Wednesday, August 18, 2010

#250: Adventures in Fine Dining

Yogurt. Oh my. Yogurt was a big mistake. It tasted like lumpy vinegar. Every day I try something new. Our one success was with what I called "gruel" but what was actually cream of wheat thinned down with milk to an almost soupy consistency. That was the first flavor I could stand to have in my mouth all summer. It was, as one of my Facebook friends said, like manna.

Actually, it was weird. It didn't taste like cream of wheat at all, it just wasn't disgusting. Applesauce. Now that was disgusting. Anything sweet is just too much for me. It turns to chemicals in my mouth. I described it to Mrs P as the flavor of a rusty snow shovel, dirty, salty and metallic. Chicken soup was better, but too spicy. The herbs in it played havoc with my stomach which hasn't had anything more adventurous than fruit punch Gatorade in it for months. Plain broth may be better. The vegetables in the soup were fine, but the chicken was hard for me to break up and swallow. Also, the noodles kind of wore me out after a while.

Oatmeal was another failure. There are a million varieties, of course, but we tried Quick Oats and they were too course and sticky for me. They coated my throat and mouth and anything that stays in there long enough turns nasty. But nothing was as bad as the yogurt. I don't know how to describe it. Blueberry yogurt is one of my favorite foods, but this was just awful, so sour and the texture was unpalatable. I could barely choke down the first spoon full.

So we continue the great experiment. Right now I'm sitting down to a nice hot bowl of gruel. Tonight we're going to try mashed potatoes. It seems like the blander the better is the way to go. Can't be too sweet. Can't be too cold. Can't require chewing. But it has to be solid food. I have to wean myself off of this liquid diet in order to get rid of the PEG tube. It's a strangely unambitious sounding project, trying to discover something I can stand to eat, but it's mine.

The funny thing is, I'm accustomed to treating my body like a dumpster. If it fits, it goes in. I've been working on receipts for last year's taxes (where would we be without that extension?) and I'm horrified at what passed for my meals when I was on the road. What a vast collection of fatty, sugary junk. Suddenly I find myself completely rebuilding my diet starting from a foundation of hot cereal. Maybe I can be a little more thoughtful this time around.

On the other hand, I would sell my soul for a slice of pizza right now. So I don't want to commit to any radical resolutions.

Peace,
Pennsy

3 comments:

  1. It must be very difficult...cream of wheat has always been one of favorite breakfast foods. Maybe some rice dish would be palatable.

    bob miller

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds potentially adventurous, Bob. You're right on about what not (apparently) only you, but most people call a "meal"- for most, it's enough substance to fill the belly, regardless of it's nutritional content. Food can be medicine- it's original purpose was to nourish the body. I have a lot of bad addictions, but also try to eat fairly healthy foods. I hope you will find that you will particularly love healthy foods as you return to the world of eating. Cruciferous veggies are particularly helpful in fighting cancer cells.

    ReplyDelete

Label Cloud

mrs p Cancer running lifting weights LIVESTRONG at the YMCA treadmill weight nutrition depression God Living Strong at the Y injury YMCA dogs mom walking radiation Weight Lifting cardio friends program theatre body fat long slow run love One for the Five aches elliptical race resistance bands stretching 5K Acting Jeff Galloway chemo doctor family mental health Church Pittsburgh Marathon bluegrass fundraising inspiration patience personal trainer recovery Flying Pig Marathon Jesus Johns Striders Race Report Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon bipolar frustration kentucky knees measurements morning promatx yoga Christmas Marathon Pennsy's Greatest Hits cats clothes heart rate hope lance armstrong life molly poetry rest side effects steelers swimming 10K Actors' Guild of Lexington Blog CT Scan Coach Carrie PET Scan cross training exercise fear feeling good groin healing ice cream livestrong nausea powerlifting run/walk/run stair climber surgery Cancer Fighter Cold Gear Hills Iron Horse Half-marathon Job LSR Mum Nike+ Shamrock Shuffle 3K achilles advent arboretum bmi bodyweight exercises changes charity circuit training cycling dad deadlift diabetes encouragement experts give up goals horses interval training jake kettlebells lean body mass new rules of lifting pacing personal best plateau prayer recumbent bike research shoes sleep strength teeth therapist toe video Blood Easter Endurance Funeral Garmin 405 Homecoming House Insurance Juicing Keeneland Legacy Night PR Pennsyltucky Pittsburgh Relapse Run This Town TRX Training Values aflac arnold ben-gay bench press chafing christian compression shorts dentist dreams faith fat fatigue foreclosure good day half marathon hospitality javarunner john's run/walk shop lou schuler new year nurse pains peg tube powercage progressive resistance. racing rain rapture reboot runners world squat sun block supplements team pennsy tired weather will rogers work #3rightThings 9-11 ACSM AIDS Aquaphor Blessings Bluegrass 10K CSN Cancer Boy Cedar Hill Charles Dickens Class of 82 Classes Colby Road College Compassion Courage Crowdrise Cystoscopy Dee Diet EFM Epiphany Fall Fartlek Fat Man Fat Sick and Nearly Dead Frankfort Gadgets Gramma Grampa Gratitude Grete Waitz Guest HITT HIV Hell Holding Hands Holy Saturday Homer Horse Capital Marathon IVP Ice bath Jacuzzi James Taylor Jesus wept Joe Cross John Izzo Joy KY LaDonna Leg Day Lent Lessons Lexington Little Pennsy Mental hospital Midsummer Night's Run Mindfulness MobileFit Negative Splits Old Frankfort Pike Pilates Podrunner Pre-race Priorities RICE Railrunner 10 Miler Random thoughts Resurrection Reunion Run Bob Run Run Report Run Review Run for the Gold 3K Running Form Running for Sabrina STUPID Shakespeare Skip Brown Speed Spinning Summer Of Speed Sunrise Supersets Tao Te Ching Thank You The Wall Three Right Things Toxic Passenger UK UK basketball Urine Urologist Victory Walk of Shame Warrior Westminster Whole Foods Wind Words Zumba ace bandages addicted agony alwyn cosgrove america anger antibiotic anxiety awake back baseball blood clots blood pressure body glide bonhoeffer books brad calories chinup colonoscopy consistency crazy cycles dentures dip dr. google dumbbells elevation facebook failure farts feet fight for life fitness forgiveness frankenpennsy fun getting started glucosamine glutes goal gremlin grenz grumpy hair hamstrings hiccups high school hot ice incarnation indian food jogging john lennon joint legacy trail liniment lunges machines maker's mark mapmyrun.com medicine ball meds mercy motivation motley fool music nature neighborhood new balance nike noah numbers pennsyltuckian periodization persistence phlebitis postmodern prison professional boundaries progress psychiatrist pullups pushups quads ramble rememberance renewal road running ronnie coleman rowing safety sauna scan-ziety sexy shopping shorts shower sick sleepless snow socks spandex star trek statistics steam room steroids stiff strained muscle strap strength training supination support surgeon survive swackett swiss balls table technology tempo terry bradshaw testicular torsion text thai food that's fit the five thighs walk breaks warm up water fitness water jogging weak wedding ring wellness wife winter workout writing yardwork