I'm still kinda new (think I joined the week you were off having your surgery) so you and I haven't really "chatted".
You sound like you have a plan in place to recover as quickly and as well as possible. You won't need those "poor me" foods as you're optimistic and on plan! I admire your attitude and wish you a speedy recovery from such a major trauma to your body.
My only news is that I went for a jog yesterday morning - first time in 20 years - and jogged 3 consecutive K and then did the other 3K in intervals. I have a slightly sore knee today but everything else is fine.
Switching around my exercise and my food plan are the ways I'm going to cope with maintenance being permanent.
Wow Meg, so you've been pretty busy the last 10 days or so, huh? What an ordeal! It sounds harrowing. I'm not sure if I could get through all of that. But if anyone can, it's most definitely you. And of course as usual - with SUCH grace. What a trooper. May you continue to recover swiftly and with ease.
Mudpide, great going on the jogging. You must feel marvelous with yourself.
I hurt my knee very badly yesterday. I was at the beach (yes, I've become a beach bum) and was taken down by a wave. The water was incredibly rough. I didn't go down well and now I can barely straighten it. Hopefully this will pass soon. Oh, but the most gorgeous lifeguard came to assist me. I mean GORGEOUS. Like he could have been on one of those teen-type TV shows. There will be no resting it. My oldest DD is headed back up to college tomorrow. Lots and lots to get done today.
Meg, thanks for sharing your ordeal. It sure sounds very painful to me. It seems you are doing very well and we are thankful for that. I can sure relate to the upper body strength needed to use a walker. I definitely remember all the time I've spent on crutches and how hard it was.
Robin, hope your knee is better soon and what luck getting a gorgeous lifeguard. (The last time Lacy had tests done at the hospital, her radiologist was fabulous looking). It even made the Upper GI testing easier for both of us. LOL.
I've been having some pain issues myself. Terrible pain in the bones on the top of my feet. I don't know why. I haven't injured myself. I'm thinking maybe it's all the golf I've been playing (and the extra walking trying to find my ball).
My house sure seems quiet now that that the grandsons have gone home.
Only 4 weeks now til my son comes in from Iraq to visit. I'm counting down the days.
My car still has a flat tire and I'll be glad when DH gets home tomorrow and can change it. Getting in and out of Shane's jeep is exercise in itself. LOL. I wanted to change the tire myself but was afraid that I wouldn't get the spare on tight enough. DH convinced me to just leave it alone and let him fix it. After all, that is what husbands are for! I am getting a lot of strange looks though driving a souped up jeep with huge tires and fog lights all across the top. LOL. Funny story though, when SD borrowed this Jeep she had to give her mom a ride in it. The mom is short and round. SD had to pull the Jeep into the ditch so her mom could climb into it. LOL, at least I can hop up there. LOL. Of course, 90 lbs. ago I would have had to have a crane lift me into it.
Meg, you even look great standing there with a walker! I'm not surprised you wowed them with your upper body strength. You are one determined lady, and you'll have those new knees whipped into shape easily. Sounds like you'll be too busy with your physical therapy and upper body exercises to get into a "poor me" eating state. Wishing you a speedy recovery! I'm really envious of the dense bones.
Dagmar, way to go on the jogging! Are you going to make it a routine?
Robin, hope your knee feels better. If you've got to be rescued, being rescued by a gorgeous lifeguard is the way to go.
Lily, those four weeks will fly by!
So my weekend was spent painting and working in the yard trying to get it in shipshape because we're moving back to Boise. I'm not giving up my house (and my brand-new kitchen!) here in Oregon, however, because we will be back in nine years (retirement) or before (hopefully!). We'll be renting the house through a property management company. I have no idea what we'll come back to, but I've got to keep telling myself, it's just a house, it's just a house. The whole DH in Idaho/me in Oregon just wasn't working for us so there you go.
I'm trying to be positive about the move, but Boise is where I put on the majority of the 100 lbs. I lost. This time will be different. We'll join the Y and make activity and eating well a priority. Plus no more stressful teenagers and their teenage angst living at home. We're empty-nesters and that's a plus.
Happy Monday, everyone! We got hit with heavy showers last night. Good for the garden!
Meg~welcome home and thanks for your story. My MIL needs a knee replacement and will probably be getting it next spring after she's on Medicare. One knee is bone-on-bone like yours. Her younger sister got both her knees done two years ago and is doing marvelously despite being obese and not trying to lose.
