dole dippers...yum!

Lately I've been craving cold things:  ice cream, Italian ice, ice water, etc.  Ice cream is something I haven't had since surgery, mainly because of the sugar content.  Plus, I just don't really crave sweets anymore.  I've been wanting something frozen, though.

When I went grocery shopping last week I saw something in the freezer isle that seemed to be a good compromise:  Dole Dippers.  It's frozen chocolate covered bananas or strawberries.  The sugar content is doable for me (all post-ops are different) and since it's fruit, it's not completely in junk food territory. They were on sale for $3.50 a box (not a sale in my book!) so I bought one of each.  There are six packs with four pieces per pack in each box.

I tried the strawberries first.  Just gotta say, these things are tiny!  I don't know what I was expecting considering my past experience with diet foods and serving sizes, but I was surprised nonetheless.  The strawberries are halves, not whole berries, so that was a little disappointing.  And there's only four of them in a single serve package.  BUT there's only 60 calories, 4g fat, 6g carbs, 4g sugar, and a tiny bit of protein. (That won't break the calorie bank.)  I put them in my tiny little bowl so I don't get chocolate all over my fingers. Putting them in the tiny bowl made me sad to see how small the serving was.

So, how do they taste?  Yummy!  Just like you'd expect a frozen chocolate covered strawberry to taste.  Chocolate-y, sweet, refreshing, and very cold.  I really enjoyed these and it completely satisfied my craving for a frozen treat.

Would I buy them again?  If I was feeling lazy and didn't want to make my own, yes.  Or if they were on sale for $3.00 or less per box.  Otherwise, I think they're a bit pricey for what you get.

getting back on track

It’s been about eight months since surgery and I’m down a total of 120 pounds!  I wasn’t even expecting that.  With the move going on, and all the chaos that ensues afterwards, I haven’t been weighing myself or watching my diet too closely.  I was shocked when I got on the scale this morning and I was down 7 pounds since I weighed myself a few weeks ago.  I weighed myself three times in a row, because I thought maybe the scale was wrong.  I live in an old house and the floors are uneven.  Uneven floors can cause a scale to read incorrectly.

I decided to go back and review my blog posts to see what I said my next goal would be and when I’m supposed to reach it.  I said that I would lose 43 pounds, which would bring my weight to 200 pounds, by October 1.  Since I only have a little over a month until the deadline, I’m thinking I won’t make it.  Although if I closely monitor my diet and exercise, I might be able to do it.  I need to stop eating all the crap that coworkers bring in to work.  Seems like a never-ending stream of food coming into this place.  Between birthdays (3 in the last two weeks!); celebrations for Cinco de Mayo, Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc.; coworkers bringing in food they don’t want or didn’t like; and people treating the office to bagels, it seems like there’s outside food at least twice a week.  Given that I’m unhappy and bored at my job, all I want to do is eat.  I find myself wandering into the break room and eating things I wouldn’t normally eat because I’m bored and I want a distraction.  That’s getting me into trouble, because it’s making me crave other things.  And it also caused me to have my first dumping episode, which I save for another post.

So, over the next five weeks I am going to make a big effort to get myself back on track.  Yes, I’m still losing weight, but I’m falling into bad habits and that’s not a good thing for the long term.  Who knows?  Maybe I’ll lose 23 pounds in that time.  Wish me luck!

today's breakfast and lunch

My weight has been holding steady lately.  Not a bad thing, but I'm missing the fast weight loss.  It's mainly due to the move, lack of preparation, and not keeping a food journal.  So, I am going to change that this week.  I spent some time on Sunday cutting up cheese, measuring out peanuts, and just getting back into the post-op frame of mind.

One of the most important things to do is to measure my food.  That's something I've been getting cocky about lately.  Lazy, too.  I figure, "I've lost 115 pounds so I must be doing something right!  I know how much I'm supposed to eat and I know what a portion looks like!"  Not really.  I'm better at guesstimating than I was pre-op, but I still find myself thinking that 1 ounce of peanuts fills a sandwich bag.  Uh, no. Not even close.  Then I think, "But I don't want to pull the scale out and measure!  I'm too busy watching TV/sitting on the patio/staring at the wall!"  That's getting me into trouble.

The other issue is preparing ahead of time, which I've been really bad about since moving.  Probably because I don't feel fully settled yet and have some kitchen storage issues.  I know.  Excuses, excuses.  Having to eat Walmart egg rolls for breakfast twice in one week clued me in to the fact that I've been lazy.

