Comfort Food Dinner

I woke up with a raging migraine this morning - first one I've had in ages. I had a bit of a headache last night and then when I woke up this morning I could barely even get my eyes open. I got up and took some meds then went back to bed and passed out until 1:30. I got up and took more meds and dozed off and on until 5:30. I'm finally feeling better now.

I certainly wasn't in the mood to cook, and after being ill all day I wanted something easy and comforting and wanted to have some of my favorite band-friendly "healthy junk food" rather than turning to the drive-thru.



Clockwise from top...


Applegate Farms all natural chicken tenders - I love these. They taste like real chicken, not overly processed, and are a good texture. Excellent source of protein.
Happy Bites Veggie Tots - these are little organic bites of happiness - black beans, corn, sweet potato, carrots, spinach, and potato all in a happy little tot.




Peas of Mind broccoli Veggie Wedgies - similar to a french fry but made with broccoli and baked. Delicious! 70 calories, 2 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber per serving.

Bulls-Eye Carolina-Style Barbecue Sauce - tangy, not too sweet vinegar based sauce. 50 calories for 2 Tablespoons.

Total: 455 calories and 23 grams of protein.

Stuff and Chicago

I've been up since 4:30 this morning and I think I am way overtired. I have a headache and can't seem to wind down. Why was I up at 4:30? I have no idea. I was supposed to get up at 6:00 to be at work by 8:00 but my eyes popped open and that was that. Since I had an extra hour and a half to kill, I had to decide between taking myself out to breakfast (Cracker Barrel was sounding good) or going for a workout. A couple of miles walked/run before the sun came up felt pretty damn good.

(My husband is too funny. When he saw my Facebook post from 5:00 this morning debating whether I would work out or have a greasy breakfast, he commented, "Since its a little after 6 and you aren't here, but your car is, I'm going to guess that you ran to Cracker Barrel???")

Tonight was the monthly support group for my bariatric surgery office. We had a potluck dinner. It was nice. I made my healthified shepherd's pie (with the cauliflower faux-tato topping) and got lots of compliments. One of my friends brought me a jar of her homemade no sugar added strawberry jam...delicious! I made plans with a few of the ladies to go for a long walk on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to that! One of the ladies, my photographer buddy April, is at goal thanks to her gastric bypass and looks AMAZING. Another lady just had her gastric sleeve done 3 weeks ago. Yet another is around the same phase I am, about 90 pounds down thanks to her band. It's nice getting to know all of these people and learn from their successes and struggles.

There was one lady there who made me sad. She was sitting in the back corner, not eating anything and not talking to anyone. I went over to introduce myself and asked the usual questions from these types of events (what surgery did you have? how far out are you? etc.) and she said she had the band but she's the big failure of the group and had lost about 20 pounds in 2 years. I told her not to say that because you're not really a failure unless you give up completely and she said she's ready to have the band removed because it doesn't work. She said she can't eat anything healthy like chicken or salad so she eats chips and cookies all day. She said she didn't have the willpower to resist the bad stuff and if she had willpower in the first place, what was the point of the band?

Wow. A little depressing. I don't know how to help her. I feel terrible for her. It made me very thankful for blogland because I didn't go into surgery with those kind of expectations.

So that brings me to the part I didn't really want to talk about...I don't think I'm going to make it to Chicago for BOOBs this year. Airfare is just CRAZY expensive from south Florida...like $300 for the cheapest flight out of Miami, more than 70 miles away (which means I'd have to pay for parking too). Almost double that to go from the two airports that are closer to home. I'll keep an eye out for cheap flights, but it's not looking great. I got all excited when I saw a flight for $192 until I realized...that was one way.

We're going to Alaska for our anniversary this year, which I am hugely excited about. We have a brand new nephew in Boston so we'll be back and forth to there a few times this year. We're renewing our wedding vows and throwing a big party for all of the people who were at our first wedding. I just can't afford to do everything, not to mention all the time off work.

