Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
649848 tn?1534633700

Sunday Weigh in January 15, 2023

Good morning.  How is everyone doing this morning?  It's cold here (28°), so we're waiting for it to warm up a bit before we really "start the day"... We have some errands to run, but don't want to go out in the cold.

The week was busy, but pretty calm.  I saw my foot doctor on Wednesday and will be in the boot for another 3 weeks.  After that, I'll "graduate" to an ankle brace and some type of "sturdy" shoe - can't wait to see what that will be!!  (eye roll).  Anyway, the doctor says I'll be back to wearing flip flops and sandals by summer.   I told him I don't wear flip flops anymore, since that's what I was wearing when I slipped and broke my foot a couple of years ago.  

Anyway, I ended up having lunch with friends 2 days this week.  Both are people I worked with (different jobs) and we don't get to see each other very often now that we're retired.   I hadn't seen one of them in several years, though we talk on the phone periodically.    It was nice to see her.  

I haven't come up with any more health issues - just waiting for time to pass, so I can get rid of the boot on my foot and wait for March to get here so I can get the testing done on my hands and find out what they'll do.   I still can't believe it takes months to get an appointment for that type of testing.  Oh well.  

Weight-wise, I'm doing "okay".  I haven't weighed this morning, but yesterday,  I was within a couple of tenths of where I've been for the past 3 weeks.  I'm not losing, but, at least not gaining either.   It's kind of hard to exercise with the boot on my foot, but I've come up with a few simple things I can do while sitting in a chair or standing still, that help a little bit.  

Anyway, although I'd have preferred to lose a pound or 2, I'm good with staying the same.  So that's my week - how was yours.  I hope it was good and that you were able to meet your goals.

~~Wishing everyone a wonderful, successful week~~
1 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
134578 tn?1693250592
I weighed this morning, and have gained a pound. We had a big, salty dinner last night -- I'll check again tomorrow to see if the pound has stuck around or if some of it was the dinner; if its still there I'm going to have to make a few adjustments in how I eat. We had cookies around this week. (I got into the habit of making them over Christmas, and kept at it because especially our son likes to have something sweet around, and we all like homemade cookies more than stuff you buy at the store.) My husband is pretty disciplined, and maybe eats one small cookie a day. I could make a meal of them. That's bad! lol

My sisters met this week with the person who runs the assisted-living place where my folks live, and got strong assurances that they will provide all the services my mom needs including the two-person lift. I think the management is concerned about how many residents have left due to their rooms being unusable until the ceiling in that wing is repaired, and if I were them I would also be concerned that the family might sue for the gaps in the promised care of my mom. My sisters probably wouldn't have paid much attention to their assurances (after all, they didn't deliver on their promises before) except my stepdad gets frantic if we suggest they move. If the problems can really be fixed, it's probably worth them staying, so he won't entirely lose it. Unfortunately, all assisted-living places are only as good as their staffing, and at times, all of these places have staffing problems, so we really can't say a new place would be lots better than this place, and if they are really concerned that our folks stay, they should shape up.

Lately I've been introduced to a really good kale salad made by our local fancy grocery store. I've never liked raw kale, but maybe they "massage" it -- apparently massaging does improve kale. (The method involves squeezing the leaves in your hands in salty water, I think.) The salad is simple, consisting of the chopped kale, seasoned pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, white and black sesame seeds, and a very tasty lemon-and-vinegar dressing -- obviously appallingly healthy. At only $2.50 a pint, I can eat a lot of it without breaking the bank, so I think I'll make it my go-to lunch. Maybe I can knock off that creeping pound that has found its way onto my waistline.

Have a great week!
Helpful - 0
8 Comments
I'd guess last night's salty dinner had something to do with your 1 lb gain... but then, of course, homemade cookies don't really help a lot either.  lol  Luckily, I'm not that big on sweets and a lot of them cause my GERD to act up, so I have to limit them.  I hate the acid reflux so much (plus it scares me because my brother had esophageal cancer caused by GERD), so I avoid it as much as possible.

