So we walked down the block and back. Nothing like several weeks unable to get out of a chair to argue that all the excuses for not exercising are not all that persuasive. I did it, and hope I won’t kick the pain up again. It’s good for me, it’s good for Jane, and on that Costco trip we got two coats with hoods so as long as the ground isn’t icy, we can brave the weather. When it does ice, we have the exercise horse that we can use. I have no desire to spend another several weeks with bursitis. I have nothing to compare it with but one tooth filling without anaesthetic and one broken arm. I’d say it’s about equal.
Well enough to start the walking campaign.
by CJ | Sep 20, 2014 | Journal | 10 comments
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In that most useful and amazing daily science news link you have provided, recently there was an article that pointed out that mice who have cancer and exercise and have chemo do a lot better than mice who have cancer and merely have chemo and do not exercise. Apparently exercise is of vital importance, so long as it does not exacerbate an injury, which I hope you do not do. Great good luck with your recovery.
Thanks!
Glad to see that you are mobile again! It’s just the most awful awful when pain takes over your life, and knee pain can be so devastating it can induce tears.
I seem to be controlling knee pain with a combination of glucosamine-chondroitin, slow weight loss, and exercise on the Rodeo Core (or Little Blue Pony). Thanks for that recommendation by the way. Walking for exercise is not an options here. Horrible country roads and woods with lots of unsteady footing that are fine for a hike with a stick but not so good for an exercise regimen.
Years ago when I almost did in my right knee, my doc said that he thought weight loss did more for knee health than surgery!
Weight loss is major, for sure. Jane and I stalled out on our weight loss, what with the wedding, the trip south to Soonercon and up to see Jane’s sister, then a frantic catch-up of office work, and SpoCon, and the knee injury—in which I ate anything I could get to cushion my stomach against the painkillers…and my birthday, and Shejicon…and finally I got to the doc…
Now we’re facing Jane’s birthday. But along with it—we’re starting to walk again.
We’re also having a couple of recipes that have gotten rid of the temporary weight gain, at least for me:
1. pepper chicken Caesar: chicken bits heated in a pan with: a tablespoon of black pepper, a tablespoon of dried basil, olive oil. Then half a cup of grated parmesan added, off heat, stirred to coat chicken. Serve over: Caesar salad with limited dressing. With baby Portobello shrooms if they can be had.
2. Bavarian sauerkraut with kielbasa: regular Safeway sauerkraut, add caraway seed, slice kielbasa and heat with same.
3. [which we haven’t done yet]—corned beef and cabbage. Wash the corned beef to get rid of the killer salt bath it comes in: wash it well. Put it in crock pot with contents of the spice packet it comes with plus (trust me) a teaspoon of nutmeg. Add raw cabbage, sliced. And water. Cook all day.
Cabbage and lettuce aren’t innocent of carbs, but they’re low, and they’re a great diet ‘bridge’ when your portion sizes have gotten out of control. They give you a lot to eat that doesn’t translate to a lot of food value.
We’ll be ramping down the portion size. I have a recipe that I’m going to try, which requires a muffin tin and a pie crust cut in small portions, lining each cup. To storebought Classico white sauce (Italian) add frozen sliced carrot and peas, plus black pepper, basil and chicken bits and a coating of cheddar. [Which can actually sub for the pie crust if you want to get stricter. This turns out a batch of entrees for a limited portion dinner (serve along with a nice helping of broccoli, etc) which lets you have the savory crusty little entree, and the low carb veggie. It’s a clever notion of making a chicken pot pie without an overload of carbs. Don’t know how well it will work, but it looked good on the internet.
Ah, we were the cause of temptation to you……Shejicon and all that good stuff we had at the various places did you in……Are we ashamed? Heck no! You seemed to be enjoying yourself, so why would we want to put any guilt into the equation?
Heck, we were sooooooooo enjoying it. I could only wish I had been able to walk everywhere and do everything! Next time we do this, we’ll try to assure I’m in good shape!
Have you considered trying swimming or water aerobics? Easier on the joints. The biggest hurdle in winter is getting there, admittedly.
Well, walking is more likely than us getting organized enough to get to a pool. We have a pretty good route to walk…right now we’re picking up fist-sized rocks from a construction site to walk back with—they’re nice basalt, and we need them for a border. 😉
Got a question for all: What do you think of the recent claim that using the artificial calorie-free sweetners changes the gut biome in ways that cause glucose intolerance, i.e. Type 2 diabetes? Any experiences that may tend to support or refute?
Jane and I use Sucralose soda, and have detected no problem: given an array of sugar and artificial sweeteners at a restaurant, I hunt down the Sucralose, because I prefer the level of sweetness. But we don’t drink much soda and we don’t have many sweets, or sweetened tea. I read the article (as reported) and the more interesting aspect of it to me was the notion that, if it IS having an effect on the census of bacterial populations in the gut of users, pinpointing what’s low vs high in numbers and devising a cocktail that could provide the balance needed might be helpful in treatment. One could ask many more questions such as, do people who have glucose intolerance naturally have lower levels of some gut flora, and is it attributable to the sweeteners or is it something attributable to their diabetes? Like many studies, it seems to open doors for questions, but the artificial sweeteners also seem to have good effects, like enabling people to keep with their necessary diet…