What's on your Saturday menu?

Good morning and happy Saturday everyone.

Not a lot planned for the day here. Hopefully a nap or two. It wasn't a good night.

Yesterday I totally reset my old laptop. Hopefully I'll be able to get some use out of it now. I was able to look at my myelogram images. It's definitely gotten worse since the one last year. Will post two "slices" out of the series of images at the bottom...I think the obvious parts seen, radiculopathy and bone spurs are just getting worse and worse. No wonder my neurosurgeon said my back is a **** show. I could actually use some good thoughts to get through this coming month and months I should say. It'd be highly appreciated.

QOTD: what is your favorite vacation that you've taken?

Mine was a road trip with my grandparents up to Billings, Montana. We went early and drove to Yellowstone. It was just so much! Seeing my grandpa, who had seen so so much, see something for the first time was just...so rewarding and memorable. My grandma couldn't of cared any less than she did! The crows were awesome. When we left we had to take the NE entrance/exit. If you've taken it you may remember bear tooth pass. Our brake light had been on and going down that pass my grandparents were practically yelling "oh Jesus!' And many other things. I loved it but everyone else was scared to death,

B: JUST egg cup & coffee...1 tbs peanut butter

L: I haven't got a clue

D: i set out some chicken that I'll probably do in an Asian style sauce

S: 1 mini bag of Doritos and ????

Mornin' Weekenders!

not much on tap for today. DH will be bumming around with his mother most of the day - Indian buffet for lunch, stopping by some new store that features mid-century modern furniture, and some art show. I'll be here at home. I need to read a book for Monday's book discussion group. I've got another stuff I need to do as well, but this book takes priority.

QOTD: I've taken a lot of great vacations, but the one I took to Scotland in July takes the cake (for the family reunion - of family I'd never met before!). Loved every minute of it.

B: protein oatmeal topped with plain Greek yogurt and blueberries, coffee with half & half

MS: cottage cheese (and diced peaches?)

L: the other half the sandwich I had yesterday at the bar & grill place (grilled cheese with pesto and a tomato slice)

AS: protein muffin

D: 1/2 an Impossible Burger on 1/2 slim bun, some kind of vegetable

have a great day, everyone!

Good morning everyone,

Melody - that looks so painful. Have they talked about fusion? Good thoughts your way for sure. When your spine isn't cooperating you become acutely aware of how much it's used for everything.

Yesterday I called the nutritionist/dietician at my clinic again. I'm meeting all my goals but...I'm losing a lot of interest in eating because of the meat-heavy menu. Though I forgot to ask if they count soy-based proteins since it's not on my approved list, I did get clearance to add in some more vegetables. You guys - I am so excited for this! I picked up some cabbage to give a tweaked egg roll in a bowl recipe a try. And zucchini and beets. Don't remember the last time I was quite so excited for some beets.

No issues yesterday in adding shrimp back. Seafood is awesome, so glad that worked out. I'm done with the external things this weekend. Got my groceries and errands done. Planning on some elliptical time this morning before it gets hot here. Probably some meal planning, cooking, and housework. Tomorrow I'll get some yard work done. All of my old oaks and mature trees love to drop branches and I have a lot to drag to the burn piles.

QOTD - Travel is amazing in my book. Favorites are for different reasons. Internationally I'll say Australia. We took my mom several years back for her birthday and stayed two weeks hopping around. Domestically I would probably count my fall road trips back to the northeast. Nothing quite like stopping by where I used to live, smelling the pine forests in fall and then tooling up the coast for fresh seafood and visiting friends.

Menu

Pre- breakfast- planted protein shake

Breakfast - leftover poached egg and a piece of sausage

Lunch - going to try broiled scallops. Or maybe seared

Snack - nonfat Greek yogurt

Dinner - bit of shrimp again to use up the rest of the bag. Ginger, chili, garlic

Cheers!

There have been a few people on here that are vegetarian/vegetarian forward that have been successful; I think it's probably easier once you're through all the stages. I know Wombat posts on the main board periodically and she has some good tips and Christina is on this one periodically and she does as well.

Hey Jen,

Thanks, that's good to know! I've seen Wombat posting and will take a deeper look. Vegetarian forward is definitely me. I knew this would be an adjustment. I can hang on through the stages and will still follow the plan. The flexibility is good, though. Stage four is at three months, I'm told. Also looking forward to oatmeal again. I see people posting protein oatmeal a lot.

Appreciate your response!

Before My 600 LB Life, TLC had a show called Big Medicine. It was about weight loss surgery. One the surgeons, Garth Davis, is vegan and writes a lot about following a vegan diet after surgery. He has a website and active on Facebook. You can do this without eating meat.

Hey there!

Thanks, I hadn't heard of Dr. Warren before. I've looked him up and also found an interesting vegan cooking course offered on one of the sites. I'm unaccountable excited at the possibility of learning different ways to cook grains and veggies. There's a good possibility I might sign up once I reach all food stage. I'll need to talk to them about the adaptations more. I don't mind some meat but would prefer no more than a couple times a week.

Appreciate you sharing!

Good morning!

I was about 90 percent food compliant yesterday. Added a bit of cheese our friend brought as a hostess gift and I felt like I had to eat some and then about 6 teeny tiny peanut butter cups from this mix Roger buys. I can usually stay out of it, but I had a few.

Nothing to do today until we host the neighbors on the deck at 6, really. I'm doing a charcutier board. I have so many cheeses and meats in the drawer we can barely get it closed. I need to get the neighbors to eat them up and I need to stop buying cheese just because I walk by it and my brain goes OH YUM".

QoTD: I've been very lucky to have many amazing vacations. Hard to select one out. My 50th was pretty cool. We rented out several rooms at a tiny hotel in Palm Springs. For 3 days our friends were there celebrating and eating and hanging out at the pool and then when they all checked out, our family checked in. Including my, at the time, 6 month old granddaughter. We spent four more days swimming, eating ice cream, having ****tails poolside, playing yahtzee and phase 10 and laughing, cussing and dancing.

food today

B: leftover chili relleno casserole

L: not sure, maybe beef jerky and pop chips

D: meats, cheeses, heirloom tomatoes, and bites of what the other ladies bring!

Accountability. Wine.

Peace Everybody!

I had a friend who was scheduled for a fusion. One of the surgeons diagnosed his problem as the Japanese Disease. It is a condition that is rarely found in non-Japanese or n0n-Asians. I don't remember exactly, but parts of the back that should be soft tissue were turning to bone. They did a surgery to remove those stone-like growths that were compressing discs and pinching nerves. That was more than 10 years ago and he still does not have the fusion. They told him that without that surgery he would have been in a wheelchair. He is 73 now and still out working on his farm and running his tractor and other equipment.

You can find information by googling the Japanese Disease or OPLL. Probably not what you have but my friend believes he was lucky to have a surgeon who found what he had when many others could not determine what was wrong.

QOTD: I have eleven living brothers and sisters. One year we rented an entire condo building at Myrtle Beach. All 24 condo units, outdoor pool, game rooms, outdoor picnic area with grills and common rooms. We had our families, children, and grandchildren. My mother was still alive then and came along. It was a wonderful vacation/reunion and the weather was perfect the entire week.