Tamara's Journal

[DieselsMom]

I had my MRI and there was no apparent tears in the meniscus but definitely softening and thinning of the knee cap. Not sure if I am happy - almost wish there was a tear cause then we would have an answer instead I am back to doing more treatment options to see if we can reduce pain. Next steps are trying Airrosti, topical NSAID gel since I can't take the pills and we are also going to do injections in the knee and attaching ligaments to see if that settles everything down.

Gained a few pounds back I am finding it very tough to keep on track with the kids sports this year since the hockey rink is 45min from our house so feels like an easy answer to grab something to eat out then try to cook the couple nights a week for practice as we have to be there for 5:30-7:30 which means 4:30-8:30 away from home twice a week for practices and this weekend Lexi has 4 games over the two days and Xavier is in Dallas for a tournament. Divide and conquer is our theme this year.

I am hoping after a few of these Airrosti treatments and the gel (which by the way costs $2,000 per bottle, thank goodness my insurance covers it) starts kicking in I will start feeling like trying to do something again. Even if I start with 15 min it is better than nothing, I need to get over that all or nothing mentality in my head.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

That gel must be something special as I use a $50 version of a topical NSAID

[DieselsMom]

That gel must be something special as I use a $50 version of a topical NSAID

I know seriously. I am trying it but honestly I think it is a money maker for the pharmacy as you can see by the discussion on my FB page with my GF back in Canada who is a pharmacist. Back to voltaren once these two bottles are used. I haven't noticed anything superpowered about it.

[IrishLassie78]

$2,000 That's insane. That sh!t better grow you some entirely new joints for that price.

Looks like you guys are doing great down there in Texas though other than the crappy knee issues.

[anandagirl]

Sorry to hear about the knee

[DieselsMom]

ok how many times can a girl restart.....here's to number 3 or 4.

Been dealing with a lot of chronic pain between my hips and my knees. The extra weight isn't helping so I decided to try a different approach. It is a bit foo foo for my anaylitical mind but I am at the point where I am willing to try anything.

I went to a functional health doctor who deals in leveling out hormones to ensure your body is functioning at its best capacity. Here's the foo foo part lol. I did the blood work and I did have some abnormal results. My free test was high (yippee maybe that is why I still have some muscle after 2 year hiatus from exercising), my iron levels are high, my cortisol is rock bottom (so low I almost didn't register which actually is bad), my thyroid is low and a few other indicators were off. I potentially have adreneal fatigue (which I hate that term because it feels like a cop out for lack of motivation and just being lazy) but he explained with my cortisol being so low it has been tapped into soo much it can't produce at the level it is needed to stay functional which is common with chronic pain I guess and is one of the factors that acts in helping me be lazy combined with low thyroid is a bad combo.

The catch - they do some weird fasting/dieting to have your body start resetting to see if you can fix yourself without hormone supplements. We are going to the coast next weekend then I am starting their plan but I figured I've done worse so this can't be that bad. It starts with a 5 day fast only sugar water to keep blood sugars level (there goes 10 pounds of extra weight I am carrying) then goes into a typical elimination diet. We are trying to find if certain foods are causing more inflammation within my body increasing my chronic pain. More foo foo in my head but I am desperate.

I am going to use my log to help me stay on plan as I found when I was journal regularly I was much better at keeping myself accountable to July 10 is day 1 and I am going to need all the support I can get especially through those first 5 days but in general because they are taking away my caffeine boo hooooooo

[HARRYBEAST]

IN for support!!!

[Big_Sky_Guy]

No caffeine....damn!

[anandagirl]

Here for ya!

[DieselsMom]

IN for support!!!

No caffeine....damn!

Here for ya!

Thanks Y'all. I am excited and nervous to start. I have never done a true fast before so this will be interesting as I've only done the ones for bloodwork which usually doesn't require that much hardship prior to testing and quick gratification when done. It will be getting through the first couple of days I am sure will be the toughest but mind over matter right.

Gonna go to the coast tomorrow, enjoy a 4 day holiday with the neighbors and then be refreshed to start (hopefully) on Monday.

Hope you all had a great 4th of July!

[DieselsMom]

Day 1 is in the books. Wasn't too bad but I did fall asleep around 6pm and sleep through until my alarm went off this morning. Not sure if that had to do with fasting or tired from my holiday or a mixture of a long week of late nights but it sure made last night easy

I did cheat slightly and had 10 almonds and 2 ritz crackers so today focusing on staying strong and hopefully having no cheats at all. I probably am not drinking enough water by the standards they gave me but I am having a hard time getting that in too as it is approx. 16 oz per hour.

