Heart Awareness Month is coming

 February is Heart Awareness Month. I plan to post different things about hearts, my heart and what I have been through, resilience and maybe even videos of me talking about my journey. I have already been posting on social media my own quotes on what resilience means to me but I will be adding more during the month to come. I want to give others an idea what I am capable of when it comes to talking about heart health and being resilient with it, as I am working on a programme of workshops to talk to people about helping autistic patients with their heart illnesses and hospital journeys.

If you want to learn more from me, and you're not already following me on social media, please do follow me and let me know if you want to learn more from me.

You can find me here 

Facebook: http://facebook.com/AuthorJulieDay

Instagram: http://instagram.com/juliednomo

Here is an example of what I have been doing on FB/Meta:

Resilience is thinking Oh my as you realise what you have been through the last three years.

I hope to see some of you there.

Let's learn about heart health and resilience.

Me and food sensory

Following from my last post, I am going to mention other foods that I don't like because I feel that they taste raw to me. Thinking about potatoes made me recall these.

Avocado – I know that some people do like these, but I don't. The only time I tried one, years ago, I didn't like it because to me it tasted too raw to me. I know it is a raw food but I just don't like them.

Asparagus – Again I have tried this only once, when I was at a writers' dinner and I thought let's just try it to see what it's like. Nope. Didn't like it. Tasted of nothing to me. Maybe it has that raw feeling for me too.

Broccoli – I tried this once as well and didn't like it. Too bitty for me. I now believe that it had that raw taste to it too.

There are other raw foods that I can't eat such as apples and pears, but that is because they are high in FODMAPs which give me IBS. In other words, they are too much fibre for me. A lot of foods that they say are healthy and good for you, I can't eat because they are too much for me, namely dark green and leafy vegetables. I can eat Brussels but only a few at a time, otherwise they will give me stomach pains. I think this is a reaction against the warfarin I have. Brussels contain vitamin K, and too much of that can have an effect on the warfarin and change the INR levels (blood clotting levels). 

Me and potatoes

I am sorry I've not been on here for ages but been so busy. I went into hospital in November. When I came out it was my birthday. Then it was preparing for Christmas. That was over and now it's new year. Here we are in 2024 already. 

I recently posted this as an article on LinkedIn as part of my sharing experiences as an Aspie. I thought I'd share it on here too.

I have recently read a memoir about a mother of four autistic sons and how she fought for the learning and education they needed to be able to speak and learn for their futures. In it, she mentions that one of her eldest sons explained why he never liked mashed potato for years. It made me think of my feelings towards mashed potato and other forms of potato. I have never really liked mashed potato as it reminded me of school dinners when it was lumpy. It put me off it. If I ever had it at home or elsewhere, I would mash it up with a fork to make sure there were no lumps. I still don't like it now, but if I have to have it then I will have something else with it eg baked beans or tomato ketchup to give it flavour. Maybe I think it is too bland. Or it could be that on its own I feel it tastes too raw. I don't mind it on cottage pie or shepherds pie. Possibly because as it is on top of meat, the meat gives it flavour. When my mum made it for us, she would mash it with our spread before layering it on the meat. This also gives it more flavour. I will eat boiled or new potatoes but like mashed potato I have to have something else with it to give it more flavour. With boiled potatoes I used to like them in a casserole, especially with herbs and stock. My mum used to cook a lovely chicken casserole and it made the potatoes more palatable. With new potatoes I have some of my sunflower spread, or I might dip it in beetroot juice if I have beetroot with them. Again it might be because I think the taste is either bland or too raw.

I don't know if this is an autistic thing, or other people who are non-autistic feel the same way as me. Please let me know.