That'll Work

Before Halloween I was stressing out about resisting all the yummy trick-or-treat candy I was going to be passing out. So I spent some time in the kitchen testing out some recipes so that I could avoid that pit-fall. I pre-made some of my favorites so that when little Hannah Montanas and Spidermen came knocking on my door, temptation wouldn't come too.

Well I never even had a chance to avoid temptation with my special goodies :( But I did find a great way to not have any interest at all in eating anything, even my favorite peanut butter M&Ms...get the flu.

Halloween morning my husband came home from work saying he didn't feel too good, and sure enough, by the end of the night, neither did I. I had to have my sister come over in an emergency to take all the trick-or-treat candy to her friend's dorm to pass out to drunk frat boys since there was no way I was letting that evilness stay in my house after trick-or-treat night. And the news told us all not to pass out candy if we're sick :(

So instead of walking my 5k I had to miss it AGAIN :( and we didn't get to go see Paranormal Activity or go to the haunted house or pass out candy, or dress up, or enjoy our decorations we put up :( (wah wah wah). But I DID lose 7 lbs! Hahaha, I know that's not the healthy way to do it, I wasn't trying to, but when you can't eat anything at all it's bound to happen. Let's just hope that my body doesn't try to ward off Thanksgiving temptations the same way, right?

Love Apple Crisp? Read on....

There's no denying that fall has FINALLY reached the fiery depths of Arizona :) This morning when I went out for my mile walk (yay!) I was so chilly that I had to go back in and add another shirt! Unless you live in Arizona and understand the HEAT we deal with, you have no idea how insanely wonderful it was to have to put on a long sleeve shirt this morning.

True to my word in my prev. post, I went for a one mile walk, ate a healthy breakfast, and have been drinking my water and eating right all day :)

But all day I was thinking about how much I miss making caramel apples and having warm apple crisp on these perfectly wonderful fall days. As soon as I thought about it, I instantly knew where to look to get my fall goody fix WITHOUT running to the trick-or-treater's bowl of candy :) My FAVORITE WLS blog- The World According To Eggface

She has the best most amazing recipes that are specialized for people who have had weight loss surgery, or heck...for anyone who loves good but healthy food.

I decided to giver her Shelly's Apple Cherry Crumb a try, only making it more customized. I'm a seriously picky eater and don't like to experiment with flavor combinations and stuff.

So here is my version re-named Caramel Apple Crumble. Let me warn you, this will make your house smell SO amazingly delicious! I also tried to come up w/the nutritional stats, they're at the bottom.

Caramel Apple Crumble- by Stephanie (to view Shelly's original recipe, click on the link above as this is MY variation):

Ingredients:

*3 large granny smith apples peeled, cored, and sliced thin (I don't like cherries and apples so I used more apples)

*3 TBS Sugar Free Caramel Torani syrup (I wanted a more caramel-y flavor)

*2 tsp cinnamon ( I love cinnamon too much to use just a dash)

After the apples are peeled and sliced, put them in a small sauce pan over low heat.

Add the Caramel syrup and the cinnamon and mix well.

Cook over low heat for 5 to 8 minutes or until apples are starting to get a little soft.


While that is cooking, make the topping.



TOPPING Ingredients:


*1/3 cup raw almonds

*1/3 cup oatmeal (I used steel cut oats)

*sprinkle of cloves, sprinkle of nutmeg, and a large sprinkle of cinnamon (I didn't have apple pie spice, if you do just use 1/2 tsp. instead)

*1 TBS Sugar Free Caramel Torani syrup

*2 TBS almond butter (I tried 1 and it wasn't clumpy enough)

*1 TBS butter substitute (I rarely use real butter)

Finely chop almonds. I used a knife because I don't have food processor, but if you do, that would probably work better.

Then add all of the other topping ingredients and blend together in a mixer or processor.

Spoon apples into 4 oven safe dishes.

Sprinkle topping mix evenly over each dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Sit back and bask in the heavenly aroma of apples, cinnamon, and caramel.

NUTRITION FACTS (approx.):

For 1 of the 4 dishes-

Calories= 224

Total Fat= 10g (there are a lot of nuts)
Sodium= 32 mg

Carbs= 33g
Protein= 6 grams (yay!)

So there you go! A delicious dessert that really helps take the edge off of cravings for apple crisp and caramel apples.

Let me know if you try making this and if you make any variations that you like a lot :)

Let's Re-Cap, Shall We?

OK sorry, been going through chaos lately...here's what's been happening:

*Oct. 16th I got my 3rd fill, I am up to 8 CCs in an 11 CC band (yikes). Am I worried? YES! I still do not feel ANY restriction...WHAT THE HELL!?!?!?! I know everyone is different and it takes a different amount for different people...bla bla bla bla bla, I KNOW. But come on :( this is not going so smoothly for me.

