Health and Fitness, June 2020

[Harmony]

RunKitty, I'd be much more comfortable eating the way you do. But for right now I'm trying a version of this. There are things I will (hopefully) never do again. Just figuring this out for me. I don't want to wait until its too late.

[Harriet]

Oh, if that's not too complicated a recipe, do let me know, RunKitty. My next-up supper-type experiment to try is butternut squash macaroni-no-cheese from Kim Campbell. But I don't want to make it until dd is back home, possibly Wednesday. I was trying to remember if you were completely off the dairy - thought you might be. You're inspiring.

Hurray for the weight loss here, LadyM and Twins' Mom. Twins' Mom even found her former even number - I love when that happens.

HRH was at 235 today, such a relief after scary weight-climb this time last year. He remembers he was 218 the morning of our wedding day, and is thinking of 220 as a goal. But he also hopes to build back some muscle now, too, so I hope he doesn't get discouraged as he will probably see-saw.

Blood sugar chat - HRH's experiences have given me a lot of compassion for anyone with a label of future-diabetes, to deal with the "common knowledge" that it is always progressive. He had blood sugar issues once years ago but got well. It's as simple as that, but it's hard for many to believe. Then, yes, he became an unusual patient with very high blood sugars artificially induced. Hard, again, for many to believe that that did not label him a diabetic who can never get well. New pharmacist questioned the other day why HRH wasn't on a statin (?) if he's on (a tiny dose of) glimepiride and an arm monitor.

The "common knowledge" is that blood sugar issues mean inevitable diabetes and diabetes means inevitable metabolic syndrome with high cholesterol, triglycerides and obesity. So if a doctor isn't prescribing all the drugs, the doctor must be inattentive. It's sad that this discouraging attitude is so common, and I think this is how unnecessary meds get started. I told HRH he needs to go on their site and find his page and make sure former meds are clearly in the past.

Harmony, I suppose my description did seem that it could add weight, but I don't mean that starchy portion sizes have to be large, necessarily. I just meant if it's a plant, we eat it, and if we want something filling, there are a lot of comforting, hunger-stopping alternatives. I am seldom without sweet potatoes and can't imagine not considering a whole one to be my portion, honestly. I've never felt they made me gain, but I don't put anything on them. Beans do a body so much good, but just a few portions a day are enough. Thyroid issues will make you feel cloudy-headed at times, yes - I hope the change helps!

I'm playing around with the idea of having non-starchy vegetables as my first food of the day and moving other breakfast foods I like to brunch or lunch. This is traditional in several Asian and Latin American countries. I saw it written up in a book by Chef A. J. and Glen Merzer. They found that when people in U.S. were told to eat lots of non-starchy vegetables for weight loss, the ones succeeding were the ones eating the veggies early. The reason given would be that unless they did it early, they would never get around to including as many as they planned. So the book recommends a pound of non-starchy vegetables at breakfast (or first breakfast, if you want something else later) - anything you like, roasted, raw, etc.

[RunKitty]

Here is the recipe:

African Peanut Stew (vegan)
Save PrintPrep time
10 minsCook time
45 minesTotal time
55 mins
Total Cost: $5.64
Cost Per Serving: $0.94
Serves: 6 (1.5 cups each)
Ingredients
1 Tbsp vegetable oil $0.02
4 cloves garlic $0.32
1 inch fresh ginger $0.15
1 medium (1 lb.) sweet potato $1.32
1 medium onion $0.42
1 tsp cumin $0.10
¼ tsp crushed red pepper $0.02
1 (6oz.) can tomato paste $0.59
½ cup natural style chunky peanut butter $0.93
6 cups vegetable broth $0.81
½ bunch (2-3 cups chopped) collard greens $0.75
¼ bunch cilantro, garnish (optional) $0.21

