Ok, these rhyming titles are getting ridiculous. :-)
It is comments like this one from DiZneDiVa (along with all the other great ones I received on my last post) that are the reason why I blog:
"Get a fill... If your tool's battery was dead, would you still try to use it or replace the battery? You have to have Maintenance to keep your tool working... right?"
Damn. Yes. You are so right. It seems so obvious when you say it that way, but I didn't see it by myself. I liked this one from Robin too:
"The band without sufficient fill is like a tire without enough air. Go get a fill!"
I have some smart Bandster sisters, for sure!
I scheduled a fill for December 20. I'd go sooner, but I have finals on December 11 and December 15 and I can't take time off work/school to do it until the end of the semester since my doc is only in the office on Mondays and I have school on Mondays. Until then, I'll just have to be careful and (ugh) diet. The sucky thing is that I have the holiday party for my surgeon's practice to go to the evening of the 20th and I'll be on liquids...but at least I'll be in a room full of weight loss surgery patients who will understand!
Last night was the monthly support group and we had a guest speaker - Chef Dave Fouts who is a bariatric chef. A lot of people seemed to know who he was, but since I don't really do "bariatric" food and just eat real food, I have never really read WLS cookbooks. Anyway, it was somewhat interesting. He really pushes for "fat free everything" which I really don't believe in. Some fat is healthy and all fat is NOT created equal! There's a world of difference between the fat in an avocado or an olive and the fat in a Twinkie.
I did not buy a copy of any of his books, but they looked decent enough for anyone who really has no idea how or what to cook after surgery. I could pretty much live on refried beans and guacamole or blended southwestern veggie soup or chili when I'm on mushies, so I don't really think I need a cookbook for that, and the rest of the time, I eat normal food.
I'm on vacation for the next few days (through Monday) - yay! Today is my 8 year wedding anniversary, so Scott and I are going out for crab for dinner (band friendly, low calorie, and DELICIOUS!). Tomorrow I have class in the morning, and then am going over to my parents' house so my mom and I can cook for Thanksgiving. I'm psyched about a few days off!
Oh, and I took off the "type a nonsense word" thing for commenting here. That whole thing seems to annoy people (me included) so I removed it so commenting will be easier here from now on.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Filliness Silliness
Ok, so, someone please tell me if I am being ridiculous.
I think I need a fill. I have 4 cc's in my 10 cc band. The reason I think I need a fill is because I want to eat way too much. Last night I had a BIG salad of jerk shrimp, lettuce, avocado, nuts, plantains...it was delicious but I ate almost the whole thing (a meal sized salad) plus two mahi mahi fritters. I left the restaurant satisfied, but 2 hours later I was "munchy" again, with my stomach rumbling and feeling physically hungry, and looking for food. I ended up having a 100 calorie bag of popcorn and a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich. Today I had a dentist appointment and I was very late for work because of it, so I ran into Taco Bell and grabbed a bean burrito on my way. I ate THE WHOLE THING, squishy tortilla and all, and get this...was still a little hungry.
Here's the thing...and this is so stupid that I can't believe I'm going to even admit it...I feel like I have "the tool" of the band and I should be able to have that be enough. Like getting another fill is almost a failure. Like...I've gotten this far and I should be able to do it the rest of the way without any more help. Like...I have a screwdriver to work with, why would I need a power drill? I don't need another tool (another fill) because the one I already have should be enough.
Gah. I know this isn't the case and I should just schedule the damn fill and stop being stupid about it. Right?
I think I need a fill. I have 4 cc's in my 10 cc band. The reason I think I need a fill is because I want to eat way too much. Last night I had a BIG salad of jerk shrimp, lettuce, avocado, nuts, plantains...it was delicious but I ate almost the whole thing (a meal sized salad) plus two mahi mahi fritters. I left the restaurant satisfied, but 2 hours later I was "munchy" again, with my stomach rumbling and feeling physically hungry, and looking for food. I ended up having a 100 calorie bag of popcorn and a Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich. Today I had a dentist appointment and I was very late for work because of it, so I ran into Taco Bell and grabbed a bean burrito on my way. I ate THE WHOLE THING, squishy tortilla and all, and get this...was still a little hungry.
