Buns Again

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Buns,

I saw that you joined the monthly MWL group! Yay, you! I'm back there, too. I love the emphasis on behaviors and referring back to the daily template. It works.

Hey Moonlight

I'm excited. It feels good to be pumped up about this, and focusing on it properly. I'll be using the template, but probably only post at MWL on my weigh in day (Fridays) I know the interactions there will be very encouraging. They already are! I'll be looking for you

SOUP

So, I made this massive batch of cabbage soup, using 1.5 heads of cabbage, a full head of celery, 8 carrots, two large onions, 2 large cans of tomatoes. It nearly filled up a six quart pot. I packaged and froze most of it, in 2-3 c. sizes. And I didn't need to do that, because I'm thawing some every day, as it is my front load soup. I could have put it all in refrigerator containers and NOT frozen it. It would never have gotten the chance to go bad

I'm going to make more, but I also want to fix a batch of non-tomato-based vegetable soup. A harvest soup of some kind. Maybe the not-chicken soup, and leave out the garbanzos. https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/winter-harvest-vegetable-soup/ This looks likely. I'll get the ingredients today along with more cabbage, for another batch of cabbage soup when the time comes.

Yesterday I had cabbage soup for brekkie, and front loaded with it for lunch and dinner. Funny thing, I got that "I can't believe I'm hungry already" thing after dinner. Just like when I first started McDougalling. Huh. Maybe my body is adjusting again.

The scale dropped 2.5 lbs overnight it has been a roller coaster, seriously. It went from 236 to 231, then 230, then 237 in four days, no lie. Ridiculous. But then it stayed at 237 for two or three days in a row. And now it's down to 235 so... I don't believe in the scale anymore. It has proven inconsistent and I only look at it to remind myself that IT is crazy. Not ME.

[Susan5]

The scale dropped 2.5 lbs overnight it has been a roller coaster, seriously. It went from 236 to 231, then 230, then 237 in four days, no lie. Ridiculous. But then it stayed at 237 for two or three days in a row. And now it's down to 235 so... I don't believe in the scale anymore. It has proven inconsistent and I only look at it to remind myself that IT is crazy. Not ME.

Are you still weighing yourself on the older dial analog scale? I thought I recall you mentioning that. Anyhow, if so, it might be time to invest in a digital scale. I had much more consistent weights when I switched over to a digital scale.

[bunsofaluminum]

The scale dropped 2.5 lbs overnight it has been a roller coaster, seriously. It went from 236 to 231, then 230, then 237 in four days, no lie. Ridiculous. But then it stayed at 237 for two or three days in a row. And now it's down to 235 so... I don't believe in the scale anymore. It has proven inconsistent and I only look at it to remind myself that IT is crazy. Not ME.

Are you still weighing yourself on the older dial analog scale? I thought I recall you mentioning that. Anyhow, if so, it might be time to invest in a digital scale. I had much more consistent weights when I switched over to a digital scale.

Hi Sue

Yes, it's just an old bathroom scale with a dial and a pointer. I'm sure it isn't entirely accurate, but the main thing I'm trying to do is monitor ups and downs. I think it's doing that okay. General trends.
I used to creep on the scale one toe at a time, in order to get a lower reading but I KNOW that's not accurate, so I started just getting on the scale without easing on. That added four pounds in one day Now when I get a really unusual weight, such as that 4 lb drop, I get off and back on again, to check if the dial is sticking. Maybe I will get a digital scale some day. Not really something I want to spend my money on, eh? A scale. Pfft. Druther buy earrings, you know?

Speaking of weighing, the scale is showing four lbs down in two days of MWL. Aside from that, I'm enjoying the light feeling. My guts feel good, and that clear calm energy in my brain is wonderful. Once the knee pain goes away. I have no idea where it's coming from, but I've been dealing with knee pain for quite some time. A couple of weeks at least. Dunno. If I walk, they hurt. If I don't walk, they hurt. So I walk I'm currently aiming at 2,000 steps a day, which is easy with a walk around the block. That gets me into the mid 2,000's and takes about 10-15 minutes.

