We've Got This

"In sickness and in health..."
My husband and I didn't include any traditional wedding vows in our ceremony 31 years ago. Luckily we both love each other enough to stick it out no matter what comes our way. Myopathy, brain tumor, TB, Diabetes, Liver Disease, Diverticulitis, COVID, a Regime in the US. I could keep going but you get the picture. 

 

My guy eats peanut butter as much as these squirrels love peanuts.

My man has been having some health scares lately. He's been pretty borderline diabetic for the last eight years. But this past year it was severe enough that he had to start medication for it and seriously avoid alcohol and carbs. He wasn't a big drinker before anyway, so we thought it wasn't too serious.

Then recently his liver enzyme blood work came back very high. He had an ultrasound that led to a diagnosis of fatty liver. We were both confused. He hadn't been drinking, he cut out almost all carbs and only ate white meat. What's going on? His doctor then ordered a different kind of scan and lab repeat. The scan showed that he has "severe fibrosis" in his liver. Which is one step down from cirrhosis.  

Everyone's body is different. He's also under a lot of stress and pressure with his work. And who isn't stressed out right now in America? I'm thinking that like me, he just had a strong reaction to something. Likely a combination of diet and environment. Fortunately also like me he is a "take action" kind of person, not a "wallower."  

Everything we are planning on doing to help his liver and diabetes is also good for me and my body. So it's really a win-win as long as we're serious and stick to the eating plan.

We both found this list helpful. 

He's now cut out all dairy and sugar. Going easy on fruits and heavy on veg. 

To help us out I subscribed us to a new meal delivery system. It delivers fresh made, organic, Vegan meals to our house weekly. Since I have a problem with portion control and getting enough protein in my diet I'm hoping this will be helpful.

So far I've tried out:

• Hungry Root- It had too much prep required and too much packaging.
• Misfit Market- Expensive, but I liked it. Especially their jalapeno hummus. 
• Thistle- My first delivery is Wednesday. It's also expensive, but all the shopping, meal planning and assembly is done for me. That will be helpful as my energy levels aren't great at night.

I'm also re-joining the gym this week so my energy at night will likely be even worse for a little bit. Having ready made healthy meals that fit both our needs will be a real luxury.  

Me living my best life in 2024

My mom and I are committed to going to the gym three days a week together. I'll start in the pool and slowly (hopefully) work my way up to Yoga class again. I got a lot out of both when we were regularly going.

Meanwhile my husband has been walking a lot more. He loves this mid 70's spring weather ((gag)) and the sunshine is good for his mental health. I'm less of a sunshine warm weather lover, so the indoor pool will be perfect for me.

My weight is currently at a good place and even though I'm just recovering from bronchitis and pink eye, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm hoping we can reverse my husband's liver condition. No way can he go before me!
 

(NOTE: I got nothing for linking to those food delivery companies. All my own opinion. No kickbacks.) 

Best Day Ever

I told my husband that I wanted to walk at our local Arboretum to see how far I could go. I expected I would make it a few feet to the first bench before I needed a rest. I honestly had no real expectations. Just curiosity.

You must keep in mind when reading this that just 18 days ago I needed my electric wheelchair any time I left the house. I also needed my cane to walk from my mom's car to the swimming pool for our swim time. It wasn't uncommon even then to see me hobbling as I walked.

I walked a mile before I needed to sit down and take a break.

Astonishing! I was gobsmacked. There's no other word for it. I had only been walking without my stick for two days. I walked around our block twice and that felt hard. This felt much easier. It felt like I was adjusting to my body.

My outer thighs still felt the burn, but weren't in pain. Nothing cramped and I didn't break a sweat till I started going up and down stairs and down a huge grassy slope. I felt like a new car going off-road to see what I could handle. I was "test-driving" my new body. I succeeded at everything I put myself to and more.

I can't believe that I walked a shocking mile and a half this morning. My husband, family and friends were also amazed. It's a miracle. I don't know what else to call it. The fact that I could recover THAT quickly is just... well... A miracle.

Feeding Myself

I'm watching a show about Native Alaskans and a woman said something I love. "Everything is medicine, especially the food we eat." It's easy to forget that in today's fast paced world. I'm very fortunate not to live in an urban food desert and to have money to spend on pretty much any kind of food I choose. From wholesome organic food to junkie fast food. It's all up to me.

