I think you don’t have to be a genius to know that this is the hardest time of the year for keeping a healthy diet! Of course, when you try to eat low fat and no oils nor saturated fats, and low sugar is doubly hard, but generally speaking, the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is terror to our arteries and hearts for all of us!
Typically, all during the year, I try to eat just white meat poultry and fish, always. Around this time of the year, however, the options are turkey, duck and ham! I used to buy small Cornish hens (which are actually not that low in fat, really) for Thanksgiving, when I was single, but now, it’s turkey, all the way.
And then, there is the ham! My favorite meat in the whole world, but of which I eat only twice a year – for Easter and Christmas – and maybe New Years, too. Then, all the fixings. If I cook myself, I try to make wise choices: Smart Balance instead of butter, turkey bacon if I want to cook with bacon, 2% milk, fat free shredded cheese for chowders, and the likes. When I do have a choice, I try to be careful what I chose, and use plenty of spices and herbs, to not skimp on the flavor.
In the mornings, and when eating normal meals, not over visits with friends, I stick to my healthy meals – lots of fiber and some greens. Being Eastern Orthodox, I have a “good excuse” to not eat animal products twice a week, from about 6 weeks before, until Christmas, too – so this helps to keep me “in line”, as well. I have kept this tradition since I was a child, mostly for health reasons, and secondly for religious ones.
My husband loves to bake, but lately, he’s been using half the amount of sugar a recipe needs, he replaces butter with vegetable margarine, or Smart Balance, and he makes mostly oatmeal cookies lately – yum! He has also used flaxseed and wheat flours, too.
When I visit other folks, my focus is on portion size, since I have no control over what goes in the dish. I can’t have 15 pieces of ham, no matter how much I love it. And I try to go for the greens – green beans, salads, and no casseroles, if I can, as I am sure everyone uses the “real deal” ingredients in everything else.
We went to our first Christmas party this weekend, and I had a sautéed chicken breast, with mashed potatoes and a spinach salad. I had literally two bites of my husband’s cheesecake, and water to drink. I was full, and never felt like I was missing out. I am somewhat lucky, too, to not care for red meat nor sweets much – so the choices were easier. I also try to focus on the atmosphere and the experience of getting together and celebrating the old year, more than making it about the food.
Just like when I travel, I try not to obsess over the foods on a time like The Holidays. I try to enjoy the moment and tell myself that I can be careful without making my choices the center of my life. In fact, most people that don’t know me very, very well, have no idea I watch what I eat. I always get the “why are YOU dieting? You’re nothing but a little bit!” spiel, and I dread going into details – out of lack of patience more than anything.
But if I go tomorrow, in a middle of a heart attack, I tell you this much: I would regret not having that ham more than I would be proud of myself for always sticking to carrots and cold water fish! There is a time for everything, and at Holidays time, it’s time to enjoy what the table has to offer, but only remember to keep size in check.
Happy Holiday Season to all, and happy eating, too!
"In the end, when we look at our life, the questions will be simple: Did I live fully? Did I love well?"
(Jack Kornfield)
"The proper function of a man is to live, not to exist." (Jack London)
Monday, December 5, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
A Year of Un-health
It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver. (Mohandas Gandhi)
This year has not been a really good one for health in our family. Just one thing after another. It’s not just one member of the family, not just mine or my husband’s family, it’s everyone, it seems. Almost.
The year started with my sister almost giving birth to her second baby 2-3 months before her due date – again! She was on bed rest (and hated it) for two and a half months and in and out of the hospital till she gave birth to her healthy baby boy in February. That was such a wonderful gift to all of us, this little man!
My grandmother, who is my only living grandparent, at 82, has been in a clinic for senile dementia for over a year now, and this year, she has been getting worse. We never really knew this disease is in our family, because I guess back when her parents were suffering from it, they called it “old age”. She has always been the healthiest in my family, physically, a 4’9” (if that) dynamo, so this came as a big shock to all of us. My family could no longer care for her at home, because of her nightly wanderings, which were very hard to supervise, so she had to go to this special place.
Her physical health is declining rapidly, along with her fading mind. It is so unbearable to watch. And to watch those who care for her (like my aunt) fall into depression themselves, as the care giver is equally impossible, at times.
