Alligatorob's Diary

[alligatorob]

Today was a good day, I ate well, exercised and felt good tonight. Had Vietnamese food out for dinner, a big spring roll that was mostly fresh veggies in thin rice paper (not fried) and a bowl of seafood pho. I only ate the bits of seafood and veggies, did not eat the noodles, it was good.

Glad to have you back either way.

with Llama

Thanks, hard to say that I am glad to be back, but I know I need to be. And having friends here like y'all makes it all the more pleasant.

 

[Llama]

We call the non-fried spring rolls summer rolls. I always think they look like stuffed condoms

 

[alligatorob]

I always think they look like stuffed condoms

Oh no!! Never thought about it, but you are right. It may be hard for me to face my next spring or summer roll with a straight face.

 

[Cate]

G makes the fresh rice paper rolls & they are such a light, delicious & healthy meal. I will try not to picture them as "stuffed condoms" Llama
I love pho! Was there a crazy amount of noodles, Rob?

 

[alligatorob]

Yesterday was a good day, I ate well, exercised, and felt fine. I think my real calorie count was probably higher, can't figure out what I missed, but it did not feel like such a low cal day. My knees continue to slowly get better, some things still hurt though. Like walking down stairs or standing up from a chair. Next week I transition to once a week physical therapy, went twice this week.

G makes the fresh rice paper rolls & they are such a light, delicious & healthy meal. I will try not to picture them as "stuffed condoms" Llama
I love pho! Was there a crazy amount of noodles, Rob?

I liked both and will probably go back to that place, good food. Yes there were a lot of noodles, my dog enjoyed them very much!

Oh, and by the time you read this its probably the New Year in Australia, so Happy New Year!

 

[Llama]

Yay for good days! A good end of the year should lead to a good start of the next, right?

 

[Emilyrose]

Happy New Year Rob. Here’s to a year of healthy knees and a healthy relationship with food. We can do it!

 

[Cate]

Happy & healthy new year to you, too Rob.
We have either rice paper rolls(4) or pho as a meal as both are filling on their own, especially pho. I love all of the fresh herbs that go into pho. We have mint & Vietnamese mint in our garden. We love Vietnam & its food & would go back there. How soon before your next trip in your camper?

 

[alligatorob]

Well yesterday wasn't a great food day. Ate some big rich cookies for no good reason, a cookie binge. Put them on my calorie count, but am not sure how accurate it is, could have been more... I did get some good exercise in, and ate pretty well the rest of the day. Did a cycling class at the gym and did more vigorous pedaling and standing up than I have before, for the first time it did not hurt much afterwards, knee progress!

Yay for good days! A good end of the year should lead to a good start of the next, right?

Thanks Llama, and had yesterday been a good day I'd agree with you... But it wasn't my worst.

Happy New Year Rob. Here’s to a year of healthy knees and a healthy relationship with food. We can do it!

Thanks Emily and yes we can do it! Though I think your knees are already healthy.

We have either rice paper rolls(4) or pho as a meal as both are filling on their own, especially pho. I love all of the fresh herbs that go into pho. We have mint & Vietnamese mint in our garden. We love Vietnam & its food & would go back there.

I agree it is both healthy and tasty food. We have a lot of Vietnamese people in the US, so lots of Vietnamese food. But not so much in Utah. A lot of them settled in Louisiana, makes for a very interesting mix of foods there.

How soon before your next trip in your camper?

Nothing planned yet, too much snow now and I'd like to be a bit surer on my knees first. Probably in the spring.

 

[Llama]

Put them on my calorie count, but am not sure how accurate it is, could have been more...

Hey, you wrote it down instead of brushing it under the carpet.

Did a cycling class at the gym and did more vigorous pedaling and standing up than I have before, for the first time it did not hurt much afterwards, knee progress!

Excellent, congratulations!

 

[Cate]

Yay for more progress with your knee, Rob. I often think of your camper & how much fun it would be. I'm looking forward to hearing about some spring camping adventures.

 

[alligatorob]

Today was a better day, I ate well and feel good tonight. No exercise but it is my planned day off. I did do chores around the house, a little activity.

Hey, you wrote it down instead of brushing it under the carpet.

Thanks Llama, and I do know that is better for me... Although brushing it under the carpet might have been better than eating it...

Excellent, congratulations!

It did feel good, I could not have done that even before surgery!

Yay for more progress with your knee, Rob.

Thanks Cate, its a little like losing weight, one small victory at a time.

I often think of your camper & how much fun it would be. I'm looking forward to hearing about some spring camping adventures.

I am looking forward to it, but may not get the adventures I'd like. My wife is less interested than I am, but she is open to short local trips, guess we'll be doing more of that.

 

[Llama]

Although brushing it under the carpet might have been better than eating it...

I doubt your wife agrees: maybe try flushing it directly rather than with a detour.

 

[alligatorob]

Could have eaten better today, the gingerbread cookies at dinner were not great. But in the end my calories were ok. Got in some good exercise at the gym this morning, and I feel good tonight.

 

[Llama]

Overeating a little at the expense of nutritious food clearly isn't ideal but it's so much better than binging.

 

[alligatorob]

Today was a better food day than yesterday, but I could still do better. Got good exercise, 3 hours and 20 minutes in the gym and it felt fine. Good exercise day.

Today is the 3 month anniversary of my knee surgery. I think I am healing and recovering as well as could be expected, but not fast enough for me. Somehow I thought I'd be back to normal by now, but it ain't so. Still I know I am slowly improving.

Overeating a little at the expense of nutritious food clearly isn't ideal but it's so much better than binging.

Well put Llama, did a bit of the same again today, but not as bad...

 

[Llama]

400 kcal of sweets would probably be acceptable for most people but they're more noticeable in your list because your total calories are so low. I'd love to see some more veggies, too!

 

[alligatorob]

Today was a pretty good day. Ate better, not perfect, but better and got some good exercise.

I had a knee breakthrough. At the gym this morning the place where I do assisted squats was busy so I tried unassisted. I was able to all the way down into a deep squat and back up 8 times! I know I could not have done that even a week ago. When I got to PT in the afternoon I did the unassisted deep squats 20 times, it was hard and it hurt but I did it! The therapist saw me and came over to watch. He said he was impressed, and that in his experience not many total knee transplant patients can ever do that. It did hurt, but the hurt was short lived and I will do squats that way from now on. Before surgery I was pretty good at squats, did 100 once. They did not hurt too much whilst doing them, but afterwards I could barely walk for days... No such effect this time.

I'd love to see some more veggies, too!

Working on that. My eating goes in cycles and salad and veggies just aren't as appealing to me as they were for a long time. I did buy salad makings at the store today, then didn't eat them... At least I avoided the sweets today.

 

[Llama]

Yay for knee progress! Good work avoiding the sweets, too. Maybe it just isn't the right time of year for salads and stews or pickles would be better?

 

[Emilyrose]

Bone broth is meant to be very good for you, so well done on that. And on the knee progress.