Day 22

Hey and Howdy,

I just got off of my old Aerofit machine where I did 15 minutes of relaxed walking but at a fast comfortable speed. I have been doing 12 minutes -- sporadically -- but my personal doctor and The 30 Day Diabetes Cure both now tell me that I need to do 30 minutes a day. I was doing 12 minutes plus shoulder and upper body exercises that I learned from my physical therapist a year or more ago, plus crunches, plus cervical traction, with knee stretches afterward to stop or keep the spasms in my back to a minimum. All that takes about 30 minutes so I've been comfortable with that. But I only had the goal of three times a week and would skip sometimes and the more I skipped the less likely I was to resume. So the more I skipped, the more I skipped -- even though my body loves exercise and it always makes me feel better, (one to have accomplished it, and two, exercise just makes a body feel good) -- in the past it has been like pulling teeth to get me up off the lazy boy and onto the Aerofit. I think I am getting closer to looking forward to it now, though, because the more I do it, the more I want to do it.

Odd how both what you eat and the exercise you do, today, will affect what you eat and whether you exercise tomorrow. And if you are headed in a bad direction today, you will still be pulled in that direction, tomorrow. But if you are headed in a good direction today, tomorrow will likely also be in a good direction. So, if I do what I need to do today, I will feel better about it, today, and tomorrow will take care of itself. Ha!

In the book Dr Ripich says that exercise is cumulative, which I also learned from the old book called "Fit or Fat" (by Covert Bailey) a long time ago. As I thought about that concept, I've also been trying to decide, whether I want to do 10 minutes three times a day on the Aerofit, or stay at the 12 plus the other exercises -- or do 15 minutes twice a day. If you are doing 12, 15 is only 3 more minutes so that is not too much to do once in the morning and once in the afternoon -- although my back is usually hurting by the time I get to 12. I still think I can do it. In the past, the more I do it, the less the back hurts. I can see that I have options and since I really don't like to keep doing the same thing all the time, maybe I can just mix them up. Today I did 15 minutes on the Aerofit, plus the upper body and shoulder exercises. I've been looking at another book my doctor gave me and got an idea of an exercise that I have added to the upper body stuff which I do with one of those stretchy cords with handles on it.

Mine broke the other day but I was able to just pull more of the cord through the base of the handle and tie a big knot in the end, which I did to both sides. It really shortened the cord up, but it was too long before and is now the perfect size for me. I remember in the 70's an old roommate of mine showed me that you can buy stretchy cords at a medical supply company. It is the flexible tubing that they sell by the yard. It was really cheap back then. If my cord breaks again, I'll look up one of those companies and see if they still sell that stuff and replace the cord. The handles are well made and I like them, so if I can replace the cord, I'll be happy.

I just have to interject that God is good and I am grateful that He watches over me!! Praise the Lord.

For breakfast I had eggs and spinach, for lunch I had beans and chicken. Two hours have passed and the stomach burn has started. Those beans are really playing a number on the belly. Maybe it is the kind, or the amount or the way I cooked them. I'll try some variations and see what happens. I got another good blood sugar reading (117) after eating the beans so I think that is confirmation that the beans are OK -- at least in the blood sugar department. Now if I can figure out how to stop the burn... I think a salad might help that out. Raw veggies seem to keep my PH balanced pretty well. I need to go shopping because the raw veggie larder needs to be replenished. I think that is why I skipped the salad for lunch. I'll have one for a snack and see if that fixes the tummy burn.

I also took the time to look up the Belly Fat Cure and found another Diabetes book with almost the same name as the one I am following. It is called the 30 Day Diabetes Miracle. Out of curiosity I checked that out, too. The Belly Fat Cure seems to be by an exercise guy (nothing wrong with that -- but the approach is usually different) who had come out with one program and then came out with another one that contradicts the first one. I suppose if you find your information is wrong, it would be wrong to not make the change, so, kudos to him. But from the little I read about it, there is a lot of "counting" going on. Only 15 grams for sugar per day -- which is a good direction to head. I am not sure if that is from actual sugar or from starchy carbs that produce sugar. He does not advocate much fruit and has different lists for people with different tastes. Overall, since belly fat, does come from sugar, that would make reasonable sense to minimize the sugars, and read labels to keep track of what your are consuming. I hope AR (who was recently making comments) will clue us in to his/her experience on the program and what it is like. If anyone else would like to chime in, please feel free. There may be others who would like to hear what you have to say. Become a follower and participate -- the more the merrier.

