Diet Or Death

Week Ending 11-17-2011

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 03:30:15 +0000

I have decided to only update the blog once a week because it can become quite boring listening to what I eat every day etc., etc.. Last week being Thanksgiving what was I thinking about getting a doctors appointment. He always schedules labs for Friday but he was closed on Friday so I will get an appointment for Friday this week. I haven’t had any signs of too much potassium like funny or rapid heartbeats but I do want to make sure. Plus I really want to work on my blood pressure to try and get the top number lower. I am feeling quite well and happy, I am still tired but not as bad as I usually am. I had a few cravings for cigarettes this week but I am still wearing the patch. I am beginning to forget about the habit of smoking so I really think I can start to reduce the number of milligrams 21 to 14 in the patch. I pretty much stayed on my diet except for some animal protein, turkey and ham and since I could not control the portion size I ate all they served me. I only had 1 piece of cornbread however. Blood sugar is doing great I didn’t take my shot last night. I will keep you posted on my insulin. I am running short on nettle leaf but ordered some this weekend so it should be here next week. I only had one cup of coffee last week. I did however have some drinks but since stopped again. This weeks weigh in was the same as last week as my weight has not dropped but as soon as I see the doctor and run it by him that I want to reduce my intake of calories to 1000 per day I do not think I will drop much more weight. I am urinating more and more frequently and I hope that means my kidneys are responding to the treatment. I have gone from going once or twice a day to maybe 6 times a day. I have stopped getting up to urinate at night.

Hope you had a great week. Until next week…

Week 3 days 6,7 Week 4 day 1

admin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 02:32:15 +0000

Day 6 was great, went to family Thanksgiving stayed on the diet but ate my fair share, no cravings to smoke and had one drink after dinner.

Week 3 day 7 arrived and I weighed in and I hadn’t lost a single pound. This has happened many times before on various diets at around the same weight. For some reason my body seems to like the 255 pound range. I may need to go with fewer calories than 1600 a day but not until after I get to see my doctor. I am thinking check my potassium and request some kind of blood pressure medicine change. If he is not game for this then I will transition to the blood pressure as the root cause of my CKD and not diabetes. Sunday was weird because I wasn’t tired but I did have a short nap today. I had asparagus and sweet potato and fried cabbage and broccoli. I had lots of seeds and nuts for snacks. Monday went well, I went out shopping Sunday for some mulch for the banana trees I planted and it was too late in the evening to do my thing to them yesterday. Today I was too lazy to do anything to them but notwithstanding the weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow so I will get out and cut them to the ground and mulch the bulbs so hopefully they will not freeze this winter. I had more broccoli and cabbage and cauliflower and asparagus with bread and low fat cream cheese and olives. No problem with the salt in the olives as I seem to be handling about 2 liters of filtered water per day.

I am defiantly hydrated. I feel great, better than I have in years except for the tiredness but that seems to be improving. I really can’t wait to see how my blood work comes out. I will try and make the appointment for Friday.

Week 4 day 3 is coming fast.

Week 3 day 3, 4, 5

admin — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 09:31:44 +0000

The lifestyle change is doing well; I am sticking mostly to the diet. I am taking my suggested supplements but I want to adjust my blood pressure meds the next time I go and see the doctor. After a lot of research I am finding that my blood pressure is too high. At 135/79 the top number needs to go down below 130. I am doing the lifestyle change for diabetes and not for blood pressure as the root cause of my kidney problems. After tons of research I found that a benazepril/CCB combination (CCB = calcium channel blocker) may be the best BP meds I can take so I will speak to my doctor about this. The nephrologist said all diabetics have high blood pressure but I am thinking that the high blood pressure may have been the root cause of my kidney disease. The nephrologist really looked at my eyes for signs of diabetic damage but couldn’t find any and the last time I got glasses the ophthalmologist looked again at my eyes and couldn’t find any damage. Since, I am in the correct PH balance switching to high blood pressure as the root cause of the CKD will be as simple as changing up some of my herbal meds. I had to quit the part time work as my back was about to give out, the manual labor everyday was just too much for it. I am right on the edge of my full back being thrown out I know what this feels like as it has happened before. The bad thing about programming is the total lack of physical exercise… It is more mental! I need rest for my back and lots of it. My moles seem to be drying up and falling off I don’t know what is causing that but that’s another thing to talk to my doctor about. I will set up an appointment for sometime in the next 2 weeks. I am sure he will be pleased at my weight loss and the quitting smoking. My blood sugar is great and with the holidays coming up it will be tested. Well, not really because everyone knows that I am almost a vegan now. I had a small turkey dinner tonight and couldn’t finish it all. I actually have some leftovers for tomorrow. I will be at family thanksgiving today and will be around a lot of smokers so it will be a good test. I will bring an extra patch just in case. Weigh in tomorrow but the real weigh in will be at the doctor’s office.

