So I’ve been meaning to get signed up with our local gym and get a schedule going for a few weeks now. I’m almost at my goal weight and need to do some serious toning. I finally managed to get there today. The funny thing is I had to ask myself how serious I am….LOL….because I spent the 40 minutes with the man getting all signed up and stuff but rather than stay and work out I decided I needed to get back to work that my lunch break was nearly over. I did bring my work out gear though but didn’t realize it would take so long in the office getting signed up. The crux here is that on the way back to work I stopped and got a candy bar. What?! I sign up for a gym membership and then promptly acquire a candy bar?

I’ve since started to rationalize my behavior in saying that it’s part of my “not being all or nothing” approach. Pre-surgery I was either on or off, having a good or bad day. Monday was always going to be another day. So post-surgery I decided I would no longer play this game with myself. I would do everything I wanted in moderation; sweets included. I really try to keep those at bay though since they are my vice. I have a candy bar or 2 a week and that’s it. If I have a dessert at a restaurant I don’t have another sweet all week. I just thought it was amusing that I did such opposing things back to back like that. I almost even wondered if it wasn’t my sad, scared inner girl trying to sabotage me again. Every time I get to this weight I started to relax and next thing I know I’m gaining weight slowly. So I’m mindful of it this time around and therefore in better control, I think.

I came back to work, opened my planner with all the schedules for classes at the gym in hand and penciled in activities for every M-F day until April. Then they’ll get new schedules and I’ll pencil in all of April. I will be out of the area for a few days here and there an entire week the end of March but I plan to utilize the hotel gyms to make up for it. I even signed up for an annual contract at the gym where you pay for the entire year and there are no refunds. So I figure that’s even more incentive to use it because I can’t get my money back and can’t stand to waste that much cash!!

Hope you are all surviving the daylight savings hour. I miss my sleep but really enjoy the later nights so I can hang on my porch and chill. Love country living!!

Peace.

Mandy

Last night I wanted something sweet but as I’m trying to limit my intake of straight up sugar I opted for fruit. I generally don’t like to eat fruit at night but it was an acceptable compromise. I had some strawberries that were looking a bit ripe so I decided to eat those. The problem is they are in season right now where I live so they aren’t as tasty as they could be. So I took some semi-sweet chocolate chips from the cupboard and poured them in a bowl, nuked them for 1 min until softened then dredged my strawberries in them. Yum! Some good (not as good as 70% or so but could be worse) dark chocolate and fruit. Hit the spot. What are you eating these days? Any good desserts to share? My favorite meal.

Take care.

Mandy

I had my 3 month check up today. I’ve lost 45 lbs. The Doctor was saying things like “slow and steady” and “slow but good I guess”. What about my loss is so slow? I’m at 150 lbs….how fast do you think my body is going to let this last 10 or 15 lbs come off? Gheesh! I think he might be used to seeing huge drops because a lot of his patients are well over 200 which was my starting point so maybe that’s why. Personally, I think 45 lbs in 3 months is good. I’m happy with it.

He ordered a small blood work order to check my electrolytes and liver panel but I am looking forward to the 6 month check up where I get the full work up. I’ve been really tired lately and so I wonder how my iron is doing. He said to add a bit more protein and that would probably help. So I guess I’ll try that. I was kind of thinking though that at the 3 month I’d be due for some blood work; my Lap-Band was that way anyway.

So overall the appointment was pretty uneventful. He did say that if I lose another 10-15 lbs before my next appointment (in June) that I need to call him and move my appointment up because he doesn’t want me to get too skinny and said he may need to give me some enzymes to make me absorb more and level out. I’m not really ready to jump the gun though like that. I’ve been losing quite slowly (about 1.5 lbs a week) so I’m not really worried at this point to lose too much. I’d like to get a tiny bit below what my goal is just to give me some cushion. Like I’ve said in previous posts I’m happy with my loss considering how many carbs I eat. I don’t gorge or anything but I have something at all 3 of my main meals each day; probably near 100 g a day or so which is quite a bit more than others consume during their weight loss phase. So far so good. I’m happy.

Hope you’re all having a great day. Chat later.

Much love, Mandy

So I’ve been trying to experiment with food to feed my sweet tooth but without going overboard on the sugary type foods.

That said, the other night I had a bad hankering for a peanut butter & jelly sandwich. So I made some switches to be more in line with my dietary needs. Not huge but they count.

First I used an all fruit spread rather than jelly or preserves. Then I used PB2 peanut butter but regular would have been fine too. Lastly, I added marscapone cheese. Mmmm….love that stuff. I put it on the 1 side before the jelly. It added another layer of sweetness but without being overpowering. Very nice.

The other thing I’ve been experimenting with is things to put in my yogurt in the morning on my way to work. I do not get up on time and am always rushing out the door so yogurt is a go to for me on most days. I eat the Greek variety to maximize protein (love me some Fage) and have been adding things like peanuts and blueberries, strawberries and nut clusters (see previous post), etc. I am really a fan of the adding the peanuts. A friend on Twitter suggested it and I’m loving it.

Any suggestions on what to add to yogurt to make it more interesting? I’d like to experiment more with things like cinnamon, Splenda brown sugar, etc. Thoughts?

