Hello Chilcoterie Readers. It's been a long time since I've blogged, and it is on my bucket list for 2011...so, here goes...
I spent some quality time with great friends a few days back in Cape Coral and was told three distinct and interesting teaching stories that, I find, well worth repeating.
My friend, the teacher, is teaching third graders and asked them to think about going camping. She asked each child to raise their hands and list three things that you need to pack for a successful camping experience. Of course all the children obliged the teacher and started raising their hands which my friend, in turn, wrote (in perfect print I assume) on the board.
The list of items was pretty much as expected:
Tent
Chairs
Sleeping Bags
Charcoal
Grill
Tarps
Fishing Poles
Lantern
Bicycles
Coolers
Food
Bathing Suits
She then called on Billy.
Cigarettes
Beer
Barbed Wire
What? Even if Billy is only a third grader, I can understand him picking up on the parental essentials of packing smokes and drinks, but, barbed wire? "Why do you need barbed wire?"
Without a second of hesitation, Billy replied, "To keep out the alligators!"
Only in Florida.
***
Dinner at Home.
Ok students, let's hear what everyone had for dinner last night so we can explore the differences in family situations and upbringing. I want everyone to think about what they had for dinner last night and share with the class your main course.
Emily's family ordered in pizza.
Sharon's mom cooked pot roast.
Timmy's grandmother took everyone to McDonalds.
Katrina's dad grilled chicken out back.
Donald's parents cleaned out the refrigerator and everyone had to eat leftovers so some had meat loaf, others had ham sandwiches and he had left over fried chicken legs.
And then, there was Chester.
Chester said, "My mom went out back with the gun and shot a possum. She brought it in and fried it for dinner."
A possum? Oh my. What did that taste like?
"It was a little greasy, but it tasted good, like chicken."
Wow. I can't say that I've ever tried possum, nor can I say that I want to.
***
Words We Don't Know.
And, the last teaching story taught the teacher to more closely scrutinize her teaching materials before introducing them to the class. She brought in one week's worth of the local newspaper and handed each child one sheet and told them that today we were going to learn 23 new words, because she wanted each student to find one word they didn't recognize and as they spelled it, she would write it on the board. Then they would look up the definition and learn each word. Sounds like a pretty harmless in-class assignment.
Words like "diagnostic," "customer," "performance," "qualification," were all spelled, written on the board, handily found in Websters and presumambly learned with assistance from the teacher.
"Sherry, what word did you find?"
Sherry starts spelling and the teacher starts writing, M....E.....N....O....P....A....U....S....E. (Quickly erased).
That's one word the teacher decided that third graders need not yet learn. Students 1, Teacher 0.
True stories.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Thursday, December 11, 2008
An Interesting Chain of Events (Why I Didn't Sleep Last Night)
I woke up at 12:34 AM on the couch, which is not unusual because it's what I like to do! I got up, turned off the light, took my Pravachol and headed to bed, with the dog. Yes, she sleeps with us. The bedroom was hot and Kathy asked me to open the window so we could get a nice breeze.
Event 1: Going to bed
Event 2: Taking the dog to bed
Event 3: Opening the window
Well, the air was still and there was no breeze, so Kathy asked me to turn on the fan. I did. I turned the fan on which makes this Mmmmm....Mmmmmmm.....Mmmmmm sound, sort of like the Mmmm Mmmm Good Campbell Soup commercial without the music or the good. This humming, keeps me awake. I sat up and turned the fan on to medium.
Event 4: Turning on the fan
Event 5: Turning up the fan speed
The higher speed decreases the humming to nothing and I can sleep. Kathy can not because the breeze is too strong and she sits up and turns the fan off. There is still no breeze.
Event 6: Turning the fan off
With the fan off, the dog can now hear every single sound outside, which is inaudible to Kathy or me. I think Roxy can even hear worms and snails crawling. Every single sound, audible or not, gets her attention. Because we have taught her not to bark, she begins shaking, like a really fastly vibrating pager. The entire bed moves and awakens or keeps us awake, and because the fan is off, we're still hot; not to mention the fact that Roxy sleeps in the crook of my legs by my ankles.
