76 Calorie Crustless Pumpkin Cheesecake!

I have been craving pumpkin. It's really odd, and I don't know why. I'm thinking it's because this year I won't be chugging down any of Jack In The Box's Pumpkin Pie milk shakes....

After searching, and searching, and searching....I finally found a pumpkin flavored recipe that looked good, until I calculated the nutrition facts and oh boy...I shredded that recipe! It was a pumpkin whoopie pie recipe (with me substituting with low fat/ff ingredients and cutting all corners I could) was over 400 calories, 55+carbs, and an insane amount of fat! No way was I going to eat even half of a serving....so I continued to search.

I hadn't baked a cheese cake before, but I've heard it's basically just cream cheese...so I looked up the main ingredients needed, which were cream cheese and eggs. So I made up my own low carb, low fat, and low calorie crustless pumpkin cheesecake!

What you need:

1 15oz Can of Pumpkin (I used Great Value brand 100% pumpkin)
10oz Fat Free Cream Cheese, room temperature (Also used great value brand, this was one brick plus 2 oz of my leftover brick, making 10 oz)
3 eggs
1 cup splenda
Cinnamon
Ground Nutmeg
Ground Cloves

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixing bowl, combine pumpkin and cream cheese, using a hand mixer until mixed well. Then add in the eggs. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. I did not measure these ingredients, it all depends on how much "spice" you want to taste.

I used my small square pyrex baking dish. Spray pan of your choice (smaller pan is better unless recipe is doubled). Pour mixture into pan, and even out as much as possible with a spatula or knife. Cook uncovered for about 40 minutes. I checked mine around the 30 minute mark with a tooth pick and extended the cooking time based on those results.

Once it's done cooking, put pan in refrigerator for 3-4 hours letting it cool completely and get chilled before eating.

Serving size is 9! 76 Calories, 1.7g fat, 6.5 Carbs, and 7.2g protein!

Look Ma! Only One Chin!!

Stepped on the scale (yes...I haven't waited til my weigh in day, I just cannot do it!!) this morning, and I'm down 45lbs!!! Weighed in at 247. It's going to be such a victory when I get below 240!!

I think my forehead is growing! haha.

Last night for dinner I made a super yummy simple dinner. When my husband and I went on vacation to Kuaui last March, we had an "island favorite" which is called Moco Loco--I just did mine with ground turkey instead of beef.

You take a scoop of rice, top it with scrambled egg, and a hamburger patty, and cover in gravy!

For the turkey patties, I mix 1 pkg (I think it's like 1.25lbs?) with half of a white onion diced fine, 4 garlic cloves finely diced, and some Worcestershire sauce. Spices I added were garlic powder, pepper, and Mrs. Dash. Mix using your hands. Shape into thin patties, cook on the stove top until no longer pink.

Egg White Omelet

I've never had an egg white omelet, and this was really good!

What you need:

Egg Whites
Spinach
Ham (I used deli meat)
Garlic
Mozzarella Cheese

Putting a very small amount of olive oil in a pan, put a hand full of fresh chopped spinach. Cook until it's wilted down. Add ham & diced garlic to pan. Cook until the garlic is browned but do not over cook. Place in a bowl, set aside.

Place a little margarine or use non stick cooking spray on the bottom of your frying pan. Pour your egg whites.(I used great value brand pure egg whites in the carton. I didn't measure the amount, but it was enough to cover the bottom of my small frying pan.) Once the whites start to show almost cooked through, pour your mixture of spinach, ham, and garlic on half of the omelet. Top with a small handful of mozzarella cheese.

Fold over the omelet, cooking on each side for a minute or two until done.

YUM!

Teriyaki Chicken

This is such a quick meal!

You can use a boneless skinless breast or thigh for this meal. The thighs usually come out really good!

I take a pyrex pan, spray with non stick spray, pour teriyaki premade marinade over the chicken (Lawry's brand, great value brand, etc., found in the BBQ sauce aisle). Top with sesame seeds (optional). Cook at 375 for about 40 minutes.

Once it's done, I like to slice the chicken and spoon over extra marinade from the pan onto the chicken!

Wednesday Weigh in 9/19/12

Today was my weigh in day (my bi-weekly weigh in). I lost .6lbs. I'm down to 249.4. I was hoping for at least a whole pound, but I'll take it. I have to admit I'm still not exercising daily. I feel so incredibly lazy :(

Tomorrow I'm cutting my hair. Right now it's getting pretty long and it's annoying me! I think I'm going to go semi-short...and then touch up my blonde after I cut it.

I've become very addicted to Pinterest....I've finally started using some of the things I've been pinning, including recipes, a magnetic food calendar to help plan for meals, and a face scrub that is suppose to give you "glowing skin." Well, I did it yesterday. It made my skin really smooth. I guess you should only do it once or twice a week though, because it can be a little harsh.

Take 3 tablespoons of baking soda, 1 tablespoon water, mix. Apply to face in circular motion. Let it sit for 5 minutes, wash off with warm water.

No more daily weigh-ins

Now that my scale says I'm 250lbs (The doctor's scale said 250lbs when I went there, but his scale is always a few pounds lower than mine), I will no longer be weighing my self every day. I will weigh in twice a week--Wednesday & Saturday.

