Day 10

Hi,

I am still pretty pumped about yesterday's statistics. Then of course all the "second thoughts" start coming in, like will they go up today? What will happen when I start on the whole grains? Will I be able to manage controlling my portions and still feel like I've gotten enough to eat?  I think that is the old "diet" mentality kicking in.

If I consider it logically, there is no reason why my statistics should go up again, if I actually stay on the program, which I am planning on doing, so that one is shot down.

I will know what happens when I start the whole grains, by continued observation, so I can just test that out and see. I can make adjustments if it does not work. Especially if I don't wait until things are desperate, forcing me to eat wrong foods. The solution for that would likely be to eat breakfast and the required snacks -- or in other words: "stay on the program."

The biggest fear for me is the "portion control" -- which Dr. Rip alludes will need to take place only with the whole grains and proteins -- the vegetables will be unlimited. And I know the fruit cannot be unlimited because it does have sugar in it. I have not been eating fruit, except on rare occasions, for a long time.  I have been on programs before where the vegetables were unlimited but they did not seem to quell my hunger. Perhaps because I was not eliminating the fast carbs that cause the cravings on those programs.

My solution: I shall wait and see. I believe that I will have the option to make any changes I think I need to -- once I have actually tried and completed the program as written. Completing the program will be the test. And I have noticed that I'm getting the "full" feeling now. I opened the fridge one day and saw some hard boiled eggs in a metal colander but said to myself, "I'm not hungry" and closed the door. As I walked away, I knew that was good. I did not have to force myself to "not eat," it happened "on it's own" -- I really did not want to eat at that moment. I am not going to say the eating machine is off, yet, but that was an excellent sign.

Another concern I have is that I have noticed that for the past two days, my "plumbing" has been cramping a little. Perhaps I need to cut back on the cinnamon, based on the memory that when I used to eat cinnamon candies, it would make me sneeze (so I stopped eating them). I don't know if powdered cinnamon has anything to do with it, but I've only just added that one to the diet on a regular basis and maybe my system is not quite used to it -- or even does not tolerate it very well.  I had some on my breakfast cabbage but I will cut it out for a few days and see if things clear up. I am taking probiotics, which I usually do, so am not too overly concerned about it, for now. I had noticed a very odd and not too pretty taste in my mouth, but attributed that to the new diet, too. I guess I can only wait and see on that, too.

On day 8 the action item was to write up a menu for myself and make a grocery list based on that. That is not usually my style, but I am thinking maybe I should just do it and see how, or if, it works for me. So I combed through the last few lessons and gleaned out the actual items that are on the "snack" list and the permitted protein list. I am not eating whole grains or fruit yet, and the vegetables are unlimited so the snack and protein lists were the ones that I needed to get clear on.

There are a few "lists" in the book but much of the information is written in paragraph style so it is easy to over look something that can be included on my grocery list. I hope that if they do another edition they do two things: one, hire me to proof read it, (I need the work); and two, put actual lists in the margins or even in an index at the back of the book.

Just out of curiosity I looked at the back of the book to see if there were not any lists already included, or an index, and what I found was an amazing bibliography that actually has web links for some of the research that was done in the writing of the book. That means I can, if I so desire, go and read the original sources they are using for a lot of the information in the book -- although not every item has a web link. But no index, and no lists.

Even a "fill it in yourself" grocery list with "memory prompters" would be nice. I noticed that that is what I have done on the lists I have made. I need constant reminders of why I am doing this so I wrote at the top of the grocery list: "I am committed to good health"-- and also: "Always choose a whole food." At the bottom I wrote: "Just say 'no' to fast food." Having them in my own hand writing and choosing the ones that actually prompt me, personally, will help me. When I go through the store finding and checking off items, I constantly scan and mark off the whole list, and if it is my own handwriting, I will read those reminders, at least a dozen times before I am done shopping. I know that will keep me on track.

I am not actually quite finished with it yet, because all I have done so far is make the lists of what I can include, I have not made the grocery list. I need to go shopping soon. I have not gotten my EUC yet, so the funds are low, but I'm not desperate -- so postponing the shopping has another prompter, other than procrastination. I have enough to get by for now. (I just checked and the EUC has been deposited, so I can go shopping today or tomorrow. I am also looking forward to going to church tonight, so if the menus are not ready by then, then tomorrow may be the day.)

For some odd reason my salad with tuna and egg this afternoon did not satisfy me today. I wanted more to eat so heated up the only can of sauerkraut I've bought in my life. I usually buy it in a plastic bag, but even then I don't buy it often. Maybe every other year or so. I read the label on the can and it said cabbage, water and salt, so even though I consider it to be a processed food, it did not seem to be so bad. Rather than cooking it the way I normally would (in the pressure cooker) I steamed it with caraway seeds and turkey sausage. Won't be making that again, it smelled like dog food, but I ate half anyway, and put the rest away. Maybe it will be better after it sits. If I go shopping in the next day or two, I may just throw it away.

I've been thinking about that salad that did not fill me up and I realize that that is what always happened in the past, and even last Sunday at Steve and Linda's. The salad was only romaine lettuce because I'm running out of salad veggies and it did not satisfy me. I think the addition of broccoli and tomato may have helped, because those salads seem to fill me up. I will have to pay attention to this and get this worked out, too.

On to Day 10. "Add Diabetes-Healing Vegetables" -- "Making vegetables the main focus of your meals helps you lose weight without "trying," lowers insulin resistance, and allows your pancreas to catch its breath."

This is, even after everything else I've read in the program, a new way for me to look at a meal. I think I always thought of the meat as the main part and the veggies were a side dish, but, it seems that a more diabetic friendly plan is to make the veggies the star and put the protein in a supporting role. He says nothing about this, but I have been considering what this means. Should I make it two-thirds veggies and one-third protein? Or is some other ratio better? As I recall the meals I have been eating I think the veggies have been at least three-fourths and the protein one-fourth -- so maybe that is what I should shoot for -- it has been working, so it does not need to be fixed. I guess it may not matter to get that technical with it, just make sure I plan the meal around the veggies and add some protein to it.

I like this chapter a lot. As I read, I was making notes about the veggies to add to my "list" -- but I also included the information about what vitamins and minerals were in each different one, and what improvement it makes in a diabetic's body. This was good information. Some of it they have listed before, but I was ready for this information in this package to help me choose what to buy.

The two stars of the whole list were romaine lettuce and broccoli, which appeared in nearly every healthy category because they contain so many vitamins and minerals and other good substances to heal the body, but there were definitely a whole list of other veggies to choose from that have healing properties, which he explains in detail in the book starting on page 171.

I also liked finding out that celery will help to lower blood pressure -- which they had mentioned before in the book, but now I made a note of it. The celery is quite prominent in my mind because my sister-in-law had to go on a low salt program advised by her doctor because of her high blood pressure and she discovered that celery has a lot of naturally occurring salt in it. For this reason she stopped eating it. So now that Dr. Rip says that celery actually lowers blood pressure, I am taking that as confirmation that excess salt and high blood pressure don't really have much to do with each other. I have believed it was an "old wives tale" for quite a few years, based on the fact that every time I personally read any research where they actually checked this out, salt turned out to have no effect on blood pressure, either good or bad. Of course that is not the current and popular wisdom, so mostly people think I am nuts when I say that. But, here is a little bit of proof, in the celery.

Dr Rip not only lists which ones to eat but gives advice on how to prepare or cook them. He gives some very simple recipes for certain items, that I think he must be eating himself.

So now I have a new focus: plan the meal around the veggies and add a protein. Easy enough.

Be back soon

--Marcia