Thanksgiving - Reporting In

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving all!

I hope your day was filled with family fun, gratitude and lots of love. Thanksgiving is the holiday most centered around food, and we post-op folks all seem to approach it in a different way. Some stay within their daily meal plan and do not stray... others eat with moderation in mind and try bites of lots of different things... and others (like me) declare it a food holiday and eat whatever the heck I want to eat.

So I'm putting my list of "eats" here for ya'll to see. I'm not saying this is the right way for you to eat, it's just a record of what passed MY lips yesterday. Just reporting in.

My philosophy about post-op eating might be different than some folks -- and it's a thought process that's evolved over the past 2 years. To me, Thanksgiving is just one meal. It's not an evil food day or a time when I have to feel deprived or like I'm the outcast of the family. My pouch size keeps my portions in check and the way my body reacts to certain foods keeps my choices in check. But overall, I knew that I was going to eat what I wanted to eat this Thanksgiving and still try to stay true to my healthier lifestyle.

Our Thanksgiving dinner started at 3pm-ish, so before I left the house I ate normal WLS friendly foods. Protein coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. Then deli turkey and pickles for lunch (this seems to be my current obsession - turkey and pickles - so odd). Figured I needed to load up on protein before I hit the carb-fest that was Thanksgiving dinner and that's exactly what I did.

My biggest downfall yesterday was fluids. I didn't drink nearly enough water and ended up paying for it later in the day with a killer headache. So I'm pushing fluids today to give my body what it needs.

Here's what I ate (or didn't eat) for Thanksgiving dinner:

Pre-dinner nibbles

• Pumpkin fluff w/ either graham crackers or ginger snap wafers for dipping 
• Ham rolls ups 
• Carrot Cake Cookies (I made these, so delicious!) 
• Cheeseball and crackers 
• Chocolate cookie (1/2 of one - my 6 year old niece made them & asked me to try it)

Dinner (mostly just 2 or 3 bites of each)

• Turkey -- it was dry, so only 1 bite 
• Dad's homemade noodles (my #1 favorite food in the whole wide world!) 
• coleslaw 
• baked beans 
• scalloped corn 
• cinnamon roll 
• more ham roll ups 
• glazed carrots 
• stuffing (1 bite cuz it wasn't good) 
• probably something else, but can't remember now

Dessert

• Carrot Cake cookie 
• Lemon Merguine Pie (small slice) 
• 1 sip of "Blue Raspberry Virgin Margarita" (slushie with soda, basically - made for the kids)

Hypoglycemic Crash Snack (thank you Lemon Merguine Pie and cookie!)

• Cheeseball and crackers

What I didn't even bother trying (because I don't like 'em or didn't want 'em)

• Mashed potatoes and gravy 
• Cookie Dough Truffles 
• Apple Pie 
• Cherry Pie 
• Homemade bread 
• Homemade cresant rolls 
• Hershey Kisses (table "decorations" scattered around the dessert platters)

I think that's all...

Word Cloud

I found this cool website (www.wordle.net) where you can create a word cloud based on a list of your favorite words or based on a website. Of course I'd choose my blog, right? It's kind of cool... pretty even. Not surprising that my biggest words are food and protein with other biggies being relationship, need, learn.

A few lab results are in...

I really hate it when my PCP office calls and says: "Your labs are back and everything is fine." That's not good enough for me, of course. So I have them fax me the report. I got the fax this morning and guess what? #1 - labs are not fine. #2 - it doesn't even include all the labs pulled, so it's not a complete picture yet. Grrr.... I've got 3 lab results back so far (waiting for the other gazillion). I was right in my prediction of cooper. It's low. But I was very wrong on my prediction of Vitamin D... which actually worries me. Last round of labs it was up at 104 and now it's down to 58 - after spending 10 days in the sun in Florida. I don't like the drop at all. And the 3rd result, zinc, was fine. So... I'll await the rest of the lab results from the PCP. I'm sure I'll be getting several little calls as reports are sent to them over the next week to 10 days. ~Pam

Healthy Relationship with Food

There's an interesting conversation going on over at Obesity Help today. A gal met with a bariatric therapist to discuss food and was advised that we need to find a way to think of food as sustenance only -- and to separate our emotions from food completely. She asked for our opinion. And she got some great reponses. 


 I love it when all my most favorite friends just happen to get involved in a discussion -- so to see Tara, Nikki and Shari all in on the fun just makes me happy. True to form, I didn't want to lose what I wrote in response to the question. So I'm copying it here for ya'll to read. 


