Michelle’s Loosing Fibromyalgia and Weight Journal

[lmggallagher]

Dr. McD stressed the importance of sunlight during these times for our immune systems. I'm going to read up - luckily someone linked all Dr. McD's sunlight information here.

Hi Hal,

Everything you need to know about Vitamin D, food and sun, from Dr. McDougall:

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2015nl ... tamind.htm
https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2011nl/mar/vitd.htm
https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2010nl/mar/vitd.htm
https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/sep/vd.htm
https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl ... nshine.htm

Enjoy,
Scott

Looks like I got just the right amount in my sun bath today and exposed the right portions of my body too
Anymore than 5 minutes and I would have frozen - for a Californian it's terribly cold today 55.2 degrees F and windy

[lmggallagher]

Oh Buns dropped in - a name I remember - so glad to see folks who have stuck with McD over the many years!

Yes - do try chamomile - it really has worked! For me the Bigalow tea brand works best, though I must get through the box I have of Celestial Seasonings.

Our lockdown in California is horrendous. Absolutely must be done for preserving what we can for our health workers and populace. Also, we've been the fifth largest economy in the world for decades - no other non Nation-State has that distinction. California going down alone is part of the stock markets crash.

I'm retired but so many are now losing jobs and home schooling for their first time here. I can't imagine the disruption of trying to work from home - with your kids and spouse all in attendance. I worked for my State back when and as a Manager. Our IT people set us up to connect to all that we needed at home b/c we pretty much always worked nights too. Now they have figured out who is essential v. non essential in terms of still having to go into work or telecommute. It's going to be a mess and it may be at least two months - plus, here the kids will be out of school for the rest of the school year!

I hope people here share their experiences of this some is going to be super hard and sad - but some will also be sharing our coping skills and hacks on how we make it work as best we can. That is pretty much what we've been doing on the McD program so I'm sure we have things to share going forward with this new challenge.

Now back to clean out kitchen shelves to accommodate the shelf stable food I am praying will come someday. The source Dr. McD and Mary showcased is just like our grocery story shelves here - out of stock until further notice.

[lmggallagher]

Today is a red letter day - I got my Imperfect Produce boxes. I have gotten the delivery of these somewhat funny looking, undersized or overstocked foods for over a year and am able to skip a week if I need too. I've always taken it for granted - no longer.

In Statewide lockdown as of yesterday those who hadn't already done the panic rush - got there mojo on to empty the shelves yet again. I've ordered from Amazon, Safeway, Sprouts, Imperfect and Harmony Foods (dried offerings that Mary demonstrated on the last video) and last week no one came through but my little Imperfect Box - a few days late but just in time to replenish the broccoli and lettuce that disappeared yesterday! Amazon I must say came through but only a 10th of what I ordered made it here. I wasn't even being a hoarder - just my weekly groceries!

Anyway when the boxes of veggies hit my door step this morning super early - I was on them like white on rice! Still in my jammies I tore in to the boxes (stopped to carefully scrub after the box exposure) and then unpacked it all carefully. Somehow I ended up with an ungodly amount of dried pineapple - but I'll get that straightened out with them and it's something the McDougall's said we should have on hand as well.

After that I had breakfast and marvelled over my riches with a cup of tea. Oops completely forgetting to weigh myself! That's fine though - I also feel a bit smug as I was the biggest loser in the weigh in group this week! That isn't likely ever to happen again - so I'm relishing it today. As a matter of fact I did none of my morning routine BP, meditation, my todo list. I just spent the whole day marvelling at my broccoli and sweet potatoes and all their brethren veggies.

It gave me real pause for gratitude - so I'm spending the whole day in that mode - I'm healthy - knock wood, I'm safe in my home, friends and family are keeping in touch and vice a versa, I have wonderful Doctors who I am praying for as they all will be frontline no matter what their specialty is today and I have sufficient funds in the bank now to share with people around the world who are really struggling from displacement, conflict, famine and myriad other tragedies that they didn't bring on anymore than the world brought on this virus. The worst days are yet to come, but for now I am happy and all I know are safe right now.

[lmggallagher]

Another helpful JeffN post - I seriously think we are fortunate to have the McDougalls, JeffN and all associated with the program as sources!

