Sunday, August 30, 2015

Will I complete all my goals for the week?

  •  This week I expect that I will reach my next goal of 289.0 lbs.  That means I need to lose 0.3 lbs this week.  Unless I gain two pounds tomorrow, I am set.
  • This week I want to reach 10,000 steps Monday through Friday. 
  • This week I expect that I will walk at least 2 miles for purposeful exercise Monday through Friday.  
  • This week I want to get 8 cups of liquid in every single day.  
  • This week I expect that I will make at least one bag for the craft sale.  Work in progress.
  • This week I expect to make Curious George cupcakes for a birthday at church.  See Below.
  • This week I will go to an Archery class.  Bruise on my arm to prove it!  Next, buy a arm guard first.



I seem to have caught a cold, it started developing Friday afternoon.  I've gotten very little sleep since Thursday.  I'll be honest, I'm not sure I have enough energy to finish the bag tonight.  Also, cramps, so yes, it's been a great weekend.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Progress Report


  •  This week I expect that I will reach my next goal of 289.0 lbs.  That means I need to lose 0.3 lbs this week.  This is my second day in a row that I am below this goal, so I think it is safe to say I made it.
  • This week I want to reach 10,000 steps Monday through Friday.  So far so good, two days left to consider this goal accomplished.
  • This week I expect that I will walk at least 2 miles for purposeful exercise Monday through Friday.  On track here.
  • This week I want to get 8 cups of liquid in every single day.  This one has been tough!  I've even stayed up late a couple times already to make sure I get in 8 cups.  It will be a struggle to reach this one, four more days to go.
  • This week I expect that I will make at least one bag for the craft sale.  Not done yet... eek!
  • This week I expect to make Curious George cupcakes for a birthday at church.  I need to make frosting today.
  • This week I will go to an Archery class.  This is on Sunday, so as long as I don't forget to go... I should be good.

I'm going to a couple crafts stores this morning.  I have a Halloween candy bag pattern, the kind of bag you use to go trick or treating with.  I am missing a few components.  But I hope to make one of them later today.  I feel like I have so much to do today, but today was supposed to be my one "down" day.  Ugh, never enough time.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Weekly Goals 8/24 - 8/30

Nothing much has been going on here to write about.  I passed the 3 month post-op mark and updated my before and after photos.  I had blood drawn last Wednesday to check all my vitamin, mineral, protein levels.  I won't get those results until later this week though.  I am very close to attaining my next goal, but not quite yet.  Maybe tomorrow if I am lucky.  I did stall out for a week with a whopping 0.4 lb change.  It is frustrating, but bound to happen.  I've been asked to babysit for my sister 3 times this week, so that will put a cramp on doing a lot.  I had a phone interview yesterday for a part-time companion/errand runner position, 6-9 hours a week.  I am supposed to find out today or tomorrow if I am going to be chosen to take the next step and meet the family.  We've signed up to participate in two craft sales, one of which is in just three weeks.  So I really need to start working on more of my crafts.  I baked bars and cookies yesterday for a breast cancer awareness bake sale.  It was really fun and reminded me of how much I enjoy baking.  I wish I could have a part-time job where I would just bake things at home for people.  Anyway, on to my weekly goals.

  •  This week I expect that I will reach my next goal of 289.0 lbs.  That means I need to lose 0.3 lbs this week.
  • This week I want to reach 10,000 steps Monday through Friday.  
  • This week I expect that I will walk at least 2 miles for purposeful exercise Monday through Friday.
  • This week I want to get 8 cups of liquid in every single day.
  • This week I expect that I will make at least one bag for the craft sale.
  • This week I expect to make Curious George cupcakes for a birthday at church.
  • This week I will go to an Archery class.
Is that enough?  I don't want to overwhelm myself knowing that I am babysitting three days this week.

Monday, August 17, 2015

3 month post-op photos

It has been three months since I had gastric bypass surgery.  Here are some side by side photos from day of surgery to today.  I used paint.net ink sketch effect to make them less likely to be stolen.  No other alterations were made.




Years ago I had an acquaintance on a weight loss website who posted side by side weight loss photos of herself.  Another person found that her photos had been stolen and were being used on a website to advertise some kind of weight loss pill.  Hence the caution I take.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Recipe: Chili Sauce Turkey Meatloaf

Turkey Meatloaf  Serves 6

1 lb ground 99% Fat Free Turkey breast
1⁄3 cup quick-cooking oats
1⁄4 cup FairLife Fat Free milk
1 egg, beaten
1⁄3 cup Heinz chili sauce
1 small onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
A dash salt and pepper
1/2 cup Westbrae unsweetened vegetarian ketchup

1.  In small bowl combine oats and milk--let absorb about 10 minutes.
2.  Combine absorbed oats and all ingredients--except for ketchup-- in a large bowl.
3.  Mix with well, I used my hands.
4.  Spray a 8x4 loaf pan or a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray.
5.  Shape meat mixture into loaf.  Meat mixture will be very moist and want to spread.
6.  Brush with ketchup.
7.  Insert a cooking thermometer and bake until it reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
           Anywhere from 30 - 50 minutes depending on what pan you use.
8.  Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Notes:  1- If you use a 9x13 pan the mixture will spread into a flatter loaf due to the amount of moisture in the meat mixture.  This will take less time to cook since it is spread out more.
            2 - If you change brands of any of the ingredients, it will change the nutrition value.  Nutrition value was calculated using myfitnesspal.com which allows you to look up exact brands when putting together recipes.