Week 3 day 6 is here.

Week 3 day 2

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:05:43 +0000

Wow, missed a few days there. I have basically stayed on the diet except for the occasional coffee and I had a few drinks Saturday and Sunday. I was really worn out from working as I am not use to the type of work they have me doing. Weigh in Sunday reveled another 4 pounds lost. I am sure if I did more exercise the weight would drop off a lot quicker. Down 34 lbs since starting, I had only one day of hunger that was Friday and I ate a lot of nuts. Went to Durham Monday to visit with my brother and to interview for a job at an engine plant Tuesday morning. As usual family time was centered on food; John took me out for my birthday dinner to the Texas Roadhouse. I had the salmon John got the road kill. His onions were not cooked correctly so he sent them back and then the manager came and took off $10.00 so John got out cheap that night. I went to bed kind of early 10pm and forgot my long acting insulin. The next morning we went to breakfast I had oatmeal and eggs and a side of bacon. For lunch after the interview I had a huge salad and once back in Durham John and I went to the Cracker Barrel for dinner. I had a 4 vegetable plate and no protein except for the meat in the greens and pintos and a half of a piece of cornbread. I took my blood sugar just a second ago and it was 117. I took my long acting insulin. I had a craving for cigarettes so I had John take me to Kroger which I spent my birthday gift on 14 days worth of patches. We also went to whole foods for some PH strips so I could test how my diet was working. A 5.5 PH so now I can transition from 80/20 to a 60/40 ratio of foods as suggested. He wants your PH to be neutral and mine was perfect. This will mean a little more protein and some various other changes. I must get to exercise but my back has really been killing me with all that work I have been doing. When we left the restaurant this morning my car was blocked by a huge truck and John offered to crawl in through the passenger side so I wouldn’t throw my back out. After a few choice cuss words I let him. Than the guy that was driving the truck came out. My only wish was that he would have left me a damn can opener so I could have pried my car out. My lifestyle change is doing very well, I do not have any sign of edema anymore and I am feeling really good. Maybe because I have quit smoking, quit drinking every night, quit drinking diet soda or iced tea, mucho coffee. I really no longer live to eat but eat to live.

Week 3 day 3 quickly approaches.

Week 2 day 4 and 5

admin — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 03:34:14 +0000

Wow, hard work really makes you tired. I took a part time job as I look for work. I woke up last night around 3:40am hypoglycemic and took some quick acting glucose for the condition. I got up at 5:30am took my blood sugar and it was 110, for breakfast I had a double serving of double fiber oatmeal.

320 calories.

While at work I skipped lunch and around 2pm I went hypo again. Good thing I carry around quick acting glucose tablets, I buy them a Wal-Mart for a little over a dollar.

I was so tired and wore out but I went shopping on the way home because I needed too and I missed shopping the day earlier.

Dinner I had nuts and 2 eggs over easy with cheese and bean sprouts and double fiber toast.

I am guessing about 600 calories and at 8:30pm I went to bed totally wore out. It was like a day of constant exercise for me but the wonderful thing is that there was no sign of edema after being on concrete and on my feet all day. I got up at 10:30pm to take my BP meds and forgot about taking my long acting insulin.

