Day 195/240:

It has been a long time since I have updated this blog. The explanation for this is that I have been depressed and overwhelmed by the amount of time and energy it has required to recover from an operation about 8 weeks ago. I am just now feeling more or less normal again. But some time in the next couple of weeks I will have another operation, an eye surgery that actually scares me.

Unfortunately neither of the two surgeries are for things that could be directly affected by my diet so, although I am the healthiest that I have been in years, losing weight, low cholesterol, excellent blood pressure, there is no way I can eat my way out of this.

My diet throughout this period has been consistently herbivorous, I haven't slipped at all, but it has been somewhat boring and tending toward the bland. This is due in equal parts to my lack of energy for cooking and a bit of fear about the effect of spices on my post-surgically delicate digestive systems. I have eaten a lot of peanut butter and Marmite sandwiches, roast veggies, and simple lentil and vegetable soups in the last couple of months.

I have also severely restricted my coffee and tea intake (although my red wine thirst is regularly slaked). My healthy intentions are somewhat blocked as my wife and son continue to smoke and my wife roasts large cuts of meat to leave lying around to tempt me. The best interpretation of this last habit is that she thinks that there is some kind of economy to be gained by buying a larger chunk of flesh at a lower price per pound, but if so, it's a false assumption since much of it ends up thrown into the garbage.

My cardiologist thinks that I need to be more forceful about communicating that my housemates' smoke is a significant danger for me, but the stress of putting up with the angst, anger and withdrawal pangs would probably be worse for me than the second hand smoke. The stench, however is deep and nasty, I can smell it throughout the house and people assume that I'm still a smoker because my clothes stink of tar.