Trepidation

I have two things happening over the next week that have me freaking out majorly, like, panic attack freak. The first is that I am braving the cold with my mother to drive up to my grandparents. They are...difficult. To say the least. But at 87 and 90 they are pretty set in their ways at this point. We don't share much along the lines of politics and (unbeknownst to them) religion. I love them dearly, but I dread spending more than a day with them because lots of feelings get hurt on all sides and snide comments attack both Mom and me on a regular basis. But I love them and it means that I can keep them from trying to drive 800 miles down to see us here and kill themselves or someone else on their way (reference ages and add frail health).

Number two is self-inflicted with the idea to help both my mother and myself and scares the living crap out of me. That would be endeavoring on a ketogenic diet (with mine as only a maybe since my meds may cause troubles with it), or something near it (if there are problems). Mom initiated this journey through prodding from her healthcare provider with a free keto monitoring and support package. I'm on board if it makes us healthy and helps out her at the same time, though without the strict medical guidance. I'm comfortable on my side since I am familiar with the diet from when I was helping Jason with the diet long ago. I did a modified version for me then. Dad's not really sure what he is in for, but we are going to try to make meals that we all can eat with modifications. It's going to be difficult with all the added pitfalls around the house like dried fruit and candy around. Heck. The bread. The blasted real bread is going to be my downfall if I am not careful. I'm planning on picking up some of the fake keto stuff just to keep myself sane. And then there's cereal that will be back in the house. Those two things, bread and cereal, are the bane of my dietary health. Going low-carb should put a damper on many of the things I would normally nosh on.

So I'm a little over my head on the keto thing and I'm not sure how long either of us are going to last. When one of us falls, the other is likely to crumble. With our stubbornness we are likely to prod each other into keeping at it for at least a while. I am hoping that, after the initial withdrawal, things go smoothly without too many slip-ups. I am going to miss the cinnamon rolls and fresh treats terribly. She can't have fake sugars, but doesn't usually crave sweets so she should be fine on that route. Me? I'm going to be relying on some extra supermarket help for my sanity. I'm going to keep it real food, but I need my sweet tooth cradled from time to time. Yeah, yeah, I know that having fake-sweetened food is supposedly a bad idea, but I am going to need it, especially at first.

So there you have it: TLDR: Going to visit cranky grandparents (with Mom). Starting a new diet (with Mom).