Whoop!

It rained again last night, for a total of about a half hour.

There are little tufts of green stuff growing in the yard, now.  It's no longer completely brown.

And the blanket flower and black eyed Susans are blooming again.

In other news, I've been reading about the paleolithic diet lately.  It's intriguing.

Over the two weeks since the dance show, I have eliminated all beans and legumes, including my beloved peanuts and natural peanut butter.
I have reduced grain foods of any kind drastically, except for the past few days.
I have reduced dairy consumption to almost nothing, again, except for the past few days.
(I ate very little dairy to begin with, though, due to being allergic to the proteins in dairy foods.)

Some readers of this blog may recall my lamentations about working out, eating right, and not losing one ounce of weight or one inch of girth over the course of many weeks after our vacation to Chicago this spring.

I  gained 7 pounds on that vacation, making me 10 pounds over my ideal weight.  Not much, but enough to cause me to take action....and my actions did NOTHING.  (my body heard about it when I turned 50 in April)

In those two weeks mentioned above, I lost 3 pounds.

While still working out the same...just eating a little differently.

This makes me think that maybe those paleo diet folks are on to something.

And it's not about weight loss.  It's about reducing inflammation and bad digestion, by returning to a focus on foods similar to what our pre-agricultural ancestors would have eaten.... meat, veggies, fruit, and nuts.

Mostly what I have noticed with the loss of the 3 pounds is that my intestines work better, and I am not bloated around the middle.

I think I was going through a bit of a detox, too, though, because I was having daily headaches for the first week.  Some of them were really bad.

I haven't decided yet if I will adhere to this diet style 100%, but I have learned a lot from reading about the science behind it, and it has my interest.

Oh, and Dave has joined me over these two weeks in eating a little differently.  He continued to snack on cheese, and had to eat out one day for breakfast and lunch due to work.  His weight dropped 2 pounds, but then it came back. 

Always being one who wants to eat and BE healthy, this has been very interesting.

Blessing

Today, it rained for almost an hour.

Yes, this is news in an area that is under severe drought.

8/11/2012-photos courtesy of David Bowen

oh...nevermind....

The anti bone loss drug that was prescribed originally was not covered by my insurance.

So my doctor had to change the medication, and settled on Fosamax.  I did get the prescription filled, but decided to wait until tomorrow to take my first dose, because of the specific way that you have to take this drug.

I also had to call the pharmacist and ask what I am supposed to do since both this drug and my new thyroid medication say take first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

She said DO NOT under any circumstances take Fosamax at the same time as...ANYTHING.  So, she said to wait and take the Fosamax when my stomach is empty before lunch.  So, no snacks after breakfast, etc.

Okay, I thought, I can do that on the weekends.

Then, I read the enclosure with the medication that had huge warnings about being careful to follow directions implicitly, and listed some side effects.

Being sensitive to all medications, historically, I decided to do a little research.

This drug sounds like it was created in the very pit of hell!  For crissakes!  Ironically, it causes bone loss and bone death (osteonecrosis) in the jaw and hips, and the FDA has even issued an official warning against taking it!! 

The literature all says if you're going to have ANY kind of dental work done, you should not be taking this drug, because even just going for a cleaning, so I gathered, can cause your temporal mandibular joint to basically fall apart.

Then there are the other possible and not uncommon side effects of nausea, stomach pain, esophageal pain and bleeding, vomiting up bright red blood OR coffee ground like congealed blood, extreme pains in the joints, muscles, and bones.....these are the least severe side effects listed, and it says that these symptoms can appear after 1 dose, or after taking several over the course of months.

The worst side effects are  esophageal cancer, and the aforementioned jaw and hip bone death, as well as a HIGHER, yes, I said HIGHER incidence of bone FRACTURE.  Yes.  Fractured femurs are a side effect.  It says you get some warning before they crack, though...they will likely hurt for a few days before they fall apart.

So...no.  I will NOT, under any circumstances, be taking this drug.

The thing that clinched it for me is the FDA official warning that this drug is dangerous.  Not dangerous enough, apparently, for them to say it should be taken off the market, but dangerous enough to cause broken femurs and dead jaws.

No.  Onward with my natural alternatives research, I guess.