What you refuse to give up

[MooseMom]

I'm about to have a nectarine, full of lovely potassium.  Sod the potassium.  I refuse to give up nectarines, and I figure that if I have one a week during the summer, that should be OK.  I refuse to give up black-eyes peas when I am down south, along with fried oysters.  That means I have those things maybe once a year.  Some things are just non-negotiable, and nectarines, black-eyed peas and fried oysters are those things for me.  How about the rest of you?  Which are the food items that you refuse to give up completely?  (That's not to say that I am non-compliant regarding my diet.  As a matter of fact, my dietician said I should lighten up a bit.  When I eat these things, I can do small portions, but I'm not giving them up completely.)

Now, to my nectarine!   My act of defiance for the day!

[Henry P Snicklesnorter]

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[Sunny]

Cheese and a glass of red wine.
Not willing to give that up, ever.

[MooseMom]

Cheese and a glass of red wine.
Not willing to give that up, ever.

My nephrologist told me that the occasional glass of red wine is good for me, so I'm taking his advice.  As for cheese, I forego the stuff that really shouldn't be called cheese and will have the occasional cube of something fabulous.  Brie and feta are not as bad as other cheeses, so I keep a bit of those around for use in a salad or pasta.

[Rerun]

It is only the "quantity" that I've had to give up.  I can have a taste.  1 or 2 M&M are better than NONE!  One cup of milk once a week on dialysis is better than none.  It is a battle of the wills between me and my lab results. 

                 

[cariad]

Food! I will not diet for the sole purpose of losing weight for anyone ever again.

I battled anorexia nervosa from the age of 12 until just last year. The anorexic part of me was elated at the thought of using the renal diet to restrict eating. It's not like anyone around me knew any of the particulars about the diet, so I could refuse anything and no one would dare question it. I finally got off the crazy train when I was accepted into the clinical trial which had a minimum BMI requirement of 18. I could make 18 in heavy clothes, but I told myself that evening "Right, you're not seeing yourself excluded over something as ridiculous as weight." So, I just started eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted (for the most part) and I believe I was around a 19 BMI at transplant.

Gwyn knows that as fanatical as I once was about avoiding weight gain, I am equally fanatical about "fat rights" today. I asked him before the surgery "What do I do if I gain a lot of weight after transplant and the Dr. starts telling me I have to lose?" and he responded "You'll tell him to kiss your lily white!"

[sullidog]

Chocolate, peanut butter. I basically go lighter on those before I had kidney disease of course.
Troy

[marcy996]

omg! this discussion is so me!!!
I can't give up pizza. My son and I have had a pizza night since he was a little boy. I always take a double binder but still have some itching. So far my "indulgence" doesn't show up on labs. Also I will adjust my diet that day to accomodate for the forbidden food.
Someday I WILL be good.

[Lisa]

I am all about cheese!!!!   
I have been lucky that in the 6 months I have been sick, I have had no restrictions!! I eat what I want in moderation.  I am actually told to get more potassium (that was on hemo too)!!  I'm on PD now and bloodwork on the 26th will tell me if i can continue my ways!!

[Jean]

Spaghetti, Pizza, peanut butter. But I do eat them in moderation,nothing like I used to eat. Well, most of the time. Well, a lot of the time. Well, okay then, sometimes. But, I see my friendly neph tomorrow, get the results on my blood tests and see if I am behaving as good as I think I am.

[RichardMEL]

I worry less about the high posphate stuff because I have an extra binder (renagel) and I'm all good. Not that I go overboard, but I feel more confident. It's the high potassium foods I'm careful with, but like MM and some others say if you have one a week or once a month for a treat there is NOTHING wrong with that in my view. Plus what i would do if I was going to do that is make sure the other food I ate that day was extra LOW in K - so to balance it out more or less during the day.

My feeling is that life is to be lived. If I am going to cut off from all the things I enjoy just for dialysis well there's no point because there would be no enjoyment. I think it's fine to have the odd slice of pizza, cheese sandwich or whatever is your vice as long as you manage it appropriately. Now I can't think the last time I ate more than a bite of chocolate, because I know if I pigged out like I used to.. well that is very bad, but if I'm out somewhere and there's a chocolate mouse or something for desert, and I feel like it.. hell yeah - it's a treat - and like I say, just limit other K stuff.

You need quality and enjoyment in life otherwise the efforts to prolong it are pointless in my view.

now shh don't tell.. I'm about to have me a vanilla coke.... 

[peleroja]

I haven't given up anything (love my PD), even when I had to go on hemo for 6 months.  I agree with Rerun about the quantity.  There's nothing we can't have; we just have to limit some things.  In spite of eating milk, cheese, yogurt, etc., they actually took me off my phosphate binders about a year ago!  I don't eat enough potassium so I have to take potassium pills.  Every single person is different

[brmoore]

All things Tomato   

[MooseMom]

My nectarine wasn't all that great; if I am going to defy dietary laws, I want it to be worth it, so I was disappointed.  Perhaps it's still just a bit too early in the season.  I guess that means I'll just have to buy and eat another one...

