Hot And Humid, What Do You Eat To Be Healthy

it's going to be a scorcher again today, almost 95° and it's not even 11 AM.  Friend of ours picked today to have her air conditioning go up, poor planning, if you ask me.  Don't know what I would do if I didn't have air conditioning, though I was 13 before I ever lived in a house that had it, but the stakes are different now.  The in- law's are in their 80s and never turn the A/C on!  Maybe that's why they are in their 80s, they are just tougher than me?  all I know is I have the air-conditioning blasting, a fan right on me, and my eyes are still flickering in and out.  Oh well, I guess I'm not 13 anymore?

okay, so I am really, truly, honestly interested in eating better, either the swank diet, or the Paleolithic diet.  Here's my problem, what do you eat?  Mornings  are easy, a mitochondria drink made with kale, grapes, apple, banana, a little water, and some ice, all thrown into a blender.  What do you eat for lunch?  A plateful of greens, sulfur vegetables, what in the hell are sulfur vegetables?  It would be so much easier if it was like when I was a kid and my mother would just give me a plateful of food, sulfur vegetables, indeed!

Boy Bowls 2 800 Series In One Day, and Weight Reaching Critical Mass

The boy had a great day bowling today, was in 2 different leagues. We got a message as we were leaving church, he bowled another 800 series this morning, a 816. We sent him a text, you don't talk to your kids anymore, you text, told him how proud we were. Came home ate lunch, watched the Ravens play, go Ravens! The boy called a few hours later, he did it again, a 805! 2 800+ series in one day, he is the man.

Been having oogy feelings lately, feel kind of like I'm going to pass out, get real flushed, turn blood red, blood pressure soars. I need to do something, I know it, but it's gotten so hard to do, losing weight is no fun. I'm a big guy, always have been, but I'm too big, have to drop some tonnage. Have to start pushing myself away from the table, sitting on my exercise bike and watch the news, something. Always thought I'd get shot by a jealous husband on my 100th birthday, not explode in my chair before my 50th.

Car Pains, Beautiful Day, and Swank Diet Take 2

I quit, no more long car rides for me, I am hurtin for certain. You know it's bad when you are 2 hours into an 8 hour ride and you have already had it. My legs are trashed! I was not looking forward to the ride home from MA, the ride up was bad enough. Good news is I did it, was able to see both sides of the family, just don't know if I can do it again.

Beautiful day here in Nottingham, picture perfect summer day. The wife is out lounging in the pool, the kids are at work, and I'm listening to the Stones on the radio, all is good in that part of my world. The Orioles are playing baseball, not just showing up. The squirrels are getting fat off of peanuts and sunflowers, and the hummingbirds are drinking up our homemade nectar. The wife is going to a cookout with her parents and I'm pretty sure I'll be taking a nap, all's good.

Thinking about starting up the old Swank diet, try to kill 2 birds with one stone. I still could stand to drop some tonnage, and maybe a low fat regimen will make the ms go away. That was funny, make it go away. No red meat for a year, that's the tough part. I'm sure I can get used to it, especially if I see a benefit, I just worry I won't. No dark meat turkey or chicken, the best part, and tons of fish. I'll just keep hoping something works, and keep my fingers crossed.

Multiple Sclerosis, Gluten Free Diet, and Old Friends

I went to the boy's bowling tournament today, because I knew I could just sit, and I could watch him too. I saw a girl I went to high school with, she was there watching her nephew, that was nice. She dated a friend of mine, we played basketball together for years. I asked if the guy had ever put on any weight, he was tall and very thin. She said he hadn't, but he was bald, so that made me feel good! It's good to see people from another time.

Another friend gave me some good intell on shopping at Trader Joe's for gluten free products. She unfortunately has a couple of boys that are in need of gluten free foods and was gracious enough to share some info with me. I'm sure I will be picking her brain for more information, mainly because I really think the key to all of this MS stuff is going to have a food component, and I'm eliminating food theories one by one. Gluten is next on my list, so far Swank and Atkins are no good for me, but onward we go!

The leg cramps are driving me crazy! They are cycling about every minute, or minute and a half in both legs. My legs are just throbbing, like someone has been beating me in my sleep. Everyone here denies having done so, I will have to take them on their word! Everything I read say it may take months, maybe even longer to see benefits from any eating program. That may well be, but I saw problems with the other diets almost right away. I'm just looking to catch a small break, I think I'm due, I can feel it!