My husband’s aunt has been diagnosed with colon and uterine cancer, at 72. She has undergone a massive surgery to remove most of her colon and all of her reproductive organs, sometimes in the summer (June?!). That, alone, is massive surgery for anyone, at any age, but particularly for an older body. After the surgery, she underwent several (I think five) rounds of chemo, just “preventively”, we are told. During this whole time she has been in the hospital twice with massive abdominal infections, various cysts, just complications of this whole intervention. We saw her last month, a year and a half after we saw her at our wedding, last year, and she was almost the shadow of the woman I remember. Her eyes had the same glitter in them, and her smile the same welcoming warmth. Disease can take a lot out of us, but it cannot and should not kill our spirit.
Around the same time his aunt was diagnosed with cancer, my husband was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes! He jumped on the wagon of medication, constant blood sugar checks, new diet, several doctors’ appointments, reviews at the Diabetes Management Center, and re-designing his eating and exercising habits. It was a tough blow for him (already a high blood pressure patient), although he was kind of expecting it, since it’s a “family disease” on his side. It’s never easy to hear such confirmation, though.
My brother in law, at 32, just found out that his cholesterol and blood pressure are off the charts, too and whereas his blood sugar is not scary yet, his A1c test showed clear disposition to type 2 diabetes, as well. My sister and I are exchanging diabetes and heart disease friendly recipes now. Another big, unwelcomed “surprise”, of two very traumatic diseases, for someone so young!
Lastly, but not in the least, there is my mother in law. She is a double amputee, having lost both of her arms in a farming accident when she was 4. She is 70 now and has lived all her life with prosthetic arms, doing everything we are doing as “normal” people. She is my role model of strength and perseverance despite all odds! She is a walking lesson.
She is also a diabetic. In the past year or so she has lost a lot, and I mean a lot, of weight, trying to keep her diabetes under control. She walks 3-4 miles every day from spring to fall (she lives in Michigan, so winter walks are tricky to say the least, but she does walk on the treadmill then), and she has totally revamped what she eats. After 69 years one can still change what and how they eat, and how they manage their exercise routine! She is living proof of that! But all these changes caused her to lose so much weight (while her blood sugar is back to normal values!) that she has needed new prosthetic arms. The old ones are too large now, and she can’t work them too well anymore. Well, after months of waiting and close to $12,000 paid, she got arms that are made completely wrong for her! Totally unusable. The arms, much like ours that we take for granted, are her freedom. The old ones are cumbersome and hurt a lot, since they don’t fit her “stumps”, and she needs new ones. After months of explaining to the makers of them what is wrong with them, she gave up and she is back to her old ones, in pain, but still free.
And then, there have been my own issues. On top of everything else I knew about, on top of the perpetual “flunk” tests and off numbers (the usual), I also found out about my defective heart (not because of cholesterol, alas, this time, but just because of pure faulty genetic anatomy), and about uterine fibroids that are a pain (pun not intended) to live with, every day!
Despite everything, though, I still consider myself lucky. Looking at all my relatives who have crossed large abysses this year in their fear for their (or their baby’s) life, I feel lucky that whatever I have been “blessed” with has not landed me one day in a hospital, or one hour disabled!
I am grateful for what I have and I am learning, every day, from these wonderful people around me, how one can survive a bad diagnosis, no matter how horrible, and still go on. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time, one prayer and “thank you” at a time, we will continue to walk on. There is no other possible alternative.
This year has not been a really good one for health in our family. Just one thing after another. It’s not just one member of the family, not just mine or my husband’s family, it’s everyone, it seems. Almost.
The year started with my sister almost giving birth to her second baby 2-3 months before her due date – again! She was on bed rest (and hated it) for two and a half months and in and out of the hospital till she gave birth to her healthy baby boy in February. That was such a wonderful gift to all of us, this little man!
My grandmother, who is my only living grandparent, at 82, has been in a clinic for senile dementia for over a year now, and this year, she has been getting worse. We never really knew this disease is in our family, because I guess back when her parents were suffering from it, they called it “old age”. She has always been the healthiest in my family, physically, a 4’9” (if that) dynamo, so this came as a big shock to all of us. My family could no longer care for her at home, because of her nightly wanderings, which were very hard to supervise, so she had to go to this special place.
Her physical health is declining rapidly, along with her fading mind. It is so unbearable to watch. And to watch those who care for her (like my aunt) fall into depression themselves, as the care giver is equally impossible, at times.