Sure.

Hopefully, this will not turn out to be necessary and if it is, that it won’t be too bad a situation. It is possible that if anything, like you mentioned, some of us may be in areas that get quarantined for 2-4 weeks. So, the plan would be to make sure you have everything you need to stay in for that long of a period.

My plan is not any different than what I posted here as my Hurricane Survival Foods. The only difference is, as far as I know, we will still have water (which I run through a RO) and electricity, which makes all of this easier. I do keep about 20 gallons of water on hand and a few cases of propane for my camping stove.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=56448&p=569677&#p569951

In short

I like Harmony House Foods (there are others like them too)

https://www.harmonyhousefoods.com

I order the gallon size jugs and keep on hand
- Sweet Potatoes
- Lentils
- Split Peas
- Carrots
- Sweet Peas
- Corn
- Green beans
- Broccoli (which i didn’t like so won't reorder)

I have been ordering the 365 dried beans, 365 rice, 365 oats and 365 Whole Wheat Pasta from Amazon, but all of them went MIA over the last 2 weeks and I don’t think they are coming back. I’d check your local Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, Costco, BJ’s, Sams, etc to see what you could get to keep on hand for rice, oats, pasta and canned/dried beans. I try to keep about 4 cases of beans on hand or a few lbs of each of the dried ones, or both. You can also get the canned ones online at Vitacost. I also keep about 8-10 lbs each of rice and pasta on hand.

Our freezer is full of frozen vegetables and fruit too which we get at BJ’s.

I would also go to WHO and CDC and read about what they recommend you keep on hand in regard to medications (if needed) and supplies that you need at home if you couldn’t go out for 2-4 weeks (toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc)

I am an optimist but I also plan for the worst.

Hope that helps

In health
Jeff

[lmggallagher]

Good day. I'm really doing well with sleep and this has I believe banished the fibromyalgia. Today it rained all day usually the day before as the barometric pressure bounces around pre-storm I'm in the most pain. Once it starts raining solidly the pain dissipates - unless it's storm followed by storm. Today I had no pain and good energy too. Though yesterday pre-storm my energy was very low despite fair sleep.

The eating was not as good - I ate boxed cereal this morning - as I found it on a shelf I don't typically use. Unfortunately it hadn't expired so I made a dent in what was left. Lunch was veggie wraps which I usually do in collards or lettuce leaves - but since I can't get those I got some sort of wrap - very tasty so it also has to be a sin food. Dinner was a bowl of fresh southwest soup as I made it from scratch it fit McD just fine

The weight didn't change - my BP was close to OK 120/72/70 but I want it down from there. My temp is weirdly low though up from yesterday. I understand us oldsters don't run as high as younger folks. For us a temp of 99.7 can be the virus - so I am paying attention to mine closely.

Today is a week in on the solitary confinement - oops, that should be the California CoronaVirus lock down. I cleaned kitchen shelves all day and am not done yet. I have to be speedy I have two biggish grocery deliveries tomorrow. As stores are still having trouble keeping their shelves stocked - I'm not really sure what I will end up with - I'm preparing as if it will all come - but that is pretty doubtful.

[deweyswakms]

Today is a red letter day - I got my Imperfect Produce boxes.

It gave me real pause for gratitude - so I'm spending the whole day in that mode

Excellent reminder, Gratitude. I feel it too. And on my next 'foraging' trip to the store, I will remember to get pineapple!

Marsha

[lmggallagher]

Hi Marsha - hope you had good luck with your shop. I got 7 bags of groceries delivered to my door this morning. Two hours ahead of schedule and of course lacking toilet paper and hand sanitizer - I have a tiny supply of toilet paper enough to get through the week I hope.

I'm so grateful for the shoppers - one of them sent my photos of the empty shelves at Safeway each time a whole category failed. It's why I did 2 shoppers and spaced them a couple of hours apart so I could add to the second list if something failed at one store the other might be OK. It worked except for those pesky items that everyone is hoarding!

More gratitude - for shoppers - who saved the Chinese when millions upon millions were locked down - they will here too!

