Kitty & Emma talk diets and Parkinson’s.
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Transcript
(Little disclaimer – auto generated transcript here. Bit awful, but better than nothing.)
Kia Ora. Hello. I’m Kitty and and I’m Emma.
And we are we’re back together for ordinary life. Having an ordinary life. Is it ordinary? Yes. Very very ordinary. Very very ordinary. Very ordinary. Very normal people. Absolutely. And here we are for just doing our radio show talking about just ordinary life on Yeah. Talking about talking about stuff.
And we’re sponsored this week by Cover Yours Insurance, from quote to claim. They’re in your corner. You can find them at coveryouurs.co.nz giving you the greatest insurance available on the market. Um, thank you Cover Yours Insurance. And yeah, we we’re we’re back. We’re back.And we’re still not experts on medical stuff and but we are experts on us. That’s right. We’re not doctors either. No, I’m not a doctor. You’ve got you’ve got someone in your family studying to be one. That’s about as close as we get really. Yeah. Studying but but not actually a Yeah. And I have a degree but it’s in not doctoring. Not doctoring. I know quite a bit of first aid. Oh, good. You probably count. No. Okay. No comment. Here we are. Ordinary life discussing first aid and the mportance of Well, it’s very is very important to learn CPR. But let’s not go down that track. Okay. Good, good, good. Got you. However, you you were saying you you’ve been having thoughts about diet. Oh, yes. Diet. Diet. Nutrition. No. I recently um did a survey for a study being done by Auckland University and it was just asking questions about diet and how you going with your diet and what you eat and that kind of thing if you’re a person like me with Parkinson’s but but eating can be fun. So nutrition could be fun. Depends what you’re eating. It sounds like if you’re doing it right, it’s really not fun. It’s Oh, I’m not Can you say stuff like that, Emma? No, I’m not supposed to say say stuff like that. No, no, no. So, what did you tell them? Well, um I’m not going to tell you on um
radio because I kind of didn’t I wasn’t um how should we say it? I embellished um how good my diet is, I think. Did you tell a few pork pies? I I I told the ideal story which is what um a while back I did a whole lot of work on my diet and I was really good and for a bit so I told that story. Did you tell them you eat kale for
breakfast and green smoothies and not quite but yeah I kind of rounded up
on the servings per week of um fresh fruit and vegetables to Are you into clean eating? No, I am not. I because I don’t really I don’t follow a specific diet. But um do you you do? Yeah. You’ve been doing something particular lately. I have actually because um yeah I I I am a lady of a certain age and I was uh I thought I was let’s use the M word menopausal.
Turns out I’m not. But there you go. Oh great. Yeah. Well congratulations. Is it I don’t know. I don’t know what to
think. Every time I think I am then mother nature goes hello. Um but I was told it was very very very very
difficult to lose weight as a woman in her you know late 40s early 50s. What was that? Sorry.
Older getting midlife they say. Midlife. Yeah. All right. I I don’t know what’s grimmer but anyway. Sorry. I’ll I’ll take midlife. and uh yeah, I I was told, “Oh, your your hormones are
everywhere. It’s really really hard.
You’ll never be able to lose weight.”
And at the beginning of the year, I was
okay, I’ll just I’ll just tell you
because I’ve got no shame, but at the
beginning of the year, I was horrified
and I thought, “Oh dear, I need to do
something about this.” Um, so I I have
been striving to lose weight ever since.
And um I have managed to get I’ve lost
about six kilos in
Oh, well done.
Yeah, it’s taken me nine months.
It is really hard, isn’t it? I think
it’s hard for I’m not not saying this to
make you feel like um that your six
kilos isn’t great, but um it is hard for
everyone to lose weight because of the
way our systems um want to get back to
balance. And yeah,
well, I’ve decided a few weeks ago,
enough was enough. And I used to do that
fast diet thing.
And I’ve heard Oh, that’s when you you
two days a week they would only have 500
calories and the other five days you eat
as normal.
That’s normal. Not stuffing your face.
Okay. But yeah,
and it was advocated by Michael Mosley,
the chap from the BBC.