MWL and a 20 minute walk every day. I'm expecting good results. I have the ingredients for that winter harvest soup, and going to make it today. Still eating cabbage soup at every meal, but it will run out. OH! Wylie made a big pot of lentil stew yesterday. Gosh it's good. It has leeks, which do add a rich layer of flavor. Just yummy. There is a TBSP of olive oil in the recipe and so far I haven't talked him into just sautéing the vegs without oil...or not sautéing at all. Hello? Soup? Throw all ingredients in and cook it for petesakes. But I think sautéing does change the flavor of those ingredients. Caramelizes or enhances. I mean, cooked onion is sweet, while raw onion is hot, so sautéing is probably good. But still. Sauté dry or use water. The recipe is from the cookbook that his cardiac rehab gave him, with healthy recipes. He's made homemade pizza with whole wheat crust, and half of it no cheese (for me), that lentil stew, and is eyeballing a baked oatmeal recipe. He likes to cook and I'm tickled that he's willing to use these healthier recipes.

I'm actually pretty proud of Wylie. He's following a much healthier regimen than he used to. He got rid of the sour cream, leaves the butter off his stuff, and keeps an eye on fat and sodium content. He's been adding veggies to his meals, eating salad several days a week and monitoring the amount of salad dressing, keeping track of his sodium BIG TIME. Like, he gave away several frozen entrees when he read the label. I mean, 1600 mg of sodium PER SERVING? good lord.

And of course, he's dropped 20 lbs since his heart attack. It's insane, and so unfair!

But yeah, I think I'll drop several lbs in March. The goal is to follow MWL 100% for the entire month of March. This means leaving out the chocolate espresso beans on the weekends, but that's okay. I need to follow completely, in order to see if MWL works for menopausal women...for THIS menopausal woman.

[bunsofaluminum]

Okay, kids. I'm showing down 6 lbs in six days of closely following MWL Now, when I got jinky with the Rice Diet, I took off six lbs in the first week, so I'm going to wait and see what week two of MWL shows. I know that 6 lbs is water weight FOR SURE. But my daily weights have consistently gone down, instead of staying put or climbing.

Got up first thing this morning and made a batch of not-chicken soup for my front loading over the next few days. Tomorrow I plan on trying that winter harvest soup. If it's good, I'll do a great big batch of that. Cabbage soup is yummy but you get tired of tomato based broth, you know? However, I do plan on doing another big batch of the stuff soon. Front loading with soup is going to be a thing for me, from now on. Come summer, I'll do quick versions like SNAP to avoid heating things up too much, but I do like the "feel" of it. A cup of soup while the entree and veg are heating up. Like a two course meal, eh? And if I have fruit for dessert, a three course meal.

On Wednesday I woke up feeling like I'd been dragged over rocks and about halfway through my shift I clocked out, and also took Thursday off. I have supra ventricular tachycardia, and my heart was beating erratically and leaving me feeling breathless, and any kind of activity at all just wore me out. Headache. Tired. So I mostly rested, listening to Joe Rogan and doing Zentangle. Thursday afternoon it was just too nice outside, and Wylie was helping my mom with some paperwork over the internet, which made him extremely cranky so I went for a walk. It was LOVELY. The birds are all getting ready for families, there are a few spring flowers showing in our front garden, and it was just nice out, you know? And some time after dinner, before bedtime, I felt better. Heart rate went to normal, blood pressure stopped roller-coastering, and I slept normally and woke feeling fine. In fact, well enough to go in the kitchen at 5:30 and make soup

So, we're going on vacation in the last week of April, and I need to start thinking about food choices soon. I REALLY don't want to bring my own dang food, you know? Or...huh, maybe I can. We're driving to California, and why not bring a cooler with prepared food in it? That can be for everyone, not just the Starchivore, and save us some money on restaurant food.

