It really does work!

[hippywife]

This is seminally a coking and baking (and eating!) topic. I just got my results back from my blood work last week and this is how I feel: :bounce:

This is the first time I've ever, ever had everything fall into the normal category. I had no warning notes from my doc on it this time at all! Usually he comments on anything that falls into the abnormal range. I did at least expect an "Atta girl!" this time be there wasn't any so I called and left him a message razzing him about that. (We've have a really fun rapport.)

Anyway, the last time I had blood work was last October just before I went home to see my family. My cholesterol was 224 and my A1-c was 6.8, I think. I was so stressed and depressed when I got home that I went on a three to four month junk food binge and didn't go for my February labs. I rescheduled for May coz I knew I'd done bad. So, this time my cholesterol was 189 and my A1-c was 5.8.

So what works? It's not a diet at all but it is a big change for the better. I've been totally inspired by Michael Pollan's books "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food." And that's where it started. Three small phrases: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

I use a lot of eggs from (really)pastured local poultry, I use real butter all the time (no substitutes of any kind), use only canola and extra virgin olive oil (and not the expensive stuff, either!), we only eat meat on an average of once every week to week and a half and it's the grassfed buffalo and pork from the local producers in our co-op. I make everything from scratch...no mixes or processed foods (my one exception-Pamela's Pancake Mix.) When I want a little chocolate, I have it, but no junk food in the house. I bake cakes and cookies and make ice cream every weekend but only eat a little of it through the week. I only drink water and an occasional iced tea or lemonade with real lemons and sugar.

Eating whole foods, I find I can eat less and be more satisfied. So no deprivation, but all the results are bearing out that falling back to the way people ate a couple of generations back, really does work! (If your great-grandma wouldn't recognize it as food, don't eat it!)

Really wanted to share this with all of you here because I know there have been health concerns for others here and sometimes they conflict with our culinary desires. I wish everyone here who needs it similar success! :hi:

[yellerpup]

1. Tremendous success, hippywife!

Congratulations on getting your blood stats where you want them with diet alone. You're doing the smart thing for the long term. :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo:

[hippywife]

2. Thanx so much, yellerpup!

I've been borderline diabetic for most of my adult life and there is lots of family history but when he tried to tell me I had turned the corner and actually was diabetic, just over a year ago when my A1-c was 7 point something or other, I told him he was wrong and set out to prove it to him. I even stopped buying test strips and checking my sugar daily.

After reading those books, the mantra has become eat to live, rather than live to eat. I never thought I would ever be able to do this. Long gone are the days of sitting down to a nearly full pound slab of beef with all the trimmings. The way I feel even on a daily basis, too, makes it all worth it.

I've watched my parents become so unhealthy and there is no way I'm going there.

[yellerpup]

5. Very interesting that you headed off diabetes through eating smart.

Diabetes is rampant in my family, too. Two of my younger cousins died while still young children from juvenile (Type 1) diabetes, and many--I should say ALL--of my cousins who insist that they can't live without chicken fried steak, fried chicken and French fries with gravy at least once a week (add biscuits & gravy with ham/bacon/sausage and eggs and fried potatoes for breakfast, Mickey D's for lunch) and lots and lots of "pop" to wash it down, and Cheetos or Fritos for an afternoon snack have type two diabetes. My mother used to make us French fries for breakfast and let us have Pepsi instead of milk! It doesn't take a mental giant to figure out WHY diabetes is a given in our clan. "Eat to live" is a great reminder to self. Lately, I have been exploring food as medicine. When I first met my new doctor (HMO geriatric specialist) he was flabbergasted that I am not "on" any medications except a thyroid supplement that I have been taking for 35 years. He immediately prescribed a statin for me which made me want to kill myself within the first five days. I stopped taking it (on the grounds that I will not take medicine that makes me WISH I was dead) and started slurping oatmeal every morning. My next lipid panel showed that I had lowered my cholestrol level 62 points in 90 days. You are going to be so glad that you are taking care of yourself. I wish you all the best in your quest for good health. :hi:

[hippywife]

6. That's fabulous, yeller!

You are doing wonderfully! I'm so happy for you! Given your family history, that is quite the accomplishment.

