This is topic Who here fights that battle where you are too tired to go get food? in forum General Support at LymeNet Flash.


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Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
 
I am so sick of that battle.

I WANT to eat healthy food. I WANT to cook for my husband. But he is ALWAYS the one going to the store.

Everyday, I spend all day hoping I'll get up the energy, and trying to get up the energy to go to the store, but I just feel way too tired and too weak to drive.

Luckily, I have the stamina to cook, about 3 days a week. But I'm sick of the day-to-day....will I or won't I go to the store? Trying so hard....failing every time.

UGH.

Poor husband. He works 12 hour days, then is constantly going to the grocery store for me.

It doesn't help that his pay is crap.
 

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Posted by SmurfyMom (Member # 13688) on :
 
Same boat over here. Unfortunely, hubby has started really, REALLY missing me cook lately.

The pressure is now back on to cook every night, ya know.

Problem is, of course, I only feel up to it 2-3x/wk. =(

Don't have a solution, just empathy.
 

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Posted by kam (Member # 3410) on :
 
I have learned I need to go first thing in the morning when it is quiet.

I use a power chair and the public tram to get me there. I am usually the only one on the tram besides the driver which really helps.

But, as far as preparing food....that is still an obstacle.

Kind of a catch 22....too weak to fix something and eat which makes me weak because I am not getting food in me.

so, I do what I can when I can. Hoping to get a crock pot meal together this week.
 

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Posted by kam (Member # 3410) on :
 
Hoping others will come along with ideas.
 

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Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
 
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Delivery. Volunteers.
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Posted by feelbetter (Member # 21957) on :
 
I can relate to you.I usually go to grocery in the morning.I always feel very weak and fatigue in the afternoon.

I try to cook as much as I can..I cook 5 times a week so far.
 

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Posted by EllieP50 (Member # 15936) on :
 
I started doing crockpot cooking and this has worked out great. I make a stew (I have a bunch of different recipes, some for chicken, beef etc.)- I can make it any time when I'm feeling like cooking and then it cooks all day - smells great and we have meals a few times from that one batch. Also my crockpot is in two parts and the inner part lifts out so I can just put it in the refrigerator and then put it back when I want to heat it. I only have to cook a couple of times a week this way, and the food is pretty much there whenever we want it, and reasonably healthy.I wish I'd done this a long time ago! (I'm only feeding myself and my husband - might be a little trickier with kids etc.) Hope someone finds this helpful.
 

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Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
 
hey hoos.... your mailbox is full!!
 

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Posted by SmurfyMom (Member # 13688) on :
 
crock pot meals are great! I have to have hubby help me, though, as I can't lift the pot.

Also, hubby has been real big on wanting something *different* every night for the last month or so. So that doesn't help, either.

My daughter needs to help out with the cooking. She's 12 and almost 100% lyme-free now, so there's no reason for her not to.

Problem is, I'm too exhausted to MAKE her and daddy won't.

I wish I could hire a housekeeper/cook. seriously. If I could, I would!

Of course that's impossible given the fact that I have no ins, and so we're paying out-of-pocket for anything I can't get from the drug manufacturers.

C'est la vie! =/

Chris
 

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Posted by LightAtTheEnd (Member # 24065) on :
 
You can get Schwan's frozen food delivered in a freezer truck every week. You can place your order ahead of time online or by phone from their catalog, or they can stop by your house on their route and you can pick from what they happen to have.

You can order all kinds of groceries from Amazon or other online stores, and they send them right to your door. They have organic and healthy things that you can't always get at your local store, and you get a lower price if you buy in bulk.

There are also services that deliver fresh or frozen meals for several days to a week at a time, but they are very expensive.
 

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Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
 
If you're cooking a few times per week, you're doing great.

My husband had to do all the grocery shopping. My cognitive symptoms didn't allow for me to be able to handle it, even if I had a detailed list. I usually was too fatigued for it anyway. I could make quick trips if I took a kid along with me, but I couldn't go alone.

We also would go months at a time where he was the one to prepare all the meals. For me a good day was moving to the couch, but still wasn't able to prepare meals.

When I had spurts of good health, then I could do some cooking and some shopping, but most of our memories through Lyme treatment was him doing all that. The kids had to take over the laundry and cleaning.

At one point we had a very low goal for how well we wanted me to get ... if I got well enough to grocery shop and cook, that was enough.

Do what you need to to, don't feel guilty. He'll be a better person for having taken care of you. My husband told me - "I didn't marry you for you to keep my house clean, I married you to be with you."
 

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Posted by sutherngrl (Member # 16270) on :
 
I totally can relate to this. I will spend days putting it off if I have a bad week. Sometimes a bad "several weeks"!

I go to the grocery store with my hubby most of the time. He does all of the work, grabbing stuff, checking out, unloading at home, etc. But I can make sure we get what we need for meals, things I can cook with ease but that are healthy.

I usually can only muster up going to the grocery store by myself about once a month. Before I became ill, I did not realize how much work went into grocery shopping. Walking, pushing, squatting, reaching, loading, unloading. Its a major workout!
 

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Posted by Dekrator48 (Member # 18239) on :
 
I agree that it helps to use the days when you can cook to cook larger amounts and freeze some in freezer bags or other containers.

Even something simple like hamburgers freezes well.

It takes just as long to cook 4 pork chops as it does to cook 8...so make more and freeze and voila!...you have just cooked for 2 nights.

I even freeze spanish rice....which to me means hamburger, rice, spaghetti sauce and sauteed green peppers.

I make a london broil or other kind of beef or pork roast, then I slice it and freeze enough for 2 people in a freezer bag.

One roast can last us many meals.

If I have the hard part of the meal already made and frozen (ie: meat, poultry,etc) then I can throw together a quick salad from bagged lettuce and put a frozen veggie in the microwave or microwave a baked potato.

