You can have too much Vitamin D

*233*

 
   I was scolded at the Endo this week. He said I was taking too much Vitamin D. He was worried I could get hypercalcemia and that was extremely bad. He didnt want to have to treat that and I did not want to experience it.  Luckily, my level was only double what it should be. I threw away my 5000mg pills (in one of those pill packs) and I bought a bottle of 1000mg. I can start the new pills in two weeks. Vitamin D is a fat soluable pill so it stays in your body longer. I can go awhile without taking it and let the levels get down to normal. I wonder what that will mean for my psoriasis. It is not super bad like some people but it is annoying. The dots of it keeping coming up and I keep slapping steriod cream on them. I am going to try this lotion, Dermarest, and see if that helps at all. I am not super self conscious about the lesions that pop up but some of them can get really big and I hate those. I will report back on whether it works or not.

   My appointment with the endo was interesting . No change in my insulin (yes).  He is sad because I am allergic to all the pills for Cholesterol. He has no way to treat me and it is putting me at risk for heart disease. He told me to lose weight. Lose alot of weight. And he said that not eating animal fat would help alot too. I dont think I could be vegan or plant based. I have talked about it. I have dabbled in it. But I have to be honest. I like to eat meat. I have practically given up on dairy. I will have some here or there and it will hurt me but most of the time, I do not have it at all. Eggs I have very rarely because they hate me too. This morning I am partaking on some low carb toast with some mashed avocado on top. I am a basic bitch. I know it. But it sure tastes yummy. Gives you some perspective on your life and what you have to do to prolong it.

   The kitten is doing very well. She was named Keiko but I do not like it. Basically, I got this kitten, I searched out this kitten, I paid for this kitten, I will have to pay for her first appointment, her fix, her food, and her life but I did not get to even choose her name. I call her Kitten Boo. That is her name to me. That is me feeling a bit bitter and bitchy this morning. Forgive me. My period is late again. Lack of estrogen.  Plus I am tired from cleaning yesterday, I have paperwork I needs straightened out, and I have to drive Kid #1 to New Haven for a Doctors appt. 1 hour drive one way. I do not mind it because she needs to go, I am just tired today and do not wish to go. Eh.

   That is it for now. Short post. Nothing fun. I have to get dressed and go to the insurance agents this morning. It seems they did not inform DMV that our Jeep was totalled. I received paperwork that needs to be rectified. Can I just not adult today? I would like to lay on the leather couch I bought but it seems that my oldest thinks it is hers and hers alone. I have yet to take a nap on it. Yes, that is me being bitter again but still. I have not laid on it and all.

Okay...i am gonna go now. :)

Saturday of my disconent. Not really.

IMUSA Caldero

*249* <------According the Gastro`s scale on Friday. Oh yeah! Oh yeah!

  See! I told you that I would come back. I think I will post every Saturday or Sunday. Other days if anything juicy happens. I did not go to the vascular surgeon on Friday. They had to reschedule cause he had to perform surgery. So I will see him at the end of the month. I did see the Gastro. Ho Hum.

 He tells me that my pain is a couple of things. One area of pain has to do with my exercising. It is muscle strain and it will take my body time to adjust. The other pain he wants to have checked out. So next Tuesday I am having blood work and an ultrasound of my abdomen. He wants to see how my liver, pancreas, and gallbladder are. I KNOW that my liver is enlarged cause I can feel it and it hurts like before. But I am not really eating any fat. So it should not be in pain, but it is. So we will see on that one. I finally asked him what he thinks is going on with my liver. I said most fatty liver has no symptoms. He says Yes. I said that I have symptoms. He said this is why you have to eat healthy and lose weight so you can get off the insulin. He said I have the kind of fatty liver that could turn into non alcoholic cirrhosis. or liver cancer in the future. I got my answer, but I did not like it. I told him about not being able to tolerate any dairy, beef, or pork. I was thinking about being a vegetarian. He said that he is almost a veg. He occasionally eats fish. So that I can forgo the things that hurt me and eat everything else. I am going to work on that. There will be lapses but if I work hard at sticking to my plan with the deletion of beef, pork, and dairy..I should be good. I hope. I see him in a month and he wants me to lose 5lbs.

So, yeah. It seems I have fucketh my selfeth in the asseth because I ignored my diabetes for 13 years. Assholeth!

  I have been walking and going to the gym on a pretty regular basis. I really need to invest in some better sneakers. The ones that I have do not give me the kind of support that I need. I want to walk 2 miles a day (weather permitting) and I will hurt my feet again if I do it in the snazzy sneakers that I have. I tried on a pair of 18 jeans but still too small for me. At least that pair. But I have a pair of size 20s that I bought last month that are starting to fall off me. I have shirts that I would never wear cause they did not *cover* me the way that I felt comfy. Now they do.

