General Update

I have been doing Ideal Protein since June 24, 2017.  My goal weight was 150 pounds or to be in a size 12 pants.  Two weeks ago,  I was able to buy 2 pairs of size 12 jeans.  They are actually a little bit big in the waist but I need the extra room in my hips and lower abdomen.  My weight was 158 though.  I thought about continuing with phase 1, but I was really sick of the Ideal Protein foods and I really wanted to expand my variety of foods.  I was planning on continuing a paleo/keto way of eating though. 
     On 1/14/19, I began phase 2 of the Ideal Protein plan.  The biggest difference between phase 1 and phase 2 is you go from eating 3 IP foods to 2 and you go from eating 8 oz lean protein to eating 16 oz lean protein.  I am having a hard time eating that much protein.  My protein still has to consist of meat and eggs.  No dairy products yet for protein.  I am trying to add little bits here and there to increase my protein amounts each day.  It doesn't help that I had to start antibiotics on Thursday for a UTI that cause me to have a bit of nausea.  In the past, we tried to avoid this particular antibiotic, but since I am allergic to most of the major antibiotic types, this is one of the few left to treat my UTI's, so I just do the best I can. 
     I am still losing a little bit of weight, but slower than on phase 1.  I will go to phase 3 on Thursday.  I get to add in dairy products and some fruit.  I am going to stick with berries and small oranges for now.  I will continue with 2 IP foods per day for 2 more weeks then I can go off them completely if I wish or eat them as I want to.  I will probably continue using the pancake mix since it is a nice low carb alternative.
     The other excitement in our life is that we are having to get a new van.  Last week, the ramp on my van broke AGAIN!!  I took it into the shop to be repaired and found out it was going to be very expensive to fix and they said there were other parts that would probably break down shortly after that.  The kneel already needed to be replaced, which puts extra strain on the ramp and that is expensive too.  I have some minor engine problems but pretty normal stuff for a 12 year old van with 120,000+ miles on it; oil leak, power steering leak, poor gas mileage.  My van doesn't like the cold.  It makes a lot of extra noise when it is cold and the van door works very slowly in the cold.  NOT a good thing when you have to sit and wait for the ramp to come out to get in the van.  We decided it wasn't worth it to fix the ramp and decided to replace the van.  They had a 2016 with less than 5000 miles on it that was 15,000 less than it would be brand new.  It is a Chrysler Town and Country.  I had really thought I would get a Honda when I replaced it, but they are so much more expensive and there weren't any available, especially in our price range.  This one is a top of the line with leather interior, power everything,  and lots of cool gadgets.  It is a tan color with a pearl finish so it will hide the dirt well since we have new subdivisions being built on either side of us so there is mud on the road all the time.  My white van is always dirty.  They had to order a transfer seat and a part to attach my hand controls since the one for the Dodge isn't compatible with the Chrysler.  They are going to install all of that on Friday and I get to take possession of it then.  I am very excited about getting a reliable van, plus having the added luxuries this one has, such as the automatic tailgate, the backup camera that isn't backwards, and a radio that will actually connect with my media player in my phone (my current radio will only connect to my phone but not the media player.  I have to manually connect the media player every time I get in the car, unless there are 2 phones in the car then it will connect the other persons, not mine-go figure).
     Lastly, I have an appointment with a neurologist in Dallas at UT Southwestern on February 20th.  She is a specialist in MS and autoimmune neurology.  Please pray that she can figure out why I have had those 3 episodes of ascending paralysis and that I don't have another one before I can go see her.  Also, pray that she believes there is a physical cause and doesn't blame it on psychological causes.  That happened to me early in my neurological history and I get nervous when doctors can't figure out a cause that they will start pulling out the psychological card just because they don't understand what is going on.