Dagmar~way to go on the jogging! Don't let DH drag you down!
Michelle~you're ravenous because of lack of sleep. You'll calm down. It will get better. This is really funny, but since my DD left for school last Wednesday, I think we're communicating MORE! We email several times a day and she's called me a few times, too. Usually she spends her time at home holed up in her room on the computer or with her nose in a book. No conversations! Her first day of school is today.
Robin~ouch! take care of your knee!
Lily~my FIL taught my DD and a bunch of her friends how to change tires, check fluid levels, jump start the car and other things last winter. He made them all change the tire. It was hard, but they all appreciated it.
I had an okay weekend. I took the dogs in for shots on Saturday and didn't have time for my morning coffee which (I think) caused me to get a headache mid-morning. Advil didn't work. Tylenol didn't work. Aspirin didn't work. I finally went to bed at 7:30 PM because I was in so much pain. I really didn't want to go to bed that early, thinking I'd wake up at 2 AM and not be able to get back to sleep, but I managed to sleep all the way until 7 AM! And I felt much better Sunday. My abs hurt all weekend due to my trainer really pushing me on Friday, but I'm not complaining about that!
I have a great menu for this week and I hope to be finally getting into the losing mode rather than this pseudo maintenance (which is really gaining for me). I have no wine in the house, which is the first obstacle for me to overcome. I'll have some crystal light lemonade while fixing dinner--I need a taste other than water to keep me from munching.
Welcome home, Meg!! You are so tough with all you have been through. I am proud of your strength---both mental and physical. Pardon me while I kiss my knees now. Take it easy and eat your protein. You definitely need salmon more than ice cream to get healed.
It was a busy weekend for me. We set a record for # of births yesterday. What were people doing 40 weeks ago?
Nice job on the running, Dagmar.
Ouch on the knee, Robin. Score on the lifeguard though!
Good luck with Boise, Sheila. You have the skillz (yes, with a 'z') to keep the weight off.
Hi Allison! I can't wait to read your menu!
I'm having a small medical issue right now...and I won't go into details but hopefully it can be solved this am and hopefully it won't interfere with my weight lifting, biking, and running plans this week. I have a feeling I'll need to take it easy at least for today though. Le sigh.
ETA: Yes, I realize it is lame of me to gripe about maybe a day or two off with Meg facing more time than that off. I don't mean to be insensitive.....
Welcome home Meg!!! The lack of showering after a surgery really does suck, so I hope that you can get your incisions taken care of soon. When I had my wrist surgery getting into the tub with my arm sticking out was okay, but I had to have DH help wash me!
to all the folks who had kids go off to college the past week!
Midwife - LOL about the births! I heard that more babies are conceived during winter months because people are bored and have nothing to do. Is it true in your experience?
Dagmar - you must be pretty fit to run that far without having run at all lately! I've found then when I stop running my ability to do it declines very rapidly.
Robin - sorry about your knee, I hope it gets better soon. I am so jealous of your beach -- my nearest beach is over three hours away and it's on Lake Michigan, not the ocean! A big change from living in Rhode Island. On the other hand, being a beach bum is more fun in LA because you can do it year round. Last time I went home we went to the beach on xmas!
Allison - you're probably right about it being a caffeine headache. My DH was a huge coffee drinker back about five or six years ago (think six POTS per day). He went cold turkey on it and basically slept for a week straight, waking up only long enough to eat, during which time he had a constant terrible headache. He's been caffeine-free since then!
Sheila - I'm sure you will make Boise work for you this time around.
I'm a bit behind since I haven't been on 3FC since Thursday. DH and I took Friday off and went to ride roller coasters all day! We had a great time, and a relaxing weekend after that. My only other news of the weekend was that we rescued a baby mole that had fallen into our basement window well. Actually two fell in, but one of them died. After phone tag with about a million people, we finally got the other one captured in a shoebox and brought him to a wildlife rescue. (Now is the time where all of you who use mole poison are thinking I'm loony!) Anyway, I'm glad that Mr. Mole is safe now. He was actually really cute (and FAST!).
Of course now since we saw two baby moles, we know that there are more moles somewhere in our yard! It would be great if they ate all the grubs under our lawn, but hopefully they won't do too much damage. Also hopefully they won't emerge inside the fence and get eaten by our dog! He hasn't been able to catch any bunnies yet so I don't think he'd be able to catch a mole either, unless he dug into their tunnels (and he is not a digger).