So here's today's breakfast and lunch, which I measured AND entered in my food journal.

Upper left, pink square:  1 ounce dill Havarti cheese

Upper right, purple rectangle:  3 ounces grilled chicken (Perdue Short Cuts) with Borsari seasoned salt (LOVE this stuff!)

Lower right, pink square:  1 ounce of dry roasted peanuts (definitely doesn't fill a sandwich bag)

Lower left, pink rectangle:  1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese, 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 TB unsweetened coconut

i'm famous!

Not really, but I like to think I am.

My bariatric surgeon's office recently requested patient pictures and post-op stories, so I submitted mine.  It got published on Facebook and their website a couple weeks ago.

Here's the link if anyone is interested:  August Patient of the Month

Oh, I'm down about 115 pounds as of today. :)  Holding steady, which means I have to kick it up a notch now.

KIND bar: dark chocolate chili almond

Last weekend I went up to my dad's house for our annual picnic.  I had to run to the store to get some chips and soda (not for me!) so I decided to see if there were any diet-friendly snacks for me.  I'm always on the lookout for something new and/or different, so I always talk a walk down the isles that contain organic or natural foods, protein bars and shakes, and snacks.

I recently discovered KIND bars, so I usually look for those first.  They're pretty good.  I make sure I buy the ones that are lower in sugar and higher in protein. I want to snack, but I don't want to eat "junk."  I found a display of KIND bars at the store.  I bought one called Dark Chocolate Chili Almond.  I love dark chocolate and almonds, I like the flavor of chili powder, and I love the idea of combining sweet and savory. Also, it had only 5g sugar and 6g of protein.

I really enjoyed this bar.  It was slightly sweet due to the dark chocolate and had some heat from the chili powder.  At first I thought, "This is pretty wimpy."  I didn't feel any heat or taste any chili powder.  But as I ate another bite and then another, the heat crept up on me and my mouth was burning a little.  Not an awful burn, but a pleasant heat that let you know it's there.  I didn't really taste chili powder, which I was happy about.  I think it was enough to have to heat of it without the flavor.

Bottom line:  I would buy this again.  Definitely.

I checked the KIND website and apparently they have other bars that combine sweetness with spices.  I'll have to check the store next time I go in.

the week(s) in review

Wow!  I didn't realize it's been so long since I posted.  It's been a pretty hectic two weeks with trying to unpack, get the house into order, figure out the well water situation, get the dryer installed, figure out the power situation, etc.  The list goes on.

***Holy cow!  Louise is racing around like a maniac!  That means she pooped in the litter box.***

It's amazing how quickly I've started to feel like this is "home."  In my last house I was there 18 years and it was only the last few years that I felt it was home.  (I was still attached to the town I grew up in.)  But it's been only two weeks and this just feels like home.

I've been sitting out on the patio a lot; I love the property and just want to look at it all the time.  And it's like National Geographic here.  We've got a hawk in the trees, we found a family of newborn mice in the barn, there was a bat in the house one night (yes, a bat!), we've heard coyotes in the distance, lots of birds and crickets, frogs in the pond, ducks in the neighbor's yard, deer, and something raced across the lawn the other night.  Not sure what that was and I probably don't want to know.

My eating has improved now that I'm back to work.  I'm no longer living off cold pizza, although I have yet to cook a meal.  Still feeling a bit unorganized in the kitchen.  I have limited storage in the kitchen and I'm trying to figure out how to fit all my baking pans and other items so I don't have to toss them.  I'm thinking shelving.

Good news:  I lost a couple pounds over vacation, which brings my total to 114 pounds. :)

settling in

I haven't posted in awhile due to moving into a new house, so figured I would write a few lines.

We moved into the house this past weekend.  The whirlwind started on Thursday night when we picked up the uhaul truck and then continued on through Sunday might. It was so hectic and exhausting.  We filled a moving container, a 14 foot uhaul truck, our car and the Blazer, and still had more to go.  Lucky for us the house is vacant this week so we were able to grab the last few odds and ends.  Thankfully we had help with the moving.  I don't know what we would have done without it.  Thank you to everyone who helped us!  We're so thankful,

I'm off of work this week so I've been spending the time doing a little unpacking, rearranging furniture, and dealing with all the people coming out for different work.  We had to have some work done on the well, we had no hot water so had to have the furnace guy come out, and we've got the propane guys coming out to install propane.  We're getting there.  But just like it felt like I'd never get packed and moved, I now feel like I'll never get unpacked and get it all cleaned up.