My husband’s aunt has been diagnosed with colon and uterine cancer, at 72. She has undergone a massive surgery to remove most of her colon and all of her reproductive organs, sometimes in the summer (June?!). That, alone, is massive surgery for anyone, at any age, but particularly for an older body. After the surgery, she underwent several (I think five) rounds of chemo, just “preventively”, we are told. During this whole time she has been in the hospital twice with massive abdominal infections, various cysts, just complications of this whole intervention. We saw her last month, a year and a half after we saw her at our wedding, last year, and she was almost the shadow of the woman I remember. Her eyes had the same glitter in them, and her smile the same welcoming warmth. Disease can take a lot out of us, but it cannot and should not kill our spirit.
Around the same time his aunt was diagnosed with cancer, my husband was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes! He jumped on the wagon of medication, constant blood sugar checks, new diet, several doctors’ appointments, reviews at the Diabetes Management Center, and re-designing his eating and exercising habits. It was a tough blow for him (already a high blood pressure patient), although he was kind of expecting it, since it’s a “family disease” on his side. It’s never easy to hear such confirmation, though.
My brother in law, at 32, just found out that his cholesterol and blood pressure are off the charts, too and whereas his blood sugar is not scary yet, his A1c test showed clear disposition to type 2 diabetes, as well. My sister and I are exchanging diabetes and heart disease friendly recipes now. Another big, unwelcomed “surprise”, of two very traumatic diseases, for someone so young!
Lastly, but not in the least, there is my mother in law. She is a double amputee, having lost both of her arms in a farming accident when she was 4. She is 70 now and has lived all her life with prosthetic arms, doing everything we are doing as “normal” people. She is my role model of strength and perseverance despite all odds! She is a walking lesson.
She is also a diabetic. In the past year or so she has lost a lot, and I mean a lot, of weight, trying to keep her diabetes under control. She walks 3-4 miles every day from spring to fall (she lives in Michigan, so winter walks are tricky to say the least, but she does walk on the treadmill then), and she has totally revamped what she eats. After 69 years one can still change what and how they eat, and how they manage their exercise routine! She is living proof of that! But all these changes caused her to lose so much weight (while her blood sugar is back to normal values!) that she has needed new prosthetic arms. The old ones are too large now, and she can’t work them too well anymore. Well, after months of waiting and close to $12,000 paid, she got arms that are made completely wrong for her! Totally unusable. The arms, much like ours that we take for granted, are her freedom. The old ones are cumbersome and hurt a lot, since they don’t fit her “stumps”, and she needs new ones. After months of explaining to the makers of them what is wrong with them, she gave up and she is back to her old ones, in pain, but still free.
And then, there have been my own issues. On top of everything else I knew about, on top of the perpetual “flunk” tests and off numbers (the usual), I also found out about my defective heart (not because of cholesterol, alas, this time, but just because of pure faulty genetic anatomy), and about uterine fibroids that are a pain (pun not intended) to live with, every day!
Despite everything, though, I still consider myself lucky. Looking at all my relatives who have crossed large abysses this year in their fear for their (or their baby’s) life, I feel lucky that whatever I have been “blessed” with has not landed me one day in a hospital, or one hour disabled!
I am grateful for what I have and I am learning, every day, from these wonderful people around me, how one can survive a bad diagnosis, no matter how horrible, and still go on. One foot in front of the other, one day at a time, one prayer and “thank you” at a time, we will continue to walk on. There is no other possible alternative.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Stressed About the Stress Test
(no, not really ...)
And here we are again. You know, I think I need to visit more often and just tell you all about my normal days, not only about days when I visit “that” place. You know, the place where they wear scrubs. I need to tell people that we, people with FH, do have a life, a real one that doesn’t involve tests and drugs and IV’s and all … I think I’ll make that pledge now, and if I bore you to tears with my other, “normal” life, shout out, and I’ll change the tune …
But anyway, today was one of “those” days. The PA that I saw a couple of weeks ago, or so, asked that I repeat the heart eco they did last year, just to check on this leaking valve and its progress. Since last year was the first time they found it, they used that as the baseline and they need to understand how fast it’s getting worse, because, as they “promised” me, it will get worse. So, they needed to repeat that this year – if the progress (or regress) is slow, then, they’ll do this every two years or even further apart. They also wanted to repeat the stress test, which I normally get done every two years, and it was time for that.
Every time I go in for these things I am thinking: “someone has an ex-wife they need to pay off or a boat payment that’s due”. But let’s not be cynical, shall we, I am sure this is all helpful, and I am grateful for health insurance.
