Week 2, Day 4

Today was much better than yesterday. I had energy, despite being up half the night with a dog who's afraid of the storms.

For breakfast, I had:

• Boiled Egg
• Bacon
• Half an avocado
• Water

For lunch, I had:

• Leftover lamb chops
• Steamed broccoli
• Roasted Beets

For dinner, I had

• Oatmeal with blueberries
• Bacon
• Water

For snacks I had plums. Too many plums! Our plums are so sweet and I go out there to pick them and can't stop eating them!

Week 2, Day 3

• Oatmeal, blueberries
• Water

For lunch, I had:

• One slice of smoked brisket
• Water

For dinner, I had:

• Leftover stir fry (rice with chicken and a few veggies)
• Steamed artichoke (from the garden)
• Coleslaw with cabbage from the garden

It was funny because I used the same coleslaw dressing I've always used and both of us commented about how sweet it seemed. After having cut way back on sugar for 10 days now, things really do seem sweeter.

Protein

I've never thought much about the suggested requirements for protein each day but with the new eating plan, I figured I should begin at least being aware of the protein I'm eating. On the days we have meat, I'm not concerned but on a day like yesterday, I doubt I got as much protein as I needed.

Recommendations I've seen suggest 46 grams for women.

Yesterday's lunch of sardines, crackers, blueberries and almonds was 32 grams.

Last night's dinner had probably 2 grams so I had a total of about 34 grams of protein yesterday.

Chia seeds contain 3 grams of protein per tablespoon. I can add that to my morning oatmeal and end up with about 10 grams (oatmeal, blueberries and chia seeds).

On my daily list of foods, I can start tracking my protein intake too, til I'm comfortable enough to know I'm getting the recommended amount.

So long as we're eating meat with a meal, I don't think I'm going to run short but those days I don't have a lot of meat, I may need to pay attention to adding a boiled egg or something like that to increase my protein intake.

Week 2, Day 1

Today has been a busy day but one of those kinds of days when I seem to work all day and have little to show for it. Vince wasn't coming home for lunch today, which is rare, so I had all day to get things done. I started with moving the furniture off the rugs and vacuuming everything. Then I cleaned out a couple of cabinets and before I knew it, it was past lunch time and I had never stopped for breakfast.

Since Vince wasn't coming home for lunch, I was able to have anything I wanted for lunch so don't be surprised at my choices -- it's what I love!

For lunch, I had:

• A can of sardines
• Crackers
• Blueberries
• Almonds
• Water

For dinner, I had:

• Hummus that I made
• Raw carrots
• A few crackers
• Water

All day I meant to have an orange and never got around to that either. There's always tomorrow!

Week 2, Day 1

Here we go into Week #2. The bad news first . . we had to run to town to drop Vince's car off at the shop, went to a couple of grocery stores and then grabbed Mexican food on the way home. I have been drinking water like crazy at home (well water) but I'm not real crazy about the taste of the city water here so I drank a Dr. Pepper. I know I could add lemon but I didn't. Now I wish I had just had water, or better yet, I kinda wish we had just eaten at home.

For breakfast, I had:

• Oatmeal with blueberries
• Water

For lunch, I had:

• Chicken & Dressing
• Green Beans
• Water

For dinner, I had:

• Chile Relleno 
• Rice
• Chips & Salsa
• Dr. Pepper

I'll do better tomorrow!  :)

Week 1 Weigh In

Week 1:   3.2 pounds lost

I know that rate isn't sustainable but the first week is always more than normal. I'll be happy to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week.

Week 1, Day 6

We're almost to the end of Week #1. It hasn't been bad. It's really been quite easy . . I think because it's more than . . Ughh! I need to lose weight! While I'm happy to be learning so much about the foods we eat, where those we trust us have failed us, mostly due to money and power . . I'm also a little aggravated at myself for blindly eating and drinking and never paying more attention to what I was putting in my body.

When you stop to think about life, and leaving the spiritual aspect out of it, what's the most important thing you can do? I think it's take care of yourself physically and mentally. Our families are important to us and what good are we to them if they're having to care for us? Our kids grow up to have their own kids and sure, they'll be happy to assist us when we're old but they shouldn't be having to assist us when you're not quite elderly . . simply because we haven't taken care of ourselves as we should have.

For many of us, our jobs/careers are important but we can't effectively do that if we'er not feeling our best.

In my mind, the quality of life matters a lot. I'm pretty blessed to almost always feel good but a few days of an aching back or a virus of some kind and I realize quickly how important good health is.