Maybe it will work out. Who knows? I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Ouch

It seems like something pretty much always hurts these days.

There's the bad hurt...like when I busted my knee and elbow (and ego) at boot camp a couple of weeks ago.

But then there's the good hurt...my legs throb and ache from lots of squats and lunges. My chest hurts from chest presses. Let's not even talk about my triceps and abs (owwww). I've started loving the DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).

When I'm limping around because I can barely get up and down, I have had people (mostly co-workers) say that maybe I'm overdoing it. I don't think so. Pain is necessary for progress sometimes. Sometimes the second day after a hard workout really sucks. But it's temporary and necessary. And now I know it means that I worked as hard as I possibly can and I'm making awesome changes.

(Don't worry anymore, Mom. I'm fine. :-))

Injury is WAY different from muscle soreness. I'm not harming myself. And no, I'm not slowing down.

I'm off to yoga class to stretch out my poor, sore muscles. Yesterday's barbell workout was a killer.

Aunt & Uncle

Scott and I loooooove being aunt and uncle to our adorable nephew Zachary...

I Guess I Have Changed

I posted the following on Facebook last night...

"Tonight's boot camp was hard as hell, but at least I didn't fall on my face this time."

Scott replied..

"So cool that you brushed yourself off and went right back in there after your fall. The woman I knew several years ago might have used the fall as an excuse not to return. I'm proud of you!!!"

THAT is what it's all about.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

Christmas! I can't believe it's THIS weekend!

No, I haven't flipped my lid and we're not in some kind of time warp. Scott and I have spent Christmas day with our dear friends Greg and Donna for more than a decade. This is us from Christmas a couple of years ago...


(Donna and I combined have lost over 150 pounds. How crazy is that? I'll have to post an updated pic of all of us.)

Anyway, we missed Christmas this year because Scott and I were in Boston meeting our new nephew. Since we can't possibly miss our tradition completely, we're redoing Christmas this weekend. I'm so looking forward to it!

Overweight Fitness Trainers

I was reading the blog for the boot camp place where I have been working out and this was on there and really bugged me:

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Over the years of being a boca raton personal trainer, I’ve heard all kinds of advice from all kinds of people claiming they have the answer(s). Now I’m not going to be that guy and tell you that I have the clear-cut and only secret to fat loss cuz some of you reading this don’t quite know, like, and trust me yet…

But instead I thought I’d have a little fun today to start the week with a few folks you might want to avoid getting weight loss advice from…..

{snip}

2. The Overweight Fitness Trainer

I have to say here in Boca Raton and South Florida, I haven’t seen too many of these. They may be very knowledgeable and have your genuine interest in their heart….but……c’mon……..ya know?!

{snip}

Well there you have it…some more helpful fat loss tips from a non-celebrity who hasn’t been on TV, doesn’t take steroids, isn’t a parent, and isn’t a fat personal trainer!

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Seriously? That "overweight fitness trainer" could have already lost 100 pounds. (I've lost 100 pounds and am still overweight and there are probably a few fitness classes I could successfully teach.)

I took a great Zumba class from an overweight instructor. The skinnies in the class could barely keep up with her.

Maybe I'm being a bit sensitive (and feel free to tell me if I am) but this bothered me. The way it was worded was really snarky and I read it as, "I know I shouldn't say bad things about fatties and offend them because they're my bread and butter, no pun intended, but they're pretty stupid and it would be ridiculous to think that a fatty could possibly know anything about exercise."

I would never say that he can't or shouldn't say it, but I can say that it has turned me off and after I'm done with the sessions I bought through Groupon, it is highly unlikely that I will go back and spend another dime there.

Tighty Whities

I am tight as a drum the last few days.

English muffin breakfast sandwich with egg (the same breakfast I have almost every day): stuck.

Piece of fried fish at the renaissance festival (I know, not the healthiest choice but better than fried cheesecake on a stick, right?): stuck.

