Sunday, August 25, 2019

Which is worse: Luan doors or having no flour or sugar for two months?

 I am now prepared to answer this question, and the answer is this: Having to look at flat, orange-y 1990's era Luan doors every day is worse than a lot of things, including changing up your diet in a new and pretty drastic way. Really. It is. 

The Road to Hell may be paved in good intentions, but the Closet Doors of Hell are probably Luan doors

I've been doing the no flour, no sugar diet for two months now and feel great, except for the first three days, when I alternated between feeling like I had the flu and feeling like I wanted to kill everyone who crossed my path. (The body does not give up its carbs easily). 


While I was dealing with a whole new way of eating, we replaced three of our nine Luan doors, which unlike dieting, felt good from the moment we started loading the old doors on the truck to when we painted and hung the new farm-style doors in their frames. So, the verdict is obvious. New doors for the win, every time. 

Farewell, hideous doors, and may a choir of angels sing thee to thy rest.

If going through a few days of keto-acidosis felt like having the flu, the Luan doors have been like a visual flu virus in our house. They are to the eye what a hard diet is to the body, I am convinced.  Maybe I'm too sensitive about my surroundings, but I have a somewhat philosophical take on doors -- they take us into new places, welcome us back into familiar ones, and make a statement about what's inside before we ever lay a hand on the handle -- so how they look is important. They should say, "come on in," rather than "abandon all hope ye who enter here."

Was making my diet healthier for my aging body important to me, too? Sure it was. But honestly, I saw those awful Luan doors a lot more than I saw myself in a mirror each day, so that's why I'd vote on the ugly doors for being harder to live with than suddenly not being able to have bread and dessert. 

A pleasure for the eyes to behold! 

And with all this renovation going on inside, I have to say that changing my diet up for the healthier could not have come at a better time. Not a day goes by when something new doesn't get painted, hung on a wall, or moved around. It's nice to have an even energy level throughout the day as I work. We're settling in to a new, somewhat Luan-less house now (six more doors to replace before we're done) and will have lots going on in the next few weeks as we race to the finish of the dry season in Oregon. This is a magic time, when paint dries quickly and outdoor work can be done any old time, and it's quickly is coming to a close -- the leaves are already beginning to turn up here. 

So..body, lighter and brighter, and doors lighter and brighter, too, as we head into the last part of the year. Hope your late summer is filled with plenty of loveliness, too. 

I still see summer...

but it's giving way to autumn.



8 comments:

  1. Had to look up Luan doors because I'd never heard the term, though I recognized them from a 1970s era house I lived in. I didn't like 'em either. Your new doors are beautiful!

    I gave up flour & sugar just after Thanksgiving last year and for me, Day 4 was The Worst. Nausea, vertigo in the morning, just crazy. But then in the afternoon I was up and moving piles of mulch and haven't looked back.

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    1. Wow, congrats! So I'm guessing you don't miss the flour and sugar either? Day three was the worst for me, I was even nervous to drive during that time because I felt so bad I was afraid my coordination and reflexes were impaired -- not unlike being sick or even buzzed on alcohol. I found the ten pounds that fell off did so without much effort on my part, too, and now my weight is very stable. Once in awhile I'll have a treat -- I had a dessert on my birthday -- but it didn't trigger a relapse of any kind. I don't see myself going back to my old diet anytime soon. The food I'm eating now tastes so much better for some reason.

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    2. Yes, all of this! Pounds melted away without me doing anything -- no obsessing about food, no counting calories, fat/carb/fiber grams, etc. Just eat whole foods, LOTS of fresh greens that I grow, along with some proteins and good fats. I don't eat meat but do eat fish, edamame/tofu, nuts, seeds. Easy enough to get plenty of protein. And food does taste better. Simple, fresh: perfect!

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    3. Kiddo came home for a few weeks this summer and perfected the art of the macaron. So, I sampled and no regrets! But she is gone now and so are the macarons. No harm, no foul.

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    4. Lol, exactly. I wouldn't turn down a homemade macaron either! Now the "no carbs at all, ever again" people...that I'd struggle with. I've never met a potato I didn't like, and they are my bread substitute if we go out to dinner or even breakfast. And I'm not sure being in a continual state of keto-acidosis is good for your liver and especially kidneys, long-term. But I have a friend doing it and, honestly, she's never looked better. Bright eyes, clear skin and looking healthier than ever. Clearly it's working for her.

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    5. I eat potatoes and rice occasionally. I also learned recently that potatoes and rice -- if cold -- become resistant starches, which are beneficial for several reasons. So, potato salad without even a SMALL side of guilt!

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  2. My doctor had me on a keto diet for awhile. I lost five pounds very quickly and my joints felt better than they had in a long time. I'm following the 80/20 (or 90/10) plan now. As long as I eat 80-90% healthy foods each day, a little bit of carbs don't hurt. I had my first ear of corn on the cob and a baked potato in two years. Wow, did they taste good! The only pain meds I take for arthritis is one Advil and one Tylenol per day. I think I was taking around 9 Advils per day before the diet change.

    As for the Luan doors, I'd be glad to see them go too. Your new doors look beautiful.

    The kitchen cabinets in our condo are builders grade and are about 20 years old. They don't look bad stylewise, but they are cheap. I priced out new cabinets and yikes, they were expensive, even for a small kitchen. My cheap cabinets are looking better every day. However, if I had Luan doors, I would absolutely replace them.

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    1. Wow, Molly, you really stuck with it! Good for you! I'm not sure if I could go two years without a potato (corn, maybe) but when your joints feel better I'll bet it's totally worth it. I've also noticed less arthritis pain since I gave up on simple carbs, so there's definitely an anti-inflammatory component to these kinds of diets. You're right about the kitchen cabinets; we'll be replacing ours in a couple more years and they're so expensive we pushed it down the road a ways. But, yes, those luan doors cannot not stay. Replacing them makes a huge difference for not TOO much financial pain. I wish kitchen cabinets were as affordable as interior doors are.

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