Monday, August 14, 2006

Day two....

Well, I'm at the end of CR practice day number two. Good news--It wasn't difficult. Bad news--I've only had 879 calories today. My stomach is "yucky". I'm afraid it's a Crohn's flare-up in progress. If that's the case, I'm back to clear liquid for a week or two.....Cross your fingers and hope it's a flu bug... G'nite.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

First day..

Well, today was my first CR test day using the tracking program from Bob Phillips' site. Very user-friendly--I'm impressed. As I looked up the assorted foods I ate today, I saved them to my personal food profile, making my tracking even easier later on. I didn't set a calorie goal today, I simply measured and recorded what I ate. Very enlightening....My total intake for the day was 1,458 calories, plus two drinks of my daughter's chocolate latte. This is a much lower number than I expected, since I ate all I wanted and also ate each time I felt hungry. My MD says active Crohns decreases appetite, which kind of kills my idea of remission coming in the next few months....Dammit....On the good side, I met most of my RDA's in many areas. On the bad side, my calcium and B12 intake are dismal, plus I'm a little low in a few other areas. (I'm also a carb hound....) I need to incorporate a ton more veggies. Usually I use my steamer; raw veggies don't always do well with Crohns digestive problems. Looks like I need to use it MORE...

Today was also my first CR based trip to the grocery. Armed with a tentative list, I hit the super WalMart. Honestly, it wasn't so bad. I bought fresh avocados, cucumbers and carrots, frozen colored peppers, mixed veggies, cherries, blueberries, fat-free cottage cheese and yogurt. I already have a cabinet full of dried beans, water-packed tuna and canned veggies, plus several frozen chicken breasts. I'm going to fix tuna salad for my lunch tomorrow with fruit for dessert, plus some almonds and cottage cheese and veggies for snack. I decided to buy some frozen veggies rather than fresh because I'll be steaming most of them, and frozen is often less expensive.

Overall, not a bad day.. As usual, any input from those more experienced is appreciated!!

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Great info & super resource!

Guess it's time for me to get back on the wagon again....My daughter has had a L-O-N-G bout of illness but appears to be stable now AND I'm feeling pretty decent myself. Can't remember the last time she and I both felt well together....We went on a shopping spree to celebrate. Of course, now we're both tired and broke, but happy.

My last attempt at starting a sincere CR eating plan coincided with some big changes in my medications (plus my daughter's illness). Due to the medication changes I lost 12.5 pounds in six weeks and I felt it was way too fast. I'm sure most of it was fluid, due to steroids, but I could see myself shrinking the first three weeks. Now I've stabilized at 136 lbs--way above my tentative goal (and pre-Crohn's weight) of 115 lbs

Today I sent in my personal information to the CR Society for ongoing CR data collection. I've had several false starts in this process, so I'm planning to make this start "stick". NO falling off the wagon--maybe just dragging a foot now and then....My official start date is 8/28 and I will have my baseline labs drawn on 8/26. Luckily (luckily?), I have to have a kazillion labs (more than the CR Society requests) drawn at least every three months for my Crohn's management, so the insurance company is covering all of the labs-YIPPIE!! I'll post my results when I get them. The last ones sucked overall, but it's from the Crohn's. That's a big portion of my interest in CR. I've read a bunch of CR data regarding a marked decrease in WBC's, TNFa, and Sed. rate/other inflammation markers in CR practitioners. THAT'S WHAT I NEED.

For anyone interested in great information, check out http://www.nbrhd.net/CR/CR.htm . Bob and his wife, Shirley, have a great site full of resources. I've downloaded and installed the calorie/nutrient tracker from his site and it's quite user-friendly. I'm going to spend the next week learning to use the features it offers so I can be comfortable on my "official" start day. Today I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond and bought a small travel food scale. Similar (I think) to the one April talks about in her blog. I'm going to use it at home and at work. Once I become accustomed to using the portable one, I will look into buying a fancier, more precise version--maybe like the cool one Alton Brown uses on "Good Eats". I love gadgets......