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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Back on Track

Sometimes the hardest part of working out is getting through the gym door.  I've been avoiding the gym for months.  Partly this was due to my nagging knee problems.  I feel a knee replacement is inevitable but I'm feeling a little better for now.  Between the holidays, winter weather and procrastination I have been just not exercising.

This week I got to Planet Fitness three times.  I did weights for 30 minutes and then 30 minutes on the stationary bike.  There were a lot of mental calisthenics leading up to going back.  I'm pretty mad at myself for gaining back some weight.  Some days I feel like I have completely relapsed but thanks to recent pictures from others I see that I still look a lot better than before my weight loss surgery.  Sure, some of my clothes don't fit but I had to buy something for a funeral a couple of weeks ago and I was able to get something that fit in a regular store.  There was a time when I could hardly find something my size i
n a plus-size shop.

I'm having a long look at my life this year because on my birthday I'll be crossing into a new decade.  One of my biggest fixations is my lack of planning.  I approach my later life with no clear goals for retirement and no concrete ideas of how we'll survive financially.  One thing is clear, however.  It is better to be healthy.  Fitness helps.  Active senior citizens have better mental function.  While I'm not claiming membership with the "Gray Panthers" anytime soon I need to make changes before I get there.  I do feel better when I exercise.

  I got back to my routine for an entire week.  I look at that as a triumph.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Challenges and visits from Chuck

Life doesn't stand still.  After my first major weight loss, at age 21, I thought all my problems would be solved if I were thin.  My doctor told me my back pain would go away and my skin would clear up.  I'd had a problem with my hands becoming very cold at times.  My doctor told me that my heavy arms were impeding the circulation to my fingers.  Again, weight loss was the answer.  I was sure I'd find Mr. Right and he'd sweep me off my feet and we'd ride off into the sunset, living happily ever after in domestic bliss.  None of those things happened.  Problems arose at the usual rate and eventually I gained back what I'd lost.  My coping techniques still included comfort foods.  This scenario repeated itself over the next three decades until I finally had weight loss surgery.

Bariatric surgery has been a helpful tool in losing and seems more resistant to relapsing than when left completely to my own devices.  I've read that the possibility of stretching my pouch is not as likely as I had thought.  Indeed I've recently had two visits from "Chuck" which were a reminder to me that I still do not have a normal stomach.  Regaining weight is usually due to poor eating habits and I have been eating more carbs lately than I should.  I have been avoiding the scale lately.  

One day recently I came home from work to find my daughter had made beef stroganoff which was absolutely delicious.  I took what I considered a small portion and ate it a little too quickly.  I felt overstuffed and ultimately I had to throw it up.  I felt bad because I thought that this was insulting to my daughter's cooking. She said that she is actually flattered when this happens.  When I like something she's made so much that I eat it too fast it must be really, really tasty.  

We had an opera production of Boito's Mefistofele during October.  It was wonderful to do this opera again after my first time six years ago.  Ordinarily I have a little post-operatic depression afterwards but I didn't get a chance because of some severe weather events.  Instead we had multiple stressors from Mother Nature.  

Cut off from the world by a tree.  
An electrical nightmare.
Our area was hit by hurricane Sandy the day after the final performance of the opera.  Trees were down and our dead-end road was blocked.  Utility poles were snapped in two and lying in the street. My neighbors took the situation in hand and wielding chainsaws,  they cut enough off the huge fallen spruce tree to open up the road.  

Nobody came to rescue us so my neighbors got to work with their chainsaws.
 There were wires down but they were dead and not an active hazard.  
Our hero.  My niece's husband Bob
 who loaned us his generator.  
Shelf stable milk
While our house survived intact, we were without power for eleven days.  My cell service was out because of a fallen AT&T tower.  We felt isolated and stressed.  Lighting was either candles or flashlights.  Batteries were difficult to find in the stores.  We'd stocked up but ran low.  We felt like refugees in our own home.