Event 7: The dog vibrates
If we put Roxy down, she runs from room to room and separates the blinds to look at the snails and worms, cats and Possums. We're cooler, because the windows are open and the fan is on low, but we are awake.
Event 8: Turn the fan back on, on low, with the humming
Finally, the snails went to sleep, Roxy stopped vibrating, the breeze picked up and the humming was incorporated into a pleasant dream involving chainsaws, but alas, I was asleep!
Event 1: Going to bed
Event 2: Taking the dog to bed
Event 3: Opening the window
Well, the air was still and there was no breeze, so Kathy asked me to turn on the fan. I did. I turned the fan on which makes this Mmmmm....Mmmmmmm.....Mmmmmm sound, sort of like the Mmmm Mmmm Good Campbell Soup commercial without the music or the good. This humming, keeps me awake. I sat up and turned the fan on to medium.
Event 4: Turning on the fan
Event 5: Turning up the fan speed
The higher speed decreases the humming to nothing and I can sleep. Kathy can not because the breeze is too strong and she sits up and turns the fan off. There is still no breeze.
Event 6: Turning the fan off
With the fan off, the dog can now hear every single sound outside, which is inaudible to Kathy or me. I think Roxy can even hear worms and snails crawling. Every single sound, audible or not, gets her attention. Because we have taught her not to bark, she begins shaking, like a really fastly vibrating pager. The entire bed moves and awakens or keeps us awake, and because the fan is off, we're still hot; not to mention the fact that Roxy sleeps in the crook of my legs by my ankles.
Event 7: The dog vibrates
If we put Roxy down, she runs from room to room and separates the blinds to look at the snails and worms, cats and Possums. We're cooler, because the windows are open and the fan is on low, but we are awake.
Event 8: Turn the fan back on, on low, with the humming
Finally, the snails went to sleep, Roxy stopped vibrating, the breeze picked up and the humming was incorporated into a pleasant dream involving chainsaws, but alas, I was asleep!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Christmas Tree Stories
Today is the infamous Tree Lighting Ceremony in Old Naples and it happens directly below the office where Kathy and I have worked for several years. We always have a small gathering to observe the ceremony, which lasts approximately 3 seconds! Actually, there are numerous events going on around the tree lighting itself; bands, choirs, Lois Tomey with Wink News and 30,000 Naplites in attendance. This reminds me of some true Christmas Tree stories of my life.
Let's start with the oldest and move forward. These are all absolutely true.
Year 1 - We bought a Christmas Tree in Indiana and the base was a bit too big for the Christmas Tree Stand; you know, the one with the ring and three big-ass thumbscrews that are supposed to hold it in place. Also, this tree had very low hanging branches that were totally in the way of getting the tree into the stand. I decided I could trim off the bottom branches and shave off some of the bottom to fit into the stand. About 45 minutes later, my 7 foot birch tree was about 5 feet 4 inches and everyone was upset with how bare the bottom of the tree was. Joy to the world.
Year 2 - We bought an excellent "live" Christmas Tree, got it home and appropriately in the same stand as last year. The circumference of this tree bottom was a lot less than last year's tree and I only trimmed branches as requested by the family. We hoisted the tree into the stand, screwed in the thumbscrews and put water in the base. Once we covered the base with the tree rug, the girls began to decorate the tree. About two hours later, the tree was completely decorated and plugged in. About three minutes after we finished, the tree fell completely over into the living room. I don't know how many bulbs and priceless ornaments were destroyed, but we cleaned up glass chips for a few weeks. We couldn't for the life of us get this tree to stand up on its own. I eventually rigged a wire from the ceiling to the middle of the tree that allowed it to stand proudly. The angel had to share a little bit of her space with the wire, but I don't think she minded much. Redecorating a tree isn't half as much fun as decorating one.