Here's the thing...and this is so stupid that I can't believe I'm going to even admit it...I feel like I have "the tool" of the band and I should be able to have that be enough. Like getting another fill is almost a failure. Like...I've gotten this far and I should be able to do it the rest of the way without any more help. Like...I have a screwdriver to work with, why would I need a power drill? I don't need another tool (another fill) because the one I already have should be enough.
Gah. I know this isn't the case and I should just schedule the damn fill and stop being stupid about it. Right?
Thursday, November 18, 2010
What I Eat
Lap Band Gal asked us to post what we eat daily to get some new food ideas.
I always start my day with a cup of coffee from my Keurig, with Splenda and fat free milk (Skim Plus or Smart Balance or Hood Calorie Countdown - whatever is on sale - because they're so much creamier than regular skim milk and have more protein and calcium).
BREAKFAST:
Usually eaten in the car to work. Normally I will have something like:
100 calorie flat roll (Arnold's or Pepperidge Farms) with Eggbeaters, a wedge of Laughing Cow Light cheese, and sometimes some sort of meat - turkey sausage, ham, or a sprinkle of real bacon bits.
Egg muffin cups - I chop leftover cooked veggies (broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, onions, etc.) and put them in small muffin cups. Top with a sprinkle of cheese and a sprinkle of real bacon bits or chopped ham (optional), and fill the muffin cups to 3/4 full with eggs or Eggbeaters. Bake at 325 until eggs are set - about 20 minutes. I make a big batch and freeze these, and pop 2 in the microwave for breakfast.
Turkey sandwich.
Leftovers from the previous night's dinner.
Cran-bran VitaMuffin top and 2 turkey sausage links.
LUNCH:
It varies. Lunch is my biggest meal of the day. Some choices might be:
Leftovers.
A salad with chicken or leftover turkey taco meat on it.
Turkey and avocado on a Flatout wrap.
Black bean soup with salsa and a slice of avocado.
Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice meal.
Tijuana Flats - 1 chicken and black bean taco on a whole wheat wrap, Power Lite (lowfat cheese and sour cream) with onions, lettuce, guacamole, and lots of hot sauce.
Pollo Tropical: Small Tropi-Chop - chicken, 1/2 lettuce and 1/2 brown rice, black beans, grilled onions, and salsa.
Wendy's - Half chicken apple salad (light on the cheese, only 1/2 the nuts and dressing) and a small frozen yogurt at the yogurt place across the street.
Subway - 6 inch turkey on honey oat, bread scooped out, with lettuce, onion, pickles, and a dab of Sweet Onion sauce and light mayo.
Sushi.
Jamaican - jerk chicken or jerk shrimp salad
DINNER:
My dinners are very simple - usually meat or fish on the grill with veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, carrots, green beans) on the side.
Meatloaf and baked sweet potatoes.
Chicken & apple sausage with sauerkraut and mustard.
Turkey tacos (I eat mine on a bed of lettuce instead of in taco shells).
Beef or chicken or shrimp stir fry with broccoli and onions.
On Thursday nights I knit, and we usually have our knitting night at our favorite Jamaican restaurant. I'll usually have something like a jerk fish or chicken wrap or something on special - the chef is a REALLY cool guy and he is using us as guinea pigs to figure out what to add to the menu. Tonight he made us mahi mahi fritters. YUM.
SNACKS:
I will usually have 1-2 snacks per day. This might be:
Lowfat string cheese.
Small yogurt.
1/2 serving of almonds.
Weight Watchers or Skinny Cow ice cream.
Piece of fruit.
Coffee/nonfat iced latte.
I always start my day with a cup of coffee from my Keurig, with Splenda and fat free milk (Skim Plus or Smart Balance or Hood Calorie Countdown - whatever is on sale - because they're so much creamier than regular skim milk and have more protein and calcium).
