The Battle of the Bulge has always been an issue for me - blame it on the genes, if you like. My parents have struggled, many of my extended family have struggled. One of my two brothers also struggles.
Health Complaints
Over the years, I have racked up a few health complaints. (I mention these things now in case they begin to clear up as I work to improve my weight and blood pressure, primarily.)
- Carpal tunnel syndrome - which flares up when I do too much cleaning (wink, wink.)
- Knee pain - my personal alignment plus bad shoes (i.e. the ones everyone else is told to wear hurt me.)
- Hip pain - thanks to a rough birth of my youngest.
- Seasonal allergies - since I was a child - grass pollen is not my friend!
- Hypothyroid - diagnosed in 2001. Now 100% controlled by diet.
- Chronic fatigue syndrome - diagnosed in 2006, but the symptoms go back quite a long ways before that. (This problem has quite a few different facets to it, it's not a simple thing at all.)
- Chronic cough - this is a new problem which started when I moved to Wyoming. I'm testing the hypothesis that it might be my bed that's doing that one - it's the only thing I can think of that changed when I moved here, but has remained constant ever since.
It was the cough that took me to the doctor yesterday as it's been noticeably worse since our trip.
Seeing the Doctor
Okay, I'm a bit of a medical-phobe - partly because I've had to fix my own problems before. (My son's asthma turned out to be food-related allergies. I treated my own underactive thyroid. Things like that.)
The first thing was taking all the vitals.
The weight was as I had feared 20 lbs gained in the past year and a half - and that was way up from the previous year and a half when I was doing a lot more physical work outside.
The blood pressure surprised me though. I used to run a little low as a young adult. Even when overweight and pregnant with my elder daughter - and a high-stress week - my blood pressure had remained healthy. But the first reading was 167/101!!! Not okay at all. (Just shy of a medical emergency, in fact.)
Okay, maybe a bit of "white coat hypertension" - i.e. stressed about being at the doctor. I had some of that when I saw the dentist for the removal of that loose wisdom tooth that I talked about last year. After the deed was done, the blood pressure was much, much lower. So, that may be something of an issue... so I guess I'm going to have to watch it at home and see how it's doing when I'm not worried about doctors. Awhile later, they took it again and it was down a little, but still too high at 158/94.
The annoying thing was that there was no sign of my cough while at the doctor. No sign of the wheeziness I'd been getting in my lungs (like asthma) - which is why I'm looking for a more acute cause within the home. (And why the bed is getting the attention next.) So, the doctor doesn't really believe that it's an allergy like thing...
However, the fact that the cough is the primary symptom - and I get the occasional bout of GERD (acid reflux, particularly at night) and snore, with possible sleep apnea, the doctor was quick to put me on ranitidine/Zantac. It's an acid reducer (which I'm slightly concerned about), but also an antihistamine - and given the possible allergy component, it may be a good thing. We'll see.
One day in, my cough is a bit reduced, but I also avoided sitting on my bed - where I do a lot of my writing...
But I'm not happy... (Actually, this appointment was seriously depressing!) I'm a solver of problems, not one to throw in the towel - even though getting old includes getting less healthy. My father-in-law is in his 80s and is as active as any 30-year-old! That's what I want to be like when I'm 80.
So, what to do...
Previous success
A few years ago, before life threw some more curve balls at me (which I didn't hit well at all), I went low-carb. Not quite paleo - closer to primal (Mark Sisson, if any of you have read Mark's Daily Apple.
The result was steady weight loss over the course of about a year - losing a pound a week. And that was before adding any new exercise for the first six months of the diet.
I have kept meaning to go back onto this diet when I moved to Wyoming, but then I met my husband and his diet is, well, not very compatible with a primal diet. But I have been warned. The shit will hit the fan (and soon) if I do not do what I know I need to do...
My Plan
One of the wonderful things about Mark Sisson's work is that he backs everything up with science. More importantly, even the "rules" of his diet are subject to bending. Such as - he mentions not really eating potatoes, but he also mentions how white potatoes are a great source of potassium - which helps lower blood pressure! So...
- Eliminate grains. Though I will allow occasional turmeric rice - according to Mark, white rice does less damage to your body than the other grains - even brown rice!
- Keep potatoes (maybe even plain potato chips as a sinful snack), occasional soaked oat porridge (great laxative) and (maybe) popcorn.
- Keep dairy, but increase my intake of cultured dairy. (Dairy helps with high blood pressure too - from one source I saw earlier - not sure which one now, sorry.)
- Increase proteins - including bone broth. Though I will not reduce animal fats which has been shown to be beneficial to the body - not your enemy.
- Increase vegetables - especially cultured/fermented vegetables - and sprouts - need sprouts.
- Replace bad snacks with healthier recipes - hopefully inexpensive ones!
- Pull my husband in with me - he will benefit too!
Caveats...
We are low-income (and hubby is currently without a job) - so, "organic" food isn't an option unless it comes from the food bank or is pretty much the same price as the standard fare. Grass-fed meat isn't an option either - though maybe we'll get some game in another month or two.
I'm also not great on leafy greens, but I'll try harder.
Accountability
I will check in with you after my next appointment (two weeks) and see how I'm getting on. I'm not going to write down absolutely everything I eat, but I think I can be reasonably honest about how well I've been eating. Maybe next time, I will share a new recipe as well. (Or maybe I'll do interim posts with food - don't know yet - depends on how I'm feeling.)
(Big breath - I will be sharing with you either my success or my failure... maybe it will spur me to keep on track! If you don't hear from me - ask me how I'm doing on Discord. I need you!)
Before Picture
This is the one I'm willing to share. I've never liked photos of myself, but when I know I'm letting myself down, it's even worse.
There is a family tradition of taking pictures of each other taking pictures... so my brother took this one of me - as I was taking one of him.
At the beginning of this journey...
(Image taken by my brother Chris, at the Clatsop County Fair in Oregon - August 2019.)
Health Stats
| Date | Weight | BMI | Blood Pressure | Pulse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 10, 2019 | 251.38 lbs | 47.67 | 167/101 (retaken 1/2 hour later) 158/94 | 81 |
Crossposted at Steem, Whaleshares, WeKu, Hyperspace.
Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
verified author on Goodreads
find me on Twitter
blogging on: Steem, Whaleshares, WeKu, Hyperspace
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