Tuesday, January 13, 2015

2015....a New Year...three years later and a few food ideas

I realized I have not blogged in a few months. So, I guess it is time!

It has been three years since I chose to go down this journey with a WLS surgery. While I have not made my goal, I am happy with the fact that I have not gained weight in the last three years and I am still down 40 pounds from where I was when I started dancing again.

These days I mostly just dance on the treadmill and elliptical and a little in my classroom. I am finally back at the gym since my surgery in September. I have to start slow and work my way up. Today was the first day that I did 30 minutes on the elliptical in the last five months. I still took it slow I did 2 miles while my husband did 3.5 miles in the same 30 minutes. After that we tag teamed the weight room, mostly working on upper body strength. Ir is nice to have my partner in life working out with me!  On non-school days my teens go work out with us too. It is nice that they are finally supporting me by participating with me.

I think I have found the "green" zone with my band. This is the first time EVER that I have hit that mark with the band. It's about time after two and half years and two corrective surgeries. I wish I could say I am loosing weight, but I am not. My pants are a little looser, but not by much. Hopefully now that I can handle the elliptical again and that I am satisfied with 1200 cals a day things will start improving.

Another plus, my A1C levels are lower than they have been in 10 years. All of my other lab work came back normal. I have a lap that I didn't have three years ago. Mentally I am stronger.

On the negative outcome...I am still obese, still can't fit in rides at most parks. The corrective surgery has caused me to have high blood pressure. We are pretty sure that I won't have to stay on meds for long, but for now I have to take Losartan.
 I am gathering meal on my pinterest  to keep my food options more entertaining.  Here is my favorite Recipes:

Breakfast: Bacon bowls:
One strips of turkey bacon split in half layerd inside cupcake pan, one egg on top of the bacon, with spinach and fat free cheese. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes.
Amazing Pinterest world: Bacon Egg Cups--I'd modify this recipe using egg whites & turkey bacon.
Lunch: Diced Grilled Chicken with tomato in pesto sauce.
Dinner: Ground Turkey and Couscous stuffed Bell Peppers.
Meatball Stuffed Bell Peppers ~1 small onion-grated,   1 egg,  ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves,    3 Tbsp ketchup,    2 cloves garlic-minced,    1 tsp salt,    ¼ tsp black pepper,    ¼ c grated Parmesan cheese,    ¼ c quick “one minute” oats,    1 pound lean ground turkey,    4 bell peppers, halved (any color bell pepper is good!),    ½ c sugar free marinara sauce
I have replace rice, potatoes and most pasta's in our house with Couscous and  quinoa .

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Three weeks post op take three

Okay, well...fixing the port a second hurts worse than the first two surgeries. However, I am recovering and I do have some restriction again. I am currently at 6cc's in my 14cc band. I am so thank to Dr. B for repairing my port again and being an honest Dr and admitting to his mistake. I have managed my weight for the last year without restriction. Which means I weigh what I did after the first port correction, that wasn't placed correctly and leaked. I go back in a week for another fill.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Here WE GO Again....

Last summer they tried to give me a fill only to find out that my port had flipped and could not be accessed. In August of 2013 I had surgery to remove and replace the port and tubing to the port. The past year, I could the tubing when I laid down or bent over. It seemed like my fills never did anything for more than a few days. I finally became vocal enough to get them to check my band closely for leak etc.

When they did they found out there was a leak and encouraged to go personally see my surgeon and talk to him about the pictures they took while looking for the leak. The nice receptionist at my surgeons office told me there was no need to come in she would just set up the surgery to repair it and check with my insurance. I told her no, I wanted the appointment first. I then had to hang up. I called back after work..my co-worker and I prayed that I would easily get the appointment and it would all be taken care of. I did. I went to that appointment and my surgeon was honest enough to tell me that he made a mistake last year and that his mistake was causing my band to leak. He corrected his mistake this week without me or my insurance having to for it. Even more importantly without me involving an attorney.

Thankfully I have not gained extra weight over the last year. However I weigh in at what I did when I had the first surgery over two years ago.

So in the words of my favorite Joey Mac. Song....HERE WE GO AGAIN! Short term goal 280...long term goal Onederland.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Do you Know me?

How many times do we just look at people and talk to people and never really get to know that person.
                                                   Everyone sees who, I appear to be,                                                                                                             but only a few know the real me.                                                                                                               You can only see what I choose to show you,                                                                                  there's so much more behind this face than most will ever know. 
                                                          Do they know me?                                                                                                                                   Do they want to know me?                                                                                                                              Usually they don't.                                                                                                                               You read my wall, you may even read my twitter posts                                                                                         and my silly little blog.                                                                                                                          But until the day comes and you ask to know more,                                                                                         you never will.                                                                                                                                      Do you treat God the same way?                                                                                                                Just a glance at his Facebook;                                                                                                           reprinted over million times in  many different languages.                                              You think you know, but have really taken the time to get to know him? 