Year 3 - We took all of the children to a Christmas Tree Farm and physically cut down our own tree. This was truly fun and the children had a great time and left with excellent memories. We stowed the tree on top of the car and brought it home. It was freezing cold. All the family went inside and I told them I would bring the tree around to the back in a minute. I pulled the tree off the car and dragged it through the yard to the back door without a hitch. I was determined to have a great tree decorating ceremony this year without tragedy. So far, I was totally stoked with success! We pulled the tree inside and put it in our NEW CHRISTMAS TREE STAND, complete with a fall over guarantee! The tree fit perfectly and was in place in record time. The girls began the delicate task of placing a few less ornaments on the tree than last year (not out of choice,) but things were going very, very smoothly until someone said, "What's that smell?" Then, we all began smelling what certainly had the distinct odor of freshly thawed dog poop. Everybody checked their shoes and found nothing. The smell was strongest around the tree. On the back of the tree, from the base to near the tip, on many, many branches was dog poop. When I dragged it through the yard, I must have stirred up some recently deposited and nearly frozen dog poop from one of our two dogs. Only when it started thawing did we recognize the issue. Down came the tree in year three. It was about two hours later before we had it completely washed off and ready for redress.
Year 4 - The tree we bought this year was the most expensive, but most beautiful tree we had ever seen! We brought it home, put it in its stand and began to decorate it when my wife noticed that many needles were falling from the tree. More were falling on this, the first day of our tree, than had fallen on the last day of the previous three years trees. Upon closer inspection, we noticed that the tree's spectacular green hue was not actually the hue of the tree itself, but of a beautiful pine green spray paint! We snipped a branch, took it back to the vendor and wanted to know if we could get a refund. The answer was, "No, we spray all of our trees green." This was the last year we bought a tree from them and, I haven't seen them in the area since.
Year 5 - We bought a relatively affordable tree this year and I was totally pleased with the height and shape of the tree compared to last year's most expensive one. We didn't realize until we brought it home that it was a prickly pine tree and was nearly impossible to decorate without drawing blood. We got through it though and looked forward to next year when we were going to purchase our very first totally fake Christmas Tree!
Bless you all and I hope you have a delightful, fun filled holiday season.
D
Let's start with the oldest and move forward. These are all absolutely true.
Year 1 - We bought a Christmas Tree in Indiana and the base was a bit too big for the Christmas Tree Stand; you know, the one with the ring and three big-ass thumbscrews that are supposed to hold it in place. Also, this tree had very low hanging branches that were totally in the way of getting the tree into the stand. I decided I could trim off the bottom branches and shave off some of the bottom to fit into the stand. About 45 minutes later, my 7 foot birch tree was about 5 feet 4 inches and everyone was upset with how bare the bottom of the tree was. Joy to the world.
Year 2 - We bought an excellent "live" Christmas Tree, got it home and appropriately in the same stand as last year. The circumference of this tree bottom was a lot less than last year's tree and I only trimmed branches as requested by the family. We hoisted the tree into the stand, screwed in the thumbscrews and put water in the base. Once we covered the base with the tree rug, the girls began to decorate the tree. About two hours later, the tree was completely decorated and plugged in. About three minutes after we finished, the tree fell completely over into the living room. I don't know how many bulbs and priceless ornaments were destroyed, but we cleaned up glass chips for a few weeks. We couldn't for the life of us get this tree to stand up on its own. I eventually rigged a wire from the ceiling to the middle of the tree that allowed it to stand proudly. The angel had to share a little bit of her space with the wire, but I don't think she minded much. Redecorating a tree isn't half as much fun as decorating one.
