diableri

Thank you guys! I've actually been pretty lucky so far. Day 8 and no REAL cravings. I've been putting away spinach, romaine and iceberg lettuce heavily and they do a really good job of "filling me up". I've been surprised actually. I'm sure that won't last but it's been nice so far with the switch up. The A1 desire is honestly just because my spices have not been making the beef all that palatable and I don't think I can keep up the rate of jalapeno consumption I've been at the last few days. I'm fairly sure that much of the little buggers can't be good for me. =p Looking forward to trying out your suggestions the rest of the week and I'll check for the Penzey's at our stores and the different breeds of pork and beef here locally. Thank you again! =)

I'm doing my best. I promise. It has only been a week, but I've had more beef than I have in the last year in this week. I'm one of those weirdos that doesn't care for steak. My friends hate it about me but I wouldn't know a good tasting steak if my life depended on it. The chicken and pork solutions are more expensive for me but I've had a few of those. I haven't found a pork I like other than morning bacon with my omega 3 eggs, spinach and whatever other vegetables I have in the drawer that day. The problem with this is that I have a good source for grass fed beef at reasonable costs. Reasonable being like just under 4 bucks for an 8 ounce top sirloin... which makes this a "tough" situation for my lack of desire for steak. This is a family friend helping me out so I'd be an idiot not to figure out a way to enjoy steaks. I always used A1 to get through a steak in the past. When I decided to make the big diet change, I read EVERY label on EVERYTHING I put in my body. As you can imagine I found naughty things like bad oils and other things obviously not OK. So out it went. I don't care for red chilies or onions much either although I've tried those. Basically I've tried something else each day with nothing really ringing my bell besides (this is probably going to get groans from steak lovers) jalapenos. I slice em down the middle, pour the juice and seeds on the steaks if I'm pan frying and whack the stems off then just toss em in to fry up right along with the steak. I'm using mushrooms, red and yellow bell peppers, jalapenos. Any other ideas besides onions or red chilies? Trying to get flavor here. Thank you guys for any advice.

I have been catching up with Robb Wolf's podcasts lately as I jumped into paleo foods about a week ago and came across this. I have no idea if it will help or if you already know about it so I apologize if that's the case. From I think episode 6 of his podcast, "The Paleo Solution" and his blog response in the hyperlink below: "I do not see those meds as being particularly competitive with leanness. Have you ever tried a fully ketogenic diet? We have seen several people who have suffered debilitating migraines go completely off meds using a ketogenic approach. Andy’s wife (pdocast Andy) had a remarkable improvement." During the podcast, they discuss migraines and their clients that suffer from them and what has worked for them for several minutes. Probably worth downloading and listening to it. It's all free other than you have to put iTunes on your computer (blech!). http://robbwolf.com/2009/12/08/the-paleolithic-solution-episode-5/ About 3/4 down the page in the comments, search for "Migraine" on the page and it'll jump right down to it. Hope it helps in some way. Best wishes.

EDIT: Heh, what guy above me said! EDIT Look for a local fencing class via your nearby colleges. I have had a blast doing that when I was younger and my lungs worked a bit better. There are usually several different styles to learn including saber. This can provide an excellent foundation with footwork that can be used and carried over regardless of what style you are interested in. If you have anyone nearby participating in an SCA type of event, I can nearly guarantee you will find someone interested in real swordsmanship involved with that group that can give you contacts for lessons or just practice sparring groups. http://www.sca.org These folks have the added benefit of usually being pretty safe other than bruises. I'll warn you though, swinging true weight swords, with shields while wearing the appropriate safety gear is not for the feint of heart. They are heavy and even dull they are dangerous. The big ones will absolutely kick your ass regardless of how good a shape you are in. I fenced against Jr Olympians who could only make it minutes with our weighted weapons when they got curious how the "less civilized" weapon fans lived. =p I think the end of "Rob Roy" is a lovely example of the clash of two difference styles as well. Solid theater groups will know someone that can help with stage swordsmanship lessons which should not be discounted. It's fun and can be a decent work out as well if the weapon is weighted (though these are usually purposely light to help ease the performance concentration). Most good martial arts studios will be able to provide contacts for the various styles in the area as well but those are less likely to include claymores and long swords if your specific interest is in fantasy styled swordsmanship. The upside there is that again, the foundations they provide are excellent and really most of these styles are beautiful, elegant and great for you in every way. I have a good friend who is a a marvel to watch do iai.

