Nothing I like better than making dinner in the morning (slow cooker) and forgetting about it until we are hungry for it in the evening. Yesterday we had a dear friend (also a McDougaller) from out of town coming by in the afternoon after she had finished her job in the area. I wanted to be able for us to have an easy meal together while we caught up on news and not spend much time in the kitchen. This isn't a new recipe exactly but more of a stream-of-concsiouness-what's-in-my-fridge type of recipe.
2 cups red lentils well rinsed
4 cups water
1 can salt-free chopped tomatoes and juice
1 cooked Japanese sweet potato
1/4 cup red wine
1 TBS curry powder
1 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp turmeric
1/8 cayenne pepper
Toss it all into a slow cooker and cook for about 4 hours or until lentils are cooked through. The longer the better for the spices to blend.
I steamed kale and zucchini to go with it along with the usual steamed brown rice. It was delicious and Bob and I are going to enjoy leftovers tonight.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
More good news
Farley and I enjoy helping people in person. Farley just received an email from her friend Alison. Alison's two adult children each had arthritis. She herself wanted to lose some weight. She had seen some of Farley's posts about our lifestyle and asked about it. She also joined our soon-to-be defunct bulletin board. She got some information and gave the diet a try. She just reported that her kids' arthritis is better and she herself has lost 17 pounds. This has happened in only nine weeks. She gave us permission to tell others about her story and she is delighted. We are delighted too. Congratulations to Alison and keep up the good work.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Spreading the good news
Farley told me an interesting story. She was shopping yesterday and one of the sales ladies turned out to be a former high school classmate of hers. As they caught up, she mentioned that her husband had suffered some sad health events - a stroke and a heart attack. Although he is doing better now, he still has problems.
Farley told her my experience. She had never heard of Dr. McDougall or Dr. Esselstyn or any of the plant based docs that we love so much. Now she knows. I hope that this will be her and her husband's luck day much as it was for me when I found out that I didn't have to put up with lousy health.
Helping people in person is really enjoyable. Helping people online is also enjoyable except there seems to be more than a few people that are not interested in getting better and resent those who do. Still, it is great when just a single person decides to really do what is necessary to get better. Many of the people we have talked to have themselves spread the word with some success. That is what it is going to take, because I do not see the government or the medical establishment leading the way. My own cardiologist was totally disinterested in what I had done to reverse my heart disease once it was determined that I did not need heart surgery, which is really not that surprising. Mark Twain once observed that you can't convince a man against his salary, and too many salaries depend on the status quo. That is why we have to spread the good word that our health is really in our own hands for the most part.
Farley told her my experience. She had never heard of Dr. McDougall or Dr. Esselstyn or any of the plant based docs that we love so much. Now she knows. I hope that this will be her and her husband's luck day much as it was for me when I found out that I didn't have to put up with lousy health.
Helping people in person is really enjoyable. Helping people online is also enjoyable except there seems to be more than a few people that are not interested in getting better and resent those who do. Still, it is great when just a single person decides to really do what is necessary to get better. Many of the people we have talked to have themselves spread the word with some success. That is what it is going to take, because I do not see the government or the medical establishment leading the way. My own cardiologist was totally disinterested in what I had done to reverse my heart disease once it was determined that I did not need heart surgery, which is really not that surprising. Mark Twain once observed that you can't convince a man against his salary, and too many salaries depend on the status quo. That is why we have to spread the good word that our health is really in our own hands for the most part.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Interesting Post over at McDougall Board
Jim just started a thread about the holidays over on the McDougall board. I have to confess that I posted a pretty negatively charged reply. Seriously, I cannot deal with the holidays this year, I just can't. I wish I could pull the covers up over my head and not come out until sometime in January.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Summing up, and Some Thoughts on Control Issues and Eating
Thanks, Bob, for giving me a place to post on this blog.
First, I'd like to try and summarize my eating experience over the past seven months. I had thought of myself as a McDougaller for a couple of years. My search for a better way to eat was triggered by a medical checkup which showed elevated cholesterol, and prediabetes. I started the McDougall plan weighing 225 pounds and initially dropped 50 pounds without too much effort. Then I got a lot less disciplined with my eating and was stuck at 175# for a long time. The truth about this "stall" is that I was addicted to food and was lying to myself about that. When I experimented with keeping a food journal, I found that I would be on plan ("good") for about three days in a row and then have a really spectacular cheat. The thing is, I wasn't noticing the frequency of the cheats...or I wasn't LETTING myself notice. I found myself showing addicted behaviors around food: sneaking food into the house, eating in private, wolfing the food down to get it all in before anyone could catch me eating, and having the sensation of watching myself acquire and eat the food, almost as if I were watching someone else. It was almost like some kind of sleep-walking; a deliberate unconsciousness of my actions. It was being in willing denial. When those pieces of the picture came together, I was shocked. At first, I tried to deny that this was happening. What? Addicted? ME!? Seriously, I had stayed away from addicting substances all my life because I'd seen addiction in action and wanted no part of it. Talk about unfair! But once the kicking and screaming was over with (figuratively) I had to admit that what I was doing sure felt and acted like an addiction.
Owning that truth turned out to be strangely liberating. I had been afraid to admit the addiction; feeling that doing that would make me feel weak and powerless. But what actually happened was that I gained a real sense of control. Once the problem was identified, there was a whole arsenal of tools for dealing with it, and I practiced every one I could get my hands on. I made a commitment to go "cold turkey" off all the trigger foods for at least a month. I kept a food journal,just for my own use. I practiced being completely honest about food both in private and in public. I embraced the concept that I was the only one who could be in total control over what I put in my own body.
Learning to plan ahead was a big part of making this all work. You've heard it before; keep the fridge and pantry stocked with the correct foods, don't let the incorrect foods into your house. Especially for the first couple of months, stay strictly away from all the "trigger" foods. Don't take even one bite. "Not ONE bite!" became my mantra. Making sure that there were "grab and go" foods in the fridge, and planning all my meals for each day became a habit, became natural. And the weight started to drop off again.
Right now, I'm at or around 140#, which is still about 20 pounds more than I want to be, but I've got the habits installed now: low calorie density foods; fresh whole plant-based foods; unprocessed foods, If you've read Dr McDougall's free plan or any of the books, you know what I mean. Life is about choices and I'm doing what I can to make sure my choices are good ones. A temptation or a craving is not a command to do something, it's a decision-point where you decide what you are going to do. Keep making the right decisions and those decisions will build on each other. Establish good habits and those habits will also build on each other. Control in one area grows naturally into control in other areas. So, with my food choices more under control, I find that I'm no longer biting my fingernails, and that I'm discovering that a lot of house cleaning can be accomplished, cumulatively, in small spaces of time. Don't try to change everything at once; take on the thing that is blocking you most, conquer it, and the rest will begin to fall into place. Or at least that's how it seems to me.
Right now, without going into too many unsettling details, things in my life feel like they are spinning out of control. It's the kind of feeling that used to send me running for fried foods and chocolate in an attempt to lose the emotional pain under a mountain of comfort food. This time, though, I am not trying to tranquilize myself with food. What I have realized is that there will always be things in life that are outside my control, but my food choices (and thereby, to a very large extent, my health) are completely under my control. There is still a part of me that could murder a bucket of fried chicken followed by a Whitman's Sampler, but it is my choice whether or not to give in to that feeling. And my choice is not to give in to that temptation, because to do so would amount to an act of self-destruction. There are moments when this feels really hard and I want to say "The heck with it. I'm angry and frightened and so very, very sad and I'm going to eat chocolate and damn the consequences!" but resistance does seem to get easier over time. I am very much a work in progress, but there HAS been progress and that gives me incentive to keep on working toward better times ahead.