Multiple Sclerosis, Diet, and Youth Bowling

Have you ever really looked into a gluten free diet? Holy cow, is it complicated! Now I say that, but I haven't been to the grocery store to read labels. You can have bread, but it's made with stuff like tapioca and brown rice flour. Tapioca flour, as in the pudding? Bread means sammiches, so this one has possibilities. Does Weis or Super Fresh sell gluten free bread? I suppose I need to go up and see for myself, sounds like a road trip!

The boy got his info for a list of new tournaments for junior bowling, looks like we are off to Pittsburgh, New York, and I forgot the other places he said. He is thrilled to be bowling right handed again, as are we. I think I'm more excited that we didn't have to buy any new balls for him to use left handed! He has a tournament this Friday and Saturday, another one Sunday, and leagues on both Saturday and Sunday. He also works all 3 days at the bowling alley! I guess we are lucky, we at least know where he is going to be?

The legs are feeling a little better, I do believe the Atkins diet almost killed me! I felt pretty good everywhere, except my arms and legs, oh yeah, and the total loss of energy! I think some of the stuff I read must have been right? Actually almost all of the stuff I read told me higher fat was bad. It also told me that no red meat and extremely low fat would make me feel good. WRONG! I felt equally bad, but in different ways on that one. I'm going to give myself until next weekend to start the no gluten shtick, so pumpkin cake beware!

Multiple Sclerosis, Gluten, and Food Allergies

So, in case it doesn't show, I'm kinda hung up on diet and Multiple Sclerosis. I'm convinced that by taking control of the foods I put in my body, I can in turn take back control of my body. So far I tried the Swank diet, no good, I was always hungry. I tried a modified Atkins diet, it woke up some feeling, the problem is, the feeling is pain! I'm thinking I should have tried a modified Swank? Let's think about this logically for a minute. Maybe the renewed sensation in my legs has to do with the reduction of carbs into my diet. Maybe it's not the carbs, maybe it's the elimination, or at least huge reduction of gluten? What in the hell is gluten?

I've read different things about the evils of gluten in the past, but never really gave it much thought. I happen to be a huge fan of sandwiches, so there is no way bread could be bad for me, what about all of my tomato sammiches? I remember reading this thing about this guy, a fellow MS'er, who was totally out of the game, wheelchair and all. He decided to stop being a "living cadaver" for the doctors to experiment on. The mans name was Roger MacDougall, and he started under the assumption that he was allergic to certain certain foods. It must have worked for him, though he didn't say he was cured, he claimed to be in a "self induced remission."

Is that possible, can you be allergic enough to something to cause MS? I had allergy tests when I was a kid, did they show anything? I had like a bazillion needles, showed allergies to dust, cats and feathers. That was the year, after the tests, Santa brought me my down jacket, thanks Santa! The allergy tests have come a long way, they have one called the Elisa test, it's done off just one vial of blood. Of course like anything else with MS, there is the controversy of the other side of the coin, the side that claims it is just snake oil and smoke. Makes me laugh, how fast something is ridiculous, but how fast they are to tell us they don't know the correct answer.

What to do, what to do, it is quite the conundrum! I can't keep up with the current system, it's killing me. Let us assume that the vitamin D isn't the culprit in the great leg disaster of 2008, what else is different? I said before, I haven't felt good since I stopped smoking, but nobody is buying that the doctor wants me to start again, so scratch that. I'm still taking the Rebif shot 3 nights a week, no change there. The D can cause drowsiness, but I'm not tired. That leaves me with the experiments I have done with diet. Any thoughts out there? I need to figure out just what all encompasses gluten, and how to figure out if I am food sensitive. Any ideas are more then welcome, shoot me a comment if you stop in!

$1 Crabs, Multiple Sclerosis, and Attitude

Do you know the best thing about eating crabs? They fit on almost every diet I have ever heard of, as long as you eat them in moderation that is. The other good things is you can still get them at $1 crab night prices! Oh how I love a bargain, but even better, whether Swank, Atkins, or just cutting back, I don't have to prepare anything! I called Bill's Seafood this morning at around 11 and got 18 of the last 21 male crabs in the $1 crab category. Swish! I'd rather be lucky then good.

