Day of Decision

Today I have been on the WFPB plan for exactly 3 months and now it is a day of decision.  When I started on the plan I resolved I would stay on the plan for 3 months and then decide what to do.  Stay on the plan or give it up.  Today is that day of decision.

There are three things I want to evaluate.

First, can I lose weight on the WFPB plan?  My experience on all my past diet attempts says no, but I think I now have hope of succeeding in losing weight.  When I started three months ago I weighed 412 pounds.  Today I weigh 370 pounds so I have lost 42 pounds in three months.  This is an average loss of 14 pounds a month which I think is outstanding.  The plan is working to help me lose weight.  Dr Campbell in "The China Study" says someone my height (5' 8") is obese if they weigh in excess of 197 pounds.  I haven't weighed that since high school, 61 years ago.  My goal is to get down to 197 pounds in 2 years. This is a loss of 215 pounds in 24 months or an average of 9 pounds/month.  I have a good start to reach this goal and plan on continuing.  I am so grateful I have finally found something that actually works for me in losing weight.  Thank you Jane.

Second, will the plan help me resolve or control my health problems?  At the start of the plan I stopped taking all medications except insulin for my diabetes (since 1986) and furosemide (water pill) for my congestive heart failure (since 2002).  I went to my family doctor two weeks ago for a complete physical.  He took blood tests and all the results were normal except for two.  

My uric acid test for gout was 10.0 which is high.  It should be between 2.4 and 7.0. The Mayo clinic says "Blood test results can be misleading, though. Some people have high uric acid levels, but never experience gout. And some people have signs and symptoms of gout, but don't have unusual levels of uric acid in their blood."  I had gout in 1974 and have been taking allopurinol ever since. Under my doctor's direction last January I stopped the medication.  I have had no return of the pain from gout in my feet.  So I am not going to resume the medication unless the pain returns.

My A1c was 8.4 which is high.  This is a test for the blood sugar average over 3 months.  Normally in someone without diabetes it should be 6.0 or less.  The previous time I had it tested was last January and it was 6.3.  I have been following Dr McDougall's "Simple Care for Diabetes" (http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2009nl/dec/diabetes.htm).  He says "The first step to turning around these events is to stop, or at least drastically reduce, the medications".  I have done this.  I am now taking 10 units of Lantus in the evening.  "The second crucial step is to change to a low-fat, animal-food-free, starch-based diet."  I have done this.  "The third step is to start exercising which further lowers blood sugars and enhances the weight loss. With these changes a simple cure is possible for essentially everyone with type-2 diabetes."  I have been doing water aerobics twice a week for 12 years.   "For the overweight patient, with a diagnosis of type-2 diabetes, significantly elevated blood sugars, and taking insulin, I always reduce their dosage, and most times I ask them to stop the insulin altogether.... One other important change I also make is to switch them from multiple shots daily to a single dose of long-acting insulin, such as Lantus, taken once in the evening."  My morning blood  glucose level when I started the plan was between 150 and 170.  Now it is usually in the 120's.  "I discourage blood sugar measurements at any other time of the day unless they suspect hypoglycemia (too low a sugar). The finding of elevated sugars later in the day after eating just upsets the patient and does not add any useful information in deciding on the next dosage of insulin to be given."  An article titled "Diabetes Advice for the Elderly: Relax" written by Paula Span on April 26, 2013 says "The Choosing Wisely campaign... alerts doctors and patients to questionable and overused tests and treatments.  The American Geriatrics Society, participating in the campaign, cautioned against prescribing medications to reach “tight glycemic control,” which the group defined as below 7.5 on the commonly used A1c test. 

Third, can I tolerate staying on the plan the rest of my life?  Eating meals with no meat, poultry fish, eggs, dairy or oils is a big challenge.  However, I am learning how to do it and I like the results.  Eating out so often makes it a special challenge, but that is my life style.  I have always liked potatoes and beans but rice wasn't my favorite.  I also like lots of fruit and vegetables.   I have shown my typical meals for a week in my blogs from Monday April 23 to Sunday May 4.  Yesterday we drove 200 miles to several cemeteries to place flowers on the graves of our families.  We had lunch in Provo at a Subway and I had a Veggie Delight sandwich which was 100% WFPB.  I have also changed our Thursday evening meal at home to a Mexican rice recipe which is yummy.  I am making little changes as we go to make the meals more enjoyable and more in line with the plan.  I am actually enjoying all the food.  I know I can stay on the plan for the rest of my life.

I feel good and have more energy except for the last couple of weeks.  When I went to my doctor for my check up they discovered I have atrial fibrillation so they put a pacemaker in my chest to help control it.  It was two 2 hour operations in one day.  They had some problems the first time they operated.  This has left me pretty weak and wobbly.  I am going to the Dr. next Friday so they can start me on a blood thinner.  Then in a month they will "shock" my heart to bring it back into a normal rhythm.  This coming week will also be very busy because I have 4 grand children who are graduating from High School.  We are going to all their graduation exercises.  Life goes on. 

Conclusion.  We are going to continue on the WFPB plan for the rest of our life, if we can make it.

Forever Strong in Life
I am a devout and faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  My wife and I were married in the Salt Lake City Temple 55 years ago.  We have 5 children, 15 grandchildren and two great grandchildren.  I have always been active in my church.  I have been first and second counselor in the Bishopric, a member of the High Council, a Stake Mission President, filled two stake missions and have taught the gospel doctrine class in 6 different wards, among numerous other assignments.  I currently teach the lesson in the High Priest Group of our ward.  I retired from the Federal Government 12 years ago.  We own a modest home in Davis county with the HOA doing all the yard work and snow removal.

I am not going to be writing in my blog as often as I have been but I will try to keep you posted from time to time.

Thanks everyone for your support, prayers and love;

Larry strong