#balance

Medical update

John's blood work is finally balancing (and I guess I have not fed him too much vitamin K :-), and is on a somewhat regular dose of blood thinner and does not have to return for new blood work for a whole week! His fasting blood sugar ranges between 79 and 99, and he is energetic and feels good!

Yay!

I seem to have lost another pound or two and am also full of energy.  Is this, perhaps, the vegan diet?

Balancing food

Balancing food is still proving to be difficult. I am just having a hard time making sure we get the required servings of veggies each day. Part of this is the Vitamin K issue, that, to be honest, has terrified me.

This  has to do with blood clotting.  Because of  John's stents, he has been put on the blood thinner Warfarin.  The liver uses Vitamin K to produce blood clotting agents. So Vitamin K's job is to help blood clot while Warfarin's job is stop blood from clotting.

This means the trick is to  try to keep the level of Vitamin K in John's diet pretty stable. This task would be easier if he liked vegetables.  I take that back:  he does like vegetables - potatoes...not really the healthiest vegetable.  To give him credit he has dutifully eaten green beans, broccoli, carrots, and peas....and salads. Sometimes, though, due to appointments and scheduling, we miss lunch...or do not eat lunch until around 3 pm...and I am uncomfortable with him skipping a meal because of the need to keep the Vitamin K intake steady. At least his weekly INR test helps us understand the levels.  I hope that by the time I am more comfortable with this that the cardiologist will take him off of Warfarin.


One interesting note:  John can eat rice.  We have avoided rice for years because of his diabetes, yet rice is not bothering his blood sugar, perhaps due to the other dietary changes made.

In the meantime, we have tried a variety of bean stews, a veggie burger recipe, and have even eaten out at a local vegetarian/vegan restaurant. We have both enjoyed the recipes we have tried, and I plan to try another veggie burger recipe this weekend.

When to eat?

I never thought when to eat would be an issue, but it is. I am often up at least an hour before John, and I grab breakfast (either oatmeal or a whole wheat waffle), then go downstairs to work out. By the time I finish and come back upstairs John is finishing his oatmeal and getting ready for Tai Cheng (more on exercise below). Shakeology for post exercise, followed by showers, and I am off to work. I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful job that allows me to work from home most of the time although I do try to go into the office at least two days a week. Now it's time for lunch so we can eat dinner during my office our break between 6-730 pm. Some days we really have to push to get those meals in.

#pushplay

John started Tai Cheng this week, a Beachbody program designed to improve balance and mobility by focusing on gentle non-impact movements while integrating them with martial arts application - perfect for John! We used to take Tai Jitsu classes several years and loved them.  We miss the dojo, the instructors, and the students, and this is a way to reconnect to some of that training. He has really enjoyed these exercises and has even added in some sit ups afterwards using our Total Gym.  I am very proud of him.  John has more energy and seems to be healing well.   His right writ and arm are still terribly bruised from the heart cath and he is still unable to put his weight on that wrist or to lift more than 10 pounds with that hand, but is better!

I am currently redoing a few different workouts while waiting for my new workout DVDs to arrive...hopefully within a week as I am anxious to move on.  We both seem to be revisiting our martial arts as i have chose the program Core-de-Force, a mixed martial arts workout.

Loose ends

We are settling in to this new lifestyle and look forward to new recipe, new workouts, and seeing what's ahead on this journey. I have discovered all sorts of new friends ready offering support, information, bibliotherapy, and recipes and am astounded at what energy people give so freely. We hope to be able to give back just as gracefully.

I will continue to blog about recipes, the task of balancing, food, and our journey as we delve more into a vegan lifestyle.

We can do this!

Next post: awesome vegan dishes....