I Survived Crappy Food

So last night I went to a charity bowling event that my company was sponsoring for MS awareness. It was a truly great time overall, and I am pleased to say I survived the terribly bad for you food that only a bowling alley can serve lol. I tried to find some kind of healthy option, but truly there was nothing available. So, I survived a night of fried food lol. I honestly did not really eat that much, and we were there for about 3+ hours, so what I did eat I ate over a long period of time. I had one tiny square of pizza, about 7 nacho chips with meat and cheese, two mini taco bites, a mozzarella stick, and a few bites of popcorn chicken. All in all I did fine, even though I really didn't eat very much considering the time frame that we were there. I also had a scoop of ice cream after I got home. Meh. I started things out on the right foot today having half of a protein bar for breakfast. I am making baked pork chops for dinner with some pasta salad and vegetables. Even after all of that I am still losing weight and staying on track.

Eat healthy all :-D


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Motorola,Schaumburg,United States

Back to Work!

After almost 8 weeks off of work, I will be returning to the office tomorrow.  I am excited to go back!  I miss my team and my colleagues.  I was supposed to go back Monday, but with the passing of my Grandmother last week I took three days of company provided bereavement.  It was nice to see family during that time and make sure that everything was in order before I returned to work.

I'm able to eat a bit more now than when I was in the hospital, but definitely nothing like I was able to before I went in.  As an example, last night I made bbq ranch baked chicken thighs.  They were boneless/skinless, made with a coating of low sugar BBQ sauce and ranch dressing.  Then, they were coated with a mix of italian breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and shake n bake coating.  They were SO GOOD :)  I made them with mashed sweet potatoes (sweetened with sugar free vanilla syrup, cinnamon, and Splenda) and a steamed broccoli/rice/cheese combo.  I was able to eat an entire chicken thigh (it was small), three bites of mashed sweet potatoes, and two bites of broccoli / rice.  All I had to eat earlier that day was some steamed spinach, two poached scallops, and a few bites of mashed sweet potatoes.

I feel like I'm not eating enough, but I guess things are going well :)  I lost another few lbs so yeah - no worries or anything like that.

Tonight I'm making turkey enchiladas :).  I made them before and they were SO GOOD I just have to make them again :-D

OmNomNom :D

A Night of Love

Last night's service for my Grandmother was completely beautiful.  There was such an outpouring of love and support from everyone who attended.  Her flowers were absolutely stunning (especially two two bouquets we bought from Teleflora.com).  She looked peaceful and ready to exit this existence, transcending into something that equals her amazing spirit and magnificent being.  Thanks to everyone that came out for the service.  There was a huge turn out (over 100 people).  Great company, great support, and I am told by attendees great food (lol).  Puerto Rican people know how to cater a wake service :).  We bought a lot of the food, but by the time it was winding down I saw so many other items brought that we definitely did not bring lol :)

I created a keepsake from the services.  It was a compilation of letters written by my Mom, my cousin Yasmin, and my cousin Ali.  I was told it was very beautiful, and everyone seemed to enjoy them.  I was also asked to say a few words.  I definitely did this, and it was great, but when my brother Carl got up and said a few words - everyone was completely in shock.  It wasn't because he was asked to speak - it was because of the impact it had on him.  Please understand, my brother is a very serious individual most of the time.  He wears a very stone faced demeanor.  The moment he got up the podium he cracked and broke down.  It was completely beautiful to see that happen because I can remember only one other time he became emotional like that - when Grandfather passed away.  We aren't the closest of brothers, but I will say that I was very proud of him tonight.  Seeing that side of him made me really appreciate him.  I love you Carl - great job last night!

My best friend Josh was incredible yesterday - truly incredible.  He's as close to a member of our family as anyone can get.  The only thing separating him is blood, and I have always said blood doesn't determine your true family.

Adam was completely amazing yesterday also - he created the most beautiful picture board centerpiece for my Grandmother's service - completely hand painted.  It was beautiful :-)  I love you Adam!

