Today was a “grazing” day, since I am on winter break from teaching middle school. I ate when I was hungry, making sure to keep to OsteoDiet foods to build strong bones and a healthy body.
Morning/Afternoon: Fruity Protein Shake, banana, almonds, 2 slices of Ezekiel bread with SmartBalance buttery spread, 10 almonds, small baked sweet potato, 2 glasses of water
Evening: Dinner at Main Street Grill – Main Street House Salad with blackened chickened, 2 glasses of water with lemon
Exercise: 20 minutes on the treadmill at the YMCA
Positive attitude: Yes! It’s great to be on winter break!
Sunlight: None (Too cold out! Try again tomorrow.)
Water: 4 glasses (Try for 8 tomorrow.)
[Weight Sunday am, 12/27: 120.1. Goal by 2/21: 115 ]
Merry Christmas, OsteoDiet readers! I hope you enjoyed your holiday as much as I did. All nine of our children and their families came, as well as my parents and my aunt–but not all at the same time. Some came for breakfast, while others came for dinner. Although we couldn’t quite pull off a new family photo, I took lots of pictures and will make a family collage of Christmas 2009.
Christmas is my time to splurge and enjoy all the foods of the feast, even those not on my OsteoDiet. Along with the healthy fare of fresh fruit salad, applesauce coffee cake, cataloupe, steamed green beans and onions, and lean steak, I had several OsteoDiet no-no’s: coffee, popcorn, chocolate cake with frozen yogurt, a hashbrown casserole that contained both sour cream and cheese, and a three-cheese lasagna!
I don’t regret the one-day splurge one bit, but I’m immediately returning to my usual routine. In fact, I think it’s time to tighten up my health regimen a bit because I’ve been getting a little lax lately. It’s easy to forget what made me healthy in the first place when I wake up feeling strong and energetic!
In a nutshell, here is what has worked for me:
1) 80% alkaline/ 20% acid diet. Lots of fresh veggies and fruit, selected seeds and nuts, and modest portions of meat make for strong bones and a healthy body. No processed flours, sugar, or meats. No fried foods. No soda or coffee. No dairy products (for me–I don’t metabolize them well.)
2) Water, water, water! Try for 8 glasses per day. Herbal decaffeinated teas are good, too.
3) Faithfulness to taking my daily supplements.
4) Daily sunlight. Aim for 20 minutes or more.
5) Exercise, especially weight-bearing exercise and stretching.
6) Sleep 7-8 hours per night. Rest when needed.
7) Gratitude for God’s blessings, positive attitude about the events of daily living (”Cast all our cares on the Lord, for He cares for you…”), and dedication to fulfilling His will for my life.
Thankfully, I have a large selection of menus from The Daily Diet menus to help me stay on track, as well as a gym membership at the YMCA, a couple dozen exercise videos/DVD’s, and a supportive family.
I’m starting today to get a jump on the New Year. Starting weight: 123.2. Goal: 115.0. One pound loss per week would put the projected date for achieving the goal at February 21, 2010.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Kathy
Tags: osteoporosis diet
A reader recently wrote to ask me if I had taken a Dexascan to prove that my body is now healthy and my bones strong. I replied to her that, after all the research I’ve done over the past four years, I no longer have any faith in Dexascan testing or what it purports to “prove.” I received all the proof I needed that my bones were working perfectly when I my shoulder break healed in record time from a bike accident that happened in June, 2008.
You can read the whole story of how the drug companies escalated the diagnosis of osteoporosis by reading “How a Bone Disease Grew to Fit the Prescription” at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121609815. If the article makes you mad, remember that the emotion of anger is meant to move you to action, not to be held inside where it can fester. What to do? Choose what you know is best for your body, and stay the course. Let your anger be the seed of a renewed determination to protect your health, regardless of pressures put on you by family, friends, or physicians. Then, once you have found your way, spread the word to others.
Like the featured woman in this article, I am past the age of menopause, and a natural thinning of the bone is to be expected as normal. After all, I am no longer bearing children, and my body knows this. Also, I am a small-boned woman, and I will never have the bone density of a woman of a regular or heavy build. What’s important is that I eat healthy foods–preferably in an 80% alkaline, 20% acid ratio, exercise daily (including weight bearing exercise and stretching), get 20 minutes of sunlight every day, and sleep 7-8 hours per night. That’s the natural prescription for strong bones and a flexible, energetic body. And, the only side effect of this prescription is good health!
