Sometimes, no matter what...

Do you ever feel that no matter what you do, you just can't succeed?

I have been feeling that way lately, and not with weight loss. I just assumed that because I am living a healthier lifestyle that I am healthier. That is what this is all about for me, after all. I don't care about being skinny--I care about living a long, happy, healthy, and fit life.

I'm struggling with some of that right now.

I had a physical in November, at which they performed a lipid panel. I had elevated triglycerides before, but I was so excited to get tested again and prove to them that a vegan diet could beat anything. Well, it didn't. The results came back and my levels were quite high. The doctor told me to start taking fish oil immediately and try to lose some weight.

What on Earth does she think I have been doing here for the past 3 months?

I told her that I would NOT be taking fish oil (as I am vegan and studying fish conservation, oh my goodness) and that I AM losing weight. She seemed frustrated with me, which I reciprocated. I asked her to let me try the vegan diet a little longer, since I'd only been on it for two and a half months at the time and had already seen so many improvements. She gave me three months. I have until mid-February to lower my triglyceride levels, "or else".

So I've been trying not to eat high glycemic index foods or foods with more than 3g of fat per serving. I've been cooking everything from scratch or eating out at Chipotle, since I know they use only fresh, unprocessed ingredients. What else can I do on top of what I am already doing?

Apparently it hasn't been enough.

I had been "sick" for the past six weeks. My throat was sore and my tonsils looked like they were molding, but strangely I otherwise felt fine. I went to two different doctors and both of them prescribed antibiotics. They didn't work. Also, my blood pressure had been high both visits, which can happen when your body is fighting infection.

I started getting headaches lately, and my vision was a little off, which I contributed to the raised blood pressure. Because of that, I decided it was time to go in a third time and finally nip this cold in the butt.

The doctor took one look at my tonsils, and let out a cry of triumph. As she suspected, no bacterial infection at all--it wasn't a cold. It was allergy related inflammation, and the white stuff was dead white blood cells. She proceeded to pop out a tonsil stone and said, "See, there you have it!"

I was amazed. I constantly struggle with dust mite allergies and have had issues with tonsil stones in the past, but I didn't know that it could possibly affect me so severely. Even this morning after taking some advil and gargling with salt water and listerine, my throat feels so much better.

Which left the matter of my high blood pressure. I realized then that I had only assumed that my blood pressure had been elevated for the past six weeks during the time of my "cold", but I actually hadn't been for an entire year before these visits. I had no way of knowing that my blood pressure had been high any time before--I had never suspected.

The doctor talked to me about type 1 hypertension and gave me some educational packets about it. She said that it sounds like I am eating right, so I need to add 1 mile of power walking on top of my daily 1 mile of meanderings between classes. I then told her about my triglyceride issues, and she gravely informed me that if my primary care physician hadn't put me on heart medication already, then she surely would at my February check-in--unless a miracle happens and I can reign everything in basically overnight.

I am feeling frustrated and a little betrayed right now.

I feel like I am doing everything that I can, but that nothing I do makes any difference. Whether I have the body I want or not, what does it matter if there is a high likelihood that I'll have at least one heart attack before 50? The doctor warned me that I should do everything in my power (as though I am not already) to avoid the heart medications because it is a slippery slope downhill from there.

I am going to add in that extra mile, I am going to watch my sodium, and I am going to continue to restrict myself to low-fat and low-GI rice, beans, fruits, and vegetables. I am going to work my hardest to try and make that February check-in a celebratory one. But in the back of my head I can still hear what my primary care physician said to me back in November: "I just want you to be prepared that no matter what you do, it may not help. Because it runs in the family, sometimes you just can't do it by yourself."

Please, please, please don't let that be me...

Daily Reading

Remember those daily readings I've been doing along with the meal plan? Well, they've been pretty cool so far. Some days I am just blown away though. Today was one of those days.

The section was entitled, "Foods That Conquer Pain." Not that I really have any pain, but I think that some of this is applicable to almost everyone. Dr. Barnard talked about the four different types of pain that can be managed, prevented, or treated with diet: joint pain, migraines, back pain, and menstrual cramps.

Joint Pain

This part referred mostly to arthritis, but all of it has to do with inflammation. Apparently there are some foods that trigger joint inflammation for some people:

• dairy
• meat
• eggs
• corn
• sugar
• nuts
• coffee
• wheat, rye, oats
• citrus fruits
• potatoes
• tomatoes

His suggestion for people who have joint pain is to switch to a vegan diet for a few weeks--that means diary, meat, and eggs are already out. If the pain persists after that, remove all of the other foods from your diet for a month. Once you begin feeling better you can start introducing one trigger food at a time until you identify what the problem is.

