Happy Anniversary Baby!

Well yesterday was the one year anniversary of the last time I had a cigarette and it was the easiest quit ever.    I have come to realize that I am actually in control of things like smoking - I can stop quite easily with minimal pain (nicotine gum for a couple of days) and easy to manage cravings.  It just isn't that hard!

I'm trying to apply the same mindset to my dietary lifestyle change.  I'm trying not to say I am on a "diet" and to invoke the phrase "going primal" instead and strangely it is harder to change the way I talk about what is happening than it is to change the foods I am eating...  Maybe because I need to think in advance about foods and the words just pop out uninvited... I'm not sure...

Looking around online for more info on the Paleo Diet I came across a series of reports from a San Francisco TV Health Watch program.  The TV doctor was going paleo and followed a diet prescribed by the research team at UCSF and the documentary clips are so interested I thought I should post them here... about half way down this page there are five links under the video clip - I think they are really worth a look.

I'm doing pretty well with going primal...  yesterday I made a huge pot of Italian style vegetable stew stuff...  

two onions chopped and softened by frying in a teaspoon of olive oil

two tins of tomatoes with no added preservatives or sugar

about twenty pitted kalamata olives

a generous sprinkle of Italian herbs and black pepper

about a tablespoon of garlic

a teaspoon of ginger

a teaspoon of chili

two carrots

six medium zucchini

one medium sweet potato

a quarter of a small pumpkin (skinned)

one large eggplant

about a cup and a half of red wine

any other vegetables you feel like adding.

It was super yummy - I ate a bowl and a half with just a little shaved Parmesan sprinkled on top.  Then I stir fried some lean kangaroo meat that had marinated in red wine and garlic (which I think could have been better if cooked on the BBQ). 

The tomato stuff made enough for maybe three meals for TLOML and I.  We ate as much as we wanted, then froze half of what was left and kept the other half fresh for eating today and tomorrow.

Not bad huh?  This is the Italian version of my standard one pot vegetable thingy...  I have an Asian style version and an Indian style version but they are all basically the same with different spices and flavours.  

Probably none of this sounds too amazing but seriously I didn't cook anything until this year really... except to run the BBQ grill and to grab processed food from the fridge I had nothing to do with food production until moving in with TLOML.  Now I cook heaps and we reheat my cooking on most of the other nights!

As an aside it is anniversary season for me...  in about a week and a half TLOML and I celebrate our first anniversary.  I have already bought a few little gifts online and have been having the fun of seeing them arrive almost daily.  I doubt TLOML will do anything much but that's fine.  I have the leisure and pleasure of shopping and choosing things while she is at work.

Do check out the video it really is enlightening...  There is another story about the study, two groups of diabetics were given diets for two weeks - one group was given the diet recommended by the Diabetes Association (the Mediterranean Diet) and the other group went Paleo -- the first group showed no significant changes while the Paleo group saw lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, lower blood sugar and lower triglycerides.  It even surprised the researchers what could happen in two weeks!  I hope my version of this diet does the same for me when I go in for my 30 day blood tests!

Day 7 since D Diagnosis Day & Diet

Well this time last week I got the dreaded news and I must say I have been quite proactive throughout this week.

I have joined an online health and diet tracking community at www.sparkpeople.com that allows me to input everything I eat and any exercise I do... it also tracks my weight loss (assuming I have any) and if and when I start measuring my blood sugar it can track that too.  I'm using the site to try and keep my interest level high and my focus intense.

On Friday night we went out for drinks that turned into dinner with TLOML's workmates.  Her boss (who is wonderful) was permanently confirmed into the position and it was truly cause for celebration.  I confined my drinking to Gin and Tonic (low sugar and low carbs) and though it still has calories it is better than wine or beer.  Then I managed to choose a meal from the menu where the only thing that was not Paleo approved was the mashed potato and I only had about half a cup.

Yesterday we went across to the mainland and saw the new James Bond movie Skyfall ... it was very good (if you like that sort of thing which I don't really)... we had lunch at the local Leagues club and I ordered a Gluten Free Option Kangaroo Salad made with lots of greens and lean kangaroo loin.  It was bloody delicious!!!  I should have taken a picture.  The waitress might not last long (but then again it was the Leagues club) because she put it on the table and promptly told me that she couldn't cope with eating Skippy...  Hmmmm... not the best marketing move LOL.  Kangaroo is a great option for any red meat eater who is dieting... it is tasty and lean and high in omega 3's, antioxidants etc (check out this link if you want some info)  Anyway I had a lovely lunch accompanied by ice water with a slice of lemon (free is me!) and didn't harm my diet in any way!

So things are going well... no spectacular weight loss... but to be honest that is not my focus anyway even though I could do to lose a few pounds my real intention is to change my blood sugar readings.

I really appreciate the comments and the support it is wonderful to know people are reading this and thinking about me even if only for a few minutes.

My thanks to you!

The view from the bottom of the valley...

Well it has been ages since I wrote a blog and there are a number of reasons why... I guess, in part, I didn't think I had anything to say or anything anyone else would find interesting...  I have been doing OK with University and I'm in the home stretch for the Masters...  Health wise I have been kind of bouncing along... not great... not terrible...  I appear to have entered menopause and for the past few months I have felt like I'm permanently experiencing severe PMS...  I've been pretty grouchy, very snappy and a bit paranoid...  I described myself to a friend today and told her that TLOML doesn't seem all that into me at the moment and she said (rightly) "Who would be into that?'

Well I thought I would start blogging again because yesterday I got some not great news and today I have begun the first part of a journey designed to turn my health around... (at least as much as possible).

Yesterday I got the results of a Glucose Tolerance test and it is the first test I have flunked since high school! My baseline fasting glucose was 7.2 (130 for my North American friends), then I drank the sugar drink and 60 minutes later it was 14.3 (258) and after another hour (120 minutes total) it was 13.5 (243)...  The doctor (who I have never named but she took over after Dr McSincere left) said she doesn't think it will be able to be controlled by diet but she wants to give me a month to try and get the levels down and then she will repeat the test (lucky me it cost five needles getting the test done the first time).

So here's the challenge... I am going to start a Primal/Paleo diet.  Taking sugar and grains out of my diet will not be easy but the alternative is most unattractive.

So here goes...  Today, without knowing it, I did the wrong thing by having some cereal for breakfast... no more cereal...  lunch was a hearty ham and eggs which, as counter-intuitive as it sounds, is apparently one of the best things I can eat...  dinner is on the stove chicken, brussel sprouts, broccoli, sweet potato, red cabbage, onion, garlic, chili, ginger, with a dash of wine (not much I promise).  I have ordered Krill Oil and will start that on Thursday.

Well I intend to find a site online to track my progress...  I have a friend in the US who has cured her own diabetes readings with this diet and she is going to coach me online...  I'm going to weigh myself but I'm not sure I am going to share that with you lot...

Wish me luck, I have not really done much with dieting in the past... I did the juice diet for most of a week last year...  I spent a few months on a low fat diet back in the mid 90's...  Still I never had as much motivation as I have right now - today!