What we eat and what we put into our bodies is something that is totally within our control. We need to teach our children and grandchildren the importance of healthy eating. I'm thinking that there was a time, before fast food, too much sugar and too much sodium, when healthy eating was all folks knew to do . . they didn't have a lot of choices. Then fast food and sugary drinks came along and it was so easy and so tasty and then an entire generation grew up thinking that was the right way to eat.

It's all so much to think about  . .

For breakfast, we had:

• Flour Tortillas (homemade)
• Scrambled eggs (from our chickens)
• Bacon (that I cured and smoked)

Vince added grated cheese and salsa but I left those off.

On weekends, we have a later breakfast, and then an earlier dinner, around 2:00 and then just snack for dinner.

For dinner, we had:

• Grilled lamb chops
• Pinto Beans
• Kale chips (from the garden)
• Raw carrots & squash (from the garden) with green goddess dip

Sugar: The Bitter Truth

A reader sent me a link to Sugar: The Bitter Truth. Again, let me remind you that I am not a scientist, a doctor . . nothing . . a wife, a mom, a quilter, a knitter! I ask you to watch these videos or read the books that I mention so you can be informed about what you eat. You then must make a decision as to what you believe to be true and what you believe to be hype.

Four days of cutting back my sugar and I'll be honest . . the first two days were hard. I was tired, had no energy, had just a bit of a headache . . definitely felt like something was missing but today, Thursday, I feel so good. I feel lighter, though I know I have not lost enough weight to be noticing.

This is all to say that all I want you to do is be informed. I'm not trying to convince you that sugar is bad. It may not be. I honestly feel like so many of us are overweight because we just don't really know the truth about our foods and/or some of the additives in our foods.

So, this guy is talking on the Sugar: The Bitter Truth video and he begins talking about cholesterol, which is something I'm quite interested in because, as I've mentioned, I'm avoiding taking meds, even though modern medicine suggests I should be taking meds.

I guess I'm throwing HIPAA regulations to the wind here because I'm sharing my medical records.

From my records, which I can view online, I can see my lipid profile levels from 2015.

Hopefully you can make those numbers large enough to read.

Based on info from the video, the guy said the triglyceride to HDL level is what really matters to get a reading on your chance of heart disease. I googled for a way to calculate the ratio and found several. I plugged my numbers into all, got some different results but all the results said my triglycerides are too high.

Next, I googled "How to lower triglycerides" and after viewing several sites. This is the site I liked best. Over and over I saw these steps recommended to lower triglycerides:

1. Lose weight.
2. Cut back on sugar.

I'll repeat again . . I knew I was overweight; I knew I was consuming too much sugar. But actually reading all this, watching the videos .. I think I'm turning into a fanatic but I'd rather be a healthy fanatic at an ideal weight than an oblivious overweight unhealthy granny.

I encourage you to watch the video - Sugar: The Bitter Truth and make an educated decision as to your future food consumption.

Week 1, Day 5

It seems like I ate more at lunch than I should have but I really didn't. I didn't even eat as all of what I had on my plate and when I filled my plate, I thought I would go back and get just a tad more if I wanted it . . but I didn't want all I had.

I had lamb chops out to grill but Vince said he wanted something with rice so . . a quick stir fry with some veggies worked.

Then for dinner, I really wasn't hungry for anything but ate an orange and a few almonds.

For breakfast, I had:

• Oatmeal with a little chopped apple and cinnamon
• Water

For lunch, I had:

• Rice, Shrimp with bok choy
• Water

For dinner, I had:

• Orange
• A few almonds
• Water

I'm still drinking a little Dr.Pepper - 2 oz. in the morning and I didn't have 2 oz. this evening but the day isn't over.

Week 1, Day 4

Today was my stumble day. I had two crowns replaced and didn't feel like cooking dinner; didn't really feel like eating but we had some errands to run so we grabbed fried fish out. And, I grabbed a Dr. Pepper, but I had just one and it was a small one so it isn't the end of the world.

For breakfast, I had:

• Oatmeal with strawberries
• Water

For lunch, I had:

• Half a banana, with peanut butter
• Water

For dinner, I had:

• 2 small pieces fried fish
• Dirty Rice
• Dr. Pepper

For snacks, I had:

• Low fat cheese stick
• A few almonds

Every day this week so far, I've had at least 64 ounces of water. That is quite an accomplishment for me.

I've rubbed down a brisket to smoke tomorrow, and have chicken seasoned to grill on Saturday so hopefully having some good meat ready will keep us from eating unhealthy foods - not saying smoked brisket is necessarily healthy but it's better than going to Sonic for a hot dog, right?