Go back. Tell the doc you didn't understand and that she worried you. Stay with the doc until you understand. Take notes and take someone else. You don't even have to know the person all that well if you don't mind them knowing your medical situation. Have them take notes. Ask questions until you understand. Write down the list of medications that the doc is considering. Write down the possible diagnosis as well. Despite the way some physicians treat their patients, they work for you. If they are not doing their job; change. You wouldn't let a shoddy plumber fix your toilets or sink, don't let a shoddy doctor try to fix you. EDIT: And by the way, their job does not involve you leaving "freaked out" or misunderstanding them. I hope you find relief soon and that your health improves. Good thoughts your way.

I've been in clinical medicine for 21 years now and I think there's an important distinction with the bolded bit. Modern Medicine will save your life 99 times out of 100 in an acute siutation. The quality of that saved life is however up for grabs. Many times the treatment of a disease or injury is quite rough, but patients survive more often than not by a large margin. It is my sincere hope that now that we (modern medicine) have a good grasp on acute illness and injury, we begin to focus on chronic illness and injury. Modern Medicine has been preoccupied with keeping people from dying because let's face it: what good is being able to walk, run, have sex or coherent thoughts if you are dead? So listen to your doctors, but question everything! "I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives." Tolstoy "A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it." Max Planck

I was born with lung problems. Both anatomical and auto-immune. Many years now of corticosteroids have hurt my joints to the point of being forty and starting to plan for a shoulder replacement within a decade. My scars are only tumor removals and trachs however (so far, thankfully). It has been very difficult trying to explain why I have to go slower sometimes to less familiar friends and family who haven't been close enough to know about all the hospitalizations. I try very hard not to complain or to "give voice" to my problems but unfortunately the older I get, the more necessary it is. I HATE using O2 in front of people I don't know or in public as well as carrying around and using my nebulizer for hand mixed treatments. I am never treated the same way again after people hear and see me having trouble breathing and at the worst they panic and cause a scene. On the upside, I have a gigantic chest already without any work from the COPD. =p Wear your scars proudly friend and make Frankenstein shudder when you roar!

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement. This weekend we go scouting the food situation in fact. =) As long as I can find chickens and eggs, I think I will be ok. The beef situation is good thankfully, I just need to learn to like it more.

