I took a long weekend plane trip with my daughter to just north of Los Angeles to check out a school that she is interested in. I won’t mention the city, since I don’t want to offend anyone who might live there. But, it was a culinary wasteland.

We stayed at a mid-priced chain motel where a buffet breakfast was served each morning. If I had been strict BTD, I would have only eaten the scrambled eggs and whole fruits (apples, bananas, and oranges) that were there. And it would have been quite enough and satisfying. But….they had the "dreaded" bacon next to the eggs every day. I couldn’t resist.

We couldn’t find any restaurants in town that weren’t part of a national chain. There was Applebee’s and Chili’s and Marie Callendar, to name a few. Lots of pizza places. One chain restaurant is the same as another to me. It seems they all serve the same kind of foods. I was able to find at least one compliant entrée on each menu. I know they were full of hidden avoids. And, being with my daughter, who is not BTD, I couldn’t be too picky about food. (I’m a wimp). And I did eat some wheat.

For lunch one day we found a Jamba Juice. They had one berry smoothie that was 'dairy based' instead of soy. I was happy for that.

Each morning I woke up with a swollen face. Ugh! Evidence of dry motel air and avoid foods. And I am three pounds heavier today than I was last Thursday morning. That will take me until Friday to shake off.

It will be a long week.

But, the trip served its purpose. Daughter decided against this school and is closer to some real decision making in her life. The weekend wasn’t totally lost.

It was time for me to get my thyroid prescription rewritten, so I had my naturopath write an order for all the fun fasting lab tests. You know, lipids, glucose, and tests for things that indicate gall bladder, liver and kidney functions.

I’ll compare these with the last tests that were done almost two years ago.

Now .... Two years ago

Glucose - 91 .... Glucose - 96

Total cholesterol - 205 .... Total cholesterol – 192

HDL - 61 .... HDL – 60

LDL - 98 .... LDL – 119

Triglycerides – 233 .... Triglycerides – 59

My heart risk ratio went from 3.1 to 3.4. Things aren’t dangerous, but a little worse. I was most disturbed by the sudden elevation in triglycerides. Somehow I’m letting more carbohydrates into my diet. Obviously there is some denial here, so I have to look hard at what I’m doing. I also know that my aerobic exercise isn’t what it should be. I keep up with the strength and flexibility part with regular Pilates and yoga. But I have to admit that if I get on the treadmill or take a walk more than once a week, I’ve been doing well. So, I just have to put it on my calendar as something that gets done. I walked or treadmilled each day this weekend. A good start. I think I will start adding in a garlic supplement. I will do more investigating and self-examination. I’ll take anyone’s suggestions, too!

The cholesterol crept up over that magic 200 mark. We had adjusted my Red Yeast Rice dosage two years ago when the total had dropped. I had been taking four tablets a day, and we changed it to three. Mr. No-Brainer says I go back to four.

I didn’t find any of my former organ functioning test results, so it must have been quite awhile since they were done. But from this test, my BUN was a little high, along with sodium. She thought that maybe I am a little dehydrated. That’s real possible. I try to drink two liters of water every day. Sometimes I miss it, though. If I know I won’t be convenient to a toilet all day, I adjust my morning water intake, and rarely remember to make it up.

Everything else looked good. My practitioner was quite happy with the results. Considering what things looked like six years ago before I started BTD, I am the picture of health! Thank you once again Dr. D’Adamo. You have no doubt saved me from the early heart disease and diabetes that run in my family.

Now……about those pesky triglycerides……..