Okay. Feeling fine, loving the "lightness" and calm clear energy, and down six pounds. Here's to week TWO!

[Ruff]

congratulations on the weight loss Buns. I often have just soup for my lunch when husband is not at home, gotta love soup, easy cheap and versatile!

[bunsofaluminum]

congratulations on the weight loss Buns. I often have just soup for my lunch when husband is not at home, gotta love soup, easy cheap and versatile!

Thanks Katie. I'm happy with the loss, but not surprised to see an up of two lbs yesterday, and down one today Soup is amazing. Soup is magic. Cut up a bunch of ingredients, throw it all in a pot with water, cook for 30 minutes and BAM! food.

I made the Winter Harvest Vegetable soup and it is DA BOMB. Oh my, but it's good! It has starchy ingredients: turnips, parsnips, and butternut squash, but they are "whole" in a clear broth. I'm going to use it as my front load, but I'll go back to the regular cabbage soup this week. However, this is definitely a repeat recipe.

I ate off plan last night for dinner: Sushi. Also had rice cakes as a late snack, but that was the last of them altogether. I won't be replacing them. Sushi, either. On the "winning at this" side, I have stayed away from chocolate, including the ubiquitous chocolate covered espresso beans. Have not had even a single one, including during my weekend PT job shifts. None. This is a huge win, and I'm proud of myself.

The scale jumped two lbs yesterday, and down a lb today. I've also been tracking my BP, because I started taking a half pill daily, after a week of extreme symptoms: crashing blood pressure, racing heart, super tired. The day I took a half pill, the symptoms decreased, but I wanted to be sure, so I started tracking it every morning after weighing. It's staying at about 115/75 ish so I'm good. I haven't talked to my dr about this, but eventually I will. Maybe I'll ditch it altogether some day.

The weather is so beautiful right now. The spring bulbs are peeking up, and we have these little irises already in bloom. Before even the crocuses. They're beautiful, and each one a different shade of purple. Daffodils are up, but not blooming yet. Gosh, it's going to be amazing. We spent an afternoon last fall, putting 250 bulbs in the ground. Wylie and my nephew built these raised beds, two long ones for veggies, and three square ones for flowers. I'm excited to see how it all looks! Just a few weeks. Crocuses, hyacinths, daffies, about 10 varieties of tulip. Narcissus. Oh man, it's gonna be great. And then, with Wylie's summer flower seeds we'll have marigolds, alyssum, mums. I want to plant nasturtium because have you ever tasted nasturtium leaves? yum! I'd also love to see pansies peeking out

And I plan on putting seeds in the ground very soon. Peas, potatoes, carrots? oooh! maybe I'll get some rainbow carrots! Yeah...that's my errand today: shop for vegetable seeds. St Patrick's Day is the traditional pea planting date so there's that, eh? I'll get the seeds today. I'm really looking forward to fresh potatoes. But fresh everything yah! Oooh, zucchini too! Wylie says only one plant, so we don't get overwhelmed, but I'm sure I can consume any zucchini that my garden produces. Yes. This will be good. It's been a year of sitting inside. I'm getting out!

My dad was a gardener, and my memories of him are his sitting out back having a beer, smoking cigarettes, and hosing the garden. Or monitoring whatever he might be grilling. He had us help with weeding now and then, but it was his baby. I'm looking forward to a summer of outdoor life. Hopefully we stay working from home, tbh.

And I want to find a different side gig. Don't know what it would be. YouTube influencer? hahahahaha But seriously, if I could go viral, people make pretty nice money doing YouTube. Anyway, my PT job is five hours on Fri, Sat, and Sun so that I don't have a single day completely off. I'll probably just request a shift change, so there's two days of FT straight to PT, and one weekend shift, leaving my Saturdays free. Don't want to, because that gives me two 13 hour workdays but a full day off? I gotta think about my options. Paying down my debts really fast is the first priority, and that's why I am moonlighing to begin with.

