Monday, April 15th, Cardio & Cafe

Good Morning Botts:

It is tax day and for some not that great a day.  I hope for all of us it is not to painful.  I got my house in order and made 8 casseroles yesterday for my family while I will be down and out and 2 freezer bags of that Mexican Chicken Soup.  I will be posting through Wednesday morning and then I will be down for a few days on some good pain meds after my surgery on Thursday.  My eats for today is protein loaded:

Breakfast:  Coffee & Miralax

​Snack:  Protein Shake

Lunch:  Protein Bar

Snack:  Protein Shake

Snack:  Protein Bar

Dinner:  Protein Shake

Snack:  Protein Bar

That will get me 130 grams of protein and 860 calories.  I plan on doing this through Wednesday evening.  I hope everybody has a wonderful week and a great Monday.  Don't forget your vits and drink lots of fluids.  We are going to be in the 80's all week temp wise.

It is rainy and little bit cooler here today.  The rain and low pressure of caurse want me to crawl back in bed and sleep.. but I need to work. I dropped checks for my accountant to send to tax people. That hurt.  

On another note - the tests my endo resulted in diagnosis of Secondary Adrenal Insufficiencies. Basically my adrenals don't make enough stress and the hormones, and it was determined that it was because they do not get the signal from the brain to make them (low ACTH)... at least I know why i turn into a "pile of goop" when I get overstressed, or when I had to deal with high stress situation.  My body can't handle the stress.  That also can explain my  allergies, some belly pain, joins and muscle pains, low BP, and so on.   

Now we need to figure out what is causing that... so today I will have a brain MRI.    Sometimes the is a tumor that presses on the Hypothalamus or pituitary glands, that may cause low production of ACTH ... but in most cases, even if that is a tumor - it is not malignant and it is slow growing... I have the MRI today and will see the doc on Thursday.  That will be stressful week.  

Beside that - I do try to follow a very good - high protein diet and take it easy.    

Note: I had some beers last week and I concluded that even though I start liking the beer ... my body do not work well with it.   Not sure if it was the gas, or the gluten in a beer - but I was hurting, was swollen, with pain and lots of gas.  (I do allow the beer to go almost flat) . So no more beer for me... that's for sure. 

I also read that alcohol - even a little is no-no with adrenal insufficiencies (even though people crave it, and helps digestion) so after all I may have really to give it up.  

Hala:

Try not to stress to much about the MRI.  You can't do anything about it until you have the results anyway and you don't need the added stress.  Avoid the beer, empty calories and too much bloating and pain.  I think an occasional glass of wine is not going to do you in hopefully.  I hope you get a better report on what is causing your low ACTH.  Sorry about the checks to the tax people.  We are actually getting a little back.  I really hope you have a low stress week and get to feeling much better sooner.

Wow, 8 casseroles!  You were definitely Suzy Homemaker yesterday, Tess :)  That's great though, and I'm sure your family appreciates it.  Tell me, do you cook low carb and low fat for them too?  Right now, I'm cooking just for myself because it's only me, but a close family member is having WLS this summer and I'll be working with her to show her some tricks of the trade.

You're on the home stretch now.  Must be really exciting, and I wish you all the best.  Have a great day!

Thank you!  I take the best recipes that I have and make them with the lighter versions of what they call for.  ie:  fat free sour cream, fat free cream cheese, fat free cream of soups.  I do use real butter but only 1/2 of what is called for in the recipe.  I made two potato casseroles, two bbq chicken casseroles, 2 mexican chicken soup batches, 2 corn puddings, 2 rotel chicken casseroles.  Tonight and tomorrow night I will be making 2 green bean casseroles, 2 potato & chedder soup batches, 2 bake spaghetti casseroles and 2 turkey and dressing casseroles.  I also have some frozen meatloaf, roast beef, chicken breast and salisbury steak in the freezer.  I have two bundt cakes in the freezer and a bag of parker house rolls to heat and brown.  That should keep my men happy for the next 3-4 weeks.  I know that they will supplement with some take out food but they still will have plenty of home cooking too.  

I ordered me two more boxes of cookie dough protein bars, some protein biscotti biscuits and extra unjury powder to really reve up my healing time and I am making a big bowl of protein pudding to have when I get back home.  I am getting excited now.

You family is really lucky... mmm... some of those sound so good... 

My feet hurt just imagining all that cooking! You've got some lucky menfolk.

Where do you get your protein bars from? And protein biscotti--yumm and wow! I haven't heard of those, and I want some right now with this cuppa coffee.

Tax day. I owe. The poorer I get the more they want.

And, in the No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Department,  I'm being sued--not by the IRS, but by a woman I did volunteer work for who isn't satisfied with my performance. I'm just a tad stressed out, and I don't function under stress. I eat under stress. I curl up with the covers pulled over my head, a cat pulled over my middle, and a mixing bowl of starchy carbs and a big spoon in my arms; when I think it's safe I come out and join the living again. But I can't do that this time. So I'm obsessing about manicures. Avoidance is my middle name.

Sorry about the taxes and getting sued.  I know that is no fun at all.  I get my protein bars from www.questproteinbars.com or www.netrition.com or GNC.  The biscotti I get from www.dietdirect.com (15 calories a biscuit and 1 gram of protein) just a quick easy healthy snack.  Put the popcorn down and walk away from the cereal bowl.  Go get a manicure.

You're going to have a following at your door should anyone get wind of this, lol.  Sounds like a cafeteria menu :)  I have to hand it to you, Tess...your guys are really lucky.  They will be eating like kings!  I thought the 8 casseroles were a lot, but you're not even finished!

Everything sounds so good.  I agree about making lighter versions.  I do it when I have to bring dishes for family gatherings, but you can't always tell everyone because you know there's always those that put a dish down without even tasting it first.  I try to get that notion out of my granddaughters' heads by getting them acclimated to eating the way I eat.  So far, so good.

Girl, you are on the ball, and your eye is on the prize.  Maybe by Wednesday you can take some "me time", relax and pamper yourself.  You deserve it!

Thank you Shelia.  I like to leave my house in order and my family well care for.  I even am going shopping tomorrow for my boss so that he will have snacks and lunch at the office while I am gone.  I guess I love taking care of people even when they are suppose to be taking care of me.  I plan to relax on Wednesday evening and pamper myself some before the big day.