I am not going to find out the eco results till some time later since they need to be read by the radiology doctor and then sent to my cardiologist – both in the same clinic though – I have an appointment next week for that. The stress test, however, was performed by my heart doctor’s PA (the one who said no to Diovan), so she read it to me today.
She said “I flunk it”! Everything was fine, till I got my heart rate at around 152 and I started choking up. My chest was heavy, not so much painful, but heavy and I was out of breath, and my neck was clutching on me. I felt like there was no air going through from my nose to my lungs. I had to get my heart rate to 166, according to the literature she had there, so she would not stop the treadmill till I reached that … I was exhausted and completely out of breath by the time I was done. The discomfort in my chest was about a six on a scale from 1 to 10, I’d say. Like I said, it was not pain, or pressure, but more like a tightness. And a massive, out of control, blinding migraine, too!
She read the paper that comes out of the machine and she also said it doesn’t look good, because my heart doesn’t come back “to baseline” when I exercise. It tries, but it doesn’t make it back to the same spot it was a beat earlier.
She called in the doctor, and he said I need to have (you guessed it!) yet another test: a thallium (nuclear) stress test which will show him more precisely what is going on inside of my heart – is it a blockage and where, or is it my valve that’s causing the pain/ discomfort?! In NC, I had this done twice. Given my history, my doctor there felt like a “simple” (non-nuclear/ non-thallium) test, the kind I had done today, would not tell him much, so he always went for the more “advanced” once. I guess the doctor here is still learning?!
Anyway, another test we schedule. And if that one comes out all inconclusive or bad, then we go in again for an angiogram. Fun-fun!
I have felt OK lately, heart-wise, although my pulse is very accelerated. I am going to switch to decaf in the morning for a while and see if that helps. My headaches is what has driven me crazy lately, though: they have been more severe than usual and almost constant, with no break between days. It’s been kind of a pain (pun intended).
I am seriously thinking I must re-start yoga again, too – I must seriously get in the habit of that, again, with no more excuses! I feel rusty … We walk some, but not consistently, which is a shame. I would not call myself a real couch potato though, because between cleaning two levels of a house twice a week and cooking every night and running errands at lunch and sitting down at 8.30 PM every night for the day, I am moving a lot. But I need more! More consistency and a regimen! Looking for a treadmill for this winter! Cannot wait!! And the fact that we enter comfort food season is not very helpful, health-wise, either. Must work extra hard to compensate.
And here we are again. You know, I think I need to visit more often and just tell you all about my normal days, not only about days when I visit “that” place. You know, the place where they wear scrubs. I need to tell people that we, people with FH, do have a life, a real one that doesn’t involve tests and drugs and IV’s and all … I think I’ll make that pledge now, and if I bore you to tears with my other, “normal” life, shout out, and I’ll change the tune …
But anyway, today was one of “those” days. The PA that I saw a couple of weeks ago, or so, asked that I repeat the heart eco they did last year, just to check on this leaking valve and its progress. Since last year was the first time they found it, they used that as the baseline and they need to understand how fast it’s getting worse, because, as they “promised” me, it will get worse. So, they needed to repeat that this year – if the progress (or regress) is slow, then, they’ll do this every two years or even further apart. They also wanted to repeat the stress test, which I normally get done every two years, and it was time for that.
Every time I go in for these things I am thinking: “someone has an ex-wife they need to pay off or a boat payment that’s due”. But let’s not be cynical, shall we, I am sure this is all helpful, and I am grateful for health insurance.
I am not going to find out the eco results till some time later since they need to be read by the radiology doctor and then sent to my cardiologist – both in the same clinic though – I have an appointment next week for that. The stress test, however, was performed by my heart doctor’s PA (the one who said no to Diovan), so she read it to me today.
She said “I flunk it”! Everything was fine, till I got my heart rate at around 152 and I started choking up. My chest was heavy, not so much painful, but heavy and I was out of breath, and my neck was clutching on me. I felt like there was no air going through from my nose to my lungs. I had to get my heart rate to 166, according to the literature she had there, so she would not stop the treadmill till I reached that … I was exhausted and completely out of breath by the time I was done. The discomfort in my chest was about a six on a scale from 1 to 10, I’d say. Like I said, it was not pain, or pressure, but more like a tightness. And a massive, out of control, blinding migraine, too!
She read the paper that comes out of the machine and she also said it doesn’t look good, because my heart doesn’t come back “to baseline” when I exercise. It tries, but it doesn’t make it back to the same spot it was a beat earlier.