[bunsofaluminum]

WINTER HARVEST SOUP

So, this soup is my current front load. It's got parsnips and turnips (the recipe calls for potatoes, which I left out) along with butternut squash. It also contains one medium tart apple! Oooooh baby! It's delicious! That, and my favorite ABSOLUTE FAVORITE soup: Not Chicken Soup, plus the old classic Cabbage Soup will be on rotation. Possibly in the summer I'll make gazpacho or cucumber soups, something chilled. But more likely, I'll make HUMONGOUS batches of these Soup Season soups and freeze them for easy thawing and heating in the microwave during the heat of summer. But hot or chilled, soup before meals is how I do

The scale jumped two lbs, overnight...I think it was Monday morning...and now it's back to where I was after 6 days following MWL. Now to see if it continues downward. I know I won't be losing 6 lbs every week. If only Of course, the weight loss is exciting, and it will come off as I get healthy. My body wants to be in its healthiest state possible. If I support that natural trend with the right foods, I'll get healthy everywhere, and being 100 lbs overweight is NOT healthy, so my body will come to a place where I am NOT obese or overweight, along with the interior: gut, blood vessels, bone, nervous system...monthly hormonal cycles...all of it. And that stuff is already lining up. The weight loss comes along slow but sure, but the relief of symptoms is almost immediate and I LOVE THAT!

Okay, it's time. Time to look at my garden space and plot where things are going. There's a lot I can plant already: Peas, chard, carrots, radishes, potatoes. A LOOOOOTTTTTT. And I need to get out there and do it. This year-long quarantine for petesakes. It fed my inner introvert and I've gotten real comfy sitting home for everything. Why not? Other than grocery shopping, everything I need for pretty much anything, I can order online and it is delivered to my doorstep, and I'm subscribed to Netflix. Why go out?

BUT now that the energy is surging, I want to go out. Strike some balance here, eh? I'm enjoying a daily walk, and now it's time to enjoy digging around in the dirt.

[bunsofaluminum]

Seriously. I need to get to the dr. My BP is still doing a lot of crashing and heart racing BS. I'm already taking a half pill...25mg, and those symptoms went away, but they're back again today almost to the same level that they were. Heh. I think I might not need Losartan anymore. I've been monitoring my blood pressure, and it's consistently at about 115/75 ish every morning. But I think I don't really want to stop taking it without talking to my dr. about it.

Video conference, please.

[Ruff]

Im in the middle of harvest. you cant have too many zucchini! You can battle them with tomatoes and make your own healthy tomato sauce (or freeze it if you dont have canning equipment)I also find it better to have 2 plants minimum to help with pollination.

I am dealing with buckets and buckets of peaches right now. These are a variety unique to New Zealand that go by a very unfortunate name (Black Boy peaches) so we have named them Ruby peaches in our household. On the tree they have a dark grey fuzz, but inside they are the most wonderful deep ruby red. They are a little more tart than golden peaches but I am stewing and bottling them, to put in my porridge over the winter. It makes the porridge a wonderful colour.

we have had a good year for potatoes, the MoeMoe were excellent. I am going to grow more of these next year. and I also have had lots of multi coloured heritage carrots. I plant a fresh bucket of them every 10 days or so, and we eat them quite small just as snacks.

we are into autumn now, so the season is almost over for me, enjoy spring!

[bunsofaluminum]

Seriously. I need to get to the dr. My BP is still doing a lot of crashing and heart racing BS. I'm already taking a half pill...25mg, and those symptoms went away, but they're back again today almost to the same level that they were. Heh. I think I might not need Losartan anymore. I've been monitoring my blood pressure, and it's consistently at about 115/75 ish every morning. But I think I don't really want to stop taking it without talking to my dr. about it.

Video conference, please.

Soooo...I got to the Dr all right. The ER dr, halfway through the day. My heart started palpitating, and I got really dizzy. Decided to take my BP thinking I'd see super low readings, due to the dizziness. Nope. Super high: 216/128 And it all started while Wylie and my mom were both out! I sat through a meeting, crying and gasping for air with my head spinning.