[lmggallagher]

My weight is coming off more slowly now but still a bit each day. What I'm happiest with is my blood pressure which was elevated - 130s over 80s is coming down - today 117/73/PR 72 I wish I knew what is happening with the prediabetes, but when I first started McD (lo those many years back) it disappeared before I could find the time to get in for my baseline blood tests. Right now with our State on lock down and my medical campus only accepting dire needs - won't be getting that done anytime soon.

So, while usually I focus on the weight and the relaxing of my fibromyalgia/sleep issues - I'm really all about being a oldster that is in the less vulnerable population. That is to say I can't reverse the fact that I had cancer treatment a year ago but I can make sure that I don't have hypertension and diabetes! Both of which I am sure are established as OK in the few weeks I'm back on this WOE!

Also, great news on the fibro front - sleep continues to be better and I have not been in a fibro flare or had any fibro symptoms at all (save maybe a bit of fatigue) since the sleep has improved. This despite my high propensity for having huge flares before storm events - those have been continuous over the last month! YAY WOE plus chamomile tea!

Meanwhile - home isolation sucks but I have lots to do in getting my house in shape again - it's hard to do when boxes and bags of stuff are coming to the door daily. I'm not hoarding - it's just you have to get what you need when you can. I'm leaving boxes out in my living room to cook off the virus (during the intermittent sunny periods) if any is sneaking in in the time that it can remain on surfaces - so it always looks like a hoarder lives here

[lmggallagher]

SW: 241.9
CW: 229.8
GW: 150
Total Lost: 12.1
Last Week: 231.8
This Week: 229.8
Lost TW: 2.0


BP: 117/71/PR 66

The weight is still coming off I had a cheat this yesterday - my neighbor is making vegan chocolate chip cookies and sharing them with me. Six in a packet - along with a package of toilet paper. As a shut in from this lock down here I appreciated them spoiling me. the TP is like our scarcest commodity here! On-the-other-hand - I texted her that I loved the cookies but I'm on a diet - she seems to have ignored that but I still lost more weight after eating every last one yesterday before my weigh in this AM. It did not seem to blunt the progress - happily!

I did have poor sleep though - for reasons unknown sugar wrecks my sleep - insomnia - and nothing blunts that. I feel fibro today for the first time in a long time!

[lmggallagher]

Hi Lizzy - you made my day! I so appreciate what you've said.

I'm pretty much unsinkable attitude wise, though somehow life keeps throwing stuff at me to test the theory. Some of it is my fault from making choices that have bad health outcomes - I'm on to that now, but like all of us here - it's hard to figure out what is healthy when even our Doctor's by-and-large are telling us we are doing the right things healthwise when we aren't.

I think back to my Grandparent's health. On their ranch my Grandmother grew a huge garden - I mean HUGE! It feed her siblings (who would leave their farms to come can the final harvest - summers were a traveling canning circus one farm cucumbers for pickles - etc, one for green beans etc - early to late crops). The garden also feed a good part of their small town - the veggies in the one grocery store were grapes and iceberg lettuce - not much else. They raised sheep, but meat was not the mainstay of their diet - vegetables were.

Their health was good right up until they retired and moved to suburbia to be near the grandchildren. My Grandmother still gardened but the property was completely shaded and vegetables were out of the question. Grocery stores offered them foods they really didn't eat much of before and much of it processed. Their siblings were all done with canning and sharing food. Their health declined rapidly.

I can't garden either for the shade, but now I choose the foods through the year that would have been harvested on the ranch - it all makes sense to me now. This WOE feeds my attitude because I see immediate changes for the good in my health!

Meanwhile - this week has been interesting - my weight kept going up and up though I was eating right! I gained like 1.5 pounds which pretty much ate into last week's loss. Then I recalled that the transition from the 230's to the 220's has been miserable for me. Originally, my highest weight was 256 - and that came off wonderfully until I hit the 220s. Then I just plateaued and got sidetracked back to bad food choices. I won't do that this time - I 'm resolved. If the recent cancer recurrence and Covid19 can't motivate change then - I'm a lost cause!

But - this morning I weighed and I dropped well below my weigh in last week! If I hadn't started losing again I wouldn't have changed my efforts - but I did recall that this weird plateau happens for reasons unknown.

