So sorry it's been awhile since I last posted. Angel probably thinks I have fallen off the face of the planet! I have a lot of catching up to do. First, last week I made Quinoa, Corn and Buckwheat Noodle Salad from The Passionate Vegetarian (which Angel likes to refer to as PV). It was my first experience with quinoa. It was okay, but I will be trying the other colors. This quinoa was the black variety. I found the beautiful red corn to add, and it was a very colorful and pretty salad. While I liked this okay, it was not my fave recipe to date. It also takes a little extra prep compared to other grains. You have to wash it, and wash it, and wash it again. The seeds have a coating of saponins on them, which is basically a natural soap. I should think that would not be too tasty. On another note, I went camping over the Labor Day weekend. By myself. I really needed a little peace and quiet. I had always wanted to go down to Hot Springs and "take of the healing waters". I went to the Buckstaff Bath House. For a mere $64, you can find a bit of sanity and calm. I was soaked, scrubbed, sitzed, whirlpooled, steamed, hot-packed and massaged into a limp noodle, which felt very needed and very wonderful. I came home feeling more like the real me than I have felt in a long, long time. And I must do it again....very soon. I had thought to do a post on emotional eating, as I did not honestly observe the vegan principles during my little camping stint. I even ate cheese. From a can. I haven't eaten cheese from a can since I was a kid. But perhaps we will explore this issue in another post.
So, what's the great news, you ask? Let me preface it with a brief refresher of why I let my baby sister talk me into trying this whole vegan experiment in the first place. My doctor didn't like how high my LDL was. I told her, "I am not going to take a pill". I used to eat an egg for breakfast every morning with a piece of cheese on a slice of bread. Yep, every day. Then there was usually meat and cheese at lunch, then some form of meat at dinner. Angel's challenge was this: cut back on the animal protein and see if it helps. It had helped Dani, after all, and it seems to help Angel as well. Now I might eat animal protein anywhere from 2 to 5 times per week. Big difference. Last week I went and had my blood drawn to see how the numbers were looking and sat down today with my doctor. I think it would be fair to say we were both astonished! On May 10th, my overall cholesterol was 238, today it was 209. Nearly 30 points! My LDL? It was 149 on 5/10; now it's 129. I am only 14 points from being in normal range! How awesome is that? She said, "I don't know what you're doing, but keep doing it! What are you doing, anyway? It's highly unusual to see that big a difference with diet alone. It usually takes medication to effect a change like that." I told her I was "veganish" and had really not felt deprived, as I have discovered a lot of new recipes I really liked. She said I needed to write a book (which is something Angel and I have batted about). I also told her that the longer I am in health care, the more I believe that the best medicine that we have is the food we eat. I have to say, that for me at least, that the proof is now in the pudding...I mean whole grain cereal! Thanks, Angel, for helping me make this change in my life. You just may have saved your big sister's life!
8 Comments
<sniff>I love you and am glad to have played a part in getting those numbers down! That is awesome and I'm glad you knocked the doc's socks off.
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Dani
9/8/2011 12:55:26 pm
Congrats on the good numbers! Tell your doc she can spread the low animal protein word, too, ya know. ;-) I've managed to stay mostly vegan while I've been in Jonesboro, although some days it's been a little challenging. Mainly because they provide lunch for our noon meetings everyday, and it's usually something meaty & fried (today - fried chicken). Luckily, Angel provided me w/plenty of frozen leftovers to cart with me, so I usually take one of those for lunch. Yay, Angel!
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9/18/2011 04:53:38 am
Thanks, Dani! She was truly amazed.I gave her my, "The older I get, the more I believe that the best medicine we have is the food we eat" talk. She didn't disagree, but I think she realizes that compliance with that will always be an issue for some folks.
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Debbie
9/21/2011 08:23:03 am
I ordered the PV and just received it. I've got lots of brown rice, grains (quinoa, barley, rye, wheat berries, etc.) and beans dry and canned. For some reason I don't think about pulling the crock pot out much but just made a full crock pot of turtle (black) beans and we've been eating some version of black beans for about a week. I think I will sit down with the PV and whip something up from it tonight. Keep up the good work! I'm proud of and love you both!
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10/11/2011 03:24:07 am
Hey Deb! Glad to hear you are open to trying some new stuff! I love my copy of PV.
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6/13/2012 06:24:04 pm
the recipe you have shared seems cool . i am trying to make all of these.
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7/16/2012 12:09:22 am
I can see that you are an expert at your field! I am launching a website soon, and your information will be very useful for me.. Thanks for all your help and wishing you all the success in your business.
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7/16/2012 12:09:22 am
I can see that you are an expert at your field! I am launching a website soon, and your information will be very useful for me.. Thanks for all your help and wishing you all the success in your business.
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