---


God created us with taste buds. And to me, that means we are designed to enjoy the taste of food -- the full spectrum of food. Savoring the flavors of food and experiencing all the different tastes and textures that God created for us to enjoy. So to me, claiming that we should only eat for sustenance is like saying sex is only for making babies. Instead of trying to learn how to "hate" food, or think of it as mere fuel, I think it's more important to learn how to have a healthy relationship with food. 


A relationship that nourishes our bodies and provides the important vitamins and minerals we need for survival, but also allows us to enjoy the food we eat without using food as an emotional crutch, shield or weapon. 


Unfortunately for many of us we have developed an UNhealthy relationship with food throughout our lives and use it for something other than what it was intended. Food was never suppose to hide emotion or make us feel better when we're stressed or angry or sad. And teaching our minds to have a different view of food, of respecting it and enjoying it for what it is -- that's where the big learning curve comes into play after WLS. 


As part of the process of developing this healthy relationship with food, we're then faced with the question of how we handle the emotions we used to squash with food. Instead of trying to bury our "sadness with chocolate cake" (or whatever), we need to learn how to live with our feelings, to sit with our emotions and allow ourselves to actually feel them. 


It's OK to be sad (or angry or happy or stressed) and it's OK to allow yourself to feel those feelings. We don't need to hide those feelings or channel them into some other new hobby or distraction. I also believe (and boy is this getting long winded!!) --- that we need to learn about moderation. 


Like I said in another post today: "I can't live the rest of my life without a slice of lemon merginue pie on Thanksgiving" --- so I need to learn how to control myself enough to have a half a slice of pie instead of 3 slices. Or 1 cinnamon roll instead of 6. Or 1 plate of food on Thanksgiving instead of going back 3 or 4 times. 


Moderation needs to be factored in to the process of that healthy relationship with food too. 

2 Year Labs

I'm a bit late getting my labs drawn for my 2 year follow up. But then again, my 2 year appointment isn't happening for another 2 weeks. Going on vacation kind of threw off my schedule, huh?

So the gals at the lab were so nice yesterday. Full of fun and laughter. Of course they thought I was nuts when I told them I wanted to take a picture of my blood after it was drawn. LOL! She asked if I wanted to take a picture of the needle in my arm. Umm... I drew the line there. In fact, I'm a total wimp and can't even look at the needle going in or sitting in my arm for several minutes.

So there it is. My 10 vials of blood. For us WLS folks, we need to give a bunch of blood to make sure that all we get all the right stuff tested. If you're not sure what needs to be done... check out this list. I also keep a spreadsheet (downloadable from that link too) -- so I can see all my labs post-op side by side. This has helped me over the past 2 years to spot any downward trends in my lab results and take corrective action before it becomes a deficiency.

My predictions?

I predict my ferritin will be even lower than it was at 18 months out. I also predict my copper is low again (my nails are a mess). I also expect my Vitamin D to be on the high end - nine days in the Florida sun will likely boost that number higher than what it normally would be.

I'll know in a week or so, right?

~Pam

Jennie-O Cracked Pepper Turkey

I had an interesting realization today. Not sure why it took me so long to figure it out... and have no idea why I was thinking about it on my drive to work this morning at 7:30 a.m. But.... since I share everything with ya'll, figured I'd share my random thoughts too.

One scoop of protein powder has about 23-26g protein and about 100-110 calories. Right? Make a shake with milk and fruit and you could easily end up with a protein shake that's 300 calories. Filling, yes. Healthy, yes. Packed with protein, yea. Necessary for new post-ops, yes. It's high quality protein and if you take away the extra calories from milk and fruit, it's a very good comparison for my thoughts....

So I absolutely LOVE Jennie-O Cracked Pepper Turkey Breast sliced in the deli to "medium thick." 


It's one of those foods that I must have in my fridge at all times and is an easy snack or meal that's delicious and nutricious. I love love love this stuff! Seriously. Love it.

Let's compare calories and protein, shall we? For 4oz of Jennie-O Cracked Pepper Turkey you get 24g protein in 100 calories. Whoa! That is equal to a scoop of protein powder, right? And poultry scores at the same level as protein powder on the PDCAAS protein quality rating scale. And 4oz of turkey fills me up and keeps me full for longer than a protein shake does.

I'm not saying that I'll replace my protein shakes with turkey. But I just found it interesting that the nutritional statistics were identical when comparing the two.

Ok... so now you know that I'm crazy, right? At 7:30 in the morning while driving to work 
I'm literally in the car thinking about nutrition labels and ingredients in food. I think I might be off my rocker or something.