Oh, okay. Um, so I, so I did the 52 diet
for about three years and I had lost
nearly 20 kilos.
It’s amazing,
which was really, really good. And then
gradually over the period of time,
it all back on again.
And I thought, you know, enough’s enough
and I need to do something about it.
So I started doing not the 52 diet, but
it’s supposed to be a lot more e a lot
more simple to follow.
Oh, okay. Okay.
And it’s um a 16-hour fast and then eat
within an 8 hour window.
So when do you eat?
Well,
personally, I’d rather have breakfast
and lunch and maybe an afternoon tea,
but we have dinner very late in my home.
M
so instead I’m I’m I’m eating from about
11 11:30
and then I finish you know I’ll have my
dinner at 6:30 or something like that
and then I don’t eat again till 11:30
the next day.
So a um a couple of programs ago you
said um your daughter had suggested you
not skip breakfast.
Yes, she did. She did. She wagged her
finger at me. So, have you um consulted
her in this diet or is it um
um we talked about it and the thing is I
I do have
you know I’ll I’ll have something like
berries and yogurt or musli or sometimes
a s I’ll have my lunch at about 11:30.
Yeah.
So, a little bit earlier than normal.
Um maybe I’ll have some fruit in the
afternoon and then I eat my dinner. But
I I’ve I’ve lost on close to a kilo a
week.
Oh, that’s awesome.
So, you know what? I’m gonna take that.
Take it. Yeah. And it’s working for you
like the whole timings and everything.
Yeah.
Well, that’s the main thing.
If you go away on holiday or do
something, I I take a day off.
And do you think it’s affected your
symptoms or your kind of management of
your disease? I’m sorry I said it like
that. It’s um it’s interesting you
should say that because I think it has.
Ah,
whether or not it’s mind over matter, I
don’t know because I’m always looking at
how my medication has affected.
But what I will say is um
a it’s too early to tell. Secondly,
clearly don’t take my advice because you
know we’re not professionals. But I have
noticed that my pills seem to be seem to
be lasting a bit longer, which is really
really good.
Oh, that’s positive.
And
well, watch this space.
Yeah,
I’ll let you know.
Yeah,
because
I I think it’s having a really good
impact.
Yeah.
But then I’m also exercising more,
you know. I I don’t know. It’s uh I went
I went I went running with my son the
other day.
Holy moly.
I know. That was deeply unpleasant.
Spending time with my son was very nice.
But yeah, I was kind of like, what am I
doing?
It was 6:15
out in the street. My pills were not
working yet. But I kept thinking about
you.
Oh, that whole I can run, but I can’t
walk.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Did you test it?
Yeah.
Could you run?
Yeah.
Could you walk?
No, I couldn’t.
It is so weird. E.
Yeah.
I I don’t know why. I mean, I don’t know
if anyone does know why.
I think it’s to do with the fact that
you have to think about running,
but you know, you don’t usually think
about walking. So, walking to think
about running though. I don’t know if
you do. I can’t. Well, maybe we need to
test that. Put that to the side.
Yeah. I don’t know. Um I kind of Yeah,
I’ve thought about it a bit, but I don’t
know really what’s going on. You see,
you seem to do really well. You’re just
like an irritatingly thin, beautiful.
There
there is a long story about me with um
food and that cuz um I had kind of I
don’t for for starters, I don’t think
there’s any um recommended specifically
diet for people with Parkinson’s, but I
do think they generally say the
Mediterranean diet is good. Sort of.
Well, they say that for everybody.
Yeah. It’s it’s like exercise is good
for you. What? Really?
Who knew?
And in non-useful advice today,
shock announcement.
It’s been found that eating, sleeping,
and breathing in and out.
Yeah. Sleep is Yeah.
are good for living.
Yeah.
Um Yeah. So, um for me it like this has
been kind of a really long process over
a number of years. um I got frustrated
with that whole um you know just eat
well advice and I’m like yes but what
does that mean and how specifically do I
do it and my my the struggle that I had
was um for a long long time it was
weight like like this the sort of thing
that you’ve been going through and
before I knew I had Parkinson’s I I
struggled with my weight and um tried
various diets I went on white watches
for ages and That was like, woohoo.
