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Hi. That's a tough one. However, you probably already feel better and you are headed to feeling really good. At some point she will see this. If she doesn't, well, YOU will be feeling good and will continue to be healthier and that will have to be enough. I understand wanting her support. It is so helpful to me to have support from those who care for me and I must admit it has hurt at times when they didn't. Now that I've lost a lot of weight and kept it off they tend to be more supportive. Until they came around and not knowing if they ever would I came here for support. Not that ANY of that makes you feel better. Sorry.

When thinking about this I almost want to be dismissive about whether or not folks support us. But you know, food and eating is such a communal thing and providing food is the action of love and caring and memory and celebration. It's not easy to divorce ourselves from all of this when we choose to eat so drastically different. I have grieved my loss of gumbo and ham hocks and big pots of crawfish and mama's cooking. My family has been at times at a loss for knowing what to do with me. When someone wants to give us love in the form of food that is almost sacred to them- grandma's recipes or a work of art in the form of food- it is difficult for them as well. I guess I am stating the obvious.

Be gentle with her and with yourself and just keep getting healthier.

Hi Dissolution,

I enjoy your journal so much. It is extremely helpful to me to read your real life challenges and how you approach resolution. Your journal is aptly named.

Your resolve to stay committed to your health goals is a powerful message to anyone reading your story.

Your sense of humor takes it over the top. I am still lauging at the mental image of your pup chucking chewies at your head. That is hilarious!

Thanks for being here!

Great posts as usual! But I have got to match a cat story to your dog one. I had a cat that fetched rubber bands; anytime she found one, she'd come dutifully and drop it at my feet to toss. One morning drinking my first cup of coffee I looked out the front window and saw her dragging a newspaper down the driveway by its rubber band -- I call that work out of class

I love dropping by for all your posts -- but sorry about your wife not getting this to the degree you'd expect. I was thrilled today that my ex ranching, ex bf emailed me to tell me he is taking to vegan dishes to the TG dinner he is invited to. I swear I am saying HAPPY THANKSGIVING OVER THAT and just like your wife buying you all those little goodies - just out of nowhere and nice! If they didn't protest so much the surprises wouldn't be so sweet, right?

Michelle: I guess I was more expecting the "I could never give up meat" attitude from her, not "the reason your cardiologist says you had a heart attack is BS". It's like what's next? I was faking heart attacks? Glad to hear about your EX coming around like that.

Will the cat fetch them if you shoot them down the hall?

Anna: After my second angioplasty and stint installation, my wife told me, that it was not her fault and I was responsible for what I put in my mouth. Those are the wisest words she has ever spoken on the subject of diet and I have taken them to heart.

Nancy: Thank you so much for your kind words. Sometimes it feels like a dream. I've never been good at dieting, and even when I have managed to stay on a diet for months at a time, I struggled through all of it. This time is different, there is no struggle, it's weird.

I can remember doing Atkins (with the wife) and asking the kids to keep their breakfast cereal in their rooms, otherwise it would be too easy to snap and binge on carbs. I am constantly surrounded by SAD food, in this house. The only real "problem" I've had is catching myself reaching for something out of habitual eating. As is walking past the kitchen island and automatically reaching for the can of pringles, and then stopping in mid reach and thinking, but I don't eat that anymore.

The pup I have is a yorkie-poo my wife bought about a 18 months ago. She will sometimes bring me her food dish when it gets empty. Last night she brought me a plastic cup, from out of the dry dog food bag, because her dry food dish was empty. Creepy smart...

So up another pound today 260, but I have been bouncing up and down between 258 and 260 for a week now.

Yesterday for Thanksgiving I had;

Off Plan
1oz of ham
2 oz of turkey
Stuffing
Roll

Animal protein/fat free
Sweet potatoes /w a little marshmallow topping (prepared separately)
Green bean casserole

Mostly On Plan
Home made cranberry sauce and relish
Mashed Potatoes (prepared separately)

I think I actually enjoyed the green bean casserole the most out of all the bad food I ate. My son who is following the E2 diet seemed to enjoy his "day off" from the diet, he ate much more meat and used gravy. I had made enough mashed potatoes for the both of us, I used a little Silk and nutritional yeast. My E2 son has not yet experienced nutritional yeast. The only food he took home yesterday were the left-over mashed potatoes with the nutritional yeast.

Mostly likely will be spending the next few days on the road and out of town for a funeral. Think I might go to Goodwill today and look for a suit or sport coat. I was probably 50+ pounds heavier when my suit was purchased, and think I gave away my smaller suits years ago. I'm sure not going to buy a new suit at my current cause, cause I sure don't plan to stay this weight for long.

what an inspiring story ! with your permission I would like to share your story with my class

I look forward to your next post

Sounds like your thanksgiving went really well. Congratulations!

Fulenn

Fulenn: Thanks! I hope yours was nice also.

lifetimelearner: I would be honored if you decided to share my story with your class.

Getting ready for the trip/funeral. I found a suit that mostly fit, think it belonged to my Dad. Also found a top coat that I used to wear in my younger days, it fit. That was a good feeling.

A little over a week ago my wife did some shopping at a farmers market and bought me a few things. One of the things she bought me, was whole golden flax seeds. I might be wrong, but I was pretty sure I read that you needed to grind flax seeds, otherwise they would just stay in seed form all the way through your digestive track. So here's the conversation we had this afternoon.

