What's For Breakfast?

One of my dear friends who had bypass recommended this Banana Bread oatmeal breakfast to me. At first I kind of turned my nose up at it because I've only ever been loyal to apple cinnamon, maple and brown sugar, or cinnamon spice Quaker oatmeal and have never felt the need to try other flavors. I'm picky with banana flavors so I wasn't sure. But then she suggested adding a spoon full of peanut butter resulting in a taste very similar to a peanut butter and banana sandwich, which I LOVE! So I tried is and WOW!

Not only does this taste wonderful, but it is SO filling due to all the protein it packs. Normally I can eat 3 little bags of oat meal in one meal, but adding peanut butter to it makes 1 bag PLENTY. Unfortunately I can't say that it's because my band is preventing me from eating more, but still, I'm anxious to see if I can even eat 1 whole bag when I am adjusted properly (fingers crossed for Friday!).

The peanut butter I use is the fresh ground, no "stuff" added kind that you grind yourself. It's just fun grinding your own peanut butter, watching the peanut reservoir go down and watching smooth creamy peanut butter come out the dispenser :) I usually fill my little bucket too much because I have so much fun just watching it :) It's the little things in life...right?

I just prefer this peanut butter to any pre-packaged kind. It doesn't have any added sugars or added fats or anything else...it's just pure natural peanut-y goodness.

So if you're in search of a very filling, very fast, very easy, and very tasty breakfast that is post-op friendly...try this :)

FINALLY AN UPDATE!!

Well given my absence from the blogs and support threads, I think it's needless to say that the holidays hit me...hard! I'm disappointed because I saw it coming a mile away and still let it happen. Shame on me :( Honestly, it could have been a LOT worse, but still, I knew better.

Moving on!! :) I'm learning that it's important to just keep moving forward, I can't turn back time, so why lose sleep over it?

I have my next fill appointment this coming Friday, thank GOD! It was supposed to be done under fluoroscope but for some reason they're having me do another "in-office" fill first. I may call about that tomorrow to find out why...I'd really like the fluoroscope to make sure that I don't have a leak or anything and to make sure my band is being filled since I still have absolutely no restriction. I should have some, right? It's been over 6 months! :(

Hubby and I signed up for the gym today! YAY! I think I can use my super cool shoes on the treadmills just not the elliptical, we'll see though. Otherwise I'll only track my in-between-work-out-walking. So we start Thursday w/the personal trainer and I told him I want to speed up my weight loss. I feel like I'm "behind" everyone else banded around the same time as me. I don't like feeling like that. I also told him I want to make sure I don't have a lot of loose skin. He seems pretty confident that I won't, so I'm excited to see what his "plan" for me is.

Anyway, I'll keep this on the short and sweet side until I have more info and updates. But I promise I'm back and will be posting LOTS of new recipes, accomplishments, food finds, and other such goodies :)

No more excuses, the time for that is over. Keep moving forward! (from my favorite movie, Meet The Robinson's!)

Merry & Bright

Merry Christmas!!

Wow it's been FOREVER since I posted! I really don't have anything to report right now.
I'm waiting for after the holidays until I can get in to get another fill. Not by choice, that's just how backed up my Dr.'s office is. Plus I have to go into the actual hospital and have them fill me by x-ray to be sure that everything is in working order and make sure that the saline is actually getting up there since I'm at such a high fill level with NO restriction.

I've got to be honest, this is HARD! I knew going into it that it wouldn't be easy, but I didn't think it would take this long to find my sweet spot. But I'm staying optimistic and keeping my hopes high. My self control is up and down, but I certainly haven't let myself go back. My main goal right now until I have some restriction is to just not gain any weight. I'm not even focused on losing yet because that's just setting myself up for disappointment.

ANYWAY! Just wanted to check in w/everyone and say 'HI' and hope you all are having a wonderful holiday and not giving into too many yummy temptations ;)

I will be back after Christmas with more updates and, hopefully, some good news of weight loss!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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!