We had a generator for nearly half of that time but it presented unfamiliar challenges to post bariatric surgery eating.  We could not even find ice for the first four days of our powerless period.  I found a store that had Parmalat milk which does not need refrigeration.  We ate a lot of peanut butter sandwiches, and foil-packaged tuna salad. I had cans of kippered herring which I took in my lunch box to work. I bought apples, oranges and bananas for snacking.  I cooked scrambled eggs on the barbecue grill (in a skillet, naturally) and one day I browned some SPAM cubes and mixed it with canned baked beans. Since the storm two days before Halloween it put a damper on the festivities.  We did get a few trick-or-treaters but were left with way too much candy.  Fresh vegetables were impossible to keep on hand so we did without except for some tomatoes we'd had left from the garden.  We had to throw out nearly everything from the fridge and freezer.  

I found that cooking on a gas grill is tricky when it's too dark to see what I'm cooking.  It's also not fun when there's cold drizzle raining into the pan.  I didn't want to make anything that took too long to cook in case we couldn't find refills for the propane tanks.   This type of survival eating gets old pretty quickly.  When we were loaned a generator on the sixth day we had lights, heat, refrigeration and hot water.  We could not power our electric stove or our laundry equipment.  Surprisingly our electric clocks sped up when the generator was running!  It cost us $50. per day for gasoline to keep the power on.   An unfortunate victim was our computer which suffered burnout of critical chips.
No gas here today.  

Filling tanks for the generator
Gasoline for the generator was not only expensive, it was hard to find.  Reminiscent of the 1970's Arab oil embargo, many stations either did not have power or gas.  Those that did have gas had long lines.  There were some arguments and even a few fistfights as people were stressed out trying to get what they needed.  Like in the 70's some areas went to odd/even rationing using the last digit of license plates.  While stations back then displayed either red or green flags to show if they were pumping gas.the stations now either used caution tape around the station or plastic bags over the pump handles if there was no fuel available.  

Snow didn't stop the Wisconsin workers for long.  
Nine days after the hurricane hit we got our first major snow storm of the year.  By this time we'd only had fleeting glimpses of repair trucks from the local electric company.  There were so many affected areas more concentrated in population that our little neighborhood didn't get much attention.  When the "Noreaster" storm hit we were afraid the efforts to return our power would grind to a screeching halt.  When the flakes started falling though trucks from Wisconsin worked till the wind got too strong.  The next day our power was back.  It took three more days to get the phones and the cable working.
Alliant Energy from Wisconsin
gave us back our power.


Smiling Mormon Helping Hands
Three weeks after the storm we're pretty much back to normal.  Further south, there are many still in poor shape. Queens and Staten Island, NY have widespread areas of devastation.  Last weekend I went, with members of my church, as part of Mormon Helping Hands, to help victims of the storm.  Our usual church meetings were cancelled.  We met briefly at the church, boarded school buses and made our way to Far Rockaway, Queens.  Other groups went to Staten Island.  That day alone over 4000 people spent eight hours working  for anyone who needed help.  Large areas were flooded and many are still without power.  Some homes are completely uninhabitable while others were washed away. There were still boats stranded on streets and high water marks were on many homes and fences.  We spent the day cleaning out accumulated sand and silt, demolition of moldy walls and removal of debris.  The people were happy to have help and we headed home at the end of the day tired but smiling.


Demolition team

My son and me ready to head home after a long day.  
Back on the bus, I had an orange left from the lunch I'd brought with me.  I started eating it but it wasn't a very juicy orange and it felt like my pouch was getting jammed up so I didn't finish it.  After riding a little while we stopped and our leader, Bishop Franklin, bought pizza for everyone.  I shouldn't have tried to eat it because I knew my pouch was already too full.  It smelled so good though I started eating a slice and was soon very sorry.  I knew I needed to throw up but there was nowhere to stop on the congested highway.  Thinking I could make it home, I tried to just ignore my stomach.
Riding on the bumpy city roads in a school bus did not help my situation.  Finally I couldn't take it anymore.  I tapped a nearby person on the shoulder for help.  I was quickly handed a paper bag which I promptly used.  He then handed me a plastic trash bag so I could stow my barf bag.  Relieved of my excess stomach contents I rode the rest of the way in relative comfort.

