End of 2018!

What a year. Jeezus Fucking Christ what a year. Back to running after hip surgery with PT all summer into my first triathlon in 4 years, then a heart attack sequence on Labor Day weekend. As of now on the 31st, I'm back to running and planning a swim.

My goals for 2018 were to return to running and racing. To get back to my long distance training. I was getting there. Then my goals changed.

When the year started I was keto and experimented with carni keto. I'm not sure this worked for me, as I look back and recall lots of fatigue and heaviness that isn't present now. As of now, I'm 99% plant based, no longer keto but still relatively low carb.

My total cholesterol in Sept was 460, 360-ish LDL. In December, after a month of tapering into plant based and the injected Repath, it was 89. As in, the total was 89.  LDL was 11! With permission I'm stopping the Repatha and continuing the plant-based until Feb when I'm tested again. The goal is to stay OFF the drugs.

My recent visit on the 21st with a nutritionist didn't go well. This is not the nutritionist I met with in November. She first said a multivitamin "doesn't really do anything for you", then said that I should drink rice milk "because it's fortified". Why do people get so hung up on drinking milk? She set some goals for the next visit in February -- eat 3oz of chicken a day (why?!), etc etc. I was upset about this and it showed in the ave HR for the run that day (I just realized that might explain the high HR for that rehab run lol). But I felt better after realizing that it's not like she's following me and tracking me. Duh, I can report back anything as long as I'm healthy.

Later that day I had my annual bone scan. Significant decrease in the lumbar, but significant increase in the hip/femur. So I guess that's a wash? My vitamin D came back at 66, a WIN as I stopped the prescription D2 in May and went OTC instead. Ironically, this costs me more but whatever I feel like it's a win. No other suggestions or changes from bone doc. Good, because this annoys me every year.

I gave oatmeal on honest try -- instant or rolled or steel cut, whether microwaved, soaked overnight, or fermented (yes, fermented) upset my stomach. It sat heavy and a few times came back up. Felt much better after that! Next I'm trying millet, so far so good.

WTF is it about oatmeal? Dunno, it's got FODMAPs but this is a more severe/different problem. I've been picking up any veg*n book from the library and one book that I almost returned unread has my attention. I've been through the Furhman, the Engine 2, the this, and the that. But this is my first reading on lectins in the diet. And as it turns out there's a list of foods I should be able to eat but react badly too: corn, oats, peanuts, sunflower seeds included. These cause a lot of pain, heaviness, reflux. As it turns out, these are high lectin foods! What ?! Is that a clue? Millet is lectin free, hence that test.

So now I'm reading more, learning, wondering, not sure. Seems like another faddish thing. But starting tomorrow I'm going to give it a go, following the Phased plan from the book. If it seems like a bogus science project, I ditch it. But I should try it. It really only changes a few things for me. Like nightshades for one.

And I'm looking at buying an Instant Pot! I tried mom's over the xmas break and the lectin book says pressure cooking breaks down the lectins. But that's an expensive test!

More later. Nah never mind. Quit thinking on the past and L'Audace. Toujours, l'audace.