Good morning! There is a hum of excitement still hanging in the air at the good old homestead and the reason is because.....
I achieved a goal that DH had his doubts on.
Back in 2011 (I think it was that year... it has been a while, though), DH landed himself in the hospital in the beginning stages of congestive heart failure due to an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation. Fluid in his lungs was making it hard for him to breathe, resting pulse rate well over 150 beats per minute, blood pressure only to be described as through the roof. I was scared, angry, and demanding the doctors to do more to help him get better. Basically, I was a wreck, trying to keep it together. Regardless of how often DH was less than kind towards me verbally or basically nowhere near what I thought a husband should be when I married him (he seemed to never take marriage seriously)... I wanted him to live a long and healthy life. Sadly, I knew it was going to be a battle, but a battle I was willing to fight.
DH has a really lousy selection of foods he would eat. Yep, a picky eater to the bone, he is better described as a 4 year old in a food jag. The list of things he would eat is easier to recite than the list of foods her just flat out refuses to even try. Always seeming to be last in line for fruits and vegetables, but first in line for processed meats, butter and cheese. Yep, a challenge was set before me and I was having my doubts that I could achieve convincing him to change his ways. DH is a heavy man, not exactly looking obese to me, but not in the correct weight category that the medical field sees as ideal for a man his height. In light of his picky eating tendencies, he did possess some preferences that made me jealous. Especially when it came to salads. While I would to have salad dressing on my salad, he would rather eat his salad with none, saving hundreds of calories in that stubborn act of his impressed me. I can only guess that is why I just can't get my calorie count down enough to make a significant weight loss for my bathroom scale.
Well, with DH's picky ways of wanting only processed sausage, cheese and butter.... he was diagnosed with the only obvious outcome.... he has high cholesterol. While it has been noted that cholesterol issues are not only prevalent in what you eat, it can also be a genetic issue. Especially, when there is a family history of heart disease, of which there is for DH. This is where my challenge was placed before me.
Since DH's release from the hospital with his heart shocked back into regular rhythm, the fluids cleared from his lungs, his blood pressure controlled with medications.... DH started taking his health seriously. First with quitting smoking, and then adding an evening walk every night. He made sure to take his medications regularly and he cut out caffeine completely. His weight was an issue, but he looked at me for help. Being challenged to get his weight down, I worked hard at changing his favorite meals into something healthier. Instead of beef burgers, I made turkey burgers. Instead of pork sausage, I made turkey or chicken sausage. Tacos were made with ground chicken instead of ground beef. Pasta meals were limited to once a week or twice a month. These small changes helped DH lose weight. Not as much as he was hoping for, but he was losing weight.
Well, the doctor felt that his efforts were not enough because while I did change most of his favorite foods, his cholesterol was considered high. His total cholesterol number ranged between 205 and 215. The holidays and his annual fishing trip with friends would spike it up to around 220 and 225. With his cholesterol being checked every three months, DH was losing his patience with his doctor and his constant nagging that his cholesterol is high and asked for my help. Knowing that this was going to be a challenge of epic proportions, I figured that I could at least suggest a few other changes to make a difference. Those changes had his total cholesterol hovering around the 205 mark and stayed there for about a year. His weight was starting to climb again and I was fighting an uphill battle with DH over his love of cheese and butter.... again. At least the processed meats were getting controlled. That is, if he didn't dig into the package of bratwurst his parents gave him as a thank you for helping them out.
After each cholesterol check was done, there was no real change in the better. About three months ago, DH was left to eat whatever he could get his hands on while DD was in the hospital with pancreatic issues and I remained by her side at the hospital. Of course, this just happened to happen the night before DH was to get another cholesterol check blood draw. A few days after getting the test done, DH saw the doctor for his results. It was not good. His cholesterol shot up from 203 to 246! Needless to say.... DH was not a happy camper. I asked the right questions and shook my head at the answers I got from him....