It started up almost on the nail at 10:30, just as I was joining a work meeting on WebEx. If I'd been at the office, they probably would've called an ambulance, because I was gasping, dizzy as hell, and heart racing, thudding, stopping, starting. UGH. But I sort of listened to the meeting without participating, and sat back as well as I could. Checked my BP again at 10:45 and it was lower. 130/85...so the super high number was a spike, not renal failure or something...

When the meeting ended a little after 11:00, it was my lunch hour. I heated up some food and texted Wylie to come straight home from whatever errand he was on. Ate some lunch thinking it might calm things down. It tasted good, but the heart stuff and dizziness was alarming and didn't really decrease. At one point, my mom came home. She pulled in the driveway, shoved her dog in the door and said she forgot something, she'd be right back. I probably could have stopped her, but really didn't want to worry her and REALLY wanted Wylie, not my mom, with me. Time passed, my distress increased, and I was gathering up what I thought I'd need since clearly I was going to be calling 911, when my mom came home. Thank goodness, I had a ride...nope, she backed out again immediately. And me standing there with two battery packs for keeping my phone charged, (two? Don't ask me, but I had two) my notebook and pen, my purse...and my ride backing out the driveway.

It was 11:30ish by this time, and finally Wylie showed up. He hadn't seen my text. Thankfully he got there before I dialed 911, right? So he drove me to the ER and there I sat, hooked up to the ECG and BP cuff and O2 monitor from about 1:00 until like 6:00 pm. The BP cuff squeezed my arm so tight, every half hour, that it bruised my arm. No lie. Every time it activated, it was SO painful it made me gasp and clutch the cover on the ER bed. Wylie teased me about being a wimp...but then he saw the bruises. Did it hurt, WYLIE? Oh, also...they had to place a line, in order to take blood, which they planned on doing more than once. I begged them to put it in the back of my hand. "Oh, no! We don't use the wrist for this. It's too painful" ... really? More painful than your multiple failed attempts at finding a FREAKING VEIN in my arm? Because yes, I have a bruise under the BP cuff bruise, where the nurse tried to place a line in the crook of my elbow and COULDN'T FIND A FREAKING VEIN. I mean, she searched for it WITH the tip of the puncture needle, and it DIDN'T GO IN THE VEIN. Imagine that. Finally an EMT came in and got it on the other arm...in the crook of the elbow.

I liked the resident that oversaw my case. Alden. He was there when I was feeling kinda the lowest, you know? It was alarming when the BP skyrocketed, and uncomfortable with the dizziness and heart skips, but I was really down emotionally by the time he came in. The alarm and discomfort had faded away leaving me feeling worried and really tired. And pissed at the nurses for jabbing me needlessly and the BP cuff for squeezing so tight and Wylie for thinking I was being a whiner baby. But Alden was able to answer questions and explain things a little bit. He said they were seeing some skips on the ongoing ECG, which meant it was physically happening, not anxiety making me feel like it was happening.

At the end, the discharge cardiologist was Wylie's intake cardiologist on Jan 24 when he had his massive coronary.

They sent me home with a monitor to read my heart activity 24/7 for 14 days. You stick this diode sticker on your chest, and attach a monitor button. There is a phone connected via bluetooth. Whenever I have symptoms, I push the button on the chest piece and the screen on the phone has a list of symptoms that I can select. After 14 days, I send all of it to the address on the box, and they send the data to a cardiologist, who will read it and meet with me to tell me the diagnosis.

