Whole Foods for Health Reasons Revisited + Elimination Diet Challenge (Comments Welco

[digiMom]

Hi. It's been a while since I was on the WISH boards. I'm about to go on a journey, and thought I'd start my own journal. I thought about some weight loss sites, but that just didn't seem right. I'm on the DISboards all the time anyway, so here I go. I'm just gonna lay it all out and be honest with myself here. If you're the kind of person that doesn't like TMI, this might not be the read for you.

I'm 43 years old. I'm close to 200 lbs, but it's been steady for about 10 years and I've carried it well. Up to about a year ago anyway. That's when I started gaining around my middle for the first time. Very frustrating. I've always exercised moderately: walking, light weights, stationary bike, etc. I don't eat awfully, although it's not great either. My blood pressure went up about 2 years ago and I started having to take a low dose of lisinopril. I also had the mirena put in about 6 months before that.

I was starting to get odd symptoms creaping up on me for the last year. Feeling like bugs under my skin on my legs and arms. Couldn't concentrate. Felt like I was in a fog. Constant headache. Dizziness. Insomnic. Food felt like it just sat in my stomach. Sore joints. Felt like they were on fire, very painful. Sore breasts. Lots of underarm sweating. Reduced libido. Everything bothered me. I was very cranky and short tempered. Recent mammogram shows 3 lumps in my left breast.

OK, so things need to change, right? I can't keep going down this path or I'm going to die. (Excuse me for being melodramatic, but that's how I felt). So, first thing I did was get my mirena out. I had read it could cause probelms, but was somewhat skeptical. I don't want to make a long list because this is already getting long, but everything in the list above has improved or gone away. As far as my mammogram, an ultrasound confirmed and I have to go back in 4 months to see if there's any change.

So about 3 nights ago I'm on Netflix and decide to watch Forks Over Knives. Has anyone seen this? Anyway, it seemed to hit a nerve with me. It has two researchers and various doctors that basically say that a diet of meat and dairy causes cancer to grow, in addition to other health problems. It states we should be eating whole food grains and veggies. I don't know if I'll be able to go that far, but I'm going to try.

So here I go. I'm going to the grocery store on my way home and stock up some things. I already have liver detox tea, as I think I'll be feeling gross as the toxins start leaving my body from the processed foods I've been eating. I'm also am taking Q-10 for my bp and Evening Primrose Oil to try to straighten out my hormones. I bought some 5htp, but honestly, that stuff kind of scares me so we'll see. Oh, and a daily vitamin. I'm going to try to cut out the lisinopril once a month. Right now, if I stop it the bottom number starts creaping up again. I'm only taking 5 mg/day, so hope it won't take long to stop needing it.

So wish me luck. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, I'm open to them. I go to DW the 20th of January for 7 days, so looked through their vegetarian offerings. I know I won't eat vegetarian the whole time. The chicken swarma (Spelling?) platter at Morocco looks really yummy. And sorry but I have to have a pizza at Toy Story Pizza Planet. But so many of the options look really good, so I'm going to give it a try.

Thanks so much for letting my ramble. It seems to help already.

EDIT - July 1, 2013: I'm starting an elimination diet, as some of the issues above started happening again. I noticed I was reacting to vinegar in salad dressing this spring (burning mouth) and thought I'd pursue this course. I'm not eating eggs or tomatoes, as I tested allergic to those about 25 years ago. Also avoiding anything mold related, such as yeast (a surprising number of things are effected, including soy sauce, vinegar, drinks...), wheat, coffee, soda, corn, soy, & dairy. See the start of it on Page 3; post #38.

~Kathy

SUMMARY

2011
Dec 7 199 lbs; bp 149/99 (Mirena out)
Dec 22: Find out I have 3 lumps in left breast (fluid)
Dec 29: Start whole foods

2012
Jan 4: Find out I have a cyst on my left ovary
Jan 7: 191 lbs; bp 115/81
Jan 20: 190 lbs; bp ?
Jan 20-28: DW trip
Jan 29: 192 lbs; bp 120/72
Feb 10: 189 lbs; bp 123/83
Feb 28: 190 lbs
March 2: 189 lbs
March 29: 191 lbs (cr@p!); bp 108/81 -- plateau...
Dec 22: Knee injury

2013
June 10: 200 lbs
June 30: 185 lbs; bp118/86
July 27: 183 lbs

 

[digiMom]

Here's what I'm going to use as my guide.

