Monday Morning Check-In (Knee Braces and a New-ish Plan)

As I contemplate my next plan of action, I went ahead and weighed in this morning, and was 204.4 lb, and 45% body fat. This is about where I thought I was.  Still about 15 lb less than this time last summer, so this is better than the same, or even 15 lb more.  No reason to feel frustrated with how little it seems, even though that's an easy route for me to take.  Today (well, likely Friday since we are going out of town with friends for a couple days and I need enjoying and planning time) is a new day for a new plan and a great starting point.  I'll get back to the plan shortly.

I was measured later in the day for my new lateral unloader knee braces for both knees.  I am very excited about these since they are designed to separate the area of each of my knees so the bones do not rub on each other (where cartilage is missing and severe arthritis has taken its place) as I walk.  There's a dial I can adjust on each brace that modifies the distance the my bones are separated to accommodate for steepness of stairs and hikes.  So, potentially better workouts on my hikes, etc.  I'm ready to give them a try, as I am very frustrated with pain in my body with simple movements that restrict much of my activity for years and years, decades even.

My main question to the brace fitter was about losing weight (feeling optimistic!) and the braces still fitting, and she did say that I will likely need to replace them after each 20 pounds of weight lost since they are made specifically for my legs and knees and current weight.  She said that Kaiser would be likely to cover the 80% of the cost of a replacement set as long as they have documentation of my weight loss.  Some of that seems ironic to me as one of the recommendations from the orthopedist is to lose weight, along with trying the braces, and trying the hyaluronic gel injections, but it's possible they wouldn't cover the 80% if weight is lost and it's not documented?  Anyhow, I'm not concerned about the documentation as I seem to be at Kaiser pretty frequently now.  20% of the brace charge seems like a small price to pay every 20 pounds for the benefits of the braces and added benefit of weighing less and putting less weight on the joints.  I will obtain these little miracle workers in a couple of weeks.

 Meanwhile, in light of my goal or experiment with helping heal the underlying (and hopefully overlying) issues of uterine fibroids (story is here: An Experiment in Healing), and the success of my eliminating wheat and wheat products in late May, I am going to further modify my diet to eliminate sugar and most dairy.  This seems the simplest route to take as I need to keep it simple with pharmacy classes beginning in a few weeks. I will still eat fruits, especially those packed with nutrients like blueberries and strawberries, but anything that has added sugar of any kind will not be included.  Similar with the dairy products, pretty much the only dairy I'll be eating is the non-fat unsweetened yogurt I already consume.  Eliminating wheat has been challenging, but doable.  It is VERY difficult to control what wheat I consume when dining out, and I know the same is true for sugars (and salt!). So, one obvious solution is to eat out less often, as fun as it is, plus that will help relieve the "budget" to buy quality organic foods so that what I do put in my body is of the best quality I can find. By eliminating these three items, I pretty much eliminate whatever processed foods were left in my diet (there weren't many left), so this is extremely helpful for the immune system and preventing those kinds of toxins from getting in.  That one is in my control, vs. other environmental toxins that are less in my control.  A recent workshop presenter suggested diet-wise:  if it doesn't have a mother or come from the ground, don't eat it.... For some reason I feel highly motivated and excited about this, mainly, I think because I'm ready to feel good and better and better now that I have some answers about what has been causing my pain and things I can do about it. 

And it's not that I have a horrible diet, in fact, compared to he majority of Americans it's way on the healthy side of the continuum of healthy diets, however there are still foods that I consume that have deleterious effects on my health, so that's the part I'm looking at, and am hoping/planning to continue to lose weight. And perhaps there's a way to still have those foods that are so appealing, but on a limited basis, and to check in with their specific effects on my body.  The wheat elimination was significant to the point that I have successfully avoided it almost for the sole reason to not feel deep burning pain in my joints and discomfort all over my body from the swelling and inflammation. 

My ramble comes to a close.  I will be checking in more frequently than I have this summer, so as to keep myself going and going.  Life is short!  The time to feel good is NOW!

2-5-2011 Wheat-Free

The Week's Stats:

Weight: 205.0 lb, loss for week is 1.6 lb, and total loss is 6.2 lb. since 1/1/11.

This is more like it.  After last week's blog I spent the next few days pondering what to do with my suspected food sensitivities.  I knew I didn't have time or energy to revamp my entire diet to start in on an allergy elimination diet, but I knew something needed to change.  My intuition kept telling me to check into a gluten-free diet.  Even that would take a whole lot of effort and planning, and in the midst of the pharmacy school semester, I did not want to make too many changes to what I was already doing.  I did actually decide that February was going to be "gluten-free", but what did I do the first morning of February 1?  I ate steel cut oats for breakfast, which, of course, have their own gluten.  Noticing my frustration with myself, my hubby, Richard, suggested that maybe instead of ALL gluten, maybe just eliminate wheat products, since those are the most allergenic for most people.  That made the most sense of all.  That way I could still have my healthy steel cut oats, and just be super mindful of the wheat products around me and not eat them. Being a vegetarian, Richard isn't too keen on wheat-, or gluten-free, which is fine.  We stocked up on gluten-free breads at Whole Foods (and got him a loaf of wheat bread to gnaw on).  I am so grateful to live in an era where these products are available.  

Thus, for the last four days, I have not had any wheat products.   I've also kept to no refined sugar, and no dairy (except for my Wallaby yogurts), including cheese, one of my favorite and worst dietary culprits.  I do have to say, that even after just four wheatless days, my body feels far less bloated, far less gassy, and "cleaner".  Also, the cardiac exercise seemed easier.   Interesting.  I'm going to give "wheat-free" a month, and see if it gets even better and better, or if there might be something else I need to eliminate.  I'll call this the Reverse Elimination Diet.  I am also pondering doing a cleanse over Spring Break in March, to clear even further.  There's no way I'll do something like that while I have so much homework and studying to do.  I am also surprised by how easy it is to not eat wheat products.  Of course we haven't eaten out yet to face that wheat-free challenge.

The exercise has been good, with the Gazelle elliptical 45 minutes 4 mornings this week.  Last weekend we went on a couple of 4 mile walks.  The weather was not compatible for outdoor walks this week due to -15 degree temps and lower with wind chill and snow, so all of the exercise was indoors.   I'm sure I burned lots of calories just staying warm.  We did our Five Tibetans for about half of the week, until my left wrist/thumb started to feel jammed and bruised, perhaps to doing yoga in the cold house.  So I am resting my hand, and doing the yoga I can without weight bearing on my wrists.  

We continue to read a Course in Miracles lesson each day for our meditation study, so that is still in alignment with my goals.  I have done absolutely NO EFT this week.  There just hasn't seemed to be a need.  I really haven't experienced cravings, or emotional addictions, even with eliminating the wheat, it is almost as if my body is sighing a great big "THANK YOU!"   The possibility for doing EFT is always in my mind.

I'm looking forward to another successful week.   I am excited I weigh 15 pounds fewer than early last August, and I am encouraged that I am on a great track!