I also freeze homemade soups which I can make a large quantity of at once.

I freeze cooked chicken breasts (can slice or cube or leave whole) and ground beef which I put in my food chopper after cooking it so it is ground fairly fine and works well for meat sauce or spanish rice, etc.

I am fatigued, but I usually don't have the overwhelming fatigue that some of you do, so I am able to grocery shop.

I think you can just do what you can do.

Make the most of any time that you can cook, and pat yourself on the back for it.
 

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Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
 
Thanks for all the input. There are some good ideas here!

Mostly, it just feels good to know I'm not alone. It is hard to fight the battle and feel like you're loosing it. It's hard to feel like I'm not contributing around here. Hubby does everything...works, runs the errands, cleans, etc. Luckily he understands though.

It's hard for me to continually ask him to do more and more. I just want to jump in and do it myself.
 

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Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
 
i go to sam's or costco's and buy the larger casseroles. i freeze bread and then of course mike hunts and fishes.

i love to cook, but for only two people it's a hassle and he hates leftovers.

i'd love to come cook for ya'll. i miss it.
 

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Posted by kam (Member # 3410) on :
 
Something someone said reminded me that I need to get well enough to stock the freezer and pantry up again for those times when I am not able to get out for a few weeks.

finger food works well for me too when I am not able to prepare things.

Just trying to figure out what finger food to do as jaws are usually too weak to chew when I am that low functioning too.

I use to like to do goat's cheese, apple and GF crackers.

But, think this may be one of the reasons I do the bloating thing at times
 

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Posted by Karen Mc (Member # 23354) on :
 
WOW, I have the same problem... I know I should be eating better but many days I just dont have the energy to fix anything and going to the grocery is like going to the dentist for me ):

I do use the crock pot some (when I feel like going to the grocery) and that works out well, like someone else said I can usually get at least 2 meals sometimes 3 out of it.

My freezer is the smallest in the world and it always seems to be filled to the max (with no eatable food) lol and even when I do freese stuff i never know how long it will last and it usually ends up getting freezer burn.

I feel mostly guilty for my son...at least he is 17 and can usually find something or eat or go to his friends. He also has friends that he hangs with that they all go out to eat...I just feel guilty not having "meals" fixed at home.

And I must confess there are times if he has eaten I just dont bother...especially after working I can barely drag myself in the house..i know..i know...its the worst thing for me.

Then there is the confusing part of trying to figure out what is good for me and what isnt UGG

I have found that if I need to do anything it MUST be in the morning because by afternoon I'm exhasted and night time is totally out of the question.
 

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Posted by riverspirit (Member # 19435) on :
 
I know everyone has their own "diet", meaning what foods they can handle. My body prefers very simple foods, and as others stated, I make enough for many helpings.

One thing that my tummy almost always handles in organic brown rice, so I always have a pot made in the fridge. If I have no energy to fix anything else, at least there is rice and some chicken I have made.

Prepping green veggies during stronger moments, i can just put them in a bit of water on the stove and water saute. Chicken, rice and veggies are a mainstay for me.

Also, i find that making large quantities of chicken-veggie soup and freezing it helps a lot.

For low income folks, have you looked into in-home support services? Or if you don't qualify, there are often groups of volunteers/friends who would love to feel that they can do something for you....

giving people something tangible to do, such as coming over and making a pot of soup or going shopping for you....it gives them a sense of joy that they can be of service in a situation that can seem helpless for them.

Peace and ease and nourishment....
 

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Posted by kam (Member # 3410) on :
 
River spirit....I keep thinking I need to do something about having someone fix me a crock pot meal once a week.

Thanks for reminding me.
 

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Posted by BugBarb (Member # 210) on :
 
I also have type 2 deiabetes along with lyme
I have to eat
when I'm feeling like i can't even chew food
I wash fresh vegies
put them in the blender with water
puree
i make a blender full at a time
definitely don't have to take fiber supplement

my current recipe is
three raw cactus pads/leaves
three collard green leaves, cut out the toughg stem
or a couple of zucchini

believe it or not, it comes out anywhere from palatable it good
if i put too much collard in, that makes it harder to swallow
i know that this way, i am getting in my green and colored vegetables

as soon as i get off the treadmill
(I promised my doc that if he filled out my disability form before i left his office, i would exercise 5 times a week)
I will go in thekitchen
and make my "cactus cooler"

It can be made with other vegies
cooked
as well as raw

if you season it right, you can add chicken and make sort of a cold soup
i might use some cilantro, green/red peppers, onion, zucchini, broccoli.....for the soup
drop in a boullion cube if you can staqnd the salt.

no type of food sounds good right now
but i'm going to have to eat

I think i'' boil the store bought rotisseri chiucken carcass while i'm drinking my cactus cooler.

whatever you do, don't use pickled/casnned cactus. it is awful
fresh cactus is like a tart green bean with a little slime,
the slime only gets reallyt badd when you cook it too long
sort of like okra
 

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Posted by micul (Member # 6314) on :
 
Hoosier said:

quote:

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I spend all day hoping I'll get up the energy, and trying to get up the energy to go to the store, but I just "feel" way too tired and too weak to drive.

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quote:

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Originally posted by micul:

I never had anyone to take care of me for the 4 years that it took to get well enough to feel normal again. I had to do everything for myself, ie...laundry, shopping, cooking, cleaning, yardwork, ect, ect.

I'm sure that I know how you feel ...been there done that. I also know that there were many times when I felt that I couldn't do anything, but I did it anyways, and felt fine afterwards.

Exercise is one of those must do things that is essential if you want to get better. Yet so many people that are sick will not push themselves to do it because they just don't feel like doing it. [/QB]

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