BREAKFAST:
Usually eaten in the car to work. Normally I will have something like:
100 calorie flat roll (Arnold's or Pepperidge Farms) with Eggbeaters, a wedge of Laughing Cow Light cheese, and sometimes some sort of meat - turkey sausage, ham, or a sprinkle of real bacon bits.
Egg muffin cups - I chop leftover cooked veggies (broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, onions, etc.) and put them in small muffin cups. Top with a sprinkle of cheese and a sprinkle of real bacon bits or chopped ham (optional), and fill the muffin cups to 3/4 full with eggs or Eggbeaters. Bake at 325 until eggs are set - about 20 minutes. I make a big batch and freeze these, and pop 2 in the microwave for breakfast.
Turkey sandwich.
Leftovers from the previous night's dinner.
Cran-bran VitaMuffin top and 2 turkey sausage links.
LUNCH:
It varies. Lunch is my biggest meal of the day. Some choices might be:
Leftovers.
A salad with chicken or leftover turkey taco meat on it.
Turkey and avocado on a Flatout wrap.
Black bean soup with salsa and a slice of avocado.
Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice meal.
Tijuana Flats - 1 chicken and black bean taco on a whole wheat wrap, Power Lite (lowfat cheese and sour cream) with onions, lettuce, guacamole, and lots of hot sauce.
Pollo Tropical: Small Tropi-Chop - chicken, 1/2 lettuce and 1/2 brown rice, black beans, grilled onions, and salsa.
Wendy's - Half chicken apple salad (light on the cheese, only 1/2 the nuts and dressing) and a small frozen yogurt at the yogurt place across the street.
Subway - 6 inch turkey on honey oat, bread scooped out, with lettuce, onion, pickles, and a dab of Sweet Onion sauce and light mayo.
Sushi.
Jamaican - jerk chicken or jerk shrimp salad
DINNER:
My dinners are very simple - usually meat or fish on the grill with veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, carrots, green beans) on the side.
Meatloaf and baked sweet potatoes.
Chicken & apple sausage with sauerkraut and mustard.
Turkey tacos (I eat mine on a bed of lettuce instead of in taco shells).
Beef or chicken or shrimp stir fry with broccoli and onions.
On Thursday nights I knit, and we usually have our knitting night at our favorite Jamaican restaurant. I'll usually have something like a jerk fish or chicken wrap or something on special - the chef is a REALLY cool guy and he is using us as guinea pigs to figure out what to add to the menu. Tonight he made us mahi mahi fritters. YUM.
SNACKS:
I will usually have 1-2 snacks per day. This might be:
Lowfat string cheese.
Small yogurt.
1/2 serving of almonds.
Weight Watchers or Skinny Cow ice cream.
Piece of fruit.
Coffee/nonfat iced latte.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Picture From Social Distortion
As promised, here's a picture of Jen and me from the Social D concert on Saturday.
Attention Florida BOOBS
This one is for the Florida BOOBS (or anyone who feels like traveling somewhere tropical in the dead of winter):
Maria a.k.a. DiZneDiVa and I are thinking about trying to get together in Orlando in January. We're thinking possibly January 8 for a trip to Disney World for a mini-BOOBS gathering. Is anyone interested in trying to get together? I know a lot of the Florida girls have season passes. And frankly, I miss everyone and could use some BOOB time.
Let us know.
Maria a.k.a. DiZneDiVa and I are thinking about trying to get together in Orlando in January. We're thinking possibly January 8 for a trip to Disney World for a mini-BOOBS gathering. Is anyone interested in trying to get together? I know a lot of the Florida girls have season passes. And frankly, I miss everyone and could use some BOOB time.
Let us know.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Feeling Normal
Last night I dressed up in a cute turquoise and black dress and black Mary Janes. I put on some makeup. My best friend and I went to Miami Beach and we had a great dinner of tapas (small plates) at a fabulous little Cuban restaurant. We sat outside and people-watched. I crossed my legs and felt completely comfortable in the little patio chairs.
