Buns Again

Share your daily McDougall menus and/or keep a journal describing your personal progress.

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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Mon Sep 19, 2022 6:45 am

Yes, an extreme lack of informed consent. I'll be seeing that doctor for my 3 month check up, and that's it. Won't be going back. Something tells me that there won't be much follow up if I opt out of my 1 year check up, eh?

anyway, thanks all for dropping by.

I had a week of really good compliance, until last night. A neighbor had a party on Saturday and brought over some treats from the party last night. Pretty tasty. I also ate curry over rice for lunch and LO of that for dinner. So, high fat on those meals. But I actually dumped out over half of the "extra creamy" oat milk (added oils make it "creamy" I guess) and kept the container for my own, MUCH less expensive oat milk in a blender. LOL Zero added fat. Or added anything. Just oats and water. 1 c oats:4 c water.

Also created my own fat free stir fry on Thursday, because I was in the mood for Panda Express but they pretty much soak everything in oil. Mine was delicious, noodly, saucy, vegetable-y, and right on target ;)

I also got up the gumption to make an enchilada casserole https://www.kathysvegankitchen.com/vegan-enchilada-casserole/ Just a heads up...maybe the desk top version of this website is better, but on my phone, I found myself frustrated at how much chatter there was between sections of the recipe. Every layer of the casserole had ingredients in one spot, instructions for preparing in another spot (separated by chatter), and finally instructions for assembling the casserole in another spot. SMH.

Mind you, there's a place where you can jump to the recipe, which I appreciate. I'd just LOVE IT if the ingredients and instructions could be in the same place. VERY tasty dish, btw. There are several components, two of which I made on different days. Nacho sauce and lentil taco filling. I found a fat free enchilada sauce in the grocery store, and used a blend of corn, peppers, onion, and black beans (southwest corn blend ???) instead of chopping and sautéing the "sautéed vegs. I will put individual servings in freezer containers for my upcoming post-surgery stuff.

I'd like to get another big batch of bean soup made as well. And some Not Chicken Noodle Soup (since it's Autumn and therefore it is SOUP SEASON!!! Yay!

Also going to simply bake a whole lot of potatoes and sweet potatoes. I found myself having a plate of sweet potato and steamed broccoli for one dinner last week...took me back to my simple start in this plan where a can of beans or a baked potato or two WAS a meal. I think that kind of thing will be the key to me getting in and staying in. Simple, humble food.



So, here's to a work week of 100% compliance and looking for a FULL WEEK coming up :nod:
JUST DON'T EAT IT

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Re: Buns Again

Postby Lizzy_F » Tue Sep 20, 2022 5:42 pm

Hi Buns! You are sounding quite energetic around the kitchen! While a good recipe is awesome (and that enchilada casserole sounds delivious!!) I too really enjoy and appreciate simple food and simple meals. I am SUCH a volume eater - I just feel so much more in control when I keep it really simple. So here's to a fridge full of baked potatoes & sweet potatoes!!!!

When is your next surgery?
Beth

"Long-term sustainable change is what we are really after." ~Jeff Novick
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Re: Buns Again

Postby VegSeekingFit » Tue Sep 20, 2022 10:33 pm

Hey Heidi!! :D :) :-D

Just wishing you the best!! Love your plan... Hoping your knees are ok.... You seem to have a great thought going forward...

Have to say you gave me a great laugh with what you posted on my journal!! So, thank you 100%!!!

Keep going!! :cool:

Best,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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Re: Buns Again

Postby annagreen » Sat Sep 24, 2022 8:14 am

Hi Buns! So good to see you here. I love your honesty and persistence. We both have struggled for a long time. And I'm absolutely sure that some compliance has been better than none for our health. I do think we can do better and it would probably be easier just to stay compliant. I like the idea of doing mostly MWL and cheating with Regular plan on special occasions. So that's where my head is and I hope you find your own healthy doable space. You are wonderful Buns and if everyone in the world were like you this would be a much better place to be!
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:46 pm

annagreen wrote:Hi Buns! So good to see you here. I love your honesty and persistence. We both have struggled for a long time. And I'm absolutely sure that some compliance has been better than none for our health. I do think we can do better and it would probably be easier just to stay compliant. I like the idea of doing mostly MWL and cheating with Regular plan on special occasions. So that's where my head is and I hope you find your own healthy doable space. You are wonderful Buns and if everyone in the world were like you this would be a much better place to be!



