Is it Spring?
It might be. :-) I'm hoping the worst of the cold weather is gone. They say that you should wait to plant annuals here until after May 14th - that that's the date after which it shouldn't freeze again . . . until winter :-D
Spring has taken its own sweet time this year, but as you can tell from the photos, things are finally blooming here, and I have the glimmering hope that spring might truly be here to stay now.
The update on the Ovo-Pescetarian front is pretty good. You'll recall that I set the intention that I was going to love being an Ovo-Pescetarian and wonder why I didn't do it sooner. Well, manifesting that is going great because I really do like it! And, I'm finding it pretty simple to stick to. Yay me! Of course it doesn't hurt that in the first six weeks of the Strict Program for Three Months I have lost 19 pounds. This week is the seventh week, and I am on track to be down again on the scale. This is very encouraging and I hope that in another six weeks, when I go back to the doctor and have more blood work done, that my cholesterol will show the results of my work.
Only one bothersome thing - the dietitian who worked with me to tailor this program specifically for me - she left the practice. I emailed to get my sixth week appointment, because we were supposed to meet and discuss the sustainability of this going forward, etc. and see if we needed to tweak anything . . . and I got a bounceback email. So, I checked in with my doctor (which, although he is awesome is just not the same thing).
Here is what I wrote to him:
Hi Doc - I was supposed to meet with the dietitian again this week as I'm half-way through the Strict Program for Three Months. She wanted to see how I was doing and talk further about the Program and see if I felt it was sustainable going forward, etc., but I received an email back today saying she is no longer with the practice. So - I figured I would just check in with you instead. The program that she created for me is pretty much being an Ovo-Pescetarian (no meat, no butter, no more than 6 egg yolks a week, no more than 1 ounce of cheese a day (and for me, no poultry)). Doing that as well as continuing with the anti-inflammatory diet I was working with (no sugar (except for fresh fruit) and no highly processed food) is somewhat draconian - I'm pretty severely limited in what I can eat.
HOWEVER - it's going pretty well, and I'm not really having any trouble sticking with it. I've navigated a number of fine restaurants and also sourced some casual ones where I can get food I can eat, but most days I bring my lunch. As of last week (the fifth week) I have lost 19 pounds. I lost more than 10 pounds the first week - so I know I must have been holding on to a lot of water. I hope that when you check my blood in another 6 weeks, that my cholesterol will be looking at least a little better.
I did celebrate my birthday - she said I could do that - and if I ever needed additional proof that sugar causes me to have severe bowel issues (i.e. diarrhea of the extreme kind), I have it now . . . and it only took half a cupcake. I've learned (the hard way) that I must have protein for breakfast, otherwise I run the risk of passing out around 10 o'clock when I stand up. I never actually fell over (which is good, because I think that if you lose consciousness at work, they pretty much have to call 911), but it was touch and go a couple of times. As long as I have protein at breakfast, though, I'm fine.
I'm using my Fitbit to track my steps and activity, and she suggested that I not attempt to count Weight Watchers points while learning this new way to eat, so I have been tracking calories on the Fitbit site. I'm staying usually between 1200 and 1500 calories a day. Also am trying to work with the percentages she gave me and ranges Fitbit has, of approximately 50% carb, 25% fat and 25% protein. I find that I'm often over on the fat and under on the protein and carb, but I think that's because I eat a lot of natural peanut butter and use olive oil now for cooking and on things like whole wheat pasta. I keep trying to get things more in line, but at least it's healthy fat. That's it - that's everything I would have told her.
I feel that I can keep going on the program that she created for me - certainly for at least the next six week, and likely longer, as I feel pretty good so far. I'm sorry she's gone because I really liked her.
And he said:
WOW! thanks for the update sounds like you are doing a great job with the program and really working hard to stick with it.
Keep doing what you are doing and lets regroup in 6 weeks and see where the labs are at.
