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Posted at 10:11 PM in through the camera lens | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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Top 10 Finds of the Week ...
Posted at 06:33 PM in chew on this, healthy eating nomnom | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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I thought it made sense to search the world wide web for topics related to the upcoming surgery. (Ahem, in July, one can never be too prepared.) Palm face. Stupid stupid stupid idea. Comment upon comment was posted concerning horrible experiences with healing, swelling, excessive pain, scar tissue and shitty surgery hack jobs. The pictures. Holy mackeral. Even worse of an idea. Blood, muscle, bones and the like. My brain started hyperventilating and my toe tried to crawl back inside
And it's not even July yet!
So I thought I should distract myself a bit.
and this one made me snort milk all over the library computer ...
source : unknown
Posted at 06:26 PM in damn surgery, no pain no gain | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
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What can I say I'm a sucker for happy titles, ruining suprises, letting the cat out of the bag, predictable physicians and my favorite: therapy.
I went to the doctor because I have a small tailor's buinion that has been flaring and sending shooting pains across the top of my happy yarn tattoo and down the left side of my foot. Exercise is good, not being able to walk on it after, not so much.
What I took to need minor surgery has turned into a major multi-purpose event that will leave me on crutches for a good 6-8 weeks. Period. Along with swelling, aches, scars and possibly ruining the entire piece of ink I have been very recently proud of. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all about fixing it, but it does make me a tad melancholy about the ink.
Let me clarify a few things. At the ripe age of 16, exactly 17 years ago to be precise, Twin and I both had bilateral bunionectomy's (i.e. both feet.) This is when they readjust that huge nobby prominence next to the edge of the big toe that gives some of us an awesome hobbit foot look. It was fairly minor and we were up and about after the weekend and I was back on the basketball court within 3 months of both surgeries. We were young and it healed and all seemed fine.
Things can change with time.
After reviewing my xrays for the protuberance on the opposite side of the foot from the original surgery site it was confirmed that I do have a Tailor's Bunion (shocking) and that surgery could be an appropriate route. A few other things were also brought into the light.
First off, a second bunionectomy. The original surgery needs redone. The old procedure was to fix the bump of the foot to make it 'prettier' if you will. The current technique, and second procedure, is to repair it at the root of the problem to correct the duck like splay of the toes and adjust for overall posture. (Sadly my former podiastrist died in a horrific accident within days of the original surgeries and cannot be consulted.) This is called a Lapidus Bunionectomy.
The third and fourth procedures are a like Hammertoe Correction to adjust the misalignment of the baby toe from the Tailor's Bunion and a Tailor's Bunionectomy.
All in all a one day procedure with a much longer recovery time and far more swelling. The physician was so super efficient that she not only took xrays on site, and reviewed them in a my first and only visit to see her but she tentatively scheduled the surgery for July 20th.
Of course it is never as easy as just a surgery.
Starting with work, summers at the hospital can be hectic. Our patient load is completely unexpected, since we are dealing with the wounded from a war and it's not a very polite one at that. As the sun comes out the injuries usually double. As the cold creeps in the terrorists hide a little deeper out of site.
Our house is also bit inconvenient. It is a 4 story monstrosity with our bedroom being on the 3rd floor, full baths on the 3rd and 2nd floors and couch and kitchen on the main floor. We will have to look at setting up a spare bed in the living room or moving some food into the MILs room so we can have a sleepover.
The poor MIL is also in a bit of a bind. Her Crohn's is having small complications and between that and a surge of heart, pulmonary, internal medicine and GI clinic appointments she is also having to be carted to and fro at the drop of a hat. If the cards keep falling where they may we both may be recupping from surgery at the same time.
Have I mentioned my husband is an active duty military member? They don't usually grant 3 month respite leave for him to care for his mother-dependent and wife-dependent. Normally we take care of each other.
And the cherry to this little cupcake is that I get a HUGE blessing in October. (No, I'm not pregnant.) My parents get to come for a two week visit! One of the reasons why I'm not balking about the summer surgery or trying to reschedule is that I will have ample recovery time to be in the rehab stage post first foot surgery. I should be able to walk and tourist and play with them versus having to be coddled in a wheelchair and housebound.
So there you have it. I have to be even more dedicated to do double workouts for the next 7 weeks and not sway from the diet plan because surgery and recovery is not the time to want to gain excessive weight due to sheer laziness and availability.