  That picture up top is a IMUSA caldero. I bought one at Walmart two weeks ago and I am breaking it in today. It is a really big one, 36 cm! It cost $22. Because it is cast aluminum, you have to season it first. There are lots of videos online to show you how. I have chili cooking it but my ultimate goal is to use it to make jams. It is heavy so I will not have to worry about the jam burning on the bottom.
Now the chili has ground pork in it.  I wanted to use it instead of tossing it. I cooked it thoroughly, and then rinsed all the grease off. I am good to go. The chili has onions, garlic, yellow and orange bell pepper, white and red kidney beans, ground pork, roasted cherry tomatoes, two cans of crushed tomatoes, cumin, oregano, chili powder, cayenne, salt, pepper, and paprika. I probably missed the kitchen sink too but that is the gist of the meal. I am going to freeze some for a later meal. This is why I made a HUGE amount.

 It did not snow today. Just a bunch of rain. It is going to dip back into the 20s next week. Yuck on that! I have to get some oil for the tank. Hoping what I got will last till then. Spring is just around the corner, I keep telling myself!

Gonna go, chili is done.

Doing it the Old Fashioned Way

*261*

   I had a long discussion with Hubs about two weeks ago about weight loss surgery (wls) and losing weight. My decision is that I am putting the surgery journey on hold, for now. I am giving myself until January 1, 2014 to lose at least 50 lbs. If I can do that or come really close to that, I will not have the surgery. I will continue on the path of healthy living as I am doing. If I fail by that date, then I will go to a wls seminar and start the ball rolling for the surgery. I do not want to rush into something. So far, I am doing pretty damn good. The pain in my side has gotten better. I am eating so healthy it is scary to me. I have given up so much this past month and I am still here. I did not die or wither away into a pool of whining tears. Okay, I did whine quite a bit but it is getting better. :)

    I feel the surgery is a great tool for those that cannot lose weight on their own. I have many friends that have had successful surgeries, lost weight, and kept the majority of the weight off. I also know there are people out there that have the surgery, go thru all that pain and change to only go right back to eating badly and not exercising. Too many people have gained the weight back. And you only get one stomach surgery! They cannot go back in and tighten it back up because you love pretzels so fucking much. With that being said, I am going to put a hold on the wls. I did not go to the seminar.

   I do not think I am willing to give up the future of eating a steak if I want it on my birthday. (or any foods for that matter).  I thought I did, but I realized that I would be lying to myself. I have to do it this way. I put the pounds on! I can take them off! I have given up steak and roasts (both pork and beef), I have given up chicken skin. Eventually I will give up ground beef because I eat so very little of it now. I used to eat beef at least 3 times a week. It is now down to once every two weeks. I have been using ground pork. It is lean, cheap, and tasty. Chicken and Fish are my go too proteins. I also eat eggs but sparingly. I have realized that I truly have to give up all dairy. I still have some low fat cottage cheese and yogurt in the fridge. I will finish those this week.  I am going to have to use vegan versions to satisfy me when i am in the mood. I found some noodles at the Asian market that have a low carb load so on occasion I can have that. I also have some brown rice to try. I want to add these back into my diet but only in small amounts. Like when I make soups. I cannot have potato so having some of those noodles in a seafood soup with make me happy.

 Some friends have told me that I should just become a Vegan. I am pretty close to it except for my love of the chicken egg. Too much change going on right now. I am willing to MAYBE become a vegetarian but that is in the future. Not yet.  I am posting a second post today because I realized that I never told you about my decision. You were probably wondering why I had not mentioned what happened at the seminar and why I was not talking about it. This is why.
I am feeling healthier, I am stronger then I was before when I started this and I just feel different. And after eating that ONE PIECE OF FRIED SQUID that gave me the shits from hell, I know that I am doing the right thing.

Freakishly Spring like Thursday

 

It is close to 50 deg f right now where I am. The sun is out too. I want to enjoy it. Too bad the ground is wet. I would so clean up the yard today if it wasnt for that. Tomorrow will be back to the cold winter temps. Today I plan on sitting out on the front porch with a beverage and enjoying the freak day of Spring.
 As some of you already know, I have an affinity for Valentine`s Day and also for pin ups. Not the newer girls that are pretending to be pin ups either. Old school 1920, 30s, 40s, and a bit of Betty Page. I will mix it up this month with girls and also vintage childhood Valentines.

I have come to the conclusion that I am going to have to eat very differently, like I have said over and over and over again.
I was discussing with a friend last night. Because of my diabetes, cholesterol issues, high blood pressure in my family, heart disease in my family, and now my losing my gallbladder (supposedly)..I have to change what I eat if I want to live longer. I do not want to wake up in the middle of the night with pains in my chest. That is like my worst fear.
 Her husband is eating differently and I am going to talk to him about it. He has researched and he is going to be eating the way that I should.

Vegan (no dairy, eggs, animal at all), low carb (no white bread, rice, pasta or very starchy vegs), low fat (low fat everything , no fried foods), some juicing or non dairy smoothies to add protein into the day like adding a green smoothie for like breakfast, and eating some raw foods every day. And gotta give up the diet soda.
 There is also the fact that I should stay away from some gluten. I would not become a fanatic about it but it does mess with my gut. So that would require brown rice, multigrain breads, and pastas.
That is a tall order. I am going to get some help in this because it is just too much to go over. I have to be able to eat and not be starving, not missing any nutrients, but not over do it on the carbs to compensate. My blender sucks ass and I cannot afford or justify the purchase of a Vitamix so we shall see what I can do about that.
See..the girls just said they want to have Moe`s for dinner. They are going to pay their way. I will have a hard time eating anything on that menu with the list of things I can and cannot eat. I think they offer tofu as a protein source but no fake cheese..
I will figure it out.

What an Inspiration!

*265*

This was posted with the photo on Facebook:
From Jessica: If I can make the change from being a sick, bloated, 100+lb overweight, medicated, stage 3 cancer patient to a thriving, HEALTHY, cancer FREE woman on a low fat, plant based, whole food vegan diet / complete lifestyle change... ANYONE can!

You just have to make the decision & stick to it. It's one day at a time. You can't look at this change as "temporary" while looking forward to

times to "cheat" with harmful foods - you'll never last that way.

I live my life 90% of the time I eat a VERY strict Dr. McDougall diet consisting of unprocessed, low fat, whole, plant foods and on a rare occasion I'll "cheat" and eat more fruit than usual or have a small piece of organic 80%+ dark vegan chocolate or some a vegan apple crisp dessert... but those are rare occasions and even in my "cheating" I am still 100% McDougall all the way. That's why it's a lifestyle, not just a diet.

I know that health come from the totality of your daily decisions - not just from a single component; that's why I exercise regularly, I drink 80+ oz of water daily, I sleep well, practice de-stressing techniques, laugh often, I am regularly educating myself through books, dvds & trusted sites on health & nutrition, read my bible & talk with my God daily. It's the totality of our decisions that create an environment for true health.

 

  Chelsea was a Vegan for 6 years. This past year she went back to being a vegetarian and then she was a meat eater before I knew it. She just decided she wanted to eat meat again. I do not know if I could completely go vegan. There are many things out there that substitute for cheese, mayonaisse and sour cream that are vegan. So it will not be very harsh. Just something to ponder of this sultry Thursday morning. 

   I am not saying that I am going to DO THIS because you all know my track record. :)  I get inspired, say I am gonna do it, and right back to eating an Oreo cookie! 

I have the website for this Dr. McDougall. If any of you are interested in reading what he has posted.  His way of eating is much stricter then just eating vegan. He wants you to not use any oils at all. Not even olive oil. He has cut all the fat out.
   I want to see if I can eat more veggies, fruits, and grains. Meat is going to become more expensive in the very near future, dairy too. Because of the midwest drought, the price of anything that comes from corn is going to go UP. So maybe learning to eat less meat and dairy is not a bad thing. I do not think I would give up eggs. We will be walking more because of the price of gas too. I hope it is not a harsh winter.
 Just something to ponder. This woman obviously turned her life around. I want some of that! I want to give up insulin and live healthier. I have four other people that I need to convince that this would be a good thing too. That will never happen. I think I could really go vegetarian, eat some eggs, soy based *dairy* and do not worry if something I am using is not vegan like the bread or whatever. I do not want to be a Nazi about it.  This could stick, or not. I have a freezer FULL of meat. And my ass is not throwing it away, giving it away, or donating it. So we shall see.

  If it does not rain later today, we are going to the beach for a nice soak and swim. Water feels good and there are not any jelly fish out there to worry about.
Get some nice summer exercise in!
*praying for no thunderstorms*

Christmas cooking

The beginnings of Collard Greens

*281*

Yesterday afternoon and into last night I was making food for Christmas...sort of. Fred has to work (2nd shift) on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after that. Sucks, huh? It is okay. He had Un-Turkey day off and he will have New Years off. So I decided instead of him eating his special dinner re-heated at work..I would cook now. He had yesterday off so we had carne asada tacos (like on TD), chicken enchiladas, pico de gallo, and home made corn chips. It was good.
Yesterday I made the collard greens and potato salad. We are having BBQ pork ribs on the charcoal grill outside and they will be slathered in Arthur Bryant`s BBQ sauce. Kansas City Baby!
 I am also going to make cookies for a party for Natalie. She told me that she needed them for today..YESTERDAY! Grrr.
 As for Christmas dinner and Eve..Chelsea is cooking a Vegan feast for us on Christmas. She was going to make something with Lima beans but I nixed that shit right away. I HATE LIMA BEANS. Always have, always will. She was gonna make a stew and it was going to have 2 pounds of them in it. Ugh. Nope. So she is going to make something else. I will let you all know about it when it happens. I think I will make Christmas eve easy. I have some shrimp in the freezer that I bought in beginning of December. Make a shrimp cocktail. I have a brie wheel. I can make some artichoke and spinach dip. Maybe order a pizza. I need to call them today to find out when they close on Friday.
 So that is basically it...This month and year are almost over. And my lust for cooking will never end, just the volume will be turned down a bit..LOL