I was a super heavy weight yesterday after the coast and dropped 4 pounds last night but sure most of that is just the phantam weight of holidays - too much salt, beer, beergaritas, and good food - probably the sunburn doesn't help either. I am close to where I was before I left at a hefty 164.3 this morning. Here's to hopefully dropping 10 more pounds this week before reintroducing foods.

[DieselsMom]

Still going strong. Hasn't been to bad had some hunger today but I think part of that was the fact that I am not having nearly enough sugar water to keep my blood sugars stable. Have a bit of fog around my vision but not sure if htat is related to this or not. I went to eye doc and my right eye has regressed since my lasik and needs a small correction however I tried the contacts and it really threw me off. My eye is irritated and sore so I took it out and feel like it didn't help me see, maybe I need to be lopsided.

Was down another couple pounds this morning - finally hitting into my real weight where I expect to see some losses that may be true.

[DieselsMom]

Survived the fast. May keep it in my repertoire as it wasn't too bad at all. There is some science behind doing these fasts that I have been starting to read up on but don't have enough knowledge to quote anything yet. The 5th day became mental because I knew I would be able to eat the next day and I feel behind on my water because I wasn't thirsty so that didn't help but over all was a high of 168 (yuck after holidays) to 160.8 by end of fast. Definitely would have had better results of true weight lost if I wasn't just home from a weekend at the beach with a no holes barred frame of mind.

Started the limited diet - this feels like boring prep. chicken, turkey, fish blah blah blah. No grains as gluten is a major cause of inflammation in a lot of people and I can't add it back in until I get my gluten tolerance testing back (I feel I am tolerant so not worried about this). Veggies and fruits are okay other than certain ones - like veggies from nightshade family. It is only three weeks for this so I can do it.

Proud of myself I actually got up at 5 and hit the garage gym. Was only around 78F in there so not intolerable which is pretty good considering most days we are hitting high 90's to low 100's. Did an upper body workout. Going back to basic and doing an Upper/Lower split aim to hit both twice per week. I am going to start incorporating more walks at lunch again depending on heat.

Weight this am was: 158.6 so a good 20 pounds from where I want to be.

[grouchyjarhead]

Nice job on the fasting. I've done them for 24 hours before, but 5 days had to be tough! By the end of the day though I did feel pretty good. Probably should do another one soon.

[DieselsMom]

Nice job on the fasting. I've done them for 24 hours before, but 5 days had to be tough! By the end of the day though I did feel pretty good. Probably should do another one soon.

As I said the sugar water really held off the hunger and once I got past the first day of stomach making loud noises it was all mental and not physical.

No workout this morning was exhausted. Not sure why. My body is showing signs of stress - eye twitch for 3 months now, cold sores, fatigue but that is another reason why I am doing this functional health thing so hopefully we can get this sorted. I mentally don't feel stressed that I know of - I was back in April but lately has been good so not 100% what is causing it all.

Weight steady.

[DieselsMom]

Got in a 3 mile walk at lunch yesterday average pace was 17.19/mi I have been as low as 16.25 but that has been a while. Whether it is good speed or bad speed I know it is one that challenges me to keep moving quickly vs sauntering. My hips were sore while walking and really sore after and this morning they are aching like crazy This is starting to get ridiculous. I have an appt with the functional health doc today and going to see if may be cortisone injections are on the table or should I wait until I am doing this dieting crap. Walking should not be painful.

Weight 159.0 not sure if it is the inflammation response or just a normal fluctuation.

[DieselsMom]

Was a bit off plan last night our Bottling Dept Food Hall had a soft opening and staff we asked to come eat and none of the 5 vendors had exactly what I was allowed to eat but I had a rotissaire chicken and coleslaw and tasted a few bites of Nolan's loaded hot dog and cheese and bacon fries. OMG working at a office that has 20+ eating spots on campus is tough and most of them since they are all chef owned/operated are not good for you lol. Our owner is a foody and supports local chefs that graduate out of the CIA institute on campus in helping them open their restaurants.

If you ever come to San Antonio you need to come down to the Pearl. Atpearl.com

I didn't bother weighing myself this morning since I knew I would be up.