Thanks,
Cyn
First, I'd like to try and summarize my eating experience over the past seven months. I had thought of myself as a McDougaller for a couple of years. My search for a better way to eat was triggered by a medical checkup which showed elevated cholesterol, and prediabetes. I started the McDougall plan weighing 225 pounds and initially dropped 50 pounds without too much effort. Then I got a lot less disciplined with my eating and was stuck at 175# for a long time. The truth about this "stall" is that I was addicted to food and was lying to myself about that. When I experimented with keeping a food journal, I found that I would be on plan ("good") for about three days in a row and then have a really spectacular cheat. The thing is, I wasn't noticing the frequency of the cheats...or I wasn't LETTING myself notice. I found myself showing addicted behaviors around food: sneaking food into the house, eating in private, wolfing the food down to get it all in before anyone could catch me eating, and having the sensation of watching myself acquire and eat the food, almost as if I were watching someone else. It was almost like some kind of sleep-walking; a deliberate unconsciousness of my actions. It was being in willing denial. When those pieces of the picture came together, I was shocked. At first, I tried to deny that this was happening. What? Addicted? ME!? Seriously, I had stayed away from addicting substances all my life because I'd seen addiction in action and wanted no part of it. Talk about unfair! But once the kicking and screaming was over with (figuratively) I had to admit that what I was doing sure felt and acted like an addiction.
Owning that truth turned out to be strangely liberating. I had been afraid to admit the addiction; feeling that doing that would make me feel weak and powerless. But what actually happened was that I gained a real sense of control. Once the problem was identified, there was a whole arsenal of tools for dealing with it, and I practiced every one I could get my hands on. I made a commitment to go "cold turkey" off all the trigger foods for at least a month. I kept a food journal,just for my own use. I practiced being completely honest about food both in private and in public. I embraced the concept that I was the only one who could be in total control over what I put in my own body.
Learning to plan ahead was a big part of making this all work. You've heard it before; keep the fridge and pantry stocked with the correct foods, don't let the incorrect foods into your house. Especially for the first couple of months, stay strictly away from all the "trigger" foods. Don't take even one bite. "Not ONE bite!" became my mantra. Making sure that there were "grab and go" foods in the fridge, and planning all my meals for each day became a habit, became natural. And the weight started to drop off again.
Right now, I'm at or around 140#, which is still about 20 pounds more than I want to be, but I've got the habits installed now: low calorie density foods; fresh whole plant-based foods; unprocessed foods, If you've read Dr McDougall's free plan or any of the books, you know what I mean. Life is about choices and I'm doing what I can to make sure my choices are good ones. A temptation or a craving is not a command to do something, it's a decision-point where you decide what you are going to do. Keep making the right decisions and those decisions will build on each other. Establish good habits and those habits will also build on each other. Control in one area grows naturally into control in other areas. So, with my food choices more under control, I find that I'm no longer biting my fingernails, and that I'm discovering that a lot of house cleaning can be accomplished, cumulatively, in small spaces of time. Don't try to change everything at once; take on the thing that is blocking you most, conquer it, and the rest will begin to fall into place. Or at least that's how it seems to me.
Right now, without going into too many unsettling details, things in my life feel like they are spinning out of control. It's the kind of feeling that used to send me running for fried foods and chocolate in an attempt to lose the emotional pain under a mountain of comfort food. This time, though, I am not trying to tranquilize myself with food. What I have realized is that there will always be things in life that are outside my control, but my food choices (and thereby, to a very large extent, my health) are completely under my control. There is still a part of me that could murder a bucket of fried chicken followed by a Whitman's Sampler, but it is my choice whether or not to give in to that feeling. And my choice is not to give in to that temptation, because to do so would amount to an act of self-destruction. There are moments when this feels really hard and I want to say "The heck with it. I'm angry and frightened and so very, very sad and I'm going to eat chocolate and damn the consequences!" but resistance does seem to get easier over time. I am very much a work in progress, but there HAS been progress and that gives me incentive to keep on working toward better times ahead.
Thanks,
Cyn
Back to the Future
For the last year, this blog has been inactive while we tried out a bulletin board concept. The bulletin board had pluses and minuses, but in the end, we are going back to the blog. The big advantages of the blog are the relative lack of spam and expense. What we will miss is the more free interchange of ideas on the bulletin board. To that end, I would like to invite others to become authors here at this blog.
Being an author does not require any commitment - it just allows the author to write posts here, as opposed to comments. The posts can be as long as you like and contain pictures and links. One spectacular success at the bulletin board was Cyn, who really tightened up her eating and achieved great success despite being stuck in her progress for a long time. I hope that one of her first posts here will summarize her experiences.
But blog entries here can be on any subject you like if related somehow to a healthy lifestyle. My lifestyle these days includes a lot of home renovation work, and I am off to pick up some siding for my house, so enough for today.
One thing to consider for any readers here - it has been questioned whether this blog should be public so that anybody could view it, or private so that posters could post more freely. I can see advantages to both approaches and wonder what readers/participants might prefer. The blog has always been public, which allows everybody access to the information. We have had a few abusive comments however, and a private blog would solve that. I could screen for legit members and that would not be too hard. OTOH, we might miss out on some great members who would have no way to know about a private blog, so what do you think?
Being an author does not require any commitment - it just allows the author to write posts here, as opposed to comments. The posts can be as long as you like and contain pictures and links. One spectacular success at the bulletin board was Cyn, who really tightened up her eating and achieved great success despite being stuck in her progress for a long time. I hope that one of her first posts here will summarize her experiences.
But blog entries here can be on any subject you like if related somehow to a healthy lifestyle. My lifestyle these days includes a lot of home renovation work, and I am off to pick up some siding for my house, so enough for today.
One thing to consider for any readers here - it has been questioned whether this blog should be public so that anybody could view it, or private so that posters could post more freely. I can see advantages to both approaches and wonder what readers/participants might prefer. The blog has always been public, which allows everybody access to the information. We have had a few abusive comments however, and a private blog would solve that. I could screen for legit members and that would not be too hard. OTOH, we might miss out on some great members who would have no way to know about a private blog, so what do you think?
Monday, November 28, 2011
A New Healthy Lifestyle Forum
bobandfarley.com
An idle mind is a dangerous thing. I have been thinking about how the McDougall Board differed from the forum that Farley and I would like to belong to. We are interested in focusing on people who are really committed to changing their lifestyle, and people who have already done so and want to help spread the word.
While browsing forum software, I spotted a cyber Monday deal that is probably too good to be true. I don't want to give particulars until I am convinced that it is not a scam. Buts right now I have a forum up and running, although the service seems slow.
But if anybody would like to drop in and register, I am interested in what people would like to see. If what we decide becomes popular enough to warrant improved performance, we will do that. I am really interested in exploring common ground amount our hero plant food docs, and sponsoring a place where controversial ideas may be discussed courteously. I paid for the year, so if the hosting company stays afloat, this should be a fun adventure.
An idle mind is a dangerous thing. I have been thinking about how the McDougall Board differed from the forum that Farley and I would like to belong to. We are interested in focusing on people who are really committed to changing their lifestyle, and people who have already done so and want to help spread the word.
While browsing forum software, I spotted a cyber Monday deal that is probably too good to be true. I don't want to give particulars until I am convinced that it is not a scam. Buts right now I have a forum up and running, although the service seems slow.
But if anybody would like to drop in and register, I am interested in what people would like to see. If what we decide becomes popular enough to warrant improved performance, we will do that. I am really interested in exploring common ground amount our hero plant food docs, and sponsoring a place where controversial ideas may be discussed courteously. I paid for the year, so if the hosting company stays afloat, this should be a fun adventure.
