In New England, Memorial Day weekend kicks off the unofficial beginning of summer! I'm sure it's the same way in many other parts of the country, but here today the temp hit about 90, the humidity is about 87%, so needless to say it's the 3 H's - Hazy, HOT and Humid! This is the type of weather I absolutely detest and we get a summer-full of it every year. It's the type of weather that tempts me to shave my head, it maintains my mind in a constant state of funk and makes me want to spend the rest of the season sitting in front of my air conditioner, however, this year, I'm a little lighter, feeling a lot better and when I think about the horrendous winter we had that began the day after Christmas with a major Nor'easter that dumped tons of snow, along with the 2-3 foot snowstorms we had just about every week until the first week of February, toss in the subzero temps, the ice, the ice dams, the melting snow dripping through my bathroom window, well, I would say today was absolutely beautiful! I think if I have some time tomorrow I may remove the tarps covering my deck furniture and bbq grill, clean off the dirt and get my deck ready for the season.
I have been so busy lately that I haven't really been cooking very much with the exception of making a little meal here and there, but yesterday I made chicken fajitas (so easy) and Almond Meal bread. I've been jonesin' for something other than eggs for breakfast and the bread did the trick for me. I got the recipe from the Cooking with Trader Joe's website . It has a sticky, gooey texture when raw but when cooked it makes a decent loaf of bread, not the kind of yeasty bread we're all used to; it comes out like a dense and hearty, earthy-crunchy type bread. It's delicious with cream cheese or goat cheese spread and it took care of the craving. Also, it's about 317 calories per slice but it has 13 g. of protein and good fat, that is if you slice the loaf into 12 slices, so if you're watching your calorie intake I would suggest cutting the slices thin. The bread is filling so a little goes a long way, which is a good thing for those of us with VSG's, RnY's or Lapbands because we don't eat very much anymore!
Here's my recipe for Chicken Fajitas:
2 cups of cooked white meat chicken, diced into 1 inch cubes. (I used a rotisserie chicken)
1/2 of a green pepper, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 of a red pepper, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 small onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tsp. Ancho chili powder (optional)
1/2 to 1/3 (or more) of your favorite salsa.
Package of shredded Mexican cheese.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and when hot, add the peppers and onions. Cook until peppers are soft and onions are translucent. Add Ancho chili powder, a little salt and pepper if you want. When mixture is done add chicken and salsa and cook until heated through. Remove pan from heat.
If you're a carb lover, you can place some of the mixture into a corn or white flour tortilla and add some cheese. The heat from the mixture will melt the cheese or you can place it under a broiler. I sometimes have to do that with certain cheeses.
If you don't eat carbs but want to pretend you do (like me), I used half of a high protein, high fiber, low carb tortilla. You can find these in the International food aisle of your grocery store or ask where they would be. Yum!
This comes out more like a pizza, but you can prepare it in any way you please!
Anyway, it's been a beautiful day here and almost the end to a perfect weekend, so please take a moment to remember what this holiday is for, or if you know or see a vet, don't forget to thank him/her.
A la Prossima!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
The Girl I Used To Be
I've been away for a while, but now finals are over, summer is around the corner, I have time now to get done the things I need to get done and I'm loving me a little bit more, and in the time I've been away from this blog, I've learned a few things; one of them hit me today. I am slowly but surely becoming my old self again. Today I felt the girl that has been trapped inside me for so long trying to come out again, and today I also found out I have lost a total of 37 lbs. 3 more to go to 40!
I went to CVS today to pick up a few things when I smelled something light, flowery, and clean so I followed the scent and found many different bottles of body sprays. At this point I became confused and am unable to tell if it's a combination of scents that has attracted me or was it one in particular? As I began spraying the tester bottles into the air, it dawned on me that I haven't worn scent other than soap or shower gel in ages. The last bottle of perfume I bought was Sunflowers and that was sometime in the mid 90s!! It also dawned on me that I used to wear scent because it made me feel "alive," and that's the key word here. Since I've lost a good amount of weight I'm beginning to feel alive again! I'm yanking my pants up to under my breasts, only for them to slide down and having to yank them back up every few minutes or so. This is a great feeling!
I went to a consignment shop with a friend a few days ago and while waiting outside the dressing room for her I happened to look at myself in the full length mirror, and for a moment I didn't know who I was (It was a very short moment!) The crotch of my pants was hanging below where it naturally should be!
I can actually cut my toenails again because my stomach isn't in the way anymore, I can bend down and tie my sneakers without my face getting red and coming back up trying to catch my breath.
I am even doing better at the gym, going every other day. I stopped fighting with the elliptical. My knee hurts when I'm on it and there's nothing I can do about it until my knee stops hurting. I took the advice of my hunky surgeon and got on the bike instead. The first time I could only stay on it for 5 minutes, yesterday I finished 20 minutes and could have done another 5 but I didn't want to push it. I began weight training and that burns calories all night long and it's making a difference.
Today got me thinking of how long it's been since I've really been happy. I thought I was, but apparently I've been lying to myself all along. I am the original Queen of Denial. I buried the shame of how I looked, how much food I ate and why I ate. I buried my love affair and gluttony with food. Food was my go-to for emotional support and yet it was killing me at the same time.
