Happy New Year

Gave my apartment a clean today to welcome in the New Year.

We will not be going out for New Years Eve (actually we never do)  - just a small family gathering, husband, me, daughter and grand daughter and grand son - I plan on having steak, baked potatoes, and some form of  veggie.  I found this great marinating recipe on line called "Best Steak Marinate Ever" so I thought I would try it and marinate them for 8 hours in the fridge.  I don't know if I'll be able to eat the steak but maybe if it is tender enough, Nakita will be ok with it.  Worse comes to worse, I can always melt some cheese on the potato and eat that !

Also bought some Blue Bunny Ice cream called "Banana Split" and my daughter made some peanut butter shortbread cookies to go with the ice cream (looking forward to that)!

I am excited about 2011 and all it entails!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE      -   See you next year !

Weigh in !

Had  my official weekly weigh in this morning -  lost 2.6 pounds - Yippee - I  now weigh 197.2 !!!! :) :)

Thank you "Nakita" for keeping me on the straight and narrow during this last week - I am amazed to say that I lost weight during the Christmas week - normally I would gain anywhere from 7 to 10 pounds.  this lap band is truly a "friend".

Not to say that I didn't have a few treats - like a pce of cheese cake, a handful of chocolate raisins and a mini  Blizzard - I enjoyed every bite, did not feel guilty at all !

 Now I'm off to read how everyone else did !

Christmas Celebrations

We had a wonderful time this Christmas

Went to Midnight Mass - it was packed with people - we got there are 10:10pm (Christmas carols from 10 to 10:30 and then Mass starts at 10:30 and gets over at midnight) and already there were only a few seats left - they ended up bringing in extra seating and some people still had to go thru the service standing up.  Anyway, it was a lovely Mass and the time went by so quickly - after Mass, there was a Christmas feast in the Church Hall but we didn't stay for that because we all wanted to get home to bed!  and besides eating that late at night tends to upset all our stomachs!

Faith (my granddaughter) called me at 8:00am on Christmas morning to come over and watch her open her presents (my grandson who is 15 was still asleep in bed) which is something that my husband and I do every Christmas - I love to watch the children opening their gifts and seeing the joy on their faces!

My table looked lovely - I decorated with reds and greens - the picture didn't come out too good but I had fun decorating .

We had my mother and father in law, my husbands Aunt and his two sisters plus us which was a total of 10 people to Christmas lunch.

We had  Ham, Turkey, peas and rice, potato salad, mac and cheese, cauliflower casserole, cranberry sauce, wine, and sodas.

For dessert my daughter made this fantastic cheese cake and gourmet shortbread cookies and with that we had coffee and tea.

The food was soooo good - I took a little bit of every thing but only managed to eat half of it - took me about an hour but I enjoyed it very much.

I saved my cheese cake for supper and took a very small piece but enjoyed every mouth full.

It was a novel experience eating with "Nakita" in control - she did me proud and I was proud of myself too  - we got along very well :)

Just 3 days before Christmas Day !

Finished doing my Christmas cleaning - did it over 3 days - rather than kill myself trying to get every thing done in one day - that was a good plan!

Thawing out my Christmas Ham in the fridge - will probably cook that on Friday and then just warm it up on the morning of the 25th.

I am suppose to be getting a gift of a "Dressed, deboned whole turkey" - I hope that I do get it on Christmas Eve cause I didn't bother to start defrosting the one I have in the freezer - my husband says, well if we don't get it, then he'll go get some chicken from KFC , lol ! Please keep your fingers crossed for me !

I would like to thank all my new friends for your kind words, and encouragement and advise since I started this blog - I can't begin to describe how great it feels  to have other ladies that understand what I am going though !

I wish you all a Blessed and Joyful Christmas !

Onederland

Just had to share this - even though I already posted for the day.

Just got back from my official weigh in and I now weight - 199.8   I am so happy and thrilled!

Eating out

My husband and I went out to eat at one of our favourite restaurants last night and it was a great experience.

I ordered the grilled salmon, mashed potatoes and green beans - I also asked them to bring me a small bottled water (I do not trust the glass of water) and I managed to drink about 6 ozs before the meal came.

As soon as I got my meal, I divided my plate up - I portioned 2 oz of fish, about 1/4 cup of the potato and about 1/4 of the green beans - and moved the remainder over on the plate to bring home with me (I asked the waitress to bring me a take out container at the end of the meal so that I could pack the food up to bring home - but next time I am going to bring a tupperware container (Like Jessica) and pack up the food right away).

