Moderators: JeffN, f1jim, carolve, Heather McDougall
Bougainvillea wrote:Thank you so much everyone! Okay, update!
Just to remind - I started vegan on August 13th, no oil as of August 29th. Last time my blood pressure was checked was on August 29th at dentist and it was 168/86.
9/7 Had my blood pressure checked at the local Walmart, after walking all over Walmart and while standing and talking to the pharmacy tech (in other words, not ideal conditions LOL) and my bp was:
119/104
Then, went to a CVS Pharmacy about a half hour later, and used their sit-down automatic machine and took several readings over about 20 minutes:
125/86 pulse 80
114/84 pulse 80
118/85 pulse 77
Pretty incredible!
And, as of today, I weigh 197 lbs. So, since August 13th, when I weighed 204 pounds, I've lost 7 pounds!
Now this is interesting:
From August 13th - August 29th, I was still eating olive oil a few times a week. During those 16 days, I lost 2 lbs.
From August 29th - September 10th, after stopping all oils, in those 12 days, I lost 5 pounds!
So, remove the oil and lose twice as much!
I just had my blood drawn on Friday. I'm really excited to see the difference in blood sugar and cholesterol. Will post the results when I get them.
This is simply incredible!
I'm slowly learning how to cook differently. I learned that if I cook cut up potatoes in veggie broth, and add some salt to them while they're wet, I don't miss eating them without them swimming in butter. But, all potatoes are not equal! You need yummy, buttery potatoes to eat them like that.
Tonight I tried making a french toast with just soaking a piece of bread in some almond milk and frying it without any butter or oil. It was almost a success lol. I should have left it alone longer before trying to turn it over. But, it tasted great with a little real maple sugar on it. I was dying for something sweet besides fruit. Not bad. Whole wheat bread with almond milk and some maple syrup - still probably only around 200 calories and no oil or fat (of any significance - even though the almond milk has a little).
So, I'm very encouraged. My doctor tried to pressure me into going back on my meds, but I messaged her my new bp readings, and am hoping the blood tests shock her, too
None of my doctors EVER talked to me about changing my diet. Not one. They all acted like, yeah, you are getting older, it's normal to need medications. That's sad.
I wish we'd go to a national government paid healthcare system in the US, so there would be incentive to take the cheaper road - and suggest changes in diet before resorting to medications.
Anyway, I'm a very happy camper! Been watching tons of webinars and reading every McDougall book I can order through my library. I've read many of the others, too. But, I like McDougall best because it's affordable. I can afford potatoes and lentils and corn tortillas and rice and a few veggies. So many of the other programs require foods that are just out of my price range - like getting healthy is only for the elite. For that, especially, I thank John and Mary McDougall.
SilverDollar123 wrote:The creamy tomato soup sound yummy! Do you have the recipe? Would love to try it. RAS
Gwen wrote:Hi Karen,
I run my church's food pantry. We get/give out some government commodity foods along with our regular foods. The past couple years, we've been getting whole wheat pasta and brown rice, so that's a big improvement. But we also get cheese, mac & cheese, frozen eggs, milk, and meats, so those aren't the best. But we do also get canned & dried fruits, canned veggies, and dried beans.
There's been a weird change in the commodity foods though....I used to be able to order which ones I wanted to give out, but now, they just send it all to me, whether I want it or not. I don't like that, but must abide by the rules.
I try to give out the most nutritious foods, but honestly, some of those get put back in my donation bins. I do the best I can with what I can get.
So I think it would be hard to eat really healthy eating only foods from the food pantry.
Glad to hear of your successes.
Gwen
Return to My Daily Menus & Journals
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests