Now I've been trying to watch my sodium, keeping everything under 10%. I've been doing fairly well, but I can't say it hasn't been difficult.
The week before the blood work I tried eating the best I could. Drank lots of water, went meatless three days, tried to stay away from sugar, didn't eat at night...the whole nine yards.
Monday late afternoon the doctors office called with my test results. They weren't happy with any of them. An neither am I.
- Sugar 107 should be under 99
- Liver 1.8 SB 1.3 and 47 SB 60
- Blood, 11.8 SB 12, 34.9 SB 36
- White count 4.1 SB 4.5
- Red count 3.92 SB 4.20
- Chol Total 194 SB under 200 Bad 141 SB under 150; Good 44
Sorry for the language but what the hell is going on? I'm eating better, drinking substantially less Coke, exercising my butt off, WTF? I was in better shape before I started this adventure two years ago. I do not understand.
They'll repeat the tests in about a week. Like I have an extra $200 siting around. Such is life without insurance.
The liver one freaks me out. Anyone who knows me knows I have maybe 6 drinks a year. It must be the drugs. I rarely take O-T-C pain relievers. They are know to cause liver damage with overuse. So when I had my RX filled I checked the side effects. Liver damage not on the list. Cold feet is. A mystery solved. The only other thing it might be is the toenail fungus medicine. I'll have to look it up online, don't have the insert. In the mean time I stopped using it.
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| selected food in my cupboard. |
So I've launched an attack against sugar, saturated fat, and salt. Leaves pretty much veggies. I've started reading everything. A serving of Cherrios is only a cup and counts as 2 carbs. (15 grams is 1 carb.). Betcha I eat 2 cups. I use up all my carbs (six) before I even start the day. (1 breakfast, 2 lunch, 3 dinner)
Friday I tried to eat breakfast. I was defeated. A cup, or 3/4 cup of cereal won't do. If I put a banana on it it's another carb. Three for breakfast. One slice of bread has one, peanut butter has a bit, and jam, honey, maple syrup or Karo, all have carbs. I can't cook breakfast every morning.
I can't cook worth a damn...ask anybody I've invited for dinner...but I'm a bit of a foodie. I'll try anything once. If it's from another country, I'm so there. Food has changed from a pleasure or joy into yet another responsibility. One that's a big of a pain as my roommate. I don't need another stresser. Cooking meals are now a burden.
I need to stop thinking about food 24-hours a day. What I can eat, and more importantly what I can't eat. After walking this morning, I made an omelet for brunch and gave two people what I'd call a "portion", and I took about half of that for myself. It had eggs, cheese, leftover roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli. Tomatoes on the side. Carbs, protein, and saturated fat. I wanted more when I was done, and have been watching the clock for dinnertime since noon. This is going real well.
My friend Angel is a nutrition guru and has been trying to help. But it's hard for me to talk to her about this stuff. I get defensive. When I was looking at community centers websites the other day, I saw this on Bethlehem Townships:
"Nutrition Counseling—Come meet with our Certified Nutrition and Wellness Consultant to develop a program specifically to meet your lifestyle. This program is on an individual basis or can be a parent/child session. Example of the topics to be covered include: the relationship between nutrition and exercise, components of a healthy diet and much more. 5 Sessions: $145"
Maybe I should spend the money and do it. But before I do, I need to keep a food journal. I need to make a list of things I know, and things I know I should do. Also make a list of things I won't do. (Don't give me "fake sugar, or fake/GMO food. And you'll have to pry the cheese from my cold dead hands.)
Hopefully the next set will be better. But I think it will be the same.
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