Journal for Health

[moonlight]

Hey keithswife,

I wanted to say howdy and tell you I'm rooting for you! WE CAN DO THIS! YOU CAN DO THIS! You know it won't be easy at times. But it will get easier over time. I'm with Buns on the starches. Looking at your food journal, I'd recommend focusing on getting in more starches. I often eat 1 1/2 cups of rice or millet or bulgur at every meal, or 1-2 potatoes per meal. I think it might lift your mood and give you more energy.

I wish we could all meet at each other's houses and cook together! Take care!

[Idgie]

Make sure you don't go hungry! When I don't snack, I get really hangry, cranky, and generally unfit to be around. One way to make sure you stay on program is to not starve yourself.

[keithswife]

Thanks Moonlight and Idgie. I was never much of a snacker, but think I will add a little something around 4 pm. And I will up the starch. I haven't been eating near enough.

[keithswife]

I finally got my sister totally on board with McDougall. She had been trying a weird vegan version of a ketogenic diet, which forbid grains, legumes, tubers and fruits, but was heavy on the analog vegan meats and coconut oil. She was pretty miserable, so I sent her the link to McDougall's free program. She is MUCH happier now, lol! And I'm happy to have some additional support. I need to let go of some cheat foods I've been snacking on, and we both could lose some pounds.

Here's today's eats:

Breakfast- running late, just coffee
Lunch-baked beans, smart dogs, kale and cornbread
Dinner-baked sweet potatoes, brown rice, cauliflower

[bunsofaluminum]

Great news about your sister! Jeez, having someone close in your life who is in this with you!? excellent!

[Idgie]

Yeah, I'm a little envious. Most of the people who know what I'm eating think I'm basically crazy for eating this way. My partner is super-supportive, but danged if they're gonna choose to eat this way.

[keithswife]

My husband and son are very supportive, as the food has healed me of many digestive problems I was having. But, they refuse to eat the food, or even try it. So, my sister and I message each other pictures of our meals for accountability. It isn't much, but I'll take what I can get.

I went to my son's baseball game and sat in the 95* weather for two hours. Felt bad for the kids playing, but the coach kept them well hydrated. And, they lost. My boy blames me, as ever game I go to they lose, lol. Tomorrow they play at 8 am and have to leave the house at 6:15. I'm going to play the "I'm the jinx" card and stay home and sleep in. It will give me time to get caught up around the house.

I also bought stuff to make soy yogurt. In my pre-McDougall days, I always made my own whole milk yogurt. Every time I've tried to make soy, though, it's been a bust. Almost every recipe I find for it online adds thickeners, but I finally found one that doesn't. I hope it turns out. It would taste good with my morning flax seed mixed in.

Today's Eats:

Breakfast- leftover cornbread with honey, coffee
Lunch-Baked potato topped with baked beans, green salad, 2 squares of dark chocolate
Dinner (eaten out) veggie pizza with no cheese, roasted veggies

[keithswife]

My yogurt was a success, although in hindsight I probably shouldn't be eating it as it's got a bit of fat in it. Oh well, it's progress for now. At least it's not the bacon and eggs I used to have for breakfast. Can't imagine eating all that grease now. So, that's a positive.

Not doing much today, just working on the laundry and catching up on other stuff. My son's baseball team lost their tournament, so I've got a sad kid here. They have another one next week, and then baseball will be over for this season. I think the coaches are looking forward to the break.

Today's Eats:

Breakfast-whole wheat/flax and blueberry pancake
Lunch-baked sweet potato, green salad.
Dinner-mock tuna salad sandwich, carrot sticks.

[Idgie]

So glad your soy yogurt worked out! You're right, it's better than the animal foods it's replacing. Transitional victories are still victories!

[keithswife]

Is it possible to eat too much kale? I've had it for lunch for 2 days in a row and have a stomach ache. I ate it with some mac and cheez, so maybe that was a bad combination. In any case, I think dinner will be light tonight.

So far my sister is still hanging in there with me. She came up yesterday and we went out to a nearby Mexican place for burritos. They made them veggie for us, and they were out of this world. We will definitely be going back. Neither of us are exercising, but we sure talked a good game about joining a gym. REALLY wish I could get my hubby on board too. He was so sick with reflux last night that I thought I'd have to take him to the doctor. Nope. No veggies for him. Just pass him the pill bottle, please. I used to think doctors didn't want to discuss diet with patients because they make more money keeping them sick. Which may be true. But, I think the main reason is folks like my husband who want to be buried with their steak and don't even think about asking them to give it up. You'll have to take it out of their cold, dead, hands.

Today's Eats

Breakfast- burned blueberry and flax pancake. I really need to wake up before trying to cook
Lunch- Kale and mac and cheez.
Dinner-lettuce and tomato sandwich, baked fries, strawberries

[Idgie]

I think it's not a bad idea to eat lightly if something didn't agree with you.

