I am ready to get myself healthy.

[lisa1014]

This is it. I read the Swank diet book. I am unsure if I can go whole hog but I am gonna try. I am gonna eat healthy and stay the heck out of the drive through!

If I am bored I am gonna try to exersize instead of eat!

I just want to feel better and have my pants fit better. I do not want to get supper skinny just healthier!

I will drink my water! I will drink my water! This is my new pledge to myself!

[Cat Mom]

That's excellent Lisa! Please be sure to give us some updates. I am not familiar with the Swank Diet but it sounds like you're doing this the sensible way... I am routing for you girl!
Jen

[JerryD]

Lisa,
I applaud your decision. The Swank diet is pretty simply laid out in the book. I have read the book 2 times and use it as a reference guide but I have not committed whole hog. I have a new Vita mix food emulsifier and through this stuff I have lost 15 lbs. since April. And I was on a cruise ship last week. I still maintained my weight.

I think the only way to get in good shape through diet is to use the methods that seem to work for people who have had success. Like the people on 'the Biggest Loser'. Use a consistent weight scale. Log meals and know the calorie content . Keep your protein intake to less than 20% of total calorie intake. Eat the heck out of vegetables and fruits. Do not consume any milk or dairy products. Do not consume gluten. Flat breads are not raised with yeast, therefore safer to eat. Exercise but don't overexercise.

This is what I have been trying and, as long as I don't let life and my wife stress me out too much, I feel OK. Not great, but OK. i also take many herbal supplements and vitamins. I hope you understand that the Swank diet will start to show you some improvement in about 3 to 6 months. I just read a post today that it took someone a year to see some improvement. It's not magic. But it isn't pharmaceuticals either. And much less expensive!
Good luck

** Moderator's note - Post broken into paragraphs for easier reading. Many people with MS have visual difficulties that prevent them from reading large blocks of print. **

[lisa1014]

Thanks Jen,

It is an MS diet. It is very strict so I don't know how strict I can be with 3 small children to cook for but I am trying to improve how everyone in my family eats. (of course without the kids knowing)

Anyway no red meat for a year, very low fat, no butter or margerine, no dairy unless it is fat free or 1%. There are lots of rules about what kinds of fat and how much you can have. I read the book and am giving it a try.

I got my lunch packed for tomorrow already.

[Twenty Miles]

There are lots of diets out there. Pretty much up to personal opinion.

Any improvement in diet coupled with exercise should make you feel better, esp. if it includes the removal of saturated fat and refined sugar.

Good luck!

[Kimmy92279]

Good for you Lisa!

I was of the same mindset when I started eating better and exercising. I was diagnosed in January with RRMS and first just started eating "real" food, then went gluten free and then 2 months ago joined a gym and have been seeing a personal trainer twice a week and going an additional 2-3 times a week to work out. I've tried eating better and dieting in the past and working out but have always failed because my focus was on losing weight.

I've been super successful now and I think it's all because my focus now is all about getting and being as healthy as I can be for as long as I can be. I really think it's all about the focus and what your goal is and I commend you for moving that direction too!

Kim

[opiegirl]

Great News Lisa...Good luck to you!

I've been following the MS Recovery diet and I can honestly say I feel better and I've lost 10 lbs.

It is sometimes hard and it's easy to feel sorry for yourself, but I try not to let myself sit on the pity pot.

My diet is the only thing I CAN control in this dreaded disease, so I feel like I do have some power over it.

Good Luck!

[BigA]

Lisa,

congratulations on your decision. I do a stricter version of the diet - my diet alllows no meat or dairy whatsoever. Even with the stricter version, I am comletely satisfied eating. Moreover, I feel great.

I recommend you read http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-100-Sc...s=john+robbins

You will see that what you are starting is not only good for your MS, but your health and the health of your children.

Good Luck!

[amymay1998]

I too am currently practicing the Swank diet. I must admit I have slipped up a few times in the last year, but I can say that I haven't visited McDonald's in that time I have given up dairy, egg yolks and red meat as well as pork. No processed foods at all....that was a huge wake up call when I first went to the commissary and started reading the boxes....palm oil...soybean oil and refined sugar galore! Needless to say I have seen some improvement with the diet. My flares are always crappy but they are shorter and my biggest symptom of vertigo and what I call a brain spasm completely stopped! Also, the weight shed right off in the first three months and has just finally plateaued. I wish you luck!!!!...oh swank's sour cream substitute...ughhh YUCK!

[lisa1014]

I am down almost 5 lbs and have been doing great drinking my water. I doing a pretty good job on the diet it is a major adjustment and I am having trouble getting my husband to understand I can't eat most of the stuff he is grilling. It will just take some time to get him to automaticly throw on a chicken breast for me.

I am just gonna keep at it to the best of my ability. I feel much better just by eating more veggies and giving up the fried food.

Anyone have any good recipes they would like to share?

[JerryD]

Lisa,
As far as recipes go, I know that McDougall has some packaged foods in some supermarkets. As long as your husband is grilling, there is nothing better than grilled vegetables. I think a grilled portabello mushroom 'hamburger' sandwich with all the extras, minus cheese, is a good grilled picnic.
I wish I could offer some recipe suggestions. I am partial to some of the McDougall veggie stews and things. I think it would be good to have a spot on this site where all of us posters offer recipes and keep them catalogued. I know there is a 'Healthy Recipe' spot. But it seems that it isn't very comprehensive or consistent. Good luck Keep posting

[lukeduke]

When I was first diagnosed I did a little bit of reading on the Swank Diet. I decided really quickly that it was not the diet for me. No Red Meat for a year, no butter, no fried foods. I am the one who says that Cheesecake is a food group.
I started seeing a nutritionist earlier this year and by only changing my diet and eliminating sugar from my diet I have lost about 25 pounds. I like the nutritionist. She advocates using real butter. I quit with the margarine a couple of years ago and only use real butter.
The question no one can answer for me is that if real butter is good enough for "special occassions" why is it not good enough for everyday use?
I only use real butter. I do not go for the hydrogenated oils.

[BigA]

I am down almost 5 lbs and have been doing great drinking my water. I doing a pretty good job on the diet it is a major adjustment and I am having trouble getting my husband to understand I can't eat most of the stuff he is grilling. It will just take some time to get him to automatically throw on a chicken breast for me.

I am just gonna keep at it to the best of my ability. I feel much better just by eating more veggies and giving up the fried food.

Anyone have any good recipes they would like to share?

Lisa,

good for you! Swank is the way! I'm still losing weight and am getting close to my high school weight. I never felt better. I think the diet does wonders for fatigue as well. If the promise of the diet is correct, you will do well.

As for your husband, it will take a while for him to adjust. Remember that you can eat fish and you can even get vegan sausages and such at the market. It can help through those awkward moments. I make beef burgers for my family and a veggie burger for myself every weekend. Believe me - after 2 years without eating beef, frying ground up animal and seeing the puddles of body fat ooze out while cooking, only to harden into white goo in the pan after, does not make me miss a real burger at all.

I had a turkey burger as treat the other day.

Recipes? Look for Humus, Tabbouleh, California rolls...

Here are some recipes: http://www.overcomingmultiplescleros...joy/Breakfast/

Congratulations and keep it up, you will feel great!!!

[Shashi]

Good for you! You can do it. And you will be thrilled at how much better you'll feel.

I've lost 30 pounds since February (and still have about 50 more to go.) Now that I've been eating healthy for five months, I have no desire to go back to eating junk. And I've saved about 50 a week by not eating out.

Hang in there and don't give up!