[Big_Sky_Guy]

Was a bit off plan last night our Bottling Dept Food Hall had a soft opening and staff we asked to come eat and none of the 5 vendors had exactly what I was allowed to eat but I had a rotissaire chicken and coleslaw and tasted a few bites of Nolan's loaded hot dog and cheese and bacon fries. OMG working at a office that has 20+ eating spots on campus is tough and most of them since they are all chef owned/operated are not good for you lol. Our owner is a foody and supports local chefs that graduate out of the CIA institute on campus in helping them open their restaurants.

If you ever come to San Antonio you need to come down to the Pearl. Atpearl.com

I didn't bother weighing myself this morning since I knew I would be up.

Will eat at the Pearl...soon. Meaning in the next 2 years! LOL

[DieselsMom]

Will eat at the Pearl...soon. Meaning in the next 2 years! LOL

Well visa renewal is in Dec 2018 so either before then or keep your fingers crossed for us

We moved 11 yards of fill from our drive way to our back yard to start building a patio deck that spans the width of the house. It was hard, hot, sweaty work but proud of myself as I kept up shoveling with the boys. Didn't do other exercise and spent 6 hours at the lax field yesterday which kinda killed my day and it was 101F so no run was in the books - I am not that crazy lol. Loved watching X get back on the field and hear the complements from folks on his play. He played 2 hours with middle school then 2 hours with high school boys. Was by the door when I overhead one of the adult guys getting ready as they were on the field next (was indoor box lacrosse) comment to someone about the 'little" guy on the field. "Hey that's Xavier - that kid is good!" Proud momma moment.

This week in the diet plan is vegetarian - so far it is not agreeing with me that well I am very bloated and gassy. I eat lots of veggies normally so think I am going to be doing some switching up and hitting the greens instead of the broc****/carrots/cauliflower/snap pea but not sure how I am going to fill myself up on just that. I get some lentils and beans but minimal amounts. Had a terrible sleep last night due to the gas pains waking me up. Still sitting at 159.0 pounds.

[DieselsMom]

FUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCk so sick of being 159.0 how many days now. Still feel gassy and terrible so obviously I am not meant to be a vegetarian. I NEED NEED to get up and work out, how do I change my brain to want to do it. Last night the damn dogs needed out 3 times (it is like having babies again) since they are both geriatric ages it is hard to be mad but seriously I need to feel like I have some energy to do stuff. Hubz boss was staying with us and got in around 12:30 so that also woke me up an extra time. I think I just need to tough it out. I ordered some turmeric supplements to see if that helps with the inflammation since I can't do NSAIDS but starting to wonder if I should go on a gas med and NSAID since they help to some degree.

This sucks.

[DieselsMom]

Same old same old. Not sure how the fudge I am sitting steady in weight considering the diet I am on. This is why I get frustrated and say **** it and throw in the towel.

[DieselsMom]

So thankfully the vegetarian part is done, that was awful and I know for sure I am never going to be a vegan because that was pretty much what I was eating - no meat, dairy, grains...rabbit food. As soon as I had protein back in and my veggies reduced the gas/bloat disappeared within a day or so. Weight has dropped back to 158.6 so that's good. Hips are feeling okay. Not as much evening pain at the moment so that is a good thing, I have been trying to stay away from my painkillers to see if there is a difference or not.

Did a fullbody circuit yesterday - starting back to bodyweight/low weights for most exercises to ease back into it. It was one of the cardio type circuits which kept your heart rate elevated and it was tough enough so I need to check my ego and just get some work in.

[anandagirl]

Catching up - way to stay on track despite weight not cooperating

[DieselsMom]

Catching up - way to stay on track despite weight not cooperating

Thanks - it is being super stubborn this time around!

So far this week I have walked 6.5miles and did another full body circuit workout this morning. Incorporating more exercise one day at a time. Weight is still hovering in the 158.4-158.6 range. Hoping for a whoosh soon.

[DieselsMom]

Really sore last night and this morning so took a day off from doing the full body trying to give my body recovery time. I hate this. Start getting moving then the pain settles in. I am not sure if this plan is working but I will continue to work with the functional health and if it doesn't look like I am on the right track I will take my bloodwork my GP and see what we can do otherwise. The cortisol may need some support if it hasn't recovered at all.

I am tired of being in pain. It sucks. Until I know our status in the US better I really can't start looking at surgery options. Argh.

I am planning on walking at lunch today to keep up some level of activity and then hopefully the left knee and right hip settle enough to try the full body tomorrow morning.