When I looked at the Miracle book, I read inside, at Amazon, and found that this one is vegetarian. It sound pretty similar to what I am doing except I get to eat meat on mine. I tried the vegetarian approach a few years ago and decided that since my edema started while being a vegan -- that maybe I needed to eat animal protein. After I started eating meat again my cholesterol reduced from up over 350 to 211 and my triglycerides and everything came back down to normal. I don't think I was sticking to "whole" foods as they are described in that program, though, so the flaw in what I was doing may have been that I was still eating processed flours even though they were whole wheat, instead of white flour, and supposedly better for me (I was following the McDougal program at the time, and just taking his word for it. I did not have tests I could do myself to monitor and validate whether what I was doing was working for my body or not). I did not at that time, yet know I was a carbo addict -- so vegan is not the way I will be heading. And since I've found that even whole grains cause blood sugar problems for me, I am really sure that I need to keep them to an absolute minimum, meaning once in blue moon, if not entirely eliminated.


The program I am doing (The 30 Day Diabetes Cure) allows meat or I would never have done it. It also advocates the whole grains thing, but as this blog has stated, that does not work for me. Even so, I can see that the big advantage of the "30 Day Diabetes Cure" is that it literally holds your hand, day by day, and teaches you and encourages you as you go along. For me, the blogging has helped, too. I really like the approach that Dr Ripich and Jim Healthy have come up with. The day by day thing makes it easy to make small changes, focused on one issue at a time which keeps the overwhelm at a minimum. Some of the changes are major, but if you can see that there is a need for them, and why, and put your mind to it, they are not really that big when done one day at a time.  And their book really explains the "why" in very good detail without sounding like a medical book. The reading is juicy, not dry, because of the way it is written and approached.

I think that when the 30 days are up, especially since I have to stay with phase 1, I am going to read it again and tweak my program further. Getting reacquainted with the "why" always keeps me focused in the right direction.

Well. On to day 22. Adding restaurants, parties and travel.  "You've been learning and practicing for the past three weeks." I loved that statement. I also liked: "...having come this far, you have what it takes to go all the way." As I thought about it. I think that is true. Last night after church we had a retirement party for one of the members and that ALWAYS means cake and ice cream. It also means there will be a bowl of nuts. Yippee. I can attend the party and not be focused on the food -- but on the friends. That was a nice change. Since the eating machine has been turned off, I really was not even interested in the pornographic food, with all it's fake colors and slippery fake food. I got a plate of nuts, a glass of water with ice, and went and talked to a few friends. I was perfectly content -- whereas before I would literally have been watching the cake (I did not even see it this time, and do not know what it looked like as a whole!), and noticing who was getting seconds. Is that not the oddest thing? I noticed and really liked the change. I did not even feel that compulsive rush to get in line before the cake runs out!  Wow, what a change.

Day 22 is chock full of tips and tricks for keeping yourself on track in all situations. Eating a healthy meal before going to a party will make it possible for you to simply have a few pieces of cheese, some nuts, and water and the focus will be about hanging out with friends and meeting new people. Choosing the most healthy items on the restaurant menu, and about simply not going to fast food joints  -- bowing out, if others insist on going there. Personally I think a fast food salad, if you are careful which one you choose, can be OK. You may have already noticed that you don't really need salad dressing if you keep a tiny bottle of herbs in your purse or pocket. Sprinkling with your favorite Italian herbs really adds depth to a salad and if you bring a spray bottle of EVOO (and vinegar if you like), you don't need anything else to make it glisten and taste good.

Taking snacks in little zip-lock packs will tide you over when you need it. If you recall, I mentioned that at the church I go to they all eat candy while listening to the sermon. (I've  never seen anything like it before, and I was doing that too, until I started on day 1 which eliminates sugar.)  One Sunday as I was rushing out the door, knowing I was skipping breakfast, I took the time to throw some walnuts and baby carrots into the same pack, and threw them into my purse. I was glad a few hours later when I had started to get really hungry and the sermon went long that day, to pull the pack to the top of my purse and munch on walnuts and carrots instead of grabbing a piece of candy. Stopping the candy eating was easier than I thought it might be. The first day or two was a little tough, but once a stand is taken, and you stick to it, you soon begin to find you no longer want it. It is no longer even appetizing. It begins to look fake, because of all the fake carnival colors and the rustle of the paper is annoying, too. If you are looking for healthy foods, you will find them.

Begin reading at page 291 to find all the tips, tricks, and alternatives to help you stay healthy while dealing with friends, restaurants, and holiday occasions.

Don't forget to become a follower. Or leave a comment if you'd like to express yourself and support others on this subject. Since going back to the phase one veggies and protein, I am feeling much better. Will be reporting on the BP in a few days -- after the adjustment is getting settled in.

Be back soon,

--Marcia