Year 3 - We took all of the children to a Christmas Tree Farm and physically cut down our own tree. This was truly fun and the children had a great time and left with excellent memories. We stowed the tree on top of the car and brought it home. It was freezing cold. All the family went inside and I told them I would bring the tree around to the back in a minute. I pulled the tree off the car and dragged it through the yard to the back door without a hitch. I was determined to have a great tree decorating ceremony this year without tragedy. So far, I was totally stoked with success! We pulled the tree inside and put it in our NEW CHRISTMAS TREE STAND, complete with a fall over guarantee! The tree fit perfectly and was in place in record time. The girls began the delicate task of placing a few less ornaments on the tree than last year (not out of choice,) but things were going very, very smoothly until someone said, "What's that smell?" Then, we all began smelling what certainly had the distinct odor of freshly thawed dog poop. Everybody checked their shoes and found nothing. The smell was strongest around the tree. On the back of the tree, from the base to near the tip, on many, many branches was dog poop. When I dragged it through the yard, I must have stirred up some recently deposited and nearly frozen dog poop from one of our two dogs. Only when it started thawing did we recognize the issue. Down came the tree in year three. It was about two hours later before we had it completely washed off and ready for redress.
Year 4 - The tree we bought this year was the most expensive, but most beautiful tree we had ever seen! We brought it home, put it in its stand and began to decorate it when my wife noticed that many needles were falling from the tree. More were falling on this, the first day of our tree, than had fallen on the last day of the previous three years trees. Upon closer inspection, we noticed that the tree's spectacular green hue was not actually the hue of the tree itself, but of a beautiful pine green spray paint! We snipped a branch, took it back to the vendor and wanted to know if we could get a refund. The answer was, "No, we spray all of our trees green." This was the last year we bought a tree from them and, I haven't seen them in the area since.
Year 5 - We bought a relatively affordable tree this year and I was totally pleased with the height and shape of the tree compared to last year's most expensive one. We didn't realize until we brought it home that it was a prickly pine tree and was nearly impossible to decorate without drawing blood. We got through it though and looked forward to next year when we were going to purchase our very first totally fake Christmas Tree!
Bless you all and I hope you have a delightful, fun filled holiday season.
D
Thursday, November 13, 2008
A Very Intriguing Riddle
Well, I didn't catch any flack over yesterday's post, and frankly, I'm happy that I didn't although, I still may. My lovely daughter who made a quick visit from UCF this week (to see us, do some laundry and restock supplies) brought me a very interesting Riddle. I couldn't solve it quickly enough, but Kathy did and so did our daughter. I wanted to solve it, and probably would have eventually, but both Ash and Kathy solved it in less time than it took me not to solve it. The best time so far is Kathy at 30 minutes on the dot.
Let me know if you can solve this in less time than that, if you wish. You can email me with your results and I will tell you if you are correct. There is only one correct answer.
Imagine 5 houses in a row. Each house is painted its own particular color and inhabited by a person of different nationality with unique careers, pets and choice of drink.
The Englishman lives in the red house
The Spaniard owns a dog
Only coffee is drunk in the green house
The Ukranian drinks tea
The green house is immediately to the right of the ivory house (as you face the houses)
The Stockbroker owns snails
The Academic Advisor lives in the yellow house
Milk is drunk in the middle house
The Norwegian lives in the first house on the left
The Doctor lives next door to the man with the fox
The Academic Advisor lives next to the house where the horse is kept
The Teacher drinks orange juice
The Carpenter is Japanese
The Norwegian lives next to the blue house
Who owns the zebra?
Who drinks the water?
I look forward to your results.
Let me know if you can solve this in less time than that, if you wish. You can email me with your results and I will tell you if you are correct. There is only one correct answer.
Imagine 5 houses in a row. Each house is painted its own particular color and inhabited by a person of different nationality with unique careers, pets and choice of drink.
The Englishman lives in the red house
The Spaniard owns a dog
Only coffee is drunk in the green house
The Ukranian drinks tea
The green house is immediately to the right of the ivory house (as you face the houses)
The Stockbroker owns snails
The Academic Advisor lives in the yellow house
Milk is drunk in the middle house
The Norwegian lives in the first house on the left
The Doctor lives next door to the man with the fox
The Academic Advisor lives next to the house where the horse is kept
The Teacher drinks orange juice
The Carpenter is Japanese
The Norwegian lives next to the blue house
Who owns the zebra?