[Quickfeet]

I agree with brmoore. They will never take my tomato based foods.

One time I waited a month to eat a grapefruit and when I finally had one it was gross.

[sullidog]

Yes, I am more careful about my potassium foods because of the fact potassium can kill ya if too high.
Troy

[Brightsky69]

I love cheese. I can make a meal out of good cheeses. I love French and Italian breads. I had to back off the cheese....Ive been itching a lot lately. Oh and French vanilla capuchino...love it! With me not sleeping well I need the capuchino to wake up in the AM.

[AIRon]

I have two things I will not give up. I will absolutely not give up eating a Carl's Jr. western bacon cheeseburger I don't care if the doctor said " Hey man if you eat on more of those things your gonna die" I would simply replie "Well doc nice knowing ya, don't worry I gave the receptionist at the front my copay." And chocolate malted crunch icecream...just somethings are worth dieing for. And I will be damned if I don't go pick one up after i get of the juicer tonight.

[monrein]

  I could give up any single food, no problem, although I think that it's entirely possible to indulge in "favorite" things in small amounts and at the right times.  I always try to think of food in terms of what it contributes to my body in the way of nutrition and health so when I'm on D the foods themselves have to change but I try to keep that perspective.  I definitely wouldn't want to give up being around plants both indoors and out.

[murf]

I just love scones and help me, can't resist cheese scones. Not to good for the phosphate level but control my potassium by having any amount of tinned fruit with the juice drained off.

[MooseMom]

I had my second nectarine of the summer, and it was yummilicious.

[Quickfeet]

Do you like Clementines, MooseMom? I believe they are suppose to have less potassium.

[MooseMom]

Do you like Clementines, MooseMom? I believe they are suppose to have less potassium.

I do, but finding good, juicy ones is a tricky proposition.  The ones in the stores are usually shrivelled and depressing.  When I lived in the UK, it was easier to get good ones from Spain, but for some reason, I can't always get good ones here in Chicagoland.  The only fresh food we get up here is effing corn.  Corn, corn everywhere.  I know mandarin oranges are supposed to be lower in potassium, but those are one of the few fruits that I don't care for.  I'll take a chance on clementines the next time I go to the shops.  In the meantime, I'll have my pathetic weekly nectarine.

[Run8]

Living..... I never gave up on that, oh and milk and my lucky charms.

[cariad]

The only fresh food we get up here is effing corn.

Say WHAT?

I must say, I hardly recognize Illinois from your descriptions of it, MM. Perhaps it is time to hop on a search engine and find some of your local resources? I am not far from you in WI and our first CSA drop is due to arrive in a week  , the allotment run by the environmental centre has a wait list 50 people deep, our fab cooperative just celebrated their 40th, a basketball celeb won a McCarthur Genius Award for his legendary Growing Power initiative (this is where our worms shall spend their retirement when we move), we are overrun with open markets this time of year, and we even have a winter market for locals to sell their greenhouse goods, and at a push there is always Whole Foods. Gwyn reports that the Chicago Whole Foods where we shopped for our month of convalescense had even more selection than our local. (I am having a tiff with Whole Foods right now, so hesitate to recommend them until they respond to my email of yesterday in which I informed them that we actually have an abundance of marvelous options in the midwest.)

Clementines are far off their season right now, so I would not bother. (They are a late autumn/early winter fruit). I don't know about potassium content, but give me a satsuma any day, during their season that is, which is about the same as the clementines. (We eat the satsumas for luck each New Year's Day.) I think you might be a tad early for a good nectarine, and those will be coming in from Mexico or Cal. Last Christmas my little brother came over for a week, and we had crepes for Christmas dinner. For dessert, banana and chocolate crepes with homemade vanilla ice cream. My brother, the PhD, asked "Are these bananas local? They just taste so BANANA." I tactfully replied that actually I did not imagine there was such a thing as a 'local banana' in Wisconsin and he was in fact tasting the magic pixie dust from Whole Foods produce.

For local food, we receive, in no particular order: herbs, maple syrup, mushrooms, cherries (heavenly!), raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, French breakfast melon, tomatoes, honeydew, watermelon, haricot vert, English peas, mange-tout, fennel, bell peppers, kohlrabi, potatoes, carrots, shallots, broccoli, cauliflower, butternut squash, all manner of exotic greens.... I could go on but you get the idea. This is not even to mention the local creameries, the grass-fed livestock farms, the much celebrated local charcuterie, the organic fishery, and the herb specialists who can take you round to find such delicacies as ramps and wild onion in the forests. I don't consider Wisconsin the flower child cousin of Illinois, so I suspect that you are missing out on some fabulous opportunities to sample some divine food. Get out there and talk to people because once you find these resources, there is just no going back.