No! I have not changed yet. I still do not cook nor do I intend to do so this year. Lately, I have realized that the colorful posts on Facebook about fancy diets are not practical for a senior citizen like me. I tried the avocado diet but after eating two small avocados in one day, I had elevated blood pressure.
I don’t like veggies so I was thrilled when at our favorite Chinese restaurant I Rediscovered the “Chicharo” beans of my high school days. Sadly, at our last consultation with our doctor I was told the beans have high uric acid content. Never mind if I took out the beans before eating the green bean. Relatedly, I learned from my doctor that ampalaya, one of the few tolerable vegetables for me is also high in uric acid.
Another discovery. Most of the “wonder concoctions” in capsule form bearing the disclaimer of “No therapeutic value” don’t affect my hypertension nor my blood sugar issues. The money spent on them are better used elsewhere.
Broccoli sauteed in oyster sauce and with beef. This is so tasty but again to my dismay it caused elevated blood pressure not because of the broccoli, according to our doctor, but most probably due to the beef and even due to the oyster sauce.
Throughout the three months that I embarked on a no salt, no fat diet I made my meals decent through the use of Apple Cider Vinegar. I would even sip water with a spoonful of cider vinegar every so often. Another disappointment. The deprivation hardly had an effect on my hypertension. My rice intake instead caused elevated blood sugar levels.
To add to my misery, our doctor reminded me that I would live to a ripe old age but with hypertension and blood sugar issues as companions. Both my husband and doctor recommend home cooking instead of eating ordered and delivered food.My goodness!
By the way, If I do decide on home cooking, it will be my loving husband who will cook. I will do the wahing and cleaning. Make no mistake. My husband is a great cook but i just don’t want to deal with the collateral damage in the kitchen each time he cooks.
Recently, I initially literally choked on my breakfast when I saw my husband preparing a whole bowl of leafy vegetables (Kangkong) for me. What a big bowlful! To my surprise I consumed everything, even without cider vinegar.
One more good news. I discovered that eating two raw ( sab-a) bananas could bring me to the toilet in 30 minutes. This is a consolation because our doctor does not allow my favorite 3 in 1 coffee anymore. He told me my favorite type of coffee is not meant for senior citizens much less for somebody with blood sugar issues like me.
” But when we welcome what we want most to avoid, we evoke not a story, not caught in the past, not some old image of ourselves.”
“We evoke divinity itself. And in doing so we can hold emptiness, old hurts, fear in our cupped hands and behold our missing hearts.” The quotations are from “Women, Food, God”