I haven't had two visits from "Chuck" in a long time.  Its a wake up to the fact that I still have control of my own destiny.  My pouch still works.  I just need to be more diligent about what I put into it.

Love to all,

Marlena of Mohegan

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Guest Blogger with Terrific Giveaway!

One of my favorite bloggers is having a BIG GIVEAWAY to celebrate 10,000 Facebook likes.  For those who are contemplating or who have had bariatric surgery this blog is a must-see for tips, recipes and inspiration.  Be sure to enter for the prizes but don't forget to try her recipes.  

  http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/

 

The Eggface BIG 10,000 Giveaway

While I was away at Fitbloggin' last weekend we hit the 10,000 friends mark on The World According to Eggface Facebook page! To say thank you for taking this journey to better health with me and for always sharing the blog and Facebook page with your pals. I'm doing a HUGE GIVEAWAY!

Sharing this ride with all of you and never feeling alone is AWESOME! Thank you!

The Prize: A Nike Gym Bag Hit the gym, pool, or dance class in style and it's jam packed with some of my post weight loss surgery bariatric favorites...

Celebrate Vitamins Calcium Plus 500 (Chewable Berries and Cream) 90 ct.
Celebrate Vitamins Multivitamin (Chewable Pineapple Strawberry) 60 ct.
Celebrate Vitamins 30mg Iron + C (Chewable Grape) 30 ct.

3 single serving packets of Celebrate Vitamins ENS in Vanilla Cake Batter, Chocolate Milk, and Strawberry flavors (each delicious shake contains a high potency multivitamin, 500 mg of calcium citrate, 4 g of fiber, and 25 g of whey isolate protein in each serving)

5 single serving sticks of Celebrate Vitamins Multivitamin and Calcium Drink Mix (Cranberry Grape flavor)

1 30 ct. Box Calcet Lemon Cream 500mg Calcium Citrate Creamy Bites

1 tub of CLICK Espresso Protein (Mocha Flavor)

2 single serving packs of Syntrax Chocolate Truffle and Vanilla Bean Torte Protein Powder

1 Oh Yeah Ready-to-Drink Vanilla Creme Shake

3 Quest Protein Bars (Wild Berry, Apple Pie, Vanilla Almond flavors)

2 Premier Titan High Protein Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2 Sample Packs of PB2 Peanut Butter Thins

Chike Nutrition 6 packet Protein Variety Pack (1 of each flavor: Chocolate Bliss, Very Vanilla, Strawberry Burst, Banana Magic, Orange Creme and High Protein Iced Coffee)

1 Mini Sampler Set of Sugar Free Torani Syrups (4 - 150 ml mini bottles in SF Caramel, SF Raspberry, SF Vanilla, and SF Hazelnut)

Big Train 5 packet Fit Frappe Protein Variety Pack (1 of each flavor: Chocolate, Espresso, Mocha, Vanilla, Vanilla Latte)

Big Train Reusable Tumbler Cup

1 Blue 28 oz. Blender Bottle Shaker


How to Enter: Like The World According to Eggface on Facebook. Come back here and LEAVE A COMMENT (include a name and an email addy) on this blog posting. Scroll down to # of comments to leave yours. Do not leave on Facebook (they have rules about it.)

Contest periods ends: Sunday October 7th, midnight (Pacific time)

Monday, October 8th I'll draw a name using a random number generator and announce the winner here on the blog! I will also email the winner at the address posted. You'll have one week (7 days) to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen. Remember winners MUST be a Facebook friend of The World According to Eggface. One ENTRY per person. Blog comments are moderated so there may be a slight delay (up to a few hours) in seeing your comment/entry post. Giveaway is open to anyone in the United States (48 contiguous, Alaska & Hawaii.)

