Bueller... Bueller... Bueller...

Hey guys,

Sorry I've been absent for a bit. Not a whole lot to post right now, and honestly, there's something maybe exciting brewing in my life, but, nothing I can post about right now. And NO, I'm NOT pregnant. I always crack up when you say you have news, or something exciting, that if you're a female, you're automatically pregnant. Or so people assume. Someone else threw me for a loop this time around and guessed that I was becoming a stay-at-home mom. That makes me giggle, because we considered that once... and then realized that with the HUGE amounts of student loans that we have that that's not happening. Oh well. Stay tuned for the exciting news, and I'll post about it when I can... if it ends up happening.

This past weekend, we had my daughter's second birthday party. And there are moments in your life after you've started this journey that you see yourself, and go... WOW. I've changed. I had that moment this weekend... My mother-in-law posted this picture of my daughter and I on facebook, and I was just like... holy cow I've lost weight!

The pic on the right is from her first birthday party last year... so, almost a year apart. I mean, I've seen my comparison pictures, but, I feel like in my "everyday" clothes versus my work clothes, I look so different. :/

It was a good party. I made carb-free pizza, and turkey meatballs in SF BBQ, and we also got Pizza Hut pizza and wings. I bought her a cake, which I of course couldn't eat, but I had a tiny bite of Halo Top Red Velvet Cake ice cream, and a fresh strawberry. It worked. :)

How's your week going?

~♥~
Lady D

Mexican Bacon Turkey Skillet and Saggy Skin :/

So, I kind of made this up on the fly. After last week's success with the Philly Cheesesteak StirFry from The World According to Eggface, my husband asked for more stir-frys or skillet meals. Well, hell. There's a ton on Pinterest and such, but none that are bari-friendly. So, I thought about what we used to eat, many, many, moons ago, and Hamburger Helper came to mind. He and I LOVED the Mexican rice hamburger helpers. So, I made a bari-friendly easy Hamburger Helper-style meal. And he liked it. Honestly, you could fix this up any way you want it, but this is what I did...

Mexican Bacon Turkey Skillet

-1 bag riced cauliflower
-6 slices cooked turkey bacon, chopped (I used some that I had cooked up earlier in the week... just pulled it from the fridge, chopped it, and tossed it in)
-1- 4 oz. can green chilis, drained
-1 lb. ground turkey
-1 packet Taco Bell taco seasoning
-About 1/4 c. Mild Taco Bell Sauce
-About 1/2 tsp. dehydrated onion
-About 1/2 c. 2% Reduced Fat Mexican Blend Cheese
-Toppings

-Thaw and drain your riced cauliflower, being sure to squeeze out all the extra water using a cheesecloth, paper towel, or kitchen towel.
-Put about a tbsp. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) in a medium skillet, and begin to saute your cauliflower.
-Pour in your can of chilis, and your dehydrated onion.
-After you have a beginning saute on your chilis and onions, add your ground turkey, turkey bacon, packet of taco seasoning, and taco sauce.
-Cook on medium heat until turkey is cooked through.
-Top with cheese, and put a lid on the pan just to melt the cheese.
-Serve with your choice of taco toppings.

I wanted to add black beans to this, but my husband nixed that idea. I topped mine with salsa, and it would also be good with some plain Greek yogurt or light sour cream. I just ate mine as is in a bowl. To give my husband something extra, I put his on top of some Doritos, and he loved it. Said it was like a walking taco from back in school. :) This warms up very well (I had some for breakfast this morning), and it's just very good. I will warn you, it doesn't look pretty. But it tastes awesome. Plus! If your plan allows it, you could add corn to this for another layer of flavor... maybe a little lime and avocado... yum! I think that this would be best with a shredded meat though... shredded beef, chicken, or pork particularly. Husband liked it though, so, it's being added to our regular dinner menu. :)

Give it a try, let me know what you think! :)

So, the second part of this post is the pictures I promised... the saggy skin. If you don't want to see it, turn away now...

The belly is hard to see still, because I still have a lot to lose there... but as you can see, the arms and Thighs are bad... but, as my aunt pointed out, the alternative is worse... My husband really helps with the self-confidence thing... it really doesn't seem to bother him that I have the saggy skin. But we're getting the arms fixed (at least you can see the definition of them now!!), and the belly once I'm much closer to goal weight.

~♥~
Lady D

Thyroid, and things...

So, I saw my thyroid doctor on Monday. I don't have to go see him for another two years... *sigh* Thyroid problems aren't gone, but they aren't bad enough for medication or surgery... My thyroid is still larger than normal, but not nearly as large as he expected it to be (I've been trying to tell people for years that I have a big neck... now that I've lost all the weight in my neck, I can prove that I really do just have a big neck!), so, he wasn't concerned about that. I have 5+ nodules, but they're all small (My largest was 0.8 cm... 1 cm is when they start considering biopsy), which means there's almost no chance of cancer, and no point in biopsying. He also said that they have a "comet-tail" appearance, which apparently is also an indicator that they're all benign, and there's no point in biopsying. So, as he said, "Chill out, and wait." :) Sounds good to me... one less doctor's appointment I have to worry about.