That's right! (image source)
Posted at 12:20 PM in diet schmiet, no pain no gain | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
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To start out my new Healthy Eats/Chew On This section I want to share ten suprisingly delicious fun, low fat, low salt, healthy and tasty bits that work as stand alones and most are part of my daily routine.
Interesting observed note: low fat and low sodium/salt do not often come hand-in-hand. Likewise low sugar and low sodium do not come hand in hand. Often most prepackaged foods increase sodium in their "healthy" packaging to make up for the lack of flavor. Hugely dissapointing in my book. My focus is on healthy fats, proteins, low sodium, low bad fats, low processed foods and low sugar and high fructose corn syrup without cutting out flavor or in quick, easy, affordable and somewhat painless meals. Sometimes that means frozen foods and canned beans, other times 5 ingredient meals. It will be celar as this evolves I'm sure.
1. Melba Toast. These crunchy little toast bits are great for dipping in homemade salsa, guac and hummus. I was happy to find they come prepackaged in serving portions so it's easier to not overeat them.
2. Bear Naked Granola with Protein. When paired with low fat milk it makes a hearty low fat, low sodium, protein cereal that can be topped with a variety of berries and bananas and keep you full until the midmorning snack time.
3. Lemon Juice. (or Lime Juice.) Heaven help me, I heard Twin repeatedly recommending the consumption of Lemon Water and let the thought of Sugar!Sugar!Sugar! drown out her logic. She was right! This 0calorie, no sodium, no sugar addition not only helps your body absorb sodium but can be paired with Stevia for a 0calorie lemonade or paired with green tea bag and Stevia for 0cal arnold palmerish tea drink! Winner!
4. Stevia in the Raw. Where do I begin? I love white sugar, brown sugar and Sugar in the Raw. I have a sweet tooth and the thought of a new dietary lifestyle without sweet makes me a terribly sad monkey. I do however have a huge aversion to Splenda, SweetnLow and other chemical sweeteners. They give me this wretched headache and roll my stomach. After much studying I caved and bought Stevia to discover that wonder upon wonders it's actually healthy and tastes decent! Some companies, like Japan, even serve it as a common tableside condiment.
Stevia, for those of you who don't know, is just like sugar. It is a sweet herb powder derived directly from it's plant source without any harsh chemical additives. It is a touch sweeter than regular sugar so moderation can be good but it really is 0calorie so not only is it a permanent addition to my pantry but I also highly recommend it to all the 'fake sugar haters.' It's not fake sugar, it's Stevia.
5. Tofu. Tofu is relatively new to my household party. My current struggle is finding high protein, low bad fat, low sodium, low calorie, tasty and useful additions to my pantry that aren't weird, strange or wacky. Up until fairly recently I've kind of ignored tofu out of ignorance. Husband doesn't really have a taste for it and it doesn't usually belong in my downhome somewhat AmericanMexicana cooking. Today's lesson: chicken, tofu, green pepper, onion, mushroom kabobs basted in Lowry's Baja Chipotle marinade is the bomb diggety. Filling, spicy and tongue smacking good.
6. Frozen berries. The majority of mornings I top off my workout with a bowl of fast cooked plain oats topped with Stevia, banana and frozen berries. The heated oatmeal and the crunchy frozen berries are a great combination. Best part is they don't take up our minimal highly coveted fridge space, cost less than fresh and don't go bad nearly as fast as fresh. Sometimes it's best to think smarter, not harder. Fresh may be best but sometimes frozen is the only option.
7. Lowry's marinade. Where have you been all my life?? I discovered this gem today! I picked up Baja Chipotle and Mesquite out of close to a dozen on the shelves. Not only is it low fat and low sodium but it's only 5-15 calories per serving versus the 98% other marinades, salad dressings and oils that have oodles of fat and sodium and are 150-250 calories for that same serving. I'd really prefer to not baste my food in the calories I'm trying to avoid. You can have tasty food without relying solely on dry herbs*. Marinade's for the barbeque can be your friends too! Warning: Baja Chipotle as quite the sharp bite.
8. Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. This has been a household favorite for quite sometime. When combined with Melba Toast or Wheat Thin Flatbreads* you get a tasty replacement for the high sodium content in even the lowest fat potato, soy and rice crisps. I've spent many hours in the chip section so I've become quite the amateur expert on the subject.
9. Sugar Free Lime Jello. Although I haven't actually made this yet it's jello + citrus + sugar free. That just makes it fun.