Hi everyone. First off, thank you for taking the time to read my post. I apologize for the length but once I started typing, it became somewhat cathartic. Thank you for that as well. I understand if you don't make it all the way to the end. I've been lurking for quite some time now and finally posting. Today has been a rather down day for me due to some health problems and I am at a place where I was forced to make some decisions. I admire all of you. You're a source of inspiration and enthusiasm during what can be a difficult time in someone's life, the acceptance of a prior poor path in life and health. The support network being created here is incredibly powerful. Never give up. I turned forty this year. This morning I weighed in at 282 lbs. I'm 5'11". While I've always been big, I have arrived at this place of ill health kicking and screaming the entire way; yet obviously losing the battles. It is however, time to win the war. Whether or not I accomplish this with Steve's advice or some other means; I am no longer interested in doing it in any other way than 110%. While I hope that I will finally find my answers here; I am now prepared to do whatever it takes. A bit of background, I was born with lung problems. My left lung is underdeveloped and functions at roughly 60% capacity when compared to other people in my demographic over the years. To add to that problem, I barely won a rather difficult battle with Valley Fever. The massive scar for that still floats there on my chest xray like a malevolent quarter inside my lung. I have been hospitalized many times, been on ventilators and had two tracheostomies (the tubes cut through a person's throat that they then breathe through). I've been on various medications since I was a baby. They've been hesitant to discuss lung transplants before, but that is apparently now on the table for my nearer than comfortable future. Another procedure is also being discussed which involves electrocuting the small airways in my lungs so they can no longer swell and further close up. All these years, the various doctors and clinicians stressed taking it easy. Keeping my 02 sats high enough and not stressing my body so as to prevent another respiratory failure (which leads to hospitalization). They gave me medicines I took in good faith that are now degenerating my bones to the point where I was recently told I would need to consider a shoulder replacement within a decade or so (I fear my knees cannot be far behind). That damage is supposedly from the massive amount of oral corticosteroids I have taken for 12 years now to help relieve the immune response in my lungs that also causes trouble exchanging oxygen. I've taken the meds so long now that I am physically dependent upon them and I become faint and sweaty if I am late taking them (I found this out the hard way which led to a large lump on my forehead during a work related business meeting). A guy my size passing out cold in around a conference table is less than confidence inspiring in his superiors... Those meds started when all the inhaled versions ceased to produce adequate improvement in my lung function tests. I have decided to try listening to both my common sense and my body more than the doctors who have both saved my life and helped me destroy my body in the process. Since 1996 I have taken more and more medication with less and less positive results. I have not seriously exercised since then as I was directed not to. I have done my best to not eat terribly, but I have to take in something substantial when I take the prednisone or I vomit it up; and then just have to take it again. Breads etc work the best for this so each year, another 10 pounds sticks to me like a bad habit... I have been eating ALL wheats for a bit over a year now and even dropped a few pounds. I can walk and do so in the foothills near my home in Central CA. These things are not good enough. Changes, and I mean drastic changes are now going to be made. I cannot stop taking the medications cold turkey as I will likely just lose my BP again and simply be re-hospitalized (at which point they'll just pump me full of the stuff again and send me home). I CAN change everything else however. I CAN begin to strength train; just slowly so my O2 sats don't drop too low. I CAN eat paleo other than my dosage food. I CAN measure myself and hold myself accountable instead of relying on these disconnected physicians. In fact, I not only CAN but WILL do these things. Before anyone panics, I've warned my doctors. At first they said things like, "take it easy" and "don't be too hasty". After my incessant badgering it's turned into things like, "bring your O2 and watch your spO2 levels" and "just stop if you tunnel up or get light headed" and "warn the gym". I've been trying to wean off the corticosteroids for some time now as well. Frankly, I'm simply not too interested in living like this any longer and I'm going to give my body a chance to heal and grow stronger even if it "kills me" as they say. I'm unmarried and have no children but I do have good friends and family that care for me so I'm not going to do anything stupid; but I have truly had enough of this stuff. Not being able to sleep because you wake gasping for air. Not being able to keep up with friends and family walking around. Diaphoretic and syncopal because I'm a hour or so late for meds due to just trying to have a normal life and do things normal people do. I'm done with that stuff. I have a gym membership from work. I ordered a more portable pulse ox monitor and O2 tank so that the free weights area won't be flat out dangerous due to cords etc. I have already set up my spreadsheet and taken the first measurements (along with labs that the pulmonologist insisted on). That part is going to get fairly expensive because the insurance won't (and admittedly shouldn't) cover all of those that they will want as I embark on this evolution in my life. I think I am even ready for that. For now, they won't drop me as a patient. I think we are supposed to share a goal as well right? I am a bit on the unusual side I think for this stuff. I don't care at all what I look like. I don't really want to win a race; or even run in one for that matter. I don't care about lifting a certain amount or fitting into a certain size of clothing. My goal is to not have a lung transplant or not have a shoulder replacement before I'm 50. There's my ten year pledge. If this place is around then; I will be here typing RAH at anyone who is still hear to read it. I know that one isn't really in the spirit of this place so here's one a bit closer in time. Before the passes close in 2012; I'll climb to Palisades Glacier again. That was the last backpacking trip I went on before I became too ill to do so. It's one of the more beautiful places in the otherwise all beautiful sierras. I imagine I'll be slower this time, but it won't be a race. I am sure I will have many questions; I hope you can help guide me with answers and advice. They will not go unheeded. As I finish this message, I find myself rather emotional with frustration but hope too. I'm not much of that type of person (emotional) so I do find it an odd experience but I finally understand catharsis on a personal level. It's funny, even if no one responds I think just setting this stuff all out for the world (even the world of members and lurker of the Rebellion) has helped. At least it will be tougher for my conviction to falter. Nobody wants to be wrong on the internet right? =) Thank you all again for this great community. I look forward to joining you all in better health. May the rebellion overwhelm.