Monday, January 31, 2011

Another good day

Woke up yesterday looking forward to drinking my shake. I know, weird huh? But it's true, and to my delight -- the shake was worth looking forward to! So loving the Torani SF syrup add ins <3. So here is what yesterdays menu choices looked like for me:

January 30, 2011

Breakfast -- A "lava flow" inspired protein shake. I've decided that I need to buy some frozen unsweetened pineapple for this one next time, but for now, this was almost heavenly. It's the 1st protein shake I could just drink without having to have the lid on my blender bottle (which was until now necessary to avoid the God-awful smell of protein!). Here was my recipe:

2 scoops strawberry protein powder
2/3 cups frozen unsweetened  strawberries
1/3 cup frozen unsweetened Logan berries
1 oz Torani coconut sugar-free syrup 

Did I mention I could drink it and smell it at the same time without gaging? That's HUGE for me! Definitely going to get some frozen pineapple to replace the Logan berries soon -- oh wait what am I thinking -- I'll just get fresh white pineapple next week when I'm in Hawaii! I wonder if I cut it up and freeze it and pack it in a cooler, would they let me bring it home on the plane? Maybe I'll have to look into that.

Had to pick up my Jag from Kayla (which was hard for her to return).  So our families met for lunch at Applebee's. The nice thing about Applebee's is that they list the calories on their menus. Now that I am paying attention, I wonder if I would have in the past, ordered the menu items with 1500 calories per serving if they told me it was that much? (that's 2 1/2 days worth of calories for me currently!) They have a new "Under 550 Calories" menu so they do point out healthier options. I had:

The Island Shrimp and rice plate which was 320 calories, but asked for no rice, so it was more in the neighborhood of 200 calories (notice the Applebee's pun there? I crack myself up!) I ate most of my shrimp, except what I shared for others to taste (I think I ate 12 out of the 15) and about 1/3 of my veggies. The shrimp had a sweet spicy glaze, so waiting 45 minutes after I ate to drink any water was a little difficult -- but I managed.

After lunch, we said our good-byes to Kayla and her Family, and headed to my in-laws house for a visit. I just love Jim and Marie! Of course, Marie and I had our tea after my "liquids time out" was over. Yummy pomegranate tea! No calories, no caffeine, but I had 2 cups, and it counted towards my fluid intake for the day.

Kana was recently put on a gluten free diet due to his ongoing stomach issues (and I think we finally found the source of the problem. -- He really is allergic to gluten). So since he can't have ice cream, and since it's not really a good option to have in the house for me either, Dan has been forced to give it up. For Kana's diet, homemade ice cream is OK though, and now that I know how to make yummy protein shakes, homemade protein ice cream as suggested by Shelly a.k.a. eggface at: theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com is now something I am interested in. So I was telling Marie I was going to buy an ice cream maker to make ice cream Dan and the boys could eat, and to make protein ice cream for myself. Turns out I bought her one like 10 years ago that she has never used (honestly I didn't even remember buying it!) -- so she gave it (back) to me! So I'll be making ice cream this week! watch for updates.

Dinner was a splurgetastic combination of delicious protein options that made me feel like I was cheating, but wasn't! I had:

2 oz smoked salmon
1 oz cream cheese
8 Almond crackers (new find thanks to the gluten free thing!)

Again, no exercise today (cause it was still the weekend!) except running around the mall with Britton looking for new shoes for him (he's SO picky!), but it got a walking lap in for me, so it worked out fine!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

As good a place to start as any . . .

Welcome to my new blog. I am starting this blog to update my friends and family as to my post-op progress. As you may or may not know about me, I had a Realize® gastric banding surgery the day before Thanksgiving. As of today's posting, I have lost 39 lbs -- and have 91lbs to go. If you are interested in following my journey to support me, for your own inspiration, or just out of curiosity -- then welcome and aloha! My plan is this: I will post updated "current" pics (on the right hand side of the page) once a month on my monthly post-op anniversary (so the 24th). I also plan to post daily what I ate the day before, to help keep me on track. Knowing that you will all know if I make any unwise choices, will hopefully, make me continue to choose wisely.  I will always try to make healthy choices, but I'm human, so the possibility is always there. Either way, every day, I promise to be honest with you. I will also let you know what type of physical exercise I do daily at the bottom of my food post. And lastly, I will post any random thoughts that I decide need to be shared!

My Choices for January 29, 2011:

For breakfast I made one of the 1st actually yummy protein shakes I have ever had since I started this journey. Since day one post-op most of my protein has been gag worthy, but if you've ever avoided drinking your protein, there is hope. I was given advice from my good friend Kayla about how much h2o to use and ideas for add ins during a girls night dinner date with her and another good friend, Mariette. Up until then, I had been making my shakes thin so as to guzzle them down as fast as possible -- the problem: nothing to mask the flavor of protein, and a lot more of what tasted like yuck. So today with the addition of about 100 calories of frozen unsweetened fruit and the removal of about 8oz of h2o . . . I made my first delicious shake. Here is my shake recipe:

2 scoops Strawberry Protein Powder (I use SEI Pharmaceuticals brand)
1/2 cup frozen freestone peach slices
1/4 cup frozen strawberries  
1/4 cup frozen logan berries
8 frozen blueberries
9 oz h2o

I threw everything in the blender untill well blended and finally, enjoyed drinking my protein.

I decided that I needed a support group, so I attended my 1st Overeaters Anonymus meeting today. I think it will be a good place for me to get some support outside those who are part of my personal life.

For lunchMy friend Kayla was in town again, so she, Mariette, and I again met for sushi lunch. This time my husband and kids joined us. We had a great time. My choices:

1/2 of my single serving size side of Chinese Chicken Salad
1 piece Red Tuna Sushimi
1 piece "Rainbow Roll"
2 pieces "Gonsea House Roll"
2 pieces "Spiderman Roll"
100's of laughs

Kayla is so full of wisdom! Another Kayla gem: Cash 'N Carry has an isle of Torani syrup and the bottom 2 shelves were sugar-free. She even took a photo of the isle -- such a funny girl!! Needless to say -- Cash 'N Carry was my next stop after lunch. Kayla's help was rewarded with giving her my 2004 Jaguar X-Type for the day to cruise around in to 1: mark it off her "Skinny Bucket List" and 2: to celebrate her birthday.


Cash 'N Carry -- WOW!!! I bought a dozen flavors -- and plan to be back for more.


For dinner, I chose to have another protein shake to try out my new flavor choices. Again, De-Lish!!
This time:


2 scoops Chocolate Protein Powder
1 oz Torani Coconut Sugar-Free Syrup
1 oz Torani Macadamia Nut Sugar-Free Syeup
8 oz H2O
5 Ice Cubes


Threw it all in the blender on low until well blended and frothy. Tasted Like a liquid candy bar! Loved it!


No exercise today, except running around town with my family and friends -- I take weekends off from the gym.