From the Mouths of Babes...

I spent the afternoon with my dear friend Ally today. I've known her since we were 18 and she moved to Oregon when we were in our mid-20's. Her older son is 9 and her younger son is 5. We were looking at some old pictures today from the couple of times I met the little one, Chay (the redhead). This was when I went to visit Ally's family when Chay was just a baby...

And this was when Ally came to visit Florida when Chay was 2 years old...

As we were looking at pictures, Chay looked at the pictures, looked at me, looked at the pictures, looked at me, and said, "You looked like you were more chubbier then." I just about choked on my latte I was laughing so hard. Kids are just so darn honest. This is from today...

Recipe: Skinny Southern Potato Salad

Have you heard of resistant starch? There's some sort of science that happens when you cook and then cool potatoes that creates a particular type of fiber that's being studied for blood sugar stabilization benefits. When I read about this my first thought was "potato salad" which is clearly not healthy, but is so tasty. So I've been craving potato salad and I came up with this...

DARN was it good!

Skinny Southern Potato Salad

Makes 12 half-cup servings

2 large potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks
5 eggs
6 oz. container of plain nonfat Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp. mayo
3 Tbsp. dijon mustard
3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 red onion, finely diced
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Place cut potatoes and whole eggs in pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Turn stove off, cover pot, and let sit for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix together yogurt, mayo, mustard, vinegar, seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add onion and toss to coat. (I would have added a couple of stalks of celery too, but the celery I had in my fridge was wilted.)

After 15 minutes, remove eggs from pot and place in iced water for a few minutes. Drain potatoes and place in a large bowl. Peel eggs and chop. Add eggs to potatoes and toss with dressing. Chill.

If my calculations are correct, each 1/2 cup serving should contain:

Calories - 82.5
Total Fat  - 3.9 g

Potassium - 129.8 mg

Total Carbohydrate - 5.3 g
Dietary Fiber - 0.3 g (this does not include resistant starch)
Sugars - 1.2 g
Protein - 5.1 g

Kangoo Jumps - Awesome Workout

Several months ago, I bought an Amazon Local deal for a series of fitness classes called Kangoo Jumps. Essentially, you wear boots that have little trampolines on the bottom that look like this:

And you basically do an aerobics class with a little strength training while wearing these things. I was a bit nervous about the whole thing since I'm not the most coordinated person in the world, but within 10 minutes of putting them on, I was jogging and jumping like a champ. Everyone at Beachside Ryde (the studio where I went) was amazing. The guy who helped me get fitted with my boots and got me comfortable with wearing them was really patient. The instructor was a super-perky jumping bean and excited about everything (but not annoyingly so).

This is what the class looks like (I'm not in this video but just to get an idea what kind of stuff we were doing):

Let me tell you - attempting to stand still is the hardest thing, and doing squats wasn't easy either. The class involved different elements like using a weighted ball, dumbbells, hula hoops, and a weighted bar to do different kinds of moves, so it never got boring. And I made it through with a smile (and a whole lot of sweat).

My next class is on Friday and I can't wait!

Loose Skin is Reality

Someone posted this article about what losing 135 pounds looks like on Facebook today. I'm glad it was posted and that I actually clicked it. It's no secret that I HATE my jiggly, flappy arms...

But until plastic surgery is reality for me, I need to learn to deal with it, somehow. I need to not hate anything about me. That's ridiculously hard, nearly impossible some days. I don't love my melted-candle thighs or my floppy stomach, but they don't bother me as much as those arms do.

But here's the thing: my sister, brother-in-law, and beautiful nephew are coming to visit next weekend. I'm SO looking forward to it. But there's a little nagging voice in the back of my head...there's going to be swimming. I'm going to need to put a bathing suit on. In front of people. Glurp.

I'll do it but it still freaks me out. There's no hiding flappy arms or melty thighs in a bathing suit. And even though I live in Florida, I rarely wear one. There is usually alcohol involved, like when Jen and I went swimming with the sea lions.

I have issues. But we all knew that. So I'm glad I looked at that article. I needed to see that.

On a brighter note, I realized yesterday that I hadn't been to the gym since before I got that sinus infection...before Christmas! Crazy. So I went twice this weekend and my body and mind feel so much better already.

Illness = Tightness?

Has anyone experienced that illness (upper respiratory infection - just a bad cold, really - congestion, slight sore throat, sneezing, coughing) causes band tightness? I am CRAZY tight right now and having a little nausea and abdominal pain every time I eat anything more solid than hummus. I haven't really had a really bad cold in the nearly 3 years since I've had my band so this is new to me.

I managed a few bites of very tender flank steak tonight, and some roasted acorn squash (delicious!) for dinner tonight and now have a stomach ache. I'm not stuck, it's a different feeling and it's sticking around long after dinner.

Maybe I'm taking too many pills (Dayquil/Nyquil plus vitamins) and they're hurting my stomach, but I didn't take any cold meds today until just a few minutes ago.

Maybe I just need a day or two of liquids/mushies to get my stomach back on track. Perhaps I'll pick up some protein powder and do smoothies and soup for a couple of days.

One Year

From the tiny peanut we affectionately called Trout Grover...

To the adorable cuddly newborn we fell in love with...

To the playful and happy baby that made us all smile...

To the one year old little boy who has stolen the hearts of my entire family...

Happy birthday, Zachary!!! Hugs and kisses to you, sweet boy.

Love,

Aunt Stephanie

Radio Alumni Day

I don't know how many people who read this blog know this about me, but when I was in high school, I worked on the school's radio station, 88.5 FM WKPX for 3 years. I was a DJ and had my own show called "From the Vault" where I played mostly old rock - Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Phish, etc. - and it was a total blast. I spent two class periods every day in radio class - broadcasting, programming, reviewing music for air play, and making recordings of public service announcements.

I was invited to come back to the station for an alumni appearance last Friday. My dear friend Jen was also a DJ on the station so I asked her to come with me. We had an amazing time on the air and I can't wait to do it again! We even had our own paparazzi - Scott came along and brought his camera so we have some great pictures from the day too.