Monday, while I was walking around at work, I had a co-worker stop me who hadn't seen me full-body in a while (I sit at a desk). She was speechless. She just kept gesturing to my whole body with her hand. Apparently I look much smaller than when she last saw me. Hehe. She and another co-worker who happened to walk up and ask what was so amazing, were FLOORED that I've lost 120# (now 121#! :D)... They said that they couldn't believe how much I had lost, and one of them said that she never would have thought that I had that much to lose. :)

I'm still not where I need to be, and I still need to lose 70-90 more pounds. It's coming off slowly, but slow is good. It's giving my skin time to catch up.

I was talking to my sister this past weekend about that. Apparently the person I mentioned that I thought was jealous had said that part of the reason it's hard to believe that I lost so much weight is that you can't see the saggy skin. Well, trust me... I have it. If I get brave... I'll take some pictures. I won't take any in my undies... I'm not THAT brave. But I might pull up my shirt, and show my belly, and maybe take one in a tank or a super short sleeve so you can see the arms. My thighs aren't too pretty either, but, I'd have to have someone help me take that pic... we'll see. I'm not a fan of my body right now, as I mentioned, but, it's my body. It's healthier than it was before. :)

So, how's your week so far? :)

~♥~
Lady D

Weekend Fun

Hello lovely readers! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! :)

My mom and sister came in to town to help celebrate my daughter's birthday, and we had a blast. :) I got to cook some yummy and healthy meals for them (orange chicken and cauliflower fried rice, black forest ham and cheese egg bites, cauliflower hash browns, and chicken sausage, and then the carb free pizza with carmalized onions, pepperoni, and banana peppers), which they loved... especially the pizza. My mom and sis each went back for seconds. I think we are for sure doing that this weekend for my daughter's other birthday celebration with my husband's family. :)

I was thinking about my daughter's birthday last year, and wanted to go find a pic for a size comparison this year. I found the perfect one, because while I've given away a TON of clothes, I still had this outfit, and was able to show you guys the size difference IN the outfit. :)

The shirt is a 3XL men's shirt, and the pants are either a 3XL or a 26/28 pants. As you can see, the arms of the shirt were super tight, and the shirt itself, I completely filled. The pants look tight in that pic, at least in the thighs and my upper legs. So... comparison photos???

So... yeah. In the shirt picture, I came to the realization that my husband (6'4", and about 280#) and I could BOTH fit into the shirt. The pants? Heh. I'm standing in ONE leg of them. So... about that. :D

My sister brought me some clothes that don't fit her right, one of which was a pair of Men's sweats, size Large. When she told me size large, I never thought I'd fit into them. :/ I figured my hips and thighs would totally prevent that...

Or not! Yup. I'm in a size men's large in sweats. Now, the fact that they're Toledo Rockets sweats hurts... I went to BGSU for college, and they're mortal enemies. Hence me wearing my Falcons shirt (GO BGSU!!!) with the Rockets sweats. But, they're free, they're comfy, and dammit, I need clothes. Just like if we ever go to Goodwill and they have something cute Colts, even though I'm a Browns fan, I won't say no to buying Colts stuff... besides, as long as the Colts aren't playing the Browns, I have no issues with them. :)

Oh! I'm sure you noticed as well that I'm wearing my hair down in most of these pictures... that's because my sister cut it for me. It really needed it. She ended up taking off about 6". :D

Finally, this morning, when I weighed myself, I have hit another weight-loss milestone. I'm 120# down since April.

So, yay me. It looks like my plateau is over for now. :)

So, I've seen a lot of questions in the weight loss groups/sites I'm in/on lately about where you measure your stats from. I look at a few when I'm measuring.

HW (Heaviest Weight) 393(back around 2009)
Starting Weight (I don't actually list this one in my stats anywhere, but it's where I'm counting from when I do my 120# down, ect.) 363 (My first supervised dietitian weight loss class in April)
SW (Surgery Weight) 278
CW (Current Weight) 243
GW (Goal Weight) 175-150 (I'm not sure what I really want to be at... I just picked a broad spectrum, and will be happy when I'm healthy)

A lot of programs I guess give you a number they want you to be at for "goal weight." My surgeon has never said a number to me, only that I had a lot of weight to lose (she was totally right on that). I still have a good amount of weight to lose to be totally healthy. But I've made a great start so far, and I'm only... holy cow... today is my 2 month Surgiversary! :) So... I'm 35# down in the two months since surgery, and 120# down since April. Awesome. :D

Today I'm seeing my endocrinologist, who has been following my thyroid issues. Hopefully, since I've lost all this weight, my thyroid issues have... gotten better. I won't say resolved, since it runs in my family, I doubt they resolved, but, we'll see. :) I'll let you know.

Have a wonderful week, readers, and stay tuned for more stuffs this week! :)

~♥~
Lady D

No Carb Pizza!!!

OMG. GUYS. SERIOUSLY. THIS. IS. FABULOUS!!!!

