Change.

So here are my medical/diet facts! hehe.

I need to lose about 80 pounds, and this needs to be a lifestyle change.
I don't feel like revealing how much I weigh at the moment, but I eventually will :)
I used to look at calories alot, but at the moment I'm just going to eat healthy and sensibly, because I have a tendency to get a bit obsessed over numbers and things.
I'm also (as I've mentioned in a previous post) currently suffering from a stomach ulcer which means I'm restricted in what I can eat.
My ulcer has actually got worse in the last few days, I was home alone yesterday and seriously thought about who I could ring to take me to the emergency room as I had felt pain like that the previous three times that I was put on morphine.
But that's just it, I remembered that the doctors have said to me "Unless you're vomiting blood, it's not really an emergency" so I just stayed in bed.
Today I still felt a bit off but when I went to the toilet I noticed my, erm, 'movement' was black which is usually a sign of internal bleeding so this morning I saw the doctor who did a few rather uncomfortable tests on me lol, and they have brought my gastroscopy forward which is good.
How my diet should be changes with every resource I check out, I've had doctors tell me to 'just eat sensibly' and I've had doctors tell me to not make any changes to my diet, even though I wasn't eating healthy at the time!
But I know personally that I react to some foods, for instance items with seeds in them make me very ill, so I'm going to follow the following guidelines as best I can;

· Chew your food thoroughly and eat slowly and relaxed
· Sit up while eating and after eating
· Try to eat smaller servings and spread meals throughout the day; have for example four fixed mealtimes every day

What to avoid:

· Spicy food/ spices
· NSAIDs, like ibuprofen
· Aspirin
· Snacking throughout the day (prevents acid production)
· Eating just before bedtime
· Caffeine (also decaffeinated coffee!) and carbonated drinks
· Chocolate
· Milk (promotes acid production)
· Fatty foods
· Citrus Fruits and Juices, tomato products
· Overeating and hunger
· Raw and gas producing vegetables
· Berries, figs, nuts and seeds
· Desserts

The doctor has told me that my use of a certain medication basically gave me the ulcer-it's Diclofenac for period pain and I was on it so much he was suprised I didn't 'burnt a hole in my stomach'! The trouble is I have mine right now, and because of the ulcer situation deteriorating over the last little while, I'm only allowed to take paracetamol which for me is like taking nothing at all-sadly I only feel a difference with the strong stuff.
So today my food was as follows

-I woke up with stomach pain (as usual) but remembered that breakfast is important-I definitely will get around to trying out some of your breakfast ideas but today I just had a banana.

-I had a late lunch, I need to avoid grainy breads etc, so I had half a can of Chop chop! Chicken (scroll down) with a bit of lettuce and low fat cheese in a pita bread which filled me up quite well.



Onto Chop chop! chicken, I love this stuff! I didn't know it existed until I was flicking through a magazine while on vacation, and I got very excited lol.
Chunky Tuna is still my favourite sandwich filling but this is absolutely second, you can get it flavoured with sea salt, or smoked but my favourite is with lite mayo-when I first tried it out I was a bit disappointed that half the can was one serving, but it's actually so compressed in there that it's a decent amount when you take it out.
Here's a bit more about it; www.daviesfoods.co.nz/Chop-Chop-Chicken.html

-I started feeling a bit peckish about an hour ago, so I had a few bites of a delicious grainy almond bar but after starting it I realised it could upset my ulcer, so I ate half a pear instead.

Dinner tonight is just chops, some rice and healthy pasta. Hurrah for eating well! and next Monday I will weigh in.