I also thought about where I would have been today had I not made that leap of faith and had my VSG surgery; I may have been 37 (maybe more) pounds heavier, still fighting that vicious cycle of weight loss, still yo yo dieting and still eating to death.
The fog in my head is clearing, I'm beginning to put the pieces of my life puzzle back together again, and I look forward to the day when I can finally bury the old body image of myself and see the new me emerging to life! It's going to be awesome!
So this journey has been one of trial, error and learning. Sometimes I feel like a 2-year old, (heaven knows I eat like one) who has a big world to see and learn about. Some days I feel like a runner looking to make that finish line. Some moments there will be bumps in the road and some will be smooth sailing. All I know is that regardless of what happens along the way, I have to keep pushing towards my personal finish line, and once aging become the girl I used to be, and that will also be awesome!
And speaking of awesome, I want to introduce you to a man in my life who rocked my world and gave me a new chance at life.
He's handsome, sweet, personable, kind, has a beautiful soul and I love him. I also pray that God keeps him strong and healthy and did I say that I love him? He's my surgeon, and he's the very best!!
I went to CVS today to pick up a few things when I smelled something light, flowery, and clean so I followed the scent and found many different bottles of body sprays. At this point I became confused and am unable to tell if it's a combination of scents that has attracted me or was it one in particular? As I began spraying the tester bottles into the air, it dawned on me that I haven't worn scent other than soap or shower gel in ages. The last bottle of perfume I bought was Sunflowers and that was sometime in the mid 90s!! It also dawned on me that I used to wear scent because it made me feel "alive," and that's the key word here. Since I've lost a good amount of weight I'm beginning to feel alive again! I'm yanking my pants up to under my breasts, only for them to slide down and having to yank them back up every few minutes or so. This is a great feeling!
I went to a consignment shop with a friend a few days ago and while waiting outside the dressing room for her I happened to look at myself in the full length mirror, and for a moment I didn't know who I was (It was a very short moment!) The crotch of my pants was hanging below where it naturally should be!
I can actually cut my toenails again because my stomach isn't in the way anymore, I can bend down and tie my sneakers without my face getting red and coming back up trying to catch my breath.
I am even doing better at the gym, going every other day. I stopped fighting with the elliptical. My knee hurts when I'm on it and there's nothing I can do about it until my knee stops hurting. I took the advice of my hunky surgeon and got on the bike instead. The first time I could only stay on it for 5 minutes, yesterday I finished 20 minutes and could have done another 5 but I didn't want to push it. I began weight training and that burns calories all night long and it's making a difference.
Today got me thinking of how long it's been since I've really been happy. I thought I was, but apparently I've been lying to myself all along. I am the original Queen of Denial. I buried the shame of how I looked, how much food I ate and why I ate. I buried my love affair and gluttony with food. Food was my go-to for emotional support and yet it was killing me at the same time.
I also thought about where I would have been today had I not made that leap of faith and had my VSG surgery; I may have been 37 (maybe more) pounds heavier, still fighting that vicious cycle of weight loss, still yo yo dieting and still eating to death.
The fog in my head is clearing, I'm beginning to put the pieces of my life puzzle back together again, and I look forward to the day when I can finally bury the old body image of myself and see the new me emerging to life! It's going to be awesome!
So this journey has been one of trial, error and learning. Sometimes I feel like a 2-year old, (heaven knows I eat like one) who has a big world to see and learn about. Some days I feel like a runner looking to make that finish line. Some moments there will be bumps in the road and some will be smooth sailing. All I know is that regardless of what happens along the way, I have to keep pushing towards my personal finish line, and once aging become the girl I used to be, and that will also be awesome!
And speaking of awesome, I want to introduce you to a man in my life who rocked my world and gave me a new chance at life.
He's handsome, sweet, personable, kind, has a beautiful soul and I love him. I also pray that God keeps him strong and healthy and did I say that I love him? He's my surgeon, and he's the very best!!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Finals, School, Bleechhhh!
It's been difficult for me to get here these days and the reason being is that I am a non-traditional student (meaning I'm older than the average student), I go to a 2-year community college, this is my last week of classes and I have finals next week! Needless to say I'm under stress, I want to eat the world (because I'm not just a volume eater, I'm also a stress eater) and those damn 2 pounds I keep losing keep coming back! WTF is up with that?? Just when I think, "Yeah Mama, I'm off my stall!" The next day the scale goes up 2 pounds. Do I throw the scale out the window? Put a "free" sign on it and put it outside my front door? Or throw it against the concrete wall in my backyard as a form of punishment for not cooperating as it should? I am sooooo frustrated!
Saturday I went to a party at a friend's house, and I drank alcohol for the first time since my surgery 11 weeks ago. The weird thing is pre-surgery whenever I went to a party, I'd walk in, say hi and hit the buffet table and continue to stuff myself the entire evening. This time I walked in, said hi, talked and talked and 1 1/2 hours passed before I noticed the buffet table, and by that time I was getting a little hungry. I grabbed a plate and glanced over the table and here is a list of what I put on my plate:
A little bit of salad with a piece of a grilled chicken strip.
