So Many Changes

I have so many balls up in the air that I am having a hard time keeping up with them all!  Here's an update:

• I had scope surgery on my right knee in June. It didn't help at all but the surgeon got a great look inside and found out my knees are pretty much beyond hope. Right knee replacement surgery scheduled for November. After I recover from that one, we'll do the left.
• Intense pain in my back and legs led me to get more checked out. Turns out I have severe rheumatoid arthritis in my back, which means I will be in a wheelchair within 5-10 years.
• Only way to delay that wheelchair is to lose weight and get healthy!
• Every time I eat gluten, my back and legs hurt horribly. We're talking excrutiatingly mind-numbingly pain. So I've eliminated gluten as much as possible. Sometimes I notice it is in something I ate, but overall, I'm doing well.
• I have published only one of my pieces of fiction, have written lots more AND some non-fiction, but all need another edit or two before I can release them. Since we really need the money, I gotta get busy!
• Preparing for the wheelchair business means we really need a house closer to town, that we can convert to handicapped access. We still want chickens and turkeys, and hopefully goats, but I can't seem to find a decent neighborhood near Hubby's work where we can do this. Still, we're not moving for a year or so, giving us plenty of time to find a neighborhood AND for me to get through my knee operations.
• We have already gotten rid of our goat herd. It was too much for Hubby to do in the mornings before work.  We still have chickens and turkeys but most of them will be harvested before Thanksgiving. Yum...healthy home-grow turkey!
• Weight loss isn't going great but it's going. Steady-like. I was hoping to be at 200 pounds by my November surgery but I don't think I'm going to make it.  We'll see.

One more thing: one of the non-fiction books I'm writing is about making healthy homemade MREs (meals ready to eat) using dehydrated, freeze-dried and otherwise shelf-stable ingredients. As I wrote on that book this week, I realized that would be a perfect way to help my diet / getting healthy plan. All meals are portion controlled.  No two meals would be alike, unless that's something I wanted. Variety...the spice of life! Low sodium. Low sugar. Gluten-free. Low carbs if I wanted that.

If you are interested in that part of my life, please go to the blog I set up specifically for my Meals In Jars (MIJ) / homemade healthy MREs diet at http://homemadehealthymres.blogspotcom

Thank you.

Tai Chi for the first time

I had always heard about Tai Chi, but never tried it. Never crossed my mind.

However, last week, I discovered my right leg is about two inches shorter than my left. Background: Because of my morbid obesity, something had to give. My legs volunteered.

Over the past several years, I have suffered from Bakers' cysts, meniscus tears, knee muscles/bones/cartilages crumbling and fraying. Disintegrating. I keep falling because my knees give out on me.

Started consulting with an orthopedic surgeon a couple of years ago. We have tried steroid shots, SynVisc shots, and this past June 26 (2014), I had a scope surgery done on my right knee. The doc told me it wasn't much of a help, telling me that I require a total knee replacement, and soon.

It is scheduled for November.

Meanwhile, I am working to lose weight.

As you may remember I went from 299 lbs in 2008 to 201 lbs in October 31 2010. Super-struggle, counting carbs and calories, but I did it. Then a certain family trip set me back, and the weight just molded back on my body. However, this time, my highest was 266 pounds.

As of yesterday, at the doctor's office, I was 255 pounds, fully-clothed with boots.

Back to Tai Chi. I started that last week, plus a few other exercises, to get my right leg back to the same length as my left. AND to lessen the volume of my body so that I can be healthy enough to recover from my knee surgery.

I would appreciate encouragement!



p.s. Writing is back on track! I am even writing a book on my "dieting" experience. www.vikki-lawrence-williams.blogspot.com

Back in the Saddle. Again. Hopefully.

Has it really been almost a year since I've written? Oh my. So sorry. I will do better.

It has been an eventful 12 months. My son had two brain surgeries May 2013 to try to get rid of his epilepsy. The surgeon took out his rt occipital lobe, rt hippocampus, part of the rt frontal lobe, and a tumor. While this did result in less seizures, he was left with 1/4 blindness in each eye, memory problems, and difficulties walking and talking. He also lost most of his memories, especially having to do with schoolwork.

It's been a struggle but he is walking and talking better. We are back to homeschooling because we had to start all over again.

As far as me... I can barely walk so am waiting for knee surgeries to happen in the Fall. Meanwhile, I try to move my upper body as much as possible. Not very succcessful.

And working to clean up my diet. Kind of a paleo but really can't imagine no legumes or dairy, so writing up my own diet. Assuming it works, I will publish a book about it.

Basics about it:
All kinds of veggies
All kinds of fruits
All kinds of legumes
All kinds of meats, seafood, poultry and eggs
Some dairy
Honey and stevia for sweeteners

NO GRAINS.

Instead, I am working up recipes for "bread" using nut flours, bean flours, coconut and sorghum flours, and crackers using soaked flax and chia seeds.

Trying trying trying.

So far, it is still SUCH a struggle to NOT eat cake, bread and pasta. Difficult to eat a BLT without the bread. Gotta figure this out. GOTTA.

My son needs me.

**I** need me.

Intake for Sat Apr 20

Grabbed a big frozen pkg of pork chops from the freezer yesterday so before I went to bed, divided them into 3 crockpots and cooked on low all night (mostly with just garlic). And then, because all of the water and tea I drank, I was up all night in the bathroom!

Yesterday's intake:

8 a.m.: 1/4 cup cooked pork, water

10:30 a.m.:  chicken nuggets, pear, strawberry/banana smoothie, rice crackers

1:30 p.m.: leftover pizza (chicken, onion, mushrooms, green peppers), water.

Here's my downfall: I needed to make some sample cupcakes for a customer's graduation party. Yes, I ate a cupcake and some frosting (all homemade). I then drank tons of water to start flushing out the sugar again.

4:30 p.m.:  boiled egg with spicy brown mustard, water

6:30 p.m.: Hubby brought home dinner from Panda Express: orange chicken, honey walnut shrimp, brown rice and 2 egg rolls. Oh well. He tried.

9:00: pecans and almonds, water, my evening pills

Not great but today's another day!