Cancer Victim's Diary
I have written about my weight fluctuations here and here. What I wrote there may seem bizarre. But consider this.
By early January, my weight had climbed back from 153 to about 165. I had gone off the pure Gerson diet to achieve this. I started eating more beans for protein. I also ate unsalted peanut butter -- not a lot, but some. I ate Ezekiel bread. There may be some people who can stick with Gerson's diet, as modified by his daughter. I was not one of them.
I keep a daily record of my weight each morning before I eat anything. On January 2, I was 166.8. Here are my weights:
January 7: 167
January 8: 164.8
January 9: 166
January 10: 166
January 11: 166.4
January 12: 168.2
My diet rarely changed, yet I had some variation. I assure you, this was not because of changes in caloric intake. Yet we read this: "To gain weight, whether lean or fat mass, you must take in more calories than you burn. 1 pound equals 3,500 calories." We read the same here.
I don't believe it. Something is missing.
By late January, I was at 169. On February 11, I reached my targeted weight: 170. I think that's about right. I am shorter now: 5 feet 10, which is down two inches. Age does this. My weight has stayed in this range: 169-171.
On March 15, my scale stopped working. I bought a replacement. Then the old one started working. So, I compared the two. On March 18, the old one was 170.8. The new one was 171.6. January 19: 168.9/170.2. January 20: 170.4/170.8. That was close enough. All I want is the trend, not perfect accuracy. I tossed out the old one. The new one was a bit higher.
On March 27, I began to move up: 171.8 On March 29, I hit 172.2. Then I dropped back to 172 for two days. April 2: 170.8. That was OK.
On April 4, I was 171.4. Then I started up. April 5: 172.8. April 6: 173. That was odd. But it reversed. April 8: 171.8. April 9: 171. Then it reversed again.
April 10: 172.2
April 11: 174.4
April 12: 173.4
April 14: 171.8
April 15: 174.8
That one-day jump of three pounds bothered me. How was this possible?
It got wilder.
April 15: 172.8
April 16: 171.8
April 17: 174
April 18: 176.8
I weighed myself twice on April 17 and 18. No variation.
On April 19, I goofed. I ate before I weighed myself. So, I did not weigh myself.
On April 20, I was back to 174.4. April 21: 175.2.
Then, overnight, I lost 4.2 pounds. April 22: 171.
It was still 171 on April 25.
I watch my diet carefully.
Breakfast: one cup of oatmeal with three tablespoons of hemp hearts (protein), two dozen raisins, plus one cup of flax milk.Snack: salad at 10:30. Dressing: two tablespoons of flaxseed oil and some organic balsamic vinegar.
Lunch: a bowl of quinoa (protein) with home-made bean sauce (protein).
Snack: salad at 3. Or a piece of bread with either unsalted peanut butter or unsalted almond butter.
Dinner: two small potatoes with bean sauce. Once every two weeks, I eat a slice of salmon -- my one departure from a vegan diet.
Daily juices: 104 ounces. A gallon is 128 ounces.
This is not a glutton's menu. Fortunately, I was never a foodie.
How does this diet provide weight swings like those I have experienced this month? I have no idea. I know this: the cause was not wild swings in my diet.
I have on a few occasions gone off the wagon. Over the past 10 months, I have had four orders of a mid-size plate of Waffle House hashed brown potatoes, covered in ketchup. Three times, I have had a pair of bean tostadas at Taco Bell: no sour cream (dairy). This was 540 calories. (The culprit here is salt.) I have had one half of a Subway tuna fish sandwich at the airport. That was three months ago. I have had no meat or dairy products.
In short, I don't change my behavior much, day to day. My lifestyle is fixed. But my weight isn't.
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