Anyway I enjoyed every bite, chewed, chewed, chewed and when I had eaten my portion, I pushed the plate away and talked with hubby while he finished up his meal,

I was satisfied and happy with how I handled my first solid meal since having my band filled on Friday.  It was a good experience and "Nakita" was happy with me and I didn't have rumblings from her :)

Almost forgot to list some of my NSV's  -

Inches gone since I started the journey on September 29th/10

Bust  :       2 inches
Waist:       2 inches      (I actually have a waist now !!!!!)
Hips:        4 1/4 inches
Stomach:  5 inches

Total:        13 1/4"  gone forever  


Slack size:      20      Now    16      YEAH!!!!!

Able to cross my legs and be comfortable !!!!!

Life after your first fill

I still haven't been able to eat anything (since Thursday 12 noon) but at least I got down 20 oz water, 8 oz skim milk, 2 cups of coffee (my new favorite drink - couldn't stand it before - but it was comforting to drink it) also 3 pop cycles and a cup of chicken broth.  Just thinking of eating food was making me cringe (that has never happened before the lap band !!)

I am going to try to have 1/2 cup of cottage cheese this morning for breakfast but first I am going to drink 20 oz of water - I do not want to dry up, lol -  I am going to try to get at least 60 oz's in my end of the day -

Hope you all have a nice lazy Sunday!

First fill

At 3 pm I went to the hospital to get my first fill - the reason for doing it at the hospital was because Dr. D needed to use a florascope to make sure the lapband was in place and also to locate the port. - after this I think I will be going to his office.

I got up on the table to have the fill and about ten minutes later, it was complete.

I felt a very heavy feeling on my chest and my throat felt like I had food stuck in it - I sipped some water and I felt weird but when I spoke to Sam and Dr. D they said that was normal - I was not to panic because that would make it worse - to get up and walk around when I felt like I was going to throw up - and when I got home, to sip on a warm drink.

Anyway I drove myself home (thank the lord the traffic wasn't too bad) but on the way, the pressure got harder and I started to "slime" (know about this from your blogs!).  So I kept saying to myself , don't panic, breath deeply and just get home.

So when I got home, I made some herbal tea - and tried to sip some - I just kept feeling worse and worse so I finally called Sam and told her that I was feeling terrible and sliming all over the place.  She said "go back the the hospital and I will call Dr. D so he will be waiting for you and take out some of your fill."

My husband drove me back and on the way there I started to throw up - luckily my husband had a box of tissue in the car so I was able to throw up into that.

Got to the hospital, located Dr. D - he said to me you look fed up - I said not fed up just feeling really bad - so then he said go back to the same place and I'll meet you there.

A fellow bandster was there getting another fill so I told her that I had come back to take out some of the fill that I just had put in a couple of hours ago - Dr. D had given me a 7cc fill (my band is 10cc) - she said "oh, I have 5 now and was hoping to put 2cc in - maybe I shouldn't"  but  I told her everyone is different and since this was my first experience maybe it was effecting me different from her.

Anyway - Dr. D took out some of the fill - as he was doing it, I felt immediate relieve - I found out he had put in 8cc !  he took out 3 cc - so now I am at 5cc - I can feel the tightness but at a manageable level - he said in 4 weeks time we can look at putting more back in - but we would have to monitor it until then.

I have been sucking on a pop cycle and drinking sips of herbal tea !

I hope every thing goes well during the night and my stomach will be a little be better tomorrow.

Hope you all have a good night!

Ground Turkey Recipe

I made this for lunch today - it was really good - got it from www.lapband.com.  I invited my daughter to have lunch with me and she thought the burger was moist and tasty.  I put mine on a bed of lettuce and toasted two pieces of whole grain bread for my daughter - oh also I melted a 1/2 of  low fat cheese on the top of the burger and then added the onions and mushrooms - YUM!

Turkey Burgers

1 pound ground turkey
1/4 cup chunky applesauce
1 tsp ground thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Directions

In a med. bowl, gently mix all ingredients together, Form into 3 patties
spray a skillet with nonstick cooking spray and heat on medium
Cook burgers about 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked through
Serve immediately in a pita (if desired) and add favorite healthy burger toppings (I used onions and mushrooms)

3 Servings - calories 180, Protein 37 gms and fat 2gm

Preparing for a Lap Band Fill

I thought I would list the steps Sam gave me to follow to increase the likelihood of a good fill outcome - this may help someone who is reading my blog - its a good thing to go prepared and I am hoping this will help some one who is confused about what to do:-

Make sure you are properly hydrated on the day of your fill (you should be drinking water everyday, but especially important in the 2 to 3 days before your fill.


Do not eat a big, late night dinner before a fill (it sometimes takes 12 hours for all the food to move through the stomach pouch.


