Back on this stupid diet

I'm not usually the type of person to be miserable on a diet. Yes, I love food and I love the foods that are bad for me, hence why I need a diet anyways. But I work with it and I have a positive (yet snarky) attitude because I know this will have results. So now that we're back for round 2, let's recap my dietary needs. 

WATER* - need lots of that

GREEN TEA** - good antioxidants and is a good appetite suppressant. Other tea is good too, but green is the best for diet.

NO SODA* - I can do this. 

NO BREAD** - this one is killer. I was told one thing at a time, but I don't want to constantly be changing and adding to my diet. So as little as possible bread, pasta, and rice and probably potatoes. 

NO RED MEAT*** - no burgers, steaks, or other beefy things. I have a fatty liver. So fish, chicken, and turkey is ideal. And I allow pork. 

NATURAL FOODS as much as possible* - don't need expensive organic. But choose to cook at home. Instead of buying a jar of sauce, make my own sauce. A lot of this isn't just a health thing, but also a monetary thing. Restaurant food can cost 10 times more than home food. 

* - requirement from myself

** - requirement from personal trainer

*** - requirement from Dr (GP)

I list these things because here on the first day, I'm having troubles finding a recipe that fulfils all my requirements. The hard thing is that I live with my parents. It's not that they don't support me, but they don't want to be on a diet. We are a family unit that eats together and tries to do as much as possible together. The dinners that come from this house are meals for the whole family. I can't make 2 separate meals- one for my parents that they want, and one for me that I need. Sure, I would love for us to go on a family diet, but it's not realistic for me to force my family to do something they don't want, especially when I'm the child, not the matron/matriarch. Maybe when I have a family on my own, but not now. So I'm at a loss for what to do in this diet situation. 

I would love to go biking on this trail. 

First Day Back!!

...Kinda...

It's funny, when I was injured, it was May 5, 2014. I did my workout in the morning, and then had the last women's event (Coffee Break) for the school year. It was at that event that I fell.
Today, October 6, 2014, going back nearly exactly 5 months later, was Coffee Break's first night back for the school year. Oh, the irony.

As I was doing things, stuff kinda felt surreal. I mean, I had been doing physical therapy, but part of my kept thinking, "Holy crap, 5 months ago, I could not bend my knee."

Today was ridiculous improvement since I had last worked with my trainer. I didn't use my inhaler, but I lasted longer on the treadmill and my asthma was kept at bay. My weight is the same, but according to my trainer, my friends, my parents, and my myself, it looks like I had still been losing weight. I call it "fat displacement" but apparently, I'm more "toned" and bully myself. Also, my knee doesn't hurt, and the normal cramping in my legs in less. I'm so excited to get back on track to health again.

I came home and had some mint green tea. I had a lot of iced tea this summer. Homemade, not super processed and sugared up. But this was the first good cup of hot tea that I've had in months. Totally relaxed me. My brain is still awake though, so I might do some writing. It's a new chapter in my life and I'm eager to be as productive and constantly improving as I hope to be.

Howdy

Well I have only one more week of physical therapy. I'm still not 100%, but I am so much better. And I can function without needing either pain med everyday. Yay! 

Tuesday, August 5th, I went to Disneyland for the first time since my accident. My knee hurt and rides like splash mountain hurt, but I survived and I still had fun. I'm hoping to go back soon. 

*grumblegrumblegrumble*

I haven't felt well for about a week. I don't feel like I have a cold or anything, not physically ill. I'm feeling emotional. That brings down my energy level and my thoughts and my actions with it.

I really want to get back to exercising. I feeling cooped again. My knee is feeling better, but it's still not 100%. I was texting my trainer today, telling him that i've been able to do more physical things, strength wise, with my knee, but i still wouldn't be able to do a free squat or fast walk. My knee sometimes feels like its hyper extending (bending backwards) and I don't know what exercise I need to do to strengthen whatever body part would make it not feel like that. so because of this backwards feeling, I still can't run.

Yesterday, I worked a wedding with my dad. He does sound and DJ stuff. He also does photography for weddings, but yesterday was sound, which meant heavier equipment. Yay... The lifting was fine. The things i didn't feel ok on were 1) it rained pretty hard and made the ground slippery and 2) after the ceremony, I had to "run" to the reception (on the other side of the building) and start the music so there was no silence between. K. So. My running right now looks like how preppy High School girls run: only the balls of their feet touching the ground, using toes and spring boards, and only bending the knees about 30*. I may have looked like an idiot, but my leg felt more confident this way that a typical run: heel -> toe, 90* bend. I've twisted my ankle running normally. I wasn't gonna risk anything else popping out of place, especially when I'm on a job.

Also, I'm sure some of you read "it rained pretty hard" and freaked out. And then others probably read that and thought "well its good luck if it rains on your wedding day". Just to clarify: the bride was PRAYING for rain. she loves rain. There was no rain during the ceremony, and all the pictures were done before the rain. and none of my dad's equipment was hurt, but all the guests had to move inside and people were frantically trying to figure out where to put things and how to dry off and... and... BUT! the bride was happy. :)