Hi Anna!!! wow! How are you doing, girl? How is New Orleans these days?
Your kind words are wonderful, my dear. Glad to see your post!
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
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simple, humble food
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The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:52 pm

Lizzy_F wrote:Hi Buns! You are sounding quite energetic around the kitchen! While a good recipe is awesome (and that enchilada casserole sounds delivious!!) I too really enjoy and appreciate simple food and simple meals. I am SUCH a volume eater - I just feel so much more in control when I keep it really simple. So here's to a fridge full of baked potatoes & sweet potatoes!!!!

When is your next surgery?


Gosh, volume eater...can I ever relate. And that's why it MUST be low on the calorie density spectrum. I think simple really is the way to go. Baked potato, beans, and greens, right? Time to buy a 10# of russets and bake the whole thing!

Right knee TKR is 10/14/22. I'm nervous because I know how bad it's gonna hurt, but I'm also looking forward to being on the other side of it all, where my knee isn't spasming and stabbing due to arthritis.
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
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The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Mon Oct 03, 2022 6:17 pm

Well, I had big plans for prepping a lot of foods, like soups and stews, and getting them in the freezer in single servings but my legs just wouldn't let me. I wanted to tear into it on Saturday and ended up sitting with a heating pad on my R knee, gripping it to try and stop the spasms/stabs/whatever that my knee was going through. I put in some OT at my job in the morning, then made some oat milk and banana bread and I was just done :( I spent the rest of the day making swatches in watercolor pencil and doodling to keep my mind off the pain. I guess 40 minutes in the kitchen was too much. :roll:

It's a little under two weeks until my second knee surgery. I'm doing some "Pre-hab" exercises to get ready...supplied by my doctor. Doing 30 minutes per day on my little pedal pumper and standing to walk a few steps every hour. Getting outside into sunshine every single day, as early in the day as I can. I walk a little bit outside when I'm up to it...using my crutch. See, in the kitchen I don't use my crutch and I honestly believe that the standing and moving around without assistance to my crippled R knee is what threw me down on Saturday. It's rough having the mental clarity, good cheer, and gumption within, but your body says "nope" *sigh*

Now. I am having major, invasive surgery done to my body. I have GOT TO TREAT THIS like Life and Death. Do I want these foreign pieces and bits shoved into my leg bones, and the hellish two weeks of pain and the months and months of recovery, and NOT take the weight off, so that they last me longer? Do I want to STAY FAT until my hip goes out, or 20 years down the line I have to get my knee replacements REPLACED? Hell no.

It's mostly thanks to being fat for my entire adult life that I have such severe arthritis in my knees to begin with. 100+ extra pounds, day in and day out on my joints...and I got crippling arthritis? Do tell. :roll: I'm really unhappy with myself BUT! I found the perfect quote shortly after torquing my right knee, six weeks after the L knee surgery. CS Lewis says “Crying is all right in its way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do.”

I'm done crying about it. I'm working hard on the PT and keeping active to my current level (little pedal pumping thing on the floor LOL) so I need to get that mindset about my freaking food choices.

Last time I posted, I mentioned the treats that our neighbor brought over? Well that was just the beginning. Oreos, fudge grahams, We went out for dinner for our anniversary last week...SUPER duper high fat, and dessert afterwards. I can't remember all of the indiscretions, but there have been plenty in the past week or so. I agree with AnnaGreen: the partial following that I am doing IS making a difference in many ways. I know that it is. But my "85%" is NOT helping me lose weight, and that is by far my most pressing health concern. Today it's my knees. If I carry on like this, my heart or my vascular system or my back, or whatever bodily system is going to begin failing. I've GOT TO DO THIS. I MUSSSSSSSSST.

It's 100% on me. I gotta do it.
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
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Re: Buns Again

Postby VegSeekingFit » Thu Oct 06, 2022 7:02 pm

Hi Heidi!!! :)

First, want to wish you the best with your upcoming knee surgery. Please let us know how you are doing... Hoping it is easier than your other knee as you know what is coming, etc.