Who drinks the water?
I look forward to your results.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Favorite Websites
One thing that really entertains me is the discovery of a very cool website! Whether it is the look and feel of the site, the services the site provides or the products it is promoting, I love to view them. Today I thought I would share some of my favorite sites:
The Best Secrets From Reader's Digest - This two page site provides some fantastic website deals and bargains. Two of my favorite sites were brought to my attention from this one site.
Hulu - Free, full length, popular movies on your computer. Movies have commercials, but they are absolutely free for the watching. This should be a popular site for those of you who travel and have to stay overnight in hotels. When you first log on, you must sign up for an account. Do it by clicking in the upper right hand corner Sign Up link.
Zappos - Free shipping, free returns on Shoes...and hundreds of other items. The last pair of Reef's I bought came from Zappos. I got them for $34.00 dollars! The website upgraded my free 5 day shipping to free overnight shipping just because I made a mistake when I tried to order them.
Weather - This site is the most interactive and informative, especially for tropic related weather issues. I check into it everyday when we are in hurricane season.
Perceptual Experiment - Watch the video on the right hand side after you read and follow the instructions. You will be completely amazed.
An Interesting Calendar/Clock - Funny. Watch it for at least 1 minute.
Wizardry - It can't really read your mind, but boy was this a difficult one to figure out.
Chris Bliss - Make sure your sound is on. If you are not amazed, you have probably seen everything you ever need to see.
An Interesting Time Waster - Fun to do one to four times, but very interesting nonetheless. Here's another one.
Gasoline Prices - Put in your Zip Code. Many phones have this now, but for those of you without, this will save you a few bucks over time.
I have more, but I've got to do some recruiting before I go broke. See you next time.
The Best Secrets From Reader's Digest - This two page site provides some fantastic website deals and bargains. Two of my favorite sites were brought to my attention from this one site.
Hulu - Free, full length, popular movies on your computer. Movies have commercials, but they are absolutely free for the watching. This should be a popular site for those of you who travel and have to stay overnight in hotels. When you first log on, you must sign up for an account. Do it by clicking in the upper right hand corner Sign Up link.
Zappos - Free shipping, free returns on Shoes...and hundreds of other items. The last pair of Reef's I bought came from Zappos. I got them for $34.00 dollars! The website upgraded my free 5 day shipping to free overnight shipping just because I made a mistake when I tried to order them.
Weather - This site is the most interactive and informative, especially for tropic related weather issues. I check into it everyday when we are in hurricane season.
Perceptual Experiment - Watch the video on the right hand side after you read and follow the instructions. You will be completely amazed.
An Interesting Calendar/Clock - Funny. Watch it for at least 1 minute.
Wizardry - It can't really read your mind, but boy was this a difficult one to figure out.
Chris Bliss - Make sure your sound is on. If you are not amazed, you have probably seen everything you ever need to see.
An Interesting Time Waster - Fun to do one to four times, but very interesting nonetheless. Here's another one.
Gasoline Prices - Put in your Zip Code. Many phones have this now, but for those of you without, this will save you a few bucks over time.
I have more, but I've got to do some recruiting before I go broke. See you next time.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Halloween
Well, Halloween was a blast again! We started the festivities at about 11 AM getting to St. George of The Dragon restaurant in time to get a seat at the bar. We are in full costume again. And when I say we, I mean Holly, dressed as a character in a children's book that she has created and authored; Kristin, dressed as Helga, the German Beer Selling Winch...and with her physique, she made a perfect Helga...doing Omm Pa Pa's throughout the day; Tammy, dressed as Cat Woman complete with whiskers and Victoria Secret attire; Kathy, the love of my life dressed as a funky witch with lime green and pink adornments; and me as the wicked witch of the west...complete with full green facial paint!