Cholesterol

My cholesterol is always borderline. Doctors, being ever cautious of malpractice claims, always want to put me on a statin and I always say no. I've read about the side effects and I feel my cholesterol issues to some degree are inherited. My mom weighs about 90 pounds soaking wet and has been on cholesterol meds for years and years and her levels never change much. Some day you'll read a note from Vince that I did from high cholesterol and you'll be saying "I knew she should have taken her meds!" but I won't be around to hear you so . . it won't bother me what you say.  :)

I have no medical training so never trust anything I tell you, ok? But, I have the best physician's assistant and I love him and I love his nurse. Last spring when I had my blood work done, as usual, I got the speech about my cholesterol being borderline. He said "Common practice would have me put you on statins." I said NO! He said "Good! I like that." He told me about a lady who came to him year after year with borderline cholesterol numbers and she always refused meds. One year she came to him and told him that she had read about a study where the folks ate oatmeal once a day and took red yeast rice and their cholesterol results were greatly reduced. He wanted me to try it and I am and I need to get back there and get blood work done.

Also, I've read recently that eating 1/2 cup of almonds can reduce your LDL-cholesterol by up to 10%. I'm thinking 3 cups of almonds per day and I should be almost to where the doctor wants me to be! Seriously, I'm going to eat 1/2 cup of almonds per day for the next few weeks, be sure to eat my oatmeal religiously and take my red rice yeast without missing a day and then . . I'll have my blood work and we'll all know if any of this is true.

Week 1, Day 3

Last night was fine . . no trips to the bathroom. TMI? Sorry! Other than a glass of water with dinner, I stopped drinking water about 4:30 so I guess it all went through before bed time.

There's so much propaganda in the food industry. So much spin. I no longer know what's true What I do know is that my grandparents and most people in their age and location hardly ever ate out .. probably less than a few times a year; they didn't drink soda; they didn't eat a lot of added sugar, though my grandma almost always had a cake or pie; ice cream was a rare treat; they grew a lot of their own food, including cows and pigs; they processed everything themselves and they ate bacon almost every day. They also worked very hard . . sun up to sundown and often earlier and later. They didn't sit on their butts and watch TV or write blog posts all day. They didn't need to go to the gym or health club . . they truly worked hard. In my opinion, we've become a very lazy country. I think I work hard but there's a big difference in what I do and what they did. My grandparents' lives depended on a successful garden and a fat cow and hog, as well as a good milk cow. I do what I do mostly for entertainment purposes. They knew no other way of life and back in those days, in their location, they didn't have a lot of options.

Most of us these days couldn't grow enough food to feed our family for a week. To me, that is so wrong on so many levels, but I won't go into them here. I'm no better off than most everyone else. We count on someone else to provide everything we need and that bothers me.

I want to grow as much of my own food as I can for two reasons:

1. I know what's in my food, what chemicals have been used on my food and how my food has been handled from the seed stage to the table stage.
2. I find it personally satisfaction to do it myself. That's another thing I think our country is lacking - personal satisfaction earned after a hard day's work to a dedicated project. Again, my personal opinion.

I have to wonder why I care so much about the food supply but yet I'll pour soda after soda into my body. I often think about my plants that I love so much . . my ginger or my lemon trees. I water them every day and I wouldn't think of pouring 4 or 5 cans of Dr. Pepper on them instead of adding water. Why have I done that to my own body.

Just yesterday I read that Tom Hanks had said he was an idiot for the way he had treated his body in his younger years and now has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Last night Vince and I watched a movie with Tom Hanks -- "Captain Phillips". I thought it ironic that I had read about his diabetes just the 2nd day after committing to healthier eating, and then that same night Vince chose a Tom Hanks movie for us to watch. He stated that the doctor had told him if he could get down to his target weight, he should be ok. I want to get to my target weight before I'm diagnosed with something bad.

For breakfast, I had:

• Oatmeal with blackberries
• Water

For lunch, I had:

• Roast beef with melted Swiss cheese. Vince made a sandwich with his roast beef.
• Beet/Potato Salad (beets, potatoes, onions from the garden). 1 cup of beets has 9 grams of sugar but I'm not concerned so much about naturally occurring sugar in home grown beets and I will probably not eat even 1/2 cup of the beets.

For dinner, I had:

• Leftover tuna salad with avocados, dill spears (homemade), carrots (from the garden).

For snacks, I had:

• Strawberries
• Almonds

I'm anxious for this week to pass so I can weigh myself and see if I've lost a few pounds.

Water Bottle

I have more water bottles than anyone person could ever need. Yes, I have two Yeti bottles. Yes, I like them just fine but I'm not the most careful person. I drop things. I take things out in the garden and sometimes they stay there for a week before I remember to bring them in. They sometimes in up in my car for weeks. Almost every time I go to MO, I end up leaving a water bottle there.