As for my diet, it's terrible this week.  I've been living off of cold pizza since we can't use the well water for drinking or cooking, and we can't cook anyway because the propane hasn't been installed yet. We just got the grill up amd running yesterday so Bob got hamburgers.  I again had cold pizza. Oh well, just a couple more days and I'll be able to cook.

So how do I like the new house?  I absolutely love it!  Actually, I should say I love living in a more suburban, country-like area.  And I love my property.  So peaceful and full of nature.  The house is great, too, but obviously there are things I'll want to change at some point.

Guess I'll go unpack a little more.

time to move!

Well, the time has come to move to the new house.  We just picked up the UHaul, the moving container is half full, and many boxes have been brought up to the house already.  Tomorrow we're going to empty the basement and garage, then it's on to the furniture.  And the kitties are being transported tomorrow, too. Then the moving container will get picked up Saturday.

I wasn't able to concentrate at work at all today.  Mostly because I'm busy thinking of all the things I haven't thought about yet.  As a result, I was like a bottomless pit today.  I just wanted to do nothing but eat.  I brought some food to work so I wouldn't have to throw it out or truck it up to the house.  Big mistake.  I ate almost all of it:  a whole sleeve of Ritz crackers, about 8 small biscotti (diet), and some corn nuts.  Might not be a lot for most people, but it is for me considering my stomach is so small. I spaced it out, of course, but I still ate it all.  I ate my regular meals, too:  two hard-boiled eggs for breakfast; Atkins frozen dinner for lunch; and two breakfast sausages, a half a Quest bar, and three pieces of cheese for dinner (one American ans two Swiss).  I feel BLECH!

It will be over soon enough and then I'll be busy setting up the new house.  Just need to make it through the weekend.  And remember that I have a nice, shaded patio waiting for me.

today's lunch

This is moving week so I decided to buy some pre-made stuff for lunches. I don't want to do any dishes or cook. Can't cook anyway - I packed all the pans away.

Today's lunch is pre-made seafood salad on top of Ritz crackers. I won't be able to finish all of this, but figured I would have some if I get hungry later. 

a word of caution about prescription pain relievers

Ever since I had the weight loss surgery I've seldom had to take anything for pain relief.  Since everything at the moment has to be chewable or in liquid form, I rarely make the effort to go to the store and find something I can take.  I have a bottle of Roxicet left over from my surgery six months ago, which I decided to hold onto for the rare occasion when I need to take something.  Until last night, I hadn't touched it.

I went to bed early last night, because I've been going to bed way too late, then my mind starts running and I end up getting up late for work.  I read in bed for about an hour and a half.  My hips started bothering me, but I figured I had just laid in one position for too long.  Then my feet started burning and itching.  For an hour and a half!  Drove me nuts!  It happens randomly and I can't see to find a reason why.  Some nights I'm fine, others I'm not.  So, I decided to go downstairs and surf the net for awhile to tire myself out and let the itching calm down.

Before I went back up to bed I decided to take some of the Roxicet for my hips.  (By then my legs had started to ache.)  I had already packed all my measuring spoons, so I did what my mom used to do:  use a regular spoon as a teaspoon.  I guesstimated 2 teaspoons, then went up to bed.  About 10 minutes later I started feeling pretty good.  Like drug-induced-stupor good.  I progressively felt more and more relaxed, but then started feeling dizzy.  Really dizzy.  Then my stomach started bothering me.  The I started having pain in my back.  I got really nervous that I had overdosed or something.  I asked Bob to go downstairs and get me some water to maybe try and dilute it or wash it through faster.  For about 25 minutes it felt like a cross between a bad gall bladder attack (I don't have a gall bladder anymore) and being completely trashed. Bob asked me if he should take me to the hospital or call 911.  That's how bad I felt.  I couldn't even walk a straight line.  Eventually I started feeling better, but I was actually afraid to go to sleep for fear that I wouldn't wake up.

So, why did I feel like that?  Probably because medicines tend to be absorbed much more quickly in gastric bypass patients.  Or, it could have been dumping syndrome caused by sugar in the syrup.  Liquid medicines are sometimes suspended in a sugary syrup -- that's why they don't taste horrible.  Although, I don't think there's enough in it to cause that.  I'm not super sensitive to sugar like some patients are.

Moral of the story?  As a gastric bypass patient, you have to be really careful when taking medicines.  Test yourself with half a dose first.  If you're OK, then add the second half of the dose.