Discussion Board

Sorry about you mom being in the hospital. I pray she's getting better.

Glad you are about to find healthy options down here in the South. I eat Moe's about twice a week. I spent $5 there today for a burritoe and a drink. Can't beat that.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes.

I spent the weekend at the hospital with my parents. My mother will going into rehab today. The best place for her right now. We are being told she will not be able to return home until she can take care of herself. Upon her admission to the hospital, it was quite obvious she was not doing such.

This has been a battle I've had with her for over a year. She WILL NOT take a bath, she WILL NOT change her clothes, she WILL NOT clean. I have taken her to the doctor in the past dirty and dishevled and they have refused to address these issues. Well, new doctor, new observations. Thank goodness.

My sister is on spring break and has come down for the week to help. My brother has been very, very helpful, as well, I think we're all in this for the long haul now.

We're simply taking things day by day.

Update on my mother. She's in a short-term rehabilation facility for approximately one week. She looks like she's doing very well, is responding to treatment and understands what she needs to do to get home.

My sister and I are in the process of finding her a new doctor at the request of my father and the physician that admitted her from the emergency room last week. I am planning on making a phone call to her previous doctor explaining to them our displeasure with the customer care they have provided. It will not be a pleasant conversation on their end, I guarentee you that.

This weekend my task is to get the name of their lawyer to secure power of attroney for all three of us siblings and to continue to clean their house - just in case social services come in - their home meets or exceeds their standards. We're not sure if this will actually happen, but this needs to be done regardless.

Let me tell you this:

Based on my observations, getting old sucks. Getting old sucks even more when your fed this awful crap found on the SAD menu. Sucks even more so when you have an ailment promoted by a SAD and you are continually fed food offerings from a SAD. When will people learn???

I'm taking this day by day. I am making my yoga daily priority, as well as, continue to eat well. I feel much, much better having stretched and sweated out physical and mental tension. Eating "veganese" is really keeping headaches and stomach issues nonexistant. I really don't need a migraine right now!

Good news, I'm down to 164 pounds which means I have lost 20 pounds since November, 2011 when I started this endevour. I got some real nice compliments at the yoga studio Tuesday night. They continue to ask me what I eat and one said "I was hoping you were doing simple like eating more fiber..." after I explained I am doing a "plant-strong, no added fat WOE." I'm thinking up making some business cards with websites I follow (McDougall, Engine 2, Esstelyn, Campbell...) to hand out.

So, we're still keeping on. Espcially my dad - he's been a real trooper with all of this stuff going on.

Thanks for the read.

Wow, with all you are going through, I am IMPRESSED that you've stayed on plan! Congrats

Reading about your mom was good therapy for me. Today my father-in-law (twice widowed and 86) decided to let a STRANGER move into his home so that if he has a low-blood sugar event again she will be there to call 911 for him. (We had to call 911 for him when he was at our house on Easter and went into diabetic coma.)

After that incident, his doctor took him off the meds that LOWERED his blood sugar and he's had NO problems since. (He's been on them 2 years--along with about 37 other daily meds--for real!)

Today we learned during phone call that he had an interview set up with a "friend of a friend." He can't remember the woman's last name, got NO information about her AT ALL....but is perfectly happy with her moving into the spare bedroom next week (for free, with no duties)! If we say anything against it, he'll dig his heels in deeper. We are freaking out :

Sorry for the rant. (oh, he also went to his doc today--doc recommended that he eat more cheese. )

Hope your poison disappears soon. That stuff is hard to deal with!

Have a good week

Just read your whole journal: what a lot you've been through with your mother! Wow. But you seem to be able to tackle it with so much energy and grace. Is it the secret McDougall + Hot Yoga combination??

*going now to Google "hot yoga" in my town"

@Broadbean: Seriously, I do think the combo of the hot yoga and this WOE really does help getting through the tough times. Light-heartedly, I call the combo my "fountain of youth." Too bad you weren't closer - I know of a great studio

