Haikoo

No, you are right, I SHOULD be doing PT. I know I will benefit from the exercises, it's just the finding the right ones that is overwhelming. I do take magnesium, but yes, I should look into collagen. I do like hiking and want to get back to that once there's not so much snow on the ground. Sadly, I never learned to swim. I HAVE learned that learning to swim with my face in the water as an adult is the hardest thing I've ever tried. Haven't been successful yet (and how embarrassing it is to try to learn in a public setting). Actually, my primary care doctor is only a primary physician 1/2 time. The other half, she is a sports medicine specialist. She took a look and is pretty convinced I have a patellar tracking issue going on with the knees. I believe her, but just need to figure out what things I need to strengthen/stretch to fix it. She had sent me to PT for another issue (maybe related? Super tight calves/exertional compartment syndrome), and maybe thinks I should be doing those exercises, but I was flustered enough at that point that I didn't clarify and now it's just bleh. I don't even want to deal with it. I worry she thinks I'm being a hypochondriac or something and don't want to ask anymore. It's probably in my head, but there it is.

I have been to a PT multiple times over the past few years for shoulder (before and after surgery), SI joint issues, and knees. I have various exercises he has given me. I can try to dig up the post surgery exercises for that. Last time I went to the doc (Nov) and mentioned the knees, she basically told me to do my PT, but didn't suggest I go back TO the PT. Basically I'm tired of the going to the doctor, telling them I hurt and getting the, "well, do pt" answer. Apparently it's not alarming to be young and have all your joints falling apart/hurting. She did at least do couple x rays at that time, but didn't see anything off other than some wear. As to the shoulder, no I didn't mention it. Because I feel like they're going to say "Well, you had surgery." It's just another ache to add to the list. Add in the hips (mostly right), too. I know I need the exercises. I need to make a plan. perhaps do them for x amount of time and then be able to say "This is what I've done" if it's not helping." But for pete's sake, I can't spend my entire day doing PT exercises. I have a mental block right now because I don't even know how to approach doing them all--shoulder, calves (will that help knees?), and SI joint. And I have to find some of the papers from the previous stuff. The shoulder surgery was 3 years ago.

I definitely do need to do some things with it, I just need to figure out what it needs. There are so many aches and pains it's hard to decide what exercises to prioritize.

Honestly, I don't know if the stuff cooks off, but I just hate the idea of it being there. I guess after thinking about it, it's more than just fillers and additives that has me draining the meat. It's the diet of the cows. My data collection and research over the years as me firmly convinced that cows should be eating a diet of what cows eat in nature--grass. When they eat other things, they aren't going to be as healthy and that is going to affect the fat in the meat. Beef from grass fed cows contains significantly more Omega 3 fatty acids than that from grain fed. The average American diet these days has us much too heavy on Omega 6 and we need a better balance. Thus aiming for those Omega 3s is a good idea. Unfortunately, grass fed beef is not always readily available here, or you have to pay more for it and sometimes people can't do that. Plus, if the rest of your diet isn't as healthful, adding in that extra less desirable fat (omega 6 from grain fed cows) can be bad for the arteries.

I do if I'm using non grass fed meat. There are a lot of fillers and junk that are put into American ground beef, unfortunately. We try to limit what we can. But if we are using grass fed, that yumminess stays in the dish.

Welcome! I haven't posted anything on here yet. I honestly don't think I ever even arted in my 8 NF years, which is a travesty, because now I believe everyone should art. I actually haven't even finished anything in the last month because life is CRAMMED. I'm hoping to finish some sketch journaling stuff this weekend. You can find some of my inktober and random watercolor stuff on my instagram, though, if you are so inclined -- @haikoo575

I loooove fennel! I had never had it until we started getting it in our CSA a few years ago. So good You must be in a non-winter place, i conclude as I see the word garden then turn to look at the thoroughly snow covered ground outside my window.

