Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year!!

For the first time in years, I am looking forward to making a resolution for the New Year.  I don’t normally partake in New Year’s Resolutions, but this time is different.  I am using this birth of a new year to launch my own rebirth.  Time to get off the merry-go-round and take the steps I know I need to take to improve my health once and for all.  After my health struggles this year, Chris and I are fully committing to following a healthy lifestyle and to work towards healing my heart disease.  The first step in this healing is following The McDougall Program…100%.  If you don’t know what The McDougall Program is, it is simply a way of eating that eliminates all animal products, no oil, and minimal fatty nuts, seeds and fatty fruits like avocado and coconut.  What it does include is plenty of starches, veggies and legumes.

Yep, that’s right…that is 100% no meat, dairy, eggs or oil.  And for me, with my heart disease, that also means no nuts, coconut or avocado.  This may sound hard to some, but you know what’s really hard…recovery from a heart attack and open heart surgery.  Compared to that, food is easy-peasy.  If I never want to go through that again, I have to take drastic measures.  No moderation here.  If I want my body to heal, I need to nourish it properly, stop inflicting harm, and get out of its way.

If you would like to find out more about this program, Dr. McDougall does have wonderful books out, including The Starch Solution, but you can find his free program here https://www.drmcdougall.com/

Now, we usually eat healthier than most.  We eat lots of veggies, we’ve eaten a mainly vegetarian diet for over 10 years, we don’t smoke, we don’t do drugs, etc.  But for healing, it is just not enough.  We need to delve into this with everything we’ve got.  I am not taking this lightly…my life depends on it.  I am so lucky that Chris is taking this journey with me.  It’s a lot easier to make changes like this when you have your spouse’s support.

Sure, some things may seem like an inconvenience, but we’ll figure it out.  Eating out?  No problem, I’m not shy.  I’ll ask for what I want and I’ll bring my own salad dressing if needed.  Going to friends or family?  No problem, I’ll bring foods that I will eat…and enough to share.  Who doesn’t love good food???

I’m fortunate.  I have taken eating well serious enough that I am not on many medications, even after having had heart surgery.  81 mg. aspirin, Zocor (cholesterol meds) and Zyrtec.  That’s it!  Yay me, right?  But, you know what?  I don’t like taking meds.  The Zocor gives me muscle aches and I feel like I’m dependent on the Zyrtec.  My goal is to be off all medication in 2015, and I will do it.

2015 is going to be an exciting year, I just know it.

A Day I Will Never Forget

May 14, 2014…it’s a day I will never forget. It started as any other day. I went to work, I attended a meeting after work, had a glass of wine with the girls as we toasted a coworkers birthday…I was feeling good. I was excited about taking our first yoga class that evening. So, I drove home, picked up Chris, and we went to yoga. It was tough for an inflexible newbie such as myself, but I loved it. I couldn’t wait to go again. We got home…and then it happened. Pain in my chest. Can’t be. I just drank that cold water too fast, right? Yeah, that’s it. That’s what’s going on. Then came the stabbing pain in my left shoulder. Then came the rales. You don’t know what rales are? It’s sort of a rattling or crackling sound when you breathe. I found out later that the rales indicate congestive heart failure. Yikes!

We went to the hospital (I was foolish…Chris drove me instead of calling an ambulance) and after some testing and a catheterization, we found out that the blockage was in the same artery as my first heart attack 8 years ago. The stent occluded and they couldn’t get through. They tried to stabilize me, but no luck. There seemed to be a lot of scar tissue where the stent was. They ended up doing emergency open heart surgery on me. Luckily, it was only one bypass…and they were able to use a mammary artery. So, no extra cuts on me.

After a couple of weeks, I developed a rare staph infection at my incision site (are you kidding me???). After a round of antibiotics (which I know wreak havoc on my system) and cleaning and packing the wound, it was just getting worse. Time for another surgery…Yup, you heard right…another surgery to open up my wound, irrigate, close me back up and pump me full of IV antibiotics.