I find that if I fix myself a big bottle of water, I'm bull headed enough to want to finish it . . because I fixed it for myself. If I end up planning to drink 8 separate glasses of water per day, it rarely happens.

We were at Sam's Club the other day and they had these bottles in 2 packs and each 2 pack was $19.98. Unfortunately, we've thrown out the boxes. The front of the bottle says "Manna". I can find one not yet constructed web page so other than suggesting you go to Sam's Club if you want one, I don't know what else to say.

The ad said that it will keep cold drinks cold for 24 hours and warm drinks warm for 12 hours. I had to test that.

I filled one up with ice water before I went to bed one night. I took it to bed to use to take my pills. The next morning, I took my pills again and surprisingly, after about 6 hours, the ice was still in the bottle and it was just as cold as when I'd first made it. I let it sit all day and all night and the next morning, over 30 hours later, there was still ice in the bottle.

It doesn't sweat even the tiniest bit. I love that!

It holds about 25 oz. of water/ice and for $10 per bottle, I'm impressed.

The drawbacks are:

1. The opening is not large enough for our ice cubes. I make a glass of ice water and the water melts the ice enough that I can individually stuff them down the hole, then pour the ice water in, then top it off with a bottle of water I keep in the fridge. It isn't enough work to stop me from using it but I wish the opening was just a little larger. If we had a fridge that dispensed crushed ice, that would be fine . . but we don't.
2. There's no way to keep a straw in it. The lid is solid and screws on. I understand that the convenience of a straw also results in some loss of insulation and allows the water to get warmer faster.
3. It has no handles, nor have I seen handles made for it. It's a totally different size from the Yeti bottles so I din't think their handles would fit.

Still . . for the price and for how cold it keeps my water, I love it! Of all the bottles I have, it's my new favorite.

So, if you're near a Sam's Club and are a member, and if you like what this bottle has to offer and don't mind the drawbacks, I think it's a great buy.

A NY Times Magazine Article

Please know that not every article I share is something I believe 100% or that I've researched the validity of the contents but, the more I read, the more convinced I am that sugar in excess is not a good thing. It's a May 12, 2016 article so it's current.

New York Times Magazine article

It's a long read and a lot of "fluff" but about 3/4 down, they begin talking about insulin, sugar heavy diets and a diabetes epidemic.

The best encouragement for me to stay on this reduced sugar diet is to continue reading stories like this.

Exercise

Some kind of exercise plan is a must if I'm going to lose weight. I wouldn't consider myself a couch potato but I do not get enough exercise. We have no place to walk and we have no place to set up exercise equipment. With my sciatica, walking on uneven surfaces often causes pain and that prevents walking a lot on the rock driveway. The highway is a busy one and the speed limit is 75 mph so I'm not walking out there. The shop isn't air conditioned and it's horribly dusty in there so we wouldn't put exercise equipment in there. The sewing room is full (as is the house) so  . . exercise equipment isn't going to happen.

The other night I said to Vince:  "Why don't we build a garage and make a little room that would be air conditioned and put in some exercise equipment and a bathroom?" He said "Do you want to keep investing money here, or do you some day want to move?" He didn't say "Missouri" but I believe he was thinking it so .. my answer is . . no more $$ invested here!

I also know that I am not going to leave the house and drive to town 2 or 3 times a week so joining a health club is not an option.

I've been doing a few exercises . . "few" is the key word. There are things I could do even while sitting and knitting . . with leg lifts and the like. I could do bending and stretching type exercises while working in the kitchen. I think I'll be happier if I can exercise without realizing I'm doing it.

There are all kinds of exercise plans available on youtube so that's what I'm going to do.

My plan, beginning today, is to exercise for five minutes at least three times per day. Five minutes doesn't sound like a long time but either my clock is slow or  . . it is a long time . . when exercising!

Week 1, Day 2

The headache is gone. This is only Day #2 so I will not be surprised if the headache returns. It takes a while to break the caffeine/sugar addiction. I will continue to have my 2 oz. of Dr. Pepper twice today . . just as I did yesterday, probably through Friday and then cut back to 2 oz. once a day and see how that works. I still love it. I still want it so . . I'm taking each day as it comes and at this point, I think I'm better off having a few ounces per day instead of a whole 12 oz. can once or twice a week, but I'm way too early in this process to predict my relationship with Dr. Pepper in a few weeks or months.