~Pam

Quarter vs Semester

So back when I attended college right out of high school (before I become a college drop out) I remember that classes lasted forever. I mean... a semester just takes an eternity to complete, right? My brother is attending a college that has semesters and he goes to each class for 15 weeks. The college I'm going to has quarters. So on-campus classes are only 10 weeks and online classes are only 6 weeks. It's odd, really. Just when you settle into the class and start to get into the groove of things -- it's done. I'm kind of loving it. I notice my classes seem to be more intense than my brothers... but I probably can't really compare since he's in a totally different degree field than I am (welding vs. graphic design). Plus he goes to class twice a week for two hours for each class whereas I only go once a week for 4 hours with different balances of homework assignments due. So we can't really compare, it's just my perception. So what's the point of this post? I have two weeks left to this quarter and I'm done! WooHoo! Granted there's a TON of stuff to do and get done in the next couple week (next week is holiday break, so I'll technically be done in 3 weeks). But I'm glad these classes are wrapping up and I'll have a whole month off for Christmas break before winter classes begin. Ok... so was there really a point? Nope, I guess not. Just some random rambling, I guess. LOL! ~Pam

I'm so cultured!

Remember a couple years ago when I made the New Year's resolution to attend more community events? Theater, art shows, concerts.... those kind of events. Well today I spent some time looking at community calendars, playhouse season schedules, concert lineups and stuff. And even bought a couple tickets and put stuff on my real calendar. Here's the plan:

This Weekend --- Play called "Charley's Aunt"

December 5 --- Nutcracker

December 12 --- Three Men and a Tenor holiday concert

There are also a few of the old-time Christmas movies playing at the historic theater in town. White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, etc. I'm hoping to catch a couple of those too.

I love doing these types of things but never seem to take the time to do it. I have the time for events like this if I only take the time to plan ahead and commit to them. I could put those 3 events on my calendar but then never go to them... but if I buy the ticket in advance, I'll go for sure. So now I'm excited for them!

~Pam

2 Years Ago Today

Early this morning as I was driving to work I reflected on the morning of my RNY surgery two years ago. I wasn't nervous the morning of my surgery... or in the weeks leading up to the big day. I was impatient and just ready to start the new phase of my life. I remember the nurse asking me if I needed some medication to help me relax and I declined it because I already was relaxed. My mom was more nervous than I was.

When I started my goal was to hit 150lbs by 18 months post-op. To wear single-digit clothing. To be healthy and athletic and full of energy. I wanted to use my vacation time at work for real vacations and not just doctor appointments to treat my obesity-related-ailments. And somewhere in the back of my mind I imagined myself in a relationship with a man I was crazy about. There were other lofty goals too, but these are the big ones that have stuck with me.

When I named this blog "Journey to a Healthier Me" -- I don't think I fully realized what a journey it would actually be. When we start this WLS thing we all seem to have a preconceived notion of how things are going to go. Which steps we'll take, what things come next and how it's all going to be in the end. At the beginning we believe there will be a finish line, but somewhere along the way we realize that this is not a journey that has an end. 


This is a journey of a lifetime. It's a journey that IS my life.

So when I think about all the goals I have not yet achieved I struggle sometimes. As you know I am still not at the weight I want to be - another 30 pounds would ideal in my mind. And it's not for lack of trying that the weight isn't coming off either. I AM healthy and athletic and energetic. Sorry, no hot man on my arm, so that goal is also unachieved. LOL! I think the lack of weight loss is what bugs me the most. But you knew that already, right?

Remember the Comprehensive Holistic Wellness Plan? The goals I set for all areas of my health -- physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, vocational, intellectual, etc. I haven't forgotten them. I think this is something that is a lifelong plan rather than something, again, with a finish line. I guess right now my whole life seems to be revolving around the intellectual and vocational goals -- going to college full time (while working full time) is taking up so much of my life that there's not much room for anything else. Once this big one is achieved, I'll be able to focus on more of these goals later.

I'm proud of where I am today.

It's taken me a while to accept the weight issue. To realize that my success in this weight loss journey is not tied to the number on the scale, but is based on how I feel about myself and how comfortable I am in my own skin. That post a few weeks ago about seeing myself in a photo of a crowd of people and being a normal size -- things like that go a long way for me in realizing that I'm a success even if I haven't gotten to 150lbs. 


I AM a success. I AM proud of myself. I AM amazing. 


And I have the rest of my life to work toward whatever goals I still want to achieve-- there's no hurry, it'll all happen in its own time.

Many people say "I love my RNY" and give all the credit to the surgery itself. I don't really share that attitude. Yes, the RNY was the springboard for my weight loss and resetting my body's screwed up system to allow the weight to come off. But it was ME who fought the fight and lost the weight. So instead of saying that I love my surgery, guess I need to say: "I love myself!" The surgery was great, but ya know... I worked my butt off for these 113 pounds and I'm damn proud of myself!

~Pam

Last day of vacation...