She called in the doctor, and he said I need to have (you guessed it!) yet another test: a thallium (nuclear) stress test which will show him more precisely what is going on inside of my heart – is it a blockage and where, or is it my valve that’s causing the pain/ discomfort?! In NC, I had this done twice. Given my history, my doctor there felt like a “simple” (non-nuclear/ non-thallium) test, the kind I had done today, would not tell him much, so he always went for the more “advanced” once. I guess the doctor here is still learning?!
Anyway, another test we schedule. And if that one comes out all inconclusive or bad, then we go in again for an angiogram. Fun-fun!
I have felt OK lately, heart-wise, although my pulse is very accelerated. I am going to switch to decaf in the morning for a while and see if that helps. My headaches is what has driven me crazy lately, though: they have been more severe than usual and almost constant, with no break between days. It’s been kind of a pain (pun intended).
I am seriously thinking I must re-start yoga again, too – I must seriously get in the habit of that, again, with no more excuses! I feel rusty … We walk some, but not consistently, which is a shame. I would not call myself a real couch potato though, because between cleaning two levels of a house twice a week and cooking every night and running errands at lunch and sitting down at 8.30 PM every night for the day, I am moving a lot. But I need more! More consistency and a regimen! Looking for a treadmill for this winter! Cannot wait!! And the fact that we enter comfort food season is not very helpful, health-wise, either. Must work extra hard to compensate.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
No Go for Diovan
If you remember back in July, my heart doctor put me on Diovan once a day. He said a small dose of 40 mg would not cause any trouble for my yo-yo BP. Well, I tried it, as I mentioned before, and when my BP was normal (which is most of the time), it would bring it even more down, and I would feel lethargic, light headed and in a fog for a couple of hours.
As you also may remember, I called the PA and she was not sure what to try, but gave me a whole spectrum of choices: take ½ instead of a full one; take it at night, when the BP is higher, take it ONLY when I measure the blood pressure and I know for sure that it’s high… etc. After reading more online, and considering her “recommendations” as very volatile – I decided to stop taking it unless my BP is so high that it scares me.
That is – in case I measure it and I know it’s high. I measure it several times a week, but not every day. And occasionally, it’ll be high, like in the 150’s (for the systolic value), and I’d take ½ of a pill – usually at night. I have only one account of when I took ½ a pill and I measured the blood pressure after several hours, and it had come down to 110 over 60 from 150 over 95, I believe. So, it works! But how are you supposed to keep measuring it twice a day, every day, and walk around with your pressure meter and your pills, and your notepad, and have a life on top of that?!
Sure, I don’t recommend anything to anyone. But for me, I decided I’m not going to be paranoid about it. I’ll take ½ of a pill only if it’s high. It still makes me uncomfortable to take BP meds randomly, but I’d rather do that than take them all the time, add more chemicals to my cocktail, and feel like crap, when my blood pressure is too low!
My blood pressure has been better, because I have been more active than I normally am in the winter, and also because I have tried to keep the wine consumption low at night, when the BP was rising. So far, so good on the numbers.
Other than the (very!) occasional Diovan (maybe 2-3 times a month), the only thing added was the 50,000 IU Vitamin D which apparently did the trick for my D levels. No side effects that I can see there. I have stopped, however, the calcium I was taking as in many reports online you are advised against taking it while on high dosages of D, especially when you have a history of hardened arteries and plaque deposits. The doctor never recommended for or against the calcium – this is, again, my own decision, if you will.
But after all, it is our own life, isn’t it?!
As you also may remember, I called the PA and she was not sure what to try, but gave me a whole spectrum of choices: take ½ instead of a full one; take it at night, when the BP is higher, take it ONLY when I measure the blood pressure and I know for sure that it’s high… etc. After reading more online, and considering her “recommendations” as very volatile – I decided to stop taking it unless my BP is so high that it scares me.
That is – in case I measure it and I know it’s high. I measure it several times a week, but not every day. And occasionally, it’ll be high, like in the 150’s (for the systolic value), and I’d take ½ of a pill – usually at night. I have only one account of when I took ½ a pill and I measured the blood pressure after several hours, and it had come down to 110 over 60 from 150 over 95, I believe. So, it works! But how are you supposed to keep measuring it twice a day, every day, and walk around with your pressure meter and your pills, and your notepad, and have a life on top of that?!
