Daffodil 2011(Aug-Dec)

[Chile]

No need to drop out of the challenge. Just like in life, when you make a mistake, you don't quit. You pick yourself up, look at what you could have done differently, and re-apply yourself.

What could you have done differently? Here are some strategies I've employed at various times.

*Keep a bag of freeze-dried vegetables in the car for snacking. They keep forever and will be there when I need them.

*Grab something to take with me on the way out the door, taking my mini-ice chest with blue ice if necessary. Generally finger food - could be fruit, a piece of bread or tortilla, cold baked potato, carrots, red peppers (eat like an apple), cooked green beans, etc.

*Go to a grocery store instead of a prepared food place. There are lots of options in the produce department, including cut fruit. The deli section usually has plastic forks for eating. Or, do like we did after coming back from Costa Rica and keep a "snack pack" in the car. It has a rolled up flexible cutting board, knife, couple of bowls, and couple of forks and spoons. Sometimes we stop and buy a whole pineapple and cut it up right in the car for our snack.

What other ideas can you think of?

[Daffodil]

I'm still trying to stay on plan. I had a few days of messing up and I think I will just list my food in my journal for now on.
I will never be totally perfect. But I will now put one of my picnic baskets in the car when we go places. It has plates, sporks, other plastic spoons, knives,etc. Napkins. I will put a sharp knife in there to cut fruit or veggies. And stop at stores instead of other places when starving.
I used to always do this, make my husband stop at a store when hungry. As he went off to the chip aisle, I would head to the produce and pick up some bananas and apples. They come in their own carrying case. Then grab some water.

I have learned in the past few days that I may be gluten intolerant. I did some searching on it. It sure would explain my problems when I eat. I have been constantly bloated, when eating soy/gluten, I would get terrible pains in my abdomen, bordering on agony. This has been going on for a week or so now. I also found that gluten hides in places you would not know it does. Like in modified food starch, malt vinegar, dextrin, soy sauce, vegetable gum, brown rice syrup, and other places. So it's either the soy or the gluten or both. I wonder why it's happening now with the pain. I have been eating this stuff for years and have been constantly bloated.
Plus rashes that never heal, they can be caused by gluten intolerance. I've had rashes on my lower legs front and back since around 2005. I never connected it to gluten, but I will do the elimination diet on it and see if they start to recede. It sure would be nice to have my legs back so I can wear capri pants again in public.
More later, I am really hungry. Going for some leftover whole grain pasta with Pomi strained tomatoes(better than tomato sauce to me) and some steamed broccoli.

[Chile]

Good luck figuring out which (soy or gluten) is causing your pain. Are you going to eliminate both and then test them independently or just eliminate one at a time?

[Rosey]

I cut both of those out of my food plan and I'm really not missing either and feeling TONS healthier.

[Daffodil]

Well, still not feeling good at all. It is not Chrons, since the only symptoms I am having is bloating, pain and sometimes gas. But lifes a gas when you eat vegan anyway. I have also been getting a weird vertigo feeling while standing and almost fell over a few times because of it. Embarassing in public, people probably think I'm drunk. And I haven't had a drop of alcohol since new years eve.

I have not been writing down my food the last few days because I just don't feel up to it because of the way I feel. I wonder if it's that "mystery illness" that seems to be going around. I've heard talk of this from other people that say it's from the "chemtrails." Not sure if I totally believe that or not, but I did witness a couple of planes doing this awhile back. 2 big cargo type planes were going straight up in the sky, the plane on the left was keeping time with the plane on the right. The one on the right was spewing out trails, while the one on the left was not. I thought it was weird and it bugged me the rest of the day.
Later that evening, on the local forums for Las Vegas, people were all asking what that weird yellowish brown stuff was out by the Sheep Range mountains, and that is also where the planes were above at the time of the spewing. I then told them about the planes and someone said it was chemtrails.

And I didn't start feeling worse again until my husband and I did the 46 minute walk the other evening. So is it something in the air? I really wonder sometimes.

