u/Beachbum_2468

I’m pretty lactose intolerant, and every single “sample low fiber menu” I can find is just dairy, dairy, and more dairy 😫So I had to come up with my own. It also needs to be a legit dinner for the rest of the family so we don’t spend the whole month’s grocery budget on takeout for the rest of them 😬

Here’s my tentative dinner plan. Are there any issues or ingredients I forgot to avoid?

1 day before colonoscopy - obv I’m not eating anything and they will order out or have leftovers or cereal

2 days before - pasta with garlic (strained out), olive oil, and pecorino (side salad for the rest of them)

3 days before - Chicken soup (carrots, chicken, and pasta/rice only)

4 days before - Roasted chicken, roasted (peeled) potatoes and carrots, stove top stuffing, gravy made with chicken drippings
(Make stock with bones for fasting day)

5 days before - seared pork tenderloin, risotto (plain), cooked green beans

6 days before - Shepherds Pie (only carrots, onion, garlic, ground meat, mashed potatoes, stock)

I don’t think I will worry about longer than 6 days prior. I’ve had like 8 colonoscopies, never done low-fiber more than a day before prep day, and never had prep failure, but I heard this makes prep easier, so I’m going to give it a try because I usually don’t sleep for like almost 24 hours due to the prep and it would be lovely for it to be easier 😬

What do you do to exercise your LR?

We are currently in our 6th heat wave in the last 2 months, it is currently 90F with a humidity level that makes it feel like 100F.

In normal weather, we try and get a 30-40 minute walk in each day, but even waiting until dusk, after 2 blocks I start feeling nervous about how much she's panting and head home.

In nicer weather, we try and do a 3-5 mile hike on a 30-foot leash on forest trails 2-3 weekends a month.

She is not reliable off-leash, and it's illegal here anyway. There are almost no beaches here where dogs are permitted, although some allow dogs off-season (but again, I don't feel comfortable letting her off-leash and we don't have remote enough areas here to do that).

If I throw anything (ball, stick, etc), she will just look at it and then lay down. I cannot for the LIFE of me get this dog to chase something I throw.

What do you do for exercise with your dog and how often? I'm really struggling with time constraints in addition to the weather :-(

Edit to add that our LR is a 3 year old female

As a full-time working mom of 2 teens during graduation season (one HS, one MS), I'm finding the weighing, measuring, calculating just mentally exhausting and time-consuming. I make it to like Thursday and then I get to the "F-this" point, and then start again Monday when I'm refreshed after the weekend of not tracking, calculating, etc. It's especially tiring when I'm making meals for the whole family, not just for me.

I'm considering just living on pre-packaged, pre-made foods with macros already right there on the nutrition label for a short time just to jump-start and get myself through this busy season. I'm sure the sodium content isn't great long-term, and I love cooking fresh food so it won't last long. I'm thinking Hungryroot-type situation without the subscription....Kevin's packaged stuff, microwave rice packets, etc. Like, maybe Lean Cuisine wasn't completely off with their model for people who are at their max already?

The thought of just scanning bar codes instead of adding up ingredients, weighing, the total, dividing into 100-gram nutrition facts for every dinner sounds like a relief, but the idea of eating from a box long-term is very unappetizing. Does anyone have any sample days or good tips for pre-made foods/meals to make life a little easier for a short time?

My niece’s sweet 16 is this weekend and I’m still not sure what a proper gift is.

Her only interest is dance, and she already has everything she could possibly need for that. I think probably just $$ is the best bet, but I’m not sure how much is customary. My daughter is the oldest grandchild, but we did not do a “sweet 16” party, so she did not get any gifts from friends or from family. I have no reference point.

What is an appropriate gift amount for a niece? My daughter (almost 18) gave not super-close friends $50 a few years ago for their parties, and I questioned if that was enough (though friends’ parents assured me it was). I was thinking $150? Or maybe $160 because she’s 16? Or should it be more?