My Dr. said that my next fill she'll do under florescent so that we can make sure I don't have a leak or that my band has slipped or anything. I'm also going to ask her about this replacement for saline called "xray contrast fluid." I was checking the LapBandTalk boards (more on that in a minute) and another bandster had/has the exact same situation as me, 8 CCs in an 11 CC band and no restriction, so her dr took out all her saline and replaced it with that contrast fluid and she said now she has perfect restriction, so idk, but I'm going to find out what that's about.

On a somewhat positive note, I did another 5k. I'm a little discouraged because I thought I could do the full 10K, but I couldn't :( In all reality, of course I couldn't, that's over 6 miles! Just a month ago I could hardly do one mile, what on earth made me think I could do over 6 in less than a month? So I set myself up for disappointment. And my mom, dad, and husband keep telling me I didn't fail and I'm not a loser, but I still kind of feel like it. I know it's irrational and I should be super proud of the 5K, but I just feel like I should have been able to do 10. Oh well, I know I'll get there, right? Next weekend I have another 5K to do for Juvenile Diabetes. I'll post pics, I don't have any from this last one. Oh yeah...and SHE ----->
can bite me.

Now let's talk about how STUPID I've been lately. And normally I wouldn't even DARE to admit this to everyone, but I HAVE to be honest and take responsibility for me serious lack of common sense! Here are the serious mistakes I've made this month that I highly encourage everyone else NOT to make:

Mistake #1- Do NOT buy the large party size bag of peanut butter M&Ms when you're craving them and tell yourself that you can control yourself to only eat 1/8th of a cup of them at a time (that's like 10 m&ms)...because guess what...you'll eat the whole damn bag in 4 days.

Mistake #2- Do NOT go out and buy ANOTHER bag of peanut butter M&Ms after having previously make mistake #1 and try to tell yourself that it's because they're Halloween colors and are really just for decoration in your glass pumpkin candy dish, but you won't eat them. Why is this a bad idea? Because you WILL eat them.

Mistake #3- When inviting your parents (2 people) over for movie night and you want to provide a dessert (that you know only 1 of them will eat) do NOT buy enough Reeses and Heath Klondike bars for 12 people. I know, who would have thought that I would spend every waking second of the next 2 days doing nothing but thinking about those damn Klondike bars and then go on a mad ice cream binging rampage leaving nothing but foil wrappers littering the counter? Crazy, huh? Who'da thunk it?

Mistake #4- When you're at Costco buying all your healthy food in bulk, do NOT stop over in the Halloween section and decide that now (2 weeks BEFORE Halloween) is the perfect time to buy the 10 lb bag of candy to pass out to trick-or treaters. And why is that kids? Oh...right....because the candy won't ever make it to the trick-or-treaters bags! Poor little trick-or-treaters. :(

So...is it really any surprise that I'm not losing any weight this month? I think the bigger surprise is that I'm not gaining any!

SOLUTION TIME-
So I'm back to the drawing board. I'm going to write this month prior to today off as "What the hell where you thinking?" and move on to "I'm so over that!" Starting tomorrow I'm back in the saddle with my new found knowledge and re-affirmed motivation.

Let's review the basics that have been thrown out the window:
*1 to 2 cups of food per meal
*NO drinking 30 minutes BEFORE and 30 minutes AFTER a meal, and CERTAINLY not during!
*PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN!
*8 glasses of water per day! Not 1!
*A veggie with at least 2 of the 3 meals
*NO NO NO NO NO NO NO ice cream or candy (I'll allow myself later, but right now I need to get re-focused)

I've also decided that I need to get back to my online support at LapBandTalk.com and read up on success stories and people who are going through the same thing as me. This entire blog was inspired by the bandster who said she's lost 96 lbs in 6 months!! CRAP!


I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this I can do this!! AND I WILL :D

See...I feel better already :)
BRING ON TOMORROW!!!!

My First 5k! Komen For The Cure 2009!

I did it!!! I power walked my first 5k today as part of the Komen For The Cure walk for breast cancer.
Originally I was going to go by myself and meet my friends up there, but when I looked at the very complicated map of parking and shuttle routs, I got scared and forced my husband to take me. I am directionally challenged and I would have ended up lost and crying in a ball on the ground and never would have made it to the race if he hadn't taken me. Who needs that anxiety, right? Plus, it was just really nice having someone waiting for me at the finish line :)
So we finally got a parking spot and I swear, it was practically a 5k just to get from my car to the starting line!! We found my friends and waited around for our race to start.

It was SO packed, I couldn't even take enough steps to activate the Nike + sensor in my shoes! The air horn went off, signaling the start of the walk, but we couldn't move, lol, it was just so packed with bodies.

For the first 5 minutes of the walk I think I moved a whole yard, if that, lol. Once the pack finally broke up and we could actually move, it was great. I wasn't able to keep the pace I really wanted to because I was walking with other people who weren't as fast of walkers as I am, but that's ok, it kept me from getting too burned out. We ended up loosing each other though, and I spent a lot of waisted time looking for them instead of just walking on ahead, so I ended up crossing the finish line later than I would have, but again...no biggie. It'll just make my next finishing time look that much better :)My husband was waiting for me at the finish line and cheering me on :) so that was really nice.