On people willing to die with their steak, I am so weary of the people at work and on SparkPeople who feel the need to tell me "Oh, I could NEVER eat like that!" I just deflect it, but inside, I'm like, fine, I'm not asking you to, but it's not some freakishly difficult thing to do except when being pressured by other people to eat junk so they won't feel bad.

[keithswife]

Time just gets away from me in the summer. We've had a steady stream of activity and family moving through the house for the past 3 weeks. I'm thankful for a bit of a slow down to get caught up and reassess how I'm doing and where I'm going with McDougalling. And that movement has been ... backwards Which means now I'm fatter, sick with all my digestive ailments again, and need to start over. That's ok. As long as I keep starting over and not quitting I will get there.

I will be starting back exercising tomorrow, lifting hand weights and walking. My strength is nil and I'm back to not leaving the house unless I have to. I had a long talk with my sister this morning who is also having a set back and some personal struggles. She is moving forward and has joined a gym. I should too, if nothing else than to get my fanny out of the house more often. I just wonder if I'd actually go.

Today's eats have been light, as my stomach is still mutinying on me. Herbal tea for breakfast, a soup made from leftover veggies for lunch and toast for dinner. Tomorrow is another day.

[keithswife]

I have two cats. One is a 16 year old old soul, who I've raised from a kitten. He's been my constant companion through the years, and is now suffering from a terminal kidney disease. I'm suspecting that what gave it to him was all the commercially prepared cat food I fed him all the years before I knew that cats are true carnivores and that grain in their food hurts them. So, after several vet visits, I began giving him subcutaneous fluid treatments several times a week and a prescription cat food that he hated. The cat food smelled like road kill and was filled with chunks of rice and carrots that he deemed not fit to eat. He lost a lot of weight, and came to me constantly begging for food to fill is empty, sensitive belly.

So, as conventional medical treatment wasn't working, I did some research on my own and struck upon the idea of giving him chicken baby food. It has 3 cat friendly ingredients: chicken, water and a thickener. I had to laugh as it reminded me of the stuff they feed the geriatric patients in nursing homes. Well, a 16 year old cat is pretty geriatric. He loves his "meat pudding", has stopped vomiting all over the house, and seems to be gaining a bit of weight. My other cat, a hyperactive four year old won't touch it, so the old guy gets it all to himself. His vet would highly disapprove. But, I'm more concerned with keeping him happy and comfortable at this stage of his life, than with treating his disease at all costs. Plus, I can see with my own eyes that he's feeling better.

I was thinking about how my cat's story parallels my journey with McDougall. I have a lot of health problems and bad genetics. My doctor prescribed me the best of medications and put me on the standard low fat diet. She was doing the best she could with how she knew how to treat patients like me. She prepared me for dealing with long term, chronic disease. But, why treat what you might be able to cure? This brought me to study food, and eventually to Dr. John McDougall. A bit of exercise and the right food for the human body and I'm as good as gold again. Now that I'm past the "why me? why do I have to change everything?" pity party, I'm ready to stay the course and see what happens.

[keithswife]

I had to go back on the Zantac this morning. My time off the program did me much harm, and I was back to having a swollen belly and feeling like I had a baseball stuck in my stomach. I whined to hubby that I didn't like eating a WFPB diet. He told me by big problem was that there is no gray with me. I'm either eating the strictest of plant based foods or licking the bottom of the fryers at McDonald's in a quest to eat more grease. Which really would have made me mad if it wasn't true. But is there an in between? Like, how plant based to you need to go in order to get the benefits and still enjoy a few bites of meat and dairy? I don't know. Given as miserable as I am right now, I'll stick to the strict side and wonder about the rest later.

I also need to exercise. That is the other half of curing my health woes. Years ago, I did this intuitive eating program where you waited until you were hungry to eat then stopped when you felt satisfied but not full. Within these parameters you could eat whatever you wanted and lose weight. It's actually not a bad idea and worked to keep my weight down for years (as my cholesterol silently went up, alas). But the guru teaching the program also taught that exercise was a waste of time and not necessary to lose weight. Even though conventional wisdom knows this is wrong, my lazy self embraced it to the core. Why walk when you can drive? Why go hiking when you can say home and watch Netflix? I truly believe this is why my LDL cholesterol is so darn high. I literally don't move, outside of a walk here and there when I'm feeling guilty about not moving. But Lord have mercy, I need to start! I have the health problems of a person much older than I am because I'm just too lazy to do the hard work and make a change.

Today's Eats:

Breakfast- soy yogurt with flax (no more yogurt after I use this up. too high fat), a piece of gingerbread

Lunch- boca burger, baked beans and corn

Dinner- chili and a green salad

Exercise

20 minutes walk and upper body weight routine

[bunsofaluminum]

I'm glad you found a solution for your old kitty cat. Clever of you to think of meat based baby foods I hope he is with you a long time more.