Migraines

These intense headaches, as it turns out, are very much like joint pain. Here's what can trigger them:

• dairy
• meat
• eggs
• chocolate
• corn
• nuts
• wheat
• citrus fruits
• tomatoes
• onions
• apples
• bananas

You'll want to do exactly what was listed for the section above.

Back Pain

Dr. Barnard says that a lot of peoples' back pain is caused from restricted blood flow to the spine, which is often caused by a meaty diet and/or smoking. This can actually lead over to to a pinched disk and pain that shoots all the way down the leg. A vegan diet alone should alleviate back pain that is not caused by an underlying disease.

Menstrual Cramps

Alright ladies, this is the answer you've been looking for. The science behind this one is that a vegan diet lowers estrogen levels (while a meaty diet raises them). High estrogen levels are associated with breast cancer, and also all of those lovely monthly side-effects. Even in women with severe symptoms, a vegan diet reduced pain and in many cases completely got rid of it. And yeah, that is every month. The key to this one is also a low-fat, high-fiber diet too though. Oh, and don't worry--less estrogen isn't going to make you extra hairy or anything. The odd thing to me is that my birth control is constantly feeding me more estrogen on a daily basis. I wonder what Dr. Barnard would say about that. Perhaps I'll shoot him an email. Regardless, I'll be able to say whether this one works or not in about a few weeks, hehe.


Some of these I'm not really sure about why they work, and I really am quite interested. But seriously, if you've got something like this going on and nothing is working, why not try dietary changes?

The was a story as well in the reading, about a nutritionist who had arthritis in her neck so badly that she could barely move. After taking steroids and tons of other drugs she was still in a lot of pain. She was only in her forties. After switching to a vegan diet her inflammation completely cleared up, she lost 40 pounds, and all of her acne went away. Pretty crazy stuff!

That story actually made me tear up a little bit while reading it, because it made me think of my mom. At forty years old, she has tendinitis in both shoulders and what is most likely sciatica affecting her back, hip, and leg. She's been working hard with physical therapy to help alleviate the inflammation but I know it is still a daily nuisance for her.

Soooooo what needs to happen is that she'll move in with me and I'll cook her a super healthy home-made vegan meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day! Right mom? *nudge nudge*

Maybe not, but I do think that this might be able to help. A vegan diet sounds crazy, I know, but it is actually the easiest "diet" I've ever been on. It really is a "diet" only in the sense that it is a way to eat, just like omnivorism or vegetarianism. Not to mention that all of these veggies contain loads of vitamins and minerals to keep you healthy anyways. I also have a friend with terrible migraines that I think could benefit from a vegan diet.

Dr. Barnard had one more tip for those struggling with joint inflammation. As a doctor, and after you've given dietary changes an honest try, he would prescribe every night with dinner:

• one tablespoon of flaxseed oil
• 1.4 to 2.8 grams of gamma-linolenic acid from borage, black currant, or evening primrose oil
• AND 400 IU of vitamin E (only 100 if you have high blood pressure).

The top two are omega-3 fatty acids that are naturally found in plants.

Good luck, and I hope I've influenced you in some way to be healthier! I certainly have been.

Caffeine Withdrawals

I am a big coffee drinker, but I can't take it black. I like mine all doctored up and froofy--Starbucks fraps are my best friend. Unfortunately, all of those things that make coffee so delicious and appealing are made of dairy. And without these things, I'd rather not have coffee at all. Snobbish, I know.

I haven't been drinking any soda either. Technically I could drink diet soda, but since I'm doing this whole natural foods regiment, it seems logical to give chemical sugar substitutes the boot as well.

Which means that I am having some crazy caffeine withdrawals today. At first I thought I hadn't gotten enough sleep, so I was really tired. Then I started feeling terrible, so I thought I must be getting sick. But then I started getting grump and depressed, and I knew it must be something else. The good news is that it will probably pass quickly. I am determined to believe that this is a good thing, and that I'll be better off without all of the extra stimulation.

Another thing I've noticed, and it seems to be a trend, is that I get the hiccups after every bulky vegetable meal. And these aren't your normal hiccups--these are drawn out, painful, obnoxiously high-pitched and loud hiccups. Helen actually came out of her room last night to ask if I was okay. It's not a big deal, just something I've noticed. Like many people, I have a hiatal hernia which is sometimes irritated if I eat too fast. Perhaps these foods, such as kale, just have a hard time passing into the stomach and disturb my diaphragm. Who knows.

For lunch today I was supposed to have a BST (bacon, sprout, tomato) sandwich with baked sweet potato wedges, but I couldn't find any fake bacon at the store. I think it is called tempeh, and I have no idea what that is. Instead I polished off some leftovers. I had some watermelon salad, my last mango pancake, and the caldo verde that I decided not to chuck out last night. The sweet potato fries will have to wait for a little later.

Dinner should be interesting tonight, especially given that I'm not a big fan of tomato soup (though I've never had home made, I suppose). Stay tuned!