Do not eat any solid foods for at least 6 hours before the fill (the stomach pouch should be completely empty for a fill.


Avoid COLD fluids for an hour before the fill (cold can temporarily shrink the stomach).


Avoid getting a fill either during or a few days before your menstrual period (fluid retention affects fill level.)


If possible hang around the doctor's office for a few hours after a fill to make sure you feel okay with the adjustment.


After a fill limit eating to a full liquid diet for 24 hours, then to soft foods for a day, before resuming a solid food diet (to help the stomach rest and heal).


My fill will take place on Friday - it was suppose to be Thursday but Dr. D has a hectic schedule on Thursday and can better fit me in on Friday.


thats all for now :)

Official Weigh in Day :)

Went to Dr. D's off ice this morning to weigh in for my "official weight" and I was so thrilled to see that I now weigh 204.4 - a loss of 3.2 pounds since last week.  Can you color me "HAPPY" - only 4 1/2 pounds to go to get to "onederland".

I have an appointment to get my first fill on Thursday - I am excited but a tiny bit scared because then Nikita will have much more say in what I am eating - I just hope she will be kind to me but ......she will do her job and I will do mine !!!

Have a great day everyone :)

BYOC

BYOC

1.       It is negative degrees here. Today I drove 35 all the way to work because I followed a snowplow who was also salting the roads. It's too cold to even go sledding or ice skating. The weather is downright nasty. It's freaking Winter alright? Why then – may I ask – when driving home last night did I see not one, but two MEN – driving big "I'm a man with a small penis so I drive this HUGE truck with deer antlers on the front and playboy mud flaps and mufflers coming out of the box"  trucks with their windows OPEN? Why do men do that? 

Because their brain is in their penis and since its so small (the brain and the penis) they can’t think!

2. Is Richard Simmons gay? Is he straight?  Has he ever come out? Does he have a lover? 
Yes, he is gay – if he came out, it must have been to a very small circle of  friends – of course he has a lover!  

3. What's your favorite Cmas song?
The Little Drummer Boy,  Hark the Harold Angels Sing,  What Child is This

. 

4. What is your most favorite and your least favorite Cmas movie? 

Most Favorite:   It’s a Wonderful Life  and  The Christmas Carol

 
Least Favorite: Frosty the Snowman  -definitely

5. To all my corporate buddies out there….I have an important question. My brother is interviewing for jobs in the corporate world. He has an impeccable resume and good, long, stable job history with many impressive accomplishments. However – no bites after he interviews. He's convinced they are checking his credit record – which is not great. Now I've heard places do that…but really how common is it? I mean I work in a place where our work is completely for the government and classified and export-controlled and deals with citizenship and such and we do NOT check credit scores. How prevalent is this – especially when the jobs he's applying for are not even in the financial industry?

No company that  I know of here checks credit scores.  Just references from former employers.

smoothie recipe

I had a vegetarian lunch again today and decided to make a smoothie so that I could add my protein powder to it since the lunch  only had a tiny bit of protein.

This is what I came up with
                                                                                    Calories              gms Protein
5 oz apple with skin on (I blended this first)                       64                           0
1 cup frozen strawberries                                                  50                           1
4 oz plain Greek yogurt                                                     50                           7
1 Scoop unflavoured protein powder                               110                         21
1 tsp vanilla
1 tablespoon fat free milk

Total                                                                               274                          29

I divided this into 2 servings so each serving was calories 167  and protein  14.5 gms.  Also this gives me two fruit servings in the total mixture.

You can also add sweetner to this - I didn't because I find I like the natural taste better. Also I left the skin on the apple for the fiber!

Also, I see that I have a 30th follower so I was to say Hi to Linda - can you let me have your blog address when I clicked on your name it didn't give me one.

Its wonderful to be eating solid foods again - everything tastes so good - but I find I am getting full very quickly (even without any fill in my band)  and that is great .

Hope everyone is having great day!
          

Protein

Thank you for the comments regarding the protein intake!

I got an answer from Sam (patient advocate) - she said on a 1,200 calorie intake you should eat 60 to 80 grams of protein a day and gave me three suggestions of how to make sure I get the right amount.

1.  Unflavored protein powder can be mixed in already heated spaghetti sauces and creamy soups.

2.  flavored protein powder (your preference) can be  added   to items like sugar free jello pudding, instant oatmeal and your favorite yogurt.  this will boost the protein in a snack.

3.  When eating is difficult because your band is tight - you can stock up on any brand of "protein shots" - they have 20-25 gms of protein per serving, taste good and you can drink it down pretty quickly.  You can buy these at any GNC type store.