Right now I'm thinking of meat and dairy as a "garnish". We'll see how that goes.

Breakfast I had a piece of toast with peanut butter and some detox tea. Felt pretty cr*ppy, but also having my friend for the first time in over 2 years, so who knows.

Lunch I had a side salad with light italian dressing, some sunflower seeds and some roasted red pepper hummus with pretzels to dip. I hate to say but I had about 1/3 of a plastic bottle of diet coke. I've been drinking a lot of water today, too. I feel better, so maybe I was having a caffiene withdrawl headache. I was only drinking a cup of coffee in the morning, but who knows. My tummy feels good right now, though, too. Let's see how the rest of the day goes.

 

[Rose&Mike]

good luck with your diet change!

You might also want to think about gluten as a culprit....

I tried everything-- went vegetarian. Ate very healthy 90% of the time the last 18 months before giving up gluten and just felt worse and worse and worse. The more fiber I ate the worse I felt. I gave up gluten in February of this year, and while it hasn't been perfect I am feeling so much better. My family is noticing a huge difference and my symptoms continue to improve.

Anyhow, I hope the new food plan works great for you--but just in case, thought I'd throw it out there.

And I think giving up diet soda is a great idea. I have not had aspartame since Dec 2009 and it was one of the best decisions I ever made!

Good luck!

 

[digiMom]

good luck with your diet change!

You might also want to think about gluten as a culprit....

Rose, thanks for your kind words. I've been considering gluten actually. I saw your journal and actually considered posting you a comment as well

I know it takes a lot of effort to keep gluten out of your diet. I figured I'd try this first and pursue the gluten angle if it seems like it's not 'working'.

Back to my journal: Yesterday I had a tangerine for an afternoon snack.

For dinner last night I had a spring mix salad w/italian dressing; cooked broccoli, carrots and cauliflower; brown rice; and a little bit of boiled chicken breast (like maybe 1/3 of it). I drank lemon water.

After dinner, DH and I took our dog for a walk. It was about 40 degrees with no wind, so not too bad. When I got back, did some crunches, and arm and leg work.

Last night my headache came back, so I'm wondering if I'm getting it from one of the supplements I'm taking. Maybe the evening primrose. I've only been taking it for 2 weeks, so who knows. I'm only taking 2/3 of the recommended dose. I'll stop it and see if it makes things better. I slept really bad last night. I woke up several times with really strange dreams, I think a result of the headache. I still have a slight headache this morning. Maybe it's simply hormonal...

This morning I had Kashi crunch cereal with berries with soy milk. First time with soy milk. It wasn't too bad. Also had a tangerine. I'm currently drinking my detox tea.

That's it. I have off today, so I'm going to take it easy. I have diner at my MIL house tonight, so it's going to be difficult staying on track. We'll see how it goes...

 

[digiMom]

A little bp info. On December 7, the day I had my mirena removed, my blood pressure was 149/99

Yesterday when I got home from work, it was 117/77. Pulse of 66...

 

[digiMom]

Yesterday, lunch was a nice salad with apple slices and walnuts. Plus a couple of rye crackers with hummus.

Dinner was harder. Yummy, but harder. When you have an Italian MIL, you eat well.

So, I had lasagne, salad, Italian bread, corn, 3 bean salad, red wine, amaretto, cake... Not perfect but what are you going to do. It was a holiday meal. Plus there was a lot of good veggies involved. I skipped the huge parmasian chicken.

So started again today with bowl of Kashi clusters with flax and almonds and soy milk. I never thought soy milk would work. You know, I like it better in my cereal. Maybe I should check out the whole tofu thing?

 

[gudrench3]

You are doing great!!! You can do it! I am mostly vegetarian and have been for about 3 years now!!! It is amazing how much your body will thank you once you get to eating the good (whole foods). Good luck and keep it up!!!