Friday, November 25, 2011
An offer you can't refuse
Dr. Fuhrman’s Holiday Challenge
Dr. Fuhrman is currently running a Holiday Challenge, which includes a free six week Gold Membership package at his website. The details are here: http://www.drfuhrman.com/events/holiday-challenge/
Anybody who is unfamiliar with Dr. Fuhrman’s website should take advantage. I pay for my Gold Membership, and it has been an extremely worthwhile investment. After you sign up, one of the first places to check out are the archives of his past teleconferences with members: https://www.drfuhrman.com/members/teleconference_archive.aspx
One of my favorite talks is his Aug. 13, 2008 talk about curtailing overeating. I like this one because the concept of overeating and toxic hunger has been responsible for me reaching even better levels of health than I have in the last four years.
I was very successful on the program designed for me by Jeff Novick - reversing heart disease and diabetes and obesity, just to name a few of the problems I solved. Yet I was still heavier than I thought I should be, even though I was totally adherent over three years plus. Farley observed, as did I, that I ate dramatically larger portions and more often than did she. Dr. McDougall had observed people like me and called them volume eaters. However, he did not treat this problem in depth, and I was unable to solve the problem with what he wrote. That changed when I started reading what Dr. Fuhrman had to say about toxic hunger.
In the teleconference above, Dr. Fuhrman begins by saying that he has probably been responsible for leading people to believe that they could eat as much as they cared to so long as they restricted themselves to healthy foods. Some people, like Farley, can eat as much as they like, but not me.
Dr. Fuhrman explains the problem and the solution in that teleconference. Anybody interested in this concept should also have his Eat to Live book, but for those who do not, he explains in detail about toxic hunger in his website here: https://www.drfuhrman.com/members/tutorial3.aspx
This information was very important to me in getting to an even healthier weight. I would recommend it especially to anybody who thinks that they have a problem with the volume and/or frequency of what they eat.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
New Board - Old Board
This post concerns why I decided to host my own BB rather than continue at the McDougall Board. By now, everybody who wanted to know has had the chance to read it, and it is time to remove the entry.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Hot Curried Lentils
Hi, Farley here.
Getting cold here. Today it is very windy and the temperature is a mere 68. Sounds hot to many of you I'm sure but in Sacramento the weather is taking a real turn to even lower temps and rain in a day or two with snow in the Sierras. That is always my signal to make something spicy. So off the top of my head I made a very tasty Hot Curried Lentils. It's just a variation of many dal type soups I like to make. But this time I had a new unopened jar of Penzeys Spices, Hot Curry Powder (and many other spices) I shipped back from Wisconsin during my trip there a few weeks ago. Here's what I did:
Ingredients:
3 cups red lentils rinsed
1 container of Pico De Gallo Salsa (consists of chopped tomatoes, jalapeño pepper, cilantro and onion)
4 ribs of celery sliced
1 large yellow bell pepper diced
2 TBS Penzeys Hot Curry Powder
1 tsp Penzeys Cumin Powder
pinch of Penzeys Cayenne Pepper
6 cups of water (more if it is sticking)
1/2 cup Zinfandel wine or other red wine
Place everything into a slow cooker, heat on "high" for 3 hours or more.
Note: Any brand of spices are fine, I just love the big flavors of Penzeys.
We served this over our usual greens of spinach and romaine, brown rice with steamed green beans and cauliflower. I prefer to just enjoy the dal with the cauliflower. Bob liked it with all the above items. Anyway you enjoy it, it will warm you all the way through, give you leftovers and the satisfaction of eating something truly healthy. Freezes well too.
My first bowl of this curry had a lot of cauliflower...this was all that was left when I had my second bowl and thought to take a photo. The sweetness of the barely steamed cauliflower is a great companion to the heat of the curry. This is one time that I don't need to add Tobasco!
Bob's bowl with the works. This is a very filling meal. Bob also added walnuts as a topper.
I would serve this for a dinner party and add separate bowls of chopped green onions, chopped walnuts and golden raisins for guests to add as toppings.
Getting cold here. Today it is very windy and the temperature is a mere 68. Sounds hot to many of you I'm sure but in Sacramento the weather is taking a real turn to even lower temps and rain in a day or two with snow in the Sierras. That is always my signal to make something spicy. So off the top of my head I made a very tasty Hot Curried Lentils. It's just a variation of many dal type soups I like to make. But this time I had a new unopened jar of Penzeys Spices, Hot Curry Powder (and many other spices) I shipped back from Wisconsin during my trip there a few weeks ago. Here's what I did:
Ingredients:
3 cups red lentils rinsed
1 container of Pico De Gallo Salsa (consists of chopped tomatoes, jalapeño pepper, cilantro and onion)
4 ribs of celery sliced
1 large yellow bell pepper diced
2 TBS Penzeys Hot Curry Powder
1 tsp Penzeys Cumin Powder
pinch of Penzeys Cayenne Pepper
6 cups of water (more if it is sticking)
1/2 cup Zinfandel wine or other red wine
Place everything into a slow cooker, heat on "high" for 3 hours or more.
Note: Any brand of spices are fine, I just love the big flavors of Penzeys.
We served this over our usual greens of spinach and romaine, brown rice with steamed green beans and cauliflower. I prefer to just enjoy the dal with the cauliflower. Bob liked it with all the above items. Anyway you enjoy it, it will warm you all the way through, give you leftovers and the satisfaction of eating something truly healthy. Freezes well too.
Bob's bowl with the works. This is a very filling meal. Bob also added walnuts as a topper.
I would serve this for a dinner party and add separate bowls of chopped green onions, chopped walnuts and golden raisins for guests to add as toppings.
Monday, October 31, 2011
October 31
The end of the month and the end of my challenge. Lunch was plain and not worth pictures. Steamed veggies consisting of cauliflower, yellow pepper, white beans, zucchini a few walnuts, and sweet potato with rice. Dinner was similar, but a bit prettier with grape tomatoes.
Final Thoughts
The month went by fast. The last couple of months have been beneficial for me. I have learned more about my hunger, lost some weight, saved some time by no longer eating breakfast, and improved my health a bit. It has also been a good month for introducing others to healthy eating. A friend has avoided surgery and resumed her active life. Several others have asked Farley about the plan. Several people here have benefitted.
The internet is an amazing place because it is possible to interact with just about anybody. That is great when it comes to exposing people to Dr. McDougall's ideas. The people who have participated here have all been wonderful - even those with whom I don't entirely agree. I think that this October Challenge has been good in giving folks a view of what a whole foods plant based diet can look like, and convincing them that it is not some pie in the sky ideal that could never really work. It has worked for Farley and I over the last 4 years, and it just keeps getting easier.
I may take a bit of a break for awhile, but will always check here if anybody has questions or ideas that they would like to discuss. I do feel that I deserve a break. I am intrigued by Dr. Fuhrman's discussion board. I may sign up for awhile just to see what it is about.
When people are ready to get healthy, the information is available, and the books and DVDs from such people as Drs. McDougall, Esselstyn, Fuhrman, Novick, Lisle, Barnard, etc. is plentiful. For those who are not ready to get healthy, there will never be enough help available. I hope that all the readers here are ready to get or continue being healthy.
But in the final analysis I would have to rate my person-to-person results and satisfaction way above my internet results and satisfaction. I just can't deny that I am much more effective dealing face to face, and much happier too. I want to think about that for awhile.
Finally, I have dedicated my efforts on this challenge to those who have helped me the most. First, my wonderful wife, Farley. There is no way to express my love for and gratitude towards her. She is more than a life saver - she is a life giver. Then I must thank and pay homage to the courageous health professionals who chose the good of their patients and the public over financial success and professional accord. John McDougall, Jeff Novick, Caldwell Esselstyn, Joel Fuhrman. In one hundred years, scientists and the public will be asking why people did not listen to these great men. They will have to settle for the posthumous honor which will certainly come. Perhaps the greatest thing that can be said of anybody here is that they made the world a better place. Without a doubt, each of these men know that they have done this. My personal thanks to each health professional that is on the team. And thanks to everybody who has read and/or contributed to this blog.
 |
| Steamed veggies for final challenge meal. |
 |
| My last supper of October |
The month went by fast. The last couple of months have been beneficial for me. I have learned more about my hunger, lost some weight, saved some time by no longer eating breakfast, and improved my health a bit. It has also been a good month for introducing others to healthy eating. A friend has avoided surgery and resumed her active life. Several others have asked Farley about the plan. Several people here have benefitted.
