Nearly as fast as I put on the weight I gained over the holidays, I lost it. Then regained it. Then lost it again. This rollercoaster ride my body’s taking me on is frustrating at most, but is what I suppose maintenance is at best. What I need to grapple with is this: am I ready to be here?
Posted in challenges, cooking, fighting biology, frustrated fat, goals, la guerra, oh behave!, planning, post-op, post-op life, progreso, progress report, recipes, the sleeve, vsg, weight loss surgery, what's up doc?
Tagged being authentic, being average, bigger than my body, challenges, cooking, cooking is NOT hard, excess skin, fighting the fat girl, frustrated fat, goals, head trip, la guerra, love thyself, meal planning, oh behave!, post-op life, progreso, progress report, recipes, reflections, shit is hard, sleeve gastrectomy, stupid hormones, the body is a funny thing, the sleeve, VSG, vsg realness, what's up doc?, WLS
This is how I chose to greet the new year, head cold and all:
And 2014 will be my year. Oh yes, yes it will be.
Tomorrow, I have my six-month follow up appointment at my surgeon’s office. Is it ridiculous that I’m mad that the high temps tomorrow are supposed to be in the 40s so I have to wear heavier clothes? I could wear what I wore last time I was at my surgeon’s office but it would mean I’d freeze my ass off as it is a summerweight maxi dress, and besides, it is too large for me now.
Posted in big things, challenges, cooking, daily bites, eating, exercise, la guerra, oh behave!, post-op, recipes, reflections, success, the sleeve, vsg, weight loss surgery, werk!
Tagged cooking, daily bites, determination, eating, follow up, la guerra, oh behave!, omg I eat carbs!, photo post, post-op eating, post-op life, recipes, reflections, sleeve gastrectomy, success, VSG, vsg realness, what's up doc?, WLS, workin' on my fitness
This bird is pretty much the best bird you will ever eat. For reals. And it’s easy to make.
My Christmas gift to you, my readers: a recipe!
I decided that for our Christmas meal, we would eat something high in protein and flavor. We’d already done turkey and beef tenderloin at Thanksgiving, so those were out. Fish didn’t seem Christmasy enough, and pork just doesn’t have enough protein bang for the calorie buck, so chicken it was. I decided to buy a roasting chicken (larger than your average bird at about 5-6 pounds instead of 2-3) so that we could eat on it the rest of the week, and have the carcass left over for me to make stock/soup out of later on.
This was seriously the best chicken I have ever made in my entire young life. It turned out so moist and flavorful that I am pretty sure I will not roast chicken any other way ever again. I mean, I’ll still make barbecue chicken legs, but this…for a whole bird? It’s a great way to make it.
The secret to the moist meat? The brine. Brining a chicken is one of the best ways to ensure that it stays moist through the roasting process. Since you’re roasting at a high temperature, the brine will help break down the muscle fibers in the meat, loosening them up so they trap water inside. This helps keep the meat moist despite the high cooking temperature.
So here’s how I did it.
Posted in cooking, daily bites, eating, meal planning, planning, post-op, recipes, vsg, weight loss surgery
Tagged cooking, cooking is NOT hard, daily bites, eating, healthy eating, meal planning, post-op eating, post-op life, protein, recipes, VSG, vsg realness, WLS
As we are currently encased in ice, today was a snow day from school. I slept in, and have had a pretty leisurely day lounging about here at home. The roads are covered in ice, we can’t get out of our driveway, and it’s projected to be 16 degrees F tonight. More ice is coming tomorrow night, and we’re not getting above freezing until Monday afternoon. Fun times!
So I’ve cooked today and read a lot today. I really should be grading work, but my brain needed both the rest and the intellectual stimulation of reading things that were not student work.
I noticed something awesome today. For the first time in my adult life, when I look down, I can see my toes.
Continue reading
Posted in celebrations, cooking, daily bites, eating, head trips, post-op, recipes, self-image, success, vsg, weight loss surgery
Tagged benefits of wls, cooking, cooking is NOT hard, daily bites, dr. nicholson, eating, head trip, healthy eating, little celebrations, NSVs, post-op eating, post-op life, recipes, self-image, sleeve gastrectomy, things of win and awesome, VSG, vsg realness, what's up doc?, WLS, work that head game
This week saw me posting a good loss. I feel like I’m back on track (like I ever really got off of it?), but compared to last week’s 1.2 pound loss, this week’s loss is fantastic. I feel like I’m on pace to meet my December goal before Christmas, which would be a wonderful gift to myself. I am now 66 pounds away from my surgeon’s goal weight for me, but I’m hoping that by the time I see him again January 2 that I’ll be 50 pounds short of that. I am really hoping I can hit his goal weight for me by my birthday in March. That would really be something.
I am almost halfway to my own weight loss goal. I think I might be able to hit the halfway point next week. We’ll see.
I did a little cooking today to get ready for the week. I’m trying to get back into the habit after not doing it for a bit–I’ve been too damn busy working to spend time prepping meals. And thankfully, I had plenty of stuff in the freezer to eat that I’d made before. But I need to invest the time in meal prep to keep me from deciding to pick something up on the way home or going out for dinner. We have actually saved quite a bit of money not dining out nearly as much as we did prior to both of us having surgery, which has been nice. So I cooked a couple of things for both of us to have for meals this week: chili and barbecue chicken legs.
