Discussion Board

I've not gotten much of a reprieve yet, pain has diminished some but it is lingering. The bp is still in the 29 range but a little higher than it was, I'll have to keep an eye on it to see what my trends are over the next few months as we head into spring, typically a very windy time of year here.

Michelle, these days I'm sure I must have fibro in addition to PMR, I definitely have all the tender points. THis is something I discounted earlier on--before this WOE when my pain was so out of control for months on end, it was hard to tell if I had tender points b/c I hurt to be touched just the same ALL OVER. Now that I have much reduced levels of pain, I can definitely tell that I have 8 or 9 tender points that are highly sensitive. But then they may just be trigger points, since many of them occur in the same places as tender points.

??? so really, who knows?!?! all I really know is I'm sick of hurting lol

Other days I am convinced I have psoriatic arthritis. I've had red bumps on my elbows that come and go for the past 1.5 yrs. Keep forgetting to ask the doctor about it, but then I remember I'm determined NOT to ask my doctor for anything anymore! bahahaha

THen there's other days that I am sure I have a fatal disease, because surely it's not possible to hurt like this and nobody knows why?

Ok, I'm done now It's Friday thank goodness!

I hope you have wonderful plans for the weekend!

Blue

Hi blue

Oh my it's possible that you could have fibro too. I think the diagnosis tends to rely on at least 11 points, but I had like 8 for years and plenty of pain intermittently up until the diagnosis. I sure hope it's not so though - one is enough.

I kind of worry about that itchy, scaly patch on the back of my left leg that I have had for years. I always wondered if it was psoriasis. Well, gee it must have been there for 10 years and now its completely gone - along with alot of other symptoms

But the fibro is definitely still with me - this weather system has been reminding not to get to cocky about the improvements I have been having! Yesterday - with the barometric pressure dropping continuously for hours - I had the worst pain ever, well the second worst - the barometer went to 29.4 here on St Paddy's day and I wish I'd have had a jug of Irish whiskey to have helped me through that!

Though the drop was not that much or for as long as on the 17th, yesterday was just unbearable. Mercifully, I slept through a bunch of it. Yet that meant I didn't sleep last night - so because of no sleep today the pain lingers - despite the pressure going up.

I am pretty sure the phrase - "gets you coming and going" was invented for weather associated pain because it's just completely accurate.

I haven't been on for ever - partly because my computers hard drive had to be replaced and also because I have been busy being darned sick and also going to a bunch of family events despite myself.

I have done well at all these events as far as eating McDougall - though not MWL in all cases. I have gained some about a pound and a half but it's really hard to tell if it's water retention from the weather ( seriously once a storm is gone for good I can drop as much as three pounds in a day) or the piece of chocolate/chocolate cake I ate at my Uncle's 85th birthday party!

As bad as that small binge was - I have found something that recovers my tummy and gut fast after gluten and non-McDougall exposure. Not that I will find excuses to test this - but it is worth knowing that it works for me.

turns out if I eat fermented veggies - like raw fermented cabbage or Kimche before and after an exposure - my gut will not hurt for days afterwards.I can't say this will work for others, but a good dose of probiotics - seems to have helped my avoid the really bad discomfort I had before going off of MWL.

So, I will always have Kimchee in the fridge - though I don't intend to be off diet much - things like rice have thrown me for a loop in past. I learned from someone here Lundberg is our best best because they do provide gluten free - just like the oats from bob's Red Mill. The rice and oats don't contain gluten of themselves - that is if they were grown in proximity to gluten crops or rotated in fields that have grown them.

I have found some real improvement to the digestive tract having started regular consumption of the Kimchee. It's a unique product to be sure and spicy but I often mix it in with other sald green and veggies and it cuts the spiciness down when I am not in the mood for that taste. I am getting 1/2 cup of it a day to fulfill my probiotics requirement and haven't had a days problem gut-wise since I have taken it up. So that's some good news to counteract all the whining, hehehehe

So this is a day ahead of weigh in. I am doing this to keep track of what happens in bad weather (huge barometric pressure drops) to me and and my weight. I am clear that the pain aspect is really not going to controllable through this diet: though it's a big help the rest of the time and lowers my pain more than exercise alone. If I am doing both consitently and having great weather - no rain or fog - I can get the pain down to about a level 5 or 6. I have spent the last few years at a consistent 8 to 10. This week I was completely back there in those high numbers!

January 01, 2012 - 212.0
January 06, 2012 - 210.5
January 13, 2012 - 209.5
January 20, 2012 - 208.0
January 27, 2012 - 210.0
February 3, 2012 - 207.0
February 10, 2012-207.0
February 18, 2012-208.0
February 24, 2012-207.5
March 02, 2012 - 206.0
March 09, 2012 - 205.5
March 16, 2012 - 206.0
March 22, 2012 - 204.0
March 29, 20012 - 208.0

Ouch that hurt. I am up 4 pounds the day before weighin. I am only a little daunted though. I checked the up ticks in the above list they are all bad weather incidents. During these - the fibromyalgia is really bad, I retain water like crazy and can't exercise at all. On the retain water aspect - we have heard the hands looking like sausages - well maybe not that bad, but I can't get rings on them and boy do they hurt! Not the joints though; the arthritis is really gone in the hands and shoulder too!

I actually got up to 210.5 pounds this week. That was on the last of the rainy days. Still, I am coming down a pound a day since the sun showed up yesterday. But the water doesn't come off fast - the hands (and the rest of me) are still mighty swollen. But more importantly for me - the pain is going down faster than it used to pre- McDougall - so it's not all bad, I am about a 6 today.

Also, I hope this chart is down another pound by weigh in day and back to where I was at least by first April weigh in!!!!

My Weight Chart:
>

{{{{gentle hugs}}}}

I sent you a pm, lady!

Oh joy -

another storm is coming in and the bp in this case barometric pressure is on it's way down yet again. the fibromyalgia is topping at 9.5 and the weight is up from yesterday to 208.5 - I had been loosing on the sunny days but I haven't had that much of a break. So at some point in the week Tuesday I went up to 210.5. I did loose 2 overall during the week.

Pain and weight gain don't seem to fair to me. On-the-other-hand, I am used to this on other diets too and I was suffering from the untastey, unhealthy, unfulfilling and unfilling SAD food! I am fine with this food and all my other stats are doing well too. It's just a water retention thing!

January 01, 2012 - 212.0
January 06, 2012 - 210.5
January 13, 2012 - 209.5
January 20, 2012 - 208.0
January 27, 2012 - 210.0
February 3, 2012 - 207.0
February 10, 2012-207.0
February 18, 2012-208.0
February 24, 2012-207.5
March 02, 2012 - 206.0
March 09, 2012 - 205.5
March 16, 2012 - 206.0
March 22, 2012 - 204.0
March 29, 2012 - 208.0
March 30, 2012 - 208.5

Up 4.5 pounds - I am hoping this is just fibromyalgia water retention, because it's not a food thing. I have been gaining a pound a day most days this week. Except for two sunny days when the barometric pressure was above 30 and consistent then I lost a pound a day. I don't know what causes this but it sure is quantifiable I am not going to take this personally - I am just going to keep quantifying and pretending the whole thing is a science project

Regardless - I am going back to logging foods eaten because - I guess I need to prove to my self that it's just water retension and get over it!

My Weight Chart:
>

Well -- stuff got really miserable over the weekend, end over end storms. I made some good McDougall MWL soups and hunkered down. Then two days of sunshine and the weight dropped off in a huge lump, hehehe

I went from 208.5 to 203.5 in a DAY. That 5 pounds overnight!

I thought I better log it quick, because "Yes Virginia" there is another storm building and the barometer is on it's way down, grr....

I am looking forward to summer - but then there is the fog to deal with, hahaha!

My Weight Chart:
>

January 01, 2012 - 212.0
January 06, 2012 - 210.5
January 13, 2012 - 209.5
January 20, 2012 - 208.0
January 27, 2012 - 210.0
February 3, 2012 - 207.0
February 10, 2012-207.0
February 18, 2012-208.0
February 24, 2012-207.5
March 02, 2012 - 206.0
March 09, 2012 - 205.5
March 16, 2012 - 206.0
March 22, 2012 - 204.0
March 29, 2012 - 208.0
April 05, 2012 - 203.5

Lost 4.5 pounds, yay!

This isn't really just MWL; I retain water in bad weather, it's just part of my unique fibromyalgia thing. I went up to 208.5 at the peak of the storm coming in last weekend and then literally dropped 5 pounds overnight, after the last front left. I am also .5 pounds away from being out of the category of obese. I'll be most happy to see that tag go

I had a serious fall from the wagon on Easter; something I vowed not to do again - because well, for all the obvious reasons. I feel exceptionally bad about it as Debbie just opened the April Weigh in with April as the no excuses month. And immediately I went to an excuses mode over Easter dinner with my Cousins.

I am paying for it in humiliation, actual pain and only a little sleep - all that stuff added to the fact that this was going to be a super bad day for me anyway as there are a series of storm systems coming here this week, yet again.

My justification for eating SAD yesterday is that this event is held at my Cousin Doris' house and here son Tod cooks for the whole family. Cousin Doris 85 died the last Wednesday and Tod decided to go ahead - and do the whole thing even though it's been a really tough week for all of them. So, I caved in and decided not to bring my own food - though I had made it all ahead of time.

The funeral will be this week they all will cook for the family gathering afterwards... I absolutely will bring my own food for that!

My weight is up again to 207 when I was down to 203.5 - so I am feeling really bad about that as well:/

Don't beat yourself up too much, Michelle - you are already paying for it physically, after all!

Mistakes happen. We observe, learn and move forward, much the wiser and more in charge of our habits.


Holidays and family occasions (happy and sad) are very hard for those of us eating this way. More and more I come to see the rest of the world as addicted to SAD foods and tastes, and everything around us is enabling that addiction - from people we know and love to advertising and popular culture!

