Update Time!

I am so excited, and I can't hide it!!! I am on a high today!!! I went to a Health Fair and my cholesterol was 157 and blood sugar 97. I had to go to another booth and consult with an MD before they would give me an A1c test. He looked at my cholesterol and blood sugar numbers and said, "Your numbers are normal, why do you want an A1c? I told him, "Well, I had a heart attack in February and had two stents put in my heart artery and I had a stroke the year before. My A1c was 11.8 with the stroke and 11.6 with the heart attack. I did everything my doctor told me to, but I couldn't get my blood sugar under control with the insulin and I couldn't get out of bed, so 2 months ago I stopped taking my meds and I started eating raw food!" He looked at me and said, "Well, you haven't had 3 full months of change, but I'm real interested to see what your A1c is!" When my turn came up, he came over and stood there waiting for my test to be done.... The tech said 8.2... I said, "Wow, I didn't think it would be that good, yet! The doctor shook his head and said, "I didn't think it would be under 9!" He gave me his business card and said, "I'm really interested in seeing how this works for you."

I want to send the cholesterol test to my Cardiologist. He wanted me on a statin drug to lower my cholesterol, but I had an allergic reaction to it in the hospital. So, he gave me a script for another type, but I researched it and I didn't like the common side effects. When I started the Raw Vegan Diet, I researched nuts and found out they bring your cholesterol down and clean your arteries out without side effects! Well...It worked!!!

Day of Heart Attack

02-04-11 Blood Pressure 169/119, Pulse 108, Blood Sugar 565, Weight 206, Cholesterol 265, A1c 11.6

09-08-11 Blood Pressure 149/99, Pulse 99, Blood Sugar 190, Weight 232

Stopped Medications - Tired of feeling sick and not having the energy to do anything.

Ate Atkins style diet, lost 8 lbs, but still didn't feel well

09-16-11 Blood Pressure 159/117, Pulse 102, Blood Sugar 525, Weight 224...Stroke level, need to change again!

Started Raw Vegan Diet

09-21-11 Blood Pressure 149/99, Pulse 82, Blood Sugar 271, Weight 224

10-05-11 Blood Pressure 119/72, Pulse 68, Blood Sugar 176, Weight 217 -15 lbs

10-29-11 Blood Pressure 113/66, Pulse 69, Blood Sugar 97, Weight 212 -20 lbs Cholesterol 157, A1c 8.2

Once A Month Regular Food Day!

Yesterday, was my 36th anniversary! So, I was looking forward to having my once a month regular food day. Since we had a gift card for Olive Garden and they were having endless pasta night, we decided to go there. I was looking so forward to it, I had already been on their website and decided exactly what I was going to eat a week ahead of time.

The soup and salad were great as usual. Andy decided he didn't want to eat bread, but I did. Then, the appetizer came; smoked mozzarella with bread slices. I took one bite and got a mouthful of mold!!! I had to drink lots of water and eat more bread to get the taste out of my mouth!!! Yuck!!!

The the main course, roasted mushroom in a Parmesan sauce with sun-dried tomatoes. It wasn't bad, but not great either. The sun-dried tomatoes should have been soaked. Instead they were hard as a rock sprinkled on top. I was also surprised, I could only eat 1/4 of it. With other endless pasta nights, I've been able to eat two plates of pasta. Now, I think my stomach just isn't used to that any more!

I wasn't going to have any dessert, but they had pumpkin cheesecake! My weakness! It was fantastic!!! With a crunchy gingerbread cookie sprinkled on top.

Then we went to a movie; Abduction with Taylor Launter. Andy thought it was going to be a chick flick because of the Twilight star. But, it had a lot of action in it. He really liked it.

We had a small popcorn during the movie, which we agreed just didn't taste that great.

On our way home we both agreed that, we liked our raw vegan spaghetti dishes way better than the cooked, bland Olive Garden meals. Not only did they not taste that great, they left our mouths dry and thirsty. I was so thirsty by the time we got home, I drink 3 tall glasses of water!!! I also noticed mucus gathering in my throat and I had a sore on my tongue .

When I got home, I took my blood pressure, it was still normal; 129/71. But, my blood sugar was 293!!! I could of guessed that would have happened!

In the morning, I had another attack of the right eye allergy; Swollen, itchy! Still salty, dry, thirsty mouth! I snored again last night! I haven't snored since starting raw vegan. Gain 2 lbs!

Conclusion: Regular food just isn't as good anymore. When you get used to super fresh live food, dead food tastes bland! And it caused inflammation, mucus and snoring! So, I got to ask myself, Was it worth it! NOOO!

I'm really not craving sweets anymore, so I shouldn't have caved into the pumpkin cheesecake. It wasn't worth the spike in my blood sugar. I need to work on a raw vegan pumpkin cheesecake for thanksgiving, because my daughter is bringing her famous pumpkin cheesecake with caramel pecan topping. We'll have to see how next month's regular food day works out! It's going to be Thanksgiving!

Indoor Winter Garden

Is it possible to have fresh veggies all winter long? Well, This year I'm going to find out!

I just transplanted my outdoor herbs; rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, sage, and celery into their new indoor home.

I used a portable clothes rack on wheels and hung shoe holders on the rack with shower curtain hooks. I put a long planter on the bottom rack to catch drainage from watering. This works really well when it's a sunny day, I can wheel it outside. And it's easy access to my herbs when I'm cooking; just walk a few steps, snip, snip, snip and wonderful flavors in every dish!!!

Now, if I can find a way to get my tomatoes and zucchini in here before the frost gets them!

Two Week Update:

Start Raw Vegan Vitals:

09-21-11 Blood Pressure 149/99, Pulse 82, Blood Sugar 271, Weight 224

10-05-11 Blood Pressure 119/72, Pulse 68, Blood Sugar 176, Weight 217

Blood Pressure normalized in two days!

Blood Sugar still gradually coming down, not normal yet. But, really good for not taking insulin in 19 days!

Weight Loss 7 lbs in 14 days! Not hungry and eating well! Total of 15 lbs lost in one month. 9 more lbs to go to be back where I was before I started taking insulin.

Tips:

1. I make a big batch of Green Soup Smoothie in the morning and divide it up for each meal throughout the day.

2. I drink a Green Soup Smoothie before I eat each meal to fill up.

3. I prepare two days of meals at a time, so I get a break every other day. That seems to help me stay on track, because it's easier to eat the raw vegan food waiting for me in the refrigerator, than to make something else.

4. Have good snacks on hand and when out on errands to stay away from junk and fast food. (usually nuts and veggie seed crackers)