Good luck everyone! 

Love to all, 
Marlena of Mohegan

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Sunday Afternoon Ambulation




I seem to have trouble staying active on Sunday.  I go to church where I am the nursery leader.  After our main meeting, I spend two hours corralling a herd of two-year olds.  Yes, you read right.  Three hours of church.  Every week.

Late afternoon shadow. 

Sunny day for my walk.
Anyway, after the nursery rodeo I come home, have lunch while playing on the computer and then go up to my bed to read for a while.  My reading usually turns into a nap.  I don't really like to head for the gym on Sunday and today I really wanted some family time.  I had a great idea to go with my daughter's family and head for a nearby place I've wanted to see for quite a while.  The Walkway Over the Hudson is a former railroad bridge turned into a New York State Park. It is 1.28 miles long and 212 feet above the Hudson river.  

Southward view from mid-span. 

It was a perfectly clear day with the temperature and humidity just right.  A little breeze but not too much. There were all ages of people walking, running, riding bicycles, tricycles, wheelchairs and scooters.  Lots of dogs.  One couple had a very old dog riding in a wagon.  Like any open space in New York, the faces were from all parts of the world.  Today was a whole lot better than laps around the track. 
 Love to all, Marlena of Mohegan
View of the longest pedestrian bridge in the world. 





























































































































































































































Monday, September 3, 2012

Labor Day

Today while grocery shopping I was surprised to discover that Sunsweet is marketing chocolate covered prunes!  While they may call them Plum Sweets they are really just prunes in disguise.  I suppose this is another result of the great glut of humanity known as the "Baby Boomers" becoming obsessed with "regularity" as we age.  What next?

I had to hustle to get to Planet Fitness today because they closed at 1PM for the Labor Day Holiday.  I was surprised to find the place packed with people when I arrived about 11:45.  Only one upright stationary bike was vacant at the time and I was glad I didn't have to resort to the recumbent bike (my butt gets numb on those).

While on the bike I glanced at the row of TV's not expecting to find anything outside the usual daytime drivel.  I was not anticipating something that would make me cry.  On the show "Inside Edition" there was a report of a viral video showing Matt, a young boy with cerebral palsy running a 400 meter race.  He faltered painfully but before he could give up his gym teacher ran up next to him and gave him words of encouragement.  His classmates joined in behind him and gave him the incentive he needed to finish the race.  It was a beautiful moment even though I was not connected to the audio feed.  Below, find a link to Inside Edition write-up.  

News - Boy With Cerebral Palsy Triumphs At Elementary School Field Day - InsideEdition.com

Then view the video on You tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Alt2DssYc

My struggles pale by comparison to this brave kid.  To boldly start a race he knew he couldn't possibly win puts to shame all of us who whine and complain about our lack of will power.  Winning isn't always about finishing first.  Sometimes triumph comes by not giving up. 

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Thrill of Victory...NOT!

I finally got tired of my knee having the spasms that woke me up a few weeks ago.  On Saturday I went to work all tightened up.  When I flexed the knee there was this horrible grinding accompanied by pain. The crepitis was so bad I could actually hear it.   One of my co-workers was nice enough to switch assignments with me so I could be at the triage desk.  Working triage has a lot less running around.  By the next day I was better but every time I get up from sitting I felt like it might go out again.  One physician assistant who used to work with an orthopedic group felt I should really have an MRI and be seen by my ortho doc.

