I'd like a well-marbled steak, please

[clevermanka]

I forgot to take my Provigil this morning and I'm about to fall asleep at my desk. Man, that stuff really helps. I've been taking only the morning dose recently, so as to make my limited supply of it last through the end of the year. I hope that the Linking Decoction tea pills that my mom's TCM practitioner recommended in Provigil's stead work for me. I do not want to go back to being this tired all the time. This sucks.

As a state employee, I can get $480/year off my insurance premium by accumulating twenty points in their HealthQuest program. One part of that is getting a health screening thing where they check your height, weight, waist measurement, and a basic blood test. I had mine done today (which is why I forgot to take the Provigil--I had to fast, and I usually take the Provigil with my breakfast).

My numbers
Total Cholesterol: 185 mg/dL (<200 Desirable)
HDL Cholesterol: 72 mg/dL (>60 Optimal)
LDL Cholesterol: 102 mg/dL (100-129 Near Optimal)
TC/HDL Ratio: 2.6 (3.8 or below = Low Risk for women)
Triglycerides: 54 mg/dL (<150 Desirable)
Fasting Glucose: 95 mg/dL (<100 Normal)
Blood Pressure: 99/60 (<120/80 Normal)

The guy nearest me was getting his numbers read while I was getting my waist measurement. I guess they were good because he said "Wow, I'm going to go have a steak now!" And it made me want to scream because yeah, that's probably a really good idea, buddy, but our health care advice is so enmeshed in erroneous thinking and information that we're still shoving low-fat bullshit down people's throats and wondering why America is getting fatter and more disease-ridden by the second.

I estimate that 30-50% of my daily calories come from fat, and a lot of that is saturated fat. Coconut oil, eggs, fatty meats like steak or dark meat chicken...etc. But my numbers? All amazing. I'm a fucking poster child for health-by-the-numbers and I haven't eaten a whole grain since April of 2010.

I know that there's not one way of eating that works for every single person, but of the people I know who've ditched the grain-and-sugar combo, every single one reports improved health, as well as good mental and emotional states. And yet we are still bombarded with Low Fat High Fiber recommendations from every angle--not to mention what's readily available and affordable at the grocery store.

Speaking of things found at the grocery store, I saw this when I was picking up some spinach at Checker's last night.



Nice, right?

Comments

[ms-danson.livejournal.com]

That's cute.

edit: icon

[hdsqrl.livejournal.com]

Sending ^5's your way for the great numbers. I love that you've not touched a grain since last year, and I need to learn your secrets of resistance. I know I feel better when I'm grain-free as well, and I want to learn how to get into the thinking of "I do not eat those", rather than "I'm not eating those RIGHT NOW."

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I want to learn how to get into the thinking of "I do not eat those", rather than "I'm not eating those RIGHT NOW."

I feel so much better when I'm not eating the grains that it wasn't a hard transition for me. In fact, it was such a relief to be rid of the food cravings, I haven't been tempted to have even a bite of trigger-likely foods.

Once in a while, I splurge on a couple squares of quality 90% dark chocolate. Or I'll make myself some "candy" out of nuts and dried fruit. But I don't want to go back to obsessing over doughnuts for days (weeks) until I binged.

My first Whole30 got me through my sugar/grain detox. By the end of the month, the cravings were just gone.

[hdsqrl.livejournal.com]

Did you find it hard to get through the first few social events where you were expected to have cake & ice cream (or the equivalent)? That's where I'll fall apart even when I'm doing well otherwise. It's the PEER pressure, mang. :(

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Not a problem for me. I've never had issues with peer pressure, though. In fact, the more someone pesters me to eat something, the less I am inclined to eat it. =D

My thinking: Who cares about social expectations of food? This is my quality of life on the line!

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've noticed at the last few social events (especially parties, work events, and so on) are CHOCK-FULL of what CR and I call "poison": candy, cookies, brownies, cake, and so forth. Last event, I neglected to eat much beforehand, and I was stuck at this place for hours with NOTHING I could eat.

Strike that: nothing I wanted to eat, because I know how bad I feel after eating those and how good I feel when I'm not eating those things.

It took me about two weeks to get over the sugar cravings (I used to be darned-near addicted to the stuff!), but not eating wheat (nor any grains for a long time) helped break the addiction.

The biggest positive-reinforcement for me? I can eat all I want of really tasty food and not gain weight, and my body looks better than it has in decades, and I'm stronger and healthier and my knees don't ache for the first time in my life.