It’s been about 7 months now, and life is finally getting back to normal. I’m back to work pretty much full time. I went to exercise at Cardiac Rehab 3 days a week, but that’s over with now. Some days I feel normal, and some days I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. I’m getting frustrated that I can’t do some things that I could do before and that some basic tasks exhaust me. But I have to remember to be kind to myself and give my body time to heal. I’m probably still feeling the effects of the surgeries. I have to remember that my body has been through a lot of trauma…and it’s going to take a while to feel “normal”.

Everyone, just remember to pay attention to your own body. Women have different symptoms than men when it comes to heart attacks. My first heart attack, I felt like I had acida (acid indigestion) and a pain between my shoulder blades. I was also getting out of breath and had zero energy. The second heart attack, I had pain in my chest, stabbing pain in my shoulder and rales. Some women experience pain in their jaw.

Whatever your symptoms, don’t ignore them. When in doubt, go and get checked out by a Cardiologist.

Sunday is cooking day!!

Sunday is cooking day!!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Yep! Sunday is cooking day.  Since I have started following a Whole Foods, Plant Based diet with no meat, chicken, fish, dairy or eggs and no added oil, we find it much easier to eat around here if I prepare on the weekend.  Then it’s easy to grab a healthy lunch, dinner or snack.  I am following a way of eating as taught by Dr. McDougall and Dr. Esselstyn.  Because I have heart disease, I also eat no nuts, seeds or..GASP!!… avocado.  The avocado is hard for me since I really love it. But, I love my heart more.  I am going to have to take the 2 ripe avocados that I have in the fridge and freeze them for the future.  Chris is in good health, so she does not need to be on such a strict eating plan for healing.  Basically, she will eat the same meals as I do with the addition of Greek yogurt and some cheese.

This week I made a few new things, all of which we were extremely happy with. I mean, really, how often does that happen?  I don’t know about you, but I usually try 2 or 3 new dishes and I’m lucky if one is a keeper.  This time, I think they all will be a part of our regular rotation.

We went to our local farmer’s market on Saturday and picked up a huuuuuuuuuuuuuge head of cauliflower and a big stalk of fresh Brussel sprouts, along with some kale. The kale is just beautiful this time of year.  And you can get a huge bunch for like $4 at the farmer’s market.  Can’t beat that for organic and locally grown.

OK….Here’s what I made this Sunday.

• Roasted delicata squash (from CSA) with cinnamon and a touch of maple syrup
• Roasted acorn squash (from CSA) with cinnamon and a touch of honey
• Roasted Brussel sprouts
• Roasted cauliflower

Now, here’s where the fun stuff comes in.

How do two people polish off a huge head of cauliflower in one day? Like this.

First, you roast up 3 trays of cauliflower florets. Then you make this friggin’ awesome Nacho Cheese Sauce from Fat Free Vegan – http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2014/01/roasted-cauliflower-bites-vegan-nacho-cheese-sauce.html

Believe me when I tell you that this sauce is addictive. Chris and I couldn’t get enough of this.  I’m sorry that I didn’t make a double batch.  We have a fundraiser to attend on Thursday…I think I will make some and bring along veggies and ff pretzels to dip, since I know that I will most likely only be able to eat what I bring.

Before roasting the cauliflower, I had put aside a few cups of the beautiful white veggie to make this recipe I’ve been seeing people rave about. Cauli-Power Fettuccine Alfredo.  OMG!  I was shocked that something could be so rich and not have dairy in it.  OMG!  Really.  You need to get over to OhSheGlows and make this – http://ohsheglows.com/2014/01/20/cauli-power-fettuccine-alfredo-vegan/  As we were eating this deliciousness, I was wishing that I had some broccoli to add.  Chris even mentioned adding peas, which I think would be delicious.

I made this Enchilada Casserole from Spark – http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=2407622  One thing I forgot to do was add the corn tortillas on top. Damn…and I have them, too!  Oh well…it was still pretty damn delicious.  We had that last night, Monday, for dinner and will have the leftovers for lunch today.  I don’t know if I can wait.  Perhaps I’ll just eat it for breakfast.