The internet is an amazing place because it is possible to interact with just about anybody. That is great when it comes to exposing people to Dr. McDougall's ideas. The people who have participated here have all been wonderful - even those with whom I don't entirely agree. I think that this October Challenge has been good in giving folks a view of what a whole foods plant based diet can look like, and convincing them that it is not some pie in the sky ideal that could never really work. It has worked for Farley and I over the last 4 years, and it just keeps getting easier.
I may take a bit of a break for awhile, but will always check here if anybody has questions or ideas that they would like to discuss. I do feel that I deserve a break. I am intrigued by Dr. Fuhrman's discussion board. I may sign up for awhile just to see what it is about.
When people are ready to get healthy, the information is available, and the books and DVDs from such people as Drs. McDougall, Esselstyn, Fuhrman, Novick, Lisle, Barnard, etc. is plentiful. For those who are not ready to get healthy, there will never be enough help available. I hope that all the readers here are ready to get or continue being healthy.
But in the final analysis I would have to rate my person-to-person results and satisfaction way above my internet results and satisfaction. I just can't deny that I am much more effective dealing face to face, and much happier too. I want to think about that for awhile.
Finally, I have dedicated my efforts on this challenge to those who have helped me the most. First, my wonderful wife, Farley. There is no way to express my love for and gratitude towards her. She is more than a life saver - she is a life giver. Then I must thank and pay homage to the courageous health professionals who chose the good of their patients and the public over financial success and professional accord. John McDougall, Jeff Novick, Caldwell Esselstyn, Joel Fuhrman. In one hundred years, scientists and the public will be asking why people did not listen to these great men. They will have to settle for the posthumous honor which will certainly come. Perhaps the greatest thing that can be said of anybody here is that they made the world a better place. Without a doubt, each of these men know that they have done this. My personal thanks to each health professional that is on the team. And thanks to everybody who has read and/or contributed to this blog.
October 30
Sunday was another busy day - too busy to take food pictures. We all took a rolling session with instructor Dan Crandall in Lotus, Ca. Here is a picture of or son, Charley, warming up for his session:
Charley rolling his kayak
If you are interested in viewing some photos of Charley running the Chile Bar rapids on the South Fork of the American River, you could see here.
Photos of Charley's run through Troublemaker rapid / Chile Bar
I put these here in case anybody thinks that being vegan would impair a child's health or make him a wimp. Charley has been vegan his entire life. As you can see, he is a healthy 6'4". He is a straight A student, a black belt in karate, a school leader and a very happy and healthy boy. As you can see from the photos, he has plenty of courage too, and everybody remarks on what a great kid we have. I am totally proud.
We were up a bit late since we attended a dinner party the night before. This is a dinner group that has been meeting on a rotating basis since 1977. Nobody else eats like us, but it has not been a problem. Others will eat our food, and they generally have at least one dish that works for us. On this occasion, there was no food for us, so we just sat down to dinner and had time to talk and sip a glass of wine. I say this because I have seen many people who seem compelled to eat bad food if it is put before them as the only option. Farley and I both had a great time without eating, and I don't think anybody else was bothered by our not eating. You never have to eat bad food to accommodate anybody else. If you need to say something, just say that you are on a doctor (McDougall) prescribed strict diet.
Lunch and dinner were the same today. We had the last of the chili leftovers with greens, rice, fresh bell pepper, and sweet potato. When you are hungry, variety is not important, and the food always tastes great.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
October 29
A Perfect Day on the River
No food pictures for today - we were too busy. We arranged to paddle with friends on the beautiful Mokulumne River. If anybody wants to see some pictures of the day, our friend Jim took photos here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimsnyder/sets/72157628008047404/show/ One of the great things about this lifestyle is enjoying our physical health. Tomorrow we will be rolling in the whitewater near Lotus, Ca.
Another great thing is sharing our lifestyle with others. Pictured above is our friend Penny, a veterinarian, horsewoman, scrapping enthusiast, and sometime paddler. We noticed that Penny was not paddling this summer and asked her why. She told us that she had been diagnosed with heart disease, was having too much chest pain, and was scheduled for heart surgery. Of course, I was not going to let that go without telling her about Dr. Esselstyn and Dr. McDougall. She was interested, and we had Penny and her husband over for lunch and watched some DVDs.
It was August 1 that Penny decided to try the diet, and she is so happy and grateful that she did. She no longer experiences any chest pains, her surgery is cancelled, and she is back paddling, riding, and enjoying life again. She has lost 20 pounds and has 20 pounds to go. She is feeling so much better all around that she can't believe it, and loves the food. She had no transitions symptoms either - lucky girl. Just like us, her husband joined in and has lost 33 pounds already himself. It was so much fun to see how much Penny was enjoying her reclaimed health. She has even helped some of her staff at her office to improve their health and diet. Way to go Penny!
As for our food, Farley got up early and made a salad to go into Bento boxes. Cubed Japanese sweet potatoes, white beans, rice, chopped bell pepper, with a Dijon/balsamic dressing. When we got home, we ate the leftovers with leftover chili over greens and rice. We had a dinner party to go to also. We ate nothing, but take a demerit or two for a few tastes of wine.
No food pictures for today - we were too busy. We arranged to paddle with friends on the beautiful Mokulumne River. If anybody wants to see some pictures of the day, our friend Jim took photos here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimsnyder/sets/72157628008047404/show/ One of the great things about this lifestyle is enjoying our physical health. Tomorrow we will be rolling in the whitewater near Lotus, Ca.
Another great thing is sharing our lifestyle with others. Pictured above is our friend Penny, a veterinarian, horsewoman, scrapping enthusiast, and sometime paddler. We noticed that Penny was not paddling this summer and asked her why. She told us that she had been diagnosed with heart disease, was having too much chest pain, and was scheduled for heart surgery. Of course, I was not going to let that go without telling her about Dr. Esselstyn and Dr. McDougall. She was interested, and we had Penny and her husband over for lunch and watched some DVDs.
It was August 1 that Penny decided to try the diet, and she is so happy and grateful that she did. She no longer experiences any chest pains, her surgery is cancelled, and she is back paddling, riding, and enjoying life again. She has lost 20 pounds and has 20 pounds to go. She is feeling so much better all around that she can't believe it, and loves the food. She had no transitions symptoms either - lucky girl. Just like us, her husband joined in and has lost 33 pounds already himself. It was so much fun to see how much Penny was enjoying her reclaimed health. She has even helped some of her staff at her office to improve their health and diet. Way to go Penny!
As for our food, Farley got up early and made a salad to go into Bento boxes. Cubed Japanese sweet potatoes, white beans, rice, chopped bell pepper, with a Dijon/balsamic dressing. When we got home, we ate the leftovers with leftover chili over greens and rice. We had a dinner party to go to also. We ate nothing, but take a demerit or two for a few tastes of wine.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
October 27
I will get to lunch later. But you may be interested in watching Dr. McDougall on TV or over the web. When I taped an episode for Lifestyle Magazine last year, Dr. McDougall was taping a number of episodes. They are starting to appear now on TBN network. Don't worry if you didn't tape it or don't get TBN. Once the shows air, they are available over the air.