Went to the store earlier and bought some grapes, couple of oranges, a cantaloupe. Also 4 bags of butter peas. I sure hope they aren't some weird GMO thing. They taste so good, like a cross between a pea and a butter bean. I figure my husband will really like them so cooking up a batch for him to use in his soups and rice dishes this week. All he ever eats is corn, and some beans. Never eats things like I love which are brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus, etc. The most he would do is choke down a pea. I find people that don't like veggies to be a little weird. But he likes his green smoothies. So he is at least getting a good dose of raw spinach every day. And he would never in this lifetime, the next or the next sit and eat a bowl of spinach raw or cooked.

So for food, so far I am cutting out all soy, and anything with carageenan*, all so-called natural flavors in it, also wheat gluten. I was reading labels to today and just about every bread product has the gluten. Also crackers, cookies, etc. Why do they feel the need to stick that in everything?

*carageenan: It is a sea vegetable they use for thickening. Now the nice reputable food manufacturers use the natural version and it won't cause problems. But most companies use the chemical version of it, and it causes a lot of allergic reactions in people. Also pain and bloating. Soy lecithin is also a culprit. And soy lecithin is on the list of the gmo's. I just finished watching "The future of food" which was all about GMO's and it was very eye opening. I suggest everyone see it. I got it off of Netflix. A really good movie I saw the week before was "Food matters." Also from Netflix. It exposes the bitter truth about the food we eat and the diseases we get. Plus it goes over vitamins versus drugs. And other things. I liked it much better than The Future of food.
My next movie coming is "Earthlings." I want my husband to watch it. I watch the movies, then he watches his in his cave. We never do anything together besides going to the store and once in awhile he will go for a walk for exercise with me. I swear sometimes I feel like I just live here with the cats, and he is a weird roommate I ended up with.

[Chile]

I'm sorry to hear things aren't going easily for you right now. On the vertigo, I don't recall if you said you have high blood pressure and were taking medication for it. Dr. McDougall cautions that blood pressure can fall pretty rapidly with a healthy change in diet and that medications must be altered by your doctor. Just in case you're in that camp.

Good luck with your continued search to determine what food is the problem. Detective Daffodil!

[Daffodil]

I haven't taken any blood pressure meds for years now. I had been taking hawthorne capsules for it for awhile and quit doing that too.
I'm not sure what it is, the vertigo feeling. As long as I can grab onto something when it happens, it passes within a few seconds. Just weird. Maybe it's part of menopause, I have no idea.

I will sometimes get worse feelings while in one certain Whole Foods store. Only happens there, and no other Whole Foods locations in the valley.
This location is at the south end of Las Vegas blvd, at Town Square. I don't know what causes it, maybe incense burning in the healthy spa section, or the airplanes flying directly overhead. But I will all of a sudden get a faint feeling, a feeling of doom comes over me, and my heart starts fluttering, my face gets red, and I feel like I have to lay down or I will pass out. Each time it happened, I was near the dairy/meat section. So either something in that general area, or the airplanes flying overhead, or serial killers working in there, maybe it's haunted, who knows. All I know is even though that's my favorite location for WF's because of the selection, I sometimes dread going in that one! So weird.
As soon as we leave, all is well again. Figure that one out!

Managed to get in a 1 hour walk tonight. My husband went with me. I made it over the overpass, up and down the trails and as soon as I stop in front of our garage coming home, my knee buckles. I wonder if I should just wear the leg brace no matter how stupid it looks. I just wish I could put it on correctly. It always wants to slip down my leg. I want to some day soon start riding my bike again, but I have such difficulty in lifting my leg up to get over the middle part and get on it. It's hard to get on and off without almost crashing. I used to never have these issues when I was younger! I saw a bike Rosey had in one of her photos, and the bike looked perfect! The middle part was super low, easy to step over. I bet it was a great ride too! Where can I get one of those?
I really miss riding. I always loved the wind in my hair(although now I have to wear a helmet) and the feel of flying going downhill. I haven't been able to ride my bike for over a year now, maybe 1 1/2 years.

[Chile]

Most bike shops have a wide assortment of bicycles available. You might check out some in your area. In this area, there's even a new thing that's basically an elliptical machine but set up with wheels so the work propels the person forward. Expensive and large but we've seen one guy "riding" it locally. I think it was invented locally (Tucson, AZ) as well.