Me: Honey, what should I use to grind these flax seeds? Coffee grinder or food processor?
Wife: Use the food processor, the little one.
<whirrrrrrrrr>
Hmmm, still whole seeds.
<whirrrrrrrrr>
Wow, immune
<whirrrrrrrrr>
<whirrrrrrrrr>
Stubborn little guys
<whirrrrrrrrr>
<whirrrrrrrrr>
<whirrrrrrrrr>
Me: Honey, they're still whole. What do you suggest, add some water or coffee grinder?
Wife: What do you mean they are still whole?
Me: See look (show her the whole seeds in the processor container)
Wife: Why are you trying to grind them?
Me: Because you have to crack open the outer layer of the seed, cause it's too tough to digest and will go right through you.
Wife: Get your weird, mutant food away from me.

It made me laugh...

For me the flax seeds that will (allegedly) not digest is a feature, not a bug.

However, I'm a bit skeptical about that. I include them (the regular brown ones) in small quantity in my cooked grains mix. They add a nice nutty flavor and get somewhat soft in cooking, becoming sort of chewy. I'm sure some of them do pass right on through -- but hey, that's just calorie-free food that I enjoyed eating, so what is the downside. Plus, I suspect that at least the ones I am chewing and tasting are somewhat nutritionally available.

Ha! Made me laugh too. Thanks!

Hey Dissolution:

Glad to hear that your fitting into clothes you hadn't for awhile - sorry that it's for a funeral though. Hope that goes OK. I believe there is a Jeff N thread on flax seeds, I tried my coffee grinder and that didn't work for me. So I bought mine in bulk at COSTCO, if you have those where you are. Of course now that I have all this golden flax meal, I believe Jeff recommends the brown flax meal. So my new motto for life - is -- just keep trying until you get it right! I like this motto -- it works for all aspects of life, hehehehe

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=7470&p=53120

Sorry to hear about your wife's stubborness. Here is a link to peer reviewed scientific articles by Dr. Esselstyn: http://www.heartattackproof.com/articles.htm
As an intellegent, medically trained woman, you wife should be able to look at the results and see that this is real science not wishful thinking. If this doesn't phase her, you at least will have your own scientific evidence.
Kate

Hi Dissolution, I missed your earlier post abt your spooky smart pup. Bringing the cup is priceless!! I bet they think we are just altogether untrainable. And it's so sweet compared to my Mr. Weasel ( the boy half of the Siamese Twins), who insists on bringing me rodents, if I get forgetful about the "wet food" portions. It's kind of hard for me to slop that meat down for them, when I know it can't be that good a product-- though I am clear they are carnivores!

Also my long gone and well missed fetching kitty girl would fetch rubber bands even when I tossed them over the fence, she was every bit as rabid about this as a lab dog, I swear!

Well, we're all here waiting for you to get back and the next installment. Hope it's not been hard to keep with it while you've been gone, but you do adapt well so I bet you've been just fine

Thanks for sharing, your story is interesting and reminds me of what happened when I first changed my diet. It's definitely an adjustment for people. Your family will get used to your eating this way and they'll continue to support you as you show more and more health and improvement.

Thanks everybody who stopped by for you kind words, helpful links and advice.

The worst moment of the trip and visit was my wife asking me to stop by an iconic doughnut shop in the city. This is the place my mother used to take my sister and I when we were little after we went to the doctor. The place has NOT changed in 40 years. I'm sure there's some psychological stuff going on with the reward with food situation and my life time of being over-weight. Anyways I agreed to go and even decided to go in.

My wife ordered a dozen doughnuts and my E2-dieting son sat there with me drinking black coffee with me while my wife proceeded to eat red velvet cake doughnuts in front of us. She offer us doughnuts and even "just a bite", which we both turned down. Well after about her sixth, "Mmmmm...Oh god these are good" comment I got up and stormed out of the doughnut shop and went and sat in the car. Needless to say there was a 30 minute argument in the car after that.

The best moments of the trip were;

People telling me how good I looked.

My cousin (who I expected to be the least understanding and most ridiculing about this WOE) asking me if I was eating this way for health reasons or because I had lost my damned mind. I told him for health and he said "Ok, that makes sense."

We were visiting the above mentioned cousin one night and were trying to decide where to go to eat, the church had just dropped off a chicken and cheese casserole. Then somehow his wife and I raided their fridge and pantry and I cooked vegan for my son and I, and sat down and ate with the rest of the family. I feel like I barely know what I'm doing in the kitchen, but now everybody thinks I'm some kind of gourmet now.

Not getting sleepy while driving. This has always been a big issue for me, driving for any longer than 3 hours for me was almost impossible in years past. My stretch yesterday was 12 hours, after not having my CPAP machine since Friday night.

The gentleman that died was a non blood related Uncle. My Father did not really have a relationship with his Father during my lifetime. My Grandfather went into a nursing home because of a stroke when I was 2. At the funeral I spoke with a 2nd cousin from that side of the family. I learned that my Great Grandfather suffered a stroke at a fairly young age, and that most of my great Uncles pretty much died in their fifties. So I guess that rules out the possibility of me ever stopping this WOE.

Before starting the trip I made beans and rice, mashed sweet potatoes and some microwaved potato chips. That made it pretty easy for me and E2 son to stay on the diet. We bought some fresh fruit once we got close to where we were staying. I got up early and made myself oatmeal every morning, My son ate whole wheat bread and jelly. I would quietly eat whenever I could if the next meal would be impossible to stay on plan.

The only time I really broke plan was on the way home last night I wanted something sweet to nibble on and I bought a box of hot tamale candy and ate that on the way home. I also finished the home made potato chips.

Anyway, this morning I was feeling fat and bloated from the trip, I'm sure the candy and the salty chips were helping. As I was walking to the scale I just kept thinking, please not higher than 265, hopefully only 262 or 263. Guess what? 254!!! I'm in a really good mood this morning!

It's nice to be back home...