Actually, part may be sleep this time. I have the one type of chamomile tea that for sure helps me with my sleep and Instacart couldn't find it last week. I didn't order through them again due to the strike - so I sent to the Bigelow website direct and it will be awhile. Last night I realized that the box of their assorted teas contained two packets and I slept like a log again! Boom a big drop in my weight. Who knows but - feel like there is something to that I can track going forward. It's going to take awhile before I have that tea again - so it may be an upswing in weight or not. We'll see.

[lmggallagher]

SW: 241.9
CW: 228.6
GW: 150
Total Lost: 13.3
Last Week:229.8
This Week: 228.6
Lost TW: 1.2

[lmggallagher]

Still haven't gotten all the way through JeffN's Fast Foods video but this is the game plan for tomorrow's cooking

Jeff's Longevity Soup
Prep: 5 minutes Cook: 15 minutes
Serves:4
By Jeff Novick
All you need is a large pot, a spoon, scissors and a can opener to make this soup. Now what could be easier than that!!

Ingredients6 cups water15-ounce can diced tomatoes15-ounce can crushed tomatoes2 15-ounce cans beans (see hints below)2 pounds frozen vegetables (see hints below)1-2 cups cooked potatoes, grains, or pasta (see hints below)minced garlic, basil, oregano, hot pepper sauceORminced garlic, grated ginger, smoked paprika, cumin, hot pepper sauceDirections
Place all of the ingredients into a large pot and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes, until all vegetable are done.

Hints: Use any kind of beans that you like in this soup, either both the same kind or one can of each of 2 different kinds. (Jeff's favorites are kidney and garbanzo.) Look for Eden Organic, No-Salt Added Beans. Also look for Pomi tomatoes in shelf-stable boxes. Frozen vegetables usually come in 1 pound bags. Look for California Blend (cauliflower, broccoli and carrots) or Italian Blend (zucchini, green beans, broccoli and red pepper). This is a good use for leftover cooked starches, such as potatoes, rice or pasta. Use one of the 2 seasoning suggestions for either an Italian-style soup or a Moroccan-style soup. (Leave out the hot pepper sauce, if desired.) Or use your favorite seasoning blend to make this soup even easier.

OK, I have experimented some more with the concept and here is my updated "guidelines"

1- 28 oz Can No Salt Added Tomatoes
1- 16 oz Bag Frozen Mixed Veggies (any type)
1- 4 oz Frozen Green Leafy Vegetables (collard, turnip, mustard, etc)
1- Around 200-250 Calories of a Cooked Starch (Brown rice, Yam, Potato, WW Pasta, etc)
1- Seasoning (to your preference)

This makes one meal of about 600-650 calories. Add in 1-2 tsp of flax and a couple pieces of fruit during the day or as a dessert if desired. You can repeat the process 2-3x a day for a simple meal plan of around 1300-1950 calories.

This will surpass every single RDA/DRI for every nutrient. The only ones that may occasionally look slightly low (85-95%) will be Zinc, Selenium and Vit E, all of which will not be issues and have been covered in this forum.

As some of you have mentioned, this is a large volume of food. But, what better problem to have then to have SO MUCH food to eat and enjoy!

200- 250 Calories Of Starch options
~ 1.25 to 1.5 Medium Potatoes
~ 1.25 to 1.5 Cups (Cooked) Whole Wheat Penne Pasta
~ 1 to 1.25 Cups (Cooked) Brown Rice

I just made it again for lunch with potatoes, collards and a mix of California style frozen veggies.

Enjoy!

In Health
Jeff

[lmggallagher]

SW: 241.9
CW: 229.8
GW: 150
Total Lost: 12.1
Last Week: 228.6
This Week: 229.8

Gained TW: + 1.2

All the areas I flunked this week - but I have fixes for them all!

2) Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches.

3) Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.

5) Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).

6) Eliminate any added oil.

7) Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e. bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.

10) Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).
Website

I had a long post on all of this but it evaporated. So, that was a good exercise for me that I won't replicate to the the relief of all that read all the posts

Suffice to say with brevity this time - it was a bad week.