[Daffodil]

What is it with some people on this site that feel they have to argue with me constantly, or tear apart my posts and make me look like a lunatic when I am trying to help people. No, it's not any of you on the September Compliant challenge that I totally messed up!
It's just a few idiots. I suspect they have nothing better to do than try to run off the regulars. Well, it's working, I am getting fed up!
Right now I feel like I just want to leave this site for a few months and come back and see if it self-imploded yet. Trying to explain myself to people that think they are always right when they are not! is really irritating and raises the blood pressure.
That's what i get for being human.
I think I will just leave now. If anyone needs me, send a message, since it ends up in my email notifications. I will not be checking the board for awhile.

[Daffodil]

I leave for awhile, but I always come back. I think this site has a hold on me, always drags me back.

I have been trying to deal with issues here at home, cleaning up my space, getting rid of things, donating, selling. Am making progress slowly. We had a ceiling leak in our kitchen. Turns out the builders just glued pipes to the walls inside the ceiling and walls, instead of clamping them down. So...eventually more pipes may come loose, I just hope not! Mr.Roto-Rooter to the rescue. $242 bucks later, and it's fixed. Plus $50 for a new ceiling light to cover the hole in the ceiling...Mr. Mad Scientists idea, not mine. Now when we turn on the kitchen light, we are brighter than a casino. All because he didn't know how to patch the ceiling and won't pay someone. So enough of this stupid drivel.

I had the best dinner! Whole grain pasta mixed with tiny shredded carrots, green beans, corn, red peppers, and half a can of no-salt added diced tomatoes. Mixed all together with some smoked paprika. And of course some garlic powder/salt mixture. Nutritional yeast too.
I then spread no fat pizza sauce(premium Delallo brand, minimal ingredients) onto warmed no fat whole grain Lavash bread and then put the pasta/veggie/tomato mixture in and folded over. Fantastic! I will be having this again this week! And I don't even care for cooked carrots, but they were so small and thinly sliced, so I can finally eat them.
Sometimes things are just so good I have to tell the world!

[Daffodil]

First to clarify why I leave a lot and come back. If I hang out on this site too much, I think about food too much, then I want to eat too much. So I do not check in here as much as before, therefore I do better.
I do not want to think about food all the time nor eat all the time. Although I love to eat, and so that is what got me into the mess I'm in, in the first place.

I do wonder why so many people feel they have to leave the site permanently, delete themselves. Why not just take time off? Take a week off, or two or three. Or a few months. Cool down, come back later. See if the same people, or the site, or the fonts, whatever are still bugging you. Then leave if they are. And take more time off. Then repeat. Don't do the "Delete me" thing because once you are gone, that is it. Or until you decide to come back under another name. Then you have to start all over again.

This site that Dr.McDougall is offering all of us comes from the kindness of his heart and we should all do our part to help others adjust to this way of eating, get their health back, be there for them, and be there for each other in a nice civil way without sniping at each other. Accusing each other of juvenile things, that needs to be left back in high school. Or attacking each other because someone is not 100% compliant, that needs to stop! Come on, it takes a very very very strong person to remain 100% compliant, and some of us we try and try and try and cannot achieve it. It doesn't mean we can't still hang out and help others with our knowledge. We may know how to do it all, but cannot get that other 5% or whatever it is to be totally compliant. Don't attack us, work with us! Don't stoop to low levels and pm nasty comments! If you do, you will end up on the ignore list. I refuse to waste my time arguing with someone when I can be helping someone.

I applaud anyone who is a standard american diet eater and stumbles into this site wanting to learn more. Just by signing up, you know you want to learn more, and either get healthy, lose weight or just save your life right now! Telling them they are deluding themselves if they follow that diet, the other diet and yet another diet will only chase them away and they may end up worse off in the long run, when instead be nice and patient and maybe you can help them learn more about this way of eating, they can start a journal to log it all, and make some new friends as well.
That's it for now, more later.

[Rosey]

I saw a bike Rosey had in one of her photos, and the bike looked perfect! The middle part was super low, easy to step over. I bet it was a great ride too! Where can I get one of those?
I really miss riding. I always loved the wind in my hair(although now I have to wear a helmet) and the feel of flying going downhill. I haven't been able to ride my bike for over a year now, maybe 1 1/2 years. [/color]

I some how missed this when you first posted it my bike is a Townie Electra I got mine from our local Bike n Hike here in Milwaukie but there is a website for them online that could probably tell you were to get them.