Besides no longer eating fast food and junk food, I've also stopped eating the "home cookin'" they serve in the dining room at the retirement center where I work. That alone has had to have a huge impact!

I haven't told the doc this yet but I've stopped taking my blood pressure meds, too. I am monitoring that and we'll see how that goes. But so far, so good!

Many kudos and much continued success to you, too! :hug:

[yellerpup]

7. Right back at you!

Keep good tabs on the BP. :hug:

[Warpy]

8. Diet isn't a cure

but eating right will forestall the stuff you're genetically programmed to get, while eating rubbish will hurry it up. Eating right will also help you feel better, no matter what ails you, as soon as you get used to the idea of not using half a container of salt on it to make it taste like processed food.

Smoking and eating trash will get you that familial heart disease in your 40s or 50s instead of your 70s or 80s.

In my case, I did finally get the family hypertension, but I got it a full two decades later than my parents did.

Plus, after you reset those corroded taste buds, you'll be astonished at all the wonderful things you've been missing!

[yellerpup]

10. You are absolutely right.

I've been eating well since the 1970's because of an early health scare that luckily turned out to be a misdiagnosis. I smoked for 40 years, though, and I'm certain that my body will eventually find that unforgivable. My mom only made it to 67 and my dad died on his 75th birthday, so I don't really have the genes to go long. You did the right thing, the smart thing, so you are going to feel better longer and have a better quality of life. My taste buds are ready for Green Market to open down by the river next Saturday. With the Green market coming in and Bush going out, it's going to be a much healthier, happier summer.

[hippywife]

24. See, I'm just refusing

to believe it isn't a cure. Sure, if you live long enough, your body is going to succumb to something but I am considering myself not a diabetic at this point. The lifestyle change vs. diet thing has finally stuck and I can't envision going back to the type of eater I previously was. I just haven't the appetite for it anymore.

Now if I can just lick the cigs! :eyes: Now that this battle is won, it's on to the next!

[Warpy]

3. Good for you!

The transition can be tough to face when you're giving up all those processed helpers you've relied on, but reading the labels and adding up all the salt, sugars and saturated fats you'd be eating per day just from the crap, alone, would provide sufficient motivation to keep plugging away.

Some of it is just as fast as the crap made with convenience foods.

[hippywife]

4. You know,

and I know you do, I feel like I've not given up a thing. Everything tastes so much better that I feel like I've gained more in the culinary arena, too, not just in the numbers.

The best thing is that I don't keep track of a single thing with regard to fat and carbs. We just began by eliminating certain things first, like enriched flour, hydrogenated anything, HFCS, etc. From there it became easy to go the rest of the way. It's pretty easy to eliminate stuff with an ingredient list as long as your arm with stuff that's near impossible to pronounce!

And I'm not a dark, brooding, surly person anymore. I was really beginning to become worried about my moods and the way I could really lash out at people. I could not lift myself out of the deep depressions, and manic mood swings. This has done that, too.

Thanx, Warpy! :hi:

[mike_c]

9. congratulations!

I'm doing much the same thing, although it's not really new for me. My problem is that even though I know how to eat well (and maintain a healthy, active lifestyle), I tend not to do it when I'm under stress. For me, that means work stress more often than not-- long hours, lots of demands, etc. At times like that I tend to eat out of boxes, simply because it simplifies life. I don't feel like cooking and eat mainly just to fill my stomach, then crash in a chair and read, or work late, or whatever. Bad food and a sedentary life. Ugh.

I mean, I really don't like it, even if it is the path of least resistance. Living that way feels like shit. Dull, deadened, and dying. Not to mention the actual pain that results when my weight goes up, mostly joint related. It sucks, yet I do it anyway, kicking myself the whole time for letting things get so bad.