Posted in cooking, daily bites, eating, goals, meal planning, post-op, progreso, success, the sleeve, vsg, weight loss surgery
Tagged daily bites, eating, economies of the scale, goals, meal planning, photo post, post-op eating, post-op life, progress report, recipes, sleeve gastrectomy, sorry for sleeve rocking, VSG, vsg realness, WLS
This week’s loss was a good one. I’m glad it wasn’t as big as the previous two weeks’ losses had been–I was actually getting worried about losing so much so fast! Of course, losing 20 pounds in 3 weeks is still pretty freakin’ fast.
This is the first picture in which you can see both knobs of the closet doors on either side of me in my front-facing picture. When I noticed this as I was putting together the composite, I got very excited. It means my shoulders are more narrow, that I’m losing inches around my upper arms, and that perhaps finally, the next time I fly on a plane, I’ll actually be much more comfortable, and so will anyone who has to sit next to me.
This week I learned some important lessons about my new stomach and eating that I’ll be using this week and every week as I go forward. This is Important Stuff if I am going to keep making forward progress. Continue reading
Posted in challenges, cooking, daily bites, eating, goals, meal planning, post-op, progreso, the sleeve, vsg, weight loss surgery
Tagged aspiring runner, cooking, daily bites, eating, fitness goals, goals, Jameson 5K, post-op eating, post-op life, progress report, recipes, sleeve gastrectomy, sorry for sleeve rocking, VSG, vsg realness, weight loss goals, WLS
Here’s what I ate today:
Today’s food choices, from upper right: jambalaya bowl leftovers from Genghis Grill; cheesy barbecue turkey meatloaf minis; roast beef slices with a cheese stick; trenta sized unsweetened passion tea with Splenda from Starbucks; multivitamin x2.
I cooked up a storm today, as I’ve done every Sunday for the last month or so. It’s become my new habit, and I enjoy spending time in the kitchen because for me, cooking is relaxing. It is also one of the few creative outlets I have. Not gonna lie, lesson planning is the other. Sad, isn’t it?
Posted in cooking, daily bites, eating, meal planning, post-op, vsg, weight loss surgery
Tagged cooking, daily bites, eating, meal planning, portion control, post-op eating, post-op life, recipes, she's got skillz, VSG, vsg realness, WLS
This week’s loss was smaller than last week’s, but a loss is a loss no matter how small. I’m pleased with my result, given that Ma Nature was in town this past week, my calorie intake increased slightly (based on my doctor’s recommendation that I do so), and I was sore from all the walking I did all week long. I figure somewhere in there, I was retaining a little fluid. I also figured out this past week that my sleeve’s capacity is a tiny bit over 3 ounces now. This is both good and bad, as I explained in a previous post, but I am still trying to undereat my capacity so that I don’t fall back into the habit I used to have of eating until I was uncomfortably full. I am grateful that I read about this strategy on the OH VSG boards, and it is one of the things I have learned from the vets there that has served me well. The undereating my capacity strategy has worked pretty well for me so far, so it is a tool I’ll continue to use. I am also going to try and increase my fluid intake to more than 12 cups of water daily. I’d like to aim for a straight up gallon every day, but this is going to be tough. I’ll give it a shot though.
This week, I decided to raise the bar by lowering my goal. Let me explain.
Posted in daily bites, post-op, progreso, success, vsg, weight loss surgery, werk!
Tagged daily bites, expectations, goals, meal planning, photo post, post-op eating, post-op life, progress report, raising the bar, recipes, VSG, vsg realness, WLS
The scale didn’t budge much this week, but I know exactly why. This week, I am retaining more water than the Titanic. Thanks, Nature and your damned hormones! I was told at my two-week follow up, “Your periods will probably be irregular for the next few months.” Ummm, no…that hasn’t happened…yet. This one, just like the last one, will be Right. On. TIME.
I am getting 96 ounces (or more) of water daily, I’m hitting at least 70 grams of protein and less than 40 grams of carbs daily, and I’m taking all my supplements. So I know it’s not that. My caloric intake is less than 800 calories daily and hovers slightly above 600 calories most days. I simply cannot eat more than that right now. There’s just not room.
Biology tells me that the scale will move again in the downward direction. Per my BMR, I’m burning more calories than I’m eating. The inches I’m losing also tell me more about my progress than the scale does. So I’m not bummed about losing a few ounces. If this process goes slowly, so be it. I am feeling good, I am off my diabetes medicine, my blood pressure medication was cut in half, my joints don’t ache like they did before and I get around a lot faster. Those things mean I must be doing something right. As long as I continue to show a downward trend in my weight, that’s also progress to me.
I FEEL AWESOME. And I am proud of myself.
This week is a big week in my life for several reasons.
Posted in daily bites, meal planning, post-op, progreso, success, vsg, weight loss surgery, werk!
Tagged daily bites, meal planning, photo post, planning for success, post-op eating, post-op life, progress report, recipes, routines, sleeve gastrectomy, VSG, vsg and work, vsg realness, WLS
I will be four weeks post-op tomorrow, and 30 days post-op on Thursday. I can’t believe that a month has nearly passed since my surgery! I am willing to bet the time feels like it has flown by because my recovery from surgery was more smooth than I ever imagined it would be. My energy levels are increasing each day and I am feeling more and more like myself, which is good since school starts in a few weeks. I am lucky to have had such a good recovery. I attribute it to my doctor doing all he could do to make sure I was safe during surgery as well as afterward.
So there wasn’t much of a loss this week, but a loss is a loss and I’ll take it. Here are some reasons why I think my loss this week was not nearly what they have been in the past 3 weeks: Continue reading
Posted in daily bites, post-op, progreso, vsg, weight loss surgery
Tagged daily bites, photo post, post-op eating, post-op life, progress report, recipes, the body is a funny thing, vsg realness, WLS
La Guerra de La Gorda 