The diet goes well, I even think my legs are catching on to what I'm trying to do, they seem to be waking up a little bit. That may sound better then it really is, because they hurt now that the slumber has ended. The right hand is doing better, feels a little stronger too. Now I don't know if this is diet related, or possibly the D therapy that caused it, or if it had anything to do with it at all. Of course between that last line and now, we ate the crabs, and the right hand is dead! So much for a good attitude.

MS is all about attitude, or so I think, or is it what I was told? Don't get me wrong, I can piss and moan with the best of them, but I do think it's important to be upbeat. I feel bad almost everyday, no, it is everyday actually. I complain here everyday, but I don't do it in person. In real time you would think I was the toughest guy in the world, not a care in the world! Here's the thing, this isn't real time, and I don't feel good! That was cleansing, I think I will go up Jerusalem Farms tomorrow and lay in the field and watch birds?

Multiple Sclerosis, Mobility, and Numbness

It's interesting, I said someplace on here once, and a fellow MS'er agreed, everybody wants to blame everything on the MS. I am proud to say I don't allow that to happen! Problem is, what do you do when you when the main problem takes over, and it really is the MS? Hmm, didn't think of that one. I've been saying the problems I'm currently having must be due to a different way of eating, but I think I was trying to convince myself of something that may not be true. This is by no means the end of the world, but it is something I have to look into.

My legs, like from the beginning, more the right, are shot! I am not moving around very well at all. So bad in fact I turned down an outing with Slammer to the Navy football game. I usually would rather have a root canal then watch college football, but I don't often pass up a day out with Slammer where we can throw peanuts at guys in pink shirts. The legs are bad enough, but you can work around them not working. My hands, again, more the right, are really getting bad. I don't know if I could even give a fan from the other team the finger, at least not with emphasis!

So the appointment I'm making for the neuro will be about the mobility, and the dexterity issues I'm having, not about if my diet is doing it. The diet is going great, by the way. I'm at 280 and going strong, but it's hard to stay interested in it. It's hard to stay interested in anything, but I work at it. If I know my stuff, and I probably don't, I am about due for another at home infusion of steroids. I have my own IV pole and everything! But I won't get ahead of myself, I will wait for the docs to juice me up before I get all wired over it. The bad thing is I kind of look forward to it. Even during the chemo, the only part that made me feel really good was the bag of juice before hand!

Multiple Sclerosis, Vitamin D, and The Swank and Atkins Diets

So, I was sitting there the other day, and all of a sudden it was today! You want to talk about no energy, I could write a book about it. OK, the D was wiping me out. The Swank was wiping me out more. Neither can compare to how Atkins wiped me out, I mean damn! I'm not sick, but I could sleep all day. That kind of sleep where you look over at the clock and say just a few more minutes, next thing you know it's the afternoon and you're still not sure you're getting up! All of the literature says that Atkins will do that in the beginning, something about burning toxins in your stored fat, there's a picture for ya!

As for the numbness, I'm not sure where that is coming from? I have had trouble in the past describing to people how I feel, not knowing if the way I did it made sense or not. I've always said the numbness in my arms and legs was kind of like that pins and needles feeling you get when your foot falls asleep. I know now that is a much better analogy than saying they feel numb, because I now know what numb "feels" like! This all began when I started the D. I don't know if that's normal or not, but it is the case with me. Has anyone else had any experience with this? I'm talking dropping things, no strength, can't feel anything numbness!

It's times like this I start to second guess everything. Go out and buy me greasy sub, fries, a six pack of beer, and a carton of smokes because that is the last time I really felt good, and do something to get this D out of my body! How long do you keep with something that is supposed to be doing you a world of good, but is causing you a universe of pain? I know this isn't the diet, I've been on diets before. I'm 6'5" tall and 300 pounds, I know diets, I know these diets! This feeling isn't any of these different ways of eating. I will call the doctor on Monday and see what he has to say, or what his friend the D guru has to say. Like now, as always, I have that little voice in my head that keeps whispering, "What if it's not any of those things?" I'm trying not to listen!

Diet, Multiple Sclerosis, Crime in The City

Tomorrow is the day, another new start! Atkins here I come. I hope I feel better doing this then I did with the Swank diet, I couldn't get out of my own way. I've decided that not everything works the same way for everyone. Tell me I'm right, even if you have to lie to me, tell me anyway. Look on the bright side, I always do, at least I get to eat better food this time! I'm just biding my time until somebody comes up with the cookie and pie diet for dudes with MS.