Nutrition Facts
Servings 6.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 149
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 2 g3 %
Saturated Fat 0 g2 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 78 mg26 %
Sodium 389 mg16 %
Potassium 80 mg2 %
Total Carbohydrate 11 g4 %
Dietary Fiber 1 g3 %
Sugars 5 g
Protein 20 g41 %
Vitamin A8 %
Vitamin C3 %
Calcium2 %
Iron7 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Weight Loss Goal #2 Achieved!

It's official, I weigh less than 300 lbs.  I will never ever let myself go there again.  I am so happy.  For my reward, I went to Torrid and picked up a top I had seen on their website.  I took a selfie, or several, but you can't really see the top very well because it is mostly a head shot.  So here is a picture from their website, although the website only has it with a white lining and I opted to buy the nude lining.


And here is my selfie.


I feel pretty and sexy in it.  I can't wait to surprise my hubby.  I also bought a new bra in 2 sizes smaller than what I am currently wearing.  I love it too.  It is slightly snug, but not tight, so that just leads me to believe I have been wearing too big a size for a while now.

Finally, I tried on my size 32 jeans this morning... and they fit!!  It has been a very happy day for me.  Now, I have to go get ready for our support group meeting.

Table Runner and Quilt

I forgot to post a picture of the table runner I made my mom for her birthday.  I gave it to her yesterday and she liked it.  Both she and my grandma said they wanted one for Christmas, so now I have that to plan.  I used this tutorial for the pattern.


 

And below is the picture of the quilt I made to donate to Project Linus.  I was inspired by this tutorial, but I changed the block sizes smaller and made it a larger overall.





Sunday, August 2, 2015

End of Week 8/2/15 Summary

Final progress report this week.
  • This week I expect that I will reach a total weight loss of 60 lbs.  I am only a tenth of a pound away from reaching that, so should be totally doable.
  • This week I expect that I will reach my next goal of 299.0 lbs.  That means I need to lose 2.1 lbs this week.  I have had some weeks where I have lost less weight; but, I am going to set my hopes high.  Achieved Saturday!
  • This week I expect that I will walk everyday, even if it means driving to a store or the YMCA to do so.  I can not afford to miss a day if I want to reach my next goal.  To that end...  Success!
  • This week I expect that I will get up between 5:30 AM - 6 AM every weekday this week.  I will be much more productive overall if I get up early and get a walk in right after breakfast.  FAIL
  • This week I expect that I will finish the quilt I am working on.  It will be donated to Project Linus.  Did it!  Picture tomorrow, I am too tired right now.
  • This week I expect to make muffins or cookies to take to Church Sunday, since it is my day to bring an after-service snack.  I will not eat any.  Banana Chocolate Chip and Zucchini Nut Muffins.
  • This week I expect I will use my Walk Away The Pounds (1 mile) DVD to get in two extra work-outs.  I want to get in some extra exercise.  Starting with two extra workouts a week seems like a good place to begin.  That second one was hard!
  • This week I expect to make and decorate a cake for my Mom's birthday.  I asked her if I could make something other than white or chocolate and she gave me to go ahead.  In fact, she told me to get creative and anything other than eggplant and avocado.  (In other words, nothing that could be gross as a cake.)  So now I have to come up with something to "different" make.  I have some ideas, just need to settle on one.  I will not eat, or even taste, any of it.  Cake is very tempting.  Cake went over well  :)

All in all, not a bad week, I only failed at one goal.  And hey, I deserve to be cut a little slack.

Hair Loss and WLS

Hair loss, it's real.

A bit more than normal, but not too bad yet.


So I've noticed the past two hair washings that I have had a bit more than normal amount of hair loss.  Not extreme hair thinning like I see some of the gastric bypass patients have, but more than normal for me.  I knew this was a side effect of weight loss surgery going in, but it is one of my most dreaded. (The other being tooth loss.)

I don't want to be an overweight bald woman.  I am 2.5 months out from surgery.  Will this get worse?  I am taking biotin already.  5000 mcg a day.  But I have noticed that when I was taking 2 1000 mcg tablets a day my hair was oilier than now when I am taking 1 5000 mcg capsule a day.  More oil production from our pores is one effect of biotin.  I have considered that perhaps with my altered anatomy and reduced stomach acid, that I am not effectively digesting the capsule.  So I bought some more tablets.  I found them in 1000 mcg and 7500 mcg.  I bought both.