@fostermom4: Wow, that's alot of drama! I'm sorry to hear about your family. The more I tell my story, the more I hear of others. Sometimes I'm really thankful I'm only dealing with what I'm dealing with! Cheese? Really?

~~~

So, I'm thankful with all of the issues with mom it's not being compounded with diabetes, cancer, kidney dialisys, or some other crazy disease. At lease we have that on our side (if we have a side).

It's hard to see my dad go through this. You can almost hear his heart breaking over this stuff. It drives me to tears to see him like this. I can deal with physical issues, but to see him like this...

He once said to me "I can fix anything but a broken heart..."



Seeing my mom, seeing my dad, seeing all the other people in the hospitals really, really motivates to stay with this WOE and continue to exercise. Ain't no way in heck am I gonna end in a position like that. No way. It still baffles me that the majority of our population in North America does not want to make the connection that if you eat crap, you will get sick.

Oh wait, there's a pill you can take if you get sick. Silly me.

Well, the weekend beckons me. My boyfriend and I will be going to visit mom, take care of the house and my dad. I'll do some cooking, cleaning and throwing out. They grew up in the depression era, so there's lots of extra stuff they don't need. Talk about pack-rats.

I'll also be working in yoga in the mornings. I was thinking last night in class that as I sweat - those are all my tears coming out in full force - just not the tiny drops from eyes. It's been good therapy for me.

So, to all - keep on truckin' and thanks so much for the read.

"Take a pill" how true it is, and how sad.

Hope you've had a good weekend. Our little drama fizzled when Rick's dad learned that the gal backed out. At first I thought "whoa, maybe SHE has better sense than to move in with someone she's only been around for 15 minutes," --but it turned out that she got a better offer and went to another man's house instead. (Turns out she wanted money paid "under the table" so it wouldn't affect her disability.)

Well, gotta start getting ready for tomorrow. Have a wonderful week! Stay on plan!

Just checking in to let you all know we're in a holding pattern right now. My mother is physically "ok", mentally she's not on planet Earth. Ooy. She's still restricted to a wheel chair, doesn't want to listen or cooperate and is quite ornery. She told me yesterday bluntly to remove her from the facility and take her home. I just said "Really?"

My family and I will be having a meeting with the case worker this week or next to determine what kind of care she will be getting once she is released from rehab. This will be based on their income, benefits, state of their home and herself.

What a journey this is going to be...

So, on the lighter side. Sometimes eldery people are really quite funny since they don't know how to edit themselves. My dad is like that. Take a 91 year old man with his wits still intact and he'll come up with some pretty good remarks. This past week, he had a pile of nurse's aides bail out of the room laughing after making remarks about the hoist they were using to lift the neighboring lady. Seems he was giving them automotive advice on how to use it to remove engines.

So, my eating has been vegan - just a little high on the fat side. Darling BF ordered a hamburger yesterday at the diner; I had a veggie burger. I nommed one of his french fries. It tasted really yucky since it had some of his greasey cheeseburger on it. I'm like "how can you eat that stuff..." He just rolled his eyes and gave me his pickles.

Well, I'm off to finish today here at work. Keep on keeping on - I'll check back with you all later.

Peace out...

@fostermom4 - Good for you to have the chickie to bail on your FIL. That may be a blessing in disguise...

You know, I walk around that rehab center and see people slumped over in wheel chairs or hear them behind doors screaming "where am I?" "help me!" "don't slam the door!" and I think what kind of quality of life is this??? And then I think again (I think alot) what one thing did you do or not do that could have prevented you from being in here in this state? It's really mind boggling for me. This can't all be genetic!

I think it's positively frightening to look at all the people "waddling" along....all the fat, fat, FAT children just 3 and 4 years of age...etc, etc. etc Just think of all the problems they're going to have--diabetes, heart disease--by the time they are teens??? And then it will be blamed on genetics!

A few days ago I was talking to a friend who is grossly overweight. She is a retired nurse and just found out she's in beginning stages of kidney failure. Her doc had recently put her on the Atkins diet and she thinks it's just wonderful. Makes me sick!

@fostermom4: I know what you are saying. I use my "inside the head voice" very often when I'm out shopping. It's very hard not to pass judgement on these indivduals, they may have some very legimate reasons for being in the condition they are in. Very hard, but I know based on my own experiences removing the crap from my diet and exercising has a definate improvement on my own health.

I see my dad who is 91 getting around on his own power, being bright and vibrant. Does he have superior genetics? Is he an odd ball? What's up with that?

~~~

So, to all, we're just maintaining the status quo right now. My mother is still in short term rehab and my dad is doing well. He was thrilled last night the Yankees were getting spanked by Baltimore and cut our call short. I'm taking tomorrow off to do some "dad duty" and check in on my mother. I'll be down for the weekend, too, on our way to/from NYC. My BF has decided I need to get away for day.

I feel as long as my mom is in this facility, she's very safe. She has around the clock care and my dad has the fire department to check on him. I call every night and so far so good, but tomorrow I'll do a physical inspection on everything.

