Spicy scramble

Spicy Scramble!

 

Eggs have become my best friend for breakfast. They are so quick to make and you can throw just about anything in them and they turn out to be so yummy! For this, I made 4 servings which are perfect for my sleeve. The serving pictured above is two servings. Here's what you need:

• Three eggs (mix in a bowl)
• Red bell pepper, diced
• Green bell pepper, diced
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• Pepper Jack Cheese (I used two thin slices of Sargento cut into pieces)
• One jalapeno, cut into rings
• 1/4c diced green onion
• Cilantro, diced
• Olive Oil
• Salt, Pepper, and Garlic salt to taste

In a pan, I added the olive oil with the bell peppers and jalapeno until they were almost fully cooked. Then I added the spinach and cooked until wilted, added garlic salt. I then stirred in the remaining ingredients until the eggs were cooked how I like them.

I did top mine with avocado as well. The only things not included in the nutrition facts are the avocado and the olive oil.

If you don't want it too spicy, omit or use less jalapeno.

Holiday Party

Saturday was our annual holiday party. I knew it was going to be my cheat day for the next two weeks (I'm giving myself one on Christmas as well). They catered a Mexican buffet. I am proud of myself to sticking just to fajitas, with not tortilla. However--I did have a lot of alcohol that night, but I'd like to think that all of the dancing I did, I worked off a lot of the calories :)

 

Sunday's weigh-in! I've lost 4 lbs!! It hasn't been a week yet since my first re-weigh in, but Sundays will be my weekly weigh-ins. I'm quite happy about this number :) Any loss is good (and I know I will have to keep telling myself that). I didn't put this weight back over night, it is not going to come off over night either.

50lbs!

It's been almost two weeks since I updated, and I do apologize! I hit the 50lb mark last week! I'm now down another half pound or so, weighing in at 241.8. This is me last week :) I still look the same a half pound lighter haha.

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!  

Slow week!

The past 5 days I've been bouncing around a little bit. Went from 256 to 258, then 257, 256 yesterday and today I'm 255 :) Finally downnnnn again :D

1 more pound until my pre-pregnancy weight from 8 years ago! I've only gotten under that mark one other time when I did Weight Watchers the first time about 5 years ago...and then I gained it all back! This will be the last time I see that number on the scale (unless my weight decides to fluctuate a few pounds again haha)

Maybe I should be taking photos of the scale each time I step on it, that way I have the memory of that weight. NAH!! I don't want to remember what it feels like to be this obese ever again!

As much as my eyes are more hungry than my stomach and it makes me frustrated, I would not change this for anything. I am 100% for this surgery. Such a life changer, for the better.

1 month post op check up!

Today was my 4 week post op check up!

The doctor is very happy with my 31lb weight loss. He said I'm right on target, and should be loosing anywhere from 1.5-3lbs a week.

The only thing he suggested was that I step up my exercising to EVERYDAY...and strap on a back pack full of phonebooks and put on ankle weights while I walk to build muscle....I guess it makes sense. He said that with all the intake of protein, your body needs to do something with it,and while some weeks you may not loose pounds, you will loose inches when that protein turns into muscle.

I see him again in one month instead of two weeks since I'm doing so well :) Yay me! haha. Here is a picture I took yesterday.

Shelly's Baked Ricotta

Last night for dinner I made Shelly's Baked Ricotta! Wow it was so good! If my pouch weren't so small I'd be going for seconds! You can find the recipe in her blog.

When calculating one portion of the mixture, (Mine made 4 servings) It came out to 198 calories, 12.2g fat, 6g carbs, 17g protein.

I bought these small containers from Walmart to freeze the left over portions.

I also got this great pan from Walmart as well that made the portions! It was perfect!

This is the pan I bought! It will have many uses and it was only about $10 :)

Preparing for your hospital stay

Preparing for surgery, the days and the night before--especially, can be nerve racking! I was told that my recovery time in the hospital can be anywhere from 1-3 days, depending on my progress.