 

[digiMom]

New Years was kind of rough. Don't get me wrong, I had fun. And I was actually pretty good. O think I only slipped up a little. Like I took the turkey out of a sandwich and gave it to DH. So basically a veggie sandwich. But I think the bread had some cheese baked into it. The worst was getting a bad headache (again) in the middle of the party around 10 or 11 pm. I just sat down. The headache's been gone for two days now, though. So I think it was hormonal. Although I stopped everything except for the lisinopril and multivitamin.

I got on the scale and am 5 pounds down in the approx 25 days since the mirena was removed. I'll take it...

gudrench3: Thanks for the words of encouragement. I am starting to feel better today. Who knows why, I changed so many things at the same time. But really it doesn't matter why. I was feeling so awful a month ago that I'll just say 'thank you' and go with it.

 

[digiMom]

Today was good. Stayed home with the fam. Took down decorations. Ate what I was supposed to and worked out.

And added 2 days to the end of my upcoming trip! I'm so excited! How can you not have a good day when that happens!

 

[digiMom]

OK, I'm at work and trying not to laugh. I had a bowl of kashi cereal for breakfast and a veggie wrap for lunch. Anyway, I'm trying not to... umm... well.. pass gas. It's not funny. OK it is. I can't believe I'm posting this. I guess I'm not used to this type of food yet...

 

[digiMom]

Had some yummy soup for lunch. Dinner was some veggie pizza. I know there's cheese on it and it wasn't whole wheat. But there were lots of veggies. (Yeah, keep telling yourself it's OK )

I noticed a bump on my shoulder blade. I had my DH look at it, and it looks weird. If it doesn't go away I'm going to get it checked out.

 

[digiMom]

I was pretty good today. Oatmeal with cranberries and flax for breakfast. Lunch was salad with carrots plus orange juice. Oh, and a few rye crackers, garlic hummus and some flat pretzels. Dinner was a baked potato with my sauteed Italian veggies. I had H20 to drink. There were also a couple of tangerines in there.

Rode the exercise bike for 40 minutes and did leg lifts, sit ups etc.

I made an appointment with my doc for this bump on my back. I'm guessing it's a cyst... maybe a boil. I'm hoping anyway. It's pretty irritated; I have a band aid over it right now.

I finally got a call with the results of my ultrasound. There's a cyst on my left ovary. (I knew it.) So in 3 months have to go back for another one to see if there's any change. Hopefully that's enough time for my diet to effect it. My mom had ovarian cancer, so it makes me rather nervous. I have a feeling this is going to be an expensive year...

 

[digiMom]

OK, so I admit that my focus right now is on my health. I've had a few scares recently and I really just want to feel better and be healthy. That's different than in the past. Although I've always said that my goal is to be healthy, this time it just feels different. I'm thinking of food and exercise from a different perspective. It's hard to put into words. Because I've said the words before. But it really is a different mindset. Before I've felt like I was doing something that was work. Something that deprived myself. This time I feel like I'm doing something to help myself. And my family who needs me. It's been easier than before for me. It's like "just do it". I don't know if any of this makes sense. The weight coming off is just a byproduct of me trying to get healthy.

Anyway, with that said I had a special surprise this morning. I got on the scale and realized I've lost about 8 pounds this month. What? That's insane. My blood pressure is so much better. I wish I could have gotten to the doctor quicker because I'll admit this thing on my back has me really worried. I used to go from here in Wisconsin to Florida for pretty much much every spring break as a kid to visit family. I remember getting really burned almost every time. (This was in the 70s and 80s.) And I'm the kind of person that is fair with freckles. I'm just kind of freaked out.

 

[digiMom]

This weekend was interesting. I had simple granola breakfasts. Saturday was interesting: lunch at Culver's and dinner at a Chinese restaurant. So had Culver's veggie burger that looked liked the patty had rice, oats, mushrooms... maybe some cheese. It was tasty. At the Chinese place tried a tofu dish and veggie fried rice. I think my calories were up, definitely my salt. (The next morning my mouth actually felt salty.)

Yesterday was a nice salad and Chinese leftovers. I got in a good workout.

I've taken to drinking water with a squeeze of lemon wedge. Very tasty.

I'm having the 'mole'/freckle thing on my back checked out today (4:15 CST). If anyone is reading this today, prayers would be welcome.

