Lindsay Ross Blog

“Reality is my problem”

I am in no way a Russell Brand fan. But this article is an honest look into the mind of an addict. Honest and haunting. Well written. Thoughtful. And painful.

If you know someone who is an addict, and even more, if you love someone who is an addict (Brother, Sister, Wife, Husband, Father, Son, Daughter, etc.), you “get” this. You understand this world.

“Drugs and alcohol are not my problem, reality is my problem, drugs and alcohol are my solution.”

REALITY is my problem. Addicts are merely people in pain. People trying to dull the pain for whatever reason. People who chose a pretty damaging coping mechanism to deal with their pain. OR, people with mental illness who don’t have any resources but to “self-medicate”.

But they’re just like everyone else. Trying to navigate their way through life.

“I cannot accurately convey to you the efficiency of heroin in neutralising pain. It transforms a tight, white fist into a gentle, brown wave. From my first inhalation 15 years ago, it fumigated my private hell and lay me down in its hazy pastures and a bathroom floor in Hackney embraced me like a womb.”

The truth is, reality is ALL of our problems. And we all have different ways of coping. Some people use drugs and alcohol to dull the pain. Some people use food. I see no difference in the addictions (which will probably get me in trouble with some people). One chooses drugs, one chooses food. Both can lead to some pretty awful consequences including death.

Yet the drug addict (or alcoholic) is often seen as “bad” or “scum” or “worthless” while the food addict may be seen as “lazy” “un-disciplined” or have a “lack of self-control”.

The truth is, both groups are just trying to dull pain.

The part that stuck out to me the most:

“It is difficult to feel sympathy for these people. It is difficult to regard some bawdy drunk and see them as sick and powerless. It is difficult to suffer the selfishness of a drug addict who will lie to you and steal from you and forgive them and offer them help. Can there be any other disease that renders its victims so unappealing?…..my belief that if you regard alcoholics and drug addicts not as bad people but as sick people then we can help them to get better. By we, I mean other people who have the same problem but have found a way to live drug-and-alcohol-free lives.”

Alcoholics/Addicts are NOT bad people. They’re sick people. They have worth. God loves them, just as much as he loves anyone. That is truth.

“If you regard alcoholics and drug addicts not as bad people but as sick people then we can help them to get better”

Well said, Russell. Well said.

White Bean Chicken (or Turkey) chili

I never thought I’d be one to have a blog where I post recipes. But since fixing food for my humans consumes a huge portion of my life, I think good, healthy recipes deserve a space on my blog. Every once in a while at least.

If you haven’t checked out Mel’s Kitchen Cafe blog, you probably should. Awesome, almost always easy, and usually not time consuming recipes. It’s my “go to” recipe site.

And with that, I give you this little gem that has become a part of our winter meal rotation.

White Bean Chicken (or Turkey) Chili

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
2 (14.5 ounce) cans Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups cooked, diced chicken (or turkey)
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup salsa (I use Pace Chunky Medium)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the remainder of the ingredients, except the mozzarella cheese. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the soup comes to a simmer. Add the mozzarella cheese one handful at a time, stirring to let each addition melt before adding the next. Stir to combine and make sure all the cheese has melted and serve.

It’s good. Trust me. And healthy. Bonus. I’ve made it with turkey and chicken. Tastes great either way. And once I was out of mozzarella cheese, so I ripped up a bunch of string cheese and put that in there. Took a little longer to melt, but it still worked. I’m brave in the kitchen like that.

Humans of New York.

A friend of mine told me about this Instagram feed she was following. @humansofny
Said it was a “must follow”. So I checked it out.

She was right. It’s a must follow. I’ve spent an hour the past two nights scrolling through all the photos and reading the snippets of their stories. It’s fascinating. Captivating. Inspiring. Sometimes sad. Sometimes makes me laugh.

But the bottom line, it further emphasizes we ALL have a story to tell. And we’re all connected. We all belong to each other. And we’re similar in more ways than we’re different.

Some examples:

“What’s your biggest remaining goal in life?”
“Honestly, I just want to keep on. I’ve got a job with The City, and it’s hard to do much better than that. I’ve got a pension. I’ve got benefits. And there’s no better job security. You’ve got to fire yourself if you work for The City. You have to do wrong. If I work at that store across the street, they can tell me they don’t need my services anymore. The City can’t do that.”

“I pretty much only read fantasy because I’ve had more than enough of reality.”

“I wanted to be in the FBI, but then I found out that first you have to be a police officer for four years. And I don’t think I want to do that.”
“Why not?”
“I’m literally five feet tall. If I tried to arrest someone, they’d think they were being pranked.”

“I’ve got a whole stack of books in my cart. Most of them are advance copies. I know a place where they get thrown out.”
“How many books have you read?”
“Thousands.”
“So why are you homeless?”
“I’ve tried to work a job a bunch of times. But then I get sad, and then I get high, and things fall apart.”

That last one got to me. For so many reasons.

You can follow them on instagram or Facebook. Or check out the website at www.humansofny.com

Or buy the book with some of the pictures and stories featured in it. You can get that on Amazon here:

Humans of New York

What a brilliant project idea! I actually have had a somewhat similar project idea in the works in my brain for years now. Hoping one day it will become reality. But right now I’m in the business of saving lives of little human people. 🙂 And I’m happy to be in that season of my life.

Go check it out! Be prepared to stay there awhile.

Best spinach protein shake!!

I am not a “juicer”. And I have never been able to jump on the “green smoothie” bandwagon. Every one of those I have tried have NOT tasted good to me.

But this one. This one is good. And I don’t own a Vitamix or a Blendtec (is that what it’s called). I just use a regular old blender and it works fine.

This is what I drink after a good workout.
It’s an adapted recipe from the book Fit2Fat2Fit (which is a really interesting book by the way).

Protein Spinach Shake

2-3 cups of spinach (I just grab a few handfuls and shove them on the bottom of the blender)
3/4 C almond milk (or you could use regular milk)
1 scoop vanilla whey protein (I get a big bag of this at Costco)
1/2 banana
1 Tbsp peanut butter (I use Skippy natural)
1-2 cups of ice (this makes it cold, obviously, and thicker)

Mix it all up!

Looks nasty. Tastes gooooood!!! (Like, good good, not “healthy” good. Trust me)

Focus T25

My latest exercise routine has been Focus T25. It’s the same guy who does Insanity. And I love it.

It’s a hard workout. But it’s only 25 minutes. Every time.

I always feel better after I exercise so I try to do something at least 5 times a week. And with two little boys under my feet the whole time, 25 minutes sounds a lot better than an hour.

Found this gem of a picture on my phone. Carter must have taken it.
And of course my knees are only down cause there’s a little person sitting on me. Of course. (Pushups are not my strength. I plan to fix that eventually.)

You can usually find these DVD’s for sale by someone other than Beachbody for a lot cheaper. I got mine on KSL (Insanity, T25, and P90x).