The only reason I go as a witch and not a warlock is that I have developed the ability to laugh exactly like a witch without destroying my vocal chords. Kathy, on the other hand tried to and successfully accomplished a very similar laugh, but her voice is still nearly gone today! I give her kudos for getting it right. We had lunch at the George and scared a number of customers. Besides the staff, we were the only ones in costume.
We left the George and travelled to one of our other favorite restaurants; Campiello's to meet up with our favorite bartenderess - Christine. She has been absent for about three months heading up to New Jersey for family things. We were glad to see her back, but she was in a bit of mood perhaps because things weren't in the order in which she requires for proper customer service. We couldn't scare too many people there because it is outdoor seating and very bright...just the opposite of the George!
After having a drink there, we went to Tommy's just to say hello and headed down to 5th Avenue where most people would be celebrating.
Fifth Avenue hosted us properly with the wait staff dressed to the hilt! My favorite was the bartender who's outfit looked like it was his mother carrying him on her back like a small, but well overgrown child. Hilarious to say the least. We also were able to scare a number of small children coming in costume for candy that McCabes was passing out.
We had three other parties to attend, but only made it to two because it was getting quite late. On the way to party number 1, we stopped unannounced into a softball parent's house just because we have such fond memories of spending time with them. They were gracious enough to invite us in and catch us up on their lives. They are also empty nesters for the first time this year!
Our first party was about 20 minutes out of town at a local Police Officer friend's house....everyone was in costume. That was a nice party.
Our last stop was on the way home where we stopped at the Clarks. We have attended the Clark's party for the last 8 years because it was always full of lively people and fun. This year, it was far different. All of our girls are in college, so the festivities and fun were lacking. There were no costumes, no food, no family and very little fun. We did scare a few trick-or-treaters though and that made it worth the stop. I felt sorry for Kris who loves her three daughters very much and probably misses them at times like this.
All in all, it was a great Halloween. I have retired the witch, however, and have already thought of my costume for next year. It won't involve screaming....or makeup.
The only reason I go as a witch and not a warlock is that I have developed the ability to laugh exactly like a witch without destroying my vocal chords. Kathy, on the other hand tried to and successfully accomplished a very similar laugh, but her voice is still nearly gone today! I give her kudos for getting it right. We had lunch at the George and scared a number of customers. Besides the staff, we were the only ones in costume.
We left the George and travelled to one of our other favorite restaurants; Campiello's to meet up with our favorite bartenderess - Christine. She has been absent for about three months heading up to New Jersey for family things. We were glad to see her back, but she was in a bit of mood perhaps because things weren't in the order in which she requires for proper customer service. We couldn't scare too many people there because it is outdoor seating and very bright...just the opposite of the George!
After having a drink there, we went to Tommy's just to say hello and headed down to 5th Avenue where most people would be celebrating.
Fifth Avenue hosted us properly with the wait staff dressed to the hilt! My favorite was the bartender who's outfit looked like it was his mother carrying him on her back like a small, but well overgrown child. Hilarious to say the least. We also were able to scare a number of small children coming in costume for candy that McCabes was passing out.
We had three other parties to attend, but only made it to two because it was getting quite late. On the way to party number 1, we stopped unannounced into a softball parent's house just because we have such fond memories of spending time with them. They were gracious enough to invite us in and catch us up on their lives. They are also empty nesters for the first time this year!
Our first party was about 20 minutes out of town at a local Police Officer friend's house....everyone was in costume. That was a nice party.
Our last stop was on the way home where we stopped at the Clarks. We have attended the Clark's party for the last 8 years because it was always full of lively people and fun. This year, it was far different. All of our girls are in college, so the festivities and fun were lacking. There were no costumes, no food, no family and very little fun. We did scare a few trick-or-treaters though and that made it worth the stop. I felt sorry for Kris who loves her three daughters very much and probably misses them at times like this.
