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Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 4:24 pm
by alliesmama4
Dgflorida wrote: Thu Sep 06, 2018 8:16 am Yes, higher cholesterol readings are common with keto diets. But as you pointed out, the alternative, medication, isn't good either.

We decided the weight loss and lower blood pressure and generally better health was the better choice.
Things can be confusing. I think most people need to be their own advocate.. I have only one kidney that is functional. The other is completely covered with a cyst.. The remaining kidney has always been the one that developed kidney stones.. The Dr had me on a horrific diet and medications.. I told him I thought the medications made me sicker.. He said,"when are you going to get it through your head that you have to take this medication the rest of your life." So I took myself off of my medication.. I did not stop it all at once just cut it down little by little until not taking any. I was allowed 2 oz of meat per day and quit eating that and became a vegetarian.. I had to have testing done every 3 months.. So the next time I had my test the Dr called me at work and he was so excited.. "For the first time in x amount of years your test finally came back normal." Yippee!.. I said, " now let me tell you what I have done." There was total silence and then he said.." I did not think you could do it but you did.. However we need to continue with testing on a regular basis". I never went back to him and and never had another kidney stone until a few months ago.. I attribute it to the protein in the Keto diet and I now lean more heavily towards veggies, cheese, eggs etc.. I do eat meat but more as a condiment instead of center stage for my meals. I went back to eating meat since my neurologist and a nutritionist both insisted I needed it due to my neurological disease. My drug bill use to exceed my monthly income. Now take just a few pills for my diabetes and blood pressure. Both are doing well. Janet Alliesmama

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 10:06 pm
by alliesmama4
Nothing exciting today other than running errands before the bad weather moves in. Breakfast was a keto English muffin with an egg. Hardly cost anything since eggs are .08 cents each and I used two. The Parmesan cheese was cheap and bought on sale a while back and the coconut flour only uses 2 teaspoons. For dinner I made a keto English muffin and made a hamburger patty with the usual onion, pickle, and mustard.The pickle and mustard from Dollar Tree. Onion one slice hard to even factor how much it cost. Lunch was free tuna fish mixed with miracle whip and I used some potato chips from Ruler in place of crackers for eating with my tuna salad.. .85 cents a bag.Banana for dessert about .05 cents. Had iced tea several times made with tea bags from Dollar Tree. 100 for $1.00 and I used 12.. So my food today was very low cost.

They still do not have the fresh food at Petco so I will skip it for now. We are expecting anywhere from 4 to 8 inches of rain depending on where you live so I am staying home. I did cook some ground beef for Teddi for his breakfast and dinner. Cooked a chicken thigh for him for tomorrow. I think the chicken thigh cost around .48 cents. Will make a pot of rice tomorrow to go with his meals.. Was out of time and energy today due to running errands and had planned on picking up fresh dog food for him.

I am sticking to my budget and even saving a few pennies here and there.. Janet Alliesmama

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:28 am
by Dgflorida
Your doctor experience, Janet was very enlightening. I am following that as well with reducing my thyroid medication. I believe lowering the circulating T4 in my body will be the right decision. I am annoyed that the doctor doesn't see that. But most don't believe that diet can make as much of a difference as you experienced. And I experienced as well. The meat verses dairy is interesting. Hubs loves dairy and does well with it. Me, not so well. But he is from Northern European stock and I am not from that region of the world. Still eggs are good for both of us. He gets his cheese daily and I eat a bite of it as well because I get nagged about calcium intake by the doctors. There is not one size fits all in diets.

