diet report

fat fat grandmother (me) with gorgeous grandson.

• down 4.6 pounds from yesterday, when I had a sudden startling and unexplained surge upward.
• down 2.5 pounds from Sunday (two days ago)
• down 9 pounds from Wednesday.
• down 25.7 pounds from my high point.

Got a ways to go still.

My sleeping, mood, and fibro have all generally improved somewhat since I started the diet.

Twenty Pounds!

I didn't want to post about it until I was sure it was real, but I've lost 20.5 pounds since I started my new new food plan. (Otherwise known as a diet, except this needs to be life-long).

I am not, however, sleeping well, still. I was hopeing the diet would help.

New Diet, 3-21-10

I have tried repeatedly to start a series of new diets an failed. I am trying again. Since the other diets didn't work, I am going to try the OA version of abstinence, which is difficult to stick to in society, but works if I do stick to it. A1, no white sugar, A2, no white flour

3-21-10: A1, A2 (but ate potato chips and a fair number of them.) GAINED weight. However, this is okay, if in fact I succeed in becoming abstinent.
3-22-10: A1, A2 (but ate popcorn in large quantities with canola oil and salt. See above for comments.) lost a few ounces.
3-23-10: critical day. If I can get through this day on A1 and A2, it should get easier.

Morning report, 1-5-08

I gained 1.4 pounds! However, I forgot to mention yesterday, I think, because I didn't post my cogitations on the subject, that I am not "officially" starting my diet until a week from today--Monday January 11th, as I have Christmas and other items I have to use up first. Yesterday I finished my dates and my raspberry beer. I wish somehow these items could be either eliminated or somehow confined to the OLD year, so I could start dieting right away at the beginning of the new year after the holidays. I also ate 3 cookies left from the Christmas cookies I'd made for myself to help keep me out of the other Christmas treats. They were whole wheat barley cookies. And then I ate one of the ones with raisins and nuts I'd made for others. When I picked it up, I thought it was one of mine, but when I discovered it wasn't, I ate it anyway. That was no one's fault but mine. But I will eat no more of those and from this point forward as long as I can manage to stay on the diet, no beer or alcohol. No white sugar or flour. But I still have figs to eat. I want to get them eaten before next Monday. They are maybe half gone. They are very tasty yummy figs. I love them. They are also high in sugar content. This is the transition week, cutting back gradually. To make it easier to make the transition to dieting after the holidays. Tonight is Coney night. I do not want to go to the Coney and I hopefully will not be going again for a long time, as long as I can manage to stay on my diet. The boys will go without me. I will not be making more cookies and I hope to avoid social occasions that involve eating as much as possible until I am firmly established in my diet. The one exception is that we haven't seen S & J for a long time and if we have the opportunity to visit with them, I want to be able to do that.

Report on the allergy regime for Thursday, 9-11-08

Today is Thursday. 9-11-08, the 13th day of the regime, which I'd also done for a week before that. But that got ruined.

Yesterday, on Wednesday, I ate nothing but broccoli (and a very little bit of brown rice.) The day before, Tuesday, I fasted. Ate nothing at all all day. The ten preceding days, I ate nothing but brown rice. This is an allergy testing diet I am on. But I am also losing weight. I lost 17.8 pounds since I started the regime and 37.8 since January, down 1.8 pounds from yesterday.

After I fasted, I had my best night's sleep in months. After I ate broccoli, I did NOT! I had a very bad night!

S: Terrible insomnia! Was awake all night until after 4:30, then slept restlessly and poorly 2-3 hours.
S: symptoms:
· agitation and restlessness at night,
· stomach (intestinal pain, cramping and nausea, diarrhea,
· increased (worsening) muscle and ligament tightening, and this discomfort,
· grouchiness, anger,
· excess mucous,
· swelling in feet (puffiness) (A sign of toxemia).
· tiredness!
· leaving letters out of words (common when I'm having these symptoms.
· I had a couple others, too, but I've forgotten them now :-(
Could all these symptoms be caused by the BROCCOLI (which I thought was the SAFEST thing to add first--I was going to add all the safe stuff first and then the less safe stuff so I'd have more variety! I decided to move on to the next test: shrimp! And go back and retest broccoli later.

Diet Report for 9/9/08

I have completed ten days of the brown rice cleansing diet.  I have lost 14.7 pounds since I first started the rice diet and 34.8 pounds from my high point of the year.  Weight is important, VERY important, but it is not the primary purpose of the diet.  My primary purpose was to clear my symptoms for allergy testing and I do NOT feel fully "cleansed" and cleared.  I am not feeling radiantly healthy.  My symptoms, while significantly better, are NOT gone.  They are BETTER.  I have bruisy (painful) tender trigger points, stiffness and pain in ankles, some pain in neck, general stiffness, but definitely improved.)  my hayfever and asthma allergies to ragweed--this is the worst season for it RIGHT NOW--are about 95-98% cleared by this diet! I was considering a day of total fasting to see if the high starch content or other aspect of the brown rice could be contributing to my symptoms.  I have to decide now whether to go on to the next stage of the allergy testing diet by adding broccoli or to fast for a day first.  Fasting is not a good tool for losing weight as the body reverts to conservation mode, but it could be a tool for testing blood sugar allergies caused by the rice itself.  I had a very tiny dinner last night, so I'm already hungry and not eager to fast.  But--WAHN--maybe I will.  Just to see.  When I ate rice cakes, I got worse, and I wonder if it's because the treatment of the rice made the starch and sugars more readily available.  Add broccoli tomorrow.  :-(