The night before:

• If you live more than an hour away from the hospital facility, I suggest staying overnight at a hotel that is minutes from the hospital. You never know if you could run in to traffic, detours, etc--plus you get to sleep in a little more! 
• Bring someone with you! Your significant other, a close friend, etc. Someone you want by your side! It's not fun to be in the hospital all alone.
• Buy an antibacterial soap. Shower with it the night before and the morning of your surgery. I found Dial bar soap (I haven't used bar soap in years! I usually use the gels), it was only 97 cents at Walmart for two bars. I used one and saved one for when I got home.
• Don't shave near your incision sites. This can risk an infection, per my nurse's orders. However, I REALLY wish I would have shaved my arm, had I known she was going to put the IV there. She put so much tape it hurt so bad when it was removed...and my hair along with it!
• Bring comfortable clothes to leave the hospital in. I brought a pair of elastic waist capri shorts that were not too tight, and a loose shirt. This way it was easy to get dressed, wasn't tight on my incisions, and most importantly, comfortable on the way home.
• Bring books to read, or crossword/word search books etc to keep you busy. Honestly, I was only in the hospital for a day and a half and I did not use them, I didn't even play around on my phone much either, but if I had been there longer, I know I would have wanted them.
• Bring deodorant, tooth brush, and tooth paste. I was not allowed any make-up or perfumes etc, especially before surgery.

At the hospital:

• BE ON TIME. Even though you will more than likely have to wait for the doctor, be on time! Heck, even be early! I got there 30 minutes early and they took me right away for registration and pre-op. I did sit in preop for about an hour while the doctor was in surgery, but that was fine with me.
• In pre-op, you will usually first meet with a nurse who will take your vitals and ask you basic health questions. You will also be asked several times what procedure you are coming in for.
• In pre-op just before your surgery, your doctor should come and greet you, along with the anesthesiologist and a nurse who will be there during surgery. They will again verify the surgery you are having, and give you a chance to ask any last minute questions.
• You will then be wheeled into the surgical room. (Mine had music playing!) They will more than likely wheel you right next to the surgical bed, which was so narrow! I even told the nurse, "You do realize I'm here for weight loss surgery right? Aren't I going to fall off of the table?!" He assured me I wouldn't....and I took his word. As far as I know, I didn't fall off, haha. 
• Once on the surgical table, they had me lay my arms out on these other tables, and then the anesthesiologist gave me a "mask for oxygen," told me to take 3 deep breaths...and I remember taking two and then I woke up in recovery! (It obviously was not oxygen lol)

Recovery & Stay

•  I woke up in recovery after being there for about 3 hours. I remember waking up and asking for my husband...and then I was in my room. I honestly don't remember being wheeled into my room. I don't even remember when my husband came into my room...
• The nurse will come in and introduce herself, ask how you feel, and take your vitals. She'll also instruct on your medicine, which is usually morphine. It's a button you get to push every 10-15 minutes if you feel pain. I stopped using mine by later that night because it was making me have really bad headaches! The pain itsself wasn't too bad (I actually ended up sitting in one of the chairs in the room for a few hours because my back hurt really, really bad from laying on it flat for hours).
• You will not be allowed any liquids or food for the first day. I was given a cup that had a sponge on a stick to wet my mouth if it was dry.
• You will be asked to walk around to avoid blood clots. I was very nauseous, and made sure to bring one of those pink bucket things they give you.
• Before you get to drink anything, they will take you for an upper GI. This is to check for any signs of leakage. They have you sip on this liquid stuff and watch it as it goes down...
• The next morning they brought me some broth and sugar free jello. I only drank some of the broth, and tried the jello but it was disgusting! And I didn't keep it down for very long.
• If I would have been able to keep it down, I would have been able to go home, but I had to wait until the next day.
• You will not be allowed to leave the hospital if you are the one driving. Make sure you have someone to take you home!

I did a lot of sleeping while at the hospital. Surgery and recovery is so hard on your body. I did not realize how exhausted it would make me.

Be nice to your nurses! They are on your side and want you to be able to go home as soon as you're ready. They are only doing as the doctor has instructed them to do. You will probably get a rotation of nurses every 12 hours. (I had a nurse and a nursing assistant every 12 hours).

Oh, and on the way home...bring that pink bucket with you in the car in case you get sick. I surprisingly didn't on my two hour drive, I did sleep though. 

Sausage, egg, & cheese with hollandaise sauce

Today I added some more flavor to my breakfast!

I'm in the pureed phase of my diet.

I cooked a small scoop of reduced fat ground sausage, and once it was cooked, I added an egg, scrambled it all together with some salt and pepper, then melted a small amount of shredded cheese in it. I then topped it with hollandaise sauce (I use Knorr brand), this way it was extra moist and easier to chew.

I was probably a little bit too full after eating this. Next time I will have to put less sausage!

100lbs to go!

The scale finally moved again! I'm down 27lbs total, current weight is 265. I have exactly 100lbs to loose to reach my goal weight of 165lbs. 100 seems like so much weight to loose...but I can do it! I turn 30 next April and I want to start my 30's off to a GREAT start!