Yeah. I got down to a certain weight and
then put it all back on that kind of
cycle.
And then after I had um Parkinson’s for
a while. Um I started to lose weight
sort of and I didn’t really know why and
I was doing a lot of exercise
um but because you know we know it’s
good for us but I think I might have
been overdoing it. So I went through
this whole process trying to get advice
from nutritionists and um anyone that
could help me. And essentially it came
down to um they thought that um you know
just have as much food as you can from
the fruit and vegetable kind of pile of
foods that you can take from. Have a
little bit of protein and try and
minimize your carbs. I really hated
minimizing my carbs. Also, did nobody
point out that potato is vegetable?
Yes. And it’s my favorite vegetable. I
grew up eating spuds basically that was
as you know, growing up on
And you’re not even Irish.
I’ve got a little bit of Irish in my
history. I don’t know how much, but
anyway. Um,
I can say that now. I’m called Kitty
Doyle. That’s Irish as it sounds now.
Um and also over that a long period I
found quite a big um influence on my
meds from what I ate and when I ate it.
And it came down to the fact that I um
found for a long time it really really
hard to do a specific diet for me
because I was you know cooking for a
family of of five people.
Um three picky kid eaters.
Oh don’t do picky eaters. And then so
just literally I I you cook one meal
that was it. I didn’t want to kind of it
was too hard basket for me to kind of
think about stuff for me.
I definitely subscribed. You should have
thought was that you know the whole
thing about kids and eating. Um my kids
have been like I don’t like cauliflower.
You just go okay here’s your cauliflower
because I’m just heartless.
I’m just
but like realistically
there’s a limited budget. there’s a
limited time budget and there’s a
limited money budget and you don’t have
either of enough of either um to go
around cooking
um different meals for everyone. I mean,
I know some people have really, you
know, dietary restrictions and that,
but anyway, long story short, um I now
probably eat like I I do like six little
meals a day because I need because I
take my meds so often, like three
hourly,
it means I have to eat specific times.
So, I just got into a really strict
strict routine just because it’s
okay. How do you handle that? I mean, is
it
it works well for me cuz um I get real
hungry. And if I run low on like the
energy side of things, I stop working.
So,
yeah.
Yeah. I like I like the same sort of
thing for breakfast. I have like a
granola sort of breakfast and a a kind
of a Vogel’s toast sort of morning tea
and a
Oh, the Brits are a
No, there I am not other Brits.
But yeah, I went through that whole
looking at various diets and things, but
I’m not very good at sticking to diets.
I kind of
No, neither am I. I think that’s why
this fasting thing is working so well.
And
yeah,
I I’ve heard from other people who’ve
done similar things with Parkinson’s.
They talk about um you know, ketosis and
your body healing itself. And I don’t
know if that’s true or if it isn’t, but
I mean I’m I’m happy to give it a try
anyway.
Um so your your three your six meals a
day seems to be working really well for
you.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean it’s not like six
full cooked meals or anything, but Yeah.
Yeah. It’s I think that’s the thing for
everybody. You got to work out what
works well for it
because we’re all different. Eh, and I’m
a big everything in moderation kind of
person.
Yeah, exactly. That that is yeah, a good
rule of thumb.
So, do we think our takeaway takeaway or
another good food thing our takeaway for
today is, you know, maybe try don’t be
afraid to try out new things.
Yeah.
Do what works for you. And in shock news
exercise.
Oh gosh,
it’s good for you.
We all keep saying this. I’m sorry, but
that it’s coming again.
But it’s coming again. It’s coming for
you. Um and and thank you to Cover Yours
for Cover Cover. Thank you, Cover Yours
for sponsoring our uh program. And
thanks to to you, Emma. And uh
Oh, you’re most welcome, Kelly. See you
again next time.
Bye. Thank you very much.
Thanks you very much for listening and
we’ll see you next time. Take care.
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