Mandy

I was watching television the other day and they were talking about the experiment that Vanessa Minillo did where she got into a fat suit for the day and went around town asking for directions and taping people’s reactions to her. For example, she went into a few stores and the clerks didn’t even act like they saw her there let alone ask if she needed any help. Then to top it off, after she left the store, the clerks were taped making fun of her and openly talking about her weight and blowing up their cheeks and opening their arms to poke fun at her size. The fat suit I believe made her something like 350 lbs or so. They taped people’s reactions to her crossing the street and how people just blew right by her and even shoved her out of the way with their shoulders at a few points. She tried to stop a few people to ask for directions but they blew her off even then.

w all that, she took the suit off and went back to her 120 lbs frame and did all the same things over again to see the difference in how she was treated. It was amazing!! People stopped, looked her in the eyes and gave her full directions. The sales clerks were helpful and immediately approached her as she walked into the store. Gentlemen were holding the door for her and so on. Vanessa gave her reflections on the experiment and actually cried because she said she never understood how difficult it was to live in a world who has such prejudice against obese folks.

I watched this a few days ago but it’s been sticking in my mind. I don’t know why it’s sticking with me but my heart just breaks. Breaks for folks that have to be treated this way, breaks for the way our society is and how lacking in compassion we are and also for the fate of the folks who treated her this way; the way these folks probably treat overweight folks every single day and it breaks for all of those people. Even at my heaviest I was not quite that heavy but I was heavy enough to experience some of this although not on that scale. What a sad, sad thing.

My hope is that the experience for Vanessa will help her to see the difficulties these folks face and perhaps to remember it the next time she is asked for directions by an overweight person. I hope she cares enough to stop and give this person her attention as a human being. I think folks who have always been thin can be nonchalant about it because they don’t know what it’s like so hopefully this helps give her perspective. Also, since she’s famous, hopefully the exposure of this little experiment opens the eyes of some people who might be acting in this way. Have you seen this on television? What did you think of it?

Mandy

My weight this week is 151.4. I’ve lost just a single pound since last week but that’s okay. I’m trying to remain positive about the slow down in my weight loss. I just put together a gym plan for me today. Next week I’ll go and sign up at the local gym. I’m going to do weights on Tuesday and Thursday, Yoga on Monday, I walk with a girl at work on Tuesdays and I’ll do spinning on Fridays. Then I’ll just be as active as possible on the weekends with biking and such. Hopefully that will help kick things back into gear. Also, I need to focus more on my protein and limiting my carb intake a bit. That always helps. I’ve lost nearly 50 lbs since surgery 3 months ago so I’m pleased especially considering my starting weight. I’ve heard it said and tend to believe it that the closer you are to goal the slower it comes off so I’m satisfied so far with how things are going.

Hope you’re all having a great week so far though it’s only Tuesday. Come on Friday!!

Mandy

I read an interesting article today that more evidence has been found that obesity is DNA related. There are folks, about 1 in 5, that are missing roughly 30 genes that help to regulate weight. What this report indicated is that these folks can not lose weight even with diet and exercise due to this fact. Work is being done to see if there is a protein or enzyme that can be developed to help put these missing genes back and even things out so these folks can lose the weight.

This was a very interesting article because the debate over whether obesity is related to DNA or that some people are predisposed has been a hotly debated topic. Personally, I fully believe that it is, in some cases, related to genetics rather than lifestyle. I’ll be interested to see what comes of this and how further research develops. 1 in 5 initially doesn’t sound like all that much but in the general scheme of things when so many are overweight or obese, that number is staggering. I’m particularly interested in how weight loss surgery affects this. Does it change things hormonally that benefit patients and help them to lose weight? For example, the duodenal switch, Roux-en-Y, and vertical sleeve change your metabolism because of the portion of the stomach missing as well as other physiological changes. Interesting topic.

I’ll pass along anything further I find on this topic.

Mandy

As I sit here getting ready to watch American Idol I was craving something sweet (dang Girl Scout cookies kicked this in a few days ago) so I decided to try some ricotta fluff.

I took a container of ricotta cheese, added a package of sugar free cheesecake pudding mix, a teaspoon of sour cream (to taste) and a little bit of milk (1/4 cup or so). Add the milk slowly until you are satisfied with the texture. Then, I added some fresh blueberries on top and sprinkled them with a bit of splenda for extra sweetness. YUM! Perfect. Just sweet enough but not enough to freak out my carb monster. Also, I got in a fruit serving, some extra calcium and more protein. All important things for weight loss surgery folks. You might try adding some unflavored protein powder. I’ve never tried it but it could be done. You will likely need to add more milk in this case though.

Hope you’re all having a fab night. Tonight I shall pick my favorite girl on American Idol. Stay tuned.

~Mandy

Love Greek Yogurt but it has a way of getting boring so today I put a few peanut clusters and blueberries in it. Here’s what I used and it was yum!

Fage Greek Yogurt

Then added blueberries

Then added the nut clusters. 7 of them have 14g of carbs but I only use 2 or 3. Break em’ up small.

This was breakfast today. Filling and a good mix of carbs & protein. What are you eating today?

Another pound and a half down this week. I’m moving at a snail’s pace but at least in the right direction. Down from 154.0 last week to 152.4 this week. I’d probably move along faster if I cut my carbs even more but I’m pretty happy with what I can eat and still lose weight. I’m not under the 50 suggested carbs each day but certainly not over 100 which is what my Dr. advises so I’ll keep plugging away. Hope you’re all doing well. Chat later.

Mandy