WHAT TO DO? One big ramble.

LEMON WATER for a start.  

Maybe add a sprig of mint as well.  I will begin adding lemon water to my day.  I take my thyroid meds first thing in the morning with spring water.  After 30 minutes passes, I will drink lemon water then have Breakfast.   

HELLO and welcome to my little slice of the world in blogland.  After horrible results at my physical almost two weeks ago, I have been bombarding the internet reading up on health issues.  When I had thyroid cancer diagnosed almost 11 years ago, I did the same thing and wore myself out with just about every wind of doctrine there was to find. Nothing went unnoticed.  I turned stones over looking for information and answers.

By no means am I an expert, scholar or physician, but I am better informed than I was when I went into this arena.  Before I go to my doctor, I generally have a list to check off and have read up on issues that I am aware of so I don't go into the examination room completely ignorant. Sometimes there are some surprises and this was my sometime.  I was not expecting to be told I was diabetic and had high cholesterol.  

I know I am morbidly obese and have medication to help manage high blood pressure.  I had wanted to visit with my doc about possibly switching from one of the medicines I have been on for 3 and a half years because it raises blood sugars, but before I mentioned it, my doctor mentioned maybe switching to a different med.  I gave it some thought and yesterday I messaged him asking how to wean off of the medicine and switching to another.  His nurse was fast to get back to me, so I am weaning off the med and taking steps to switch.  Clear as mud.

In the recent months I have been tweaking what I eat and prepare the foods in our diet.  HUBBY and I are in this together.  Which helps big time.  I have to eat more non-starchy vegetables.  I have to watch the carbs and downsize.  I am waging war on this and working through this at warp speed.

My jaw dropped when the doctor said to me, "YOU ARE NOW DIABETIC."  I knew I was pre-diabetic and had been keeping an eye on the numbers, but deep down inside I didn't think I would ever cross over the line and actually be diabetic. Type 2.  As silly as it may seem, this was a surprise.  AND I also knew I was obese.  My weight took a turn for the worse after I had my thyroid removed making me definitely hypothyroid.  The weight slowly climbed and I dieted with little effect.  This was discouraging.  SO now I am on the bandwagon again and taking huge steps in decreasing my size.  

I was reading up on the medicines that I take that cause weight gain and now I have had to read up on which ones cause blood sugars to raise.  Three of the meds I am on for high blood pressure cause weight gain and raise blood sugar.  I am not very happy about that.  

My miracle that I have had with my feet no longer aching has made a change in being able to walk with ease.  Apple cider vinegar did a miracle for me with the achilles tendonitis in the backs of my feet.  PTL!  My son said ACV is a diuretic.  I didn't know this.  This helped with the inflammation and pain.  I am in awe.  20 months I suffered and couldn't walk very well.  Now to improve my back if possible.

SO I am making plans to walk more.  Better shoes required though.

I started avoiding HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP in ketch-ups and other canned foods.  HFCS was probably the first thing to skip.  

We have used olive oil for years, but haven't eaten more of the healthy kinds of fat like avocados. That would come later.  

I took a disliking toward NATURAL FLAVORS.  After reading up on what this really is, the market has a way of making this sound like it's good for you because the word natural is in it, but conveniently leave out that some of these natural flavors comes from the glands from beavers. We kid around saying we are eating beaver butt.  

Tree bark is natural so it falls in the category of natural flavors as well.  Tying in a close second was my concern about cellulose which is actually wood pulp found in many cheeses.  That was something that made my eyes cross as I lay in the hospital after having an emergency gallbladder surgery where my gallbladder was gangrenous.  

I thought I was having some gallbladder attacks which led me to my doctor and I left not knowing anything more than when I went in to see him.  Two months later I was hospitalized and had gallbladder surgery.  I remember a nurse talking to me about wood in cheeses.  I knew about this, but after I went home to recover from surgery, I started wondering just what the heck I was doing eating so many icky things like wood pulp and chemicals.  This is when I started reading more closely the ingredients on the labels.  Also I was concerned about all kinds of chemicals entering into the body through the skin.

After the gangrenous gallbladder happened I began to change my tune.  Hello.  I wondered why my doctor didn't do a test to see how well my gallbladder was functioning and working when I went in to see him two months before I ended up in the hospital with a very sick gallbladder where I thought I was dying.  I would have had to have the gallbladder taken out anyways and was spared the expense of tests.  

Early on in 1999, I was made aware and familiar with Xenoestrogens.  Still I ignored this info I had been made aware of.  I didn't want to deal with it and so I chose not to pay attention except I developed fibroid tumors.  I started avoiding soy products when I found out that soys are a natural estrogen that feeds fibroids.  I had no trouble avoiding soy as best I could.  All the other xenoestrogens I really did poo poo off and thought the people that were sharing about these things were fanatics and over reacting.  I was wrong.  I was rebellious.  I was in a bubble wanting to be left alone.  

Fast forward to today...I am remorseful I ignored so much.  I regret that I was so stiffed necked toward this information.  Early development of breasts in young girls and boys has been blamed on Xenoestrogens and I have wondered if this is part of the reason so many boys want to identify being a girl.  What if this has caused a hormonal imbalance in our children? Makers of water bottles, some now sell products that don't contain BPA, a chemical that can mimic the sex hormone estrogen. But a new study says that even if they don't contain BPA, most plastic products release estrogenic chemicals. 