Hope you feel better soon!

{{HUGS}}

Nichol - thanks for the kind words, I am done beating myself up and I am continuing to watch the scale go up. It's rained all this week, though the end of last week (when I dropped so much 4.5lbs.) was sunny. As Monday was setting up again for stormy weather here I actually wonder if that gain was really all Easter dinner or possibly in part my rain = water retention syndrome. Anyway, I have been completely MWL and I am now up to 210 since Monday, almost an additional pound a day.

I really am glad that I am not taking that seriously and I am thinking cool science info instead of OMG I can't stand this anymore.

I am also looking forward to this weekend too. Sadly, Saturday is a family funeral - but I will see relatives that I haven't for sometime and that is always wonderful despite the occasion for our reunion. I'll also take along McD MWL food to be prepared. Our family usually "puts out a spread" after services and that can be completely over the top. I won't go there!

Next day is a McDougall Brunch potluck here in the SF Bay Area. This will be fantastic I have no doubt. I am so looking forward to meeting McDougallers - I am beside myself with anticipation, really I am. I am completely hoping the weather holds, so I can get out and do these things. The weather report shows those nice round orange suns on both days, here's hoping!!

Oh I forgot to post something that I just loved to pieces - it's about my friend - actually a once upon a time a long time ago bf. Anyway, after not a word between us for like seriously deades - I started feeling really worried about him all the time and finally was forced to track him down.

I wanted to do that just about as much as I would relish dragging a 20-mule team across Death Valley, but it was a nagging worry that just wouldn't go away! I finally tracked him down - and low and behold I wasn't worried over nothing - he has been going through pretty extensive cancer treatments. He seems to be doing OK now, but despite the treatments it's not gone.

I actually started getting really immersed in reading about all this nutrition stuff thinking if I found something it would be a help to him and perhaps he'd try it out. Well who was I kidding.

Anyway, I am now the one that is reaping the benefits. Yet, we email daily and keep completely in touch about our day to day lives and it's all very nice - except he has done little to make things better for his health, sigh - moan - growl....

It's a complete uphill battle for me and I am not trying to convince him anymore -- the fact is his friends are predominantly "foodies" and his socializing is all about potlucks and other food related get togethers. Tomorrow he'll be BBQing for 100 people at a winery.

Yet - apparently for an Easter Potluck celebration - this carnivore friend of mine made his version of a vegan chile. He wrote me ahead of time asking if adding Worcestershire sauce would make it not vegan, but he didn't tell me he was going through with it or not - and he certainly didn't share the rest of the ingredients.

Low and behold this Monday - he wrote me an oh so forlorn sounding email, that his Vegan Chile was not well received and he probably should have not told people ahead of time that it was VEGAN. ( I feel so bad about not warning him, any one of us would, I am such a bad friend!)

Anyway, his best friend actually made a snide comment about that pronouncement and then tasted it and had nothing good to say afterwards. I think the email said "his distain was evident before he tasted it and he was not going to change his mind even if it was excellent".

So, sadly my friend's first social venture into sharing vegan repast was a failure. Still, I am so proud of him for making something vegan I could just burst. It makes me smile every time I think about it, especially the fact that he thought for it to be really vegan he had to include tofu and mushrooms - in chile!!!!!

OMG - it does sound completely wretched

Hi Michelle! Just a quick drive by to say hello and wish you a wonderful weekend.
Blue

OK - I vote for sunny day weigh ins where the barometric pressure is at or close to 30. I dropped 2 pounds last night the DAY AFTER weigh in. I'll probably go down more when it gets to 30, it's not quite there yet.
Plus birds are singing and sun is shining - all is good, pain is way down too

Let's hear it for SUNSHINE!!! I'm glad you get such quick relief when the weather changes for the better. I hope your family reunion today is a wonderful time of sharing and remembering and laughter despite the sadness and that the food is a non-issue for you. Eat well before you go, and choose wisely while you are there. Even if there isn't much in the way of McDougall-friendly fare, remember that the gathering is about the people, not the food, and you can eat again when you get home while celebrating the fact that you made great health-promoting choices!

Gotta get back to homework, see you tomorrow!

hugs

Oh yum - I want to try this newsletter recipe - interesting spices and love the mushrooms :

Curried Mushrooms and Chickpeas
By Greta Weingast

This is a favorite of mine since I love garbanzo beans (chickpeas). It is very similar to a wonderful garbanzo bean dish that we enjoyed on the McDougall Adventure trip to Costa Rica this summer.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8

½ cup water
2 large onions, chopped
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne
1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated, or 2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt (optional)
1 ½ pounds cremini mushrooms (or white), sliced
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained

Heat the water in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the chopped onion, cover and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the turmeric, coriander, cayenne, ginger and salt. Cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add the mushrooms, cover and continue to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until “saucy”.

Add the tomatoes and garbanzo beans, cover and cook 30 minutes until the mushrooms are tender and the flavors are well blended.

Serve over couscous, baked potatoes or rice.