The latest episode interviewed Dr. McDougall along with Drs. Matt Lederman and Alona Pulde. It is a great episode, and you can view it here. http://www.lifestyle.org/article.php?id=158
"It’s really very simple to get healthy and to stay that way, according to Drs. Alona Pulde and Matthew Lederman. They’re the authors of Keep It Simple, Keep It Whole: Your Guide to Optimum Health. Dr. John McDougall joins the discussion."
Lunch
The white beans and fresh celery were nice touches to todays lunch. Other than that, I'm sure that the concept is familiar by now. The base is really a huge pile of chopped greens that practically fills the bowl by itself.
Dinner
Farley made her roast vegetable dish which made a great dinner. She added brussel sprouts and included the cubed Japanese sweet potatoes, which made for a bit different flavor.
Comments
The latest episode interviewed Dr. McDougall along with Drs. Matt Lederman and Alona Pulde. It is a great episode, and you can view it here. http://www.lifestyle.org/article.php?id=158
"It’s really very simple to get healthy and to stay that way, according to Drs. Alona Pulde and Matthew Lederman. They’re the authors of Keep It Simple, Keep It Whole: Your Guide to Optimum Health. Dr. John McDougall joins the discussion."
Lunch
The white beans and fresh celery were nice touches to todays lunch. Other than that, I'm sure that the concept is familiar by now. The base is really a huge pile of chopped greens that practically fills the bowl by itself.
 |
| October 27 Lunch |
Farley made her roast vegetable dish which made a great dinner. She added brussel sprouts and included the cubed Japanese sweet potatoes, which made for a bit different flavor.
 |
| October 27 dinner |
I'll start with my demerits - a glass of wine and some "lightly" salted pumpkin seeds which I ate while birding this morning. My body let me know that they were in fact heavily salted, at least by my standards. My bad on that one.
Addiction
I have been thinking quite a bit about addiction lately. Joel Fuhrman says that just about everybody in this country is addicted to food. He makes a remark in his speech on the Get Healthy Now DVD that people often get angry with him, and he believes it is because he is perceived as a threat to people's addiction. I think that the main reason that some people do not get healthy after attempting this diet is because of addiction to SAD food.
Food addiction is a lot different than most other addictions, however. If you are addicted to illegal drugs, you can go to prison for your addiction. If you are addicted to alcohol, you will be shunned by many in society. For a second, I'd like to compare food addiction to methamphetamine addiction.
Both meth and food addictions can kill quite effectively, and ruin many lives. But what if almost everybody in the country was on meth. What if it were advertised legally on radio, TV, everywhere . What if meth stores were on many corners and it could be obtained legally, and people exchanged their favorite recipes for cooking meth. What if the government had meth organizations to promote its use? You can see how everybody would react to the people that were saying it needed to stop.
If you have ever tried to deal with an addicted person, you see the problem. Virtually everybody in this country is in fact addicted to foods that are harmful to them, their families and friends, the country, and the future. I don't know of anybody who has gotten through the tough withdrawal period in trying to change their diet that has not been glad that they did it. But it is very unpleasant for some during the transition. It is a very tough problem, and in fact, it is very similar to trying to convert a meth addicted population to sobriety. It will not be done without a lot of anger and protest. Today's post is dedicated to those people who are in the process of turning their life around by learning to eat a healthy diet. It is dedicated to those who are enduring unpleasant symptoms from withdrawing from the life sucking addiction that we call the Standard American Diet. Good luck to you, and spread the word.
Food addiction is a lot different than most other addictions, however. If you are addicted to illegal drugs, you can go to prison for your addiction. If you are addicted to alcohol, you will be shunned by many in society. For a second, I'd like to compare food addiction to methamphetamine addiction.
Both meth and food addictions can kill quite effectively, and ruin many lives. But what if almost everybody in the country was on meth. What if it were advertised legally on radio, TV, everywhere . What if meth stores were on many corners and it could be obtained legally, and people exchanged their favorite recipes for cooking meth. What if the government had meth organizations to promote its use? You can see how everybody would react to the people that were saying it needed to stop.
If you have ever tried to deal with an addicted person, you see the problem. Virtually everybody in this country is in fact addicted to foods that are harmful to them, their families and friends, the country, and the future. I don't know of anybody who has gotten through the tough withdrawal period in trying to change their diet that has not been glad that they did it. But it is very unpleasant for some during the transition. It is a very tough problem, and in fact, it is very similar to trying to convert a meth addicted population to sobriety. It will not be done without a lot of anger and protest. Today's post is dedicated to those people who are in the process of turning their life around by learning to eat a healthy diet. It is dedicated to those who are enduring unpleasant symptoms from withdrawing from the life sucking addiction that we call the Standard American Diet. Good luck to you, and spread the word.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
October 26
 |
| A simple but tasty and satisfying lunch bowl. |
 |
| Similar Dinner. |
I am in my final week of this October Challenge, and will look forward to taking a break. But although I may take an internet break, I will not be taking a healthy food break. The whole point of the challenge is to build momentum. If you and I keep improving our diet, it can only bring good things to us. During these last four years, I have come to appreciate how much of our happiness and success is founded upon a good diet. I have restored my health and met a number of wonderful people. Some have helped me, and some I have helped. I wake up happy every morning and have to attribute that in large part to the people who have helped me so much - Jeff Novick, John McDougall, Caldwell Esselstyn, Joel Fuhrman - the list is a long one.
If you are at all considering giving this program a try, please do it. There are few things in life that are all positive and no negative - but this is one of them.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
October 22 - October 25
It was a busy long weekend for me. More concerts, an all day debate which I judged, preparations for Farley's upcoming birthday. I am tiring of posting so many repetitive pictures of the whole plant food we eat. So I am not going to post more repetitive pictures. I have put some more on the web at https://picasaweb.google.com/farley368/BobSOctoberChallenge where anybody can see all the pictures for the October Challenge.
The only things of note to report over the last few days -
- I used steamed kale a lot for my green in my bowls. Like any green vegetable, it works great and tastes fine.
- We celebrated some accomplishments of our amazing son with a bottle of wine. 1-2 glasses per day.
- I had to buy some new jeans - the old ones were falling off. Size 33, which is three inches less than my old ones.
- My blood sugars are doing well. Yesterday's FBS was 98. I was running in the 170's before this challenge. Weight continues to drop.
- I ordered and received the Get Healthy Now (Red) DVD set from vegsource.com and have watched the first DVD in the 3 DVD set. This included 2 lectures by Dr. Fuhrman - one dealing with various aspects of hunger, and the other various aspects of cancer. The hunger lecture was particularly interesting because Dr. Fuhrman added some details to the already excellent presentation in his book "Eat to Live". I would like to talk about these details.
Redefining My Concept and Experience of Hunger
Dr. Fuhrman has redefined my concept of hunger. I was aware from Dr. McDougall and Jeff that their concept of hunger differed from my own, but I did not really understand what Dr. McDougall was talking about when he discussed the problem of the "volume eater." Jeff mentioned in some his posts that hunger was a pleasant sensation that was felt in the mouth and throat, but because the physiology of hunger was not his specialty perhaps, I did not understand much beyond that. I was also too complacent. I had reversed my medical problems, restructured my diet around whole plant foods, lost a lot of weight, and been designated a Star McDougaller. I thought I had it down pretty well.
Dr. Fuhrman's "Eat to Live" really challenged me. He emphasized the importance of being slim - not just ok, and the importance of getting my blood sugars into the normal range rather than being happy with levels that just avoided medication. He definitely challenged my concept of hunger. His description of toxic hunger is exactly the only hunger sensation that I experienced since childhood.
After several weeks now, I am experiencing very little in the way of toxic hunger, and becoming much more familiar with my body's true hunger sensations. But one section of Dr. Fuhrman's talk in the Get Healthy Now lecture really resonated with me. He stated that when you eat, you should not eat to being "full." You should not eat to the point that your stomach expands and you do not feel like exercising. When eating the correct amount of food, you should still feel like you could go out and exercise. That is not how I have done it. Because I have been eating fewer meals, I have allowed myself to continue eating a lot of food at meals - usually having seconds.