I have an apppointment for mid-June to meet with the doc again - he wants me to come in and talk about everything, as well as have more blood work done. It should be an interesting appointment :-)
In the meantime, I just keep moving forward. Forward into spring :-)
Spring has taken its own sweet time this year, but as you can tell from the photos, things are finally blooming here, and I have the glimmering hope that spring might truly be here to stay now.
The update on the Ovo-Pescetarian front is pretty good. You'll recall that I set the intention that I was going to love being an Ovo-Pescetarian and wonder why I didn't do it sooner. Well, manifesting that is going great because I really do like it! And, I'm finding it pretty simple to stick to. Yay me! Of course it doesn't hurt that in the first six weeks of the Strict Program for Three Months I have lost 19 pounds. This week is the seventh week, and I am on track to be down again on the scale. This is very encouraging and I hope that in another six weeks, when I go back to the doctor and have more blood work done, that my cholesterol will show the results of my work.
Only one bothersome thing - the dietitian who worked with me to tailor this program specifically for me - she left the practice. I emailed to get my sixth week appointment, because we were supposed to meet and discuss the sustainability of this going forward, etc. and see if we needed to tweak anything . . . and I got a bounceback email. So, I checked in with my doctor (which, although he is awesome is just not the same thing).
Here is what I wrote to him:
Hi Doc - I was supposed to meet with the dietitian again this week as I'm half-way through the Strict Program for Three Months. She wanted to see how I was doing and talk further about the Program and see if I felt it was sustainable going forward, etc., but I received an email back today saying she is no longer with the practice. So - I figured I would just check in with you instead. The program that she created for me is pretty much being an Ovo-Pescetarian (no meat, no butter, no more than 6 egg yolks a week, no more than 1 ounce of cheese a day (and for me, no poultry)). Doing that as well as continuing with the anti-inflammatory diet I was working with (no sugar (except for fresh fruit) and no highly processed food) is somewhat draconian - I'm pretty severely limited in what I can eat.
HOWEVER - it's going pretty well, and I'm not really having any trouble sticking with it. I've navigated a number of fine restaurants and also sourced some casual ones where I can get food I can eat, but most days I bring my lunch. As of last week (the fifth week) I have lost 19 pounds. I lost more than 10 pounds the first week - so I know I must have been holding on to a lot of water. I hope that when you check my blood in another 6 weeks, that my cholesterol will be looking at least a little better.
I did celebrate my birthday - she said I could do that - and if I ever needed additional proof that sugar causes me to have severe bowel issues (i.e. diarrhea of the extreme kind), I have it now . . . and it only took half a cupcake. I've learned (the hard way) that I must have protein for breakfast, otherwise I run the risk of passing out around 10 o'clock when I stand up. I never actually fell over (which is good, because I think that if you lose consciousness at work, they pretty much have to call 911), but it was touch and go a couple of times. As long as I have protein at breakfast, though, I'm fine.
I'm using my Fitbit to track my steps and activity, and she suggested that I not attempt to count Weight Watchers points while learning this new way to eat, so I have been tracking calories on the Fitbit site. I'm staying usually between 1200 and 1500 calories a day. Also am trying to work with the percentages she gave me and ranges Fitbit has, of approximately 50% carb, 25% fat and 25% protein. I find that I'm often over on the fat and under on the protein and carb, but I think that's because I eat a lot of natural peanut butter and use olive oil now for cooking and on things like whole wheat pasta. I keep trying to get things more in line, but at least it's healthy fat. That's it - that's everything I would have told her.
I feel that I can keep going on the program that she created for me - certainly for at least the next six week, and likely longer, as I feel pretty good so far. I'm sorry she's gone because I really liked her.
And he said:
WOW! thanks for the update sounds like you are doing a great job with the program and really working hard to stick with it.
Keep doing what you are doing and lets regroup in 6 weeks and see where the labs are at.
I have an apppointment for mid-June to meet with the doc again - he wants me to come in and talk about everything, as well as have more blood work done. It should be an interesting appointment :-)
In the meantime, I just keep moving forward. Forward into spring :-)
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