This Week on the Dining Table

The "Weight Loss is Still the Focus" Edition.                                            

Here's another vendor booth from the Spring Fair we stumbled upon in Belfast, Ireland.  We didn't buy any fudge but if Kim had been with us, she would have made a serious dent in their inventory! lol

I'm still making weight loss progress(after hitting a plateau for 2 weeks), am in PT for my lower back issues, got a Neurology consult and meds(though it will take awhile to get them balanced)and am moving forward with both avenues available to get my knee replaced(at some point will need to decide on which one to go with but we aren't at that point yet). 

My PCP is on board with this way of eating to reach a short term goal so no unsolicited advice on this eating plan please.  While I appreciate the concerns I am fine and I am losing weight.  I haven't had any sugar(other than a bit of honey in some hot tea)nor any white food.....bread, potatoes, rice, pasta since returning from the cruise on June 4th.  I am craving fresh homemade bread and Crab Rangoon!  But I am holding fast to my plan anyway.....so far.

I am down 43 lbs. since April(but 51 lbs. if you count the 8 lbs. I gained on the cruise and had to take off again when we got back).  Ideally I want to get rid of 12 more lbs. before the knee replacement(could be as soon as Sept. but likely in Oct.)and I have a goal(but at a slower pace)of 20 lbs. more gone after that surgery(maybe by the end of 2023/beginning of 2024? if it's doable).

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned for last week.......

1. Sunday--Brussels Sprouts, 4 strawberries

2. Monday--Salad(half of it), a yogurt cup

3. Tuesday--Protein drink, more strawberries perhaps

4  Wednesday--small piece of brisket, Broccoli

5. Thursday--other half  of Salad above, yogurt

6.  Friday--Protein drink

7. Saturday-no clue yet-maybe clean out fridge of protein and veggies?

And here's what actually happened........

1. Sunday--Brussels Sprouts, 4 strawberries

2. Monday--Salad(half of it), a yogurt cup

3. Tuesday--Protein drink, more strawberries

4  Wednesday--small piece of brisket, leftover Brussels Sprouts

5. Thursday--other half of Salad above, Catfish, 1 Ear of Corn

6.  Friday--Protein drink, Watermelon

7. Saturday--no food, just hydration

I also drink, water, iced tea(unsweetened), hot tea with lemon and honey and the odd zero sugar soda or Zero sugar Powerade/Gatorade and keep my stomach full and it also keeps me hydrated.   I mostly stick with the water or unsweet iced teas with lemon added.

This one mini-meal per day where I change between vegetable matter and a lean protein and a yogurt cup when these other meals won't suffice.  There also is a regime of supplements I am currently on, either to maintain my body's condition or were already taking them for various conditions.

I guess you'd call this an extreme intermittent fasting deal with many supplements to keep all my innards working and healthy.  I consulted a new PCP and my food plan was given the green light and my blood work came back aok. 8-)

What got taken out of the freezer last week...

*  bag of Brussels Sprouts  

What got put into the freezer last week....

*  a small Hunk of Smoked Brisket

*  9 bags of frozen veggies

*  4 lbs. of Catfish 

*  4 Sirloin Steaks
*  2 lbs. of Chicken Breast

Last week we spent $129.45 on grocery shopping.

 Total comes to $260.98 for July(so far). We stocked up on some items like frozen veggies, meats, wet dog food(again), and more protein drinks, olive oil, Jell-o and yogurt drinks.

There are 14 shopping days left in July(as of Monday 7/17).

I've earned $72.05 on Ibotta in July.

I've earned $9.00 on Shopmium in July.

I've earned $13.00 on Coupons dotcom.

I've earned $0 on Kroger Cash Back in July.

I've earned 299 points from food shopping on Fetch in July.

I've earned 2,890 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in July.

I've earned 0 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in July.

That is $94.05 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $260.98 of grocery spending so in reality it's $166.93 in food spending after the 5 rebate apps I count.

My savings percentage for the last week was 31.38% and the monthly savings total for July comes in at 26.33% so far spent.

Leftovers going into this week...nothing really.

Here is this week's "food plan".....

1. Sunday-Zalad from Zaxby's, Watermelon

2. Monday--leftover ear of corn, a green bean appetizer for dinner

3. Tuesday--Protein drink, Watermelon

4  Wednesday--Teriyaki Stir-Fry Veggies and Shaved Beef, yogurt cup

5. Thursday--1/2 a bag of Veggies(Broccoli?), yogurt cup, Watermelon

6.  Friday--Salmon, half of a Spinach Soufflé, Watermelon

7. Saturday--leftover Stir-Fry?

I also drink, water, iced tea(unsweetened), hot tea with lemon and honey and the odd zero sugar soda or Zero sugar Powerade/Gatorade and keep my stomach full and it also keeps me hydrated.   I mostly stick with the water or unsweet iced teas with lemon added.

