Health and Fitness, February, 2015

[Harriet]

FFriend, HRH has been fighting against anything more than the "prediabetes" diagnosis for years. He did a little bit of good for himself on the Nutri System "D" (for diabetes) plan for a few months. Lost some weight, brought A1C down some. But general better eating brought it down further, lots of veggies. He didn't stay with the NS any longer, but it probably taught him some things.

He has wished at times that he could do the usual higher protein diet that many try. But the first problem with that is a family tendency toward gout (arthritis), which is unbearable on a high-animal-products diet. Second problem is needing to take good care of his kidneys since he's had so many stones and one operation. Protein needs to be sufficient, but limited.

So except for eggs, he adopted more of the plant based diet for prediabetes. I saw a display of those books today at Whole Foods. I didn't recognize some new ones, but T. Colin Campbell's China Study was there along with both Rip and Caldwell Esselstyn's and Neal Barnard's books, plus the new line of foods from Rip Esselstyn. I bought their unsweetened vanilla almond milk for HRH to try.

He takes the smallest dose of Janumet in extended release form. Dr. didn't think his numbers showed he needed to go on Metformin, but did want him to try this one, which only has a part Metformin in it and only gives a little bit of the med at a time over hours. I didn't see much difference with it, but each good idea helps.

I hope your dh benefits a lot from this course of meds and study (sounds like he will). Also I hope he and others in the study find out they made a contribution in testing out a new med. That would be a good feeling.

[FelineFriend]

Harriet , Are YOU diabetic, too? Is this why you counted your blood sugar after HRH did his? Or was he just curious. The foods on HRH's diet sound good for him, to me, too. DH gets gout, he told me what foods can cause it, the other day, too.

DH gets a lot of benefit out of this study drug. He also takes Metformin. He was on a drug study, the one before this current one, for 7 years! They did a LOT of good, testing that drug out, for the drug company, they all got neat free gifts, too, and payment for their time, too.

I've never heard of Janument before. Does HRH ever try the Mediterranean Diet? My doctor recommends it highly to his patients, but I didn't care for the foods on it, as they disagreed with me.

Oh, my. It's 10:31 p.m. and I'm getting drowsy now. Time to floss and take my nighttime dose of QVAR.

[Harriet]

No, my bs morning readings are at or under 90 and I only know that because of helping HRH with testing. That's why HRH wanted me to test, too, when he had a good mid-day reading. I haven't been able to be much of a "gauge" for him because we are quite different and also don't always eat the same way. He hasn't asked me to test for months. But this time we had been at home together and eaten at about the same time, that sort of thing.

Sorry your dh has had to deal with gout. It's basically arthritis, but is such a hair-trigger ailment for diet it can be very frustrating, because uric acid is in so much. Especially meat gravies are bad because the uric acid of the meat becomes concentrated. When HRH started limiting meats, he would only get some vague pain that never became a real attack, and now eating so little meat he never feels it at all. But then he also quit sweetened sodas, which are the second-worst trigger behind protein-rich foods, and replaced with water, so that probably helped.

Btw, HRH ate the Man-wich brand of sloppy joe, which turns out to be one of the worst products for gout sufferers and ended up at the doctor's, shocked at how fast that much pain could came on. The Heinz brand of sloppy joe does not have this reputation. So I think the Man-wich just has something especially wrong with it maybe super-condensed meat gravy, or maybe some additive.

Our dr said that any processed item that causes pain for gout sufferers is affecting anyone with arthritis to a lesser extent, and that's 100 percent of people over 40, plus there's the worry that younger people should not be building the uric acid up in their systems. He was speculating how many people feel worse after a meal of Man-wich but never know why.

[FelineFriend]

That's good to know about Manwich, Harriet !