We walked around South Beach for an hour, stopping to share a gelato and to look at bracelets and earrings in a cute store. We walked over to the Fillmore theater because we had tickets to a concert. We watched Social Distortion (a great punk band) play, and danced for hours. I didn't need to sit down for most of the show.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror and thought I looked pretty damn good.
I ran into two women I went to high school with and haven't seen in over a decade. One told me I looked like I'd lost weight and that I looked incredibly happy.
I was happy.
I felt normal.
I didn't feel enormous. I didn't feel embarrassed to run into people I haven't seen in a long time. I didn't need to hide behind giant t-shirts and jeans.
I felt normal.
And I liked it. A lot.
We walked around South Beach for an hour, stopping to share a gelato and to look at bracelets and earrings in a cute store. We walked over to the Fillmore theater because we had tickets to a concert. We watched Social Distortion (a great punk band) play, and danced for hours. I didn't need to sit down for most of the show.
I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror and thought I looked pretty damn good.
I ran into two women I went to high school with and haven't seen in over a decade. One told me I looked like I'd lost weight and that I looked incredibly happy.
I was happy.
I felt normal.
I didn't feel enormous. I didn't feel embarrassed to run into people I haven't seen in a long time. I didn't need to hide behind giant t-shirts and jeans.
I felt normal.
And I liked it. A lot.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Day on My Plate - 11/9/10
I thought I'd do an illustrated "Day on My Plate" and show you everything I ate for one day.
Breakfast -
Coffee w/ Splenda & 1/2 cup nonfat milk (45 calories)
2 turkey sausage links (75)
Cran-Bran Vitamuffin (100)
Arizona diet green tea in the car on the way to work (0 calories)
Mid-morning cup of coffee w/Splenda and milk (40)
Snack -
1/2 serving chili lime almonds - these are sooo amazing! (85)
Fiber gummies (20)
Lunch - Weight Watchers mini rigatoni (290) mixed with a Green Giant "Just for One" single serving of broccoli and carrots (40)
Snack - 2 oz. Boar's Head low sodium turkey breast (60)
Mid-afternoon cup of coffee w/Splenda and milk - not pictured (40)
Dinner -
4 oz. turkey (150)
1/2 cup mashed potatoes (105)
1/4 cup Stove Top stuffing (80)
1 slice canned cranberry sauce (85)
3 Tbsp. gravy (30)
(Sorry about the blah pic - I guess it was a bit dark. This is a SALAD plate, by the way. From the picture it looks like a crazy amount of food but it's not really.)
Total calories: 1245
And that's what I ate today. I had an unusually high amount of turkey today for some reason. I forgot that Scott was making turkey dinner when I had turkey sausage for breakfast and deli turkey for a snack.
Breakfast -
Coffee w/ Splenda & 1/2 cup nonfat milk (45 calories)
2 turkey sausage links (75)
Cran-Bran Vitamuffin (100)
Arizona diet green tea in the car on the way to work (0 calories)
Mid-morning cup of coffee w/Splenda and milk (40)
Snack -
1/2 serving chili lime almonds - these are sooo amazing! (85)
Fiber gummies (20)
Lunch - Weight Watchers mini rigatoni (290) mixed with a Green Giant "Just for One" single serving of broccoli and carrots (40)
Snack - 2 oz. Boar's Head low sodium turkey breast (60)
Mid-afternoon cup of coffee w/Splenda and milk - not pictured (40)
Dinner -
4 oz. turkey (150)
1/2 cup mashed potatoes (105)
1/4 cup Stove Top stuffing (80)
1 slice canned cranberry sauce (85)
3 Tbsp. gravy (30)
(Sorry about the blah pic - I guess it was a bit dark. This is a SALAD plate, by the way. From the picture it looks like a crazy amount of food but it's not really.)
