Adustments
A short time back I had posted a fleeting thought about what the world would be like without butter. Now, a bit further down the road, it doesn’t look quite so bleak.
After a medical check up, Dennis’ blood work came back and the Triglyceride level was 566. It is advised to be less than 150 with also a watch over his Hemoglobin, a concern with diabetes. These naughty Triglycerides can contribute to hardening of the arteries, which in turn can cause strokes, heart attacks as well as less-than-good cognizance. What to do? The first thing that needed to be done was taking requests in the kitchen from Dennis as to what he would like to eat and then making a few modifications.
Tough love that won’t hurt either one of us is on the day-to-day plan for Stauffer Avenue. I am just as guilty as Dennis for enjoying comfort food. The first item that is no longer on the table is butter. Man, oh man, it’s a staple on any red-blooded American table. Along with the butter, potatoes, breads and sugars are also to be watched. Dennis wondered what there was left.
There is a whole world of vegetables and fruits that can be enjoyed with just a bit of restraint on the goodies of life. I know without having heard it out loud, that Dennis feels, at age 78, life needs to be enjoyed and not restricted. In a perfect world, I would agree. Due to the “Old Adam” in each of us I have seen how painful day-to-day life can be when we have to live with the reactions of our actions. A note on a trade off: I no longer say anything negative about Dennis’ smoking. That is totally on him.
Now that spring if officially here, I know we will be outside and we will be more active. I also know that there will be road dates that invariably end with a meal out to Perkins. What’s a date without a meal? I just need to phone ahead and have them remove the Chicken Fried Steak with mashed potatoes and gravy from Dennis’ menu options.
We are always a work in progress, and this does need to progress with better numbers for Dennis and for me, before my numbers set off alarms. It is about small adjustments and new habits. It has been stated that new habits need to have the behavior repeated over a six week period. As we plan on being here six weeks from now . . . this will be so worth the time and effort.