Weekly Musings of the 5th

 

Tigger is one happy girl now that her tree is back.  She came running when she saw the box, looked inside and sat down watching as hubby put it together.  Now that it is all set, her favourite place is the back corner where she watches the world go by and settles in to sleep.  

I got one walk in this week, on Tuesday after the snow stopped the sun came out and warmed the parking lot right up, no ice.  I got out there for my usual walk and was pretty happy I did as it was the only ice free time for the rest of the week.  Winter is kind of hit or miss but I don't stress about it, I figure if I walk over 330 days a year then those days I miss because there is ice on the ground is no big deal.  

Tuesday morning I was off to see Dr. A. and to go over all the results of the blood work.  The nice thing is he actually went through line by line going over each number.  He told me what was good (and there were surprisingly a lot of good) and what needed to be worked on.  

We went over the food sensitivity (which can cause allergy reactions - some small and some big, like hives) The ones with the big numbers is what I have to cut out and the lower are not a problem.  As you can see I have a problem with egg, dairy and gluten.  I figure because these things have so many chemicals in them today than they use to, especially hormones. I actually was pretty happy with the numbers and I suspected these foods were the problem in many areas.  Since I had given the plant-based diet a try many years ago the need to eliminate dairy and egg was pretty easy peasy to me.  Gluten could be more of a challenge but then again the section at our Superstore is so full of gluten free foods I am pretty much set with changing things up.  I am not overwhelming myself with the changes but taking it one step at a time.  Thanks to all that I learned from the Happy Herbivore's cookbooks and website I am pretty happy with the changes.  

I thought back to my sister's godmother who had celiac disease that was diagnosed in the early 70s.  There was nothing in the way of information and she had to figure out everything.  Doctors then had minimum information and told her things like use rice flour (which was not just in any store) She had to figure it all out on her own.  Now I can just ask a question on Google and there it is.  Asking like is yeast okay and being told yes, these kinds are just fine.  She didn't have that, nor did grocery stores carry anything gluten free.  I am lucky it is just a sensitivity and not celiac and that everything I could need or eat is at most grocery stores today.  

So, grocery shopping included getting things to support all the recommendations and we will follow up in three months to see how the vitamins and food changes are going.  It is even possible that in 6 to 12 months I may no longer need my prescription for blood pressure and that my hands may get better than they are now and the inflammation will go down.  Determined!  Yes, I am.  If I can do that with just getting back to mostly plant-based I am certainly good with that!  

Today I am going over to the Superstore on my own to explore more of the gluten free products and take my time.  We did the main groceries on Wednesday together but now I want to just look closer at things.  Especially the gluten free flour they carry for my bread making.  If hubby doesn't notice a difference then I don't have to make one loaf for him and one for me ;) 

So that's it for me, have a great week!