No Carb Pizza... the link to the original recipe is on the name... I did change a few things, but not a whole lot. I switched out the regular cream cheese for Fat-Free cream cheese, I used 1% milk instead of heavy cream... used Light Parmesan, used Low-Moisture, Part-Skim Mozzarella instead of full-fat Mozzarella, and turkey pepperoni, I also instead of 1/2 tsp. oregano, did 1/4 tsp. each oregano and basil. For pizza sauce, Contadina Squeeze sauce is actually very good, and only has 3g sugar per serving. So, basically, I cut fat and calories wherever I could. I halved the recipe for this, since we had never tried it before, and I didn't want a ton of food waste if we didn't like it... but... OMG. WE LOVE IT. It will be made again... soon. We've even decided that we're making it for my daughter's second birthday party. We're also going to get some regular pizzas, just because of how many people we're feeding, but this is totally going to be on the table too. :)

The top pic is the crust before I sauced and topped it, and the bottom pic is the pizza after it was done. I also say, follow the recipe, and throw that puppy under the broiler. Baby, baby!!! Fantastic. My husband, who is a non-op, ate two servings, and inhaled them both. I'll let you know how it reheats. I have 3 slices (my portion was 1/16 of my 9x9 pan... which was about 2 oz.) of my own left, and I'll probably try reheating each a different way... skillet, microwave, and oven. I'll let you know what's best. :)

Oh! Pro-tip for eating out. If you go to Chipotle, order a kids' meal. I had a vendor bring in lunch today, and I ordered a kids' meal. I had them hold the tortillas (did I mention I don't like food waste?), ordered barbacoa, fajita veggies, and pico de gallo. I asked for a side of cheese. It comes with either fruit or chips (I took the fruit), and a drink (the vendor got me apple juice, which I gave to my daughter). They give you like, 4 oz. of meat, and 4 oz. of each of the other toppings you pick. I ate two ounces of meat, and 1/4 cheese, and about 1/3 of veggies and pico. So, I literally have a whole second meal. Plus, if you get it to go, they give you your side of cheese and your cutie (or halo, not sure which), in these great 4 oz. portion cups, which make it very easy to take stuff home in! :)

So, go out with people, get two meals for the price of one! And it's WAY cheaper than a regular burrito bowl. :) Do you have any eating out pro-tips?

~♥~
Lady D

Ice, Jealousy, and Cheesesteak...

Well, the end of yesterday could have gone better... for the most part it was a good day, except I slipped on some ice on the sidewalk last night... couldn't even see it. But this right here is yet another affirmation that this journey is totally right for me. If I had done that this time last year, I'd have been in the ER, having X-Rays on my hip, elbow, shoulder, and wrist. When I slipped, I landed pretty hard on my left side. Honestly, I'm just a little sore today... but 117# ago? Yeah... totally different story. Be safe out there guys!

However, my butt is killing me today. Probably a TMI, but, let me explain. So, right after my surgery, we finally got a new mattress. We got a nice firm spring mattress. We had been sleeping on a memory foam, and it was breaking down BAD. So, somehow, last night, my body decided to sleep on my back... I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet on here, but, I have no butt anymore. Like... it's gone. That was one of the first things to go. So, my poor tailbone is not used to dealing with all this pressure without the extra padding. So, me sleeping on my back last night means I woke up in pretty severe pain this morning. I have no idea what possessed me to sleep on my back last night... I'm usually a belly or side sleeper. O.O Oh well, that'll show me. LOL.

So... I sent a friend the picture I posted on here the other day of me in June, and me last Saturday. I knew that they had been trying to lose weight, and back when I was a size 22 or 20, and said that I'd be an 18 before long, they said that if I got to an 18, they'd have to get the surgery. So, I sent the pic of me in my size Large shirt, and my size 16 misses jeans. They didn't say anything back to me, but apparently said something to another friend of mine. Word is that they were literally in disbelief. Like, said that there's no way that I could be in a size large shirt, because that's what they wore, and that's just not possible, and that I couldn't be in a size 16 misses jeans, because that's what another friend of ours wears (she doesn't... she wears a size 11 American Eagle... whatever that means), and with me having been so big that there's just NO WAY that I'm that small now. The friend they were talking to asked why I would lie about something like that. They had no answer. So, the only thing I can think of is that they're jealous.

This makes me feel really weird. Like, I look at that pic from Saturday, and I honestly don't think that there's ANY WAY that I really look that small. That it's just a good angle. But, my husband took the pic, and he knows that he has to be brutally honest with me right now, and he said that no, I'm really that small. He said something to that effect last night again... that I don't realize just how small I'm getting.... I think we were talking about my ability to fit in some clothes that I hadn't worn in a while... he said he thought they'd be way too big on me... turns out he was right. LOL.

As I kind of mentioned in the previous post, I'm having a lot of body issues right now. Like, I see the number on the scale going down, and I can visually see sometimes, how small I am (last night I was laying in bed on my back, with my knees propped up, and I was astounded at how small my thighs looked), and other times, all I see is fat (like when I look at my belly and arms). Now, I know that some of the "fat" I'm seeing is actually loose skin, and that will be taken care of when I eventually have plastic surgery. Well... some of it. I'm only planning on having two procedures right now, one of which I'm hoping to get covered by insurance. :/

But yeah, this head stuff is no joke, guys. Losing the weight will not make you love your body. Having the surgery will not make you love your body. My husband helps me to love my body, in that he loves it, and tells me how beautiful I am, and such, and honestly, that is HUGE. But, I still don't always see it. :( I guess it will just take time.

So, I made something AWESOME last night. It's another Eggface recipe... Philly Cheesesteak Stirfry. For mine, I just used diced green pepper, diced red onion, diced cold cut roast beef, salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and because I don't like Worchestershire sauce, I used a little soy sauce instead. We topped it with sliced provolone cheese, and voila. My husband ate his as an open-faced sandwich, and I ate mine in my little bowl. I forgot to take a picture of it in the pan, when it was all nice and pretty, but here is my little 2.5 oz (I went a little bigger because the dietitians want me to have more veggies) portion.