HOWEVER, the resident Alden said it looks most likely to be PVC, or premature ventricular contractions. This is the lower chamber of the heart pulsing before the actual beat of the heart gets through the whole heart. From what I'm reading, the ventricles pump blood out to the body. The upper chambers (atria) pulse and send the blood to the ventricles. When the ventricle contracts prematurely, there's no blood inside, and the heart muscle is pumping nothing. This is the sensation of a missed beat. Then the ventricle fills up with the beat from the atrium, which is that sensation of pounding that I experience. They don't know what causes it. But heart palpitations are a menopause symptom, and I was diagnosed with supra ventricular tachycardia 25 years ago, which I've never had treated or anything. It hasn't been any kind of problem until about the past two months. But I want to find out if tachy could have brought this on. I was advised by the cardiologist who diagnosed it that there was no medical therapy for it, and it wasn't life threatening. It truly hasn't affected me. I just cough sharply a few times when my heart thumps and that settles it down. I've done it that way all along.

So, I'll be reading more about PVC, eh? I am going to ask about the correlation, if any, to lifelong obesity I actually did set up a video conference with my PCP for today at 10:30. I was going to ask him if it's okay to continue on half a dose of Losartan, but the ER cardiologist already said it's okay, since my BP had normalized by then. I went home with a reading of 143/99 and this morning it was 110/68 (smack on my average morning reading)

Speaking of obesity, the scale shows down another pound today, getting me four pounds down from that upward fluctuation of 2 lbs. and 8 lbs down from my start weight on March 1. And I want to go for a walk today. It's pretty cold but might not be too bad with a coat on, walking.

[Ruff]

oh my goodness Buns. This sounds awful. Is the PVC thing reversible? I have not heard about it before. Goodness...if there was ever a reason to stick to maximum weight loss this has to be it...

hang on in there girl, we are rooting for you.

[bunsofaluminum]

oh my goodness Buns. This sounds awful. Is the PVC thing reversible? I have not heard about it before. Goodness...if there was ever a reason to stick to maximum weight loss this has to be it...

hang on in there girl, we are rooting for you.

Hi Katie

Didn't see your post about zucchini harvest until this morning. I don't know if PVC is reversible. Tachycardia isn't. I was diagnosed with that back in the mid '90's and was told it isn't life threatening, and not much I can do about it. I've had episodes where my heart just thuds like mad, makes me breathless, etc. Coughing sharply corrects it, and that's all I've done to treat it and until this past probably three or four weeks, no biggie. But dang, the head rush and breathlessness got so bad. The BP in the stratosphere though. For THAT, I will go see a dr. Right? Of course, now that I'm hooked up to this monitor, my heart is acting 100% normal.

Yes, more than incentive for sticking to MWL. At this point, I see myself eating this way for the rest of my life. I'm going to have to figure out how to do it at parties and gatherings. In fact, tomorrow my family is having a St. Patrick's Day party, and there will be high fat everything, everywhere. I gotta go in with a plan. If I'm going to do this for every meal, every day, I'll have to figure out how, when I am part of a family who get together many times in a year, and always with food piled up.

Alrighty, now about this resting heart rate. I'm measuring right at 50 most times when I take my pulse, sometimes a bit closer to 60. While in the ER, it stayed in the low 50's the whole time and I received a "diagnosis" of bradycardia. 50 bpm is lower than my usual 60ish that I've had my entire life (except when the tachy sends my heart rate into the 120 range for no reason, randomly) and the nurse would comment when she came in to check things. So I was just a bit concerned.

HOWEVER...how's this for providential...I am a member of Debbie Wirth's FB page McDougall's Starch Solution Group. It is administered closely to keep posts within the McDougall guidelines. It's one of the good ones. Well, someone on there yesterday posted about how their resting heart rate had gone to about 50 bpm, just from following MWL. Like, here I am worrying that my heart rate is too low, and someone posts about their 50's resting heart rate and others in the group all saying "well done! you're healing! you are improving your body just from food!" Hm Someone following MWL has a 50 resting heart rate. Hm. And I'm just not going to worry about THAT particular thing.