More family stuff going on today (Sunday) in preparation of more family arriving on Monday from out of town. I am preparing a pork roast tonight for my Mom, Dad, and Adam.  It should be great!  I was going to make it in the crock pot, but I think instead I'm going to roast it in the oven.  Either way, I'm sure it will be great!

Hugs to all!

Long last few days...

Hi all - sorry I haven't posted in the last few days.  It's been a bit of a roller coaster ride to say the least.  On Thursday my Grandmother passed away after a long battle with various health related issues.  She was 92 and lived a pretty full life.  My family has been in a crazy planning stage with everything.  The services are tomorrow and I am up now working on putting together a pamphlet and Adam is working on a picture board.

On the same day she passed away I completed all of my requirements to graduate with my Bachelors in Human Resource Management.  It is a great feeling, but at the same time I don't want to overshadow the severity of the loss my family is feeling.  I will be more jubilant about college as graduation date approaches (late May).

Food wise I have done really well.  I am eating about a cup or so of food at this point which is about where I will stay.  Today I went to Panera and had half a sandwich and soup.  I was unable to eat the bread on the sandwich aside from one bite (mostly because I didn't want to chance becoming full on the bread and not being able to eat my protein).  I had lunch with my friend Arianna.  She is such a dollface - just adore that girl!  She had lap band surgery on Monday and she's already fully out and about.  She has the most positive spirit.  I know she is just going to do so well with this!

This week I've also gone out to eat a few times and have done just fine.  I always stick to high protein and low fat / low calorie foods.  I have found so many that are just so good.  Every day I have been doing a protein bar from South Beach Diet.  The peanut butter one.  It's like 9 grams of protein and really healthy - more protein than a Kashi bar.  I think I'm going to get some of the Kashi cereal and see if I can make it actually not taste like cardboard lol :D  We shall see =P

I made chicken fajitas at my Mom's tonight for my best friend Josh and my Mom and Dad.  It came out really well.  I made guacamole too and some rice.  Now, rice has been the only food to disagree with me thus far.  I am pleased to say I was able to eat a few bites of it tonight and did just fine.  I will say the rice tonight had a much softer texture and seemed to be fully expanded already so I did fine with it.  Hard rice (like fried rice) is something I doubt I'll ever be able to do again.

I have to be up kind of early to go to Kinkos and print stuff out so I am going to go for now :).  Hugs to all, and hug your Mom and Grandmother if they are still around :-)  Tell someone that you love them today :)!

Raw Vegetables - Success!

So, one of the big myths I heard about gastric bypass surgery is that you won't be able to eat raw vegetables like salad, etc. until at least six months into surgery.  A few have said they were able to, but got really gassy.  Well, I can tell you now that's a crock of poop lol :P  The other day I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with my parents (a chicken joint I mentioned in an earlier blog).  I had raw carrot sticks with a tiny bit of blue cheese dressing and it was totally fine.  Today, while at the Olive Garden for lunch, I had about two tablespoons of salad with the Italian dressing.  I did totally fine with it :).  Next time I may just have an entire salad or something with the fat free Italian dressing :).  In any event, here is what I ate at Olive Garden today to give you an idea of where you will be around 6-7 weeks post op:

* Two bites of a breadstick

* Two tablespoons of salad

* 1/2 cup of chicken and gnocchi soup

* Two bites of a chicken florentine sandwich

* 1/4 glass of iced tea (before the meal started mostly) - very tiny sips now and then. 

I know - no fluids during the meal, etc.  I barely eat anything as it is so I am careful not to overdo it :).

Other than that - that's about what I ate.  It was really good and satisfying too.  I was comfortably full afterwards.

Tonight I am taking last night's leftover shredded chicken tacos I made (omg they were even better last night than the first time I made them lol) and going to make me and Adam a chicken quesadilla on my new Krups panini/quesadilla grill :).  Om nom nom :D

Happy eating all :D

Swelling a Bit -_- I Hate Sodium!

