OKRA IS A FRUIT AND I HAVE THYROID CONCERNS

 WHAT WILL I DO TODAY THAT IS GOOD FOR ME AND HEALTHY???  Eat organic veggies throughout the day and drink tea for medicinal purposes. Yes, this is good for me.  

Breakfast was a V8.  
Lunch will be a scramble of three kinds of small potatoes, two types of onions, two types of bell peppers cooked in olive oil.  Iced tea to drink.  
Supper will be oven baked vegetables such as radishes, beets, carrots and celery.  Making this a vegetarian day for the meals.  

~Nutritious OKRA is actually a FRUIT~

I ate wonderful vegetables and fruit from my daughter-in-law's homegrown garden when we visited.

It was a first for me nibbling on a crunchy raw okra.  A FIRST!  Raw okra straight from the garden.  The only okra I have ever had has been breaded and fried... and was very slimy.  This okra was crunchy and I managed to eat the whole thing and liked it.

When produce has seeds inside the food, they are technically a fruit. All this time I thought certain produce were vegetables when in reality they were a fruit because the seeds are inside except for strawberries and pineapples.  Pineapples are neither a pine or apple but a group of berries that have grown together known as a multi fruit.  

Pumpkins are fruit?  Yes.  Bell Peppers are fruit?  Yes.  Squash and eggplants are fruit?  Yes. Cucumbers are a fruit?  Yes.        

I ATE THE ALL AMERICAN DIET OVER THE WEEK-END. McDonald's Sausage Egg Burrito was my choice for breakfast as we traveled to Oklahoma.  I am not eating as much pork these days by design, but ate small pieces of sausage in the burrito and again the next day in a breakfast casserole.  Lunch was DQ Chicken strips, Texas Toast and I had my yearly DQ Chocolate Cone which I proudly say I only ate about a third of it and threw the rest away.  Still, where were the veggies vs. breaded chicken and TEXAS TOAST?  Their toast was flattened instead of sitting tall in the saddle.

Only a nibble of the cone... onto a birthday party which I knew I'd be having CAKE!  So in this respect, I cut the carbs and sugar just a little in preparation for cake later.  I ate a cupcake topped with luscious frosting and a wonderful cookie.  Water to drink.

Sandwiches, chips, veggies and fruit for Supper.  I enjoyed every bite knowing in the back of my mind that the week to come I have to focus on beefING up the veggies and downsizing my appetite toward more of THE DANIEL DIET meals. That means no meat, dairy and bread. 

On our way back to Kansas, we stopped at the same DQ eating the same meal of chicken strips. We split the meal.  Hubby got the gravy, french fries and chicken strips and I got the Texas Toast dipped in BBQ sauce along with three strips.  Tea to drink.  Some Starbucks Iced Green Tea was sipped on as we drove the long way HOME.   ARBY's Classic Roast Beef Sandwiches were later. That's over kill on the bread, no fruit and veggies.  MY BAD.  Returning to organic veggies and fruit this week.     

Knowing that the middle of the week will come and I will be eating a steak meal to celebrate my 48th Wedding Anniversary, I will have to scale back on what I consume which actually means I will allow a NICE MEAL for our anniversary then eat differently to make up the difference.  BACK TO IT.  Get back on the wagon, girl.  

PLANS THIS WEEK:  Making plans this week as I sit, I need to stay flexible like a noodle.  

Laundry caught up.  
Boxes of papers gone through, organized, sleeving important papers to keep and filed.  
Kitchen cabinet sanded.  
Paint bought and start painting this tall cabinet.  Aiming to have first coat of paint on it by the week-end.  
Purchasing sheet rock for the shed walls and hauled to COTTAGE. Celebrating our 48th wedding anniversary mid-week.  
Cleaning on the house.    

I have a large cardboard box sitting on a dining room chair.  I stand sorting through the papers, work a while on this then go and do something else.  Return to the sorting and off to do something else. Each time I pass the box I stop and sort through some of the papers placing them in certain piles that I will organize after the box ie emptied.  By the end of the week I will have gone through hundreds of individual pieces of paper making it to the bottom of the box.  The medical box will have been dealt with.  Can I hear an AMEN?  Not just one...maybe five or six of 'em.  Amenamenamenamenamen!!!!

