Thursday 1 November 2007

A Red and Gold Day

It's a beautiful Autumn day in London today. Mild, blue skies, soft and gentle breeze. Delicious.

Tonight we are going to the theatre for the first time in what seems like an age. To see Patrick Stewart in MacBeth. To say I am really looking forward to it is an under-statement. Afterwards, I am hoping to huddle in Soho, sipping strong scalding coffee in the dark, wrapped up in sweater and scarf and possibly woolie hat, and talking over the performance with P and 2 close friends. We might get a late dinner but I doubt it.

I'm starting to feel a lot more relaxed and less stressed about my CRON practice, such as it is. I'll be happy just to get a state of balance back around the whole issue, and I'm getting there. It feels a bit like coming out of a dark tunnel, or out of a storm into the quiet. I had a few weeks there where I was really losing it, letting the stress get the better of me. I'm now accepting that it's not possible for me to monitor my nutrition all the time, or indeed most of the time. I can only do the best that I can do. I've never been any less than honest about that in this blog. I do have lots of knowledge at my disposal to make ad-lib eating somewhat less ad-lib than someone who doesn't have the same.

I think the yellow in my hands is fading but it's difficult to tell. It was certainly difficult to persuade the doctor this week that they hadn't always been this way, but eventually I managed to get an appointment for another blood test, where they will check my carotene and B12 levels, and also do a hormonal screen. It might seem like a lot of fuss about nothing to them, and maybe to others as well, but it seems to me quite reasonable to get things checked when things appear to be odd. Thanks again to everyone who has commented reassuringly and shared their own yellow tales.

P wants me to conduct my own experiments - cut out foods high in beta-carotene for a few weeks, for example. Or eat cheese for the B12. He just wants to share pizza, I reckon. ;-) I think I'll just wait for the results of the testing and take it from there.

For London people - Wholefoods are now stocking free-range liquid eggwhites in the chiller next to the dairy. And this new restaurant in Notting Hill looks fabulous. This is the kind of food I want my calories to be in - simple, plain, seasonal, minimal in ingredients. No fuss, no frills. Just good simple cookery. And yes, with good wine.

6 comments:

Deborah said...

Sara!
Sounds like a lovely day and your description of your plans brought wonderful images to mind.
I proud of you for coming through all this with a better understanding of yourself and your food habits. You've made some good conclusions.

Enjoy the play and I will ssay..I'm very jealous..I LOVE Patrick Stewart.

;-D

Robin said...

Hi Sara,

I think it's perfectly reasonable to ask your docs to check things out. As everyone has said, it's most likely just the beta carotene making your hands yellow. But if you're worried about it and a simple blood test could put your mind at ease, the docs should just do it and quit giving you a hard time.

I'm glad you're feeling less stressed about food these days. I'm a big fan of DTBIC, and it sounds like that's the healthiest attitude for you to take right now.


As for the Patrick Stewart thing, I'm with Deborah - pea green with envy! Have a great time!

R

HkGrace said...

Hi Sara,
Enjoy the weekend!
xoxo

Arturo said...

Hi Sara
I think the reason that I don't pay attention to the color of my palms and feet is because I do about 2 hours of yoga daily at least 5 days a week, so I assumed the color is from the great amount of time the feet and hands are on a yoga mat. But most of my food is orange - pumpkin soup, sweet potato - carrot pate, carrot artichoke and legume pate, etc. The other thing is that being British and not as exposed to the sun as I am, your complexion might be lighter, so a change in color is more noticeable. How about going to do yoga and telling P it's because of the yoga? Just kidding, but it might be better than eating cheese for your source of B12. Or tell him he'll have to get accustomed to your new shade. hehe.

Patrick Stewart. Wow.
Cheers,
Arturo.

Nenette Alejandria Mayor said...

Hi Sara,

I'm so glad you're less stressed about your CRON practice.
It's really tough when you get in a funk like that about something that's supposed to be so good for you.

I too am a big fan of DTBIC, and find eating much more enjoyable when I did that rather than track everything... I can get rather obsessive.

Oh, yes, Patrick Stewart. Very nice. :) Have fun!

Matthew said...

Everyone thought my liver was dying when I turned yellow/orange ;)

It happened around 7-8 months into CR... and I was consuming lots of carrots and sweet potatoes. I regularly got way over 50,000 IU beta carotene a day!

Skin not so orange these days... but not pale anymore either.

I'm sure you're fine :D