Instructions
Peel and grate the ginger using a small holed cheese grater. Mince the garlic. Sauté the ginger and garlic in vegetable oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, or until the garlic becomes soft and fragrant.
Dice the onion, add it to the pot, and continue to sauté. Dice the sweet potato (1/2 inch cubes), add it to the pot, and continue to sauté a few minutes more, or until the onion is soft and the sweet potato takes on a darker, slightly translucent appearance. Season with cumin and red pepper flakes.
Add the tomato paste and peanut butter, and stir until everything is evenly mixed. Add the vegetable broth and stir to dissolve the thick tomato paste-peanut butter mixture. Place a lid on the pot and turn the heat up to high.
While the soup is coming up to a boil, prepare the collard greens. Rinse the greens well, then use a sharp knife to remove each stem (cut along the side of each stem). Stack the leaves, then cut them into thin strips. Add the collard strips to the soup pot.
Once the soup reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and allow it to simmer without a lid for about 15 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are very soft. Once soft, smash about half of the sweet potatoes with the back of a wooden spoon to help thicken the soup. Taste the soup and add salt if needed (will depend on the brand of broth used).
Serve the stew hot with a few cilantro leaves if desired.

I add more sweet potatoes and also 2 or 3 cups of cooked chick peas for extra protein.

[Harmony]

Happy surprise today. Drs. office responded to my email and in my personal file I was able to see all my latest lab results which other dr. hadn't posted. This time my fasting glucose number was 96 though my A1C is 5.7. They still have me pegged as pre-diabetic though.

I'm seeing a bit of stalling of weight loss. I actually did way better with very low carb / low fat diet when I last did that. Weight loss with that was steady. Probably doing something wrong. One can't just look at labels and figure out % that way, stuff didn't make sense... and counting calories still counts (which they say you don't have to do).

[Twins' Mom]

Harmony, I think your A1C at 5.7 is the exact number where pre diabetes starts so you're good there. I think once one of those labels is put on your chart, it sticks. I know that dh is still considered a diabetic but he's a "controlled diabetic."

So far this week I've averaged over 10K steps daily. Today my left knee is achy. I know I don't need to push my joints to far, too fast. It's been the right that has ached.

[Harriet]

Two pieces of important info from American Diabetes Association:

When it comes to the numbers, there's no one-size-fits-all target. A1C target levels can vary by each person's age and other factors, and your target may be different from someone else's.

A1C test results give you a picture of your average blood sugar level over the past two to three months.

Twins' Mom is right that 5.7 to 6.4 is labeled pre-diabetes, so the computer is programmed to throw you into the "pre-diabetes" pack, but you need to remember the above. These are just suggested ranges for doctors to consider, and your body didn't agree to them. You're about as close to not-pre-anything, especially since your morning reading was fine.

Also, this is your average over 2 to 3 months, so obviously you have been doing a lot of things right for a while now, and don't need to be criticizing yourself.

96 in the morning is well within ordinary, not-pre-anything range on that day, and would suggest that on that day you were even doing better than the previous 2 to 3 months. Looks like you are continuing your trend of getting more ordinary all the time.

[Harmony]

Well, the 96 was a surprise. I looked at all my back lab results and I haven't been under 105, 107, 108 range since something like 2016. That's a lot of years. As for the A1c, I tried to look at that trend, and couldn't figure that out. Still need to look at it again. Sometimes they give that name a different name and then they abbreviate that. Try Glycohemoglobin, glycoslated hemoglobin, hemoglovin A1C, HBa1c, or HGBA1c, glycated hemoglobin. Yes I wrote that all down. Spell check doesn't like any of these names.

Actually don't know why the A1C was this good this time. I know how bad I'd been.

[LadyMaverick]

Question....has anyone used XCode Life to get recommendations according to their DNA?

I barely know what I am asking. I am seeing people talk about it. Doing a cut/paste...
you can do the DNA test through Ancestry or 23 and Me, then upload your results to XCode Life for dietary results and other tests. It's really fascinating to get the results!

[Twins' Mom]

Nope, haven't done LadyM. I've done DNA tests at Ancestry and 23&Me, but my interest is in matching for genealogy purposes. Wish I could tell you more!