It truly amazes me about how many people have followed my journey the last two years and somehow has found inspiration enough to loose weight. I am jealous of those that have, see I have gained back over half of my weight. Currently I think my band is making me wore than ever. What I want to do, and what I really do is two different things since we moved last summer. I had an awesome support group in our old town. People look at me, they judge me, they think  I don't possibly know anything about eating healthy. After all I weigh nearly 300 pounds. Something must be wrong with me they all say...go see this dr....go see that dr... I just don't get how you can be that size and still eat healthy. Well....mostly I am lying. See, I go to McDonald's a couple of times a week. Not only that but after all of that healthy eating all day, by 9pm I want my sugar. It's like a drug addiction. I want it, I think I have to have it or my anxiety will shoot out the roof. I am drinking one or two Dr. Pepper's a week and one sweet tea a day. Neither of which I should be drinking. But, water is so BORING! My taste buds say ick! I even tried and listened to the dr. about drinking a glass of wine at night. Well, that is also ick and probably not the best idea in the world. I finally achieved my goal last month and completed a solid 30 minutes on the ellipticals. I have not had time to go back to the gym since then. I have been to sick, or to tired the past month. Several doctors have told me I am not only fighting the PCOS, but also fighting the fact that I grew malnourished. Sure, we also had something to eat, but I truly didn't get enough vitamins and protein. I remember being hungry, but there was no more dinner to eat. I remember the mounds of food on others plates, and the tiny portions on mine. I remember always being hungry. I remember discovering food when I was 16, I could finally drive, work and choose my own food. I didn't overeat for a normal person, however i did eat more than what my body was use too. Calorie studies have shown that I only burn 1200 calories a day. You have to have a negative calorie intake of 1000 cals a day to loose one pound a week. That basically means not eating and in my book...that is NEVER okay. I remember not being the perfect skinny teenage girl and spending my first Summer in Dodge City by myself. I had lots of friends at school, but when it came to outside of school I was pretty much by myself. My mom was working two jobs to make ends meet and I sat at home. Once I got tired of sitting at home I rode my bike to a park that was two miles away. I sit there on the same swing and swing for a couple of hours before riding my bike back home. I can think of all the times no one ever has invited me anywhere. As an adult, I don't really even try. I don't expect people want to know me, after few ever have. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, and I am a horrible artist (as my colleagues have recently pointed out).  If you know me than you know have a poor self-image, and no self-worth...I don't hate myself, I just don't meet other peoples standards. I live a very guarded life, because that is what life has taught me. A few friends know me well, one is my husband, one is a friend a grew up with, and the other died in September. I remember in middle school my friends starving themselves to death to have the perfect image. I remember one of my friends passing out twice at school because she hadn't ate in days (and possibly was using drugs). I remember one of my friends coming down with series healthy problems from not eating and those problems changed her life forever. If you know me, than you know I fear children having poor eating habits and what it does to their little brains and their bodies in general. We use to talk to our Middle School girls frequently about eating a healthy well balanced diet. How important vitamins and protein are for your body. I know what is like to not have those. I know what that type of eating has done for many people that I love. You will note be healthy without eating a balanced diet. No snake oil will keep you healthy while you are not eating. In this day and age you are not allowed to say anything to anyone but their eating habits. We can't even remind our short attention span students to keep eating in the cafeteria.  I find that funny since people have no problem telling me how to eat.                                                                                 I know my current drs. diet provides all the nourishment my body needs and I understand my body has lots of nourishment that it needs to burn. However, not eating takes me back to not being able to eat. You may think you know me, but most likely you don't.                                                                               

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

#Living Healthy Happy New Years

It has been two year since I started my journey to living healthier and loosing weight. I have not lost the weight I wanted to. It is really hard to focus on me with the responsibilities of work, kids, caretaker, wife etc...   I am reading a book titled "NO more Christian Nice Girl". It is about learning to tell people no and doing more yourself and still remaining a christian. I really need to take the time to finish reading the book. I have to tell my family no, so I can read the book! LOL.  I think I a going to try a new gym this month. I am not sure if I am going to go to Planet Fitness or LA fitness.

I am proud that I have broke my addiction to Dr. Pepper and Reeces. It has been 18 months since I have drank soda pop like it was water. I still have a Dr Pepper every once awhile, but no often. I drink tea and coffee most of the time. I still need to drink more plain water. I now have a fancy refrigerator with filtered water, so that will help.

So...how did I survive the holidays? Well, we didn't have the usual large supplies of sweats that we use too. I only fixed cherry pie and one batch of fudge (which I burned and yet under-cooked at the same time). We had ham, potato's, green bean casserole and potato salad. The good lord gave me the flu for Christmas so my band was to tight and I was unable to swallow anything that wasn't soft. My family still enjoyed a nice meal (which I managed to burn everything).

New Years EVE and New Years Day food:

New Years Eve I ate awful. My mom bought us dinner which consisted of a yummy blue cheese burger and onion rings. After a week of ham, beans, eggs and potatoes it tasted yummy and was appreciated by all. Still all foods that I shouldn't be eating. We than had hummus and chips while we stayed up waiting for the new year.

