Buns Again

[bunsofaluminum]

Stole this from KirstyKay's journal just now again LOL since I know I pasted it into my journal here a little while back

FOR THE FIRST SIX MONTHS TO A YEAR

Simplicity, focus on the program and myself, avoid the Vegan trap.

JeffN wrote:
Here they are...

For the first 6 months to a year....

1) Simplicity

Keep this as simple as possible and resist every influence to make this complicated. You don't need 5 versions of oatmeal, and 15 dinners, and fancy pots, pans, utensils, etc. Just use what you already have and keep it simple. Oats, fruit, rice, beans, veggies. They dont have to be organic, Non GMO, fair traded, imported, etc. Eat sweet potatoes, not imported Japanese Satsumas. They can be fresh, frozen, canned, etc, whichever makes it easiest. You just need oatmeal, brown rice (Starch), beans and a few veggies and fruits you like.

2) Focus

First, on this program

You invested a huge amount of money, time, effort and energy in Dr. McDougall, his program and his staff. Trust your decision and the process. For the next 6 months to a year, if you have a question, ask Dr. McDougall, Mary, Doug, Alec or me. We are all accessible. If you need a recipe, Mary has about 4000, if you have a question, most of them are answered in the forum or our hot topics. If you need reading material for support, we have a dozen books, 100's of newsletter and articles and videos going back about 30 years. Read the Hot Topics and this website and my forum and the Education material at the website and the FAQ here in my forum. When done, re-read them. If you need, email us, we are all responsive.

It is not that others WFPB Health Professionals are wrong, it is just that there are some slight differences between them all and you are just going to get confused. I would tell you the same thing if you picked one of the others but you are all here and made this choice. And, there are many WFPB "experts" that have little to no clinical and patient experience but you may not be able to know that about them. You are spending this week with a bona fide, licensed, credentialed professional team that each has over 25 years of direct clinical experience helping people. Get the most out of your investment.

Second, on yourself.

Until you have put the time in over the next few months and understood the program and been able to achieve and maintain your own success, keep the focus and attention on yourself. Do not worry about telling your spouse, your parents, your daughter in law, your cousins, your neighbor, your hairdresser, the local school, your church group, the food industry, the USDA, the FDA, the FTC, your doctor, the neighbors kid, etc etc or anyone else about the program or trying to get them to do it. Keep the focus on yourself, understanding and implementing the program and getting yourself well. We are not asking you to become a evangelist or preacher of this way of life or to try and convert anyone. We are only trying to help you take care of yourself.

This is not selfish, this is self nurturing and right now, you need all your focus and attention on you.


3) Avoid the vegan trap

Fully explained in this thread...

When Vegan is not Enough

As predicted, vegan is now a trend, and while this is a good thing for the animals and possibly the environment, for most of us, this is bad news as most of the vegan food in grocery stores and restaurants is not healthy. The Pleasure Trap appeal of this food is very very strong and hard to resist.

However, no one has ever come to the 10-Day program to save the animals or save the environment. They made the huge investment of time, money, energy and effort for one (and only one) main reason, their health is suffering. And, almost always, this is a major health issue and not a minor one. They come to my classes with the primary goal of learning how to address, treat and reverse their health issue through diet and lifestyle, not to be a vegan.

Don't mix them up.

[Ruff]

oh Buns...just catching up reading about your Mum and also your knee. It never rains but it pours does it? I'm so sorry about your mum. My mum is 85 and very frail and in the UK whilst I am in New Zealand. And have been stuck here since the start of the pandemic. meanwhile mum has been very ill indeed, but she is still with us, and I am going to the Uk for Christmas.

You are so lucky to have your mum right there with you. And your sister is right, whats done is done and how do you move on from here? I'm sorry she doesn't want to learn about scams at the moment. I have asked my mum to message me every time someone asks for money for anything. I dont know if she will, but she might. I also moved some of her money to a building society with an old fashioned written bank book, so she has to go in and sit down whilst they write up the bank book if she wants to take anything out. They would ask, but I dont know if they would stop her.