10. Jones All Natural Golden Brown Light Sausage Links. I have to confess this isn't incredibly low in sodium or fat but it is half the calories, fat and sodium of all the other popular frozen brands we have available and is gluten free. Once I taste them I will post a followup with if it is a thumbs up or thumbs down choice.
*My favorite dry herbs and flatbread crackers will be part of a future Chew On This post.
** Disclaimer: This post isn't sponsored by anyone and neither is my blog. My hope is that sharing my bits and pieces will be inspring and hopefully helpful to others striving for the same goals.
Posted at 08:17 PM in chew on this, healthy eating nomnom | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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We have a new Category and topic to chew on around these parts. Cue applause. Chew On This and Healthy Eating! Yes as I stumble blindly down this journey shoulders down, blinders on and in search of healthy yummy delicious food I am going to share! I am going to start with bits and pieces of brilliant finds and nonyucky food replacements that I discover both in my local grocery stores and around the intraweb. I will call fails FAILS and successes accordingly.
Posted at 07:29 PM in chew on this, diet schmiet, healthy eating nomnom | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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Somehow finding a gel flexible cold pack in this country is damn near impossible. It really is the little things that you miss when you relocate into another country. When without work it out.
When discussing (whining) about my misfortune Husband had a brilliant idea. Have you ever made one before? Um ... no? Ya it's super easy. Isopropyl alcohol and water. Just ask Google! So I did.
Homemade Flexible Alcohol packs
1 part alcohol to 2 parts water
So:
1/2 cup alcohol
1 cup water
Place in gallon zip lock bag
Place that bag within 2nd bag
Chill and use
Voilá! Why buy for $5 for what you can make for less than $1.
(If you prefer a fancier version I did see a recipe involving water, food coloring and vodka. It seemed silly to waste the liquor though!)
Posted at 09:36 PM in no pain no gain | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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I have finally thrown down the gauntlet around here. After getting flack for the umpteenth time for having borderline blood pressure issues (see the past 4 years doc), along with one too many portraits with a double chin, I made a decision. Weight is getting cut back if I have to carve every bit of sugar and toxins out of my diet to do it.
Twin did it. She lost nearly 50 pounds and has maintained it for a year. A YEAR.
Damn Twin. I am SOOO proud of her. Every time I've hear myself bitch and moan about my lack of desire/want/drive/ability to do what she did I have to slap my own face. Twin did it. Her life is self admittedly far busier than mine, and she's a mom of two boys doing a full time job as well as custody sharing. What's my excuse? That's right ... a little bit of bullshit.
Twin's plan. The BeachBody diet combined with the daily bits of exercise and the weight sort of fell off. I tease her and call her SkinnyTwin but she swears by two solid points (1) follow Michi's Ladder (eat food) and (2) workout. And damn if it didn't all fall off within 6 months. She didn't starve herself and she didn't do more than 50 minutes of workouts a day and they weren't always 7 days/week either. She ate real burgers, avoiding the fries, and drank water like a crazy person.
So. I'm doing it. I'm 2 weeks into it. 10 days ago the scale said (cough) 207 at the doctor's office. This morning it said 200.1. It better keep dropping. I'm on a very determined mission to have drastic changes in 30, 60 and 90 days.
The plan: The beachbody dietary lifestyle combined with lower sodium and daily exercise. Essentially eat 5 small meals a day, beginning with breakfast within an hour of waking up, from the 'outer edges' of the grocery store. Fruits, produce, lean meats, lower salt, no soda's, minimal fruit juices and Stevia in lieu of sugar. I've cut out processed foods and greatly limited all basic carbs in my diet, with minimal complex carbs. It's Tiers 1 and 2 foods and morning workouts. As the weather gets better there is going to be some afternoon workouts to boot.
I won't lie. It was frustrating to bust my ass over and over doing madness like THIS and not lose weight. I may have become super-ripped but I wasn't losing weight because I justified my crap eating, monster-italian-sodas and desk job sedetarian life with I Am Doing CrossFit! After a little life distraction and coming down with the horrid HepAof2009 the gym kind of fell by the wayside. I still can't believe I fell off the workout wagon nearly 2.5 years ago.
One thing has remained true over the last 11 years of marriage, when I'm working out I feel so much stronger! So back to it I go. This time with a purpose. There will be a change, come hell or high water to do it.
Encouraging website suggestions for those diving into the same adventure.
** The last 3 I just found. Tastes may vary.
I will continue to post more healthy eating blog recommendations as I come across them.
Posted at 11:32 PM in good ole' ranting, no pain no gain | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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