Sure, I don’t recommend anything to anyone. But for me, I decided I’m not going to be paranoid about it. I’ll take ½ of a pill only if it’s high. It still makes me uncomfortable to take BP meds randomly, but I’d rather do that than take them all the time, add more chemicals to my cocktail, and feel like crap, when my blood pressure is too low!
My blood pressure has been better, because I have been more active than I normally am in the winter, and also because I have tried to keep the wine consumption low at night, when the BP was rising. So far, so good on the numbers.
Other than the (very!) occasional Diovan (maybe 2-3 times a month), the only thing added was the 50,000 IU Vitamin D which apparently did the trick for my D levels. No side effects that I can see there. I have stopped, however, the calcium I was taking as in many reports online you are advised against taking it while on high dosages of D, especially when you have a history of hardened arteries and plaque deposits. The doctor never recommended for or against the calcium – this is, again, my own decision, if you will.
But after all, it is our own life, isn’t it?!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Study: Stents for the Brain
Because there is virtually no history of heart attacks in my FH family, but there are tons of examples of stroke, of all sorts of severity levels, I found this article interesting:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/health/research/08stent.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/health/research/08stent.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
Saturday, August 27, 2011
News
In the news this week is this research/ study/ rumor of a new drug. I have come across it thanks to the FH Facebook group I follow. Good read, and interesting findings: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/26/us-cholesterol-idUSTRE77P53O20110826 .
Also, of some interest is this chart attached to the story - pretty amazing for far ahead in Lipitor in drug sales, compared to the rest of the statin pack. No wonder a generic is not in sight yet - it's a goldmine!
Happy reading!
Also, of some interest is this chart attached to the story - pretty amazing for far ahead in Lipitor in drug sales, compared to the rest of the statin pack. No wonder a generic is not in sight yet - it's a goldmine!
Happy reading!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Because You Just Gotta Live Some, Too
One of the member of the Facebook FH group said the other week that she discovered recently she has FH and sometimes “she is just being a brat about it, complaining about the many tests she has to take” and all that jazz … I honestly cannot and would not blame her!
Some days I so wanna be a brat about it! I so wanna ask somebody, anybody, “why me” and “why this”?? But, at the same time, I feel so fortunate compared to other people who have afflictions so much worse than this!
As my sister says, “at least you won’t starve with this disease!”. Well, they want you to, but … I say: at least, you can move, and talk, and walk, and hold a job, and … Trust you me: it could be worse! Not that our lives are easier in this disease, but we’re, in a way, more lucky than others, I think.
So, when I wanna “feel like a brat about it”, I eat. I eat what I am not supposed to be eating. Usually “illegal” stuff, full of cholesterol! It doesn’t happen often or frequently, but it happens.
One morning, I woke up with a sick craving for eggs and bacon! And so, I made one scrambled egg, with turkey bacon and toast, and I tell you this – it was the most savored breakfast by anyone on record, minus all the small children in Somalia who would relish any kind of meal right about now, unfortunately.
My "decadent" breakfast
And it’s summertime! How can one possibly live without funnel cake?? What’s a State fair or any kind of outdoor fair without funnel cake?! I usually hate sweets, but I love funnel cake. And once a year, I allow myself to indulge! And, well, yeah … be a brat!
My funnel cake "fiesta"
But aside from these extravaganzas, I have been doing pretty well with my diet. Still on the same meds (Lipitor+zetia), same dosages, but I have been enjoying fresh produce from my own yard – who would have thought you can have a veggie garden in the desert, right?! But I have one!
So, I have been eating fresh tomatoes all summer, and squash and herbs, and pretty soon there will be the peppers … This is along with other healthy meals, with store bought ingredients, as well: like potato salads, and cucumbers, and cherries, and wheat pasta and oatmeal granola bars, and such ... Summer soups are yummy, with all veggies and some white meat chicken. So, overall, I still stay on track, but ... a once in a while slip won't kill me. I hope.
And just yesterday, I got my new numbers – which look good, I’d say:
- Total cholesterol: 274, from 285
- LDL: 227, from 230
- Triglycerides: 68 from 98 (yay!)
- But the ratio still looks bad: 8.1 (normal up to 3.1) - :-(
I am happy, however – no apheresis, after all! Trying to work on the high BP, as well - with more exercise and less wine and less caffeine, too! We're still very much working on that one!
But I cannot promise anyone that I am not going to be a brat about food some more. After all, we have to at least have the illusion that we still can enjoy life! At least every once in a while …
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