A down day

Today I have a day off and I should, in theory, feel relaxed and be enjoying the free time (and the break from work). I am enjoying the free time, but I definitely don't feel relaxed.

We spend the weekend with my other half's brother, which included a trip to Wembley yesterday for the NFL game. It was a great game and I really enjoyed it, and I think I even managed to switch off a little. Somehow, though, I just haven't been able to relax at all. This morning we drove back home and I just kept thinking of all of the things I need to do - it wasn't even work that was on my mind. I was feeling tired, which never helps, and I just kept thinking of things I would need to do - washing, food shopping, renewing the car insurance, sorting some more wedding things... The list goes on. I should really do some singing practice as well. My other half is ill, so he's not up to much and I'm trying to look after him, and I seem to have a dodgy tummy.

Anyway, somehow one load of washing has been done, another one is in, there's now enough food in the fridge to last us a few days and I've renewed the car insurance. Wedding stuff is just going to have to wait though. I have choir practice this evening anyway, so I'll go to that, then try to do some practice one evening this week. What I'm saying is that everything that needs doing this afternoon is done, and I'm therefore having a rest. Yes, I have lots of other things to do, but they can wait. I'm trying to make peace with this and accept that not doing these things this afternoon isn't a problem, it won't make anything any worse. Today is a holiday day, so I am going to relax and do something I want to do, not something I think I should do.

I still don't know what's causing my abdominal pain and nausea. I'm almost certain that a large part of it is stress, but I don't think it's the full story. In general I've been trying to cut out gluten and other high FODMAP foods, however as we were away at the weekend I just ate whatever I felt like eating, so it's possibly (probably) just that. I do have some medication I can take if the pain/sickness get too bad, but I don't want to take it too much. My doctor told me that a lot of people take it every day as a matter of course, however if I can remove the cause I'd prefer to do that. What this means is that I'm going to have to experiment for a while. In any case, it's back to low FODMAP if possible for a while to see whether it does make a difference. I still need to do further research to fully understand what I 'should' and 'shouldn't' be eating, however this Wikipedia article explains what FODMAPs are and is a good starting point.