It all comes down to tea and socks

Probably some of you are wondering how I’m getting on with the food situation. The short answer is well. I can get into clothes that have been too small for a while. I feel good and my cholesterol is down although not as low as the doc would like.

This whole business has got me reading more about food, metabolism, gut microbes, and sugar. Today I happened upon a podcast which featured Jesse Inchauspe, writer of Glucose Revolution. There was quite a bit of information that I knew already and hers is an interesting story. I felt very pleased with myself when she started talking about going on a bad vegan diet and going on a bad keto diet. She said her version of a vegan diet was to eat vegan Oreos. I’ve had success with both low carb and plant-based eating plans. What is common to both is the lack of sugar and refined carbohydrates. I didn’t think I could be content eating less bread and baked goods. Turns out I can be perfectly happy not eating bread most of the time. I still like it and when I do eat it I enjoy it. It is no longer my go-to food when I don’t know what to eat, so all in all, I’m pleased.

Update (a couple of weeks later)

I’m notorious for starting blog entries thinking I’ll get back to them sometime later and then by the time I think about it the entry is no longer relevant to me so I discard it. This time I’ll add on some new info, and, I guess, in doing so I’m trying to sort out my attitude to recent developments.

I had another doctor’s appointment yesterday to see how the cholesterol was doing. The answer is better but not good enough so I’m headed down the statin trail. I’m disappointed. I’m not sure why I’m disappointed. It’s a pill once a day and I already take vitamins and one prescription drug daily so why do I have any feelings about it one way or the other?

As with many things in life I react to, I suspect it’s not actually about the meds but about something else. Is another pill a physical representation of ageing that I can’t ignore? Is it another minor constraint on my life? Possibly, but I suspect that my feelings on the matter are a reaction to change. There is comfort in the familiar and I find myself seeking comfort these days.

The world at large seems to have lost its senses and I know there isn’t much I can do about that except to manage in my own little corner and try to treat the people around me with kindness and respect. I don’t want to stick my head in the sand, and at the same time, I don’t want to spend a lot of time and energy fussing about things I can’t change. Easier said than done, unfortunately. If I’m honest, I some days feel that, rather than managing in my little corner of the world, I’m being backed into it. And that’s a reaction to change and the perception of time.

When I was a kid a year seemed an eternity and now a year passes in what seems like a minute. “Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset. Swiftly fly the years, one season following another laden with happiness and tears.” Joseph Stein pretty well sums it up in those lines from Fiddler on the Roof. I want to slow time because I sense the speed of it and with that comes a loss of control. Of course I do have control over how I respond to the world and as many wiser than I have observed, the only time we have is now. Tomorrow and yesterday exist in our minds. It’s one thing to know that and quite another to put it into practice so here goes.

I hear Richard and Odie saying good morning to each other and the sound of the coffee machine turning on. My feet are chilly because I don’t have socks on. These things are now. As I write this time slows just a bit and the new daily pill, symbol of unrelenting change, seems to have less importance. In a moment, in the imaginary future, I’ll go put some socks on and make a cup of tea. Socks and tea. Two things I can control and, for the moment, I'm happy with that.