Good luck with staying on track through all of this. Actually it is easier, because it is one less decision to make. Is it a plant? Yes. Is it processed? No. Ok lets eat it! But I know...oh do I know....that your brain, if its anything like my brain, will be going...I know things are stressed right now, but chocolate will fix that for you!!!! But it lies! It only fixes it for the 5 minutes one is eating the chocolate sadly....

Keep us posted, and good luck with the knee

[bunsofaluminum]

oh Buns...just catching up reading about your Mum and also your knee. It never rains but it pours does it? I'm so sorry about your mum. My mum is 85 and very frail and in the UK whilst I am in New Zealand. And have been stuck here since the start of the pandemic. meanwhile mum has been very ill indeed, but she is still with us, and I am going to the Uk for Christmas.

You are so lucky to have your mum right there with you. And your sister is right, whats done is done and how do you move on from here? I'm sorry she doesn't want to learn about scams at the moment. I have asked my mum to message me every time someone asks for money for anything. I dont know if she will, but she might. I also moved some of her money to a building society with an old fashioned written bank book, so she has to go in and sit down whilst they write up the bank book if she wants to take anything out. They would ask, but I dont know if they would stop her.

Good luck with staying on track through all of this. Actually it is easier, because it is one less decision to make. Is it a plant? Yes. Is it processed? No. Ok lets eat it! But I know...oh do I know....that your brain, if its anything like my brain, will be going...I know things are stressed right now, but chocolate will fix that for you!!!! But it lies! It only fixes it for the 5 minutes one is eating the chocolate sadly....
Keep us posted, and good luck with the knee

Thanks Katie,

Gosh, that would be so hard being in NZ for this pandemic. But I guess their strict border control has meant quite low covid cases for you, right?

I'm really glad we are here. My mom wants to be one of those "amazing women" still doing everything into her 90's and living to be 100 years old. But I'm watching her go half a day without eating any food at all and losing 10 lbs between dr visits, sitting literally all day long playing a computer word game without moving a muscle (she's been doing that since long before the scam came down and it drives me crazy. Hello? Get up and wipe the stove top or go out and water the roses.) She wants to be robust and going strong for another 15 years but she's already NOT those things and she's getting weaker and this scam has only depleted her more.

and yes, I've had chocolate a couple of times but honestly, my cravings are zero. I am sticking so close to plan and not eating emotionally which is what I feared.

SOME REALLY GOOD FINDS

Upton's naturals Vegan Seitan Bacon. Ingredients:

Water, vital wheat gluten, soy sauce (water, wheat, soybeans, salt), whole wheat flour, natural hickory smoke concentrate, paprika, sea salt, onion.
It has very decent flavor and REALLY good texture. With a fat content of .5g Calorie dense, but I'm digging the short, pronounceable ingredient list. I'm eating two or three slices for a BLT or chopped up over a salad so it isn't like I'm eating it by the fistful. couple times a week, I guess.

Seven Sundays Classic Bircher Meusli:
INGREDIENTS; Gluten free oats, sorghum flakes, buckwheat groats, almonds, dates (dates, rice flour), currants, unsweetened coconut chips (no sulfites), pumpkin seeds, apples, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, cinnamon and cardamom.

There is a higher fat content due to the seeds, but it doesn't have any added oils. I put 1/3 c of the meusli plus 1/3 c of grape nuts, and slice a banana or put some blueberries on it. Oat milk that I make at home, a tsp of brown sugar and YUM! and it keeps me full all morning. Getting rid of the regular old grocery store granola has been the biggest step towards reducing added oils.

I get both of these from Imperfect Foods, which delivers produce and other stuff to your door. They "rescue" foods that aren't pretty enough for the grocery store. I used to buy their little kale salad kits for $4.59 but tossing the packet of salad dressing and using Very Benevolent Caesar Dressing (recipe on this site.) Well, I can buy a huge bag of already chopped kale for that price and get more than a week's worth of salads out of it. Winco also has sliced/shredded red cabbage so I mix that in. When it comes lunch time, I put some vegs in there, sometimes I put my entree over it all. Then salad dressing, and eat! another meal that keeps me full a long time.