Well, it's summer now and the livin' is pretty easy, so I'm doing much the same as you-- eating good whole foods, in small portions, and in my case, walking my ass off. Literally. Until I get bored with the fantastic local trails, then I'll start biking my ass off, LOL. It feels GREAT. I've lost eight pounds in three weeks. Like you, I skipped my last bloodwork-- it was just too depressing. But I'll schedule another one in August and I'm pretty confident the news will be much better.

So good on ya for your positive results! You're right-- eating well really is healthy! I'm rather enjoying the curmudgeonly side of life-- here's to a long and happy one!

[hippywife]

26. Eating out of boxes reminded me

of something else I forgot. There are a few other exceptions to processed foods that I make and had forgotten about because altho I keep them around, I used them less, too. That's the meat analogs like MSF Chik'n Nuggets and Corn Dogs (they are handy to have around on the weekends sometimes when we are doing alot of work around the house and garden. I hate when my husband asks me what's for lunch at times like that!) Quorn Naked Cutlets and Amy's Organics California Burgers. Those things get used on the average of once or twice a week.

I hope you do have better news on your blood work this time. It really is uplifting when it happens.

A long and happy one to you, too, friend! :hi:

[Gore1FL]

11. I need to do something myself... But I cannot do without meat

I sometimes only eat meat.


My cholesterol is through the roofand I am borderline Type 2 diabetes.

I am pretty much destined to a life of salad and tuna...

[hippywife]

22. I used to think exactly like that.

I would eat a huge helping of meat at every single meal, every single day. Now I tend to not want it and feel very satisfied with what I am eating.

The books that impacted this change were:

1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
2. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
3. In Defense of Food by Micheal Pollan
4. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

That was the order I read them in but it was totally random. If you feel totally stuck on meat, I would read Schlosser's book first. It not only exposes the fast food restaurant industry but the meat industry in this country as a whole. It was the one that finally put the nail in the coffin as far as my desire for meat. I just can't imagine eating commercially produced meat again, especially hamburger.

I really hope you can do something to wean yourself off of that style of eating. I still have my demons to fight with respect to self-inflicted health issues but knocking this one off was a big part of it.

:hug:

[Gore1FL]

25. Thanks!

I saw Schlosser on a CSPAN Book review around 2000. I avoid those places pretty well now because of his statements. I do eat a lot of salads for lunch. I just need to up that regularity (no pun intended) for other meals.

[woofless]

30. I would add "real food What to eat and why" by Nina Planck.

Pollan opened my mind with "In Defense Of Food" and Planck gave me a lot of practical info as well as some of the science behind why "whole food" is superior to processed stuff. I had smoked for 37 years and have always been overweight. Emphysema has radically curbed my ability to work off calories so when I was no longer working my weight naturally rose. After changing my diet (I have not smoked tobacco in 3 years) I can really see a gradual difference. My sweetheart can see it too. Mood, energy level, and stamina are all on the upward trend and I FEEL better. H2S is right, quit smoking tobacco, move around a bit and eat real food. I also rely on my favorite herb a great deal.

Woof

[Stinky The Clown]

12. Good for you!!!!!

:hug:

You probably know I have been trying to follow a similar path ...... whole, honest, real foods. I mostly do, but sometimes find it easier to just junk out (for example, we had take out Chinese tonight ... heart attack on a plate, no matter what you get). Not often, but sometimes.

But more normally, real butter, real bread, real food, lots of from scratch stuff.

Then we also exercise. I am at the gym, religiously, 3 times a week for a good, honest workout and have a fair amount of other active activities. My BP is now in the 110s over 70s where it was up in the 150s and 160s before.

But the BIG thing was quitting smoking. That made a HUGE difference in how I feel. Probably the single biggest 'feel good' boost I got.

And 'lo and behold, ALL my blood work is well within the normal or good range. My cholesterol was sky high, as were my triglycerides and blood glucose levels. I was 'pre-diabetic', then crossed the line to a number juuuuust over the line, but am now well below that threshold.

The fun part is to get into a competition with yourself to see how you can actually gain control of your own well being.

(Disclaimer: I am also taking regular daily doses of Mevacor, Lopressor, Prinivil, Plavix, and HZT, which helps a whoooooole lot.)

