Thursday, February 15, 2007

• Find out where you can buy organic produce. Completed. I have several options available to me - the Health Hut is just 5 minutes from my house and carries organic and local produce (and everything else you'd imagine a health food store would have). At work, I can go to Outpost, Whole Foods, or Trader Joes.
• Stop using electric blankets, and remove electric clock radios from the immediate vicinity of your bed. This is because of the harmful electromagnetic pollution. Completed. Moving the alarm clock is great ... now I'll have to actually get up out of bed to hit the snooze button!
• Make a conscious effort to eat an extra serving of fruits and vegetables with at least one meal this week. Completed!
• Eat fish at least twice this week. In progress.
• Replace at least one serving of meat with a soy food of your choice. In Progress.
• With lunch or your largest meal take 400 to 800 IU of vitamin E and 200 to 300 micrograms of selenium. In progress.
• Increase your daily walk to twenty minutes. If you do other aerobic exercise, consider cutting it back to two or three days, substituting an aerobic walk on the other days. Cut back on aerobic exercise, seriously? No problem! LOL!
• Do some simple stretching to improve your flexibility. In progress via yoga and pilates DVDs.
• Add 3rd breathing exercise to daily routine. In progress
• Ask friends and bookstore clerks about inspirational books they recommend. Make a list of some you would like to read in the areas of spirituality, self-help, poetry, biography, or any other category, and select one that you will begin this week. Okay friends, I wanna hear from you on this one!!
• Buy more flowers. Completed, thanks to M and K for Valentine's Day! Oh, and Dana too! :)

Dr. Weil has a very gentle approach so far, and I'm really enjoying it. The hardest part would be remembering to take the supplements/vitamins, but I've got that conquered - I bought 3 of those weekly pill organizers in different colors. One for am/breakfast, one for noon/lunch, and one for dinner/evening. I'm keeping the noon one in my purse so I always have it at work, and it seems to be working so far. I just open the compartment for whatever day it is, and whatever time it is, and I'm good to go!

My doctor appointment today went really well. I really like Dr. Kim, everything she said made so much sense. And it's awesome to know that we're working on the whole picture, not just symptoms like my conventional doctor. It was so eye-opening to see how everything is inter-related and affects each other, just like a dominos.

I've got a lot of change in front of me. The past 2 weeks with Dr. Weil really set a good foundation for the changes Dr. Kim has set before me, but it's great that both Dr. Weil and Dr. Kim's plans are combinable (is that a word?) and I can do it concurrently.

The three major symptoms we are working on are my high blood pressure, GERD, and fatty liver. Dr. Kim has put me on a therapeutic diet, which is a low-carbohydrate, moderate-protein, and moderate-fat diet focused on real foods. I have to follow this diet for at least 2 - 3 months to re-establish a normal hormone balance, including insulin sensitivity.

Sidebar - this reminds me - I'm actually becoming insulin resistant, which is a step away from having diabetes! And I would be the 4th generation on my mother's side to have diabetes. This was a big shock and has made me even more determined to make healthy changes!

Back to the therapeutic diet ... basically the things I am to avoid are:

• all animal milk, cheese
• potatoes
• processed foods
• all caffeinated teas, coffee
• all wheat, corn products
• grain-fed beef, pork
• fried foods
• alcohol
• commerical eggs
• peanuts/peanut butter
• all dried fruits
• sweeteners

Some of the other changes I'm making are ...

• Adding 1-2tsp of organic apple cider vinegar to 6-8 ounces of water and drink it 15-30 minutes before each meal. I'm going to be doing this as a sort of tea - hot water with a bit of lemon for some sweetness.
• Drink a breakfast protein smoothie every morning. Add 1/2 tsp probiotic powder to the smoothie daily. From Day 1 of TOM to Day 14, add 2 Tbsp of fresh ground organic flax seeds, and from Day 15 to TOM, add 2 Tbsp sesame/sunflower seeds to the smoothie. Dr. Kim suggested I buy the flax/sesame/sunflower seeds in bulk, and grind it fresh daily in a coffee grinder. I did a bit of shopping after work and have everything ready for tomorrow morning!
• Drink mostly water for the first 6 weeks of my treatment. I must drink at least 64 ounces of water per day.
• End my shower with a cool water spray, starting with the extremities and finishing with my lower back. This helps with circulation, and is a simple form of hydrotherapy. Dr. Kim suggested going as hot as I can then take it as cold as I can for at least 15 - 30 seconds. Yikes!!
• Every night before bed, do dry skin brushing with a loofah sponge. This also helps stimulate circulation, this is done on very dry skin, with short, very light, frequent strokes toward the heart for 45-60 seconds.
• Oooohhh, this one will scare you ... Castor Oil Packs. But it's not what you think! I need to take a piece of flannel and put castor oil on it, then place it on my abdomen, covered by another towel, and a hot pad, and let it sit for 45 minutes. While I'm basically immobilized, I need to do breathing exercises and relaxation therapy during the 45 minutes. I'm also supposed to alternate the pack between my abdomen and liver every other day. Dr. Kim said this sounds weird, but it really works to help heal my digestive system, plus I'm relaxing at the same time. Heck, as long as I don't have to actually drink the castor oil, I'm all good!
• I must do 30 minutes on the elliptical every day.
• I have to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Every hour of sleep before midnight is worth 2 hours after midnight. This will be a little hard, but I'm going to aim for bedtime by 9 (except for LOST on Wednesdays) and wake up at 5:30pm. This will be rough on the weekends!
• This is the best one!! Do something FUN every day! Laughter is essential for stress management and a healthy heart!

So, I bet after reading all this, it sounds like a lot! I agree with you! The great thing is that Dr. Kim said I'm not expected to do everything all at once, and can implement changes gradually if I want. Of course being the person I am, I'm jumping right in. Again, it's easier because of the past 2 weeks with Dr. Weil, but I just don't want to waste any more time, ya know?

Dangnabbit! It's 8:59, gotta go to bed! I hope everything has a great day! I'll be visiting blogs tomorrow morning! Woohoooo!!

Labels: February Challenge, Michelle