Not too pretty to look at there, but super easy, and yummy. Seriously, if you're looking for recipes, and you haven't checked out The World According to Eggface blog, go check her out! She's awesome. :D Tonight, we're doing a "Pizza Casserole" which is not hers... it's one I found on Pinterest. I'm going to have to edit the recipe, but, we'll see how it turns out. If it's good, I'll share the recipe tomorrow. :D

~♥~
Lady D

Hormones, and making my co-workers healthier, one cup at a time...

So, I know I've talked about hormones a few times on here. Hormones are stored in your fat cells, and as you lose weight, your body releases those. Yesterday, I had one of my worst emotional days since I was pregnant with my daughter. It was bad. I'm not going to go into the details of what set it off, but it had a lot to do with my self-consciousness about how I'm feeling about my body right now.

You read how they say that this journey is mostly head stuff. I didn't really have too many issues with the head stuff until now. It also probably doesn't help that it's around that time of the month for me. So, there's that. But yeah. I've been having a lot of body image issues lately. Some days, I look at myself in the mirror, and I feel super sexy and confident. Other days I feel like I did before I lost any of the weight. Fat, ugly, horrible. Yesterday was somewhere in between for me. And it set me off. Sadly, my husband got the brunt of my meltdown... I wasn't really angry so much as I was just sad and depressed. And I think it makes him sad... the way that I look at myself sometimes. But I can't help it.

Long story short, yesterday ended with me with a migraine, in bed, burrowed under the covers. Today I almost feel like I have a hangover. I'm tired, I'm feeling a bit fuzzy-headed, my eyes feel like they're full of gunk. :/ So, yeah. Not a great day so far. Oh well. With this journey you'll have good days and bad days I guess. Yesterday was a bad day. Today we'll work on turning it around.

So, when I started this journey, I brought some of my not so healthy snacks and drinks in to work and gave them away. Well, one of the drinks wasn't that it's not healthy, it's just not approved for my plan... No Sugar Added Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa... I just put it in the coffee cabinet here and work, and once it got cold, about two weeks later, I was told that it was all gone, much to my surprise. We stock regular hot cocoa too.

So, I do the Staples orders for the office too. And I came to the realization that if someone was drinking the No Sugar Added hot cocoa, maybe they would like a Sugar Free option for coffee creamer too. We already have Equal and Sweet & Low for sweeteners, but what about creamer? Or what if we have a diabetic patient come in that wants some cream in their coffee? So, I ordered some Coffeemate Sugar Free French Vanilla coffee creamer. Someone is using it. I got a big old cat with the cream smile on my face when I saw that. And I've been ordering the No Sugar Added hot cocoa too. If I can help my co-workers or patients get healthier, I will. I know that several of my co-workers have all made New Year's resolutions to get healthier and fitter. I know that's not because of me, but, that's awesome, and I'd happily help them in any way that I can. :D

~♥~
Lady D

A few weekend things...

Hello all!

This weekend was a fun one for me. I did meal prep, got to spend all day Saturday with the husband, had a couple revelations, and then a not so fun thing happened, but, it might still be ok. So, let's dive right in! :)

So, on Saturday, we had to do some shopping... a bit of minor grocery shopping, birthday party supply shopping for my soon to be two year-old, and Goodwill clothes shopping for both my husband and I. So, we decided to go out to lunch, and since we were both craving it, we went to a Mexican restaurant. I got the brilliant idea of ordering fajitas, so that way I could bring home the leftovers, and make chicken fajita egg bites. I've been playing with different flavors of Eggface's egg bties... I think she did a version of fajita egg bites, which is just a great idea. I actually had to look and see if she had one. I got the idea from IHOP's Chicken Fajita omelet, and her egg bites. IHOP's chicken fajita omelet is amazing, btw. I tried it on a whim one day, and I didn't know how I'd feel about it, but honestly, it's awesome. But for someone like me, who can only eat two ounces now, it's not a thing. :/ So, enter the egg bite.

I took five eggs, mixed them with 1/2 c. Kraft Reduced Fat Four Cheese Mexican Blend Shredded cheese, chopped up my remaining almost 2 cups of leftover fajita meat and veggies, sprinkled some salt, pepper, oregano, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder into the mixture. It DID make 24 this time. :D These would be fabulous with some salsa, and some fat-free sour cream or fat-free Greek Yogurt (no, seriously, plain Greek Yogurt takes EXACTLY like sour cream).

Also, Saturday night, we both wanted Chinese, so, I took another stab at making orange chicken and cauliflower fried rice. I changed things up a bit from this recipe (Cauliflower fried rice... basically, I switched the green beans out for edamame, and did chopped broccoli instead of full florets), and Here's the original recipe for Skinny Orange Chicken, but I did edit it a bit... So, here's the recipe I ended up making...

Carb-free Sugar-Free Orange Chicken

-1/2 c. Sugar Free Orange Preserves or Marmalade
-1/2 c. Chicken Broth
-2 tbsp. Rice Wine Vinegar
-2 tbsp. Soy Sauce
-2 garlic cloves, minced (I cheat and use about 2 tbsp. of pre-minced garlic that you can buy in a jar)
-Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
-Black Pepper, to taste
-1/2 c. Splenda

-Mix everything in a medium saucepan, and let simmer until thickened.
-The sauce will still be thin... I'm working on figuring out how to thicken it.