Thank goodness for Very Benevolent Caesar Dressing, because it means I can eat salad again! It's the first salad dressing recipe I've found that makes throwing a salad together worth it. And can you even believe I'm eating kale? hahahahahaha Used to be a decorative fringe around the sandwich meats and cheeses tray that you bought from the deli but this dressing plus the finely chopped kale leaves make it doable.

My jeans seem to be fitting a little better, but the scale isn't moving. You'd think my jeans would've started fitting better with all the gym time before my knee went out but nope...scale didn't move, jeans didn't fit any better. Go figure, eh?

and I don't care. I feel really good, even with the knee pain. My mind is alert and I've got pretty good energy. The biggy right now is getting enough sleep. According to my Apple watch I'm averaging 6 hours and 11 minutes a night. Most days it's okay but once in a while I get feeling SO tired...and cranky. But I go to bed the same time almost every night, and my body wakes me up naturally at the same time every single morning so I guess I'm getting enough.

[Ruff]

Thanks Katie,

Gosh, that would be so hard being in NZ for this pandemic. But I guess their strict border control has meant quite low covid cases for you, right

NZ in the pandemic. For 2 whole years while the virus ravaged the world we had almost no cases. We eliminated it effectively with the first lockdown. It was very very strict, and we have a largely compliant populous. But after just 1 month we had no covid cases. So for 2 years we carried on, we had sports events, school as normal, no masks no rules, no restrictions. Festivals, concerts theatre, whatever. The only snag was no-one could come in without a 2 week isolation period, which you had to pay for. You also had to get a place and towards the end of the 2 years that got very hard and was a total lottery. Anyone could leave at any time, it was the coming back that was hard.

So we were in this weird situation, it was like being in a lifeboat bobbing around at sea, with no issues whatsoever whilst we got messages from friends and family around the world about this restriction and that lockdown, and this and that cancelled event or loss of business. And we had life totally as normal. No covid.

Recently, however things have changed. Once the vaccines came in we went for a vaccination policy, easily getting more than 90% of the population vaccinated in the first push. I think it is over 95% of the eligible population now. Once we were all vaccinated we opened the boarders, slowly at first but now there are almost no restrictions. This brought covid in, but with a highly vaccinated
population and the normal rules the rest of the world is used too, masks, social distancing etc, the numbers of deaths are still very low. It was less than 100 when we opened the boarders, but obviously it has gone up now, as covid sweeps through the county, but its still very low, as almost everyone is vaccinated. There are people who disagree with vaccine mandates, and mask rules, but there are not very many of them...although they are very loud! The conspiracy theorists are here as they are everywhere. Telling US we have been brainwashed, whilst also telling us the earth is flat....

I wish there was a compliant salad dressing here. As you say, its not worth all the effort of putting a salad together if there is nothing nice to put on it! I am not a vinegar fan at the best of times. I used to love Hellmans mayonnaise on my salads. Then I used avocado .....but I have developed an allergy or something to it. It started to make me vomit right after eating it. It started once or twice and I thought maybe it was 'off' somehow, but then it happened every time and the last time it happened right after licking the fork I had used to mash some for the family..... so I steer well clear now. I eat lots of veg, but 'salad' as in big green salad bowl...I have not yet solved this.

Onwards.

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Heidi,

Hope that all is well with you and wishing you the best on your knee surgery. Hang in there..

Best,
Stephanie

[bunsofaluminum]

Well, I am one week in. Had my knee surgery last Tuesday, the 28th of June and it's been a real struggle getting ahead of the pain.
thanking God for pre-cooking and freezing I'm eating sanely and feeling full, not snacking.

I'll post more another time.

