Birdy Takes Flight

[sksamboots]

Birdy,

Sorry about your new diagnosis but looks like it's a good thing? I'm here to support you as you continue your journey to health. All that swimming sure does make me jealous. Can't wait until I find a salt water pool

[LauraA]

Hi Birdy - you asked several questions in my journal in late Sept, and I don't know if you saw the answers. I have copied my reply here for you.

Birdy, I appreciate your comments, and like your questions! I'm enthusiastic and curious myself!
Here is a link to the thread about the no soap/ no shampoo information.

http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13166

About the plane - they don't mind plastic containers on the plane, and yes, I poured off the liquid so that the soup would become a solid food, not a liquid. I don't think that they even looked at it in my bag, though.
I used to do Strong Women Stay Slim/Young, and think it is a wonderful program. I started Curves because it is quick, and also because I travel so much, and was never doing anything with weights when I travelled. Most places have Curves. I have a few small spider veins, never had any varicose veins.
I've said before, so those who have seen this information just skip - I first went to Tanzania on a photography safari. We stopped at an orphanage to give some donations. I fell in love with the kids and the place, and have been working there for about a month each year since then (this year it was just a little over two weeks) Here is a link to their website. If you go to the video section, there is a great video called " A Day In The Life." I had the idea, and a young filmmaker friend of mine made it, and I took the still pictures at the end. I'm proud of it, because it explains the orphanage so well.

http://www.tanzanianchildrensfund.org/

Thanks for all of your interest, Birdy
Take care, LauraA

[Birdy]

LauraA. thanks so much for the link. I thoroughly enjoyed the video your friend made and the website in general. Wonderful things happening there. I can see why you love it. I'll consider how I can help as well.

[Birdy]

I've felt bad today - a headache, sinus congestion, BP is up. I don't know if it's because of diet & not exercising enough this week (it's been really busy at work and I've been sitting in front of a computer too much - I'm a bookkeeper). Or it may be from starting the thyroid hormone medication that's making me feel icky. Staying away from salt/salty foods does really seem to help me a lot. Anyone else have experience with thyroid medication and/or salt restriction?

Aside from that stuff, I've been gaga about how beautiful it's been here. Absolutely crisp perfect fall weather. The flowers are dying but still hanging in there. I have a bunch of giant zinnias that I planted late and they're blooming now, looking like candy on a stem. The greenhouse is barely underway, but getting there. I can tell it's going to be a world unto itself and look forward to spending time in there. As of now, I have a giant fern and two roses in pots in the greenhouse. Still waiting for DH to finish the bed so I can plant some herbs and winter vegetables. A work in progress.

I have a friend who is fighting cancer and has gone vegan. She's lost a lot of weight and looks great. I'm hoping the diet helps her.

Well, all for now. Have a great weekend!

[Anna Green]

Hi, Sorry you feel bad. Also, I hope your friend is helped by eating healthy.

I used to think when I was in Seattle that the winter and spring was like labor and the late summer and fall like right after birth when you forget all about the labor. It is so beautiful this time of year. I would go to the little park in Fauntleroy with the trails and stream running through. So peaceful and uplifting. Of course all the parks there are wonderful.

Anyway, glad you are enjoying the weather and I hope you feel better soon so you can get out and enjoy.

[Birdy]

Thanks Anna, I am feeling better. Now it's pouring rain here and windy, but the sound of the rain is great. The whole west coast is getting the first wet weather of the year.

I came across a fascinating book in our local second hand bookstore about the Bushmen of Africa. The book is titled, The Old Way: A Story of the First People. It was interesting to read that, although these people who lived on the savannah for 150 centuries did eat meat and insects, etc., they ate more by far of staple gathered foods that were - guess what?- starches! Roots and tubers were their staple food. So I thought of Dr. McDougall's starch based diet of course. The Bushmen ate no grains or dairy and very little animal food, no sugar except in fruits and the naturally occurring sweetness in root foods. Another good reason to eat potatoes! They also ate lots of nuts, berries and other fruits in season. I think much of the information about the diet of hunter/gatherers has been distorted by people who've portrayed their diet as predominated by meat. But it wasn't. Anyway, I thought this was really interesting.

Not much news. I absolutely refuse to take the thyroid medication any longer. It makes me feel terrible. I got a report of my lab work and the thyroid values are within the normal range. Don't know why the doctor prescribed the meds in the first place, except apparently some doctors do that to raise a person's energy levels and/or to aid in weight loss. I can think of better ways to accomplish these!

Okay enough boring stuff. I'm still swimming and am doing more walking. I haven't lost anymore weight, but haven't gained any either. I'm starting to think that coffee is contributing to high BP and I think it also may be obstructing my efforts to lose weight because it stimulates appetite and also creates artificial energy that I later crash from and eat to raise my energy. I'm kind of rambling here...thinking out loud. If I haven't already lost you, I'm saying in a roundabout way that I'm going to quit coffee and see what happens. I wonder, does Dr. McD enjoy coffee? Goodnight all.

[Anna Green]

Birdy, that sounds good to me. You can get energy other ways besides the meds. If you change your mind later you can always go back. Feel you on the caffeine thing.