So one of the great things about the all liquid diet was that it cut all sodium from my diet.  Me legs completely stopped swelling - it was awesome.  Now that I'm on a regular diet again, my legs are swelling a bit because of the sodium content in the food.  It's not like I'm eating a lot of sodium mind you.  I am just sensitive to sodium.  Bleh.  So, I deal with it, and still losing weight, but it's annoying.  Let's hope as the weight continues to fall off the swelling continues to go down.

Aside from that, I just turned in the final project for my HR training class.  All I have left by Thursday of this week is to take the HR final (will be cake) and compile my Senior Project class's team paper submissions, format it, and turn it in by Wednesday.  Once those two things are done, I will be completed with my Bachelor's Degree in Human Resource Management :-)  Woohoo!  It looks like I'll be graduating with a 4.0, so that makes me very happy as well :-)

I was able to eat an entire omelette for breakfast this morning!! YAY!  Granted, it was a 1 egg omelette with a sprinkle of cheese and 2 slices of deli ham (LOL).  Still, it was satisfying and yummy.  I also did a few bites of high fiber whole wheat bread with sugar free cherry preserves :)

Last night my friend Danny made this fantastic pasta dish.  Oh - that's right - I am able to do pasta no problem :D  YAY!  I didn't eat a lot of it, but for some reason was able to eat the insides of two pieces of garlic bread (lol) - no crust =P.  The pasta had this herb pesto cream sauce with chicken.  It was SO GOOD.  I even had two sips of GEWURZTRAMINER wine :)  Yes, it's hard to say (haha) but so delicious.  It's like a sweet Moscato with a bigger bite.

Grandma is still hanging on, but it looks like it's going to be today or tomorrow.  She is going on five days now without food and water :-(  She just won't let go.  I wonder if she's waiting for someone to show up first.

Other than that, things are going well.  Down 2 more lbs (yay)!

Have a great Sunday all!

Prayers Needed!

Hi everyone! Just asking for some prayers to come my way for my Grandmother and my Mother. My Grandma is in hospice care and it is nearing the end. She is not tolerating fluids, is in a coma, and hasn't eaten or had anything to drink for three days.

I'm here watching her now. She looks really peaceful sleeping. My Mom is doing well with everything, staying strong.

Thanks to all for the well wishes. If your Mom is still around please give her a hug today or call her and tell her that you love her.

Much love :-)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:S Collins St,South Elgin,United States

Another Milestone

I forgot to mention this in yesterday's blog, but something that I wanted to share.  I had a wellness exam done before surgery. All the results came back and my bad cholesterol was very low. The doctor no longer thinks I need medication to control it since it seems my body is doing it on its own.

So, yesterday the doctor took me off my cholesterol medication. I now only take 1 medication for blood pressure, and starting at the end of this month I'm weaning myself off of that is well.  Within the next 60 days I should be off all of my medications that I started with. That means I'm off of 6 medications in 3 months :-) 

This whole journey is very surreal. I'm going to be starting to walk next week. Hopefully that will help and weight will come off even faster.

Truly I couldn't be happier. I feel great and I know that I made the right choice. I leave you with a picture of 1 of my favorite people in the world :-) he's a little harry, and tends to have accidents in the house, but I wouldn't trade him for the world :-)

30 Day Check Up!

I went to see both my primary care physician and surgeon today.  Everything went really well and I am down a total of 75.4 lbs since I started this endeavor.  That is just crazy to fathom lol.   All of that weight loss in about six weeks.  In any event, it was a very cool day.  Oh!  I also found out I can return to work on Monday, April 23rd!  That is very exciting as I am anxious to get back to work.  I miss all of my employees, peers, and managers.  Hopefully we can all do lunch or something when I return.