Xenoestrogens may temporarily or permanently alter the feedback loops in the brain, pituitary, gonads, and thyroid by mimicking the effects of estrogen and triggering their specific receptors or they may bind to hormone receptors and block the action of natural hormones.   

All the pieces are coming together how I have made so many health mistakes that I hurt.  

I stopped using so much plastic.  I will store leftover foods in glass containers.  I have some vintage glass refrigerator boxes that I will begin to use and skip the plastic.  Gosh, I lost count how many times I have used plastic baggies to store food in.  Some ziplock bags are safer than others still I want to use glass.  

All the water I drink from plastic bottles ought to scare the bejeebers out of me as I know that plastic leaches into the water.  Never store plastic bottles of water in your car and forget about them as they are affected by heat.  

I stopped using non-stick pans with teflon knowing that the teflon can break away and get into the food.  Not good.  Stainless steel, glass and corning is what I use now.  I am not using a microwave at the present.  Know that you should not nuke food in plastic containers.  

The type of toothpaste we use, changed.  My feelings about wearing deodorant everyday changed and drinking spring water came to mind.  Fluoride is a no-no for me.  I learned about how public relations has been used through the years to mesmerize and trick people into using products that are toxic and harmful.  The damage control toward fluoride stings.  Not to mention the whirlwind coverup about mercury fillings in teeth.  What's is this about the pineal gland calcifying?        

Artificial sweeteners were discussed in a NOW CHEMISTRY CLASS I took back in 1980s.  We talked about the increase in liver cancers that would start showing up.  Sure enough liver cancers are on the rise so is FATTY LIVER DISEASES.  I didn't fully stop using   sweeteners  through the years even with knowing that the human liver cannot detoxify what is in the artificial sweeteners. I was willing to flirt with the devil.  Made up excuses pretending it was alright to tempt the senses with chemicals to boot.  SMH.

I drank diet soda with the best of them until I turned 42 and I gave it up for 42 days in honor of turning 42.  6 weeks.  When I hit this milestone I continued to not drink soda.  I would allow root beer later, even diet, but have not drank Dr. Pepper, Coke or Pepsi since I was 42.  That's 23 years and counting.  Once again I have cut the rootbeer out that I allowed myself to drink.  I gave up coffee last August 2020.  I am amazed that I have not missed it.  I have upped the green tea though and also black tea.

I am concerned about fatty liver disease, but my doctor isn't since my lab numbers were in the comfort zone.  Still I will be reading about detoxing.      

Now, I am on a mad dash to get better educated on type 2 Diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood sugars.  The bottom line is I HAVE TO LOSE WEIGHT.  I have to.  When we talked during my physical, my EKG results were not in yet, but has since appeared in my health portal which I saw a print out saying abnormal.

ABNORMAL.  So I left a message in my portal to my physician saying I'd like some things explained.

THIS TRULY IS THE WORST PHYSICAL I HAVE EVER HAD.

I know I will not hear back before Monday.  In the mean time, I forge ahead dieting and reading.

We have been switching from regular foods from the supermarket to organic and nonGMO.  This has been a slow undertaking, but we are on the move to eat organic and more plant based foods. The food proportions on a smaller plate have morphed some.  

Larger portions of non-starchy vegetables, less fruits, less white foods like pasta, rice, potatoes, less sweets such as cookies, pies and cakes.  Less white flour altogether.  Grains are brown rice. Less bread unless it's Ezekiel bread.  Less potatoes and pastas.  More leaner cuts of meat.  Now we will bump up eating fish such as tuna and salmon a couple times a week.  Free range eggs. Green smoothies and more salads.  Nuts and seeds. 

I think we are on the verge of eating the Mediterranean Diet.

Eliminating sugar will be a tough task for me.  TOUGH.  I will eat less before I give it up.  I don't think I can give it up completely, but will use stevia instead.  Some honey.  

Olive oil on salads and in baking vegetables.  Steamed veggies as well.  

Using a larger variety of vegetables has been an adventure.  I was stuck in a rut.  Potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans and spinach from a can, corn, iceberg lettuce, cabbage, onions, green peppers.  Never avocados, turnips, okra, kale or brussel sprouts.  Terribly limited.  

So many of the other veggies in the grocery store scared me as I had no idea how to prepare them.  duh.  I was in a rut for sure.  Seldom did we have radishes, beets, squash, zucchini, broccoli, chick peas, hominy, and cauliflower.  

There are an array of other vegetables from other parts of the world that have veggies galore that I don't even know what they are called. 

I was not taught to cook or bake with herbs.  Seasonings were salt and pepper.  Garlic powder came later.  Now I use herbs and spices.  

The bright side to having some mean health issues is that I have to eat differently and prepare foods differently.  I have to change and I believe it is for the better.  Being aware of portion sizes.  I have to be better informed about everything.  

The biggie about all of this is... cutting way back on carbs, eating more vegetables, and just overall taking note of what I put in my mouth.  Chew longer, eat smaller bites, take it slower, eat a huge variety of foods and don't be lazy or scared to eat a variety of veggies.

I will be reading more about WHAT WOULD JESUS EAT IF HE WERE STILL ON EARTH? What did HE eat?  Kosher foods?  Fish?  I know that we do not eat kosher foods.  I don't follow kosher rules.  Should I?  Should we?  Would we be healthier if we did?   

Have mercy...I have rambled.  

Lemon water for me.  

Here's to health, 

🏡d