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……..

Life shouldn’t be this tough! Just kidding. Life is really good. It just has its twists and turns.

Anyway, hubby and I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Kauai. It was one of those unexpected windfalls that we couldn’t pass up. We were at a friend’s house watching the Superbowl, and his next door neighbor was there, too. She was lamenting the fact that she was just getting over pneumonia and having bad asthma attacks and was unable to use her condo in Princeville. Hubby and I looked at each other and simultaneously announced “We can go!!” She thought it a grand idea for us to use the condo instead of it staying empty. We just have to have her over for dinner sometime as payment. This is where the spontaneity and stress come in. I don’t do spontaneity. I like to plan far in advance, so that I have a precise plan for preparation and don’t get stressed out by the urgency of it all. In fact, when I woke up Monday morning, I almost decided we shouldn’t go. There was too much to do at home and the business and I just couldn’t possibly pull a trip together in four days. Hubby thought me daft, of course…..so I went along with the plan.

It was stressful getting it all arranged. I tried not to get in a panic. Yes, I was leaving things behind undone. Plane and auto arrangements were made. We decided to make it a long week and stay three more days at the southern side of the island. Packing, stopping papers and mail, arranging business details……it all got done. Had to make a 6:00am flight Friday morning. There’s nothing like waking up at 3:30 and trying to be on top of things. We weren’t on the island more than a few hours when that nasty virus I suffered last month reared its ugly cough again. And it lasted the entire ten days. It was quite disturbing. I was low energy and not the best of company for hubby. I managed long walks, a couple rounds of golf and we did art shopping and the like. But it was a little less than the ‘romantic getaway’ we were hoping floor. ( I had to spend a couple nights in the second bedroom the coughing was so bad).

We certainly enjoyed the fresh food, though. We had fresh Hawaiian fish every day. Not a bite of poultry or beef passed our lips. Fresh pineapples, oranges and grapefruit were plentiful. And at the hotel we stayed at for the last three days we drank their signature drink called a Tai Chi. That HAD to be beneficial with a name like that! I thought I managed fairly well at avoiding foods I shouldn’t eat. I allowed myself the shellfish if it was included in a restaurant meal. I always chose rice over potatoes. If there was wheat served, I just took a bite or two. If hubby had dessert, I helped him out. But I think that was only at three meals.

Back at home now, the cough is getting better. The congestion is clearing. I have my annual appointment with my ND next week. It will give me a chance to discuss why my immune system isn’t handling stress these past few months.

Ack! The first month of the year is gone already. That didn’t take long.

We haven’t put away the dog things yet. His toys are still in his toy box in the rec room. There are still three cans of food and his half-empty bag of dry in the pantry. His water dish is still on the front stoop. All in good time, I ‘m sure.

The week in the desert was a welcome relief from all the rain. It was sunny every day. The temperatures were moderate. I don’t think it got much above 70 degrees on any one day, but it just felt good sitting on the patio and soaking up some vitamin D.

It was disappointing that I was suffering from another respiratory virus during this trip. I am quite perturbed that it has only been two months since my last bout with a virus. I really like to depend on my BTD lifestyle to prevent these things. So, it has made me look seriously into what I may be doing that is compromising my immune system. The first thing I have done is to start a food journal again. I’ll keep that for two weeks and then chart it out against the Live Right portion guidelines. Hopefully that will point something out. (I can already say that I still drink that cup of coffee every morning.) I also have to ramp up the aerobic exercise. Even though I am diligent with my Pilates and yoga practice, sometimes I only get one walk or treadmill session in per week. That has got to change to a minimum of three times weekly.

Gee, I feel better already.

Things with the arm and shoulder had been getting worse in December, so I had an MRI on my neck a couple weeks ago. There is some significant degeneration in the lower cervical discs. I’m seeing an orthopedic surgeon today to explore the next step. Explore is the operative word here. I’m just at the beginning of this journey. I spent hours on the internet this past weekend looking up the words and terms used in the MRI report. At least I’ll be able to converse half intelligently with the doctor.

Be well, stay warm!

Many thanks to those who offered condolences for the loss of my buddy Jake. You all helped a lot.

Anyway, the New Year has got life running at a very fast pace. Getting the time to formulate a blog has been difficult. Hubby decided he needed a vacation after all the pressures we were under last month. We’re heading for the California desert on Monday. January is not a good time for me to go on vacation as there are all kinds of year-end paperwork projects and deadlines. So, I’ve been working madly to get it all done. Plus, this weekend is our annual Sweet Adelines retreat where we spend three days working intensely on our competition songs. I had to have all the business related stuff done by Friday morning. I made it…..but it wasn’t fun. There is one more session of retreat tomorrow morning, then I have to think about packing for the trip.

I’ve been staying fairly compliant while under the pressure, and I have been maintaining a passable exercise schedule. Pilates and/or yoga three times a week, and I get to the treadmill when I can. At least once a week. I keep trying to shoot for three. I’ll keep trying.

I’m looking forward to the sunshine. Here in the Pacific Northwest it rained 28 days in a row. Pretty darn dismal if you ask me!