Greek yogurt: went down sloooooooooowly.

Tortilla chips with crab dip; pizza; cookies: went down just fine. (Dammit.)

I know it's probably this "super cold" weather we've been having the last few days (60 degrees or so) but it's so strange how I go from thinking that I need a fill to being ALMOST too tight.

Bootcamp Fail

If we're already Facebook friends, you already know this, but I totally ate it at boot camp last night. During the second drill of the night, I jumped up from a half-situp position and started sprinting across the room and then all of a sudden, my world went grey and I went crashing down on my elbow and knee. I'm fine, just bruised and swollen and sore, but pretty pissed that I didn't get to finish my workout. And would really like to know if my blood pressure went too low or I have an ear issue or what.

I think I drank enough yesterday and it was pretty early in the workout that this happened. I had a good lunch. The only thing I did different was I was still pretty full from lunch (chicken and bean tacos) so I didn't have an afternoon snack - usually have a small protein bar - but I didn't have any other signs of low blood sugar or anything.

Even though the whole thing sucked, it's way better to have a sports injury rather than third degree mouth burns from eating the middle of a hot pocket too quickly after removing it from the microwave while sitting on the couch...this was a much more likely injury for me to sustain a couple of years ago. :-) So for now, I will wear my bruises with pride and go back and try again next week.

Sharing Shirts & NSV's

One day last week, my friend Kelly at work walked up to me and said that she wanted to go for a run at lunchtime but had forgotten to throw a t-shirt into her running bag, and by any chance did I have a spare t-shirt she could borrow? It turned out that I did...I had a spare t-shirt because I had boot camp that day, and it just so happened that I had two clean shirts in my bag. This is Kelly (who is an actual marathon runner, by the way, and a true inspiration) wearing the Zombie Nerd shirt that I got from my BOOBs Not-So-Secret-Anymore Santa who I am completely in love with:




As a reminder, here is me in the very same shirt at a holiday party...




Let's examine the plethora of NSV's that this entails...

1. That someone would even think to ask me, ME!, if I have a spare workout shirt. As if I am one of those working out people.

2. That I would actually have a spare workout shirt because I AM one of those working out people.

3. That a skinny friend would ask to borrow a shirt from me, thinking that it wouldn't be so big on her that it would fall off.

4. That a skinny friend would be able to wear a shirt of mine, and it wouldn't be so big on her that it would fall off.

5. That I can share clothes with a skinny friend!

Ok, so the shirt was a bit looser on her than it is on me, but not by too much and it still fits both of us. That is just crazy. Kelly totally made me smile. I can share clothes with my friends just like a regular person. What an awesome NSV!

Crossing Off My List

Cheri from Lap Band Fluxion posted her take on my "reasons why I want to lose weight" list and it reminded me that I haven't really looked at it in a long time to update where I am...

1. To be healthy - my cholesterol and blood pressure are perfect, I can do everything I want to do and don't feel like I'm missing out on anything because of my weight. "Healthy" is relative, but I'm doing pretty well.

2. To not have to use CPAP anymore for sleep apnea. - Done! Apnea is totally gone and I was able to donate my old CPAP to a deserving friend.

3. To be able to ride any roller coaster I want. - Done! But I really miss Heidi...where did she go?

4. To fit comfortably in an airplane seat. - Not a problem.

5. To be able to run up a flight of stairs. - Not a problem.

6. To not sweat so much. - This one is a little iffy. I sweat WAY more, but it's because I'm busting ass at the gym or the trail or bootcamp, not because I've walked half a block to the grocery store. WAY different.

7. To not worry constantly about getting diabetes. - It could still happen, of course, but my risk is way lower.

8. To not worry that I will eventually gain so much weight that the fire department will need to cut a hole in the side of the house to get me out. - Ugh, that was a nightmare of mine for a long time.

9. To be able to go to a show and feel comfortable in the seat. - It's not even really a concern anymore since I'd rather dance through the show anyway.