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:58 am
by alliesmama4
Dgflorida wrote: Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:28 am Your doctor experience, Janet was very enlightening. I am following that as well with reducing my thyroid medication. I believe lowering the circulating T4 in my body will be the right decision. I am annoyed that the doctor doesn't see that. But most don't believe that diet can make as much of a difference as you experienced. And I experienced as well. The meat verses dairy is interesting. Hubs loves dairy and does well with it. Me, not so well. But he is from Northern European stock and I am not from that region of the world. Still eggs are good for both of us. He gets his cheese daily and I eat a bite of it as well because I get nagged about calcium intake by the doctors. There is not one size fits all in diets.
DG you are right..one size does not fit all in diets..To me now that I am more aware of what I should and should not eat my health has vastly improved. In fact except for ALS I am in better physical shape than I ever was.. My brother was a big milk drinker all of his life.Sometimes a gallon a day. When he went on the keto diet he found out he is dairy intolerant as well as gluten intolerant..I have had fibromyalgia since I was 18 or 19. Had two different Drs that were listed in the Good Housekeeping Magazine as one of the top 10 in their field of arthritis. I will not bore you with all of the details but the symptoms seemed to lean towards lupus, fibro, and rheumatoid arthritis.Turns out is was a combination of my gluten intolerance and ALS that had not been diagnosed yet. The Drs agreed I had a physical problem but could not put a name to it..I even went on a diet that was popular back in the late 70 that was mostly fish and veggies. It was horrible to try to stay on. When I mentioned it to a different DR I asked him what his opinion was about it. I told him I felt better on it but that it was restrictive and difficult to stay on. He said.. do what you have to do to feel better. Wear copper bracelets dance by the moon.. whatever.. He was being sarcastic.. I never went back to him.. Fast forward the reason that diet worked was because it was gluten free but at that time we were unaware of what gluten was doing to our bodies.Janet Alliesmama

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 10:12 am
by alliesmama4
Rain from Gordon has moved in to our area. It is 64 F with a gentle rain but suppose to become heavier in the day. I am loving the cool wet weather.. Teddi not so much.. He was shaking like a leaf since he had a haircut and a bath the other day.. When he came in I dried him off and put one of his little Tee shirts on him to warm up. He is snuggled under a throw right now.

Breakfast will be keto English muffin with a fried egg. (2 eggs) .08 cents each and a small amount of coconut flour and Parmesan cheese. Hard to factor the cost. Coffee with milk.. Milk .39 cents half gallon. Teddi will have a scrambled egg.. I made tuna fish salad last night for lunch for today and a few days to follow. Tuna was free and eggs (3) are .08 cents each. Also boiled extras (3) to make deviled eggs. Used Miracle Whip, bought on sale, and some of the juice from my pickled jalapeno peppers. Wanted a change of pace and taste. I made a small batch of coleslaw last night for dinner and by the time I finished was too tired to make the salmon patties.. So just had the coleslaw.. There is enough for lunch today.. The coleslaw was made with about 1/3 of a head of cabbage and and 4 large baby carrots. The dressing was a little bit of mayo from Dollar Tree, a small amount of sour cream, and one packet of Horsey sauce from Arby's from way back when..Thinned it out with a little bit of the .39 cent milk and a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. This is the second time I have used the cabbage for something and have enough left to make another meal.. Since I am only one person I can make small batch meals using smaller amounts of food. Dinner is going to be tacos. I did have a late snack of peanut butter and 5 baby carrots. Baby carrots .89 cents a bag.

Teddi is out of Teddi food so he has been eating chicken thighs.. One per day. I saved the cooking water to cook his meal today and after I remove the skin and bone for his meal will put it with the other bones and let them simmer with the skin to make a richer broth.. Then will pick off the scraps of meat that are left to make chicken soup. I found a different recipe for gluten free dumplings so will make that for dinner on Sunday. Also think I am going to use some of the cheap milk and make chocolate pudding.. I have 3 canisters of cocoa bought in the past on sale and need to use them up.

I have 6 pears from my tree that are ripe enough to do something with so will cut them up and cook them down to put in the freezer for another time.

This week I made $3.00 cash on a survey site and earned $5.00 towards an Amazon gift card.. I am hoping that I can make enough money to replenish my tuna and Teddi's pupperoni for free on Amazon. Right now we are both enjoying free tuna and free pupperoni. Janet Alliesmama

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2018 1:37 pm
by alliesmama4
Revision of funds left for Sept food. I had included Teddi's food in with my grocery purchases so I have a whole $2.16 left from the $22.00 food budget for Sept. Also since he has been eating most of the chicken thighs I should switch that over to him instead of me for last month. I had two thighs and he has been eating the rest. Also need to add some of the ground beef to his food budget.. I had planned on buying him dog food but it was not available. Janet Alliesmama