Morning Report Thursday Aug 28, 2008

YAY! I lost 3 more pounds AND I am feeling a little better as far as my allergies go. Wahoo! My pinched nerve still hurts though. And the fibro in my knees feels bruisy. But this is only the beginning of my third day on this regime, so I feel like I am making progress. YAY! I am eager for my feeling fat feeling to reduce itself. Even though I hadn't gained back all my weight and even though I'd been very active, I was feeling bloated and chubby and my clothes were tight. I'm hoping to alleviate that. Yesterday I went out Mt. Biking and flet really happy and pleased, and young and strong, LOL! Of course, it was only my second day on the regime, so maybe it was all psychological, but hey, that works!

Morning Diet Report

I lost 2.3 pounds after one day of dieting. That's the good news. But I usually lose the most the first day or two. And this diet is not about weight as much as allergies. (But I am honestly hoping to lose some.)

I felt tired and depressed yesterday, especially late in the day. I had a bout of baddish fibromyalgia. I was more worried than normal about every little problem, since the diet is to clear all that if it's caused allergies. My pinched nerve was medium bad. It's related to the fibromyalgia, as the ligaments in the neck tighten and pinch the nerve.

I made one mistake, early on, while in the garden--I forgot I was dieting and ate one small yellow plum tomato--yum--sad to not be able to eat those.

two tenths of a pound

I was really sad when I weighed myself this AM--I was up. But when I looked carefully at last week's weight, I was only up two tenths of a pound. I'd rather stay the same, or better yet, LOSE WEIGHT, but I guess two tenths of a pound isn't that horrendous.

Vertigo!

I am having an episode of vertigo. It started before 7 AM when I got up and has lasted over 2 hours so far and is not gone yet. It seems to rise and fall in intensity. The room and everything in it is "spinning." It had the senses of spinning but actually appears to repeatedly move off to one side. It is accompanied by a feeling of dizziness and a slight sense of nausea that also rises and falls. I am having trouble functioning. I stagger and lurch when I walk, and when I look at the computer screen, it moves to one side and makes me dizzy and nauseous. I had a terrible time making the bed.

My Neurologist, Dr. Moudgil, says that my "Vertigo Episodes" could be caused by my brain tumor, which is in the area of the brain associated with balance.

I also wonder if it could be caused or triggered or affected by my food sensitivities. I know everyone will laugh at this notion, but the reason I wonder this is that this episode is accompanied by fevers and sweats, restlessness, poor sleep and other symptoms that have been related to food sensitivities in the past. This could be coincidental because I ate out last night.

So far, all my episodes of vertigo have begun with getting up in the morning.

Vertigo can also be caused by vestibular (inner ear) disorders.

I just did some research and learned that diet CAN affect vertigo! Here are some dietary considerations:

General Guidelines

Dietary strategies for regulating fluid balances involve modifying the amount of certain substances consumed (and reducing fluctuations in those amounts), as well as reducing or eliminating other substances that can adversely affect the inner ear. Components of these dietary strategies include:

• Distributing food and fluid intake evenly throughout the day and from day to day.
• Avoiding foods and beverages that have a high sugar or salt content. Foods with complex sugars (e.g., those found in legumes and whole grains) are better choices than foods with a high concentration of simple sugars (e.g., table sugar and honey). Sodium intake also affects body-fluid levels and their regulation. Each individual's physician will be the best judge of appropriate levels of sodium intake.
• Drinking adequate amounts of fluid daily. If possible, fluid loss from exercise or heat should be anticipated, and extra fluids drunk before and during exercise and in hot weather.
• Avoiding foods and beverages with caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant that can make tinnitus louder. Its diuretic properties also cause excessive urinary loss of body fluids.
• Limiting or eliminating alcohol consumption. Alcohol can directly and adversely affect the inner ear by changing the volume and composition of its fluid.
• Avoiding migraine triggers including foods that contain the amino acid tyramine. Examples of such foods include red wine, chicken liver, smoked meats, yogurt, chocolate, bananas, citrus fruits, figs, ripened cheeses (e.,g., cheddar and Brie), and nuts.

Non-dietary substances

Some non-dietary substances can increase symptoms of vestibular disorders as well. Aspirin can increase tinnitus, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, can interfere cause water retention or electrolyte imbalance.

Note that last night I had one and 7/8 large glasses of beer which is very unusual for me. It says above (and bears repeating) that: Alcohol can directly and adversely affect the inner ear by changing the volume and composition of its fluid. SO there are two possible causes for my problem: the tumor, and unusual alcohol consumption. However, since I eat simple sugars daily and do not experience vertigo daily, the dietary connection may not be the case of my problem.

I am still experiencing some vertigo 2 1/2 hours after it started.