With all this stuff going on, I've neglected to mention what I have been eating during this time. For the most part, I have been 100% vegan. It's getting much easier for me to comply, though I've been having a hard with the fat content in foods and I'm noticing the effect on me (my flat tummy is getting unflat. Hmpf). Plus, I've missed a couple of yoga classes with all of the craziness going on. There really is just not enough time in the day to do everything!

So, here's what's on today's plate:

Breakfast: A banana (busy at work this AM - no time for oatmeal)
Lunch: A trip to the grocery store for spring rolls and veggie sushi (been wanting this all week)
Snack: Orange
Dinner: Rice with beans and added veggies

Exercise: Yoga tonight

Some hummus has made its way to my plate this week (with fat - and I know better - but horseradish hummus on a potato is incredible!) and my BF and I went out over the weekend for dinner and drinks. Just because something is vegan in restaurants doesn't mean it's fat free!!

I've been over hearing my former biggest loser contestants comment on how they have put weight back on (I've been holding steady) and are looking for a quick fix. They tossed around the extremes - Adkins and a juicing fast. They have decided to do a 14 day detox juicing fruits and veggies. Ok, good. I piped in about the PCRM website that it's a good resource and kept my vegan/McDougall banter to myself.

Collectively they have decided they're gonna juice for two weeks by bringing in a blender and veggies. I'm surely going to be entertained by this.

So, my question becomes why do people think that in order to lose weight they have to resort to extreme measures (juicing, grapefruit diets, surgety) when, in fact, all you have to do is to eat cleanly?

I'm sitting right next to these guys and I have continued to lose weight by continuing to eat well. Why don't they want to see it???

Oh well. Keep on keeping on everyone! Have a great day!

Hi-ho everyone. It's been much a long time since my last post. I have been very, very busy with work and my parents. Work had me in training all week and my parents are simply being elderly parents.

Did give you an update, my mother will be going home this coming Wednesday and will require at home care. She has been diagnosed with dementia and cognitive issues. It's really hard to see your parents lose their vibrancy and be simmered down to a pile of poo.

So, now the fun part begins. Confronting my father to hand over the "keys the car", clean up their house - remember they are pack rats and dad, at 91, is not the best housekeeper, find help, getting all siblings to cooperate - I'm traveling for work next week for work so someone else needs to step up and help and basically for me not to "lose it" since my emotional bandwidth is nearing zero.

Hmpf.

I guess none of you will be surprised that I have been eating emotionally. Oh, I've been doing a vegan diet - a vegan junk food diet complimented with a bottle of wine and a couple pints of beer. Yeah, not good. I'm even having a cup of coffee right now - oh, with cream - so now I'm a vegetarian... I've missed quite a few yoga classes which has made me miserable and my BF has not made things better. He seems to think when I say "please, I need some time to myself" I really mean "please, I need you to be in my face all day and give me no space". His idea of helping out some times makes matters worse.

Keep on keepin on can be really tough sometimes, but I guess that's life. Today's a new day and a new meal and one bite of food at a time.

Peace out all, thanks for the read.

Hang in there.

Glad you found the time to post.

One day at a time. One bite at a time.

GO to Yoga class!!!!!

Greetings to all of my fellow McDougallers!

I'm here.

Seems all of the craziness is behind me for now. My mother is home from the rehab center and settled in. She's been diagnosed with dementia and cognitive issues. She can't remember a darn thing! Medicare has been in the home and now we need a visiting nurse to come in a help bathe her. I've been providing meals for her and my dad on a weekly basis.

During this time, I have not been as faithful to my exercise schedule or sticking to the McDougall plan 100%. I guess you would call me a junkfood vegan. I've been travelling for work, I'll be out next week. It's rather difficult for me to stick to plan when I'm not within my bubble. Wow, talk about emotional eating when your family is acting up with full emotion! I had to speak our counselor here at work to help decompress from all of this.

I've drifted from journally and I feel the need to pick back up. It does keep me honest and I do very guilty when I post "ate a piece of cheese" or "didn't workout". I'm hoping to be journalling full-time as I was in the past.

So, here's today's menu:

Breakfast - Kashi cerial
Lunch - Veggie Sushi
Snack - Grapes
Dinner - Not sure yet
Exercise - Hot Yoga!

Being that I've drifted from being 100% compliant and not doing as much yoga as I have in the past, feeling those nusance aches and pains are very motivating to hop back on quickly. My weight is holding steady, but I'm noticing a change in my shape from not doing yoga 4 - 5 times a week. Easy to solve - just hop right back on that train!

I'm here. I'm back. Missed all of ya!

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