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Looking for a mentor/support before surgery.

I weighed in today 7 lbs down from last month weigh in. Back to my weight in 2012. I am substituting the yard work for exercise. I set goals and now I need to bury 18 cinder blocks for the pool legs. I am setting some pretty serious goals. Side jobs is replacing the wood to the porch glider. Build a shed for the pool yard. And I am inventing more as I go. I have some decorative blocks from the dead round blow up ring pool that I can use along the fence line, so the puppies don’t dig their way out. But also using pet friendly weed killer recipe. I gallon extra potent vinegar(found in garden centers, seen it for first time at Walmart this year) plus 1 cup salt plus 1 tablespoon dish soap.(add soap last it fizzes) I am going to put in old dish soap bottle to apply on fence line. I have the landscape fabric the dogs pulled out from under the porch to put under the decorative bricks. I can do this.
 
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JudyNY said:
I echo what 3mom said!! Whew!! Where do you get all that energy???
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I don’t know if it is about getting energy as much as being determined to achieve a goal. The nice days I keep telling myself to keep going. The rainy days I rest. The church bells ring at noon so I generally start after noon, they ring again at 6 pm which tells me to wind things down. I do have the ability to take frequent breaks while I am working and assessing what I need to do next. Yesterday I finished digging the last nine holes for the cinder blocks to hold the legs of the pool. I stopped early since I finished that much. now it is time to level the Blocks gonna be more time consuming. My goal was to have this done by Mother’s Day. Now it is keep going till you finish
 
Energy has been low this last week. Too much rain and low motivation, hurting in hip and back too. Today was first day without rain in four days. I did a lot of yard work, 270 minutes by battery usage on mower and weed eater with gas mower. Still need to finish under trees. Then on to pool cinder blocks, still have 9 to level. Ordered the tool to level the sand, landscapers use on golf courses. Still have a shed to build for pool. The get pool set up and relaxing the creases out then the big fill. My only sadness is that I didn’t get it done by Mother’s Day. Thank goodness for solar cover it will warm the water in a short time to make ready for swimming. Still missing meals. Tried to make hard boiled eggs in air fryer. Pretty convenient but I need to adjust the time longer. Just a wee bit shy of being done. I did eight so I am eating every day. Have fun be safe.
 
Okay last time I wrote I had 9 cinder blocks to level. Monday my friend came by and we got three done. Yesterday I leveled 2 and today I leveled 2, I started on a third one but just couldn’t finish. Hip joint was getting very angry. Tomorrow is supposed to rain again. I feel like Mother Nature is being mean, so I am blaming her for the hip pain. Tomorrow the leveling tool is supposed to arrive, that will be fun to assemble. My new goal for the pool is to have the pool liner and frame set up by June 5. Need to let creases in the liner relax before filling with water. Will be setting up solar cover system before adding water. The bricks for around the dog yard are in place but now I need more to finish. The boards for the glider are in process then I can paint them. The shed for the pool is waiting, got to clear brush out of the way.

Food wise I am watching portions and still struggling to get three meals in. Mostly I have been snacking. Greek yogurt cup, protein bars, those have been pretty consistent. I try for a protein shake every other day. I have been enjoying hamburger patties the reg size ones between three and 4 ounces. Sometimes I can eat the whole patty other times the dogs get a bite. I have had a couple of Italian beef sandwiches broke down into thirds approx 2 oz of beef and small piece of bread bout an inch in length. The other go to food is ham salad from the deli with three ritz crackers. Occasionally for a snack I eat 1/2 Granny Smith apple for fiber = about 3 oz. I think I have gone a month now without throwing up. I still have some tummy discomfort, but not as much as before. But I feel like I am getting the hang of it. Next weigh in should be between the next 10-14 days. Be fun
 
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Roni said:
I have been enjoying hamburger patties the reg size ones between three and 4 ounces. Sometimes I can eat the whole patty other times the dogs get a bite.
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I had hamburgers this weekend too and same here, my dog gets a big bite at the end because I can't eat it all. He is happy! :D

I'm glad to hear you are getting the hang of it!
 