Allison - you're probably right about it being a caffeine headache. My DH was a huge coffee drinker back about five or six years ago (think six POTS per day). He went cold turkey on it and basically slept for a week straight, waking up only long enough to eat, during which time he had a constant terrible headache. He's been caffeine-free since then!
Well, I'm not that bad!! 3 cups a day max. Usually I can go a day without caffeine with no problem. It's when I go 2 or more days that the headaches start. I can't imagine why this happened. I'm just glad it's over!
Meg! It's wonderful to see you back! You are so brave. I know your surgery had to be done but that doesn't make this experience any easier. I recall last winter when I had both of my medial menisci trimmed and knees scoped how frustrated I felt. (Nothing compared to what you are enduring) But the frustration was something like, I've worked so hard to remain fit and strong through the injury and up to surgery and now I'm lying flat in this bed watching movies with big bandages on my knees. What the happened?
It sounds like you have a good plan in place with regard to feeding yourself well. I'm also glad you have a team working with you to help you regain range of motion and prevent scar tissue. This was something I was unaware of until I spoke with a personal trainer a few weeks later.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience and plan for recovery. Hopefully I will not need to know first hand what this experience is like but in case I ever do at least my expectations will be a little more realistic and kinder to myself.
Oh, and remember, it could be a while before you are able to sit down on a mat to do any floor work and expect to pull yourself back up. I forgot about two weeks after my surgery and had to drop my ego to accept a hand up from another gym member I've never met before. Thank goodness he was there
There is just no excuse for my poor eating last week. I confess. I ate terribly. Then I felt sick for several days too, and tired, stressed with all of the craziness going on in my life, and used that as an excuse not to go to the gym. But it's not. (Not being able to drive to the gym in the tropical storm is the only legitimate excuse I had for missing Saturday's workout only! But I should have done something at home instead.) Yesterday I went to the store and got lots of lovely produce, planned my food & workout week the best I could and prepped food, and am hoping the structure of the work week will help me keep things in check.
I also spent Friday and Saturday in the house staring at the rain pouring down outside. It was very windy and dangerous to drive anywhere. I'm glad TS Fay is (mostly - minus residual thunderstorms) gone!
Since breastfeeding is a hot topic (hang in there Lisa!), I have a funny story. A friend of my roommates and mine, K, is 30 with her first kid, 4 months. Last month she brought several bags of breastmilk to our house when she came over and accidentally left one in the freezer. Last week when the power was out for several days, one roommate loaded up her freezer food in 2 small coolers, dropped one off at an older friend's (he is 60), and took the other to K's house to spend the night with her (we tried to distribute our fridge/freezer food amongst our friends to not overwhelm anyone's fridge with tons of food). Other RM & I gave her the bag of breastmilk and told her she might as well bring it back to K's. K said "oh, thanks, I work hard for every bag!" Then RM unloaded the cooler in K's fridge to discover she had left the breast milk with our 60-year-old-male friend in her other cooler. Oops. He never said anything about it, but we found it funny.
Meg, I'm so glad to hear your doing ok! Sound like you really needed that surgery. I'll bet the medical staff was very impressed by your fitness and strength level. Ice cream and cookies won't make you feel better. Trust me, I tried it last week and they didn't help - they will actually make you feel worse. I'm glad you're back and good luck with rehab! (Not that you need it.)
Robin, sure, you "hurt your knee" so the gorgeous lifeguard would have to help you. Suuuuure. JK, I hope it passes quickly.
Dagmar, great job jogging!
Lily, you should start dressing really crazy when you drive around in the souped-up jeep too. And then take a picture! Sounds funny.
Allison, my "pseudo-maintenance" is also sort of gaining at this point. Maybe we can try and get ourselves back to goal together. My problem is most definitely the food aspect, secondary alcohol. We can do it, right? Sorry about your headache - sounds painful. Glad it's gone.
Sheila, you will definitely stay active when you move! Your lifestyle has changed completely, and you're not the same person you were when you last lived in Boise. When is your move date?
midwife, I think holidays make people happy so they... you know... more... also they more during the holidays. Leads to more
Hi Jessica! Maybe your dog will help keep the moles out of the yard.
I'm also sending s to the parents with kids gone. And s to our Lisa and Anne with your wee babes!