10. To never have to worry again whether I will fit in a booth at a restaurant. - Not a problem.

11. So my feet don’t hurt so much.

12. So my knees don’t hurt so much.

13. So my back doesn’t hurt so much. - Well...I've developed new and super fun assbone pain...but other than that, my back is fine.

14. So I’m not always huffing and puffing when I walk so far.

15. So my meralgia paresthetica (thigh pain and numbness) goes away. - It's mostly gone...but not 100%. I still get a little bit of numbness, but it's not debilitating anymore. I can stand/walk for hours now.

16. So doctors don’t blame EVERY symptom I experience on my weight.

17. So I can buy clothes anywhere. - Not ANYWHERE yet...but getting closer.

18. So I don’t feel out of place in a “normal” size clothing store. - Still working on this.

19. So I don’t feel disgusted looking at myself in the full-length mirror when I am getting a haircut.

20. So I can do my own pedicures easily. - Done! I haven't had a professional pedicure in ages.

21. So I don’t feel so out of control about my eating.

22. So I am not constantly hungry.

23. To be satisfied on small amounts of really good food.

24. To enjoy my food more.

25. So I don’t ever have to use a wheelchair just because I’m too fat to walk. So far, so good.

26. So that I have more energy.

27. So that I don’t ever have to deal with discrimination just due to my size.

28. To sit on the floor and not have to do ridiculous maneuvers to get up. - You should see me at boot camp maneuvering between positions.

29. To be able to cross my legs properly. - See photo above.

30. So my ankles don’t get swollen when it’s hot out or on an airplane.

31. To go horseback riding. - Haven't tried it yet, but I bet I could.

32. So I can get closer to the table when I’m eating to avoid getting food on the boobshelf. - Not a problem anymore.

33. To go to the park and swing on the swings. - I did this a few months after surgery and it was so fun!

34. So I can wear a button down shirt without worrying that I am going to break it open. - I haven't tried yet. We'll see!

35. To ease the symptoms of my PCOS, if not get rid of it altogether.

36. To have a regular hotel bath towel wrap ALL the way around me.

37. To have a regular spa robe wrap ALL the way around me. - Haven't tried yet - I doubt it's an issue.

38. So that I never have to see the term “morbidly obese” (unless combined with “formerly”) on my medical chart.

39. To be able to run all around any city with my sister, up and down hills and the subway stairs, without feeling like I am going to pass out from leg/knee pain. - Done!

40. To not have a couple of miles of city walking feel as daunting as a marathon. - I love city walking now.

41. To be successful at losing weight for the first time ever. - I'd call this success.

42. So my husband has a hot wife. - He seems to think so.

43. So that when my husband tells me that he thinks I’m beautiful no matter what I weigh, I don’t think he’s just humoring me.

44. So that if I’m ever stuck in a tall building during an emergency, I’ll know I can get down all the stairs.

45. To learn a sport. - Haven't yet, but I'm thinking about taking up kickball.

46. To prove to myself that I can meet any goal I set.

47. To be able to wear high heels every now and then.

48. To wear pretty bras and not just huge, functional ones.

49. So I can watch “The Biggest Loser” and not be jealous of all the people on it for having an amazing opportunity to change their lives.

50. So I don’t have to keep starting new diets in hopes that this will be “the one”.

Week In Review

I haven't posted in a week...bad blogger. Ah well...I've been busy. I have a few pictures to share from my week...

This one is for Amy. This is my friend Paul from work. I saw him wearing this shirt and immediately thought of my favorite Sunkist-loving blogger girl.



Saturday night, Scott and I had a date night to finally celebrate my birthday. We went to go see a fantastic local band called Crazy Fingers. They played at our wedding, almost a decade ago. I danced for ages and had a blast.


Scott took this picture of me and my beautiful babies a few nights ago. I thought it was so cute. (I just realized that my wedding portrait on the wall is crooked...must go fix.)