I hope this will help any of you reading my blog in case you are in the dark about your protein intake each day.

  I purchased 2 lbs of unflavored protein today but I could not find the "Protein shots" but I only looked in one place so I will keep looking.

I had a scrumptious lunch today - it was a vegetarian meal - made from artichokes and cheese - yum !
on a bed of greens.

I am easing into solids since I seem to get full so quickly (even without the band having a fill in it)  - I'm down to about 1/3 of what I would normally have eaten - I guess its because I was on liquids for so long that I just don't have that urge to stuff myself !

Started my Christmas Shopping on Saturday - I am hoping to have it all done at least one week before Christmas - so that gives me 9 more days !

Talk to you later !

Is that all there is ?

Well, I have been dreaming about eating scrambled eggs for days now and this morning I finally had my chance to eat them.  and you know .... they were good..... but not like I have been fantasizing  about !  The good thing.... once finished I was satisfied.

I am getting in the habit as of today to chew, chew, chew and to take 30 minutes to eat the meal so that when I get my first fill on the 16th, I will hopefully already be doing it right - also I am watching when I finish the meal so that I can drink my water after one hour has gone by.

Can anyone tell me how many grams of protein we are suppose to eat on a 800 to 1,000 calorie plan? When I was on liquids - the minimum was 30 grams.  Which was no problem, since one protein shake was 24 grams of protein!

Official Weight

I am so happy ! - Just got back from the Dr's office and I now weigh 207.6  which is a loss of  2.8 pounds in a week!!

And the next best thing is that I only have one more day until I can start eating solid food - my first food is going to be scrambled eggs :) !

I also went to the grocery store on the way home and picked up a package of salmon and mahi mahi  - I love fish - my DH doesn't but from now on I will be making it a lot more for myself - and I will just make him another protein choice.

Its a wonderful world !

Sunday thoughts

Only two more days to go until I can start eating solids - a total of 28 days on liquids and pureed soups !

My official weigh in day is Monday so am hoping for a least 2 pounds gone - we shall see!

It is so beautiful out today - I love the winters here - the best months are November to April and then it gets so hot again!

Getting to Know You

·     Do you have any pets?    

·     No

·      

·     What was the last book you read?

·     Ceremony of the Innocent  by Taylor Caldwell – I have read and re-read this book more times than I can remember !

·      

·     Do you like to cook?

·     Not really

·      

·     What's your favorite food?

·     Salmon and baked potatoes

·      

·     Do you have brothers and sisters?

·     6 brothers and 2 sisters

·      

·     Which sport do you like?

·     To watch – ice skating and swimming

·      

·     Do you live alone?

·     Nope – with DH

·      

·     Do you live in a house or an apartment?

·     Apartment      

·      

·     Have you ever met a famous person?

·     No

·      

·     How do you spend your free time?

·     Read, blog, watch t.v.

·            

·     Tell me about a favorite event of your childhood.

·     Going to New York with a bunch of other students – it was so exciting to go to Grenache Village and walk down 5^th Avenue – so many people!

·      

·     What are your hobbies?

·     – I ‘ll have to think about that one for a while

·      

·     What countries have you visited?

·     I have visited the United States, Bahamas

·      

·     Which country are you from?

·     Canada

·      

·     What do you do on Sundays?

·     Go to Church, visit family, call my Mom and just veg out !

·      

·     What do you do? What's your job?

·     Semi – retired  - but still on call 24 hrs a day regarding office work, etc.,

·      

·     What is your motto in life?

·     Live and let live

·      

·     Which languages do you speak?

·     English and a few words of French – that’s from my school days – I would love to learn to speak  fluently  - that is something I will work towards!

First Day of December - time is flying

I can't believe how fast the days are flying by !

First - answering "Justawallflower" 's question regarding the vitamins, etc., - Dr D's office ordered them from

BariatricChoice.com

in case you want to go there and look - they have a lot of food items also for bariatric diets - and they look really, really good !

Secondly, I have been reading alot lately about being overfilled - its kind of scary -  can anyone tell me exactly just what it feels like - I know I don't even have my first fill yet .... but I kind of would like to have this information in case it ever happens to me.

Also doing really well these last few days - with the hunger - thank heavens - in control now and going strong :)

I guest I must have been moving too much or exercising too much or doing something because the largest cut ... just above and to the side of the bellybutton - started to bleed yesterday... not much..... but I decided to call Dr. D's office and his nurse told me that that sometimes happens ... so just to keep it dry and put a bandage on it with good pressure... so I went over the the drugstore and bought some large bandages and now I am covered up - she said to call tomorrow to let them know how it is.