Then, I am no good at this... but want you to consider the standard Mark Cooper feedback about being kind to yourself... Just check out any of his threads. Super hard to move from point A to point B if you are feeling down on yourself... Try to not be harsh...

You have all the right foods and can do all the right things!!! :) :-D

Best,
Stephanie
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Tue Oct 11, 2022 7:01 pm

VegSeekingFit wrote:Hi Heidi!!! :)

First, want to wish you the best with your upcoming knee surgery. Please let us know how you are doing... Hoping it is easier than your other knee as you know what is coming, etc.

Then, I am no good at this... but want you to consider the standard Mark Cooper feedback about being kind to yourself... Just check out any of his threads. Super hard to move from point A to point B if you are feeling down on yourself... Try to not be harsh...

You have all the right foods and can do all the right things!!! :) :-D

Best,
Stephanie


I hear you about being more kind to myself. If I was not me, I wouldn't hang out with me, because I call me names and get mad at me too easy. At some point you have to figure: I've been there, done that. Why hang out in the frustrations and anger of the past? Get going from HERE ON, right?

Tomorrow I have my three month appointment with the doc who did the first knee. I'll get x-rays and probably talk about how I'm doing which is okay. I don't like how weak/painish it feels and I may not look great walking, due to the other knee hurting like it does. The surgical team at the hospital took me off the anti-inflammatory last Friday and I can tell that they work by how bad both knees feel now that I'm not taking it. They're concerned about blood thinning. don't want me bleeding out inside my new knee joint. So I'm just a little worried that I might walk weird while showing the surgeon how lovely things are now that I've had this done.

Goals: walking without a limp by six weeks. Using just one crutch by four weeks. ??? Good ROM by four weeks? six weeks? off opioids by eight weeks? six weeks? I'll play it somewhat by ear but also do want something to aim for :nod:

gonna bake a 10# of potatoes on Thursday. Last part of my big food prep :lol:
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
User avatar
bunsofaluminum
 
Posts: 6551
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:17 pm
Location: Ogden Utah

Re: Buns Again

Postby VegSeekingFit » Tue Oct 11, 2022 9:45 pm

Hey Heidi!!! :-D :) :D

Best believe that I would LOVE to hang out with you... YES!! :-D Make me some potatoes and I will be your bff!!! :lol:

This being kind to yourself feedback was hard for me to understand and implement, but I 100% believe that it was key to me going forward... So, just again food for thought... :eek:

Love your plans and wish you the best!!

Cheers,
Stephanie

bunsofaluminum wrote:
VegSeekingFit wrote:Hi Heidi!!! :)

First, want to wish you the best with your upcoming knee surgery. Please let us know how you are doing... Hoping it is easier than your other knee as you know what is coming, etc.

Then, I am no good at this... but want you to consider the standard Mark Cooper feedback about being kind to yourself... Just check out any of his threads. Super hard to move from point A to point B if you are feeling down on yourself... Try to not be harsh...

You have all the right foods and can do all the right things!!! :) :-D

Best,
Stephanie


I hear you about being more kind to myself. If I was not me, I wouldn't hang out with me, because I call me names and get mad at me too easy. At some point you have to figure: I've been there, done that. Why hang out in the frustrations and anger of the past? Get going from HERE ON, right?

Tomorrow I have my three month appointment with the doc who did the first knee. I'll get x-rays and probably talk about how I'm doing which is okay. I don't like how weak/painish it feels and I may not look great walking, due to the other knee hurting like it does. The surgical team at the hospital took me off the anti-inflammatory last Friday and I can tell that they work by how bad both knees feel now that I'm not taking it. They're concerned about blood thinning. don't want me bleeding out inside my new knee joint. So I'm just a little worried that I might walk weird while showing the surgeon how lovely things are now that I've had this done.

