my accountability thread Day one

Hi.
@sarah7591 Prior to having the surgery, I had varying insights as to recovery. There are several different replacements from partial to full, as well as the state of the knee before surgery, so I think recovery is really variable. I went in with a knee that was rebuilt in 1986 from a ski racing injury. I had severe osteoarthritis and I couldn’t straighten it for years. It finally completely broke down completely in January and I had been on crutches since then.
I saw physio yesterday and my recovery is minimal walking with crutches for another 4 weeks but really focusing on getting full mobility back. The minimal walking surprised me but she said too much actually reduces the effectiveness of the physio. I think people forget how traumatic the surgery is.
One piece of advice- take the pain meds! Especially the first week. Although my knee felt better then when I went in for surgery, it is awfully painful. And use a good laxative! My sister mailed me a care package prior to surgery with a laxative included. The surgery and pain meds do a number on your GI.

I am struggling some today. The 2 hour drive to and from the city for my appointment did a number on me. I am still very tired and sore. Trying to really concentrate on my diet, meeting my daily macro numbers, especially protein. I am going back to work on Monday- I work from home. I won’t be able to work full days but I need to get back to some form of mental stimulation. I have watched enough Apple TV and read enough books these last two weeks to last me awhile. Time to get back to the real world- I think it will help with my mental state.

Happy Saturday- Melanie

Hello All, Melanie - You are in my prayers. You seem to be staying focused on your health, not sure I could. Yesterday was my husband's birthday and we went to our granddaughter's softball game. I have eaten more than planned Tues, Wed, Friday and Saturday. Sometimes bonding with people and grandkids is more important to me than keeping in my calorie goal and that's ok. I plan on taking it easy today and eating in range. Baked fish and broccoli for lunch, spaghetti for dinner because I run tomorrow and need the carbs! Happy Mother's Day!

sarah7591 wrote: »

... weekends are so hard for me... I'll try to check in daily

A buddy of mine is taking a class, and he keeps talking about "structure" as a requirement for making progress.

Sorry you find weekends hard, and you use the soft phrase "try to" when talking about checking in.

Can you challenge yourself to add a very small amount of structure to the weekend check in? Type it out here if you will.

Since you have talked about consistent/regular/chronic relapser, just make it the very smallest simplest easy piece of weekend check in structure you can imagine. Type it out here. Really set all of us up in this thread to see you be a success following through on your progress. Good luck

BeverlyW1108 wrote: »

@chris_in_cal. I agree that structure helps me stay focused. My one small change this round is to come here to MFP first thing in the morning if I don't the day gets away from me. Also, instead of trying to do strength training for every muscle group I've decided to focus on my core and only commit to a plank challenge which takes about 5 minutes. It's hard to say I don't have time for 5 minutes.

Ha! I love the stories I tell myself. My one small structure was to set a 9:30 p.m., 7-day a week, alarm goes off on my watch. I am supposed to do a "2 minute" breathwork exercise. TWO MINUTES! And I've only done it about half the time. That other little thing just happens to be going on, I don't do the two minutes exercise until later...and later never comes. Silly humans. Blanks are great, good luck with that.

Hello!
Not able to get here until this evening. My first day back at work and it was insanity. At least I know I have job security. My boss kept sending things my way until I finally said no more! It will take me all week to get caught up on the last 2 weeks. I told her my surgeon typically requests 3 months off post surgery even with office jobs. It is painful sitting in an office chair all day and that surgery really knocked the crap out of me physically. Good to have the mental stimulation of work again though- could not stay away for longer at this point in my career.
@BeverlyW1108 butter crackers! Ha! Right? Like so worth missing out on what ever the “bad” food was you passed up on! I have done that thousands of times, often coming home and eating whatever’s around and not even enjoying it. I am going to change that behaviour.
@sarah7591 wine is a control killer for me. I enjoy a good glass with dinner sometimes but I find it hard not to have 2 then the flood gates open. Since menopause, I cannot metabolize alcohol like I used to. I find myself not really drunk but slurring my speech which mortifies me. I have switched to some non alcoholic beers and wines when socializing- I find people often get really offended when you won’t have a drink with them.
Since it’s just about Tuesday- hope it turns out to be a good one 🙂
Melanie

Super weird: I woke up about two hours early today too. It's kind of unusual for me.

You did it!! Take care of your knee, it sounds like you are going to keep at it with alternative activities. Smart.

BeverlyW1108 wrote: »

I usually set an alarm

The thread is accountability...how about this, in setting yourself up for success. Your post shows you entered it a 2:00 p.m., try setting your alarm for 2:00 p.m. tomorrow, then try to post again tomorrow at 2:00 p.m., maybe you'll surprise yourself that that is just a more reasonable time to do your daily accountability check, rather than first thing in the morning. Good luck.

Almost the weekend and it's going to be a tough one as we are taking a weekend trip out of town to my great niece's 3rd birthday party and her 6yo sister's dance recital. @chris_in_cal . Thank you for your advice, that is a good idea. Since my running is on hold for a short time, I am not getting up extra early to beat the heat. I set my alarm for 4pm (we are on central time) but if I think of it before time I will check in earlier. Melanie, I do not pronate so I've never bought shoes for that reason but I just started running in a new pair of Asics Gel Nimbus 25. I will look and see if they could be the problem. I hope not. Good luck to everyone on their weekend health. One of my many mantras is "Define Myself". I will try repeating that this weekend and define myself as a healthy eater, not a cake lover

Way to go! I love your accountability thread! Have you tried visualizing yourself doing what you struggle with? Athletes are told to use it. I literally take a photo of my feet on an elliptical and look at the photo while exercising and visualizing myself on an elliptical while still at home. It’s hard to keep my attention on it for any long time, but it helps with exercise execution!

Hi everyone!
Still struggling a bit with energy but finally got caught up at work completely.
Feels good going into the long weekend (our holiday Monday in Canada). Things usually pretty slow the Friday before.
Headed home after supper. We are vaccinating our cows and calves on Monday. Usually have about 30 neighbours helping that all get fed and watered 😉 lunch and supper, then about 10 that will stay over to help move everything out to pasture on Tuesday. Luckily my sister as well as my son’s mother in law will be there to do about most everything for me. It’s a big job but feels good when we finish.
I hope you are improving Beverly.
Hard to pass up a good piece of cake Sarah 🙂
Take care!
Melanie

Good Morning All!
@hoarc1987 I've looked into meniscus tears and everything sounds like a IT Band issue. It is on the outside of my knee and sometimes runs up the outer side of my leg. It is not swollen at all.
I have a busy weekend planned. I hope ya'll have a good one.
I am so excited that I lost a pound this week, not sure why I did since my calorie count was up but I'll take it
Friday 4/28 - weight 126.4
Friday 5/5 - weight 125.2 (avg calories 4/28-5/4=1276)
Friday 5/12 - weight 125.0! Yay! (avg calories 5/5-5/11=1565)
Friday/19 - weight 124.0! Yay! (avg calories 5/12-5/18=1834)