 

[digiMom]

I thought I'd make these thoughts a separate post...

After everyone went to sleep last night I thought about how the people in my life depend on me. My DD is 15 and has some special needs. She's in regular school with extra help. I help her with a lot of things, from homework to fixing her hair. DS is 11. He's a great kid. Really sensitive, though. He likes to talk about how he should handle things like how kids are acting at school and stuff. I'm glad he feels like he can talk to me. DH and I have a great relationship. There's a lot of things I do because he's not a detail-oriented kind of guy. But if you need something done, let him know and he's there! My mom had cancer a little over 5 years ago. She used to live with us but has since got an apartment. She has these weird anxiety issues and won't get a checking account among other things. She no longer drives, so if she needs to go anywhere it's me who does it. It can be hard. And then there's my silly puppy. She's 3 and a hoot. She even has a hidden Mickey on her back! But she requires medicine twice a day or she'll leak pee all over my house. There's more, but these are the most prominent in my life right now.

All good reasons to keep myself healthy. If I'm so willing to give all of them my love and attention, I should be willing to do the same for myself...

 

[digiMom]

This has been a really busy week! My DD sinus infection came back and had to take her back to the dr's office. DH's breaks went out, so I had to rearrange my schedule to get us both to and from work while the repairs were done. I had my dr's appt yesterday. DD has a birthday party for the family this Sunday (Go Packers!). Never a dull moment.

I kept to my vegan commitment pretty well. There was one night I just grabbed what my mom made for dinner for the kids because I got in so late. Fish (frozen breaded kind), baked french fries and some veggies. I was so hungry I just ate it. I didn't notice anything right away, but felt sluggish the next day. Kinda blah.

I had some cramping and pain in lower left abdomen yesterday, so think I was ovulating and my cyst acted up. I haven't lost weight this week, but think that that has something to do with it. Plus all the stresses of this week.

The dermatologist said my back is fine. It actually started getting better on Thursday night (lighter in color). She had a name for it but I can't remember. She said it does freak people out. She did a full check and said the only item of interest is a mole on my right shoulder. Slight chance of future problems, but to just keep an eye on it.

Next week at this time I'll be in DW! Yeah! Keeping fingers crossed for good weather!

 

[digiMom]

Leaving tomorrow. Let's look at our list:

Packed: Mostly checked
3 of us with sinus infections: check
Winter weather advisory with 5 inches of snow: check
Search hours and hours for my camera battery and charger with no results: check

Looks like I'm right on schedule!

 

[Jane E.]

Thanks for recommending "Forks over Knives". I've never heard of it. I netflixed it, and dh and I watched it the other night - great movie. Just the motivation we needed to add more fruits and veggies to our diet. Have fun at Disney - Orlando's temp today is 76 - don't give up on that camera battery, it has to be around somewhere.

 

[digiMom]

I just got back yesterday. Wow, I'm what would best be described as happily exhausted! I did find my battery and charger. Whew! My sinus infection did cause pain on the decent. Quite a bit, actually. But the medicine and flight earplugs made it doable and no broken ear drums.

Weather was fabulous. Near record highs in the low 80s. I could definitely get used to that.

I have to admit, I didn't adhere exactly to my diet there. I did pretty good, though, considering. Had some grilled veggie subs, veggie burgers and salads. I did have some chicken and fish dishes that were really good. The new lunch buffet at CSR is fabulous. I'll go through some specific meals later. The temptation of desserts on the dining plan is hard, though. I got fruit a lot, but did grab a few carrot cakes and brownies. (Yummy...)

So a 9 day DW trip resulted in (drum roll please) .... a 2 pound gain. I weighed myself the morning I left and was 190; I weighed 192 this morning. Not too bad considering everything.

Back to reality and the cold tundra. Getting off the plane was a rough gig. I could actually see my breath in the jetway. Brrr!

 

[OceanAnnie]

Good for you going to WDW! Sounds like you had a good trip. Gaining 2 pounds is not bad.

Never heard of, "Forks over knives", I'll have to look for it.

Do you think you are drinking enough water? Sometimes headaches can come from dehydration.

You're doing great!