The legs are feeling a little better today. I'm not going line dancing or anything, but the were a little more steady today. Let me adjust that, the legs are steady once I'm up. That initial stand up is still an adventure. Remember how Foster Brooks stood? That's the way I do it too. I need to start the treadmill or the bike, probably every other day it. I have to go with the assumption that my legs feel this way because they have atrophied over the last, I don't know, 10 years? We will see, I will either be dancing a jig, or cussing up a storm!

A resolution for justice, that's what they are calling it. The murder of Ken Harris, a city council member, has brought the council together to ask for the city to break it's silence. What about all the other unsolved murders? Are they going to offer a reward for any of them? Bad business making his life more valuable then the rest. Town hall meetings are scheduled, neighborhood chats, and church services too, trying to get the people of the city to tell if they saw something. Wow, I didn't realize the city had gotten THAT bad!

Multiple Sclerosis, Atkins, and Electric Scooters

I sent this picture to my mother tonight and she thought it was a mobility scooter. She thought this was one of those things old people ride at the grocery store up on the back of your legs. I had to explain to her this was something for fun, an electric, green technology, no gas, stick it to the man mode of transport. Put a whip antenna with a raccoon tail on it and I'm in business! Can you see me tooling around Perry Hall on my new scoot? Throw in an ooga horn and I'm a terror! Sure, they say you can't be over 260 lbs, but what does that actually mean? Can you be a little over that weight? What if you are close? I need a lawyer! I've been violated. Am I going to let them decide how much I can weigh? Well it sure looks like if I want to ride an electric scooter! 15 miles per hour must only be for skinny people?

That must sound funny to most people to hear someone say 260 lbs is skinny? I've been over 200 lbs since I got my learner's permit at least. That says 215 lbs, and that was 1978! I was bigger than my father the day I came home from the hospital in 1962! Most of my adult life I have been right around 250, so this extra bit I am toting around is just a temporary set back. I'd venture to say I should be down to scooter weight come about January. I could of course try to find a cool scooter made for portly gentlemen, but it would not only be more expensive, it would defeat the plan of dropping the ballast.

I am trying to figure out just how to do this Atkins type diet thingy. I've done it before, more for a quick weight lose, and it does work for that. I'm thinking I need to drop this weight first. All the worries about if a certain diet is safe or not doesn't fit, not when you are looking to loose at least 75 lbs, carrying that extra weight is what's not safe. Take the weight off, then figure out where I'm going to fall with the rest. Maybe Atkins will be friendlier with my type of MS then the Swank was. Any day now everything is going to come together for me. The weight is going to fall off, the vitamin D is going to do it's thing, and I will be able to ride a scooter and not look like one of those fat twins in worlds Guinness Book of World Records!

Fat Intake and Multiple Sclerosis

I was sitting out back today reading my favorite magazine, Mother Earth News. They have a big article this month about eating like your grandmother told you to, low carbs, and low sugar. Let me think, did Hildred tell me to eat that way? She didn't have many sweets laying around, but she would fry you a steak if you were good. I also don't remember fruit being real big, or baked breads, or noodle casseroles. She did make a wicked spaghetti that she used to leave on the stove until it was gone, even if it took 3 days to eat it all! Was she ahead of her time with all the meat? I can't remember if she made a lot green leafies, but she would make me collards and shad roe every March.

Is red meat going to kill me, or make my heart leap out of my chest and run down the street? The more I read, the more I think the wool has been pulled down on me once again. We have a nation of fat people, but what are we eating? Can you really eat an Atkins style menu and live to talk about it? What if you have MS? I haven't eaten at McD's in a coons age, but I'm still struggling with my weight. What is going to hurt me more, McD's mule meat, or the carbs from all the rest? I wonder if that 30 days dude would tackle that one for me? Go 30 days only eating McD's meat and see what happens.

Calorie counting and reducing fat is a joke! Until I push my big ass away from the table I am going to have a weight problem. Swank had it's merits, but it wasn't good for weight loss as long as I gorged myself on grilled chicken and boiled potatoes. Weight has got to play a part in MS, it sure does for me. Logic says it is harder for me to get around on weak legs then it will be for a guy 100 lbs less then me. Sugar is going to be tough, I love sweet tea, pies, and donuts. I think I can stay away from those, it's the sammiches I'm going to miss. I will let you know how I make out, I'm thinking Monday is a good day to start? I had a cheeseburger sub for lunch today,, it was a piece of heaven!