This one mini-meal per day where I change between vegetable matter and a lean protein and a yogurt cup when these other meals won't suffice is not hard to do once you get past the first 3 or 4 days.  There also is a regime of supplements I am currently on, either to maintain my body's condition or were already taking them for various conditions.

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Well my menu is pretty basic and I have everything here for it.  Hubs will have the Stir-Fry dish and Salmon with me on those 2 nights but otherwise he's on his own. :-)

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any deals on food at your stores this week?  I confess that I don't need to buy anything right now nor have I had any desire to read the ads.

Sluggy  

Neurological Issues-Don't NOT Want to Blog But.........

 I am taking a break because of neurological issues that make it nearly impossible to use my hands.  

The soonest I can get a Neurology consult, testing and diagnosis is February of next year here!

I've been waiting 2 Freaking YEARS!  Symptoms have starred to rapidly to progress now but nobody will schedule me something now.  This has become an urgent matter since there are neurological diseases on both sides of my family-father, with MS, his sister's daughter who died 2 years ago, as well as my maternal grandfather's mother suffered from severe MS almost her whole adult life.

I haven't been able to write for a few months and now my hands shake so bad I can hardly use a keyboard on this computer without having to retype letters constantly.  The tremors make me hit a key multiple times which means going back and correcting my typing over and over again.

This brief message has taken me over an hour to type.

So say a prayer that the issue gets addressed sooner than next year and I can regain the use of my hands.

Sluggy

My Swan Song

  

It's been fun but my time here is coming to a close so let me leave you with my prophetic Karaoke Superstars performance from our last cruise.

It truly describes me even if you can't see my face for the music stand hiding it and my voice has disintegrated from a decent singing one to what is left here.

I will miss many of you dear readers.

Goodbye.

Sluggy

Frugal Friday.....the July 14th Edition

Welcome to Frugal Friday!   

There are very few Frugal wins this past week and not everything here would be considered frugal but here goes......

*  Being on this restrictive short term eating plan meant we spent very little at the grocery store this past week.(Well we spent more than the previous week and I might pick up more veggies before posting this.)  The freezer is packed with food for Hubs to eat as long as he remembers to thaw something. lol

*  Been cropping and renaming photo files and uploading videos to my Youtube channel.

*  Saw my PCP this week to straighten out my Rxs, go over bloodwork(it's all  great!)and have a physical.  Also to get Neurology on the ball to have me in for testing.  I've lost 39 pounds since returning from the cruise too.

* Then saw the Orthopedist on Tuesday and he's a go on doing the knee replacement but he wants to wait until late September so that will mark 6 months since the devastating "stool incident" on Xmas eve.  I see him again in the beginning of August(where I will hopefully  have lost more weight)to get me on the schedule.  For now the knee is holding up.  

* In addition Orthopedist is sending me to Physical Therapy for my bad back.  Good thing about the PT it is FREE for the rest of this year.  Yay!

*  I found money!  

Two pennies at Walmart last Friday around the self-checkouts.  Only other places I went last week were to 2 doctor's offices and to a different grocery store for veggies and meat.  Hard to find change in medical buildings. ;-)

Total Found in last Week.... .02¢
Total Found this Year.......$2.49

That's all for this past week.

It's too damn hot here(triple digit heat indexes for weeks now!)so I rarely leave the house except to hobble to the car with a/c then to wherever I am going that also has a/c.  Can you say I am over Summer down here on Satan's front porch??

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

Sluggy 

Well Aren't You Special, Darling!

This below is the sort of troll/hate mail I get frequently.  Instead of deleting it I thought I'd share it.....I know, these kind of people just want this sort of attention, but it was too "good" not to post.

On my "What's Happening Here Lately" Post she wrote.....

Didn't you check out your new neighborhood BEFORE you moved there? Nowadays, retiree locations include health accommodations, taxes, cost of living, safety & crime rates, drivability etc. etc. Leaving PA and retiring to a hick town with low class amenities and poor health care seems like such a huge mistake. And you're going to let them do a knew replacement? How come no pics yet of your single wide retirement home? Enjoy your upcoming cruise. If there ever was an example of what NOT to do for retirement, you'd win.  Rita Marie Jones

Thanks for your hate filled comment Rita Marie Jones(if that is your real name).

Where to begin in my rebuttal, not that I feel I really need to address your comment, but here goes.