For the chicken, we bought a pound of chicken breast tenders, and cooked them in our air fryer. They get this great crunchy skin on them that is reminiscent (kind of) of the tempura, so, it works out. :D

That was my portion. 2 oz. Orange chicken, and about an ounce of fried "rice." I ate all of the chicken, and about half of the "rice."

So, my revelation this weekend? I can fit into size 16 MISSES jeans. In the pic below, I'm wearing size 16 MISSES Levi's jeans, and a Large top.

That's what I wore out and around on Saturday. The picture on the left is from June 2017... it's my 30# down shot... so, 333#, size 26W? 28W? and a 3XL top. The pic on the right I've already given the clothing sizes... weight? 247#. That's a HUGE difference in body size! Like, HOLY COW. Can I also say that I feel like I don't even look like myself anymore? Actually, in the face, I totally look like my dad when he was a young guy... I'll have to see if I can dig up a pic to show you. :D

My second revelation came from last night, and it's a funny one... but, I'm giving you the head's up, we're going to talk about adult things now. So... if you're sensitive, skip this next paragraph. So, I was laying in bed with my husband after we had just been intimate, and he started stroking my shoulder and collar bone. He was like... "Huh, that's new." I was very confused, and was like, "What?" He said that he could feel the whole outline of my shoulder and collar bone, which he never could before. So, I totally had to make a joke, "It's like having sex with a different woman every time!" LOL. My husband got really serious, "Actually, you can't really joke about that, because it's true. Every time we're together, I notice different things. I'm not having issues breathing if you're on top, I'm able to try new positions, and things feel different." I won't go into the gory details exactly what he listed, but this isn't something I've really talked about before on here, and it's a real thing. Your sex life WILL change with this journey. For me, it's changing for the better, ESPECIALLY since I have all this extra energy right now, and with the weather being crap (ANOTHER 2-4" snow last night/today... WTH Mother Nature?!) I don't have a whole lot of ways of expending it. My libido has increased, and frankly, sex is FUN now. Plus, with getting smaller, both ladies and guys, the intimate wear gets more fun. So, as much as sex is usually a private topic, it's really something you should know gets easier and fun. :D Be sure that you get your doctor's clearance as to when you're allowed to have sex after surgery. I was told that as soon as I felt mentally and physically ready, I'd be allowed to have sex. So, I did. :)

As for the not so fun thing? Well, I've been honestly doing great with my workouts. After my PA limited me to only 30 mins of jogging each day, and walk-jogging at that, I've been good. I've been doing 15 min. walk, 30 min. jog, 15 min. walk. Yesterday, when I put the baby down for her nap, I started my walk, and then about 5 mins. into my jog, my right knee (the one I "broke" hiking in the smokies) started yelling at me. I took my pace down a bit, and a few mins. later, my other knee started yelling at me. So, I finished my workout walking. I ended up jogging about 15 mins of my 60 min. workout. So... I don't know if jogging is going to be able to be a thing for me. :( I'm going to take it easy this week, do mostly walking, with maybe one or two days of jogging, and see if that helps. If once I get below my 35 BMI and my knees are still giving me trouble, I'm going to see if an Ortho consult can be a thing to see if my body is healthy enough for running. I hope it is. My heart and lungs love the running. My knees do not. At least for now. :/

I'm very excited for this weekend. My mom and sister are coming to celebrate my daughter's birthday (Feb. 5, but since it's basically Super Bowl, my husband, who is a Pizza Hut GM can't get that weekend off, so, we celebrate it early). I'm making lots of bari-friendly meals that they're both super excited to try. :D They're all meals that I've made on here before except one, and if it turns out, I'll post the recipe here. :D

So, how was your weekend? Anything exciting happening this week? :)

~♥~
Lady D

6 Week Post-Op

Well, yesterday I had my 6 week post-op visit with a dietitian, and with my surgeon's PA. It went really well.

My dietitian is the same one that I saw for my one-week post-op, and she said the same thing that she did then... that I'm doing fabulous! Apparently, she found a recorded weight in my chart of 380# when I was pre-op, so, my total weight loss is actually #132 so far. That's kind of awesome. :D I've also lost 9" off my waist since June. When I met Dr. Jones for my consult in June, I was 54". Now I'm 45" at the widest part of my waist.

She also approved me to have veggies. Like, I was able to have veggies before, but I didn't really want to, since I was only allowed to have my 2 oz. portion. Well, she said that I can do my 2 oz. portion of protein, and then ON TOP of that, have some small amounts of veggies. :D I'm ecstatic. I've been craving veggies SO BAD.

My surgeon's PA came in, and we talked about running. She herself is a runner, and she cautioned me on running right now. She said she's not going to tell me not to run, but she wants me to only do 30 mins. right now, and to run-walk (run 1 min, walk 1 min, ect.) until my BMI gets below 35. She said that the ortho guys suggest no physical activity until BMI is under 35. But I'm close (37), so, she won't tell me no. So, once I lose about 20# more, I'll be able to take the training wheels off per se. :) She also said other than that I'm doing really well. I forgot to mention in our meeting about the annoying itchy rash that has started with one of my skin folds (sorry if that grosses you out, but it's a part of this journey, so, deal!), and since I need to have six months of documented rashes in order for my insurance to even remotely consider covering skin removal surgery for me, I e-mailed the office this morning so that they can start the documentation on it.