Swank Diet, Multiple Sclerosis, and Switching Gears

I'm sitting around this morning and I'm thinking, that's what I do, I'm a thinker. I will throw a pity party, like I did yesterday, and it will get me to really thinking. I've been quietly going about my business, still following my modified Swank diet for 2 full months. Strangely enough that time period coincides with my dramatic down turn in how I felt. Hmm says I, could it be? I have been blaming the bad mojo to the vitamin D, what if it's not that, what if it's the combo of the D and not enough fat? I know what you are probably thinking, that flies against conventional thinking.


What is that by the way, conventional thinking? Does that exist with MS'ers? I have followed conventional thinking, all the while hoping there would be a light at the end of the tunnel, but so far each light has only been an oncoming train. My MS is different from the next guys MS, that's what the neuro's always tell me when I ask what to expect. Why is it not possible that so is Swank different from one person to the next? In the 2 months of Swank I had a couple pieces of beef at the niece's wedding and that's been it! No butter, plenty of salads and green leafies, and almost no pie, I'm not a rock! Have there been studies of vitamin D and Swank? What I do know is I feel horrible!

Time to take the bull by the horns, or anything else you want to grab him by, horns are good for me. I am officially ending my Swank diet today and will be in the next day or so be starting an Adkins type diet. I need to do a little bit of research, but I figure what can it hurt. If things don't change from their current course I will start drinking and smoking whilst living in a Uni-Bomber type shack in the woods anyway, may as well eat a steak before my trip! But seriously folks, what can it hurt? Maybe I will even drop some more tonnage, isn't Atkins good for that too? The neuro's have missed the boat with me on most things anyway, maybe they missed the show when it came to vitamin D and Atkins? Maybe this will make me famous and put me on the cover of MS monthly? any who, it gives me something new to whine about if it doesn't work!

Multiple Sclerosis And A Total Loss Of Energy

Boy do I have a bad case of the lead ass! Now for those of you that don't know me, or didn't know me before I had MS, I was never going to set the world on fire with my energy, but this is ridiculous! The wife and I went to a flea market to get rid of some of our crap, actually it was mostly her crap, I don't accumulate stuff like she does. I thought a great day would have been staying in bed all day, but at 6 am we were up and out. I took my recliner planning on using it all day long, all the while reading and watching her barter. It didn't work out that way.

This whole soiree was put on by my father in law. The father in law is a pretty remarkable man, always on the go, involved in more activities than I would do if I felt up to it. At 83 he shows no sign of slowing down, which is wonderful. He is a little discouraged because his friends are passing at an incredible rate. So enters my empty gesture! They were parking cars, walking people over uneven terrain to their designated spots, cooking food, serving food, and even delivering food to the flea vendors. He was obviously short handed, so I volunteered to help, knowing he wouldn't want me doing those jobs, but it was the least I could do, and I'm always willing to do the least I can do.

So that was 7 am, and from 7 am until 3 pm I was the head cashier in the food court for the Parkville Kiwanians's! I'm not a people person generally, I don't like them, and they don't like me, but it works for me. The problem is I wasn't exactly on my game today. I'm trying to figure out if my uber vitamin D dose is responsible, or if it's the Swank diet, or if it was just another day in paradise, but I was wiped out. You ever spent the day with 8 men between 75 and 85? They can be a little gruff, short, and abrupt. I was the curmudgeon poster child! I'm glad I didn't have to balance my drawer! My cognitive abilities took a little hit today, I wasn't in my zone.

I didn't know most of these men, so a few of them came over and asked my name, what the brace on my leg was for, if I knew Richard Pryor had MS, those kinds of things. At about noon, one of the men who had watched me take the money for 5 hours came over and asked who the hell I was, and why I was collecting the money for his group. I would tell people how much their food was and forget what I told them as I was counting it out. Things were foggy for most of the day, I think I charged 40 people in a row for my soda that was sitting on the counter next to the cash drawer! The MS would have gotten the best of me today except I was able to do something for a group of men that truly appreciated having me participate, and was able to help the father in law without him having to ask. It turned out to be a nice day.