On the recommendation of someone on FB, I bought this OGX shampoo and conditioner.  I haven't started to use it yet, as I was hoping to use up my old bottles.  But I may have to switch now.  It was not that expensive and I found it at the grocery store.  It looks like it may only protect and give hair a fuller appearance.


A better option, according to most, is Nioxin.  It is only available online and at some hair salons.  It has a lot of reviews on amazon claiming it really works to actually help regrow hair.  It is much more expensive.  If I begin losing more hair, I will definitely try it.  But as it stands now, I am going to just try the OGX.



Saturday, August 1, 2015

Snickerdoodle Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

I completed my main task of the day which was making a birthday cake for my mom.  The only restriction was that it not be a plain white/yellow/chocolate cake.

I've been wanting to try out the petal technique for decorating the cake.  It was slightly more difficult than I imagined but only because the frosting was so soft it kept wanting to droop before I could get the spatula on it.  Perhaps a shortening based, rather than butter based, icing would have been easier to work with.  Also, the beginning/end point is not the prettiest spot on the cake, but you can hide that in the back I suppose.  It used about 4.5-5 cups of frosting doing the petal technique.  That was more than the recipe made, so yes, I had two batches of frosting.  I didn't use it all though.

I've frozen frosting in the past, works quite well.  I had a small amount mixed with cake crumbs from crumb coating the cake.  I wanted to eat that so bad.  It took everything in me to throw it away.  I can just imagine the hours I would have spent in the bathroom has I done so.  This is the third time I've made the cake.  I love this frosting.  The cake is good.  The frosting... seriously, I could just make it and eat it until I got sick.  I think besides a snickerdoodle cake, it would be awesome on carrot, spice, pumpkin, apple, zucchini, mocha, dark chocolate cakes and probably more.  It's splendiferous and fraught with danger for someone who would dump for eating it.  I don't think I am going to make it again for a while.  The temptation may just be too much for me next time.

The recipe comes to me from The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn.  I have three of her books and having tried about 5 recipes.  You can find the recipe online in multiple places, but here is one.

Because cake mixes have shrunk as inflation rises, I also used this Cake Mix Extender recipe to round the cake out.  I didn't want to have thin layers.  And since I didn't want my extra addition to go to waste, I didn't bother leveling the layers either.  I think it still turned out pretty.

Snickerdoodle Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

When it runs between your toes, like slimy sloppy joes... Another TMI Post.

I am having wicked, wake me up in the middle of the night, diarrhea.  I don't know if it was what we ate for dinner or something else.  We had sockeye salmon.  Granted it is kind of a fatty fish, but salmon is on my list of approved foods.  Also, not the first time we've had salmon.  Maybe it wasn't cooked enough?  Like I said, I don't know, but I need the diarrhea to stop now.  I want to go walk after typing this, but I might have to wait until later in the day.  I might not be able to be that far from a toilet.  The only bright side is that it is not causing me any pain.  No stomach cramps or burning anus.  It's is just there knocking on my sphincter, waiting to be let out.

A progress report of how I've been doing this week.
  • This week I expect that I will reach a total weight loss of 60 lbs.  I am only a tenth of a pound away from reaching that, so should be totally doable.
  • This week I expect that I will reach my next goal of 299.0 lbs.  That means I need to lose 2.1 lbs this week.  I have had some weeks where I have lost less weight; but, I am going to set my hopes high.  Maybe?  We will see if I fluctuate back up tomorrow.  I have diarrhea to thank for this.
  • This week I expect that I will walk everyday, even if it means driving to a store or the YMCA to do so.  I can not afford to miss a day if I want to reach my next goal.  To that end...  So far so good.
  • This week I expect that I will get up between 5:30 AM - 6 AM every weekday this week.  I will be much more productive overall if I get up early and get a walk in right after breakfast.  FAIL
  • This week I expect that I will finish the quilt I am working on.  It will be donated to Project Linus.  Almost Done quilting the top, then I just have to bind.
  • This week I expect to make muffins or cookies to take to Church Sunday, since it is my day to bring an after-service snack.  I will not eat any.  Banana Chocolate Chip and Zucchini Nut Muffins.
  • This week I expect I will use my Walk Away The Pounds (1 mile) DVD to get in two extra work-outs.  I want to get in some extra exercise.  Starting with two extra workouts a week seems like a good place to begin.  One down, one to go.
  • This week I expect to make and decorate a cake for my Mom's birthday.  I asked her if I could make something other than white or chocolate and she gave me to go ahead.  In fact, she told me to get creative and anything other than eggplant and avocado.  (In other words, nothing that could be gross as a cake.)  So now I have to come up with something to "different" make.  I have some ideas, just need to settle on one.  I will not eat, or even taste, any of it.  Cake is very tempting.  Today's major task.