For the last few days, I have eaten according to this idea and it is working great. When I do this, I feel really good after meals, and by the time for my next meal comes around, I am experiencing some true hunger. If I understand Dr. Fuhrman on this, the ideal is to never feel stuffed, and to time the amount you are eating so that you will be truly hungry when the next meal time comes around. Because I have such a long history of not doing this, it is taking some time. But the work and patience is really paying off as I move towards healthy eating habits for quantity as well as quality of foods.
I had previously underestimated the importance of learning to manage my hunger. I thought, as per Dr. Lisle, that my hunger would take care of itself with a whole plant food diet. This is probably true for most people. It was true for Farley. She became very trim, with a very low BMI, simply by eating the same foods that I do. But she long felt that I ate way too much, and I agreed that I ate a high quantity of food. I am in the process of reeducating my hunger. This seems to be a very important concept to me, and I am sure many others. It is definitely a step beyond where I was before, and I am excited to see where it will lead in the future. It would be wonderful if getting slim was the answer to my high blood sugars. Dr. Fuhrman says that some people are sensitive to even a small amount of extra fat. Those people need to get slim to get their blood sugars back to normal. I hope to get slim and to be one of those people. I do believe that understanding and reeducating my hunger drive is going to be key on this journey. Today, I eat much less than I did a year ago, when I was about 15 pounds heavier. I don't suffer and feel even better than before. There doesn't seem to be any downside.
I would recommend that anybody who is eating healthy food, but has yet to reach their goals, to get some of Dr. Fuhrman's books or lectures and investigate whether they are eating in response to toxic hunger rather than true hunger. There is a great chance that you can do a lot of good by refining your own concept and experience of hunger.
The only things of note to report over the last few days -
- I used steamed kale a lot for my green in my bowls. Like any green vegetable, it works great and tastes fine.
- We celebrated some accomplishments of our amazing son with a bottle of wine. 1-2 glasses per day.
- I had to buy some new jeans - the old ones were falling off. Size 33, which is three inches less than my old ones.
- My blood sugars are doing well. Yesterday's FBS was 98. I was running in the 170's before this challenge. Weight continues to drop.
- I ordered and received the Get Healthy Now (Red) DVD set from vegsource.com and have watched the first DVD in the 3 DVD set. This included 2 lectures by Dr. Fuhrman - one dealing with various aspects of hunger, and the other various aspects of cancer. The hunger lecture was particularly interesting because Dr. Fuhrman added some details to the already excellent presentation in his book "Eat to Live". I would like to talk about these details.
Redefining My Concept and Experience of Hunger
Dr. Fuhrman has redefined my concept of hunger. I was aware from Dr. McDougall and Jeff that their concept of hunger differed from my own, but I did not really understand what Dr. McDougall was talking about when he discussed the problem of the "volume eater." Jeff mentioned in some his posts that hunger was a pleasant sensation that was felt in the mouth and throat, but because the physiology of hunger was not his specialty perhaps, I did not understand much beyond that. I was also too complacent. I had reversed my medical problems, restructured my diet around whole plant foods, lost a lot of weight, and been designated a Star McDougaller. I thought I had it down pretty well.
Dr. Fuhrman's "Eat to Live" really challenged me. He emphasized the importance of being slim - not just ok, and the importance of getting my blood sugars into the normal range rather than being happy with levels that just avoided medication. He definitely challenged my concept of hunger. His description of toxic hunger is exactly the only hunger sensation that I experienced since childhood.
After several weeks now, I am experiencing very little in the way of toxic hunger, and becoming much more familiar with my body's true hunger sensations. But one section of Dr. Fuhrman's talk in the Get Healthy Now lecture really resonated with me. He stated that when you eat, you should not eat to being "full." You should not eat to the point that your stomach expands and you do not feel like exercising. When eating the correct amount of food, you should still feel like you could go out and exercise. That is not how I have done it. Because I have been eating fewer meals, I have allowed myself to continue eating a lot of food at meals - usually having seconds.
For the last few days, I have eaten according to this idea and it is working great. When I do this, I feel really good after meals, and by the time for my next meal comes around, I am experiencing some true hunger. If I understand Dr. Fuhrman on this, the ideal is to never feel stuffed, and to time the amount you are eating so that you will be truly hungry when the next meal time comes around. Because I have such a long history of not doing this, it is taking some time. But the work and patience is really paying off as I move towards healthy eating habits for quantity as well as quality of foods.
I had previously underestimated the importance of learning to manage my hunger. I thought, as per Dr. Lisle, that my hunger would take care of itself with a whole plant food diet. This is probably true for most people. It was true for Farley. She became very trim, with a very low BMI, simply by eating the same foods that I do. But she long felt that I ate way too much, and I agreed that I ate a high quantity of food. I am in the process of reeducating my hunger. This seems to be a very important concept to me, and I am sure many others. It is definitely a step beyond where I was before, and I am excited to see where it will lead in the future. It would be wonderful if getting slim was the answer to my high blood sugars. Dr. Fuhrman says that some people are sensitive to even a small amount of extra fat. Those people need to get slim to get their blood sugars back to normal. I hope to get slim and to be one of those people. I do believe that understanding and reeducating my hunger drive is going to be key on this journey. Today, I eat much less than I did a year ago, when I was about 15 pounds heavier. I don't suffer and feel even better than before. There doesn't seem to be any downside.
I would recommend that anybody who is eating healthy food, but has yet to reach their goals, to get some of Dr. Fuhrman's books or lectures and investigate whether they are eating in response to toxic hunger rather than true hunger. There is a great chance that you can do a lot of good by refining your own concept and experience of hunger.
Friday, October 21, 2011
October 20
I ate only a single meal on the 19th, due to playing an evening concert. I noticed that I felt fine, and thought I would try a single meal on the 20th. It was leftovers over rice - nothing worth a photo or recipe, but was tasty and satisfying. As I write this, on the morning of the 21st, I have a new weight low of 182.6. That is about 2 pounds lower than my previous low, and shows the folly of worrying about the scale on a daily basis. When you focus on what you are doing, the scale will reflect the quality of diet.
I saw Dr. McDougall's video, The Fat Vegan, recently. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIY-A_UspTs
It got me thinking about why I am doing this blog, which is to promote healthy eating and help people realize their goals.
Sooner or later, everybody in this country and on the planet even is going to convert to a whole plant food diet. I would rather that this be sooner, and that is going to require everybody who supports healthy eating get healthy themselves. A fat and unhealthy supporter of Dr. McDougall and Jeff etc. is not an effective advocate for the program. You can't tell friends to believe you and not their own lying eyes.
We have to start with ourselves. It is just too easy to focus on other people's issues and fail to address our own. That is one of the purposes of my challenge to myself here. Although I have made a lot of progress, that it not good enough. The better I can do, the more effective spokesman I can be for the program. The better Farley and I look and feel, the more credibility we have.
The reason credibility is so important is because this world is so full of spin and false claims, especially where obesity and diet are concerned. It is said in the bible that a good tree does not bear bad fruit, and that is so true. The world needs to see that following a healthy eating plan always bears good fruit. I have personally witnessed obese people telling me and others how I should eat. I paid no attention, and neither did anybody else.
Knowing the right message is not enough. We have to show that this program works. If we are going to change the way the nation and the world eats, it has to start with us doing it properly. The change is unlikely to come from doctors, who have little training in nutrition and less incentive to promote such a simple and effective therapy as proper nutrition. It is unlikely to come from government, which is so heavily dependent upon special interests that depend themselves on the status quo. It is going to have to come from people like Farley, me, and you.