[Warpy]

19. Chinese isn't that bad if you skip the deep fried stuff

because it's all cooked with soybean oil with meat used as a flavoring instead of the main event.

Probably the worst thing on the menu is the sweet and sour: deep fried pork or chicken in a sickly sweet sauce loaded with salt. Avoid that one and you avoid the worst any restaurant has to offer. Blech.

[Stinky The Clown]

20. I almost always get shrimp lo mein and fried pork dumplings

The lo mein is clearly greasy, but not drippingly so.

The fried dumplings are not deep fried. They're wok fried to some crispy spots on the sides and aren't as greasy as most actual deep fried foods.

By the way, deep fried food isn't unhealthy by definition. It is unhealthy if done wrong. Wrong usually means fried at too low a temperature. Properly hot oil will almost instantly seal the outside of an item and steam the inside. Coolish oil will not seal, consequently it gets absorbed like a sponge.

My dumplings, although pan fried, are always cooked on the 'coolish' side, resulting in greasy dumplings.

[hippywife]

23. I'm so glad you

are feeling and doing better. I do recall some allusions to your health in the past but I think the bigger part of that story must have occurred before I joined this group.

I still have to kick the smoking thing. I can only tackle one big issue at a time. It's my next big demon to wrestle at this point. And wrestle it I must. I've asked the doc for Chantix to get me headed that way. My goal is to be smoke free by my 50th b-day in August.

You're absolutely right! It is a huge competition with yourself. It's kind of exciting to be winning! LOL I'm loving the challenge, too.

I'm with Warpy on the Chinese food. I think if you skip all the fried stuff altogether, it's some of the healthiest food around. I wouldn't hesitate where most of it is concerned, except for the meat.

I hope you can get to the point where the medication is no longer needed, my friend. Is that a possibility, if even a little distant one? :hug:

[Stinky The Clown]

28. Well .......

.... I had a heart attack about a year and a half ago. That's what got me on the right path. Funny how a killer event makes you reassess. :)

I suspect the meds are there forever. Surely the Plavix is (it is part and parcel of having stents put in). The statin is, too. My cholesterol is a genetic thing. The BP meds .... who knows. The only thing I have reversed without meds is the blood sugar.

I did the smoking thing cold turkey .... sorta .... I started with cutting out the ones while driving. Then my first smoke of the day. Then my last. Then the ones mid morning and mid afternoon. The last ones were the ones after meals. When I got down to like two or three a day, I just said the hell with it and quit.

I haven't ever looked back.

[hippywife]

29. I'm so sorry you had to

experience that. It must have been very frightening, for you and Sparkly. :hug:

Good method for quiting. I might give that a shot. Thanx!

[grasswire]

13. I'd give anything for a piece of whole wheat bread right now.

That's what I'm missing most. Carbs are my enemy. I'm having trouble finding things to eat, and hungry a lot of the time. I'm sick of peanut butter. Here's what I usually eat:

B. 1/2 cup no-fat cottage cheese with berries or 1/2 banana.

L. tuna and lettuce with a bit of mayo and maybe a hard-cooked egg,

or big glass of V-8 and some cheese and a few crackers

snack: Trader Joe's 0 fat yogurt and some raw nuts

D. chicken breast, sauteed spinach w/ a dab of butter and curry powder, or a salad and omelet.

bedtime snack: no-salt saltines and peanut butter, glass of 2% milk.

Sometimes in the morning I have 1/2 slice of toast with avocado. Sometimes I have a couple of pieces of that pre-cooked bacon.

Yes, I'm depressed about my food right now. I can't even eat oatmeal for the cholesterol benefit.

I'm due for another set of lab work. I'm not worried about that, but it's the daily fight against blood sugar swings that's driving me nuts. I feel very crappy several hours each day.

Wahhhh!

[The empressof all]

14. I envy your crackers

I can't even go there on a regular basis. I'm able to handle a few Wasa crackers a month but that's it for me with the grains. I'm now addicted to the Shiritaki noodles. You can get them near the tofu section in many grocery stores. There is also a brand called Miracle noodles that is sold on line that I haven't tried yet but I have heard good things about. I've discovered the trick to making the Tofu Shiritaki more palatable. PM me if you want to try them.