I made this awesome pork roast last night.  It came out very well :-)  It was a bacon and peppercorn marinated pork roast made in the slow cooker with sweet potatoes, garlic, and a medley of different kinds of onions.  I then made a pork gravy out of the cooking juices.  I had only a small piece, but Adam ate a good amount of it. All in all it came out well.  I am attaching a picture of the finished product :D.  Tonight I am making broiled tilapia :-)  Yum yum yum!

Eat healthy all!

I Hate Spring Colds -_-

So yeah, last night I started feeling like I was coming down with something and it seems to be confirmed today. Ugh. I feel kind of like butt. Spring and Summer colds are the worst. In any event, like Dory from Finding Nemo, I will just keep swimming, just keep swimming lol :-)

In the crock pot right now is a pork dish that I put in earlier today. It smells so good! I am going to take half of one of the chops and make one of my little pizzas with it. The sauce is made of brown sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, ginger, and garlic. I had to use real brown sugar since that's all I had, but while at the grocery store today I found that Splenda makes a brown sugar mix! It has some real sugar in it but not much. It is only 2g of sugar per serving, so that I can definitely do :-D.

On the way home from the grocery store I treated myself to a wonderful skinny peppermint mocha from Starbucks. 95 calories, sugar free :-). It tasted really good, but I actually had to call Starbucks to make sure it was sugar free since it tasted so good hahaha. It was indeed. I only drank a little bit of it, but it was really tasty.

I spoke to my friend Arianna over the weekend. My God, I am so proud of that girl. She's already lost 13 lbs on the pre surgical liquid diet (in two days!!). She is going to do so great, I am so happy for her!!

I see my doctor and surgeon both on Wednesday of this week. I am supposed to return to work on Monday, but the surgeon thinks I will be out for one more week. Either way is fine with me. Actually, being out another week would be cool because it is my final week of college. Whatever he decides is fine with me. I'm excited to be going back to work soon and I miss everyone I work with, especially my team of direct reports and my management peers. Yes Lisa (my boss), I miss you too hahaha ;-)

I'll post a picture of dinner before we nomz it!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Pine Valley Dr,Schaumburg,United States

Vomiting - Not Fun Q_Q

So, it was bound to happen. I finally vomited today for the first time since surgery. The doctor told me that it was inevitable, but I was so sure that it wouldn't happen LOL

I am now on the full regular diet, meaning that I eat different things, try different things, until I find exactly what works best for me. With today being Easter there were a lot of new foods that I haven't had since before surgery. I'm not sure if it was one specific kind of food, or the fact that I ate more than I was supposed to, or that I ate too fast. I think it may have been the barbecue beef rib that I had a little bit of. The meat was super tender, so I don't think it had to do with that, but I do think I ate a little too fast.

The next thing I knew I felt very full and very nauseous. I went to the upstairs bathroom, opened the toilet lid, and it just came right up. It wasn't like when you have the flu and you puke for an hour. It was really fast, and only whatever the pouch couldn't hold is what came out. The other food did not come up.

In any event, I did try a lot of new food today. All in all everything went well, except for this one little learning experience. The moral of the story here is to make sure you take small bites, eat slowly, and listen to your new stomach when it tells you it's full. :-)

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Happy Easter Everyone!  Have a great, safe day with your families!  Make good eating choices as today is the day of massive temptation :D hehe!

Happy Bunny Weekend! :D

For all of those that believe in the Holiday (or those that love it for the bunnies and chocolate eggs), Happy Easter to everyone!  We are going to my sister-in-law's parent's house on Sunday for dinner.  It should be great!