I awoke at 6am to a blood sugar of 73 and rushed to get out of the house for work.

For breakfast I had 2 eggs, double fiber toast and bean sprouts and a sprinkle of cheese and took a lower dose of long acting insulin.

Breakfast 300 calories.

At work today I had a Special K strawberry bar for 90 calories and a package of dried fruit and nuts for 240 calories.

330 calories for lunch.

For dinner I had a huge salad and pineapple, nuts, double fiber toast sandwich made with bean sprouts and cheese. It was a big dinner and I am still snaking on nuts as I type. I drank many glasses of filtered water today and have been really peeing. I am going to estimate dinner and snacks at 900 calories for a daily total of 1520 calories. Today is the first day I have been hungry but it must be because I am working so hard and burning all the food I have been eating.

Overall I feel really good and my blood sugar is responding quite well to this lifestyle change. I didn’t have any cravings to smoke but I will go buy some more patches just in case. I do not want to start again.

Wow, Saturday is fast approaching as week 2 day 6.

Week 2 day 4

admin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:48:45 +0000

Well, hump day is almost over. Last night before bed my blood sugar was 160 which after all the carbs I ate I figured was not to bad. When I awoke this morning my blood sugar was 83. That is excellent!

I started the morning off with two servings of double fiber oatmeal. 320 Calories…

I went to visit my old boss after a job interview and he said that he needed a CNC machine fixed. So I went to the basement and when I was done it was 5:00pm.

I totally missed lunch and I felt no hunger pains. When I left the office I went straight to the snack bar for dinner. The snack bar is a old country diner that stays quite busy because the food is good and plenty. I showed great restraint for I did not order my usual perch platter with coleslaw and green beans and hush puppies YUM YUM. I instead had a salad bar, field peas and green beans.

Huge Salad with dressing 250
Cup of peas 173
Cup of green beans 40

Now my daily total is low on calories 783, so I am going to fix some fried cabbage with chicken to bring the total up because I haven’t taken my long acting insulin and my blood sugar is 88. I don’t want to go hypo while I sleep tonight.

¼ head of cabbage 70
1 tablespoon of butter 100
4ozs of chicken 120, I take the count off of the package.

1073 total calories for the day.

Not to bad for a day without hunger!
Must be all the teas and the supplements!
I did not get a chance to shop or to exercise today I will plan on tomorrow.

Week 2 day 4 is right around the corner.

Week 2 day 2

admin — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:05:14 +0000

Well, my blood sugar when I checked it last night was 121 so it wasn’t to bad after breaking my diet. For breakfast I had…

High Fiber oatmeal 160

I skipped lunch because I had the oatmeal around 11am but I wasn’t hungry at all.

At dinner I was hungry and since I have been gone and the fridge is kind of empty I ordered dinner from FUJI which was fried vegetables with rice. I also ordered 2 egg rolls. Dinner was a plenty and made me really full. My blood sugar before dinner was 69 and on the way to pick up dinner I had the urge to have cigarettes and booze tonight. After deep breathing the urge to smoke went away and I fought off the urge to drink. When I got home I put on a patch; I haven’t had one on in a while so that would help the urges to smoke. Since I fought off the urge to drink I did not go to the liquor store I went for dinner and didn’t stop to buy booze. The FUJI is in the same complex as the liquor store.

By the time I finished dinner and made some more tea the urge to drink was gone. My blood sugar was 171 with all that rice I ate for dinner which is very good for the amount of carbs I ate. For dinner I estimate less than 1000 calories but I will use 1000 for the caloric count.

Total for the day is 1160 calories.

I will check my blood sugar before bed and let you know tomorrow. My plan for tomorrow is to go into the office and then shopping to stock up for another 2 weeks and some exercise.

Week 2 day 3 is fast approaching.