Thanks for the tips! I will definitely be doing a LOT of research and pushing for the 504 plan if she can't get an IEP. I have to sit down and compose some e-mails this weekend and get the ball rolling. Updates while I'm drinking my coffee: No real progress in the office, but the boys are gone all day and tonight, and my schedule is mostly clear until the evening now. I plan to head in there and get some things organized into the newly shelved closet. I had conditioning class for karate (it's really mixed martial arts, but it's way easier to just say karate lol) this morning and I realized either my cardio tolerance is SHOT or I'm trying to come down with something respiratory. Started getting that tell-tale windpipe/bronchial pain that I usually don't get unless I am/have been/am getting sick. HOPEFULLY it's just the former and I need to get my ass in gear and raise more heart rate more often. Also fitness related, I forgot to mention I have a silent goal of doing push ups every day. My old shoulder wound is creeping back into my life I'm trying to take steps to get more strength and range of motion into it before it tries to freeze on me. It's been 3 years since surgery and it's getting more sensitive and stiff. At any rate, January was 5 pushups each day, February is 10. March will be 15. I'm starting really slowly on purpose. I have the tendency to get elbow tendonitis if I try to do too many at once. I'm hoping this slow approach will keep that at bay. FOOD! It's going well. I haven't deviated off the path since Monday. I did have pasta last night, but it was "low carb" pasta. For you instant potheads out there, this is a really good recipe: https://twosleevers.com/pressure-cooker-keto-creamy-shrimp-scampi/ We did find the pasta wasn't as done as it could be, but we stirred it up better and got it more down into the liquid and heat. It finished cooking by the time we got the cheese and 1/2 n 1/2 mixed in. SUPER fast and very tasty meal. We're going out for dinner and a show tomorrow night, so I will likely deviate from the plan with that. On the progress front, I weighed in this morning and found I've lost about 5.5 lbs since Dec. 31. I lose weight REALLY slowly, so this is great progress and a really healthy rate. I can't really see it at all, but I feel it a TINY bit around my side abs/edges of the belly. I'm not too hung up on the number, but It's nice to see that I'm burning off a little fat. At some point, I want to start adding in a weightlifting session each week. I miss it!

hurrah! It's always nice to see visible evidence of our health making efforts.

Because for some reason we insist on looking at ourselves through a microscope, thus getting a skewed imagine. It's like when you use those super magnified "makeup" mirrors. They literally distort the reflection. No one will EVER see us that way. It's so hard to break the microscope habit.

Thanks, me too!! We need to get this kid believing that she is not stupid and she can and will have a successful life!!

yea, I'm definitely going to be pushing and pushing it hard. They will probably end up giving her something just to get me to shut up.

So week 1 is...week 1. Monday on the food front was fine except we had ice cream in honor of Mr. Koo's birthday. No biggie, it was a planned deviation. Yesterday's food intake was on target, and today so far. I have honestly not gotten anything done this week in the basement. I've had a ton going on. Yesterday we had a follow up appointment with a neuropsychologist for one of the kids. She did not diagnose said kid with a specific math learning disability as we expected. She's calling it more of a general Executive functioning delay. I am familiar with what this means, but was a bit surprised because this kid seems so organized. In the end Dr. V said it's not actually terribly uncommon and it's actually pretty smart that they keep their environment very organized and just so in order to compensate for the difficulties they are having when it comes to organizing their thinking and problem solving skills. In the end, her lack of knowing how to approach the problems and the chaos in her head is keeping her from learning, especially math which requires the most fine tuned type of problem solving. Next we begin the arduous journey of figuring out what to do with this information and trying to get the school to provide some sort of accomodations. If they don't, I don't see how she's going to pass high school with the required math credits. I don't know if this well qualify as a "learning disability" though, at least not under the legal definition. Hiring tutors for this is no joke on the wallet, either. Thinking of it all has me mentally exhausted. Never would have thought this would be something we'd be dealing with. Hoping to get back into the office this afternoon, though, after a couple of dog walks I have scheduled. Our house is too new to have a scary old furnace, but pretty sure there is a box monster on it's way to sentience down there....

SO agreed about the tragedy olympics. Many of us have trauma and we all come through it differently. There is no competition, nor even a valid scale for scoring. It's too subjective, too individual to the person that we are. We all handle it differently. And that is okay. <HUGS>

Hello friend! I've missed you! *KOOHUGS* I just enjoyed a wee tot of Knob Creek Smoked Maple whiskey. Cheers!