New Year's Day:
Today I took different recipe's and made bierocks. I used ground Italian turkey, canned sauerkraut, one onion, pepper with a tbsp of Cheddar cheese for the filling and crescent rolls for the outside. It made for a fairly healthy meal and only costs $4.35 to feed a family of six. (I am taking a serving to my mom).

Stay tuned for more to come!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Holiday Food and other ramblings

How to conquer holiday food....well today I ate the icing while someone else  at the cupcake. I never cared much for cake itself, but I love the frosting/icing. Use to, I would have just ate the entire thing, even if I didn't like it.  However, I most likely didn't need the calories.  We will have lean ham and turkey for dinner. Sugar free foods as much as possible...and no bread for me. I have learned to eat my pie without eating very much of the crust. Pickles are always a Christmas favorite at our house and are healthy. The only thing I can't make healthy is the fudge. I am sure I will have way to many carbs to say the least.

I am noticing that sugar tends to feed depression and to much caffeine feeds my anxiety. Christmas tends to lead to depression anyways...so sugar is no no. I keep telling myself that, but I know I will eat more than what I should. I think the following day the kids and I will take a trip on Dart to downtown and take a walk and play at the park on top of the freeway if the weather is nice. The important thing is, whatever we put it, we must use and not store.

Reflecting on the past...

I have noticed that I stopped loosing weight the week I stopped journaling my food intake and my workout time. I had better fix that. I have also learned that yes, I do stress eat. I don't think I realized how much stress eating I was doing in the past. It is time to find a new to relax. My favorite relaxation food was Dr. Pepper, Reeces and french fries. I no longer drink Dr Pepper (other than about once a month allow myself to have one). That is a huge change for me! I can't believe how much I use to drink! This Christmas, there will be no soda pop other than for my mom. My kids have also learned that pop is not the best choice out there. We drink teas, zero cal vitamin water, lemonade and coffee. I took my kids to the QT and my kids picked up water, milk and eggnog. I am proud of them for choosing healthy drinks.

It is that time of month that we are scrapping what is left in our cupboards and refrigerator. Tonight's supper was not the best. We had mashed potatoes, sausage gravy and turkey bacon.

It is hard to eat properly when I don't get a lunch break all of the time. It is very hard to watch, and care for six year old boys and take small bites and chew slowly.  One day I was finishing my lunch as the lapband hiccup came out one of my students says, "Mrs. don't throw up." I have never had that issue in front of my students but that was pretty funny.

This was almost two years ago, while I am not where I want to be, I am better than where I was. Wow! My girls were so little!

I am eating way to fast and food keeps getting stuck. I must get this under control.  Again, this is pretty unedited as I am tired and it is late.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

My journey equals one of frustration. The unedited version----you were warned.

Where did my will power go? Oh Sliders foods....you are awful! My favorite foods are all sliders. GRRRRR.

AS the holidays are coming up and of course the time for New Year's resolutions, am I reminded why I started this journey. I went to Goodwill and seen a gorgeous dress, that I should be able to wear by now. Only I still can't.. Two years of being mostly good....and I am about the same size I was two years ago. GRRRRR. Why do I try? The reality...if this is my trying to loose the weight, what would happen if I wasn't trying to loose it.

I don't like being fat, I hate being fat. In order to loose weight, I have to eat less than 800 cals a day. That is hard for a women that loves every aspect of food. From the joy of making it for my family, the joy of the texture and smells of food, to the pride in being able to eat more than ham, potatoes and mac n'cheese I grew up on.

Truth: I am constantly busy and rarely do I get to just sit for ten minutes. I am a professional, mother of three and part time care taker for my mom. I don't have time to work out an hour today. Or even the half hour walk that the LB people say that I need to do be doing. Those people on the weight loss shows are a joke. #1 They live in a nice place and have access to all the healthy foods and cooks to prepare them. #2. They don't have to deal with family obligations. #3 They are somewhat self-centered. If they weren't self-centered then they wouldn't leave their families for three months to go on the show.

My family and I moved to Texas June 2013. When we moved three negative things happened to my journey. #1 I sold my cross trainer, my ski machine and moved into a tiny house where I had no room to workout and lived in a neighborhood that was not safe to walk in. #2. My port leaked all the fluid out of my band and had to be replaced. #3 My stress went up.

I really need my equipment back. However, I am fully prepared and ready to get back on track. My first step will be to read my blog, which stands for my journal. My second step, cook a healthy Christmas dinner. Lean Ham, Turkey, sweat potatoes, green bean casserole with low fat cream soup, sugar free pies, unhealthy potato salad made with Splenda and pies made with splenda and jello. And...of course I will measure my cup of food and leave the rest for my family.

But hey, at least I am no longer gaining weight. The only time I have gained weight was when there was no fluid in my band. It is late and this will post without being edited tonight.