Not only was there the wedding, but from Wednesday afternoon though Saturday morning, I was helping a friend. She had a knee replacement repair surgery so I lived at her house for a few days to take care of her and her dog. I ended up vacuuming and moving furniture. I'm VERY surprised I don't hurt from that. But maybe it was my brain saying "she's in more pain right now than you are, so shut it and do this chore". This lady, I love her dearly, but I don't think she realizes how anti-social she is. She doesn't have real chairs for guests to sit in and the dirt is literally caked into the carpet. I kept finding spiders and was super grossed out. It was 100* outside but I wasted to keep my jeans and socks on for protection from bugs. Among other things. I ended up volunteering to go back and help her clean and organize her house. So anyways, because of the lack of furniture, I brought over an air mattress and slept on that. Then the next day, her friend brought over a recliner from a thrift store. AWESOME! How can you beat a leather recliner that probably originally cost $500, now for the low low price of $45!! So my friend's friend (yes, I'm being anonymous on purpose) and I threw out her old vacuum, put together the new SHARK vacuum she bought but never used and OMG, the dirt that came up was so gross. and we definitely sucked up about 30 dead and live bugs. Then when that was over, we had to get the recliner out of her car. (Mind you, she called at 7:00, when I was leaving to pick up dinner, and just said "I'm on my way". no warning beforehand. But we HAD to clean the carpet before bringing in the new chair) So now it's 10:00, I'm tired, she's tired, my friend who had the surgery has energy but she's looped up on norco and so we kept having to convince her to sit down, and we still have to get that stupid chair out of the car. I looked at the recliner, I looked at her doorway, and I picked up my phone and called about 3 of my guy friends and left messages "hey I know it's 10:00, but if you're awake and willing, will you come here and help me get this chair into this house?" no one called within 5 minutes (the friend of my friend was getting impatient) and so we hauled it ourself. on the knee that I still am having issues with. and honestly, I just kept thinking, "if this dislocates again, guess who's paying for my ER visit?" But we got it in. The chair is fine. It's comfortable. and my knee didn't dislocate again. I texted my guys and told them to ignore my message.

But I'm just feeling down right now. I want to go to Disneyland. I want to check off more things on my "Things I Miss" list. I want to swim.

I got my hair cut the other day and one of the small joys of having super short hair is coming out of the pool and shaking my hair like a dog. lol.

I'll try not to get all mopey, but I think i get this way after I attend a wedding. not because I'm single, but because I feel like I'm not doing anything with my life...
thats why i want to be exercising again. I feel productive.

So tired today

Yay therapy. I got an average of 65 rpm on the bike both forward AND backward! Which is surprising since I'm tired and I have cramps and I'm in pain today. But I'll take it. I'm happy. I don't really have much more to say. I had a fantastic weekend. Got to hang with awesome people. But my knee was hurting Sunday, so I was massaging my knee while doing sound at church :/ but at least all the people I was working with were MORE THAN willing to help. 

I almost want another MRI

I don't think I re-injured it or anything. But the fact that I'm still having trouble bending with my own leg muscle, as opposed to using my arms to pull, past a certain point; the fact that it still is swollen concerns me. I understand there will be scar tissue that will never be better. I pulled my elbow ligament/tendon in high school. It still has moments where it gets sore. I broke my wrist in 3rd grade. That still flares up every once in a while. There is scar tissue that will never be perfect again.

Maybe it would be nice to see a status bar: recovery 70% or something. 

Or to see "full recovery will complete in approximately 60 days". 

Wouldn't an MRI be able to show if something is hindering full and complete healing?

I'm in ridiculous pain every time I go in for therapy when they have to bend me. How to describe it. I guess it would be like plastic or basket wood. Both bendable. But apply too much pressure and you reach the point of no-more-bendy-bend. Apply more pressure and it snaps. 

I'll try not to go on a rant here. But I hate that MRIs are so expensive to use. I feel like ER doctors should not hesitate to take MRIs. And that follow up scans should be done every month for muscle, tendon, and ligament injuries. 

I've had so many MRIs and CAT scans on my brain to diagnose my migraines. They didn't hesitate then. But when it comes to something that hinders my mobility, they don't want to scan!

I'm done. It's the weekend. I'm tired. I need to use the pool again. And I miss all my things. 

not much to say today

I'm tired. yesterday, I finished working VBS (vacation bible school) at church. it's loads of fun, and it's heartwarming, but it is SO exhausting. I'm ready to just sit and crochet today and watch TV. therefore, i will not be concentrating on capitals at the beginning of sentences in this post. apologies.

yesterday i was on the bike and I got up to 35 rpm forward and around 42 backward. that was pretty cool. and i bent up to 117*. holy poop. it's really hard to not punch something when my therapist is bending/stretching me.

all the other exercises have been same as normal. I just need to be doing them more at home again.

So i was talking about crocheting, my pictures of the project i finished wednesday are on my phone, so I'll post pictures in this post later. it's a baby blanket for my "brother-from-another-mother"'s first baby. I seriously hate explaining to strangers about my brothers. for some reason, people don't get it no matter which explanation i choose first. I am an only child. my parents have been best friends with a couple (the husband passed in January 2012 from Melanoma) since the early 80s. And I grew up with this couple's three boys as my best friends/my brothers. So the middle of the three boys is the first one to have a baby and the whole family is so excited. I had to make her a blanket. they didn't announce her name until she was born, but as soon as she was, suddenly, i knew what i would make for her. so anyways, ill post that later.

i'm also working on a pooh bear hat and diaper cover for my cousin's first birthday party. i started yesterday and i really should be done like tomorrow. her birthday isn't until the end of august, so i have plenty of time, but i'd rather finish it early than wait until the last minute like i usually do.

OMG i need to start a craft blog.

speaking of other blogs, If you notice, i linked the other blogs i manage at the top of the page, so if you want to read my creative writing (not my full length novels in progress, short stories only), or my bible study, those are up there. and if i ever do decide to create a craft blog or a straight up foodies blog, those will be linked too.