I've had an additional problem to contend with the first week of my diet. The Friday before I began, (28 Feb) I started coming down with a cold. By Sunday it was really bad and I was going to stay home from church. But I had to speak in Sacrament Meeting so after that I went home and went to bed for the rest of the day. Monday morning I started the diet but still felt lousy. I went to the doctor and he said I had a cold that was going around. It would last about 10 days and all he could do was give me some medicine to help relieve the discomfort. So I have been on drugs all week.
I started my diet on schedule Monday morning and have stuck to the diet 100% all week.
I take insulin shots 4 times a day and check by blood sugars 4 times a day. My doctor wants me to keep my blood sugar levels between 70 and 150 with 100 being optimal. The first two days my blood sugars went in the 40's and 50's several times. This is not good, so I decided if it was below 150 I would not take my insulin before that meal. During the following 5 days (normally 20 shots) I only had to take my insulin twice because it was between 70 and 150. I think this diet is going to help me solve by diabetes problem. Time will tell.
I haven't weighed me because I do not have a scale. I have to go to the doctors office and use theirs. I plan on weighing myself only once a month. But I know I have lost a little around the waist because I have tightened my belt 1 notch which is about 1 inch. I check my pulse rate with a meter every morning and it has been in the 90's when it normally is about 60. I hope it will come back down when the drugs get out of my body.
Several years ago I started getting pimples on the back of my head and beneath my ears. I talked to my doctor about it then and he told me what it was. He gave me an anti-biotic which I took and the problem went away. Several months later the problem came back and has bothered me ever since. But now it is gone again, thanks to my new diet. I think the WFPB plan fixes a lot of our problems we are not even aware of. The word of wisdom says it will provide "the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days--". Temporal means the physical body.
I have more energy and overall feel better, except for my cold. I don't have problems eating the food and fill up quickly. I am not hungry between meals except in the evening when I will eat some fruit.
When I retired 12 years ago my wife said she wanted to retire from cooking, so we have been eating out 9 meals a week. Because of her health it is difficult for her to prepare meals and I am useless in the kitchen. So we are still planning on eating out 9 meals a week. We go to several American buffets and several Chinese buffets. Typically at an American buffet I will have a baked potato stuffed with veges and pico de gallo. I then have a vegetable plate with vinegar and lemon juice. And I finish with fresh fruit. At a Chinese buffet I have a bowl of hot and sour soup and stir fry. Again I finish with fresh fruit. I have cereal, fruit and almond milk (unsweetened) each morning for breakfast. My wife prepares the other home meals from the many fat free vegan recipes that are available.
About 10 years ago we decided to go on the Atkin's diet. After about a week my blood sugars went crazy so I had to stop the diet, but my wife stayed on it for a year and lost 100 pounds. She has put a little of the weight back on but has stabilized. When I invited her to go on the WFPB diet with me she said "no because the Atkin's diet had burned her out and she was not going on any more diets".
I appreciate everyones support, prayers and comments. I am going to make it.
Forever strong in life.
Larry Strong
Wow, Larry, this is so impressive!! You are one tough cookie! I don’t know many people who have done such an impressive job going a full 100% the very first week. More power to you! I have to say, it is tougher to eat this way when you eat out, and nine meals a week would be a challenge for most people (especially a buffet). That is amazing.
ReplyDeleteYou may enjoy trying to prepare a few simple things in the kitchen for the two of you as you progress! Some of the simplest meals can be made from brown rice, baked potatoes, frozen (already chopped) veggies, beans from a can, and fruit, with store-bought sauces (like pico de gallo, Tabasco sauce or salsa) and/or with walnut sauce (p. 170 of the Discovering the Word of Wisdom book).
I hope you’ll be over that cold soon and be able to enjoying feeling better all the way around. You are an inspiration to all of us!
Woo-Hoo!!!!!! Good job Larry. Your whole first week without any bloopers and when you had a cold no less; I am so impressed!
ReplyDeleteJust a tip for those meals you do eat at home: Jeff Novick (dietician) has put out these great "Fast Food" DVDs. His criterion for his recipes is that they're whole-food plant based and can be made in 10 minutes or less! Here is a link: http://jeffnovick.com/RD/DVDs.html
Thanks Duffy for the advice on "Fast Food" DVDs. I am going to check it out and get a copy.
DeleteAmazing! I am starting my 1st week of following the word of wisdom today, but am doing 4 Plant based and 3 with light meat to start out and not freak my family out. You are an inspiration! Keep going-we're with you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your support Nicole and good luck on the program. The reason I am going 100% is because I am 76 years old and have been searching my whole life on how to resolve the diet dilemma. And I have finally found the answer thanks to Jane Birch's book "Discovering the Word of Wisdom".
DeleteExcellent job! Way to persevere even with physical challenges. BYW, when my wife and I go out to eat (maybe once a week) we to to Cafe Zupas, which has vegan soups and sandwiches, or to a restaurant with cuisine from India, where the chefs understand what it means to have vegan food. Best wishes. I'll be following your progress.
ReplyDeleteWe have eaten at Zupas many times. The last time we did before i started the diet, I talked to the manager and asked if any of the soups they have are prepared without using any dairy products or vegetable oils such as olive oil. He said they all contained either milk products or olive oil. I then asked if any of their salad dressings did not use oils. He said the only one that doesn't is their raspberry vinaigrette. So I guess on occasion we may have lunch there and have their salad with fruit and the raspberry vinaigrette dressing. I have checked all of the restaurants we eat at to make sure the food we eat is really WFPB compatible.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! This is impressive. I've been amazed at how fast some of my health issues have responded to these changes in my diet--I hope you experience the same thing! Just a suggestion for meals at home--a rice cooker with a steamer basket can get dinner ready with you doing a very minimum of prep. Just measure the rice and water, add some frozen veggies to the steamer basket, and flick a switch. You can cook other grains in the cooker as well. Best of luck! Keep it up and keep us posted!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your useful suggestion. We do have a rice cooker with a steamer basket and have started using it. I like the idea of adding frozen veggies to make a complete meal and we are going to try it.
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