Goals: walking without a limp by six weeks. Using just one crutch by four weeks. ??? Good ROM by four weeks? six weeks? off opioids by eight weeks? six weeks? I'll play it somewhat by ear but also do want something to aim for :nod:

gonna bake a 10# of potatoes on Thursday. Last part of my big food prep :lol:
"Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path.
Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back." - Martina Navratilova
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Re: Buns Again

Postby Anna Green » Wed Oct 12, 2022 1:02 pm

Hi! Hope your appt went well. Love to see you choosing kindness toward yourself because you are kind to everyone else and you deserve it too. I struggle with this as well but I'm working on it.
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Wed Oct 19, 2022 11:46 am

Anna Green wrote:Hi! Hope your appt went well. Love to see you choosing kindness toward yourself because you are kind to everyone else and you deserve it too. I struggle with this as well but I'm working on it.



Hi Anna,

thanks for dropping by! That appointment went well. My left knee looks good, right knee riddled with arthritis. Doc was very interested in helping me with that. I told him I'd let him know if I needed him. :P :P :P That was two days before the R knee surgery which was on Friday the 14th. That was five days ago. The pain level is a world of difference...I was at 8's and 9's by day 5 on the L knee...up to the two week mark, tbh, and gobbling narcotics like they were candy. We refilled my opiate prescriptions twice in 10 days.

This time...today, right now...pain level 2? Maybe? I'm able to do all my ROM exercises much easier, walking with crutches, taking pain meds only at night (that is when the pain ratchets up) and sleeping okay. L leg, I was crying in pain every night. My poor husband doing his best to comfort me and guide me. Using guided meditation to get past it. Not lying: pain levels in the roof for days on end. And I'm so relieved that it isn't that way this time. I'm pretty sure it's because the first doctor ignored the fact that I was taking meloxicam, an NSAID/anti-inflammatory/blood thinner and put me on Warfarin, a blood thinner...so I was taking two blood thinners which increased the swelling in the surgery site. SMH.

Anyway, I am grateful for the decrease in pain. It feels like I may actually get well, and walk again and be active again.

Eating has been really good. Lower appetite due to the drugs, and eating compliant. Getting the McDougall soups in the house, and the big bag of potatoes...smart! In another few days I'mma try taking the stairs. fix my own non-coffee. :nod: We'll see. I do NOT want to overdo. But I also don't want to slack. *sigh* I kinda do want to slack :lol: but I mustn't. I do want to get upstairs and outside, though. Soon.
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
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Re: Buns Again

Postby Ejeff » Thu Oct 20, 2022 6:29 am

Wow, Buns fantastic news about your knee. It must be such a great relief to not have the same pain as the first go round.

Wishing you speedy healing and nice walks around the block very soon. :-D

Erin
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Re: Buns Again

Postby Matcha » Sun Oct 23, 2022 10:34 pm

Glad your knees are feeling much better!
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Re: Buns Again

Postby bunsofaluminum » Mon Oct 24, 2022 4:17 pm

thanks for dropping by, friends.

Just a quick update. I jinxed myself by mentioning how well things were going...told my sister over the phone, posted about it here...and spent the rest of last week in twisting agony. Day 5 was cool. Days 6,7,8...9? not so much. I guess God overheard me LOL just kidding, mostly.
.
Today things are better, but I have had a few days in a row of Lots of Pain. Still...today I am refilling my narcotics, and with the left knee by this time, I had already refilled once and halfway through the new pills. So, yes there is pain, more than I thought when I was so pleased last Tuesday, but much less than I was going through with the left knee.

My plan and prayer is to be walking normally...taking walks, walking not scootering in the grocery store, puttering in the kitchen... at the six month mark. By next spring :nod: Eating very sane. Nothing fancy, just reheated the frozen that I was able to get ready, and of course McDougall soups and potatoes or rice. I baked a whole butternut squash and had that for two meals with beans or greens, rice. I did have some restaurant food, when my brother and his wife were in town and Wylie went out to dinner with them and he brought me a veggie burrito home. It was SO yummy but there was fat for sure.

On Friday of this week, it will be my two week mark, and the pain reduces majorly from then on. I hope to have good range and good strength in both knees, and ready to get on with it. And NO MORE PAIN, Please.
JUST DON'T EAT IT

I heart my endothelial lining
by red squirrel

simple, humble food
by f00die

The rest is an industry looking to make a buck off my poor health
by Pamela, a FB user
User avatar
bunsofaluminum
 
Posts: 6551
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:17 pm
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