I doubt I will loose all 100 by then, but I hope to be pretty darn close!

One day at a time.....

First Post Op Check-up!

Day 13!

I had my first post-op visit today with my doctor. He's happy with my progress and has progressed me on to pretty much all foods that are soft. I'm so glad to be able to start cooking again and trying new recipes! Not to mention, being able to actually chew foods haha.

He removed the taps from my scars (well, still forming scars), there are no signs of an infection. He also cleared me for any physical activity and wants me to push myself on the treadmill. He says my stomach is about 80% healed and I won't be able to "hurt it" with exercise or other physical activity.

I did tell him that I was still feeling exhausted at times, especially while walking. He said it will probably last about another week.

I go back in two weeks, the day I go back to work. Boohoo! Work? Blah!

Last night I had Weight Watcher's Taco Soup (recipe is below) for dinner. I only had a little over 1/4 cup and 2 saltine crackers, it was so good!

The next big goal I'm setting for myself is to weigh 250lbs. That will be my pre-pregancy weight from nearly 8 years ago. That's 17lbs to go! Hoping to accomplish this by Sept 1!

Taco Soup Recipe:

1 15oz can tomato sauce
2 cans of turkey chili
1lb ground turkey, cooked
1 can black beans
1 sm can diced green chilies
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 packet of hidden valley ranch
1 packet taco mix
1 1/2c water
1c frozen corn (I did not add corn because I cannot eat this yet)

Heat all contents and serve! Can top with diced onion and cheese as well.

Do not try this at home! (well...if you're less than 2 weeks post op)

I got brave today, and I regretted it.

I took a bite of chicken, chewed up really good, and a bite of soft broccoli. Wow! I will not be doing that again soon. It felt like a brick in my throat/stomach and I threw up a little.

It was only liquid that I threw up, not what I had just eaten. I think it was the brocolli that did it because I had a bite of chicken last night when I cooked it for my family and it was perfectly fine. No more broccoli for a bit. I think I didn't chew it well enough.

In other news, I am in the 260's! My weight this morning was 267lbs! I've lost 25 pounds total! 10 since surgery (today is day 11, so that's about a pound a day!!) I have a feeling I'm going to stall for a few days...I know it's coming.

I walked for 20 minutes yesterday, .75mile. Today I took a break, but I did more cleaning around the house to kind of make up for it :)

I've been eating around 600 calories a day, and I've been managing about 60-65g of protein!

After I drop 5 more pounds I'm going to take some new body shots to compare to my pre-surgery weight. I doubt there we be a difference that is noticeable in the photos though.

9 days post surgery, additions to my diet.

Today is my 9th day post op. I finally added two new things to my diet. Scrambled eggs and pork rinds....no not together!

Since the doc is allowing me instant mashed potatoes, I figured scrambled eggs cannot hurt. Let me tell you, this egg tasted like steak!!! It seriously was that good. I added a small sprinkle of cheese, salt and pepper. I almost made two eggs, but I am so glad I didn't. I was STUFFED after eating one egg.

I was reading about types of snacks that others have been eating post surgery, and one of them that's recommended to get something "crunchy" are pork rinds. I hadn't eaten these since I was little and I love them! I am able to eat them right now because they do melt away in your mouth. Guess what? One serving has only 80 calories, 5g fat, 0 carbs, and 8g protein! Some have 7g protein and some have 9g protein, it all depends on the brand you get.

I see the doctor in 4 days for a checkup, that's right before my pureed stage starts. I'm excited to get to that stage! There is a really good recipe from "The World according to Egg Face" that sounds really good. It's a baked ricotta recipe! I could probably eat that now, but I do not want to push it. I can wait 4 more days...I hope!

I've been able to do light exercise. I usually hop on the treadmill for about 15 mins/.5 mile and do light weights with my arms. I really want to get my energy/stamina back like before surgery. Pre-surgery I was walking for 50 mins, and jogging for 10 (every few mins I would do a sprint, totally up to 10 mins with in the hr of exercise).

I'm down 22lbs! 15 pre surgery, 7 post surgery.

Air Bubbles! Protein! Weight.

Today is day 6 after surgery. Still trying the best way to eat and drink without getting air bubbles. Most of them don't hurt, they are just annoying, but once in a while I will get some that HURT!

I'm not using a straw, but I am using spoons for most things. When I swallow my food/drink, It doesn't feel like any air goes down with it....but then about 30 seconds later, I feel that air bubble!! Usually just a small burp, but still quite annoying. I know this is very common and it really cannot be avoided.