The night before his test, his dinner consisted of a bag of Fritos corn chips and an ice cream cone. I have a feeling he most likely got himself a burger from a drive thru with fries, but he says he didn't. I knew right away that fried chips and dairy are cholesterol no-nos and tried to calm his nerves, but he was determined to lay the gauntlet down and fully give me the reigns when it came to his health. His challenge? Do whatever it takes to not just help him lose weight, but to lower his cholesterol in the process. Oh, and an added bonus..... to keep the grocery budget in check, AND to prepare foods that leave zero leftovers that will end up in the trash at the end of the week.
Yep, I pulled out the abacus, the slide ruler, cookbook, and diet planner I have had over the years and figured how I can feed THREE people single serving home cooked meals with minimal shortcuts, low in fat and low in cholesterol that all three of us will eat from week to week. Sounds easy, right? WRONG!!! A package of ground turkey, ground sirloin beef, or ground chicken comes in a package that feeds four and I only have 3 to feed. No leftovers, remember? No repeat meals to be consumed that week because my family is not exactly a fan of using the microwave to reheat anything. The key is variety and believe me.... it is harder than you think to take a package of meat that feeds four, bulk it up to make it stretch to six, divide by two and have them be different in some way. Lets just say..... DH had no other choice, but to like vegetables in everything. Shredded carrots and zucchini were used as bulking ingredients to make burgers, individual meat loaves and sauces for pasta. Did you know that a standard full chicken breast (both halves) consists of 4 dietary allowed servings? I did. One pork tenderloin is roughly 7 servings? Or one full sirloin steak can feed a minimum of 4-5 people? I learned that all on my own. Sure, those lean cuts of meat are better for you, but the calorie count to meet a dietary serving is small compared to the piece you buy at the store. It makes my head spin in how to prepare a fraction of a piece for a serving and somehow not let it be repeated for the rest of the week. While just about anything in the protein category can be added to a bed of salad greens to become a meal.... I was even limited to having salads as a dinner option to once a week for the family. I, on the other hand.... had to become a lettuce eating maniac for my lunch at work. I am starting to really hate salads.....
Well, after three months with this new challenge of selecting what we are to consume every week and prepare them to strict dietary guidelines, DH went for another cholesterol check.....
I waited for DH to call me to let me know how we did because, you see, DH was looking like he was heading for the gallows with his fear that all of this hard work on my behalf was going to fail and he was going to be leaving the doctor's office with a cholesterol medication prescription in his hand. He had his doubts of my abilities from the beginning, but he happily ate what I prepared and he even took my advice to eat some fruit from time to time. Still lacking faith that his cholesterol numbers would still be high. He was just going to chalk it up to genetics and move on.
Well, I got a text from DH after he went to see the doctor. The text had only three words.....
"YOU ARE AWESOME"
After jokingly responding by saying I already knew that, I asked what his numbers were and he texted back....
196
I jumped up and down, did a happy dance and sang loudly in the middle of work that I won, I won, I won!!!
Later that evening, DH came home from work, hugged me and handed me his sheets of test results for me to look at. Tears formed in my eyes to see that everything is within the expected normal range. He is in the best of health. He lost 21 pounds and lowered his cholesterol by 50 and the doctor was stunned proud and asked him what he did differently. His response was.... "I let my wife take over and change everything that was normal for me and created a food plan that I would never have thought of attempting. She cut me off from my favorite foods and controlled my portions."
Now, DH told me not to get a big ego from this, but what can I say.... I accomplished something that I would have never thought possible with the stubbornness of DH. I have to thank God for keeping me determined to make the difference, to seek the answers necessary to make these changes, and.... I need to thank DH for finally realizing my potential to help and not complain once about the changes I made for the benefit of our health. Of course, I still have to figure out why I can't lose weight as fast as DH. With all this healthy eating... I could only manage to lose half the amount he did. Yea. yea.... slow and steady wins the race, but I would like, for once, have a little more achieved when it comes down to my love/hate relationship with the bathroom scale.
Thanks for letting me share this with you and have a great day!!!
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