All in all, it was a great Halloween. I have retired the witch, however, and have already thought of my costume for next year. It won't involve screaming....or makeup.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
The Fight Against High Cholesterol
About 6 months ago, my doctor, during a routine visit told me my cholesterol was on the rise and she wanted to prescribe Lipitor or some other statin drug. I am opposed to taking Lipitor because of the potential for negative influence on my liver...which I need to keep working properly for as long as it can! I told her I would "watch" what I ate and increase my activities.
Well, I wasn't very effective at watching what I ate because three months later, the cholesterol had gotten worst! The highest reading ever was 270! This was shocking to me because I consider myself a fairly healthy guy who is always active. I am not overweight either at 166.
I began to take a serious look at how and what I eat and I realized it wasn't as healthy as I thought. My favorite snack food, for example is Gouda Cheese...straight. It was nothing for me to take a good hunk of cheese after work, before work, before bed, or whenever I wanted. I would go for the cheese on everything: eggs, salads, sandwiches, tacos, and the occasional burger. The only thing I didn't like cheese on was french fries, but I ate french fries with Mayonnaise instead of Ketchup. I also love cottage cheese and bleu cheese dressing is my favorite!
When my doctor said I'd like you to avoid all dairy products, I about cried. She also said avoid red meat as in, "Do not eat any red meat." Lastly, she told me to avoid all fried foods. Wow! Now, I am a recovered vegan...so the meat was not a huge issue...I easily quit any red meat. What I miss the most, is Taco Bell.
Because I am eating so much fish and chicken, I have begun to grow gills behind my ears and wings near my elbows!
The good news today is that I have effectively reduced my total cholesterol to 199, and improved my HDL to 62. My diet is working. For the last 7 weeks, I have eaten not one bite of red meat and only three small 1/2 inch long shredded bits of white cheese! I have totally avoided dairy products. I have eaten Shrimp one time and sardines one time. Both are high in cholesterol, but the experts say it is good to eat shell fish and sardines because it raises the HDL. I have been taking fish oil and Omega 3 and drinking vinegar periodically. I also eat oats and nuts and tons of vegetables, concentrating on celery.
I want to get the total down to about 185 before I cheat...but I am looking forward to cheating soon.
Well, I wasn't very effective at watching what I ate because three months later, the cholesterol had gotten worst! The highest reading ever was 270! This was shocking to me because I consider myself a fairly healthy guy who is always active. I am not overweight either at 166.
I began to take a serious look at how and what I eat and I realized it wasn't as healthy as I thought. My favorite snack food, for example is Gouda Cheese...straight. It was nothing for me to take a good hunk of cheese after work, before work, before bed, or whenever I wanted. I would go for the cheese on everything: eggs, salads, sandwiches, tacos, and the occasional burger. The only thing I didn't like cheese on was french fries, but I ate french fries with Mayonnaise instead of Ketchup. I also love cottage cheese and bleu cheese dressing is my favorite!
When my doctor said I'd like you to avoid all dairy products, I about cried. She also said avoid red meat as in, "Do not eat any red meat." Lastly, she told me to avoid all fried foods. Wow! Now, I am a recovered vegan...so the meat was not a huge issue...I easily quit any red meat. What I miss the most, is Taco Bell.
Because I am eating so much fish and chicken, I have begun to grow gills behind my ears and wings near my elbows!
The good news today is that I have effectively reduced my total cholesterol to 199, and improved my HDL to 62. My diet is working. For the last 7 weeks, I have eaten not one bite of red meat and only three small 1/2 inch long shredded bits of white cheese! I have totally avoided dairy products. I have eaten Shrimp one time and sardines one time. Both are high in cholesterol, but the experts say it is good to eat shell fish and sardines because it raises the HDL. I have been taking fish oil and Omega 3 and drinking vinegar periodically. I also eat oats and nuts and tons of vegetables, concentrating on celery.
I want to get the total down to about 185 before I cheat...but I am looking forward to cheating soon.
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