So, if you're my friend on Facebook, you saw my plea last night regarding my FitBit. Well, since I want to start running, I've come to the conclusion that the Flex 2 just isn't going to cut it. But... $130-$150 depending on if you find it on sale or not? Not happening right now. I had a Charge HR, but the band started falling apart on it. I contacted Fitbit, and all they could do was a 25% coupon, which is honestly generous, since it isn't in warranty. But that still makes it $100, which I can't really afford right now. Oh well. I'll deal with my Flex 2 for now. *shrugs*

Two things about yesterday? Well, one weird, one heartwarming. So, obviously, I'm spilling my guts out here for you guys to read. I've also mentioned that I have an IG acct (ladydobz). I've gotten two creepers on my IG acct so far... last night's was funny. I posted this picture yesterday

with the caption, "Feeling particularly fabulous today." I don't really see anything sexy about the picture, or what I said about it... But... A guy messaged me, and on IG, you have to approve people to message you. After the last creeper (how old are you, are you married, do you have kids, do you live alone, where do you live?) I was a little apprehensive, but, I always accept in case someone has a legit question. I warned my husband, who was sitting right next to me, that I might have another creeper. He got all excited. "If he's really a creeper, can I troll him?" I didn't care. You creep on me, you're going to get burned. xD But anyways, he started by saying I was beautiful, and then wishing me and my family a Happy New Year. I was like, ok, not a creeper. And then he started talking about how he was so glad I messaged him back (I said thank you, and wished him a happy new year too), and that he messaged me to get my attention, and I really am beautiful (I handed the phone to my husband at this point). I don't know what was exactly said after that, but apparently, he asked if I was married, so, my husband sent him a picture, and said: "To me, so BUG OFF!" He handed the phone back to me to block the guy. All I saw was the guy kept asking, "Wait, she's your wife?" After the first time he asked that, my husband sent *facepalm*. The second time, I sent "Yes" and blocked him. I just don't get it! At all! I've mentioned several times in my blog that I'm married and have a child, and I've also mentioned it on my IG acct. Are guys really that desperate or oblivious? My husband said that he hopes I get one that decides to send a dick pic. He said he's going to have so much fun with that one... he likes trolling. *cackles maniacally*

So, the heartwarming thing? Well, I saw someone standing outside the building where my doc's office is yesterday, and she was looking at me like she was trying to figure out where she knew me from (or so I thought). I was looking back trying to decide if she was a bariatric patient or not, because she didn't really look like one. But later, when I got home, I noticed I had a Facebook request for a message. I approved it. It was her! She said that she saw me walking into the office today, and that she's been following me online for a while, and that I'm looking amazing. She said that the pictures do not do justice how awesome I'm looking! Omg. I blushed so bad when I read that. You know who you are, thank you SOOO much! <3 <3 <3 It's very cool to see that people are following this, and that they're excited to see how my journey is going. I know this blog doesn't really seem like it, but I write it because I want people to honestly see what this journey is like, and hopefully it will help someone make the decision like I did, to change their life for the better. So, to all my wonderful readers out there, xoxo

~♥~
Lady D

No Pain... No Gain...

**forgot to post this last night... oops.**

So, the pain part of this post is not actually related to the workout part of this post... I was at work yesterday, in the Plastic Surgeon's office that I sometimes help out in, and I was reading a paper as I was walking back to the check-in desk, and BAM! Slammed my shoulder (the tip of my shoulder, btw) straight into a metal doorframe. Can you say OW?! And better yet? I did it again TODAY! Not nearly as hard, but, OW! I already bruised the thing, So, yeah! It hurt! :(

So, I was going through my Instagram feed, and looking at everyone hitting the gym, and working out, and being awesome. Seriously, you all are. In the warmer weather, I was walking 1-3 mi. Saturday and Sunday mornings. It's not a lot, but, it's totally better than doing nothing. Well, last night, I decided to be awesome myself. I know that I need to get some type of exercise more than I do... especially since I work at a desk most of the day. So, I decided that I was literally just going to have a dance party in my living room. I found some awesome dance music on YouTube and started dancing. I have an awesome weight set

which I'm pretty sure I've shown before. But, anyways, I grabbed my 2# weights, and started working those as I danced/ran around the living room... until my daughter stole them from me. So, I grabbed my 3# weights, and she and I did a 45 min. cardio/dance workout. Honestly, it was awesome. I haven't had this much energy in a LONG time. And while I probably looked like an idiot (I REALLY can't dance), I was sweating, and moving. So was my daughter. These are family fitness goals. :D

Ideally, I'd love to get to the point where I could run a 5k... my knees aren't great, so, we'll see about the running thing. But for now, we'll shoot for 5 workouts a week. Daughter should be included in most of them, and she's so cute when she's doing it. She's running around giggling like crazy. She LOVES to dance and move. :D

Tonight, I jogged... slowly, but I jogged, for 63 minutes. I actually kind of lied. 5k is not my end goal... runDisney half-marathon is end goal. I just hope my knees can take it. Time will tell...

Time for a call out! I know you all are exercising. And who exercises in silence? No one. So, what do you listen to while you exercise? I don't care what genre it is, as long as I can dance to it! Give me your ideas/playlists! And: GO!