God bless you,
Kathy
Tags: drug companies, Fosamax, natural cures for osteoporosis, osteopenia, osteoporosis
After my three-month checkup this week with my naturopathic physician, Dr. Steven D’Antonio, these are the supplements I am currently taking:
DHEA Spray (Apex Energetics)
FS-MND (FuturePlex)
Twice Daily Essentail Packets (Designs for Health)
OsteoForce (Designs for Health)
Thyro-CNV (Apex Energetics)
Resveratrol Synergy (Designs for Health)
Glucosamine Sulfate (Vital Nutrients)
Similase (Integrative Therapeutics, Inc.)
Temper Fire (Kan Herbals)
Niacin (Country Life)
Wobenzym N (MUCOS, LLC)
If you have questions about these supplements, please feel free to ask me.
Kathy
Tags: Osteoporosis; natural supplements; Dr. Steven D'Antonio; OsteoForce (Designs for Health)
At my three-month checkup yesterday, my naturopathic physician, Dr. Steven D’Antonio, found that my health is continuing to improve. Osteoporosis no longer comes up in the conversation! In fact, Dr. Steve said I no longer need a couple of the supplements I was taking, and he may further eliminate another supplement next time, if my thyroid scan shows no further need of intensive nutritional support.
A fascinating finding for me yesterday centered on the LSA system’s scan of my emotions. (LSA = Limbic Stress Assessment bioenergic evaluation.) As you may know, the chemicals of emotions are stored as polypeptides in various organs of the body, and imbalances can be detected by the LSA. It is amazing how accurate the LSA scanning is! Yesterday’s scan yielded my body’s need for a homeopathic flower remedy, FS-MND #17, from FuturePlex for “fatigue from detailed work” and “confusion and fatigue with mental work with inability to fix mind on one subject.” I had said nothing to Dr. Steve about the fact that my mind felt on overload from my Academic Coach job at school. Who would ever have thought that my mental strain would show up as an out-of-balance emotion?
I’m looking forward to the relief that will come from balancing these emotional chemicals. Since the remedy centers on the thyroid–”communication central”– Dr. Steve pointed out that I that the need to communicate may be at issue. It’s true. I need to be able to be honest with others in communicating priorities and limits as Academic Coach on a daily basis, or else face overload and conflict at work, as well as at home from bringing work home with me to finish.
So, what supplements am I taking now? I’ll list them in my next article.
Tags: Dr. Steven D'Antonio, LSA, osteoporosis
Here’s the skinny: It’s been more than a month since I’ve written because it’s been an extremely busy month, both at home and at school. As we’ve talked about before, when juggling priorities you sometimes have to let a few balls drop in order to keep the rest in balance.
However, the fact that I haven’t been writing, doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about you. Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot about what would make it easiest for busy OsteoDiet readers to build bone consistently. What could I do to help all of us maintain a bone-healthy diet, as well as daily weight-bearing exercise? I’ve come up with a few ideas, and I’d like to know what you think.
1) If I compiled a hard-copy OsteoDiet Cookbook, would you be interested in buying one?
2) If I created exercise DVD’s featuring weight-bearing exercises, including stretching, weight training, balance exercises, running/walking, or bellydancing routines, which of these DVD’s would interest you?
3) Would you be interested in reading a book that contained information about my journey, the alkaline diet, and research about bone strengthening? If I did write a book about the natural approach to bone health, what else would you like the book to contain?
Your thoughts? I’d appreciate your comments.
Thanks!
Kathy
Tags: osteoporosis diet
Breakfast: Bowl of Organic Oatmeal with cinnamon, raisins, bananas, and 1/2 tsp vanilla, Wildberry tea with Bio-En’R-G’y C powder, supplements
Snack: Cocoa Cherry Standard Bar, apple, water
Lunch: 3 oz chicken, fresh tomato, water
Snack: applesauce
Supper: 6″ tuna sub from Subway with LOTS of veggies, bottle of water
Bedtime: Almonds, Wildberry tea with Bio-En’R-G’y C powder, supplements