[grasswire]

16. ah, I could eat tofu

...and I was enjoying edamame beans until Trader Joe's pulled the frozen ones from their stock.

Yeah, I shouldn't even eat the crackers, few as they are.

[sandnsea]

15. My husband can't eat oatmeal either

The dietician told him he was nuts, but it sends his blood sugar screwy. He eats a piece of fruit for breakfast, sometimes eggs. Can you have eggs? He can eat beans too. So sometimes he has a low-carb wrap with fat free refried beans and eggs. Can you have shrimp? I "marinated" some shrimp in lemon, oregano, salt and pepper. Saute until done, remove from pan. Then put the rest of the lemon mixture in the pan and wilt your spinach in it. It's delicious. It took us a very long time to find enough meals to cook where we didn't feel deprived. Another thing, pears and ice, peaches and ice, strawberries and ice. We've got an Oster puree/smoothie type blender. I swear that is really good to just throw in a couple cup of fruit and some ice for a fruity treat. And I also cheat with sugar-free chocolates once in a while. My blood sugar is fairly regular now, I can tell when I haven't eaten right. It is at the point where it isn't worth it to me to eat a piece of cake or something because I'll pay for it for at least 24 hours. Really not worth it.

[grasswire]

17. yes, I can have eggs

....and some beans. I know what you mean about not being worth it to stray from the restricted diet. If I want to taste something, I'll just take a spoonful. Otherwise I'll suffer. And I don't like suffering. It's hard to cook for a family with two teenage athletes needing carbs, and have to cook something else for myself. But it has to be done.

[sandnsea]

18. My kids are all grown

It would be a lot harder if the boys were still at home, that's for sure. OTOH, I'm sure they could have used a lot more raw veggies than I kept in the house at the time. I planted tomatoes, strawberries, peas and peppers this year. I'm hoping I won't miss the treats if I have more fresh favorites on hand. The raw fiber seems to help even out the starches if I remember to eat them at every meal.

[hippywife]

21. We've pretty much stopped

eating bread with every dinner. Just on occasion. Altho we do have sandwiches for lunch, whether they be PBJ's, avocado with other assorted greens and sprouts, falafel, or tuna/salmon salad. Lots of whole fruit and veggies. Husband takes the sweet stuff like breakfast cake and cookies in his lunch. I tend to choose more fruit but do allow myself to have the sweet stuff a couple of times a week.

I wonder if you increased more of your unrefined carbs--greens and fruits--if you might become a little more tolerant of the occasional slice of whole wheat bread. You probably already know to make sure the bread you do eat is as unrefined as possible, i.e. no enriched flour.

Can you have beans or hummus? Steel cut oats rather than the standard?

It would be truly sad and frustrating to be so limited. Have you consulted a good nutritionist?

I'm sorry you're struggling. :hug:

[sandnsea]

31. All oat cookie recipe

This would be perfect for you and I'm telling you it's the best cookie ever.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=236&topic_id=39302&mesg_id=39840

[sazemisery]

27. I have found the same to be true also

If you eat fresh, unadulterated food you are healthier.

My motto: Everything in moderation.

BTW, congrats on the results.

[hippywife]

33. That is so totally true.

If I want something sweet or rich, I have it but just not very much of it. If I limit those things to something small each day then I don't feel like I'm being left out of the yummy stuff. Bill takes about half a dozen cookies in his lunch, I take two, if any. And I tend to get very full on fruit. A small bowl of grapes or a peach and I'm good.

[eleny]

32. Congratulations!!!

It's terrific news!
..... .....

[hippywife]

34. Thanx, eleny!

I love your blue lips. LOL Is all going well for you? I sure hope so. :hi:

[eleny]

35. Thanks, things are good for me

My numbers came down, too. I just got my report the other day. Even though my cholesterol #s are improving I'd like them to come down a just little more. I'm encouraged with the summer stretching ahead. Lots of weeding to keep my fanny busy. :D