If you've read my blog for any amount of time you know I am not an idiot, especially when it comes to being frugal and to our finances.  Because of our money skills and income Hubs was able to retire at age 59.  

A lot of moving pieces got into deciding on where to relocate as you age.  Hubs wanted out of the "snow belt" and I wanted a one story home because of my bum knee.  We also wanted to be near at least one of our children so there was some sort of support system where we relocated to.  Oldest child lives in New Jersey.  We have lived in NJ before and I swore I'd never live there again, plus the cost of housing and property taxes and all those people and traffic plus the outrageously high auto insurance?  That wasn't ever going to happen.  Middle child lived in Louisiana, has a house and is married and settled here.  Though even as a young child growing up in Southern Virginia I have never been able to stand the heat and humidity in Summer in the South, yes we did move here.  Our youngest child is not settled down yet, nor is his job something he wants to stay with long term, but for now he is living in Pennsylvania near where we use to live.

We are NOT rich but by being careful with our money we are "comfortable".  Staying in the Northeast was not feasible unless we wanted to use a large percentage of our income for housing and all it's associated costs.  You must not know anything about PA-it's referred to as Philly and Pittsburgh with Kentucky in the middle, meaning we LIVED in a "hick town" up there.  ''

We actually live in lA a nice quiet area outside of a metropolitan area with any amenity you could want(well except an Aldi and a Costco).  This area is between a twin cities type area and a small town plus it's 7 miles from my daughter and son in-law. And it's much safer and full of Southern hospitality(something I've missed since moving North when I went off to college).  

Fresh produce is cheaper down here too so not having Aldi and Costco aren't a big deal as there are other options.  

The healthcare situation was unfortunately and we were driven by our private health insurance to go to the clinic we first attended plus it was the closest one to us and not knowing our way around down here, we tried it.  I believe God put us into that situation so that 1-I could get to know a truly caring medical professional and make her believe in herself enough that she is now not afraid to leave her situation and find one worthy of her talents and 2-I could do some good in this world by calling out the CEO and other people running that place and get regulatory boards in this state involved in changing how they were running the clinic. (Since sending out a letter to said CEO plus cc'ing it to 4 Board Members and 3 regulatory agencies its seems I've stirred up a hornet's nest in this organization.  Hopefully things will change for the betterment of the patients there.)

 I received good care from my NP there but some things didn't get addressed in as timely a manner as I needed/wished but then again, my medical providers up in PA in many ways were just as bad!  We are now hooked into one or more of the three major healthcare facilities in this area(does LSU ring a bell?)  I have TWO options for a "Knee" replacement-one through my insurance which is a special program of elite joint replacement surgeons around the country or two-a local "KNEE" replacement surgeon, who graduated med school at the top of his class and is Board Certified by the Royal College of Surgeons in Canada.  Before moving here he had a thriving practice outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

There was no way the initial clinic we attended was going to perform knee surgery on me.....this was NOT a surgeon's office.  It's clear you have little understanding of the way medical care works(or doesn't)in this country.

We are located outside of two medium sized cities(if you consider Dallas a large city)but are drivable to get  ourselves to any amenity you could think of, in a very safe area with little to no crime out here beyond the city limits and I'd put my tax bill up against yours any day!

As for the "single wide retirement home" comment......no, we didn't purchase a single wide mobile home.  But what if we had?  It's economical housing and manufactured homes are very prevalent in this state(as they are in the middle of PA/hick town PA).  I am not a "house proud" type person as are many Americans(and they wonder why they are going broke?)  I want my home to be of a certain standard and comfortable.  We still had money tied up in the PA house but needed to jump on a new abode down here.  We found one we could slowly cash flow improvements on which also gave us enough land so we weren't crowded by neighbors and we could afford it with the cash on hand.  The sale of the PA house gave us extra cash for anything we needed to fix/replace and otherwise increased our nest egg in retirement.  Does the fact that we were able to purchase our home down here for cash tell you enough about how capable we are in managing our money?

Now don't tell me how bad manufactured homes are versus a site built home.  Have you seen the sheer destruction in Vermont and the Hudson Valley in upstate New York lately?  Or the million+ $$ homes in California sliding down cliffs?  If Mother Nature wants to take your home, it doesn't matter where it is or what it cost.  Most(if not all) of this state is below sea level so even if we bought a site built home there are no basements to flee to during natural disasters here.

So go ahead and slander the choices I've made in retirement.  Let's hear what stellar choices you've made in yours, how many countries you've been to and had experiences in and what your net worth is Rita Marie Jones.  Then you can crawl back under your bridge and go away.

Sluggy