I'm glad to hear your sisters got some reassurances from the ALF your folks are in.  Since a lot of people are leaving due to lack of care or adequate shelter (unusable rooms), the manager/director "should" be getting concerned.   Yes, there's also the fact of the gaps in care - that should be major concern.  I'm sure the problems can be "fixed" if the ALF owner, manager(s)/directors decide to do it.  It's unfortunate that your stepdad gets so frantic at the thought of moving, but that sort of goes with old age.  My Auntie kept insisting that she could stay in her home and once that was no longer possible, she was content here, at our house.  Once she broke her hip and I could no longer care for her, she felt pretty disoriented, until we got her settled into the ALF (following PT and other things).  If we'd had to move her near the end, it would have been very difficult.

IDK how close any of you (you/your sisters) are to the ALF, but I found that in order to determine the quality of care, we needed to visit at random times/days to make sure Auntie was getting the same level of care ALL the time and not just when they thought we'd be visiting.  We visited her, at least 2-3 times/week (sometimes more).  Sometimes we'd go in the morning; other times, afternoon or evening just to see if the level of care was the same all day.   IDK about OR, but we also had the option of having "home health" come in to help bathe Auntie, do PT and OT, etc.  She always got good care, but when her breast cancer advanced and Hospice had to be called in, it became impeccable, because Hospice was there many days/week.  No slacking allowed!!   We still visited random days/times to make sure it was all good.  Of course, this was 10 yrs ago, but the same advice would be applicable today - visit as often and randomly as the family can arrange it.  I was Auntie's only family here (as well as her health care surrogate and POA), so it was up to me to make sure everything was well.  You have sisters, so between all of you, you might be able to make sure your folks' care is adequate and consistent.

I'm not a fan of raw kale either because it's so bitter, but your salad sounds pretty good.  What "fancy" grocery store makes it?  Would it, by any chance, be a national store that we might have here?  It sounds really good.

I hope you have a good week and everything works out with your folks.  
Alas, not a national chain, it's an Oregon, Washington and California-based store called New Seasons. But luckily I'm not the only person that likes their kale salad -- several foodies have posted recipes trying to approximate it. Here are a couple, and there are more.

https://thewhimsykitchen.com/2014/11/12/thanks-for-the-memories-and-the-coastal-kale-salad-2/

https://www.copymethat.com/r/xU4Ej06up/new-seasons-coastal-kale-salad-recipe/

One of the reasons it's so tangy and salty is that in the dressing is an ingredient I haven't heard of before, liquid amino acid. One of the writers describes it thusly: "If you've never heard of Bragg Liquid Aminos, let me tell you a little about it. It is derived from soy protein and contains no preservatives, and features 16 amino acids in naturally occurring amounts. The essential amino acids are not produced by the body and need to be obtained through protein-rich foods and some plants, or through liquid amino-acid supplements like Bragg's. Liquid amino acids are very popular with vegetarians, vegans, and people with dietary restrictions that want to easily add amino acids to the foods they eat." After reading that, I wonder why I don't cook with Bragg's all the time, especially since my son is a vegetarian.

Anyway, if you want to give it a try, check out the various versions people have written on the Internet. You can just google "New Seasons Coastal Kale Salad," and up come more than I linked. The recipes seem to use sprouted sunflower seeds if they can, but the New Seasons version I buy doesn't, it just uses plain sunflower seeds. (It does use seasoned pumpkin seeds, not plain, which might jazz up the flavor a bit.) One recipe suggests you toast the various seeds, that's likely to be an unnecessary step but might taste fine. One version calls for Parmesan cheese, which is definitely not in the salad that I buy. I think it's rich enough already and as salty as you would want it to be, so it doesn't seem like Parmesan would add.