Total calories: 1245
And that's what I ate today. I had an unusually high amount of turkey today for some reason. I forgot that Scott was making turkey dinner when I had turkey sausage for breakfast and deli turkey for a snack.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
Last night as I was getting ready to leave work, I got a text message from my husband that the power was out so he couldn't make dinner. My first thought was, "Yeah right...you just don't want to cook." ;-) So much for our healthy lean steak and roasted cauliflower.
I called the power company and apparently there was a huge blackout in our area affecting 2200 homes and businesses. It was nearly 9:00 at night and we hadn't had dinner. We decided to grab dinner at one of the only nearby places that were open, an Italian place. I ordered some sauteed lemon chicken and when they brought out my food, the following conversation took place:
Me: Good lord! How many people do they think they're feeding? That piece of chicken could serve four people, easy.
Husband: Um. A year ago you probably would have eaten all of that. Plus salad. And garlic rolls.
Me: Oh. Yeah. I think I vaguely remember that.
It's true. My perception of food and portion sizes have changed considerably. What would have been one meal before is now at least 3. I have leftover chicken, pasta, and I never even touched my soup - that will probably be lunch today. The leftover garlic rolls went right in the garbage.
Yesterday I went to this AWESOME Mexican restaurant with a couple of co-workers for lunch. I had a bowl of chicken & veggie fajita soup. It was awesome - spicy fajita chicken, squash, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, and a few crushed tortilla chips on top. I kept getting asked, are you sure that's all you're having? JUST soup? Well, yeah. It was chilly out and I wanted soup. It's not like I had a cup of broth - it was full of chunky veggies and I was full from that, so why would I get anything else?
Pre-band, unless I was ill I don't think I would have ever considered a bowl of soup a proper lunch.
In other news, I hit 60 pounds down on Thursday. Today I am back up 2 pounds. I'm not freaking out - I'm positive that it's part hormonal (next week is TOM), part sodium (salty soup and chicken yesterday), and part carbs (I almost never eat real pasta anymore, but I had some last night). I managed to completely avoid Halloween candy except for one mini Reeses peanut butter cup and one single Twizzler. Not bad at all. I'm sure I'll drop back down by next week. It's just awfully nice to have finally broken this plateau and be down 4 pounds in 2 weeks, even with the small gain.
I called the power company and apparently there was a huge blackout in our area affecting 2200 homes and businesses. It was nearly 9:00 at night and we hadn't had dinner. We decided to grab dinner at one of the only nearby places that were open, an Italian place. I ordered some sauteed lemon chicken and when they brought out my food, the following conversation took place:
Me: Good lord! How many people do they think they're feeding? That piece of chicken could serve four people, easy.
Husband: Um. A year ago you probably would have eaten all of that. Plus salad. And garlic rolls.
Me: Oh. Yeah. I think I vaguely remember that.
It's true. My perception of food and portion sizes have changed considerably. What would have been one meal before is now at least 3. I have leftover chicken, pasta, and I never even touched my soup - that will probably be lunch today. The leftover garlic rolls went right in the garbage.
Yesterday I went to this AWESOME Mexican restaurant with a couple of co-workers for lunch. I had a bowl of chicken & veggie fajita soup. It was awesome - spicy fajita chicken, squash, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, and a few crushed tortilla chips on top. I kept getting asked, are you sure that's all you're having? JUST soup? Well, yeah. It was chilly out and I wanted soup. It's not like I had a cup of broth - it was full of chunky veggies and I was full from that, so why would I get anything else?
Pre-band, unless I was ill I don't think I would have ever considered a bowl of soup a proper lunch.
In other news, I hit 60 pounds down on Thursday. Today I am back up 2 pounds. I'm not freaking out - I'm positive that it's part hormonal (next week is TOM), part sodium (salty soup and chicken yesterday), and part carbs (I almost never eat real pasta anymore, but I had some last night). I managed to completely avoid Halloween candy except for one mini Reeses peanut butter cup and one single Twizzler. Not bad at all. I'm sure I'll drop back down by next week. It's just awfully nice to have finally broken this plateau and be down 4 pounds in 2 weeks, even with the small gain.
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