Category Archives: Food & Nutrition

A Couple of Setbacks

Kaiser Moanalua Hospital

Just a quick update to my health. I am good. Over the past 18 months or so I have lost more than 50 pounds as I adjusted my diet and did more to in terms of physical activity – like walking every day at least up to last month.

On May 16 I had some severe tummy cramping, so much that I had to make a run to the emergency room. After examination, it was found that I had gallstones. Ugh. Painful. They gave me some pain pills afterward and scheduled me for a follow-up visit.

The E-R’s doctor short answer is that I may need gallstone surgery.

I have to go and see the gallstone doctor this coming week. I was told the guy is so busy that his appointments are like stacked up for months ahead. In the meantime people who are afflicting with recurring gallstone pain have to suffer?

Fortunately since my “attack” on May 16, I have suffered no major pain in the area. One of my friends told me to drink apple cider and lemonade. I am not an apple cider kind of guy but I do love lemonade. I also just love eating lemons as is.

So shortly after that incident I started eating a half lemon every day. While scientific studies have shown that a lemon diet does not get rid of gallstones, I would have to disagree in the fact that since starting I have been good. No pain. I don’t know exactly what is going on, but the pure lemon seems to be working.

When life gives you lemons... On another front, I recently got a part time job in the retail industry which requires several hours of standing. I am not used to standing for long periods of time. My feet hurt. By the end of the day, I am usually in pain and am so happy to get home and sit, lie down flat to relieve the painful feet. The pain level is at about a 1 to 2 and maybe 3 on bad days. Have yet to see the doctor as to what to do about the pain or if that it is even bad. Don’t know.

As a result I haven’t been walking as regularly as I should. Prior to the job I was walking at least 2 miles a day. Now I am lucky to get in a 1.5 mile walk every few days.

Something has to be done.

*Photo of lemons by Steve Maskell.

Video: 10 Foods That Are Slowly Killing You

It’s tough to avoid some of these foods that most people love.

The ones I don’t do: Soda (stopped since about 2011); potato chips and french fries; hot dogs; canned tomato sauce and paste (stopped since I don’t do spaghetti which I love); salt; and most white bread. I have cut back on salad dressing (used very lightly once in a while); white rice (eat mostly brown and overall don’t do rice on a regular basis) and others…. Hard but attainable. The key is to be consistent and not “fall off the wagon”.

Active Beat Website

 

The Friday 5: Food Pyramid

The following post appears in my weekly Friday 5 Answers blog from questions posted every Friday at Scrivener’s Friday 5 blog, now in its tenth year.

Food collage

Trying to eat healthy.

Friday 5 for July 8: Food Pyramid

“Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5!  Please copy these questions to your webspace.  Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses.  Please don’t forget to link us from your website!”

I premise answering this by stating that I have had to cut back on a lot of different types of food since I had heart bypass surgery. And since this blog entry is about health, I am also cross posting it to my Bypass Avenue blog. I had to change my lifestyle as to not eat out very often, especially at plate lunch places and other fast food restaurants. For most of my life I was a junk food junkie until it almost cancelled out my entire existence.

1. What constituted your most recent six to eleven servings of bread, cereal, rice, or pasta?

Recently Cheerios cereal but also Corn Chex, Rice Chex and Quaker Oats oatmeal. Multigrain bread, English Muffins, Minimal scoop per meal (not always since I had to cut back) of brown rice.

2. What constituted your most recent three to five servings of vegetables?

Eat a lot of veggies every day. Most recently – Onions, Zucchini, Broccoli, Bell Peppers, Mushrooms, Carrots, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Manoa Lettuce – Eat most just raw/fresh, other times cook with protein food such as fish or chicken, or just boil / steam them – like broccoli and carrots.

3. What constituted your most recent two to four servings of fruit?

Strawberries, Kiwi Fruit, Orange, Banana

4. What constituted your most recent two to three servings of yogurt, milk, or cheese?

2% Low Fat Milk or Skim Milk. Avoid cheese.

5. What constituted your most recent two to three servings of meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, or nuts?

Salmon, Saba Fish, Ahi so far this week. Salmon is my favorite. I like nuts but can’t eat them all the time.

By the way – Pepper is the new salt!