Farley just returned from a convention. Several people there wanted to know about her nutrition plan. As I write this, she is sending links to one of these nice ladies. Surely, one of the main reasons that people asked is because Farley looks so healthy. It is obvious that what she is doing works.
I hope to get something from my friends Penny and Steve, with whom I kayak. Penny was being recommend heart surgery. She is now doing great on Dr. Esselstyn's program without the surgery, and she is very grateful that she heard about that program from me. I doubt if she would have investigated Dr. Esselstyn without my obvious success on the program. So charity begins at home, and so does good nutrition. Let's do our best to have everybody who knows about healthy eating look and feel healthy themselves. That is how the message will get out.
I saw Dr. McDougall's video, The Fat Vegan, recently. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIY-A_UspTs
It got me thinking about why I am doing this blog, which is to promote healthy eating and help people realize their goals.
Sooner or later, everybody in this country and on the planet even is going to convert to a whole plant food diet. I would rather that this be sooner, and that is going to require everybody who supports healthy eating get healthy themselves. A fat and unhealthy supporter of Dr. McDougall and Jeff etc. is not an effective advocate for the program. You can't tell friends to believe you and not their own lying eyes.
We have to start with ourselves. It is just too easy to focus on other people's issues and fail to address our own. That is one of the purposes of my challenge to myself here. Although I have made a lot of progress, that it not good enough. The better I can do, the more effective spokesman I can be for the program. The better Farley and I look and feel, the more credibility we have.
The reason credibility is so important is because this world is so full of spin and false claims, especially where obesity and diet are concerned. It is said in the bible that a good tree does not bear bad fruit, and that is so true. The world needs to see that following a healthy eating plan always bears good fruit. I have personally witnessed obese people telling me and others how I should eat. I paid no attention, and neither did anybody else.
Knowing the right message is not enough. We have to show that this program works. If we are going to change the way the nation and the world eats, it has to start with us doing it properly. The change is unlikely to come from doctors, who have little training in nutrition and less incentive to promote such a simple and effective therapy as proper nutrition. It is unlikely to come from government, which is so heavily dependent upon special interests that depend themselves on the status quo. It is going to have to come from people like Farley, me, and you.
Farley just returned from a convention. Several people there wanted to know about her nutrition plan. As I write this, she is sending links to one of these nice ladies. Surely, one of the main reasons that people asked is because Farley looks so healthy. It is obvious that what she is doing works.
I hope to get something from my friends Penny and Steve, with whom I kayak. Penny was being recommend heart surgery. She is now doing great on Dr. Esselstyn's program without the surgery, and she is very grateful that she heard about that program from me. I doubt if she would have investigated Dr. Esselstyn without my obvious success on the program. So charity begins at home, and so does good nutrition. Let's do our best to have everybody who knows about healthy eating look and feel healthy themselves. That is how the message will get out.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Taking blood samples for glucose testing
Using your ear lobe for blood sampling
Before I got better and stopped taking diabetes meds, I used to test my blood levels frequently. As a type 2 diabetic, I always wondered why. There was nothing to be done about the results - maybe go to the doctors and get stronger medicine, which wouldn't do anything for me health wise, but make the doctor del better. With Dr. McDougall's and Jeff Novick's help, I lowered my blood sugar to the point where my doctor agreed that I did not need medicine. But my blood glucose has crept up slowly over the last 4 years, and I wanted to test how a very strict application of Jeff's "plate test" (basically seeing that 95%+ of the calories on your plate is whole plant food), I am taking my fasting blood sugars again.
Modern glucose meters are amazing, and they need very small samples. My objection to sampling is using my fingers. I play several stringed instruments, and seem to always be doing something with my fingers. I found it very annoying. Some lancets are now designed to use areas such as the legs, and "suck" the blood out for the sample. But this rarely provides as good a sample as a capillary bed.
I wanted to share here a solution that I have used, and which may benefit others. Long ago, when I was deciding between law and medical school, a spent a one year internship as a clinical laboratory scientist which led to licensure by the American Society of Certified Pathologists. One part of our training was in collecting samples for the tests we performed - I'm not sure if that is done much these days.
For some of the patients, it was extremely difficult to collect blood. This was especially true for drug addicts, whose every vein seemed to be scarred beyond redemption, and very sick individuals who had much bruising from previous venipunctures. I was frequently asked to handle some of the really difficult cases. Although I disliked it at first, I did develop some talent, and did my research and learned from my mentors.
For some tests, we had micro assay methods, using very small amounts of blood. We also had heparin coated and marked glass pipettes. This was much as the modern glucose meters use today.
The lobe of the ear contains great capillary beds where smaller samples can be express with a lancet. The ear lobe is also much less sensitive than finger tips. It occurred to me that that would be a fine site for obtaining samples for modern glucose meters. And it is.
At first, I collected samples from both finger and ear to make sure that they compared well. They were virtually exact every time I tested. I am not sure that they would be the same right after a meal, but I only tested fasting and 2 hours p.p.
The way I do it is to simply use the lanced to push firmly into the ear lobe while pressing the trigger. If sample size is too small, you can try to express the blood droplet with your fingers. If you are constantly qns (quantity not sufficient), you can adjust the needle deeper, try a heavier gauge, and probably the most effective is to warm the ear lobe with a hot moist wash cloth first.
The ear lobe usually heals in a day, and you have two lobes. You can also try several different sites on the lobes. With experience, you will figure it out. It is a little tricky to get the test strip to the blood droplet, especially if you are older with poorer eyesight. I use a magnifying shaving mirror and have no problem. It might take a few tries, but if you hate using your finger tips, you might try this.
Before I got better and stopped taking diabetes meds, I used to test my blood levels frequently. As a type 2 diabetic, I always wondered why. There was nothing to be done about the results - maybe go to the doctors and get stronger medicine, which wouldn't do anything for me health wise, but make the doctor del better. With Dr. McDougall's and Jeff Novick's help, I lowered my blood sugar to the point where my doctor agreed that I did not need medicine. But my blood glucose has crept up slowly over the last 4 years, and I wanted to test how a very strict application of Jeff's "plate test" (basically seeing that 95%+ of the calories on your plate is whole plant food), I am taking my fasting blood sugars again.
Modern glucose meters are amazing, and they need very small samples. My objection to sampling is using my fingers. I play several stringed instruments, and seem to always be doing something with my fingers. I found it very annoying. Some lancets are now designed to use areas such as the legs, and "suck" the blood out for the sample. But this rarely provides as good a sample as a capillary bed.
I wanted to share here a solution that I have used, and which may benefit others. Long ago, when I was deciding between law and medical school, a spent a one year internship as a clinical laboratory scientist which led to licensure by the American Society of Certified Pathologists. One part of our training was in collecting samples for the tests we performed - I'm not sure if that is done much these days.
For some of the patients, it was extremely difficult to collect blood. This was especially true for drug addicts, whose every vein seemed to be scarred beyond redemption, and very sick individuals who had much bruising from previous venipunctures. I was frequently asked to handle some of the really difficult cases. Although I disliked it at first, I did develop some talent, and did my research and learned from my mentors.
For some tests, we had micro assay methods, using very small amounts of blood. We also had heparin coated and marked glass pipettes. This was much as the modern glucose meters use today.
The lobe of the ear contains great capillary beds where smaller samples can be express with a lancet. The ear lobe is also much less sensitive than finger tips. It occurred to me that that would be a fine site for obtaining samples for modern glucose meters. And it is.
At first, I collected samples from both finger and ear to make sure that they compared well. They were virtually exact every time I tested. I am not sure that they would be the same right after a meal, but I only tested fasting and 2 hours p.p.
The way I do it is to simply use the lanced to push firmly into the ear lobe while pressing the trigger. If sample size is too small, you can try to express the blood droplet with your fingers. If you are constantly qns (quantity not sufficient), you can adjust the needle deeper, try a heavier gauge, and probably the most effective is to warm the ear lobe with a hot moist wash cloth first.