Monitor update. Yesterday I had about 45 minutes of off and on PVC crap early afternoon, which made me tired and weepy, breathless. I took the rest of the day off work...and my heart acted normal 100% until right at bedtime, when it began acting up again. Today? Nothing. Well, one tiny hiccup a few minutes ago. Which...dang it. I'm glad to find out what's going on. I was really suffering with it frequently for many days, probably three or four weeks, prior to that BP spike that finally sent me to the hospital. I mean yay if we find out what's going on, right? But if the only activity on this monitor are from days 1-3 ... Does that mean I could've just gone ahead as I had been, coughing sharply to correct the arrhythmia when it happens, and not worrying about it? Because that's what I'm going to do, especially if they try to give me freaking prozac for "anxiety".

Anxiety was mentioned by the resident whom I liked so much, and also during a video conference with my PCP yesterday. Here's the deal. I don't feel anxious in the slightest. Not worried, not nervous, not agitated. At least, not about the heart rate thing since I've been dealing with it for so many years. Yet the reading I did on how to help myself with this weird heart thudding/skipping PVC thing points to "how to reduce your anxiety naturally" with reducing caffeine intake, taking time to sit and breathe, name three things you can see, three things you can feel, etc...all things that I sort of do anyway. My life isn't entirely stress free, but comparatively I'm in a good place. When the stress goes up, I know what to do to alleviate it. It just doesn't feel like anxiety. But one thing I learned from Google yesterday is that the body can have symptoms of anxiety without it being felt emotionally. Hm. Cuz I've had anxiety attacks, and I know I am not going through that currently, nor have I been at all.

When I asked about this possibly being cyclical, and a menopause thing, my PCP told me "Well, we'd treat the menopause symptoms with the same meds...SSRI's and blah blah blah..." HA! that almost made my BP go up. In my 30's I did take Zoloft, then Effexor for depression and I will take my stand firmly on NO! if those or anything like them are recommended for "anxiety". I'll never take that stuff again. Not worth it.

See, eating this way fixed my depression WAAAAAY back in 2009. Chronic moderate depression has been with me my whole life, but starting up with McDougall, that was the first thing that improved. Clear headed, energetic, optimistic. Meanwhile I went through an era of huge stinky gas all day every day, while my gut adjusted, and my IBS went away. Depression is now an occasional thing that comes along and stays for a few days, then goes again. IBS symptoms only when I eat foolishly. If my heart thumping can only be cured by taking Prozac, faggedaboudit. Ain't happening. I'll live with it and stick with my sharp coughing, and the natural remedies, to reduce symptoms. And I'm confident at this point that sticking close to MWL is going to prove healing even for something like PVC's. It might not go away altogether. The tachy never completely ceased and maybe the PVC's won't either. I just want to find out if there is a non-SSRI treatment, and if I never "treat" this condition, will my heart be damaged? And of course, I just realized...if I follow MWL then I will be "treating" this condition.

[Ruff]

Resting heart rate. I wear a watch that monitors my heart rate as well as my running activities. I wear it at night as well. My resting heart rate last night was 47. Normal for me is now between 46 and 49 overnight. It used to be around 72 before my weight loss/mcdougal.

Family celebrations. Yes, this one is hard.(I have never fully cracked it) BUT you are now on a monitor for your heart Use it! "I'm sorry folks, that all looks wonderful, but I have this heart monitor thing (show it!) because my heart is playing up and my doc has me on a very specific diet for now. So I'm just going to have to eat my own food today. maybe next time...." And when next time comes, "doc says my heart is much improved and to stick with the diet for now..." Your doctor of course being Doctor McD.

Good luck and enjoy paddy's day.

[Spiral]

I thought I would chime in on this discussion about tachycardia.

I was diagnosed with Paroxysmal SupraVentricular Tachycardia (PSVT) back in 2007. The cardiologist told me, "We have a cure for this. It's ablation."

So, what they did was, essentially, eliminate this part of my heart that was the cause of the electrical impulse that causes tachycardia. It was an amazing procedure done by specialists. I think they call these specialists EPS doctors. Anyway, I have not had a racing heart rate since that coronary ablation procedure back in 2007.