My scale is still sitting at 273lbs. I was expecting it to be at least down to 270 by now, but I from what I've read, this is pretty standard. My body is still adjusting and you don't have a huge weight loss. As long as that scale has not moved up, and continues to go down, that is perfectly fine with me! I guess now that I think about it, I've lost 19lbs in the last month (15 pre op, 4 post surgery), that's pretty damn good. I think I need to stop getting on the scale every day. That's so much easier said than done though! I'm really looking forward to seeing 269 lbs on the scale because I have not seen that number in AT LEAST 6 or 7 years! One step at a time! Gotta keep telling myself this.

My diet is going pretty well. My meals for the day usually include liquid phase):

1 serving of Cream of Wheat (this makes 2 meals)
1 protein shake (usually half in the morn and the other half later in the day)
1 4oz yogurt (sometimes 1 meal, other times 2)
1 can of chicken broth or 1/2 can of strained cream of ____ soup.
1/2c instant mashed potatoes (usually this is 2 meals as well)

The mashed potatoes I just started yesterday, I tried to have them on day 4 but my body was not ready, either I made them too thick or my tummy just didn't want to take them--they hurt going down.

I have to remind myself to eat, which is weird. I've never had to do that before. I am going to hop on my treadmill. I'm going to try for half a mile and go from there. I get exhausted really quickly still. I feel like there are bricks on my shoulders sometimes and this is very exhausting!

My doctor didn't give me an exact number to aim for for protein in my liquid phase. I'm aiming for 50. My protein drinks alone are 30, so I make that my priority! I cannot wait to have chicken or fish again....it's only been a week, but I really want some :)

4 Days after surgery

I'm still feeling tired, or "winded," from the surgery. I just want to have my energy back! I want to hop on my treadmill, walk a mile or two, instead of sitting on my behind all day, or laying in bed staring at the ceiling because I'm waiting for a gas bubble to go away!

Yesterday I got in probably around 36g of protein. Not too bad for my first attempt.

Today I'm sitting at around 20g, (It's early afternoon) but I need to get in more water. I've had really bad diarrhea today (yes...TMI! But I'm assuming you're reading about my journey because you want to be prepared lol) I read some online forums and found that immodium is okay to take, so I took one chewable, and hopefully that will help, so far it has.

Today I cooked a pancake for my daughter...and it looked so good! One day I'll be able to eat a small one again...for now, I'll just keep cooking them!

One product that is really good that I found is Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla yogurt that is "diabetic friendly." It's real yummy!

The only other complaint I have at this point is the weird dreams I've been having...don't know if it's a coincidence or if it's a side effect from the anesthesia still!

Want to see my scars? Well...technically they aren't scars yet! (the orange part of the shirt is just under my breasts, the picture isn't rotated, sorry!)

Post Op

I had my surgery on July 18, 2012...3 days ago. I came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon.

This blog is from a personal perspective with my weight loss journey.

Here are a few stats:

Highest weight 293lbs
Weight Post op 277 lbs
Weight when I got home from surgery 274lbs.

I'm 29 years old, 5'6".

The day of surgery and the day after surgery I had really bad nausea and was vomiting. They finally gave me meds that helped with it. If I weren't vomiting, they were going to let me go home the day after surgery.

This is the first surgery I've had where I was put to sleep. (I've only had a c-section and was awake for that) I had no idea what to expect. I remember going into the surgery room, only a few minutes after meeting with my doctor again and his nurse, them having me move onto the surgical table, lay my arms out, and hearing rock & roll playing in the background, and the next thing I know the anesthesiologist is placing a mask on me telling me to take in 3 deep breaths of oxygen...and then BAM next thing I know I'm in recovery.

The first thing out of my mouth to the nurse was that the "anesthesiologist lied to me. It was not oxygen he was giving me!" haha I thought that was pretty funny. I think I caught the nurse off guard.

My stomach pain isn't too bad. It does get uncomfortable when trying to rest. I do find myself waking up every 2-3 hours overnight, and needing to get up and walk around for a minute.

As for food...it's really weird not eating! I finally drank an entire protein shake (over a 24hr period), a yogurt, and chicken broth. I'm very gassy but nothing really comes out...you just feel bubbles.

The only thing I'd really complain about is being so tired!! I joined a forum (verticalsleevetalk.com) and asked if anyone else felt like this, and the best way it was put is that it's like "jet lag" from the anesthesia. I should feel better about 7 days out post-op. I just want to start exercising again and getting this weight off!

Wish me luck!
Here is my "before" picture.