Keeping A Food Journal

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I've been keeping a food journal for two weeks, which I've just turned in to my doctor, and my doctor visit was chock full of good news!  I am doing so well that I won't need medication to manage my cholesterol and blood sugar!  And, here's the shocker - I actually lost 7 pounds in two weeks!

I managed to follow her directions to eat 6 times a day.  Yes, six times a day - it's not a typo!  It was, without a doubt, the hardest part of the changes I've made.  I'm an old pro at dieting - usually what's termed 'starvation' dieting.  I'm also fantastically talented at skipping meals, sometimes for a day or more.  Eating three meals and three snacks a day made me feel, in the beginning, a bit like a cow standing at a feeding trough!

Photo via www.illumination.missouri.edu

I did miss a couple of breakfasts and a few snacks, but there are bound to be challenges to forming any new habits!  I splurged and had light cheesecake and even a handful of potato chips, but I'm told that it's okay to treat myself occasionally.

It's also going to be challenging to continue this on a food stamp budget, but not impossible.  This past month, I managed to have fresh fruits and vegetables through all but the last 2 days.  It took a lot of research, a lot of planning AND changing the way I shop and do things in the kitchen and I'll continue to 'tweak' things as I learn.

I've still been able to eat Italian and Mexican food. I can still have my occasional dessert. I AM learning which foods are a better value carbohydrate-wise and complex carbs tend to be found in healthier foods. I am NOT obsessively counting calories, just simply learning to make wiser choices for my body.
The changes nutritionally involve learning about, and trying to eat following this chart

Glycemic Index Food Pyramid  www.lowgidiet.net.au

And

• cutting down on white foods - white rice, white flour, white potatoes, sugar.  Notice I didn't say cutting them out - but cutting them down!
• Using less of those yummy, calorie dense dairy foods - butter, sour cream, cheese - and using them more wisely
• Eating more fresh fruits and vegetables
• Balancing complex carbs with proteins
• Using less oil - and when I do, using olive oil or cooking spray
• Using Stevia rather than sugar substitutes (which are full of dangerous chemicals!)
• Finding ways to add more legumes to recipes 

Here's a sample, taken directly from my food journal:

 

I'll be adding more sample menus, recipes, tips, etc in future posts so I hope that you'll follow along.  If you'd like to have the sample menu as a pdf file, let me know!

My Wake Up Call

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Yup, I've been a baaaaad blogger!  I deserted my page, and you, and I offer my apologies.  I've just had a wake up call that's grabbed all of my focus and energy.  With fibromyalgia (and I imagine, with any chronic illness) those things are in short supply to begin with.

I have medical coverage for the first time in over three years - hooray!  Which translates into doctor visits, of course.  Those visits have been informative, with my learning that I've gained more weight than I want to accept. I knew that I'd gained weight, but the reality left me with my mouth wide open in shock.  Oh, and I discovered that I have high cholesterol and am pre-diabetic. Definitely a wake up call.  A very loud wake up call!

Of course, dealing with western medicine, the first option given me was to take medications.  I have a resistance to that; I don't like taking them.  Chemicals!  I'm already surrounded by chemicals and toxins in my everyday environment; in the personal care, household items and foods that are fraudulently claimed to be safe. And if, with my limited resources, I have struggled to lessen those things as much as possible - why would I want to swallow half a dozen or a dozen different medications when every single one of them would have side effects that would create new problems?

I have agreed to take one medication - Lyrica.  It's not a pain pill.  It does nothing directly for my fibro related pain; for pain caused by disintegrating discs, by my congenital foot deformity or arthritis. But, it does help with the burning sensation of neuralgia; it does help with sleep (sleep disturbances can be a major thing with fibro, increasing pain levels and incidences of fibro fog) and even seems to help with my moods.

For my high cholesterol and pre-diabetes, my Doctor has agreed to let me address them via aggressive diet and lifestyle changes.  I'd already started making some of those changes on my own, so I now have further incentives, lol.

Those changes include eating (something healthy, of course!) every three hours and this is, for someone prone to skipping meals, a huge challenge.  For someone who spent the first forty years of her life dieting, it just feels wrong to be eating so often! 

An example of a meal that I won't be eating, lol!

I've started out by cutting sugar consumption by more than half.  Avoiding things like white rice/flour/potatoes and foods high on the glycemic index. Incorporating more fresh fruits, veggies, fish and legumes.  All of which are proving to be a challenge for someone on a food stamp budget.  Not impossible, but the learning curve is pretty strong.  Keeping a food diary is helping.

And then there's the physical part!  How does someone with chronic pain AND multiple non-visible physical disabilities move their body; exercise; without being overwhelmed and felled by pain?  No stair climbing, jogging, aerobics, weights.  No long walks, no jumping jacks, no weights.  No kayaking, softball or volleyball. There's not a whole lot left, but I'm working on it!  Oh, and I'll toss in a complete lack of funds here too - for those of you wanting to share that yoga, etc. would be perfect.  But hey, if you want to donate funds for a class or DVD, we can talk!

A lot of changes; a lot of learning new ways to be in my body and changing how I treat my body.

I'll be writing some posts about those changes.  What I'm doing and how - both with my diet, shopping habits and with my body.  I'll even toss in some great recipes as I discover them.  And I have!  Good food still exists! 

I'll leave you with this recipe that I discovered in an old magazine for diabetics.  I made it for a picnic recently and it was a hit with everybody - and not one person knew it was low in fat/calories!  I'm just going to have to make sure that I share each one that I make, because it would be too tempting to eat the entire thing myself.  It's that good!

Luscious Lemon Cheesecake
Ingredients:
1 graham cracker, crushed, divided
2/3 C boiling water
1 small pkg Sugar free lemon jello
1 C 2% cottage cheese
8 oz fat free cream cheese
2 C thawed sugar free whipped cream
Spray non stick cooking spray lightly into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate. Sprinkle 1/2 of the crumbs onto the sides of the pie plate.
Stir the boiling water into jello in a large bowl until completely dissolved.  Pour into a blender container.  Add cheeses, cover and blend on medium speed until smooth.
Pour into a large bowl and gently stir in whipped cream.  Pour into your prepared pan, smoothing the top.  Sprinkle the remaining crumbs around the outside edge.
Refrigerate about 4 hours or until set.
Makes 8 servings and leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator.
Per serving: 100 calories, 2g total fat, 10mg cholesterol, 11g carbs, 5g sugar