You might have a different type of tachycardia. My understanding is that not all tachycardias can be treated through coronary ablation. Also, during the procedure they have to be successful in identifying the place in the heart that is causing. Otherwise, they can't eliminate it and, thus, can't cure it.

Good luck to you in your quest for health through good nutrition.

[bunsofaluminum]

I thought I would chime in on this discussion about tachycardia.

I was diagnosed with Paroxysmal SupraVentricular Tachycardia (PSVT) back in 2007. The cardiologist told me, "We have a cure for this. It's ablation."

So, what they did was, essentially, eliminate this part of my heart that was the cause of the electrical impulse that causes tachycardia. It was an amazing procedure done by specialists. I think they call these specialists EPS doctors. Anyway, I have not had a racing heart rate since that coronary ablation procedure back in 2007.

You might have a different type of tachycardia. My understanding is that not all tachycardias can be treated through coronary ablation. Also, during the procedure they have to be successful in identifying the place in the heart that is causing. Otherwise, they can't eliminate it and, thus, can't cure it.

Good luck to you in your quest for health through good nutrition.

Oh, that's right! There is a way to stop this! I forgot that being mentioned by the ER resident. I think he said it works for this PVC thing as well. From what I've read, there can be upwards of 250 spots that need attention! Hopefully I'll be a candidate for the procedure. I'm more than willing, believe me. When my heart gets going, it can be exhausting.

Anyway, I'm still wearing the 14 day monitor, and it's registering plenty of skipped beats, breathlessness, and light headedness. I speak with a cardiologist tomorrow after work, video conference. I have some questions for her, and I think she'll set me up with the standard testing: stress test, ultrasound, etc. Wylie's heart attack on 1/24 and my heart "episode" on 3/10...on our way to the hospital for mine, I said "2020 was the year of staying home. 2021 is the year of medical expenses"

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So...I had a wonderful night with my family. Yes, I ate some off plan stuff, most notably the bruschetta appetizers...olive tapenade and guac...kinda high fat, but I spent more time horsing around with my grandkids than hovering around the addictive treats. I also did have a piece of my daughter's LUSCIOUS Guinness chocolate cake. And that's it. Straight back to "simple, humble food" It's a great idea though...see this heart monitor? I need to be extra strict about my intake due to a HEART ISSUE. Like, kinda important, eh? I'll use that when we go to Cali in April.

But enough about the food. Our family boisterously and joyously celebrates our Irish heritage with a big family gathering for St. Pat's Day. My sister is an exemplary hostess, and had set the table with a sheet of brown paper, and there were crayons at every setting. We could draw or what have you, but the biggie was a Limerick contest. My son-in-law finally got to hear the very dirty Limerick that starts with "There once was a man from Nantucket" and we all Googled to find other dirty limericks. But we also did just funny ones pertaining to St Patrick or our family. My sister's in-laws dropped by just to say hi, not knowing there was a party, and they had a plate and joined in the Limerick fun.

My 3 year old grandson Orion, 11 year old granddaughter Nadia, and I spent a LOT of time outside dorking around. We each found a stick, which were wands. I managed to turn Orion into a frog one time, but then it was their turn. They turned me into all kinds of things. Stegosaurus, bee, lion. Mountain. And I never got another chance to turn them into anything. They also debrided some rotten wood out of an ailing tree, rolled down a very tiny slight hill in the front yard, followed me along a stepping stone pathway...we played and played and had so much fun! And I gotta say, credit goes to McDougall because I, a 60 year old gramma, had more energy than all the other adults put together. *smugface icon* There's something about the level or quality of this energy. Makes me playful. My first go-round with McDougall was in 1995, when we were homeschooling our kids and we'd get together with the other homeschoolers in the area for things. I got into snowball fights and participated in the baseball games and other outdoor things we did...while the adults visited. Which is fine. I just couldn't NOT play when play was on. Just go ahead and PUT YouDance on the Wii. I'll out dance the whole gang.

It feels FANTASTIC and I love it!