Meg, welcome back. Wishing you fast healing! You were missed here, for sure. Love the walker pic, and hope your knees deflate soon. Geez, only 8 pounds with that much swelling...you must be tiny now.
Dagmar, good job on the running.
Robin, hope your knee heals quickly, and glad you got at least a little eye candy in the bargain.
Lily, hope you are feeling better and that the time passes quickly until Shane gets home.
Sheila, I know you'll do great in Boise this time around. Moving sounds stressful. Take care of yourself.
Allison, if you were able to sleep that much maybe you were just overtired to begin with. Doesn't sound like caffeine should have THAT much of an effect at only 3 cups a day.
Hi midwife! Glad you're busy and hope you're feeling better soon.
Jessica, roller coasters and moles. Sounds like quite the weekend.
Hi Lydia!
Megan, stop "should"ing yourself to death. Sounds like you've got a good plan for the week. Thanks for sharing the breastmilk story.
My news: big changes this week. We traded in the small car and got a minivan since we never have room for anything in addition to the kids and their carseats. I got a great deal with the model year end deals--guess what, no one wants to buy a minivan when gas costs so much. We'll just have to deal with that, but I really like it. I got my bicycle into it, with both carseats still installed without even taking off a wheel.
DS started day care today. He only spent 3 hrs there as we get him used to the place. He is passed out right now, which meant he was too overstimulated to sleep, but he did really well, and one of the women who took such great care of his sister is still there, and I feel really good about that. But, I miss him so much. It is easier the second time around but isn't easy.
I swam today! First time in 10 months or so. It is hard starting over, because you remember what you could do, and by comparison it seems so hard. I'm trying to cut myself some slack though. I am still having knee issues so I'm riding more and now that I have child care, I can swim.
I start back to work in 3 weeks. Seems like both forever and no time at all. I need to get some new work clothes, since I'm still, ah, a little chunky now. Looking forward to it, as well as dreading it. Can you say mixed feelings?
Ah, yes, and DS just almost slept through the night. He got to 30 minutes before my alarm went off. The end of the mindbreaking fatigue is in sight!
Anne - glad to hear your DS is almost sleeping through the night! That must be a great relief. That's great that you got a deal on the minivan! My parents had one when I was a kid, but I don't think we ever managed to fit a bike in it without taking off the tire. Actually come to think of it they had a bike rack for it (not that my couch potato family ever biked much!).
Lydia - I am imagining you sprawled out on a gym mat saying "Somebody help me, I can't get up!" It makes me think of that old "I'm fallen and I can't get up" commercial. I have had similar embarrassing moments . . . when my wrists were bad, I had to ask a coworker to open a water bottle for me and felt really dumb, plus a while back I had to ask my coworkers to kill a bug that was in my cubicle for me! Seriously though, not being able to get up is no laughing matter.
Megan - Don't beat yourself up over a few days off plan. I can imagine that with TS Fay and the news that your gym was closing that would be pretty stressful, in addition to whatever other stress you may be having. I know you will do better this week!
In an effort to force myself to get some more exercise, I bit the bullet and signed up for aqua aerobics through my local parks department. So now, no excuses, I have to go to my "Aqua Blast" class every Monday in September (except labor day of course). Not a huge commitment, since it's nonrefundable and I don't know if I'll like it, but I am excited about it. If I like it I can register for more classes on a different day in October -- I already registered for intro Spanish classes on Mondays.
The other exciting part of taking an aqua aerobics class is that it gives me an excuse to buy a new swimsuit. The only one I have that is not a "fat" swimsuit is my bikini, which I don't think would be appropriate! Speaking of which, why the heck do I still have my fat swimsuits?
Maintainers Chat: August 25 - 31
Welcome back Meg
Hi Dagmar! It's a pleasure to meet you and 
on the jogging!
What an ordeal! It sounds harrowing. I'm not sure if I could get through all of that. But if anyone can, it's most definitely you. And of course as usual - with SUCH grace. What a trooper. 
May you continue to recover swiftly and with ease. 
Take it easy and eat your protein. You definitely need salmon more than ice cream to get healed. 
Le sigh.
Is it true in your experience?
I've worked so hard to remain fit and strong through the injury and up to surgery and now I'm lying flat in this bed watching movies with big bandages on my knees. What the 
Thank goodness he was there 
more... also they 
more during the holidays. Leads to more 