That's how I avoid such things. When my peers try to apply pressure, I mention some of that and they usually get the idea really quickly not to try to pressure me. Hopefully, my success even inspires some of 'em!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I used to be darned-near addicted to the stuff!

I used to be darned-near Totally and Completely addicted to the stuff!

Fixed that for you.

I'm so happy this way of eating works so well for you, too.

XOXO

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

We'll see how it affects my blood numbers soon! Quite interested in that, actually, to compare how our bodies react if similarly or differently. I suspect I'll be good, but y'know - years of old-school doctorin' have made me paranoid.

[hdsqrl.livejournal.com]

You know, I think rephrasing in my head just what you did will help - it's not that there's nothing for me to eat, just that there's nothing I WANT to eat. :)

Good call!!

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Happy to help! Good luck!

[adammaker.livejournal.com]

The last time I was at a faculty meeting, the only choice for me was to field strip some roast beast wraps and eat SOME of the contents.

OMG the vast array of cookies.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

OMG the vast array of cookies.

It makes me sad and angry and frustrated.

I had a real crisis of conscience this summer when I ordered muffins and pastries for the Sunday breakfast for the Campbell Conference. I think maybe I won't do that again next year. It feels like a betrayal.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Another reason not to: I couldn't eat it, either, and I was starving!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Another reason to have it at a fucking hotel, so people can actually get breakfast on Sunday morning.

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

It's damned awesome, all of it!
(Get inside TV Guide, lol.. classic it should be on top of that)
And yeh, I'm healthier and with LOWER cholestrol than when I was doing that awful (for me) vegetarian lifestyle. Except for the stuff that I can't fix, of course.

If it weren't the Food AND DRUG Admin, with open pockets for doctors who comply, our national health and medicine would be a whole.. (I know, preach/choir connection).

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes. More yes. =/

[miischelle.livejournal.com]

I am jealous of your fasting Glucose numbers.

By the by, are you DANCING TONIGHT?!?!?!?!?!?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I'm really happy with how I don't have blood sugar problems anymore. Even the super long fast last Saturday didn't knock me out, and I was able to put on a good performance despite at 24+ hour fast.

Yay for no grains or added sugars!

And yes! I AM DANCING TONIGHT! =D

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I just love baking, and I have found so few non-grain recipes that are any good. So what's a kitchen fiend like me to do?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

If you're fit, feel good, suffer no random illnesses, don't feel like grains inhibit your health, and believe that removing them would interfere with your general quality of life...I'm certainly not going to argue with you to cut them. You're the minority for whom grains might do small harm.

However, if a grain-free experiment showed that you were producing more muscle mass faster, and you found yourself free of some of the small health issues that plague you occasionally, might it be worth giving up the baking? My friend Melissa Joulwan (http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/) spends a lot of time in the kitchen (her cookbook comes out December 6), so there's the kitchen-fiend fulfilled--albeit minus the baking.

[e4q.livejournal.com]

wait! what?

i get the sugar thing, but i didn't know about the grain thing - to what extent do you not eat grains - or is it only whole grains you don't eat?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I don't eat any grains at all! No rice, no corn, no wheat, no quinoa, no nothing. I am Grain-free, Dairy-free, Soy-free, and Sugar-free.

Here is a nice, tidy article on why I don't eat grains (http://whole9life.com/2010/03/the-grain-manifesto/).

[e4q.livejournal.com]

cool!

thanks.

[adammaker.livejournal.com]

Your numbers are so pretty!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Only my LDL wasn't in the absolute Top Priority Category, and I missed being in that one by a mere two points. Woohoo!

[stuology.livejournal.com]

I'm glad this is unlocked. I want to send a link to this entry to friends of mine.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Spread the gospel! =D

[dotar-sojat.livejournal.com]

By odd coincidence I got just got some bloodwork numbers the other day. Let us compare:

Glucose, Fasting: 87 Reference Range: 65-99
Triglycerides: 74 Reference Range <150
Total Cholesterol: 204 Reference Range 125-200
HDL Cholesterol: 58 Reference Range > or equal to 40
LDL Cholesterol: 131 Reference Range <130
Chol/HDLC Ratio: 3.5 Reference Range > or equal to 5.0

Dammit! Barely busting the levels on Total and LDL Cholesterol... low-fat diet recommended! And regular excersize is also recommended... I haven't done much in the excersize department with the PE study and waiting for various pulled muscles and joint issues to go away.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Barely busting the levels on Total and LDL Cholesterol... low-fat diet recommended!

*snort*

followed by

*sigh*