So, how are your fitness goals going so far this year? :)

~♥~
Lady D

Hot Cocoa

So, I know that I talked previously on the blog about the sampler pack of BariWise hot chocolate that I bought. It's very good! I'm not a huge fan of some of the flavors, but the Raspberry, and Original Chocolate are very yummy! Now, as I also think I mentioned, it's a bit on the pricey side. Well, I've found an alternative. :D It's so simple, it's stupid. So, I was looking for a way to boost my protein last night, and I didn't want to break into my last packet of BariWise (15g protein). So, I remembered that my 1% milk has about 1g protein/1 oz. milk. Not bad, all in all. So, I took a Swiss Miss Light packet (2g protein), and mixed it with 8 oz. of hot 1% milk (8g protein). Boom! Instant 10g protein added to my day. The Swiss Miss Light only has 2g sugar, and 25 calories. Plus, it's only like $3.50ish a box at Meijer... much cheaper than the $15/box for the BariWise. :)

Yesterday at work, I had two co-workers that I hadn't seen in about two weeks that just exclaimed over seeing me again, and kept asking me how much more weight I've lost. I really don't think I've lost much more since I last saw them, but that means that I'm losing inches again. :D I'm down to 249# right now, which is the lowest I've been... in a LONG. LONG. LONG. Time. Like, I can't tell you the last time that I was under 250#... maybe when I was 16 and got my license? That's why my license says 250# on it... that's what I told them one time, and they just keep copying it over, and I've never corrected them. Oops. ;) Bet your ass I'll correct them next time. In addition to that, I put on a Large shirt last night, and it's getting more comfortable to wear. Not a visible enough change to progress via photo, but more comfortable overall. I'm going to have to keep trying on the size 16 pants until I get into them. :D Right now I'm still in 18's.

So, how's your week going? Anything exciting coming your way? Looks like we're due for 5-12" of snow this Friday night. -.- I hate snow. Good news is that if it comes Friday, it should be cleared by Monday... right? Right.

~♥~
Lady D

More Egg Bites!!!

Hello wonderful readers!

Did you all have a fabulous weekend? This was my first birthday in my new life, and honestly, it wasn't hard to do. I just did it like a normal day. It helped, I think, that I didn't really make a big deal over it. I'm pretty sure most of my co-workers still don't know that my birthday was on Saturday, and I'm ok with that. :) I did get a wonderful surprise birthday gift on my birthday. My mother-in-law ordered the Bento Box I wanted off of Amazon for me!!!! I'm so excited. It's going to make taking lunch to work, and fitting lunch in the fridge at work so much easier. :D

So, it was a pretty simple day, I had a friend over, and she and I hung out. The night before, I had made more Egg Bites (recipe to follow), and I made another batch of the carb-free sugar-free pumpkin pie that I had a bite of. That was my "cake" this year. And you know what? I'm totally ok with that. :D

So, here are the Egg Bites that I made this weekend. Here's the Eggface Recipe that I adapted it from. My husband had bought a Black Forest, Boneless, Pre-sliced ham from Meijer, which I made last week, so, I took 4 oz. of that, 1/2 c. reduced fat (made with 2% milk) Cheddar cheese, 5 eggs, salt, pepper, oregano, dehydrated onion. I was actually going to make them an Italian Ham Sub egg bite, since I found banana pepper rings in the fridge, but, I totally forgot to put those in, so, breakfast ham bites instead. It's ok, they still turned out FABULOUS! I freaking LOVED them. I actually took and froze two more 4 oz. portions of ham to make more with. :D

These little things freeze great. Just put some in the fridge the night before you want them for breakfast, and they're fabulous. :D

So, I'm on Instagram (ladydobz), where there is a HUGE WLS support community. Seriously, it's amazing. I love it. But one thing that I notice that many people talk about is water intake. It's something that pre-op I had issues with too. Since I've had surgery, however, I refuse to let myself NOT get my water. And my daughter has noticed. It's kind of funny. If I don't have my water cup with me (I use one of two Royal Caribbean cups that we got on our cruise)

(I actually prefer the other cup, but it's in the wash right now), she'll bring me my cup. She does it when she drinks. She likes to have her sippy cup with her all the time now, and she tends to drink when I drink. It's cute. So, if she notices she's thirsty, and takes a drink, she'll look at me. If I don't have my cup, she'll go and find it for me, and bring it to me. :D

If you don't have your own two year old water monitor, there are several apps that can help. Baritastic allows you to set alarms for multiple things, including vitamin/pill reminders, and I'm sure there's a water reminder on there. Another fun one is Plant Nanny. Literally, you record the water that you drink, and as you do, you're watering your little plant. Your plant grows, or, if you don't drink enough, it withers and dies. Don't worry, it doesn't die forever. You get these little "drops of life" that you can bring your plant back with. It's cute. I don't use it anymore, just because I have a bad habit of forgetting to update my water count on there. :/ Oops. Oh well.

Well, I hope you all have fabulous weeks! :)

~♥~
Lady D

Head Hunger is a Thing

So... I'm experiencing some of the worst head hunger ever this past week. It probably doesn't help that it's about that time of the month, either. I'm craving cheese. Like, I want to snack. I know I'm not hungry, but, I miss eating an afternoon snack (after I started my journey, I did a high-protein, low-carb afternoon snack, LIKE cheese!).