[mcbourque]

Hi Tamara,
Glad to see you are posting again and so sorry to read that you are dealing with so much pain. Trust me, I know, it sucks to have to figure out a whole new way of exercising and eating that make you see some progress. Plus the immigration issues are always a great stress.


Keep it up! Every day that you can do something helps and add up. Hope your rest day gave you recovery. Good job on the full body!

[DieselsMom]

Hi Tamara,
Glad to see you are posting again and so sorry to read that you are dealing with so much pain. Trust me, I know, it sucks to have to figure out a whole new way of exercising and eating that make you see some progress. Plus the immigration issues are always a great stress.


Keep it up! Every day that you can do something helps and add up. Hope your rest day gave you recovery. Good job on the full body!

Hey Marie! Thanks focusing on trying to do more each week. I bought a fitness journal and hoping that helps me move more each week.

Detox diet is over now I can slowly add foods back in. so far everything I have added back in has had no effect - as I said pretty sure my tummy is strong I am from farm stock lol. Still not adding back grains since the next focus is truly to lose weight. Obviously weight loss will decrease the stress on the joints. We are trying a version of IF but doing it as two fasting days per week as I have started my crazy life called hockey and it will be easy not to eat on Monday's and Thursdays as I usually pick something up for the kids on the way home. Xavier's practices this year is from 7:45-8:45 and we are 40min from rink which means late nights twice a week. Nolan is coaching his team so Lexi and I will more than likely leave after her practice most nights which ends at 7:30 to try and get her home and in bed at a decent time as she just turned 10.

I have already seen a loss on the scale since trying this new plan but want to see if it is more permanent in nature vs just water. I don't think the swing after a fasting day will be as huge since there still is no grains in my diet which means less water retention.

I have not been active enough this week. Need to get up at 5am. Can't convince myself at 5 to get out of bed. I just need to smarten the fluck up.

[DieselsMom]

Weight is steadily decreasing right now....weird seems my body likes to have more variety lol.

Knee has been really touchy - like bend it to put on socks and it shoots a stabbing pain through it. Going to continue to focus on weight loss to see if that helps and I started a fitness journal to write down my thoughts and feelings to see I can work through the true reason for my lack of motivation as it is coming from within. My goal is 3 full body workouts and 10 miles walked per week. Should be doable.

I have been insanely busy with my volunteer work for hockey. Between being on the board and helping my fundraising chair with our first annual golf tournament plus my real work of month ends and budget season it has been insane.

[mcbourque]

Weight is steadily decreasing right now....weird seems my body likes to have more variety lol.

Knee has been really touchy - like bend it to put on socks and it shoots a stabbing pain through it. Going to continue to focus on weight loss to see if that helps and I started a fitness journal to write down my thoughts and feelings to see I can work through the true reason for my lack of motivation as it is coming from within. My goal is 3 full body workouts and 10 miles walked per week. Should be doable.

I have been insanely busy with my volunteer work for hockey. Between being on the board and helping my fundraising chair with our first annual golf tournament plus my real work of month ends and budget season it has been insane.

10mi walk is huge Good for you. It sounds like you have the worse behind you and are slowly getting back to your former habit. Keep it up

Hockey is insane. A lot of my cousins are hockey moms and it's so much work! You are a saint! Oh and I love your kids names!

[DieselsMom]

Hey Marie - 10 miles over the course of the week. I try to get 3 miles a couple times a week in at lunch. I walk at a pace that leaves me slightly short of breath so that I know I am at least challenging myself. I don't change out of work clothes so with it being 95+ most days that is a hot event. I am advocating for small lockers to be put in our bathroom so that we can change cause I would like to start jogging once the weather cools a bit. By the time I change come back to my desk and leave again then come to my desk, go to the bathroom and change I have lost 5-10 mins of lunch on each side. Which shortens my walk length - won't be as bad when jogging as I can obviously get more miles in faster.

I have not worked out this week I just have not had the energy to wake up early. I am super swamped at work with month ends and budgets plus my hobby craft business got hit with 5 orders this week and we are going to the coast on Thursday for a 4 day weekend before kids head back to school. We are also less than a month away from our golf tournament fundraiser and I am converting our hockey board books from paper to QB's so I have really loaded my plate.

Need to sacrifice an hour of sleep but feel conflicted on that too because I always feel like I need it however I can't go to bed earlier since we barely get home and settled by 10 at least 2 nights a week with hockey. Good news - diet is working without the exercise but I do know it would be better with it. Was 153.6 this morning.