[Trinity]

Heidi, I’m so glad your surgery is behind you but I’m sorry the pain is so bad. I hope you’re taking plenty of painkillers. Glad you’re back!

[Ruff]

Heidi, I'm so glad you are safely through the operation. Hang on in there, it will get better. We are all thinking of you and rooting for you.

[squealcat]

Heidi, sending along my well wishes along with the other's ! My friends who have had this surgery also complained of a lot of pain at a certain point then it got a lot better. Be sure to do your rehab exercises !! Don't worry about keeping up here. Save that for when you are feeling better and then be assured that we are all here to "listen" to you !

-squealcat

[Ruff]

Hi Heidi. Just dropping in to say hello in case you are reading but not posting. I hope you have better weather than we do right now. We are getting totally drenched, and its really blustery as well. the weather system that battered Sydney is on its way here this weekend. Hopefully you have nice sunny days for when you can manage to sit out.

What are you reading at the moment? I have just finished a wonderful book (all about it on my journal) and now I dont have any fiction to read. Non fiction I am reading Starch Solution, Fibre Fuelled after hearing Dr B on Chef AJ, and a book on Probability theory. I think I might have to re read Pride and P or another Austen until I can get to the library. Its so cold and wet and Harris here I think a day in front of the fire knitting and reading is in order.

I hope you are feeling better and getting ahead of the pain.
Cheers, Katie.

[bunsofaluminum]

Hey everyone!

thanks for the well wishes. Tomorrow is three weeks since my procedure and the pain is much better. Finally in the last few days of the second week the PA gave us some information. For most people the pain is extreme for the first two weeks, and then it diminishes a lot. It woud've been great to know that some time within the first two weeks, you know? Like, before the operation? Even a pamphlet would've been nice. Now that I'm not in agony I think it's possible that I will consider this to have been worth it but I still would not recommend. There's got to be alternatives. I have a co-worker who is receiving stem cell therapy and her knee joints have new cartilage. Well, maybe by the time my R knee needs it, insurance will be covering stem cell therapy LOL. It'll take a LOT to get me under the knife for a second round of this.

Progress: last week I started using the cane instead of the walker and today I started walking without the cane when possible. Using only Tylenol during the day for pain and if needed, Tramedol but haven't had any of that in several days. They took me off the warfarin today, replaced with baby aspirin for the next 9 weeks. Still taking meloxicam for inflammation so I won't do any ibuprofen until I'm off of that. All that to say I'm pretty much not using opioids anymore. Crossing my fingers for tonight because I did a lot of exercise today.

I'm doing ROM exercises every hour. The last PT appointment I was flexing to 102* and extending to just above 0. They say doing the exercises consistently is huge for a quick recovery, so I've been getting on it every hour today. Hopefully it doesn't come to pain tonight.
Made my own dinner tonight (it was pretty non-compliant, being a fake burger from MorningStar with the works. "The Works" was 100% compliant though

Goals: walking unaided without a limp by my six week check up
Taking walks before work by the time I go back to work on 8/9/2022.
Figure out how to sleep on my side
I think those are good goals.

Haven't stepped on the scale but I cut back on serving sizes with the opioids wrecking my appetite so maybe I've lost some. I plan on being more active every day this week and continuing with as close to 100% compliant as possible.

[Ruff]

Buns! Heidi! So glad to hear from you and get an update. I'm sorry it has been so hard for you. And I agree...knowing about the pain in advance would be a huge help. Stop you worrying that something is wrong, and you can just say..they said it would be like this and it gets better. I have no idea why doctors seem to withhold so much information.

And walking without the cane...how very impressive. It sounds like you are making great strides(!) with your progress. Well done.

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Heidi. Just dropping in to say hello in case you are reading but not posting. I hope you have better weather than we do right now. We are getting totally drenched, and its really blustery as well. the weather system that battered Sydney is on its way here this weekend. Hopefully you have nice sunny days for when you can manage to sit out.