My Mom and I hung out yesterday.  Because it is Good Friday she insisted on not eating meat.  That's fine and all, and she knows I love her, but Mom... you can't be a Catholic only on certain days lol :P hehe ~  In any event, we went to Red Lobster.  I had this amazing stuffed Tilapia with lobster on top with a lemon butter drizzle served with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.  I was able to eat about 1/10th of it (LOL) but it was so good!  I also had 1/3 of one of those cheddar bay biscuits.  I know Red Lobster LOVES using butter in everything, so I took it very easy, had only a little bit of food, and was quite satisfied.  I am going to have a little more for lunch today :-).  After we went to go see Wrath of the Titans.  It wasn't bad - not the best movie I've seen mind you - but for a mindless popcorn action flick, it was ok :-).  I had a small popcorn, no butter, and was able to eat about 1/5th of it lol :)  I wish they sold like kiddie sized portions, but alas they don't Q_Q.

Today is homework day - lord knows I have a lot to catch up on.  My final project presentation is Wednesday of this week and I want to be sure I'm ready for it.  Other than that, we have one more week and that's it - done with college for good :-D  YEAH!

I think I'm going to make boneless pork chops in the crock pot for dinner tonight.  Om nom nom - should be great!  I wanted to make it Thursday but they were frozen.  Then I was going to make them yesterday but I didn't have all of the ingredients in the house -.- lol.  Dammit, I am going to make them today =P.

Have a great weekend all!

More and More Normal :)

I've had a good last few days, eating different kinds of things, albeit very small portions.  Water still makes me somewhat nauseous, and I hope this really does change over time.  I've been concentrating a lot on school and know that I have work coming back in the next few weeks.  I thought my return to work day would be April 16th but I believe my doctor is pushing it out one more week.  I will be confirming all this when I see him next week.

I got my chewy caramel supplements from Bariatric Advantage this week.  OMG 5000% better than the horrible chalky mint disc things I was supposed to have been eating lol.  These are the same flavor and texture of little caramel candies.  Yummy :).

My next order of FitFrappe protein powder was shipped today and should arrive by early next week.  I love that stuff!  The lady I ordered from is sending me extra free samples of the vanilla latte just because she's cool haha.

Lots of school work to do tomorrow and Saturday.  I want to get as much done as possible so I can spend some time with the family on Easter Sunday.  I am not worried at all about what they are serving since I am pretty much able to tolerate everything.

We went to Cooper's Hawk tonight to celebrate our friend Danny's birthday.  It was SO GOOD <3  I had the lightly seared/broiled scallops again but this time I subbed out the weird tomato relish and roasted cauliflower with mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach.  It was heavenly!  I even had a SUPER small bite of a white chocolate covered strawberry.  When I say small bite I mean SMALL.  It was good, though :-).  I brought a lot of food home as leftovers and will be enjoying it for lunch tomorrow since I plan on heating the scallop up under the broiler to keep it moist :).  I think tomorrow I am going to make boneless pork chops in the crock pot.  I need to find a good recipe for them.

My scars are healing nicely, and I am noticing my skin sort of becoming a different texture on my stomach.  I assume from where I have lost weight.  It isn't gross or anything - just different and something to get used to.  All in all I feel stronger everyday and am nearing the end of the initial healing process.

I spent part of the day today with my friend Patrick.  I really do miss that guy.  He comes off as this kind of bitchy hard ass at first, but when you get through that "shield" layer he has up he is such a sweetheart and a great friend (he was Gameboy's prior owner [our dog]).  He told me a lot about stuff going on in his life and WOW it seems like a lot of drama.  He's living with friends of ours now and it is a much better situation than what he was in before, so that's definitely good news :-).

