Health and Fitness October, 2011

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

At this point, I'd settle for ending the month at the same weight I started it.

Yesterday wasn't as bad as it could have been. Regular breakfast, nothing until 1:30 (boy was my stomach growling!) and it was a plated banquet so we started with a green salad (with dressing, sigh... but I was hungry so I ate it) and a white roll. Then one piece of beef, one scoop of mashed potato, and a 1/2 cup of beans and carrots. With gravy over everything. Then a nice chocolate cake for dessert. I probably would have eaten more calories but healthier food if it had been a buffet.

Nothing until dinner, which was just cereal for my main course and cut veggies and hummus for dessert. In the evening I had 150 calories of crackers.

The smallish amount at dinner was expected due to the music (for me a lot of music is followed by a reduced appetite.) I hope to carry this into the week for at least 2 - 3 days.

I'm on the treadmill now, sweating away because I've upped the incline.

My friend, aside from growing a beard that I don't like, has gained about 30 - 40 pounds since Father's Day. I wouldn't be upset if I thought it was because he was sharing wonderful meals with a new partner. I suspect it is because he's trying to fill a void in his life. Our relationship is too weird for me to be able to ask and too long distance for me to figure out on my own.

He lost a ton of weight at WW just before I met him 4 years ago and was having trouble maintaining. Churches are all about eating. He lost a bit after his wife left (he was unemployed then) but then he had a concussion and broke his ankle (two separate accidents a month apart) so he's had reduced mobility. His current church can bake up a storm (they sent dh home with a half dozen cookies after our previous visit because he loved them so much - dh seldom eats anything at a coffee hour because he doesn't like sweets much.) Oh, and he had to put one of his dogs (less than 3 years old) down in August. So the weight gain is not a surprise.

Even his dad commented to me about the weight gain. Wish there was something I could do but I can't. I've learned that men are unchangeable until they decide to change. As much exercise as my dh does, he's not cutting back on the eating so his weight isn't budging at all and he has a bit of belly weight, something that I know is dangerous for him, especially since he has a bad heart valve.

Besides, I can't control my own weight so I have no magic bullet to share with others.

[Nancy]

Yesterday was a battle for me had a big omlette in the a.m. and apple & yougart & cheese and peanut butter later. Did my walk at dusk my bs was good this morning.

The first part of this week I'm going to two meals a for a few more days as I missed a couple of fast meals the church had last week bc of bs probs. {I only fast one meal a day.}

Grands have not been here so we do not have cookies to tempt us.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm up and on the treadmill. My weight seems firmly at 170, my starting point for the month.

Who knows, if the jaw hurts for a long time, it will certainly help me avoid snacking on chips and crackers. Cheese it out. All beef, except for ground. Unfortunately, raw veggies, a staple in my diet, will also be out. Potatoes will be back in since I can eat those mashed and probably baked. I'll have to shave my chocolate in the morning since it comes in a very hard chunk which I won't be able to bite.

When my jaw was wired shut back when I was 20, I lost 18 pounds over the 6 weeks despite eating unlimited amounts of the food I could eat. (I was 105 by the end of the process and yet my thighs were still fat, I have pictures to prove it.)

[Lilac]

Kathryn, I have always felt like I had thunder thighs, no matter what I weigh. Although a year and a half ago when I had lost so much weight, even I could see that my legs were skinny for what I felt like was the first time ever. Then when I started on insulin and gained weight, they are back to thunder thighs.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I got my dad's calves and my mom's thighs. She had lovely calves and so her legs looked better than mine. Mine just look like tree trunks.

She struggled with her weight for most of her life (something my sister and I remember about her) and when we cleaned out the house we found one of her records of weight. She wasn't fat at all by today's standards (136 pounds at 5'3", BMI of under 24) but because my dad was so critical she felt she was fat. I love my dad but he was a critical man (a trait I've fought against in myself all my life.)