What are you reading at the moment? I have just finished a wonderful book (all about it on my journal) and now I dont have any fiction to read. Non fiction I am reading Starch Solution, Fibre Fuelled after hearing Dr B on Chef AJ, and a book on Probability theory. I think I might have to re read Pride and P or another Austen until I can get to the library. Its so cold and wet and Harris here I think a day in front of the fire knitting and reading is in order.

I hope you are feeling better and getting ahead of the pain.
Cheers, Katie.

Hi Katie,

I've been outside several times, once to just sit in the morning sunshine and a few times to walk to the driveway next door and back. The weather here is dry as bones, even when we get rain LOL The Great Western Drought. Haven't been reading, though. My brain hasn't been capable of it between the pain and the meds. Now that I'm pretty much off opioids, I might pick up a book. I've got one I started a while back. Meanwhile, I am watching a lot of shorts on YouTube, along with lots of informational content dealing with total knee replacement and some missing persons compilations. The missing persons channel I follow has a narrator with a soothing monotone voice that is conducive to drifting off asleep LOL.

Meanwhile, yesterday I maxed out my exercises and today I'm in more than usual pain. Gotta find a balance.

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Heidi!!

I am so glad that it sounds like you are doing good after your surgery!! That is great!!!

I hate to say this, but I think that why they don't tell you how much it may hurt / give you a pamphlet is $$$... Like they will lose patients....

So, I empathize 100% with you as a 5X knee surgery peep.... (not a replacement like you had, but had 2X rebuilt patellar that was no walk in the park)... Yeah, I have also been hit by a truck, woke up, and thought... Hmm... Wtaf???

It sounds like you are doing great with your PT exercises... Can't emphasize enough to look to the range of motion / bending exercises and also anything that they advocate to ensure that you keep your muscle(s) in your thigh.... What you said on ROM is sounding pretty awesome to me!!! I was casted in my last one --- where I couldn't bend knee for at least 2.5 months and I will say that this was challenging...

Take care of yourself and hope you heal well!!! Wishing you well!! Keep going -- you are sounding great!!!

Best,
Stephanie

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Heidi!!

I am so glad that it sounds like you are doing good after your surgery!! That is great!!!

I hate to say this, but I think that why they don't tell you how much it may hurt / give you a pamphlet is $$$... Like they will lose patients....

So, I empathize 100% with you as a 5X knee surgery peep.... (not a replacement like you had, but had 2X rebuilt patellar that was no walk in the park)... Yeah, I have also been hit by a truck, woke up, and thought... Hmm... Wtaf???

It sounds like you are doing great with your PT exercises... Can't emphasize enough to look to the range of motion / bending exercises and also anything that they advocate to ensure that you keep your muscle(s) in your thigh.... What you said on ROM is sounding pretty awesome to me!!! I was casted in my last one --- where I couldn't bend knee for at least 2.5 months and I will say that this was challenging...

Take care of yourself and hope you heal well!!! Wishing you well!! Keep going -- you are sounding great!!!

Best,
Stephanie

Hi Stephanie,

I know you're right. if they told people up front that there would be incredible agony for weeks afterwards, not many would opt for TKR. The one thing that I'm holding onto is that I was already crippled due to a torn meniscus and arthritis, walking with a cane and that only when I absolutely had to. No walking the dog, no pleasant morning strolls, nothing. Just hobbling around the house and at the grocery store, using a scooter every time. Well, when this is over and I'm able to get back to my favorite exercise of walking, then I'll say it was worth it.

Meanwhile, yes. The ROM exercises are SO important and I'm being consistent with them. I also bought a little foot pedal thing that I can use while seated. That relieves pain extremely well. so does walking, which I am doing these days without the cane mostly. Still "paying for it" when I overdo...muscle spasms. Ugh. Killer pain.

I'm going to be starting up my PT job on Monday. It's a 3.5 hour shift, Mon, Tue, and Fri. And the second Tuesday of August, the day after my six week check up, I'll be ready to start back at my FT job. thankful for working from home