Alas I've been put on a diet!

[gizmo1979]

Doctor put me on a heart healthy diet because of my high BP and chlorestoral.I can have anything that's on the American Heart web site.So far the recipes I have made have taken forever to make and are pretty tasteless.Is anyone else on such a diet and do they have any recipes that may have some taste?I'm dying for a big steak sandwich dripping with butter.Man I'm getting old.

[pitohui]

1. i'm very hesitant to make a suggestion but i will

american heart web site will not like what i have to say but my husband's blood pressure dropped to normal without medication on atkins plus eliminating alcohol, his blood sugar readings have returned to normal range w.out medication, and he has lost 25 pounds

however he also had metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes, whatever you want to call it, if your high readings have another cause then cutting out carbs and alcohol might not work as well or at all

american heart diet plan is v. low in fat, perhaps dangerously low, when you do not eat any natural fats then your body actually manufactures more cholesterol

doctors are not usually trained nutritionists, which is the only reason i'm speaking up abt my experience at all

consider this -- if you have visceral fat (around the belly) then a high carb/low fat diet may not do anything to help your readings, you may actually need a completely different diet that cuts out carbs

please don't hit me too badly abt the head and shoulders if you disagree, if it helps you, good, if it looks like a crank suggestion, you know your body best and what you should be doing

on my husband's diet, the steak with butter is fine but he cannot make it in a sandwich, in fact, his glucose readings show that right now he can't tolerate any bread at all :-(

[gizmo1979]

3. I actually lost alot of weight on

the atkins and kept it off for along time.I just don't think as a family we could stick to the atkins diet.I really liked the atkins although I did lose some energy.

[pitohui]

7. it is damn tough!

i'm one who can eat anything but as a practical matter i need to cook what my husband can eat and atkins is indeed a heck of a challenge

the results so far are impressive tho so we trudge onward

as far as energy i do think i have more not less and it's without question my husband has more energy

this may be a case of it's the right diet for him but not quite right for you w.out some further experiment

south beach might be a less extreme suggestion for those who can tolerate the "right" carbs, trouble w. hubby is that he can't tolerate the "right" carbs as even good foods like brown rice and fruits spike the meter :-(

[gizmo1979]

12. I may give south beach a whirl.

I just don't like the no fruit part of the whole deal.Keep up the good work!

[LeftyMom]

2. If you aren't letting animal products and fat season your food

it really helps to use a heavier hand with spices than you would previously and really focus on high quality produce and other naturally flavorful foods.

[gizmo1979]

4. I certainly will try to

do this.They do use alot of spices in their recipes but it doesn't seem to help.Maybe it's a perception of taste and I'll get use to it after a while.

[tjwmason]

11. Strongly agree r.e. quality produce.

If the flavour is being 'artificially' enhanced then less good stuff will pass - but if it's having to stand on its own two feet (metaphorically speaking) better quality is needed.

[supernova]

5. Start a little herb garden

Fresh herbs really pump up flavor. Growing them is way cheaper than bying them for 3 or 4 dollars a pop at the grocery store.

In place of salt, you can add, try adding lemon or vinegar and depending on what you are making a few capers.

I'm saying this as a heart patient myself, except I have congential heart defects. So, it's a life long thing for me.

[gizmo1979]

6. I will start a

small herb garden.Hopefully I have better luck at it than my regular garden.

[wain]

8. Julia Child said "no fat, no taste"

How true. How true.

I've been on a no-fat diet for almost 11 years now. That's a little crazy, but, then, that's me. Although I'll have a barbecue steak on holidays in the summer.

I have found walking 3 miles every day that best thing to do for BP and cholesterol. The change is gradual. I also try to keep the sugars down, but I'll admit that's not so easy. I do try to stay away from ice cream. Speaking of which there are some really good no-fat ice creams.

Best of luck to you.

:)

[davsand]

9. Check out the South Beach Diet.

It was created by a heart doc for his cardiac patients. Dr. Agatston's book has a very nice look at the other diets that are out there for cardiac and weight loss, along with recipes.

Agatston's diet is not as restrictive as Atkins. He's not carb restricted, Nor is he anti fat. He is teaching you what carbs and good fats do to your system and, and he's talking about why some of the other diets are gonna be more distasteful than they need to be (and thus, harder to stay on.)

It is tailored toward a life change in your eating habits, rather than a quick weight loss, and it tries to be realistic about what people really DO when it comes to dieting. (He talks about the fact people cheat on diets, and he tells how how to recover from it...)

I have had good results with SBD, but my main focus was to drop pounds rather than reduce cholesterol. In actual analysis, his stage one (the most restricted phase--lasts two weeks) is about 1200 calories per day, but I swear to you--I never felt hungry on it.

You can look at some South Beach Diet recipes here:

http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/recipecollection.html


I don't know if it will work for you, but I figured it was worth a mention. Good luck, and good health!


Laura

[northzax]

10. seriously, don't listen to any of us

call your doctor and ask for a referral to a nutritionist. it seems silly, I know, but a good nutritionist can help you find the right things for your particular situation and help you maintain your diet with good alternatives to things you are used to.

now I'm going to have my steak sandwich. :)

sorry.

[gizmo1979]

13. It was a MD who put me on

this god forbidden diet.Can I split that sandwich with ya?

[pitohui]

14. the md don't know anything about diet

that's why he just handed you over to the american heart assoc. which apparently has nothing better to do than proselytyze this same diet to all heart patients, even tho all don't respond well to this particular diet

[gizmo1979]

15. Really I've had

another 2 bland meals since.Maybe I'll take some out of the heart healthy magazine.