What a magnificent thing this will be when it is finished.

I went through the financial box last week and am satisfied that it is HISTORY!  Praise the LORD.  Medical papers this week and then I have a huge misc. box begging for attention. Another week's worth.

THEN the binders of the GRANDCHILDREN will be made up.  I think after I get this done, I will need to jump for JOY and pat myself on the back for getting the paperwork all in order AGAIN. Praise the LORD!!!  I will have accomplished something BIG in our estate. Praise the Lord again and again.  This will be like a ton of weight off my mind which does affect my body just the same.

Going through mounds of papers.  When finished, THIS will ease my mind that this has been taken care of.  Getting my household back in order.  I ask myself, "BACK IN ORDER...you remember what that feels like, Deanna?"  It has been a long time since I can honestly say ALL the paperwork is in order.  A VERY LONG TIME.  It has been on the back of my mind for years.  It has tremendously bothered me that it needed dealt with.   

IT'S STRANGE, but this morning I actually felt rested.  I feel pretty good for having had a very active WEEK-END with traveling.  I am thankful to feel so good.  It's been awhile.  Looking over the calendar and the month of September is speckled with medical appointments. I need to keep this in mind and pace myself so I don't freak out getting over tired.    

As I change eating habits and work toward being healthier, I do talk a great deal about food.  Not to over emphasize it, yet I have health concerns and can see how it is so easy to want to lose weight, but I mustn't be mesmerized to do every wacky diet on the planet.  

Later this month, I have my follow-up Thyroid medical appointment and I won't be shy to ask quite a few questions that I really would like to hear their advice on such as when not having a thyroid how do you suggest one lose weight?  Cut back on carbs and exercise?  I'm doing that so if I'm doing that what next?  I'd like more investigation done.  What next?

What vitamins and supplements should be taken?  Calcium?  Why haven't you been checking my calcium levels since I have been your patient?  Twelve years is it?

A healthy thyroid produces T1, T2, T3, T4, peptide hormone calcitonin...but the golden standard when treating someone who does not have a thyroid is the T4 only treatment.  Why? Shouldn't all the hormones be given to replace what a thyroid normally produces? Why are these hormones produce in the first place from the thyroid if the other organs do the work that you are mentioning? 

If my TSH level is a good number and I still feel awful, what will be done to help make me feel better?  Please Investigate.  Should I be concerned about inactive ingredients and additives to the medicine?  What else can be taken if Synthroid doesn't work or Armour?  What's the purest form of levothyroxine that can be taken?

Are the powers that be willing to give T4 to keep the person alive verses actually feeling well? 

I faithfully take my meds the way I have been instructed to do...still my TSH numbers are not stable even when I used name brand Synthroid for 5 and a half years.  I still had issues.  I take my meds with at least 8 oz. of water in the morning about the same time each day on an empty stomach before eating.  I wait an hour after taking the meds to eat or drink anything besides water.  I wait over 4 hours before taking any supplements such as vitamins or other meds.  I no longer drink coffee or milk that might interfere with absorption of medicine.  What else?  The medicine is kept at a proper temperature out of sunlight, moisture and heat.    

Now as I research I find out that dairy products can interfere with the absorption of the medicine and should not be taken for at least 4 hours after taking T4.  Hello somebody...why hasn't my thyroid doc informed me about this?  I'll have to ask, won't I? 

What else might interfere with the absorption of T4?  Ask.

I told a friend of mine there are no thyroid doctors and she said yes there are...I repeated, there are no thyroid doctors.  She didn't catch my drift.  What I could have said is, thyroid doctors aren't helping my difficult case therefore it's like not having a thyroid doc.  Frustration is real.   

EATING BALANCED MEALS full of nutritionally dense foods is the way I have chosen to get healthier.  Being healthy is the basis of why I am doing what I am doing...eating organic, less grain, avoiding soy products, less dairy, less pork.

Here's to our HEALTH,

~d~