This is going to be hard--but I do get frustrated when the scale doesn't move down, even if I feel "skinny" that morning. haha.

My clothes are starting to not fit me--pants are loose in the legs & waist, and my shirts are really big on my shoulders and my sides (under my arm pits...I didn't realize how much fat I had there!), but the summer is coming to an end, and I don't want to invest into clothes that I will not be able to wear next summer. It's still too hot to buy winter clothes as well. I'm thinking I may check ebay for some deals.

80 Calorie Southwest "taquitos"

These were delicious! About 80 calories each! (not including sour cream), nutrition facts are below.

What you need:

-20 Wonton Wrappers
-6oz cooked boneless skinless chicken breast, chopped in small peices
-2oz mild cheddar cheese, shredded
-2oz fat free cream cheese
1/2c salsa (I used Pace Picante Chunky)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with non stick cooking spray.

Spoon filling into each wrapper, and roll like a taquito (both ends open). Place seem side down on cookie sheet. Spray a light layer of non stick spray on the wrappers once all laid down.

Cook for 20-25 minutes, turning once. until you can see some crispness on the wrappers.

Dip in guacamole or sour cream (not included in the nutrition facts). You can also add corn for even more of a southwest flavor, but since I cannot eat corn until I'm 6 months post op, I did not include it.

Nutrition facts were calculated with myfitnesspal app, imputing the exact ingredients I used. I suggest you do this as well to get a more accurate count since nutritional value varies by brand.

2 Month Check up!

Saw the Doctor today for my 8 week post op visit! He's happy with my weight loss! His words were, "You're making my job too easy!" haha. I'm down 42 lbs, weighed in at 250lbs today!

I don't have to see him again until the end of November.

One bad thing that happened today...I was so hungry after my appointment, and I was in a hurry to get home and eat something--well, my husband forgot to bring his lunch to work so he asked if I would grab him a salad from Carl's Jr. I ordered his salad as well as two "street tacos" in chicken. I've had chicken tacos since surgery, figured it wouldn't do any harm. Man, I was wrong!! I must have eaten them way too fast because they came right back up...while I was driving!!!! I made most if it into the empty bag...but the rest went straight down my shirt! Ugh. Yuck :(

Now it's dinner time... going to eat some sun dried tomato Tilapia that I bought pre seasoned from Costco. It's really good but I wish I knew the nutrition facts!

First compliment at work

Today I got my first compliment at work about my weight! Most people I work with don't know that I've had the gastric sleeve.

Today at lunch a co worker came up to me (and I can tell she didn't know how to approach me) and said, "You look really good, you've lost a lot of weight. I couldn't even tell if that was you. And your hair is getting so long, you look great!" And it was from someone that I've maybe exchanged a few words with in the last 2 years I've worked there....it was unexpected and much appreciated.

On a side note, I tried on a pair of "skinny" jeans that I bought about two years ago, and they were realllllly tight when I bought them and I barely fit into them at that time, and then I grew out of them to were I could not even begin to button them--well, I put them on yesterday and they fit so good!! I can't wait for cooler weather so I can wear them, hopefully they will still fit!

The Cycle.

Yes, the cycle. That's what this blog is about. So if this is going to be TMI, please go to another entry :)

My period has always been irregular. By irregular, I mean I could go any where from a period every 2 weeks, once every 3 months, or once every six months (I actually went 7 months without my period before I got pregnant with my daughter). The doctor's never wanted to find out why or give me any kind of a reason or show concern, so I never perused trying to "fix" it. Heck--I was fine with a period only once every few months!

Actually, I take that back in regards to the doctor never did anything. One of my doctor's when I was about 19 or 20 put me on the pill to regulate it....but once I stopped the pill, the issue existed again.

 A few days before surgery I started my period, and it was just spotting the day of surgery. Well, the following week, it came back in full force! 30 days later BAM back in full force....and now it's back again and it won't go away. It's been 9 days! GO AWAY! I do not miss cramps! This bites.

 I know my body is still adjusting to this whole loosing weight thing, and I understand that will cause this. I just hope that if I'm going to continue to get my monthly visitor that it makes some kind of routine schedule and sticks to it! I don't like surprise visitors!

Greek Salad

Well, I ended up not making the zucchini pizza, but I did make a Greek Salad. YUM! It was only about 250 calories, using 4 oz of chicken breast & Ken's Greek dressing. I only ate about 1/3 of it, but I will finish the rest later!

40lbs!

I look terrible in these pics! lol but here are some photos from 0lbs to 40lbs down.Still have a long ways to go....

I'm really getting tired of eating leftovers! I think I need to just stop making so much food. It's hard trying to plan meals for my family of 3 when it comes to potion sizes, and I get stuck eating leftovers for DAYS. I think I'm going to make some zucchini pizza later for lunch. I'll be sure to post it if I do!  

Torani Syrups Coupon

I love Torani Syrups! I just found a $1 off coupon online, yay! Thought I'd better spread the word!

Click here to be taken to the website. You will have to scroll through the other coupons until you see it :) You can print a max of 2 coupons per computer!