Well, that's all for now - time for bed for me zzzzzzzzzzzzz Q_Q

Make healthy choices peeps! :-D

Made the BEST Dinner :D

I was totally craving Mexican food over the last few days, but didn't really want to do anything like ground beef/chicken/turkey since 1) we have it all the time, and 2) I was in the mood to actually cook something :-).  I have really been wanting to use the crock pot more, so I decided to make shredded chicken tacos.  Ok, so yeah - I know I can cook, and I don't often brag about it - HOWEVER - to be very blunt... these were fucking good LOL :-).  I found a simple recipe online and I modified it (of course) to more like my style of cooking.  It had minced garlic, cut up sweet onions, two kinds of taco seasoning, Rotel (chilis and tomatoes), and chicken breast tenderloins.  I also added some fresh lemon juice, ground black pepper, etc.  It came out so damn good.  I cooked it on high crock pot heat for four hours or so.  It was fantastic.  I served it with warm tortillas (hard and soft) and my friend Danny made this Velveeta/Rotel Queso dip as well as fresh guacamole.  Such a great dinner!  I was able to eat an entire taco... it only took over an hour to do it LOL :D  I also had four or so chips, two with queso, two with guacamole.  All in all it was super high in protein, low fat, and very tasty.  Danny and Adam loved it and we even sent some home to Danny's fiancee Luke.  I will definitely be making these again.  If anyone wants the recipe let me know and I'll send it your way :-).

Other than that, I also discovered a new obsession - pita chips with roasted garlic hummus O_O.  O M G delicious snack.  The problem is, it's not very high in protein so it isn't something I will eat all the time.  I wonder how gross mixing in protein powder (unflavored) with the hummus would be lol :).  I will have to try it sometime.

Everyday I'm able to eat more and more different kinds of food than I could the day before.  OH!  I also found sugar free Hershey's Syrup today :D  WOOT!  Good addition to my yummy protein shakes from Fit Frappe :-).  I want to try a warm Vanilla Latte protein shake with some of the syrup and a dollop of sugar free Cool Whip - that just sounds fantastic :D!

Have a great and yummy week all!

Finally Feeling Better!

So my foot is FINALLY feeling better.  Sunday was the first day I was able to actually walk around.  I left the house for the first time in four days to go with my mother in law to Best Buy.  We switched her over to Verizon with us.  She had Sprint with us, but Adam and I have a tendency to... switch phone carriers often (haha).  Seriously though, Sprint was giving Adam a lot of problems at his work and I was having issues around the house.  In any event, Verizon is way better for us :).  I am able to walk fine today, for the most part.  I still have some pain, but NOTHING like it was last week at all.

I found out a few days ago I am down right about 70 lbs :).  It feels good, but honestly I feel like I look exactly the same lol.  I know there has been a change, however, since none of my clothes fit me correctly, old clothes I haven't worn in 2 years fit me fine, and my ring doesn't fit on any fingers including my thumb lol.  It's weird, but cool at the same time.

So far I have found that I can do bread just fine.  I prefer it to be toasted as non toasted bread can be kind of gummy, but bread I am fine with.  I also had some Chinese noodles (Chicken Lo Mein) and was also fine with that.  What I wasn't fine with, however, was rice.  Rice can kiss my ass LOL.  I had literally three bites of rice from the Chinese food we ordered the other day.  Yeah - no.  I felt super full and gross after I ate it.  Also, microwaved eggs - not so much.  So far the eggs I like the best are poached or soft boiled (which is great since poached eggs are my favorite kind of eggs lol).

I was worried about the sugar count in Chobani yogurt (the fruit ones are like 15-19g sugar).  I've had it twice now, however, and did totally fine with it.  I imagine since it's natural sugar it's fine (I eat strawberries, for example, and do totally fine with those - a great treat btw is a few strawberries and some sugar free cool whip :D  NOMZ!).

I'm really loving making the personal pizzas from Shelley's website (http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com).  They are so good!  My favorite so far has been with this roasted garlic marinara sauce, turkey pepperoni, and grated parmigiana cheese :D  YUMMY!  I prefer parm to mozzarella as mozz just tends to be kind of gummy whereas parmigiana is perfect!  I think we are doing tacos tonight :)  I was thinking of going to the grocery store right now and trying to make shredded chicken tacos - I might go get the chicken and put it in the crock put on high - should only take about 5 hrs :D  Dinner is at 8 ish :) hehe.

Well, that's all for now kiddies :D  Have a great week, oh and Happy Easter to everyone coming up!  I am going to my future sister in law's parents house.  It should be a good time!