[KareninTN]

Hi Birdy,

I wanted to comment on the caffeine/high BP thing. In my four years on McD, I have been on and off coffee/caffeine so many times I've lost count. Something I've noticed is that after a few weeks drinking just one mini-pot (two mugs) a day of regular coffee, my first thing in the morning BPs start running consistently higher than when I'm off it. Right now, I'm doing one mini-pot of decaf per day, and that does not raise BP or cholesterol.

This whole issue makes me crazy. I've tried tea but I don't like it unsweetened, and I'm really not wanting to use sugar or artificial sweeteners. So that leaves coffee, which I like black. Even with the decaf, the acidity in more than one pot has observable bad effects. Can't a woman just get a comforting beverage around here?

Karen

[Birdy]

KareninTN, wrote, " Can't a woman just get a comforting beverage around here? " I had to laugh because I feel the same way. I love my coffee and, really, it's one of my few vices. Thanks for your feedback on the coffee/caffeine dilemma. It sounds like black tea may not raise bp? I guess I just have to experiment and see what happens. I'll try the 1 cup or 2 of decaf and see how that works. Today, I had my second cup of joe half regular and half decaf. Tomorrow, I'll have that second cup all decaf and wean myself off the caffeine slowly. Even just drinking 2 cups of coffee a day, when I stop abruptly I get terrible headaches for several days...Another reason for me to quit is that I have fairly painful breast lumps from the caffeine. Sigh. All the way around, it's a good thing to quit

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Birdy

1) your doc put you on thyroid meds when your blood wasn't abnormal? My doc told me (when I begged him to treat me as hypothyroid and just make my depression and fat go away) he said he wouldn't do it, because taking thyroid hormone makes your thyroid STOP! ack!

2) coffee...I used to drink a pot a day. Three mugs in the morning, and two or three mid-afternoon. This morning I had one cup and haven't had an afternoon cup for weeks. I always thought it was about the flavor, which I love, but now that I have energy from the carbs, I don't crave the coffee at all. I do drink the one cup in the morning, because the flavor is just part of morning...but it isn't needed for the adrenal jolt to get me started, anymore. Maybe I'll do a half and half next time I buy coffee. start tapering off...hmmm

[Birdy]

BunsofAluminum, (I started to spell that "alumimum" like children pronounce it) I ran the thyroid thing by a dear friend of mine who is a Stanford trained doctor and she said no way would she prescribe medication for me. She said the thyroid is a delicate organ and it's not at all good to take medication when you lab values don't indicate a problem. Common sense told me that!

I think I'm going to do a poll on coffee just to see how many McDougallers do or do not drink it. I kind of suspect it acts as an obstacle to me sticking with Dr. McDougall's plan because, for one thing, I drink it with sugar and creamer (soy, but still a creamer) and two it definitely interferes with my energy. It's interesting to know that you have so much energy from the carbs. I remember a period of time some years ago when I did the McDougall diet 100% and didn't drink anything with caffeine and I had an enormous amount of energy. I didn't stick with it because, at that time, my husband was really opposed to me being vegan and it discouraged me. He's since come around completely as he's learned more about health and nutrition.

I'm feeling SO lazy tonight and just want to stay home after a long day of work and rainy cool weather outside. But, I'm going for a swim later... I am, I am.

[Birdy]

Just thought I'd check in since it's been a couple of weeks. My weight is holding steady at 157 which is 6 pounds down over the summer. I'm surprised I still weigh this because I've been overeating and not exercising enough lately. Last night I went off by myself with my journal and tried to be honest about why I don't eat right and exercise even when there's ample opportunity. It all comes down to motivation or the lack thereof. I didn't gain any shiny new insights, but today I feel better. I also remembered that the only diet I've ever followed where I actually did lose weight, and lose it at a rate of about 2 pounds per week, was the McDougall Plan. I kept a graph of my progress and it worked of course until I fell off the wagon. Motivation is such a mysterious thing really. I guess that's where the Nike slogan comes in, "Just do it!" It really is about just going for that walk and just making that fat free vegan breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. I don't know what my motivation is: common sense? That's as good as anything. Thanks for "listening."

[Letha..]

Motivation is such a mysterious thing really.

Hi Birdy,
I agree that motivation is mysterious but I have the answer to life, the universe, and everything. The answer is 42.
Letha

[raven]

Good luck to you...

It seems to me that many of us go through transitions by one step forward, two steps back, one tentative step forward, falling back, over and over until one day... for some reason... it clicks! We keep on and don't fall...

[Birdy]

Hi Letha! I'm stumped by your comment, "I agree that motivation is mysterious but I have the answer to life, the universe, and everything. The answer is 42." 42??? Ha, ha. And Raven, thanks for posting.

I may have found the answer to motivation wrapped up in a book that I'm about halfway through reading. It's titled Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer and it is great. I've already posted a comment about it on the Lounge in a thread someone started about Foer's book. Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's persuasive in a no nonsense kind of way. I look forward to reading other people's reactions to this book. It just came out.

Have eaten vegan all day today, though not as low fat as I could have. Weight holding steady. Pants getting so baggy they fell down around my hips while I was gardening today. Cutting down dahlia stumps and am enjoying the last bouquet of flowers for this year. Sad to see 'em go, but look forward to more next year. Lots to do to prepare the beds for winter and next spring. So far we only have a few plants in the greenhouse, but it's a cool space. I think it will evolve!

Happy Halloween!!! Wooooooooooo.............