Today I weighed in. I have dietician call tomorrow. I am happy to report I am 6 pounds down from last month. I have worked hard and I am not disappointed. Right now I am working on leveling the sand base. It is harder than it appears. I think I am making some headway. Will be out and about in the yard in a little bit. I could work on sand or work on the area for the pool shed. Or even finish mowing, or weed eat on the outside of the fence. I will be doing something.
 
Roni said:
Today I weighed in. I have dietician call tomorrow. I am happy to report I am 6 pounds down from last month. I have worked hard and I am not disappointed. Right now I am working on leveling the sand base. It is harder than it appears. I think I am making some headway. Will be out and about in the yard in a little bit. I could work on sand or work on the area for the pool shed. Or even finish mowing, or weed eat on the outside of the fence. I will be doing something.
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That's great Roni! Yes, your hard work is paying off!
 
yesterday I spoke with the VA dietician to get help I am struggling to get protein in. Basically I am not hungry. And nothing really sounds appetizing. Eating a protein like chicken or pork and even beef, with basically nothing with it is extremely boring. Even eggs leave much to be desired. I have to go light on whey protein because it upsets my tummy. The soy protein drinks I make are good but they are too much at times and sometimes leave the tummy unsettled. As a child the house rule was “you can not drink milk that is for the babies bottles”. I was never a big fan of yogurt but I am trying to eat some everyday and still not a fan of Greek yogurt. Never really a cheese only eater either. The protein waters definitely unsettle the tummy Even if I dilute them with water. I meet for my third follow up since surgery on the tenth. I know I am going to get the lecture you need more protein, the good news is I am getting the exercise. My one friend can’t believe how different I look, funny thing I don’t feel different.

the sand leveling for the pool base has had a set back. Tomorrow on the 5, I will be redoing a lot of the sand that got moved to lower it. It got too high build up under the board I was using to level, that was on the railroad ties, which are higher than the cinder blocks for the legs. I have been having hissy fits for the last two days about this problem. Husband cut one of the boards today, that we got last weekend, to fit inside the railroad ties, over the cinder blocks. So I start fresh tomorrow Again on the high end.
 
How did you like to eat meat before surgery? I’ll have veggies with my main protein, but I’ve found that a lot depends on how I prepare the meat. We grill and smoke a lot of meat and will use some good marinades. I put half a pork loin in the pressure cooker with teriyaki sauce the other night and it was very tasty. I had leftovers of that last night without any sides because I felt the flavors were enough-I was also very tired LOL
 
3momchaos said:
How did you like to eat meat before surgery? I’ll have veggies with my main protein, but I’ve found that a lot depends on how I prepare the meat. We grill and smoke a lot of meat and will use some good marinades. I put half a pork loin in the pressure cooker with teriyaki sauce the other night and it was very tasty. I had leftovers of that last night without any sides because I felt the flavors were enough-I was also very tired LOL
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Before surgery there was Burgers with buns or salad and meat or chicken tenders or nuggets depending on where bought. Covid knocked out grilled chicken from McDonald’s. Or there was tacos. I ate a lot of pb and j sandwiches. The problem is the amount of food I can put in my stomach at one time. The portion size more directly. The most I can eat at one time is 2.5 oz of ham salad with 3 crackers. Or 1 small burger patty. And that patty is pushing it. I don’t do the chicken tenders because of the breading. Salads are hard to determine how much. The eggs were with toast now all I can do is one egg. My friend gave me some of her left over pulled pork I have 2.5 oz at a time.
 
dianeseattle said:
You're such a brave and resourceful person. Maybe you can figure out meals using alternate protein sources.