So today I had an MRI and went to see Dr. Brand.  He told me that I have a small meniscus tear on the opposite side of the knee along with a lot of arthritis. This type of pain I've had before in the other knee.  The MRI doesn't show the problem that hurts the most.  He feels I have ileo-tibial band syndrome.  This is an inflammation of the band of muscle and tendon that stretches from the buttock area to the outer side of the knee.  It often affects runners or cyclists.  This is exactly what my friend, the yoga guru, told me it was.  The doctor gave me a corticosteroid injection which should help.  He says I should be able to get back to exercising in two days.  If I'm not doing better after a couple of weeks he will have me do physical therapy.

Not exercising is no longer an option for me.  I'm rather stressed that I can't do it right now.  Someone suggested swimming rather than cycling but I don't belong to a gym that has a pool.  The only one in the area with a pool is much more expensive than Planet Fitness.  I almost went to a yoga class last week.  My friend has a class on Thursday evening and if my knee feels up to it I'm gonna do it.  Then I can get back to the gym on Friday. 

It's pretty typical of me to find some way to hurt myself doing an athletic activity.  I'll focus more on warming up and cooling down from now on.  I'd never thought riding a bike needed that type of thing.  Usually I tried to start off slowly and gradually increase the RPM's  I incorporated the yoga stretches but I guess they were too little too late to cure my pain.  Hopefully the yoga will help me heal.

One of the US Olympic gymnasts competed with a fractured toe.  I saw a close-up photo of her bruised and battered foot.  When the interviewer asked if the injury meant she was spending a lot of time being iced after training and competing, she replied that they all always do that anyway.  They deal with pain all the time.  It's hard to imagine when you see them flinging themselves all over the place.  The trick is knowing what the pain is telling you.  Some pain means you need to stop.  I saw one short-distance runner slow down and drop out of his race.  He said his ham-strings weren't right.  If he continued to run that race there might have been irreparable damage.  After the years of training for the Olympics it must have been devastating to give up but he listened to his body.
Ouch!

I am not and never have been a competitive athlete.  Oh, I was on a bowling team for a while, but I have never been possessed of the type of drive to win at all costs.  My only opponent is myself. I just want to get in better shape no matter how much my inner self wants to sit on my ass.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Bottoming Out in the Wee Hours

No Pop Tarts
I've really got to give myself a kick in the butt.  Last night I was needing something to munch on and found a stash of Pop Tarts that somebody in my family had hidden.The sad thing is that they really don't taste all that great for the amount of calories they have.  Nevertheless,  I ate two of them around midnight.  I've always felt that the manufacturer forces you to eat two at a time because there are two in each wrapper.  If you only eat one then the poor, lonely other one gets stale. (Yeah, right).  Anyway late night snacking is a constant temptation for me but last night it really backfired.

I went to bed around one a.m..  Why I stayed up so late when I had to work in the morning is another issue.  I'm just not ready for bed before midnight especially when I've been to the gym in the evening.  At around 2:30, I awoke dying of thirst.  I stumbled, literally, to the bathroom.  As I got my drink I felt very sweaty and uncoordinated.  I felt like my blood sugar was really low.  I didn't want to wake anyone to get me something to bring the glucose level up but I had to do something.  I grabbed my husband's bottle of TUMS and poured out about five of them.  I chewed them up and soon felt better and went back to sleep.

I was amazed that I woke up in that condition.  I always thought if your sugar bottomed out when you were sleeping that you might just not wake up at all.  I felt fine in the morning, although more than tired from only getting a few hours of uninterrupted slumber.
Apparently there are no existing depictions of women who snore. 

Today after work I went to Trader Joe's and got some munchies with less sugar.  I bought low fat cheese sticks, fresh cherries and protein muffins.  I can get carried away with cheese but at least it doesn't affect my blood glucose level!  I'm up late again tonight but at least I'm off tomorrow.

On a good note, today was a really busy day at work. Normally I'm grabbing those little packs of graham crackers when it looks like I'm not going to get lunch. I resisted all day long. I got a Greek yogurt from a vending machine instead. So see, I can have will power once in a while. I'm not consistent but there is hope.

Love to all,
Marlena of Mohegan