I need to be very careful of certain preservatives because they cause the muscle-nerve pain to be worst, from Fibromyalgia. Also, some preservatives cause my head to feel "funny", then my heart races and sometimes skips. What I do, when this happens, is drink a lot of water, then lay down, in a dark, quiet room, much like if it'd been a migraine. With prayer, and relaxing, the heart rate slowly slows down, becomes more steady, and then the head doesn't feel "funny" anymore and I feel normal- for ME, that is! The phosphates preservatives and MSG are bad, soy things make my stomach feel nauseous, I get a lot of gas, and a lot of gurgling in my intestines, and my body just doesn't like soy stuff. I don't know if it's because as an infant, I couldn't drink many milks, but the pediatrician had Dmom put me on soy milk. Now, I wonder, as an "oldster", if having soy milk, so much as an infant and toddler, makes much difference, now that I'm older. Books and articles from newsletters and on-line, also talk about a "connection" to Fibromyalgia pain, when some people have things, like Aspartame, HFCS, (is that the correct abbreviation for that?) and it can cause pain to become worst, too.

I know that red meats, legumes, and beef heart, etc.. can cause gout to become bad, too. DH rarely has gout, but when he does, it's right across the top of his one foot, where a wood beam fell on his foot, when he worked in a plywood plant, that his Ddad ran. His foot didn't get broken, but it swelled up a lot. It only bothers him when he gets gout.

My right big toe sometimes bothers me, but I believe it's arthritis from an injury. DH said "If you ever get gout, you KNOW what it is and you CAN'T walk on it!" He told me, there's terrible excruciating pain, with every gentle step. His Dmom used to get it, in a toe, in a pinky finger, too. It's too bad there is "stuff" in our foods, which affect so many. Also, it's a shame that buying pure foods and wholesome foods, are so expensive, especially for young growing families. You'd think, if people were eating healthier, it wouldn't cost so much more, but it does.

I need to start eating my spinach more regularly, too, because of my eyes. I used to eat it faithfully for 1 - 2 servings a day, got out of the habit, about December, and I have some here. I want to boil up some eggs, to have on salads, sliced, and we have cooked chicken, too. I thought that sounded tasty.

[Nancy]

I walked today and for my exercise did home blessing too.

[FelineFriend]

I did heavy lifting/hauling, lotsa LOL, lotsa housework, and moving today, for my activity. (I overdid, too.)

I'm trying to rest this evening, will try to be better at pacing tomorrow, because we have a busy weekend ahead of us. Next week's busy, too, for us.

[Twins' Mom]

I'm not getting in my 10K steps most day, it seems to have slipped off my radar and focus. Many days the dogs are only getting in one walk (because of colder weather and rain earlier in the week) and that impacts my steps of course. Yesterday both dogs had decent walks - dMacs was dead set that we were walking down the main street coming in here, so we wandered about some.

My weight - after the tummy illness - has stayed down. I'm at the lowest point I've hit since starting my worksheet in September and I've been at the low point for several days now, and I have a 17 day streak of remembering to record my weight. Need to continue efforts - two pounds would take me below a number with a zero at the end of it, always a milestone.

[Nancy]

I did 30 min on the gazelle, still need to get to the exercise bike. Happy feet 2 disney movie is on so that is a great time formit.

My exercise has Slipped a bit too, I felt puny yesterday and this a.m.

[FelineFriend]

I hope that those who have felt puny lately, are feeling much better by now!

I got out my "Yes, You Can With T-Tapp," Tapp-Core DVD. I received lessons, from DH, on how to operate the DVD-player. I seem to not be able to figure it out very well. It's a different TV and different player with a different remote, which is confusing me, I guess. I did the T-Tapp Shoulder exercises and the Sit-Down Hoe-Down. Now that I've refreshed my memory, how to do the Hoe-Downs, I'll do them on the folding chair in the entry hall, after I dust it and the chair next to if OFF! It was good to do the hoe-downs again, I'm totally rusty, and need to get back in the groove! I told Dsis about T-Tapp, gave her the website and told her the free videos are at You Tube, too. Also, as a "surprise" for Dsis, since I have that DVD, which tells all about T-Tapp, in a 90-minute interactive seminar, I will send my copy to Dsis. She has shoulder issues, etc... like I do, she'll love how this method's so neat, and I think she'll love it, too! I wanted to send it to her, after her shoulder surgery.

I'm most likely going to do hoe-downs, use my pedometer and do housework for exercise today, with stretching exercises and a bit of yoga/Pilates, too. I'm not planning to walk or bike today. But I'd love to clean house, to prepare for the week ahead.

I hope everyone's feeling better by now, too!

[Nancy]

I get my walk in for today's exercise.