I have a troubled relationship with food and feeding myself. I'm really not sure even when it began. When I was younger I looked at food as an inconvenience. Something I just HAD to do. Stop playing and eat. Of course unless it was something super good like pizza. But even then I would just eat what I wanted and stop when I was full.

Something switched when I became a mom. Maybe it was eating my son's leftovers? Or eating for emotional reasons (eating my feelings.) I don't know but something changed. I began to over eat, eat at the wrong times and eat convenience foods. 

Every Friday was "treat day" for my son and myself. "Treat" meant fast food. I would pick him up from school and we would drive through the fast food of his choice. Yikes. I cringe at that now. I'm older and wiser. Sadly my now fully grown son is completely addicted to fast food. I can't help but blame myself.

But back to me.
I struggle with feeding myself. 
When and how much is a constant battle for me.

My natural setting is to eat nothing till later afternoon, then have something small. But when night comes the beast is unleashed! I love a very large dinner followed up with dessert. BOOM! More than a days worth of calories all at once.

How I "should be" eating for my mitochondrial disease is the complete opposite. Small meals with very high protein through the day. 

Then there's the ethical side of eating. At least for me.

I LOVE ANIMALS! All animals. I wish I could have a complete menagerie (and the staff to properly care for them.) Dogs especially, but seriously. All animals are wonderful. The way farm animals are treated here and in Asian countries is despicable. Really disgusting. So one of my goals for this year was to stop eating mammals.

In the past I was a vegetarian for a year and a Vegan for two years. As much as I wish I could be Vegan it's just too hard for me to get enough protein that way. I have low protein levels as it is, so I need to be careful. And when I was a vegetarian I increased my dairy (mainly cheese) to unhealthy levels. Plus I was still contributing to the cow/dairy industry which I didn't like.

I'm hoping by cutting out mammals I can find a healthy balance between what I need nutritionally and what I can do ethically. I can cut back on domestic cheese. I can eat more goat and imported cheese when I do eat cheese which is far more ethical and healthy. I will still eat eggs, but from certified humane farms. I enjoy organic free range chicken (not from factory farms) and that's a great source of protein. Fish I'm working on loving. I do love seafood, but honestly not more than once a week.

Why do we love some animals and eat others?

Beef is my favorite meat, but I just can't justify eating it anymore. The older I get the more I don't think it's very healthy for me anyway.

A healthy balance is what I'm striving for. 

Lately I've been enjoying either a protein bar or small yogurt cup for breakfast. Lunch is typically leftovers from the night before, egg and toast with a banana or a sandwich of some kind (like tuna.) Or if I'm fortunate then I'm at my mom's house and she's making me something fabulous. Like cod, baked potato and salad. I'm so lucky.

These are my absolute favorite

Dinner is still commonly my biggest meal. That's something I still struggle with. Both my husband and myself want to try and make lunch our biggest meal of the day, but it's a challenge for us. Dinner is usually fish tacos, chicken curry over potatoes or soup and quesadilla. We diversify our diet a lot with dinner. 

Dessert is something I'm working on cutting out all together. Unless it's a special occasion. I used to have a serious thing for Junior Mints. My nutritionist recommended replacing them with super dark chocolate bars (since you can only eat a little bit of them at a time.) I did and I find that I just don't want it that often. Although I'm guilty of making other gluten free goodies like chocolate chip cookie bars. But not very often.

I notice I'm not as hungry when I eat a high protein diet. My nutritionist also recommended eating a little bit of carb with every meal since it's carbs that convert protein to energy your muscles can use. I didn't know that and I had been eating super low carbs thinking it was healthier. So that's another small adjustment I made.

It would be fantastic if I could cut sugar out of my diet. I'm sure it would help with pain and inflammation. Sadly I'm addicted to my sweet sweet cup of coffee. Just one cup a day, but I need to have it sweet. I'm also still searching for the perfect non dairy coffee creamer. -sigh- I'm just a work in progress. Even at 50.

Did you know that...

• 10 Billion animals are slaughtered each year in the US.
• 99% of those are raised in a factory farm.
• Globally 80 Billion land animals are slaughtered for food each year.

This one shocked me and got me thinking...