50/50: I made a JeffN bowl meal that was awful too much tomato: I drowned it with too much starch to make it edible - hence over the 50/50 plate.

Flour etc.: My neighbor treated me again (despite my dropping the ten ton hints that I am trying to lose weight on purpose) with her tempting vegan/gluten free --- but full of nuts, oils, dried fruits and sugars --- treats. This week I got muffins one for every day of the week and I ate them all.

Salt: Also, I can only eat canned beans ( a whole other story) and the Instacart shoppers send me pictures of the bean shelf to prove there are no low sodium beans to be found EVER - so SALT!

No exercise: My exercise area is still a staging area for the many boxes and bags that come to the house each week during this lock down. I can barely keep up with getting the produce unpacked - let alone the shelf staples. I'm giving my full weekend over to doing that - but I'm overwhelmed to say the least!

Next week will be better - I know what is going wrong and have fixes for it all. Including putting the vegan muffins straight in the compostables bin!

Despite all that I have one piece of excellent change for the week --- my blood pressure was 105/65 PR 62 this morning. It was 139/85/PR 80 when I started - I am stunned that this latest reading is lower than my typical 110/65 PR 70 back when I was doing Master's swimming for an hour 3 times a week in my 30s! For someone who is doing NO EXERCISE at all - this is a stunning example as to the health improvements that can be attributed to this WOE on its own!

PS for Mark - I'm o glad someone else is benefiting from some Egoscue in their life. I've read parts of your story and am so impressed with all you do, including some Egoscue, to deal with your specific health issue. It's a motivational story to say the least.

[lmggallagher]

this morning's weigh in shows I lost all the weight I gained last week - TG that just took the weekend to shed. Yet, that's not my good news today. This morning's blood pressure was 110/66 PR 59. The BP was my normal in my 20's. In my late 20's it remained there and decades beyond that. Then I was very active: I swam Master's swimmers one hour 3 times a week, walked the other days, and did exercise tapes as well (Jane Fonda tried to kill us all in the 1990's). On top of that I did field work in the summers - often logging as much as 10 miles a day in over 100 degree heat. The blood pressure never deviated. Neither did my eating habits - I ate a huge amount. Days when I swam at 5:30 AM I'd have breakfast in the cafeteria eggs, sausages, hash browns and toast. sometimes going for seconds.

It stunned all the engineers I worked with, as I was a bottomless pit and never gained any weight. Most of them had "middle age weight problems". One day one of the engineers said they had planned an eat off between me and the title holder of the biggest appetite of all the men at work. It was game on and Glenn and I sat across from each other over the SAD breakfast adding oatmeal and fruit to my daily meal. Both of us had seconds on a lot of food. I still had room when Glenn put a huge thermos on the table - the kind truckers have! He asked another man to get us some bowls and then poured his wife's hot Texas chili out of the thermos as our final course. Hot chile isn't my thing, but I kept up with him to the last. We tied - no one won - but the said "she held her own".

I stopped eating that way in the when I hit my thirties - oatmeal breakfasts only. I was still a SAD eater but more veggies and continued exercise. The weight didn't happen until I hit my 40's by then Glenn had died of a heart attack at 67, my age now. It was his 3rd - he'd already had triple by-pass!

Today - on McDougall alone - no exercise yet - my blood pressure and pulse rate are as low as they were in my 20s. I'm sure my circulatory system has a way to go to reverse the damage I've done over the years - but boy does this feel good right now!

Plus - the pulse rate of 59 according to Mayo clinic and other sources is in the athletic range! Wow!

[deweyswakms]

Another helpful JeffN post - I seriously think we are fortunate to have the McDougalls, JeffN and all associated with the program as sources!

I like Harmony House Foods (there are others like them too)

https://www.harmonyhousefoods.com

Thanks for the Harmony House link. I have a growing sense that we will see some food shortages ahead. Have given up finding pasta on store shelves, rice is scarce too. And I don't want to drive to various stores trying to find these things. I am lucky to be close to a New Seasons store (just like a Whole Foods). They have good organic produce selection but not much availability of dry goods (oatmeal, rice, lentils etc).

I TOO am so grateful for what I have now, retired with enough $ to not worry about paying rent. It's so hard for millions of people.

Marsha