Diet

As a result of my recent blood tests, I had an appointment with a dietician the other day. The primary aims of the diet that she set out are to increase the amount of iron that I absorb whilst reducing the number of calories. So, it's NO MORE MILKSHAKES (boo hiss!), no more flavoured water, let alone biscuits; it's more ground beef, more fresh vegetables and above all, more water.

The last two days weren't difficult as I wasn't in the office and so my opportunities for eating were limited. Today I am in my office and so came prepared: a bottle of water with lemon slices, along with slices of yellow bell pepper. I was a bit wary of the bell pepper but I've managed already to eat all that I brought, without any problem (although without any enjoyment, either). According to the nutritional values, it would be better to eat a red bell pepper, as they have even more vitamin C than a yellow pepper, which is more than enough! 

The vitamin C is important as it helps absorb iron, so I've been eating an orange at lunch, after consuming the beef meatballs which have replaced the chicken breast in my daily meal.

In the evenings, I am intending to eat as often as possible fresh salad (cucumber, tomato, onion, bell pepper) along with tuna. All this, along with a half hour strenuous walk almost every day, is intended to decrease my weight as well as improving the haemoglobin count.

Tonight, coincidentally, is the first meeting in a series of six for kibbutz members who are in the glucose danger zone: not diabetic yet, but will be diabetic unless steps are taken. I'll have to miss two meetings as I will be in Greece in the second half of this month, and I wonder whether there will be needless repetition between these meetings and my dietician*, who has scheduled a repeat meeting at the beginning of June, when she expects to see progress.

My third dietary problem, the possible lactose intolerance, has solved itself - I am now hardly drinking any milk so the problem doesn't exist. And that's after buying lactase supplements.

* Being British, I naturally spell this word with a 'c', but American dictionaries as well as this blog's spell checker use a 't' - dietitian. To me, this looks wrong!