The ear lobe usually heals in a day, and you have two lobes. You can also try several different sites on the lobes. With experience, you will figure it out. It is a little tricky to get the test strip to the blood droplet, especially if you are older with poorer eyesight. I use a magnifying shaving mirror and have no problem. It might take a few tries, but if you hate using your finger tips, you might try this.
October 19
Oct 19
Lunch
Lunch was a collection of things in the refrigerator mostly. We still had some leftover mix of chopped veggies in the refrigerator, as well as some mixed fruit and of course chopped greens.
The brown rice was added, and what really made this meal a tasty lunch was what Farley did to the Japanese sweet potato. I was simply going to throw it in the bowl, but Farley had a bit of the leftover chickpea curry. She peeled and chopped the sweet potato and put the pieces into the curry mixture and warmed the lot in the microwave. It was really a delicious treat. I can picture that combo as a sauce that could be used in many situations. Anybody would find it delicious. Here is what everything looked like when ready to eat.
I had seconds because it tasted so good. I also had some walnuts, since we had some after being out for a week or so. I ate a bit extra because I was playing a college concert that evening. I am playing trombone, which takes a lot of air. I didn't want to be playing that evening with a full stomach, and knew that I would be returning home late, which I did at about 10:30 pm. I was a bit hungry, but not ready to eat dinner at that time. Too bad, because Farley invented something new to us, and she said it was delicious (she was home - is coming to the Monday performance where my son and I will be playing together in a joint band / orchestra performance). I will write Farley's comments on dinner even though I didn't have any. It did smell delicious.
Dinner
Tonight's dinner was something I dreamed up just today and was easy and fast to prepare, (and delicious!) then slow-cooked for 3 hours.
White Navy Beans and Banana Squash with Kale.
Ingredients:
Into a slow-cooker add
1 15 oz can of no-salt added Navy Beans, rinsed and drained
1 28 oz can of Roma tomatoes, chopped plus the juice
1/4 banana squash, peeled and cubed
3 ribs of celery sliced
1 orange bell pepper chopped
1/2 Cup of red wine (I use Zin or a Cab)
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp dried Basil
Cook on high for 3 hours and then keep warm
1 large bunch of kale, washed, stemmed and chopped
Steam kale for 30 minutes until very tender.
I served this over brown rice, layered with the kale and then the bean stew. A splash of balsamic vinegar is just the perfect finisher.
Learning about my hunger
It occurred to me that I am learning the difference between true and toxic hunger and just about within the common time frame that Dr. Fuhrman discusses in his revised "Eat to Live." (Did I mention that this is a fantastic book?) A few months ago, I would have been feeling miserable missing dinner. I would have felt weak, with stomach growling and probably head beginning to ache. I would have been anxious to feed my toxic hunger. Now, it is not a big deal to only eat one meal.
I am hungry as I write this (Oct 20 am), but it is not an unpleasant sensation. I am really looking forward to lunch. Because I am hungry, it will taste better. I mean that literally, too. Doug Lisle explains how our hunger mediates our pleasure response from food. Our brain gives us more pleasure from eating when we are truly hungry - it is encouraging us to eat. Eating when hungry makes the food taste better. Between that, and becoming used to a lower calorie density diet, I think that I am getting more pleasure from my food than others who stuff themselves frequently with high calorie density SAD treats. Plus I get the undeniable health benefits. Learning what hunger is, and how to deal with it, was a real missing piece of the puzzle for me.
Lunch
Lunch was a collection of things in the refrigerator mostly. We still had some leftover mix of chopped veggies in the refrigerator, as well as some mixed fruit and of course chopped greens.
 |
| Assortment of some food available for lunch |
 |
| The curried sweet potato was a great idea |
Dinner
Tonight's dinner was something I dreamed up just today and was easy and fast to prepare, (and delicious!) then slow-cooked for 3 hours.
White Navy Beans and Banana Squash with Kale.
Ingredients:
Into a slow-cooker add
1 15 oz can of no-salt added Navy Beans, rinsed and drained
1 28 oz can of Roma tomatoes, chopped plus the juice
1/4 banana squash, peeled and cubed
3 ribs of celery sliced
1 orange bell pepper chopped
1/2 Cup of red wine (I use Zin or a Cab)
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
1 tsp dried Basil
Cook on high for 3 hours and then keep warm
1 large bunch of kale, washed, stemmed and chopped
Steam kale for 30 minutes until very tender.
I served this over brown rice, layered with the kale and then the bean stew. A splash of balsamic vinegar is just the perfect finisher.
Learning about my hunger
It occurred to me that I am learning the difference between true and toxic hunger and just about within the common time frame that Dr. Fuhrman discusses in his revised "Eat to Live." (Did I mention that this is a fantastic book?) A few months ago, I would have been feeling miserable missing dinner. I would have felt weak, with stomach growling and probably head beginning to ache. I would have been anxious to feed my toxic hunger. Now, it is not a big deal to only eat one meal.
I am hungry as I write this (Oct 20 am), but it is not an unpleasant sensation. I am really looking forward to lunch. Because I am hungry, it will taste better. I mean that literally, too. Doug Lisle explains how our hunger mediates our pleasure response from food. Our brain gives us more pleasure from eating when we are truly hungry - it is encouraging us to eat. Eating when hungry makes the food taste better. Between that, and becoming used to a lower calorie density diet, I think that I am getting more pleasure from my food than others who stuff themselves frequently with high calorie density SAD treats. Plus I get the undeniable health benefits. Learning what hunger is, and how to deal with it, was a real missing piece of the puzzle for me.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
October 19
October 19 Lunch
*******************************************************
Before covering lunch, take note of dinner. Farley tried something a bit different and it turned out really tasty. She is also trying something new for dinner tomorrow
********************************************************
FBS of 102 is good for me.
Lunch was simple because we had some left over chopped vegetables and mushrooms. Fruit was in the refrigerator, and chopped greens, brown rice, and sweet potatoes (not pictured) are always available.
FBS of 102 is good for me.
Lunch was simple because we had some left over chopped vegetables and mushrooms. Fruit was in the refrigerator, and chopped greens, brown rice, and sweet potatoes (not pictured) are always available.
It's easy to see if your lunch is healthy with Jeff Novick's "plate test." Look at your plate and check that you are eating at least 95% high fiber whole intact plant food. Today's lunch passes at 100%. We strive for over 95%, and often 100%, for every meal every day. It has made a huge difference for us.
Dinner
This turned out great. Here are Farley's comments:
I'm always on the lookout for short cuts for meals and last night was no exception using leftovers from dinner the night before.
Steamed leftovers:
Broccoli
Bell Pepper
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Red kidney beans
To the above I added 2 more medium heirloom tomatoes, chopped and an already baked Japanese sweet potato, cubed. No seasoning or liquid was added. I just poured it all into a baking dish, and heated it for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. It was outstanding.
I forgot to put down my demerits for two glasses of wine. Since we opened the bottle yesterday, I couldn't let it go to waste. Well, we could have, but we didn't.
 |
| Lunch starts with chopped greens, mixed fruit, mixed and chopped veggies. |
 |
| Add brown rice and tomatoes and there is lunch. |
This turned out great. Here are Farley's comments:
I'm always on the lookout for short cuts for meals and last night was no exception using leftovers from dinner the night before.
Steamed leftovers:
Broccoli
Bell Pepper
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Red kidney beans
To the above I added 2 more medium heirloom tomatoes, chopped and an already baked Japanese sweet potato, cubed. No seasoning or liquid was added. I just poured it all into a baking dish, and heated it for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. It was outstanding.
|
| A new original and tasty dish |
I forgot to put down my demerits for two glasses of wine. Since we opened the bottle yesterday, I couldn't let it go to waste. Well, we could have, but we didn't.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)