Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Today I stuck with my plan an had about 1070 calories.

I had to use the stairs more than 8 times.  It was hard to get my legs to move up and down.  The hypocalcimia affects your legs and beathing.  By the end of the day I was moving better, but I have to keep pumping the tums.

Tomorrow I should weigh in and I'm hoping not to gain.

I had soup for lunch, but since it was warm today in my room it made me too warm.  Tomorrow I'm going to have salad.  I work late so I'll probably go to Jimmy Johns.  It is a sub shop that serves bread free subs.  Everything is inside lettuce and wrapped so you don't need a bun!  Hurrah.

More tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Beginings 9 4 2012

Last June I had to go back to see my MD.  She was following up on my May physical.  She was concerned that my calcium levels were below the bottom level.  I was to get blood work done before the follow-up appointment.

At the follow-up appointment she took the blood pressure cuff and placed it below the elbow.  She pumped it up to a high level.  The purpose was to see if my hand would cramp--a sure sign of trouble.  I did not experience the hand cramping.  A good thing too.  If my hand had cramped she would have put me into the hospital and tried a series of,  not always successful, treatments to improve my calcium.

I was given instructions to consume 1000 mg. of calcium per day.  That is more than 3 Ultra Tums.  She also sent a printout from Mayo Clinic of hypocalcemia.  Well I had 100% of the symptoms listed on the printout.  My MD made additional tests to eliminate the causes.  I didn't need her to eliminate them. I knew the cause!  The printout said that you could have a problem taking in nutrients caused by a digestive issue!

I had alwasys suspected that the reactions to dairy, gluten (maybe yeast more than gluten,) and the "healthy" fats used in frying foods or things like "Smart Balance" spread would cause a problem with taking in nutrients.  Wouldn't it also cause your metabolizm to believe that you were starving one day and then store everything you eat the next?  Oh wow a revelation--I could be fat because of the foods I should not eat or not accidentally eat!

This summer I set out on a mission to get a handle on this.  I wanted to lose weight, but I knew that I could not consume the three items above.  I looked at every program out there.  You wouldn't believe how much dairy is used in weight loss programs.  After I got over the disappointment in there not being a quick fix, I put my mind to work.

I started a diet of what I knew I could consume.  Salad is one of the items I can have.  I need to eliminate any dairy namely cheese on the salad and I need to pick a salad dressing I can tolerate.  Another item was soup.  Soup does have a high sodium content, but if I lower my weight, I should be able to have better control on my blood pressure--my issue with the sodium. My diet would also have to be between 1000 to 1500 calories.

In the first two weeks of my program I lost 7 pounds.  Being female, the last week wasn't an accurate week to take my weight.  I'm afraid of this week.  I have not been faithful to the salad and soup at every meal, but I have been true to the 1000 to 1500 calories.  Thursday is my day to share.

I'm starting my blog, as many sucessful diets say to record your food.  Well I calculated today's calories and counted 1060.  Even it wasn't all salad and soup, I maintained my calories.  I hope my weigh in should not show a gain.  If not, strict salad and soup!

I need to write to be faithful to my commitment.  I will share more later. It isn't about the weight as much as staying in the good area for calcium. Right now walking is hard. I can't move quickly and I start heavy breathing fairly quickly. Both are CALCUIM issues and extremely frustrating.  But if I don't make the changes it could be come a very serious issue.