Guess Who's Lost 9 Pounds in 5 Days?

ME!!!

Dealing with this gout crap has forced me to go full-on vegetarian starting this past Sunday.  I thought I would be starving all the time eating no meat, but I actually find myself full most of the day because I eat little packets of fruits and veggies all day long.  I usually start my day with an onion bagel with either some cream cheese or some avocado on it.  Then, I have a yogurt.  Then, throughout the day, I eat about 5 servings of the following:  broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber, strawberries, cantaloupe, apples, or pears.  I also have a handful of almonds about every other day.  Then, in the evening, I have something like spaghetti pasta with mushrooms and zucchini or a tomato sandwich and some cottage cheese or something like that.  I'm sure as I adjust to this new way of eating, my progress will slow and I'll learn to eat other things, but for now, that's how it goes.  Someone at work today had freshly fried chicken strips at their desk and man, did they smell so good....but, I stuck to my guns and just sprayed some Febreeze around the area so I couldn't smell them.  I am going to miss meat, especially steak and chicken and fish, but giving them up is far worth it versus the pain I had to experience in my knee the last month or so or what "could" eventually happen throughout my body....I never really knew until this all happened that gout is actually a form of arthritis.  I certainly don't want my joints in my hands and feet and knees to end up looking like this!

On the positive side of things, I finally got a primary care physician and it ended up that I actually already know him from church!  We had a great appointment today and he was happy that I had, on my own, researched what I should and shouldn't eat and had already lost the 9 pounds since just Sunday.  We're going to redo my labs in a month and see if the change in eating has helped my uric acid levels go down or not, rather than just putting me on a med right off the bat.  I like that he agreed with me to try that first.  I'm so particular about taking medicines after what they did to my mom.

It's our 7 year anniversary this weekend and we would normally go somewhere for dinner like Firebird's and have a big ol' piece of steak, but I'm now looking forward to a side of their Southwest Au Gratin potatoes and a side of the Spiced Pecan Green Beans with a BLT salad, hold the B.  It will be just as good.  No biggie...