Friday, November 20, 2009

I made it!

Just four hours of work this morning until I officially begin my vacation.  I need this a lot.  I am a firm believer that vacation is not a destination, it is a state of mind.  I will be just as content home this weekend with my honey and my pup as I will be next week on a road trip with my parents and then at my sister's home for the holiday. 

I am starting my morning with tea today.  First White, then Green, probably going back to White to take to work with me.  For the next 72 hours I am off solid "food".  I will be enjoying some lovely Bolthouse Farms  and Odwalla  Juices, water and teas.  For some reason I need my warm beverages in the morning.  No- I know the reason- because I need my heat on these chilly mornings both for my hands and my insides.  For my juices I have chosen Odwalla Superfoods (both the Green Original and Berries Go Mega) and the Bolthouse Farms Blue Goodness and Green Goodness, all filled with antioxidents, veggies, fruits, and no preservatives, no added sugars, none of the other stuff that you don't want when you are trying to help out your system.  I am doing this because my liver enzymes are elevated again and I do NOT want to go off my Methotrexate.  In my research I have found that alcohol consumption and obesity are two factors that contribute to liver illness besides medications.  Since I have only consumed 4-5 alcoholic beverages in the year and a half since I started my meds- my target is my weight.  After I complete this 72 hours, I will be focusing on foods that are good for your liver.  Fruits, veggies, whole grains, limited amounts of poultry.  I will be staying away from red meats, white breads, white pastas and things that are difficult for my liver to process.  NOW- the most important lesson I learned from Weight Watchers is that denying myself things I love will be the easiest way to fail at this lifestyle change.  So- for example- at Thanksgiving dinner, I will have a slice of turkey, a small amount of stuffing and the rest of my meal will be veggies.  One fabulous bit of news this morning is that COFFEE may actually stop liver disease!  YAY!  That means I can go back to my coffee on Monday morning and not worry about it in the slightest.  As a coffee addict- that is wonderful news! 

Well-I am off to work those last few hours before I come home, climb into my jammies and take a nice nap.  I am so grateful to have made it through the last few weeks and up to today.  It has been a rough road and now it is at an end.  Have a wonderful day!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like your weight-loss plan is right on the button, Jules. This is what I do, too -- nothing "white," lots more fresh fruits and veggies, no processed foods if I can avoid them, whole grain breads and pastas, and brown basmati rice in place of white. And one more thing (it made the BIG difference, I think) much smaller portions of grains and proteins, larger portions of the rest. My husband is a big guy; I'd gotten used to filling both of our plates and making my helpings a little bit smaller than his. It meant that I was eating about twice as much as I should have been... sigh. Anyhoo. 50 pounds and counting later, I've finally found a diet that works. I wish you the VERY best of luck -- and patience.

Have a great time on your vacation. Rest, recreate and enjoy!
-Wren

Arthritis Kitchen said...

For starters - happy vacation. I too started a vacation break after the end of the workday on Friday.

Sounds like you have a good plan for eating how you want to. I know that whenever I make the choice to eliminate the "white products" from my diet that my body likes it and it usually also has weight loss as a benefit. I also love the Bolthouse juices.

Enjoy your time off.
Sandra

Jules0705 said...

Wren- Fifty pounds is an amazing accomplishment! Congrats to you!

Sandra- I hope you are enjoying the heck out of your vacation!

Thank you both for the encouragement. I found that it is so much harder to do what you need to do than to KNOW what you need to do. LOL! But I am working on it- slowly.