Pep-up

Hey, I think I'm getting manic.  Praise God if so, if I'm not, I'll just enjoy this for however long it lasts. 

I had a pretty long day.  Last night I read Diet 101, a really good book on low carb diets by a research expert. 

One point that stuck out, and I'm paraphrasing: "If you keep failing at your diet; it's time for a different diet."  I can't stick to Atkins for the long-term. 

So, I need to figure something else.  She also talked about eating things you enjoy.  I'm not a fan of eggs unless I'm eating out, and all I have are eggs or pancakes. 

I also have a low energy level most days.  I don't like to eat a big protien in the morning, but I need a solid breakfast or my Wellbutrin will have me queasy all day. 

What do I like?  Well, I thought of the shakes I used to make.  Whey protien and milk.  Good stuff, but I didn't have a blender so they were a hassle to mix.  The shaker bottle had to be completely scrubbed and then soaked and scrubbed again or it would smell bad. 

What about Ron's beloved shake?  I don't think I've shared this. 

First, we have to go back in time to the mid 1990's.  I was reading Adele Davis.  Link  In her "Let's" books, she spoke of making a breakfast shake she called "Pep-up".  She suggested it be fed  to anyone suffering from ill health or injury. 

When I got Ron home from the hospital, he refused to eat.  The only thing he consumed was cranberry juice.  I knew he wouldn't heal (He had open chest surgery, damaged kidney, multiple broken bones, collapsed lung, a hemorrhagic stoke, and a traumatic brain injury).  I was frantic. 

Then I remembered the Pep-up.  I asked Ron if he'd drink a shake.  He said, yes, if it tasted good. 

Ms. Davis like to put in things like nutritional yeast and all - that wasn't going to work for Ron. 

I went to Walmart.  I got fruit flavored yogurt, whole milk (he needed the fat and calories), whey protien powder, egg protien powder, bananas, frozen fruit, and frozen orange juice concentrate. 

Every morning, I'd create another shake for him, and he'd drink a quart a day.  He adored it.  That's all he had, the shake.  Sometimes he'd want fried chicken or pizza but he always washed it down with his shake.  And he got better, far faster than the doctors had predicted. 

Ron ended up with some complications and ended up back in the hospital.  He wouldn't eat.  He kept yelling for my shake.  They finally had the dietician come and meet with me.  "What are you putting in those shakes?"  I took her outside and told her. 

"Wow" she told me, impressed "I wish we could do that.  I have something like that - a high-calorie shake we can give him.  We'll try that."  The first ingredient?  Corn syrup!  Ron grimly gagged it down every day, because I told him the more he ate the faster he could leave. 

So, reclining in bed, it dawned on me.  Why not make myself the shake?  I can certainly vary it.  Whole fat yogurt, whole milk, frozen fruit, whey protien.  That should be solid enough to hold my medication, filling, and a lot lower carb than the stuff I'm eating now. 

I want to focus on eating quality foods.  Whole fruits, lots of veggies, veggie juice, meat, cheese, dairy.  No grains.  No sugar.  Nothing processed except my meat sticks (they are very portable and very low carb).   That's something I can do - and that's my goal, quality foods I can eat for a long, long, time. 

So,  I got the components today.  I also got Ron 5 of his beloved Mexican TV dinners.  He loves them.  He also has roast beef dinners I made, in the freezer.  He has canned foods in his cabinet, gumbo, and pinto beans with sausage (canned by me, and he's been eating them for 2 years now).  He also has plenty of canned pasta meals. 

Ron is amazingly healthy, on the worst diet.  He does have vitamins and access to healthy things like veggie juice.  He just doesn't eat them. 

Maybe I can get him to join me, in a shake.