A small spoonful from a chicken, broccoli and pasta dish
A deviled egg
A small spoonful from a rice and shrimp dish
2 mini quiche's
A piece of cheddar cheese
I ate:
The grilled chicken strip, left the salad
The deviled egg
The cheese
One piece of shrimp, left the rice
One piece of chicken with broccoli, left the pasta
The inside of one mini quiche, tossed the other one.
WTF? I ate nothing but protein! Someone stole my mind and is making me eat different now!
I also had a few drinks! Now it's my understanding that with VSG, you drink, get drunk on one drink and the buzz goes away fast. At least that's what I've heard from others. No, not me. I drank a little bit of wine, it was delicious, I finished it - nothing. I had another glass, finished it - still nothing. Later in the evening I had two shots of cinnamon vodka (not at the same time!) - still nothing! What is wrong with me why can't I even get a buzz?? I am so weird!
Anyway, I'll return after my finals. I'm getting a headache just thinking of having to study for it…
Later folks!
A la prossima!
Saturday I went to a party at a friend's house, and I drank alcohol for the first time since my surgery 11 weeks ago. The weird thing is pre-surgery whenever I went to a party, I'd walk in, say hi and hit the buffet table and continue to stuff myself the entire evening. This time I walked in, said hi, talked and talked and 1 1/2 hours passed before I noticed the buffet table, and by that time I was getting a little hungry. I grabbed a plate and glanced over the table and here is a list of what I put on my plate:
A little bit of salad with a piece of a grilled chicken strip.
A small spoonful from a chicken, broccoli and pasta dish
A deviled egg
A small spoonful from a rice and shrimp dish
2 mini quiche's
A piece of cheddar cheese
I ate:
The grilled chicken strip, left the salad
The deviled egg
The cheese
One piece of shrimp, left the rice
One piece of chicken with broccoli, left the pasta
The inside of one mini quiche, tossed the other one.
WTF? I ate nothing but protein! Someone stole my mind and is making me eat different now!
I also had a few drinks! Now it's my understanding that with VSG, you drink, get drunk on one drink and the buzz goes away fast. At least that's what I've heard from others. No, not me. I drank a little bit of wine, it was delicious, I finished it - nothing. I had another glass, finished it - still nothing. Later in the evening I had two shots of cinnamon vodka (not at the same time!) - still nothing! What is wrong with me why can't I even get a buzz?? I am so weird!
Anyway, I'll return after my finals. I'm getting a headache just thinking of having to study for it…
Later folks!
A la prossima!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Meatball Madness!
So the other day I decided to make some marinara sauce with meatballs. I figured the hubby can have meatballs with pasta and being the good, low carb eating girl I am I'll just eat the meat. Well, before we go on, I need to tell you that I have this bad habit of putting things off until I damn well feel like doing it. Okay, so a few days before I took out some frozen hamburger out of the freezer to make the meatballs with, but.... I didn't get to them until this morning... and... well...when I took out the package of hamburger that had thoroughly thawed out many days ago from the fridge, it was brown. I mean the meat was brown sitting atop a pool of brown juice. I know TMI but Ewww... I even had the nerve to smell it! And while it didn't particularly have an overpowering evil smell, there was a slight hint of what was to come had I left it in the fridge any longer. I hate wasting good food and I'm sorry it couldn't be used but thank God for garbage disposals!
So now I've got sauce on the stove cooking away and nothing to make meatballs with. Then I remembered some freebie I got at the supermarket one day, it was one of those, "spend $50, get 3 free items," type promotion. I remember the items clearly, one item was a small watermelon, a bag of lettuce and a bag of frozen, ready made meatballs! Needless to say I grabbed that bag, tore it open and immediately dumped the contents into the pot of boiling sauce. Whew!! Saved!
My dinner last night was two golf ball sized meatballs with sauce, and even though they weren't my meatballs and the sauce covered up the fact that they were a little bland, they served their purpose.
Now I've got broccoli and eggplant in the fridge that I bought last week. When I checked today the eggplant was still firm and the broccoli still green, so maybe I'll get off my ass and cook it tomorrow and make something useful from it, eh?
A la prossima!
So now I've got sauce on the stove cooking away and nothing to make meatballs with. Then I remembered some freebie I got at the supermarket one day, it was one of those, "spend $50, get 3 free items," type promotion. I remember the items clearly, one item was a small watermelon, a bag of lettuce and a bag of frozen, ready made meatballs! Needless to say I grabbed that bag, tore it open and immediately dumped the contents into the pot of boiling sauce. Whew!! Saved!
My dinner last night was two golf ball sized meatballs with sauce, and even though they weren't my meatballs and the sauce covered up the fact that they were a little bland, they served their purpose.
Now I've got broccoli and eggplant in the fridge that I bought last week. When I checked today the eggplant was still firm and the broccoli still green, so maybe I'll get off my ass and cook it tomorrow and make something useful from it, eh?
A la prossima!
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