Such a flattering picture, huh? No make up, squinting into the sun and my hair is about the worst it's been all week -- filled with saltwater and totally windblown. But it was the BEST day at the beach of the whole trip. (That's Christine in the background looking just as beautiful as me.) .

It's out last day in Florida... in fact we're leaving for the airport in just an hour or so and we're all packed up. .

It's been a good vacation. Lots of downtime, lots of relaxation and lots of sun. I was also officially on a food vacation, which felts pretty good to not worry too much about what I ate. But honestly, I made pretty fair choices. Yes, too many sweet potatoe fries and too much chocolate... but lots of seafood (usually baked or grilled) and lots of protein-forward meals. . But I'm craving a salad and plan to hit the grocery store tomorrow for all the fixings.

I brought a supply of my protein hot chai tea, but didn't get it every day --- will be glad to get back to that routine too. Kinda craving a big protein fruit frosty and make have one for breakfast tomorrow. .

Sorry I've had to bore you with vacation pictures all week. I'll be back to my normal ramblings soon. Hopefully some of you have been able to live vicarously through me this week while I've had some time off. .

~Pam

Blogging From the Beach

We got up at sunrise today and drove down to the beach near the Army base to go shelling. Not many shells to be found but the we have the beach to ourselves... Just the 5 of us and a bunch of seagulls.  

Now we're lounging in beach chairs and reading (or blogging). The wind is strong so the water is rough which make the waves beautiful this morning. 

We'll stay here for a while then go find some shopping spots and then lunch somewhere. Life does get much better than this.

Pam

Christine's Southwest Chicken

Christine made some amazing chicken in the slow cooker the other night. I think it's going to become one of my favorite stand-by meals. Figured I'd share the recipe here with ya'll. The chicken gets so tender and almost falling apart ... and it's so flavorful.

It is great served on soft shell tortillas with lettuce and tomato or with baked tortilla chips... or just plain like we had it. So delicious!

Christine's Southwest Chicken
1 package frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2 or 3lb bag)
1 can corn, drained (or frozen works too)
1 can black beans, drained/rinsed
1 jar salsa (whatever size you want)
1 brick cream cheese

In a large slow cooker, put the chicken in the bottom and top with salas, corn and beans. Don't bother stirring it, it'll take care of itself. Let it coook for 10 hours on low.

About 30 minutes before serving place the brick of cream cheese on top and let it melt into the mixture.

Yummm..... Enjoy!

~Pam

Life is Good

Life is good when you're at the beach.

No-See-'ems

Sand fleas... also know as no-see-'ems ...  are not very friendly little bugs.  They bite you but you don't know they are biting you at the time. But a day or two later you see their bite mark popping up on you legs, arms and neck and they itch SO bad.  Itch seriously bad.  So bad you want to ripe your leg off just to make the itching stop.

So yeah we got biten the first day we arrived and have been itching sine the second day.  Anti itch spray, lotions or drugs don't seem to make a difference either.  We think we figured out where we got them and will stay away from that particular beach, of course.

But... I'm on vacation so how bad can it really be, right?

Pool day

Today I'm just staying close to the house ... Enjoying some sun next to the pool.  Reading the new Nora Roberts book and sipping on my Crystal Light. 

Later I'll take Jace out and get some senior pictures for him at the beach and around town.  Then back to the house for some dinner. 

Loving this vacation!

Birds on the Beach

Just some birds lounging on the beach. The girls running through the birds to make them fly away. We laughed so much at their silly antics.

What is going on?

What has been going on with me? Well.... I've been busy. Why is it that just when you think life is about to slow down, that it takes a turn and gets even busier than you thought possible? Well, that's what has happened lately.

This semester at school has been an adjustment for me. The past two semesters/quarters I've taken online courses, so my schedule was up to me and pretty free-form. I had deadlines, but I could do "classroom" work whenever I wanted to - which usually happened late at night when I got home from work and stuff. But this time around I'm on campus in a classroom and it seems like it's taking up a lot more time than normal. The two classes I've got don't require a huge amount of out-of-class homework, but being in class 8 hours a week is taking a lot more time than I realized it would. On paper (or screen here) it doesn't sound like a big deal... so I'm surprised at how much time and effort it's taking in real life.

Plus things at work seem to be getting busier. I don't have as much downtime as I used to - which is fine - but when I get home after work I'm mentally whipped, more than normal.

BUT... there's a bright spot. Right now I'm officially on vacation. WooHoo! A whole week and a half, in fact! I can't decide which thing I'm looking more forward to - 1) sitting on my butt all week? or 2) eating seafood by the ocean? There's a pile of books packed and the mini netbook computer is loaded with more books to read. It'll be a nice relaxing time at the beach. I plan to post while I'm away so you can live vicariously through my excursion.

So what's going on with you?

~Pam