I'm a vegetarian...Day 1

Tuesday

August 8, 2006

Hello,

Well, I made an executive decision last evening to stop taking Lescol, a cholesterol lowering drug that I have been on for way too long.

There are a multitude of reasons why I'm doing it, none of which is the hope that I will die  anytime soon.  Mostly it's the fact that it's destroying my liver AND I'm am SO SICK AND TIRED OF BEING WEAK AND TIRED!!  The muscle weakness is doing me in.  I'm 54 not 94 and I should be able to walk up a flight of stairs without my legs feeling like I've just run the Boston Marathon. I'm tired (there's that word again) of being weaker than a newborn baby!  I want my strength back.  I want my liver back!  I want the $540 a year I spend on that drug back!

I realize that now that I've done that, I need to take some responsibility for it.  I need to diet and exercise.... lose weight and tone muscle.  It might actually be a pleasure to exercise if my muscles didn't feel like I am frying them with a blowtorch at the slightest exertion. 

I know that our bodies make cholesterol, but we ingest waaaay too much of it in our food.  Meat, in other words.  And dairy.  So, I've started by cutting out all meat (and with mad cow and the avian flu, I might be doing myself another favor altogether).  I will be careful with dairy products (bye bye moosetracks...sniff), but will not give them up totally.  I will need the protein.  Peanut butter may be my new best friend.  Um, low fat peanut butter, that is.

I've done it before...then fell off the "no food with eyes" wagon when Dr. Atkins said that all those carbs were making me fat.  And, like any addiction, once I began eating meat again, I was into it full force likity split!  Another problem were the evening walks that took me past the yards with barbecue grills turning roast beast into cancer causing, barely identifiable items on a red checked table cloth.  It just smells so good....sigh.  I will have to be careful of that.  And just when Domino's starts making bbq'd ribs.  Damn.

But anyway, I know what to do.  It's a "been there, done that" routine.  It's a matter of retraining my palate and it will take a couple of months, but then I'll be fine.  My son is now a vegetarian, my 9 yr old granddaughter stopped eating meat over a year ago, one of my best friends has been a vegetarian for 25 years.  I can talk to Den and Beth....or eat box after box of cereal and pasta like Emma. ;) I'll be fine...better actually!  Because it forces me to exercise and as a result, I will lower my blood pressure too.

I've been emailing one of the personal trainers at a local gym.  The Wellness Team at work is hoping to get him to come and speak to the employees about fitness at a program in October.  During our chit chat, he offered to see me and give me some exercises to get me started (again).  I think I'll call him this afternoon and see if he can fit me in next week.

I figure that if I can raise 2 kids pretty much by myself...if I can quit smoking after 26 years...if I can continue to work in the same place for 25 years, then I certainly have the strength, patience and stamina to take care of myself, doncha think?

Take care (of yourself too),

(oh!  And I will call my dr and get my cholesterol tested around my birthday, which will be 3 months into my "just say no to drugs" program)

Kay

Comments

[Nadine - Healthifica.com]

Well, I believe that natural healing is better.

Glad that now you're leading a healthier life.

There are myths and facts about cholesterol I've just found and posted on my blog.

I think people should know them.

Have you?

BTW, good luck on your diet.