Different Tastes
I had another consultation with my dietician. They were necessary after my triglycerides were more than four times the expected normal high. I’d already tried many cholesterol medications in the past. Most caused abdominal pain. The newest one didn’t cause the pain, but I had nearly every other side effect, so I was referred to a dietician instead.
On our first meeting, we went over things I eat, my exercise, drink, etc. When he ascertained that my diet wasn’t a chief factor, he started to strongly suggest that I exercise more. And to be entirely honest, I am more of a couch potato than an athlete.
Next he honed in on my rest and sleep patterns, saying I should be getting 8 hours of sleep. I explained it would never happen in the winter. I needed to wake every four hours to toss wood into my wood burner in the basement. That’s where I shared with him there is more to exercise than walking. Six times per day (and night) I walk down two flights of stairs and back up. I also haul firewood into my basement from the woodpile outside. Usually I load two wheelbarrows with wood, wheel them into my cellar, then unload them. If I do this, when Sunday comes around, I don’t have the work to haul in wood inside. I only have to feed the wood burner.
We discussed my fluid intake. I share that I drink about three liters of water, sometimes with sugar-free drink mix each day. That seemed to please him.
He‘s been insisting that I eat more water soluble fiber. Vegetables and high fiber bread, while cutting back on carbohydrates. I’ve been trying, getting closer, but not where he’d like me to be. He also wants me to drink Fair Life milk. To me when they removed the sugar and fat, they took out the taste. I explained to him I might as well use water on my cereal. He then suggested I try Fair Life Chocolate milk; he and his friends love it. I wasn’t impressed with it. I plan to take REAL chocolate milk from Whoa Nellie Farm and let him taste the real thing. I am used to REAL milk, none of this oat or almond “milk.” As a kid, my dad Carl Beck would take a gallon jar to a neighboring farm for unpasteurized, unadulterated milk fresh from the cow’s udder.
Lastly he asked about stress. When my triglycerides were high, I was having double vision, and worried whether I was having a stroke or a brain tumor. The double vision has been resolved. I have to wait until I have another blood test to see if there is improvement.