When I was 136 I tried on her wedding dress and was surprised how loose it was on me. I'm taller than her but that still shows me she wasn't that much thinner when she got married than when she fought with her weight so much. I hope that isn't what my kids remember about me (although it might be.)

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Arthritis question: since I know I have the beginnings of arthritis, does anyone recommend reading on ways to control outbreaks or prevent onset?

The specialist I went to said there wasn't such a diet. So that makes me take anything I find on the internet with a grain of salt (not literally!!!!)

But I'm open to recommendations from my friends.

[Harriet]

?

Well, Kathryn, just cursory knowledge of this reminds me that I've heard many times of diets that well help arthritis (perhaps not controlling a specific outbreak). The phrase "anti-inflammatory" diet would probably be the most-used catch-phrase. You certainly wouldn't even have to go to the web as there are lots of books from well-known publishing houses about this.

People in my family who have had to learn this have been my dfirstmil, who was put on a diet for her arthritis symptoms years ago (classic knuckle enlargement) and you know about HRH who has had counseling from at least two doctors about how to eat for arthritis because of his gout.

First I would check books by Andrew Weil (the one who advocates a "Wellness" diet) Barry Sears (the Zone diet author) for specific anti-inflammatory books. Weil is Harvard Medical School trained, I believe. I know that Christopher Cannon teaches at HMSchool right now, and he wrote a book on this.

[Harriet]

Just glancing at excerpts I can find, I do see that in Dr. Cannon's book, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to the AntiInflammatory Diet" (what a title), published 2006, he specifically says that all types of arthritis can be controlled by an anti-inflammatory diet, not just rheumatoid or osteoarthritis. It introduces him as Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

I found the book recommended to HRH back when, and it is "How to Eat Away Arthritis". It is by an N.D. who is the senior editor of the Journal of Naturopathic Medicine, so she has credentials but not every doctor would consider her an expert. It is a 1997 book, though, and there would definitely be better info now in newer books. For instance, it doesn't mention that you need to think about mercury when you choose which fish to eat these days, or that you should choose wild salmon over farm salmon. He and I both think we have heard Sears speak on arthritis and say that if he were tweaking his Zone diet for arthritis sufferers, he would put more emphasis on fish and add a supplement of fish oil.

[Nancy]

Ok I might need to see if I can get the first book at the library that you mentioned Harriet could be helpful for hubby.

I've done 3 mi. on the ex. bike and some arm exercises I still need to get the wts. out.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Harriet, it was the rheumatologist that said there was nothing I could do in my diet (except lose weight) that could delay the onset or reduce the number of eye inflammations. She did the blood work that included the test for rheumatoid arthritis and at this point the test came back negative but it isn't always accurate at the very beginning.

I've been doing glucosamene and chondroiten for years, plus vitamin E. That one is tricky because of the heart implications but my GP recommended it because of the Alzheimer in my family history.

Dh does Omega 3-6-9 but Dr. Weil is specific to Omega 3 only so I'll have to have a look at why.

One of Dr. Weil's books is at a library between me and the Presbytery office, so maybe I'll run into the city a day early and pick it up on the way back.

Some of the diet changes are pretty frightening to me, especially eliminating milk (both to drink and in cooking.) I don't like milk much on its own (except with things like cookies) but I do have it on my cereal and grains for me in the morning are essential to me not over-eating through the day.

I skipped my cereal yesterday morning, opting for scrambled eggs with bacon bits peppers, and onions. Same number of points as my cereal (actually one more), no fruit, and I was starving the whole day.

I did figure out that my Pampered Chef chopper is a god-send. I love dill pickles with my dinner and can chop one up to the consistency of relish to get the flavour with my food. I also chopped up some cut up cucumber and peppers that were about to go bad and mixed in the remaining hummus so I got some fresh veggies yesterday with a minimal amount of chewing and no biting.

Today I'm going to try soaking my cereal in a bit of hot water instead of hot milk and then drain off the excess and add in cold milk to see if it makes the cereal any more palatable. I just don't want to take another day of being hungry all the time.