1. Dig Me!

Yours truly, the kitchen outlaw!

 Positive and numerous responses to my posts on Facebook about my adventures in cooking inspired this blog.  While many of the entries I make will be about cooking, recipes, and such, I  think of it more as a very personal project about my recovery after almost a decade of health troubles.  I struggled with stroke, heart attack, heart failure, depression, mental breakdown, arthritis, back injury, obesity, high blood pressure, and a few other things throughout my thirties.  As of writing this entry I am just over a month away from turning 40.  I thought I was looking at an early death.  My back and hip pain coupled with serious fatigue made me think I faced a wheelchair or one of those Rascal scooters at least.  My regrets in life became apparent and I thought a lot about what I would have done with my life if I had more time.  However, just a month ago, I started getting better.

It probably had a lot to do with the hole in my pants.  They had a small tear in the rear, but the hole went from being a rogue-ish rip to a complete ass blowout.  They were the only pair of pants I owned that fit me.  I didn't have the money to buy new ones at the time.  Fortunately, my room mate quickly sewed a patch over the hole that night.  Yet, I knew the patch wouldn't last.  Not as a slight to her sewing skills but to the simple fact that my heavy weight makes for quite a bit of abuse on clothes, chairs, beds, etc.  What pissed me off is I have two brand new pairs of jeans that I never wore because I'm too big for them.  I ordered the biggest size I could find at the time and they were the same size as my current jeans.  I guess my jeans stretched as I grew in size.  Although I couldn't get the zipper all the way up on them.  So, this made me decide to start eating healthier and seriously commit to losing weight.  I know a million other things should have but I got some serious problems when it comes to things I should do.

Not too long after that, I made my first visit to my doctor in Cleveland (I moved here in February).  We had a long discussion about my health history, my current status, and trying to make a better future.  It lasted almost two hours.  He had me take a blood test before I left.  A couple of weeks later I received the results of the test in the mail and the results were very good considering what I was used to.  My sodium, potassium, and sugar levels were good.  I tested negative for hypothyroidism, which is a condition my mother has.  Best of all, my heart failure is in check.  The only bad thing is my cholestrol levels are high.  Overall, this is great news.  I hadn't heard such good news about my health since I started having these problems.

My next doctor visit was very positive.  We discussed many things I could do to keep improving my health.  A week from next Monday I have an appointment with a cardiologist and I'm going to get his opinion on what I can do for exercise.  Another huge hurdle was I lost 8 pounds since my last visit to the doctor (I went from 373 to 365).  Between problems with water retention and heart failure and my back and hip pain preventing me from moving around much, I hadn't lost weight in years.  However, some improvements in my diet helped.  

Not only that, but just less than a month ago, I noticed that a great deal of my back pain went away.  I can stand and walk longer than I have in years.  A few weeks ago, a friend wanted to take me on a tour of his neighborhood "Little Italy" here in Cleveland.  I told him I would try walking a block.  I did it with very little back pain and I didn't get nearly as tired as I'm used to.  I haven't walked a block in years.  

This thing started with healthy eating.  I don't have much income so I started cooking  my own dishes.  My mom told me she saw on TV Dr. Oz say that parsley helps fight water retention, which is cool because I love tabouli (Lebanese parsley salad).  However, it is exremely expensive to buy prepared.  I decided to make it myself and as it turns out I can make a lot of tabouli for less than the price of one of those 8 oz. tubs you can buy at the grocery store.  When I made my first batch it turned out so well I posted on Facebook about it and got some great feedback.  Every time I tried new dishes I'd get the same kind of comments.  Well, I find this very encouraging too.  As a result, this blog is a tool for this same kind of motivation.   

I'm not a formally trained cook but I come from a family that loves to cook.  From helping my mom and my Nana in the kitchen at a very young age to having to fend for myself as a latchkey kid, I have cooked in one way or another almost all my life.  I also learned quite a bit about cooking during my twenty year stint as a vegetarian.  I see this as more of a way of sharing my experiences with food and better health so I welcome anyone's tips and advice.  I will be somewhat confessional and frank in things I write about.  I try to be open minded but I have some strong opinions about some things that may appear here.  I don't mind some disagreement, but if you want to get nasty reserve your comments for somewhere else.  I don't have a set posting schedule for this blog but I will try to post at least two times a week.

Bruce Lee has been a hero of mine since I was a kid.  His life was short but amazing and he's a hell of an inspiration.  I may not quite reach this physique but I'll settle for an approximation.