For the most part, I'm just going and getting something more to drink... or right now (after work, but pre-dinner) I'm drinking a protein shake, since I haven't had one today... I think that's a big part of it for me right now. I've been out of RTD protein shakes this week, so I haven't taken any to work with me. I think the protein shake is what's keeping me full during the day. Luckily, my husband went to Sam's Club today, and got me some more RTD shakes, so, I'm going to be good for next week. And how much do you want to bet that I don't have near as many issues with head hunger as I did this week?

So, I think I mentioned that I sometimes work for a Plastic Surgeon's office when they're short staffed? I started talking to the nurse today about a ballpark number on my worst-case scenario for Plastics... arms, breasts, belly, thighs. I wasn't too far off on my guess of ballpark for cost. I'm looking at about $5,000/ea. if I do them separately, but maybe a little less if I can combine surgeries (I'll only be taking up one OR once instead of multiple OR's multiple times). So... if I have to have everything done... $20,000. TWENTY. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. That's HUGE. Since I'm so soon out of surgery, there's no knowing what all I'll need. They won't even consider me for surgery until I'm 18 months post-op bariatric. Sadly, but kind of not sadly, I'm starting to develop a rash from my belly loss. :(

The reason I say it's kind of not sad is that if I get said rash, and no creams or RX's help it, insurance will cover a panniculectomy for me... that's one surgery off my plate that I don't have to worry about. :D The only other surgery that I KNOW I'm going to need is a brachioplasty... or arm skin removal. I have BAD batwings, and have for a long time. Husband and I have talked, and the arms WILL be happening. Probably not any time soon, because who has $5,000 sitting around, but it WILL be happening. However, if anyone reading this is rich, and wants to be awesome, feel free to send me $5,000. ;)

~♥~
Lady D

Welcome to 2018!!!

Good day everyone! Welcome to 2018! Over the weekend, I did a whole lot of nothing except play WoW. Yes, that's right, I'm a gamer. And, I also froze my butt off. See, here in IN, mother nature has decided that we're too warm... case in point?

That was my thermometer on my car this morning. -9*. -.- Come on, mother nature!!! Be nice to us!!! :(

Since it was so cold yesterday, I decided to try out an Eggface recipe for this week. I think it turned out extremely well. I made a variation of her egg bites. The recipe that I used for the base you can find here. I did change it up a bit. My recipe used 5 Aldi chicken sausage links, 5 eggs, dehydrated onion, 1/2 c. 2% shredded sharp cheddar cheese, salt, pepper. I tried them yesterday, and they're very good! A bit denser than I like, but, I'll work on figuring that out... maybe add a bit of milk?

Just like her recipe, mine made 24 bites, and 2 bites is about 2 oz. volume food. So, 12 meals. Not bad at all. :) I think I'm going to make some ham ones this weekend. :)

I also was wandering around Kroger yesterday doing some minor shopping, and came across these little guys. They are FABULOUS!!! A few seconds in the microwave, and boom. Done. They're very small. 2-3 will be about 2 oz. volume food. But they're Oh so good. And honestly, they warm up well for leftovers. I made a tray of them yesterday (4 come to a tray, 2 trays in the package for about $3.99) and only ate 1, plus a mini babybel cheese. The rest I ate this morning.

They're smoky, and savory, and have a nice onion flavor without being too overwhelming. If you don't want to make the egg bites from Eggface, this would be a good substitute. I'm thinking of keeping a couple of these on hand in case I don't want to run to the store and am out of the stuff to make the egg bites. Otherwise, they're a bit pricey.

Finally, as you saw above, I finally got to try Mini Babybel cheese. I'd been hearing so much about it, and how awesome it was, and I've got to say... meh. It's just cheese. And for the price? Forget it! So, I'll eat my pouch of cheese, and if I happen to find them on sale, I'll consider it, but other than that... nope. Nope nope nope. Too rich for my blood.

Ugh. I'm so sore from shoveling the driveway the other day. My shoulders are killing me. But, I think I'm seeing the results. I weighed in yesterday at 110# down. Since I'm only really trying to post progress shots at the 10# marks, here are these (even though I just posted a progress shot the other day of 109# down...)

So, did you all have a safe and Happy New year? Last night was awesome. Date night! Husband and I went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. I had a coupon for a free appetizer for my birthday (this Saturday, Jan. 6), and he got Rattlesnake bites, which smelled amazing. I of course, did not eat any of those. However, I did see online that their green beans were fair game. :D So, my husband ordered an 8 oz. steak, cut off a small portion for me, and I ate 6 green beans to go with it. It was an awesome dinner. :D After dinner, we went and saw Jumanji. It was HILARIOUS!!!! I HIGHLY recommend going to see it. Parents, be cautioned. There is a decent amount of language use. But, yeah. FUNNY. :D

The only bad part to this weekend is that I did find out what it feels like to eat too much. :( Yesterday at lunch, when I did the one omelette bite and mini babybel, I was afraid that I was shorting myself on food... so, I waited a little bit, and then ate two egg bites. Nope. Nope nope nope. Not a good feeling at all. It was uncomfortable, and painful, and I thought I was going to vomit. So, from now on, I'll err on the side of caution, and just not eat that second helping of food. :(

How are your years shaping up so far? :)

~♥~
Lady D