Anyway, it's not a complicated salad, it's just the kale, some julienned red onions, and the 4 kinds of seeds. If you can't get the Bragg Liquid Aminos, try tossing in a spoonful of soy sauce instead, and you'll get a good dash of salty. I'm going to look up the liquid aminos on Amazon and order myself a bottle.
And, I do suggest massaging the kale. lol
I will definitely check out the links you sent.  I'm familiar with Bragg's Liquid Aminos... I might even have some, but I think I ended up tossing the bottle that had been in the fridge for ages and ages and I never used it.   The only problem with the kale salad might be the onions, which don't tend to like me very much anymore, though I love them.   I know I can get the liquid aminos in my local grocery store, so will try that with other veggies, as well.  

It might be a good idea to try the liquid aminos for your son, since he's vegetarian and may not get the protein he needs.  I've also wondered about his Vitamin B-12 since that comes from animal sources (meat, eggs, dairy, etc).  It's quite common for vegetarians/vegans to have low B-12 levels.  

I will definitely check out the salad, massaging the kale, etc.  I really need this kind of food.  Thank you.
I can't exaggerate how much I need it; I just haven't liked kale. But despite this salad being mostly just chopped kale, it tastes so good that it's no surprise various foodies have taken a stab at recreating it and putting it on their blogs. Lucky me that I can buy it, but I might also learn to make it in order to always have it around. That's the one good thing about kale, it holds up.

My son actually is a pescatarian, he will eat fish (though not most other seafood). I don't worry so much about his getting complete proteins, though I do worry about low quantity overall, of protein. Meat is just the easiest way to get your 55 grams a day or whatever it is. He takes a big multivitamin with iron when he happens to remember, and D3. He will eat (some) dairy. Doesn't like the taste of butterfat, so that knocks some things out, and he frowns upon cheese made with rennet, and so that cuts out some cheeses too.  Whenever he's in for a checkup, I ask the doctor to do bloodwork because I'm concerned about his protein levels, and she does, and so far it's not bad, she's the one who said his vitamins should include iron, though, so it's not perfect either. Anyway, for his sake I was delighted to hear about the Bragg's. It should be a good thing to cook with if I can work it into our meals.
ps -- The onions add a bit to the salad, but not so much that if you removed them you wouldn't like it. Also, is it actual fresh onions that give you problems? Can you use onion powder? Or would it all be the same painful result?
I worry more about vitamin B-12 when it comes to vegetarians or other "non-meat eaters" because, although we can get it from a couple of plant sources, it's very little and most people don't eat things like nutritional yeast and algae.   That's why it's, typically, considered that B-12 only comes from animal sources - many of the same ones that provide protein, though protein can also be obtained from soy, which many people like.  I don't use soy because it's not good for those of us with thyroid issues.    Spinach is pretty high in iron, so if he likes that, it's worth keeping it on hand.  

I'm going to look for the kale salad at a couple of my favorite organic food stores and see if I can find it.  I can eat cooked onions, if I don't eat them too close to bedtime.  Raw onions do a number on my GERD no mater when I eat them.   I haven't eaten red onions in a while - maybe they wouldn't be quite as hard on my GERD as white/yellow ones.  I could, maybe try a small amount and see how it works.  
That would be plausible. There are more onions in the foodie guesses of the recipe than there are in the salad I buy at New Seasons. I'm sure they add to the flavor, but they're pretty light in the actual salad.  I'm sure they wouldn't be the factor on which the flavor of the salad rests.
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Weight Loss and Fitness Community

Top Healthy Living Answerers
649848 tn?1534633700
FL
Avatar universal
Arlington, VA
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
14 super-healthy foods that are worth the hype
Small changes make a big impact with these easy ways to cut hundreds of calories a day.
Forget the fountain of youth – try flossing instead! Here are 11 surprising ways to live longer.
From STD tests to mammograms, find out which screening tests you need - and when to get them.
Tips and moves to ease backaches
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.