the home again, i'm sick of reading labels and just want a damn box of cheeze its. but then i read the ingredients again and remember what some of that crap is and put it back on the shelf.

Having a role model is what I try

Yes I have fallen into the crap trap. How I lifted myself out of it is to be sure to have the healthy stuff around. Sounds easy but we know its not when we're too fatigued to care or go to the store,which brings me to my next technique, getting at least one thing done a day makes me feel better about myself, getting healthy food, paying a bill, etc.,and I'm less likely to need comfort food. Speficially on the food I am a firm believer that healthy food tastes great if chosen properly and can feed the comfort as long as its satisfying. Confession:I do eat a little pure Belgian chocolate-no artificial anything- in the a.m with my otherwise healthy oatmeal.Chocolate along with most foods is not a trigger for me & satisfies a lot.

Thank you all for the suggestions. The common theme is planning, so I will make a plan every weekend for the week so I can have healthy meals and snacks on hand. I also woke up almost unable to walk today due to a 2 week break in enbrel (antibiotics), so that was enough of a kick in the rear to eat better. I like the idea of giving myself quiet time to listen to music, and I also like the lotto tix idea. That is a fun little reward that could lead to pleasant surprises.

I tried to get into coloring mandalas, but my hands hurt too much. I also used to love knitting, but my hands and wrists no longer cooperate. Still on the quest for that new, fun, creative or crafty habit that is also a treat for myself.

This is quite a journey...

~f