For breakfast, I had:

• Oatmeal with strawberries
• Water

For lunch, I had:

• Roast Beef
• Mac & Cheese (homemade)
• Eggplant Parmesan
• Water

For dinner, I had:

• Tuna Salad in avocado half, carrot sticks, tomatoes and a few almonds
• Water

For snacks, I had:

• Almonds (a few)
• Blackberries

It's probably wishful thinking on my part but I already feel like my jeans are not quite as tight. Vince said tonight that he feels better not eating so much.

One lesson I learned last night . . drink the water early in the day. I never ever wake up during the night to go to the bathroom and last night I woke up three times! Even though I had water with dinner, the rest of the water drinking marathon ended at 4:30. Hopefully that was early enough for it to get all the way through my system.

Week 1, Day 1

Today is the first day of the first week of this new plan to cut a lot of the sugar from my diet. Today is May 16, 2016.

For breakfast, I had:

• Steel cut oats with strawberries
• Water

For lunch, I had:

• Sardines and crackers (don't frown - I love sardines)
• Carrots (from the garden)
• Tomato slices
• Water

For dinner, I had:

• Fried Eggplant
• Peanut Butter (protein)
• Water

Snack:

• Cashews - just a couple
• Blackberries.

Obviously I had some sugar in my diet today.  My goal is not to cut out all sugar but to cut out most of my sugar intake, especially the "added" sugar. I will still eat high fiber fruits in moderation, even some which contain a lot of sugar.

As far as Dr. Pepper, I knew I couldn't go "cold turkey" so I calculated that 4 oz. of Dr. Pepper should be about 13 grams of sugar and I had 2 oz. at lunch, along with water, and 2 oz. at dinner, with water. I definitely feel the lack of energy from those 150 or so grams of sugar that I didn't get today from the Dr. Pepper. I have a slight headache but I woke up with that this morning so I'm thinking that's more of a sinus issue instead of a caffeine/sugar issue.

Vince doesn't drink the soda that I drink but he's a junk food junkie! He did good today (at least while he was at home) . . especially since I tossed out 4 bags of cookies.

For lunch, he ate leftover tortellini with proscuitto that we had last week, along with the carrots and tomatoes that I had. For dinner, he made a sandwich with the eggplant, added some ham and pasta sauce. I don't think he's quite as enthusiastic about this new meal plan as I am but hopefully he'll see me losing weight, and feeling better and he'll want to get on board.

Day #1 is behind me.

How Much is Too Much

I didn't have a clue how much sugar I should be having per day. I didn't want to know. The American Heart Association recommends a max of 25 grams of sugar per day. I have been drinking a minimum of 4 sodas per day, and that's 160 grams of sugar . . even if I ate no other sugar, but I did eat more.

As I think back to what we ate yesterday, we had syrup on our biscuits at breakfast. I drank a soda with breakfast.

We had a late breakfast and really just skipped lunch. For dinner, we grilled burgers. There wasn't much sugar in that meal.

Later, we had leftover biscuits from breakfast, along with strawberries that had been sliced earlier in the day, and a good amount of sugar was added. There was some sweetened whipped cream on top!

Throughout the day, I drank probably 4 sodas. Without a doubt, I had well over 200 grams of sugar and the recommended amount is no more than 25 grams.

Yes, I have a sugar problem!

The Sugar Factor

Last night we watched a documentary about sugar in our diet. I am no expert but I think it isn't hard to see that many of us are eating too much sugar and when compared to the amount of sugar consumed by previous generations, our consumption is way up . . as is our weight and incidents of health related problems caused by being overweight. I do know that too many people, along with the documentaries they produce, have an agenda so I'm not here to say that I watched one or two shows and I'll never eat sugar again. I'm here to say that I know, even before watching these shows, that I eat too much sugar. I am overweight, I am almost 62 years old and I want to live out the rest of my years as healthy as possible.

We eat fairly healthy, at least compared to many folks. We rarely eat out. Unless we're traveling (rare) and are desperate, we don't eat fast food. We don't eat much prepared or packaged food. We have a garden and grow quite a bit of our own food. We have chickens that produce our eggs. We drink raw milk straight from the cow.

My downfall is soda! I keep telling myself that I am not overweight because of what I eat, but because of what I drink, although I do know that I eat too much sugar. To be totally honest, I often just eat a spoonful of sugar right out of the canister.

After watching the documentary last night, and then a second documentary, I went to bed knowing that tomorrow is a new day.

Tomorrow from last night is now today and the hard part begins. I am not going to tell you how much I weigh but I will tell you that I seriously want to lose 50 pounds. I will be quite happy if I lose 40 pounds, which is probably more realistic at my age but I am setting my goal at 50 pounds. I am not setting a target date but I know that 2 pounds per week is reasonable in the beginning and it may get harder as I go.

I will try to do daily posts here, though I will weigh in only once per week. Wish me luck!