41 High-Protein Foods Ranked By Protein Content Per 100g

  1. Beef jerky 30-40g
  2. Parmesan 32g
  3. Tuna steak 32g
  4. Pumpkin seeds 30g
  5. Turkey 30g
  6. Peanuts 25-28g
  7. Edam 27g
  8. Canned tuna 25g
  9. Cheddar 25g
  10. Seitan 25g
  11. Beef 20-24g
  12. Chicken 24g
  13. Salmon 24g
  14. Stilton 24g
  15. Almonds 21g
  16. Sardines 21g
  17. Cod 20g
  18. Lamb 20g
  19. Mackerel 20g
  20. Pistachios 20g
  21. Pork loin 17-20g
  22. Tempeh 20g
  23. Cashew nuts 18g
  24. Mozzarella 18g
  25. Mussels 18g
  26. Chia seeds 17g
  27. Walnuts 15-17g
  28. Prawns 15-18g
  29. Quorn mince 14.5g
  30. Brazil nuts 14g
  31. Edamame beans 13g
  32. Eggs 13g
  33. Tofu 12g
  34. Cottage cheese 10g
  35. Greek yogurt 10g
  36. Oats 10g
  37. Lentils 7-9g
  38. Kidney beans 8g
  39. Chickpeas 7g
  40. Peas 6g
  41. Quinoa (cooked) 5g
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Thank you Diane for putting this protein foods list on here. This makes it so much simpler to find out what we need to be eating and hopefully having enough choices not to get too burned out on any one or two things.
 
KarenWV said:
Thank you Diane for putting this protein foods list on here. This makes it so much simpler to find out what we need to be eating and hopefully having enough choices not to get too burned out on any one or two things.
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I like the list. I have put in request to work with dietician locally. Just takes time to schedule. Brazil nuts those are the brown moon shaped ones crosses fingers I love those,
 
3momchaos said:
How did you like to eat meat before surgery? I’ll have veggies with my main protein, but I’ve found that a lot depends on how I prepare the meat. We grill and smoke a lot of meat and will use some good marinades. I put half a pork loin in the pressure cooker with teriyaki sauce the other night and it was very tasty. I had leftovers of that last night without any sides because I felt the flavors were enough-I was also very tired LOL
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I ate veggies or salad with my meat. Or even baked potato with salad. Ate pancakes or waffles with fruit. went back to my childhood and ate a lot of pb j sandwiches with carrots or celery stalks. Seafood is on allergic list. I can do tuna salad but recipe I just tried was too much. I miss my green tomato relish gonna see if I can find the recipe, this time I will freeze it.
 
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Roni said:
I like the list. I have put in request to work with dietician locally. Just takes time to schedule. Brazil nuts those are the brown moon shaped ones crosses fingers I love those,
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Omg I love Brazil nuts. I hardly ever see those other than at Christmas time. Now I'm so craving them! But guess I'll have to wait a few months :rolleyes:
 
Hi everyone. We’ll have made some progress since my last post on protein. I found proteinex brand liquid protein supplement on Amazon. I should say Amazon found it for me. It has several flavors, the one with the best reviews is watermelon. 18 g of protein in 2 tablespoons added to 16 oz of water. It has increased my water intake, the flavor reminds me of jolly ranchers watermelon.

the pool project stalled over the weekend. The main reason is how sore and tired I am. I have been keeping busy with yard work. Weed eating along the outside of the pool fence, then in the pool yard I have been working on the ground to level for the pool shed. My son is coming Saturday to put it up. I called the landscaper I wanted for the project but the full project was out of my budget. To only level the sand I can afford that. They were here this morning. But ran into hiccup, need more sand. we did take the liner out of the box and spread it out to get rid of packing creases. To me this is so much progress, I am reinspire. I have 7 blocks to bury while leveling and three that need adjusting. I can do this. I have it set to work on tomorrow. Life just needed a different perspective.

Tomorrow is VAMove program by conference video after lunch hour. Thursday is dietician and doc from bariatric care team. I did miss a call from the dietician referral for the food intake protein problems. But left message today to reconnect. Defeat is not an option. Be fun and stay safe.
 
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