Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Eating to Lower Potassium


I'm counting down the days here at work up to my 2 week Christmas break. Fortunate, I know, to have such a long period of time off. But I do not get paid for it; so I budget accordingly.

I've got a lot planned for my week before Xmas off.  There's the usual cleaning from top to bottom, of course; things that are forgotten (aka dusty bathroom fans and tops of picture frames) will be wiped clean of any evidence that I don't often look up! Weather permitting, the girls and I will trek to the u-cut Xmas tree lot this weekend and spend the next day decorating. And then there's the baking.

I just found out that I have slightly higher than normal bad-cholesterol levels as well as potassium levels. Potassium? You hear so much about making sure you get enough that it's a shock to know you've got a little too much and its dangers.  Once we ladies reach a certain age, heart disease and stroke are dangers we constantly have to beware of. So, I'll have to be careful; I can't "eat whatever I want and deal with it later" as I've done in other years. 

Knowing what to avoid and moderation in all else shall be my mantra. Thankfully, turkey is one of the things that I'm encouraged to eat. Once I'd visited the doctor, I began to think proactively. 

But before that visit, AnnKatrin and I visited the Gingerbread Haus Bakery in Halifax and bought some German Christmas cookies. 

I have shortbreads and Baklava (in honor of the Turkish guest who'll be at our table). And there's dough for Rugelach and orange gingerbread in the freezer which will be made up next week with my students. Christmas dinner dessert is a pear pie with a pecan 'n' cheese crumble crust -- not too sweet. And I'll make sure there's plenty of low-potassium fruit in the house so I can reach for those. Thank goodness I'm such a snob when it comes to chocolate! These days, it has to be my perfect kind for me to indulge.

And grapes are on the list of go-to fruit for me; but I shall remind myself over and over again that it should NOT be in liquid form.







3 comments:

Cranberry Morning said...

Oh, that cookie on the left looks amazing! That's such a surprise to me about the potassium. Our granddaughter ended up on the emergency room with potassium levels dangerously low. There's always something, isn't there. And it's true, that we can't indulge the way we did when we were kids, but then we used to run around like crazy when we were kids, burning off every extra calorie!

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

Your last line was priceless.

I'm mostly known as 'MA' said...

It's a challenging time of year to be watching what you eat. I'm glad there are things you like that you can eat. Nice you have the two weeks off. Sound like a busy but merry time for you !

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