Week 3 Day 1

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:40:15 +0000

Up at 3:30 Am and left the house at 4:20am with a cup of instant coffee I had made myself. When I hit the SC border I stopped for gas and had another cup of coffee. Wee, as I have been two weeks and a day without massive coffee input. At 6:30 my stomach was growling for food so I stopped at Hardees for breakfast. I had a Frisco sandwich and nothing else for a total of

430 calories.

I missed lunch because I worked right through it but I did have another cup of coffee.

I left the factory starved and hit the Waffle House for dinner. The Waffle House is a southern thing a great restaurant with good food. For the last 20 times I have been to a Waffle House I always get a Texas Bacon Cheese steak Plate hash browns scattered smothered and covered done well with extra pickles.

I am going to say that dinner was 970 calories.

On the way home I stopped at my old work to see a good friend of mine and found out that he had quit his post tonight. So I had to go by his place and have a few drinks with him.

Moonshine 380 calories

Today day of wreaking my diet is 1780 calories.

I haven’t taken my blood sugar yet but I will very soon and report tomorrow.

Happy Late birthday to me.

Hard to believe that 2 weeks and one day has already zipped by.

Week 2 Day 7

admin — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 03:19:02 +0000

Drum roll for the weigh in; down to 260 for a total loss of 30 pounds. I lost this week about 4 pounds which is not much; remember for 3 days I was really at the mercy of restaurants since I was out of town working.

Well guess what I had for breakfast. Yup, that’s right…

Double Fiber Oatmeal 160
2 Eggs 141
Apple 60
Green and nettle leaf tea.

301 calories.

I took a nap after breakfast; I don’t want to sleep too much today because I need to go to bed early to get up at 3:30 am to leave out for SC to be there by 7am.

Lunch
For lunch I had.

1 can of sweet Peas 210

1 Serving of imitation crab meat 90

300 calories.

Today is my birthday and I am 50. I have done some calculations on how fast my CKD is progressing and I found out I only have about 2 years at the most before transplant, dialyses or death. Hopefully my diet is going to help in that regard otherwise I would just eat everything in site and wait for that outcome. Usually on my birthday I would have drinks and a big meal, lots of cigarettes but I am strong enough not to totally wreak my diet.

For dinner I had fried cabbage and a bag of popcorn.

Cabbage 72
Butter 100
Popcorn 200
1 Serving of imitation crab meat 90

So I am right around 1062 calories today.
Happy Birthday I say to myself as I get ready for bed because I must get up at 3:30am.

Hard to believe that week 3 starts tomorrow.

Week 2 day 6

admin — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 00:12:40 +0000

Wow, week two day 6. The days really flew by with me in SC. Staying on the diet was not so hard keeping under the 2400 calories it takes to sustain 190 pounds at 6’ 2”. Now keeping right at 1500 calories for dieting was a little hard. Wednesday night I went to Fatz for dinner. (Within walking distance from the motel.) I had what I figured was low calorie which was a turkey burger and some asparagus? Turned out to be close to a thousand calories. Thursday night went to Fatz and the whole meal was less than 600 calories which kept my total around 1500 calories. Fatz is a great place with great service and some fantastic food; they even have a lite menu which is how I held the calories down the second night. It was funny but later in the evening I found myself hungry and had an apple as a snack for both nights. The urge to smoke was very powerful, especially when I was in the factory under pressure to perform the repairs. I went to lunch the second day with one of the engineers and he took me to the grocery store salad bar which I had a great salad. I drank bottled water and only had one cup of coffee for the three days I was gone. I took all my teas and supplements and I am feeling good. My ankles are so much better now since I have lost most of the edema; no one should have to suffer from any kind of foot pain whatsoever. The feet are really used in day to day traveling. Tomorrow will be the day I weigh. I know I have lost some more weight but nothing as dramatic as the first week.Ill bet 16 lbs of the first weeks loss was water weight. I haven’t worn a patch in a day so we will see how it goes without one. I decided to go back on 5mg of enalapril I will make a doctor appointment to have my potassium checked at the beginning of December. Monday I am headed back to finish the job in SC but I should be home Monday night to report my progress.

Hard to believe 1 week and 6 days has already gone by.