I was walking for my grandma. She didn't pass away from breast cancer, but her breast cancer is what triggered the other cancers that she did die from :( So it was an emotional day for everyone, but you could really feel the positive energy! It was empowering :)

Then we walked around just for a little bit and got all kinds of free swag! It was so awesome to see SO many survivors of breast cancer and people who were walking in memory of loved ones who have passed away from it.

Really it was such a great day! I felt great after my first 5k and now I feel confident that I can do all the other ones!! YAY!

The Magic Shoes

Hey ladies :)

I am pleased to announce that I am doing ANOTHER walk! That's FOUR!!! Actually, I'm cheating just a little bit. There's a YMCA 5K walk on the same day as the Nike Human Race run, so I'm going to do both, but track the first 5K for the YMCA walk and then go home and do the other 5K around my neighborhood :) Hey...I'm still walking 10K, I'm just changing locations half way through! :)

So a few of you asked about my shoes. They're the new Nike Lunar Glide women's shoe and here is the link:
http://store.nike.com/index.jsp?sitesrc=uslp&country=US&lang_locale=en_US#l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-239441/pgid-239442

I have high arches and these have a built in arch support. They also are specially designed so that those of us who's thunder thighs push their feet sideways (yes, it's true) the padding on these shoes is specially designed to keep your feet level :) Anyway, the link tells all about them. If you're serious about running/walking, then the BEST thing you can do for yourself is get a really good pair of shoes :) And these are truly magic.

What's Happening To Me???

As you all know, I got my Nike shoes that I super love. I thought they were a pretty good price for shoes w/a hole in them (for the ipod sensor). What I didn't expect was what else came with the shoes! They're magic! All of a sudden I WANT to walk more, faster, longer, further. That's never happened before. Now I find that I'm super into sponsored walks for good causes! I'm signed up for THREE next month! Whoa!

October 11th- 2009 Komen Phoenix Race for the Cure (5K walk)
http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/ccp.asp?ievent=305284&lis=1&kntae305284=558601B6A1BE4E5FBAAE25CD8380F752&ccp=91644

October 24th- 2009 The Human Race 10K- Nike- "The Day The World Runs." (10k RUN-but I'm walking, lol)
http://inside.nike.com/blogs/nikerunning_humanrace-en_US/?tags=race_day

October 31st- 2009 JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) Walk To Cure Diabetes (5K walk)
http://jdrfdsw.org/events_phoenix_walk.html

Seriously! Three walks that have a "K" in them! That's a first for me :) I'm SO excited! I'll be posting photos of each one as I do them, of course :)

Strange Dreams

Last night when I went to bed I was thinking about this morning, about whether or not I wanted to set my alarm to give me enough time for a power walk in the morning, or if I wanted to sleep in. I decided to compromise and set my alarm to get up in time for a power walk, but not actually go walking, just to get in the habit of waking up earlier. I just knew I wasn't going to feel up to walking in the morning.

Then I fell asleep. As I drifted off into unconscious bliss, my celebrity crush (who shall remain anonymous) slowly wandered into my dream world. We were "dating" in my dream and I was so crazy about him. I just always wanted to be around him and I was hanging off of him constantly. He didn't really seem THAT into me though. At some point I was trying to kiss him (I know right?? I'm a married woman!!) and he wasn't really giving in, so in typical Stephanie fashion, I got my feelings hurt. He felt bad, so he started kiss me back (thank you dream gods!) and then did one of those moves where they grab you on your upper thigh right below your butt and lift you up onto their hips...yeah, only it didn't work so well. Why? Because I'm still fat in my dream!! What the heck. So, he somehow manages to lift me up, only I look at his face and he is in AGONY over how freaking heavy I am, but he knows if he drops me I'll be embarrassed, so he's trying w/all his might to keep me lifted. He walks me over to the couch where his arms finally give out and he drops me into the cushions. He apologizes (out of breath) and explains that he's really into me, but I'm just too heavy and big for him to be with me the way I want. :(

So my alarm goes off and wakes me up, and I wake up embarrassed and hurt. And no one is around but my husband, so I feel embarrassed and hurt by him. This is common- the transfer of dream emotions. So instead of slugging my way out to the couch to be lazy before work, I instantly put on my work out clothes, laced up my Nikes, activated my Nike+ on my iPod, gave my husband a hug and kiss (out of guilt for dream kissing another guy, even though my husband didn't even exist in my dream, but still), filled up my water bottle, and took off down the street. I did over a mile again today, but I accidentally turned the dang thing off after .2 miles, so my work out history isn't completely accurate. Oh well.

Now I am enjoying my breakfast after my workout while I update this :)

Today's Breakfast:

*1 Sandwich Thins bun (2 slices)- toasted

*2 tbs organic almond butter smeared over the 2 toasted Sandwich Thins

*1/2 granny smith apple sliced into thin slices and placed on top of the almond butter covered toast

Not bad :)