Well... it's been a while

Hi guys!!! :)

Sorry that I've been a bit absent lately... My counterpart at work left, and I've taken on her role as well as my own, and with a now super-active two year old at home in the evening, I've not had a whole lot of time to blog. I am still on IG a fair amount, so, for pictures and such, feel free to give me a follow over there (@ladydobz). If you're not into IG, I'll try to do a little better of posting on here. :)

Um, let's see. I guess I'll make this a full disclosure post, and talk about gains. So, I hit my 150# down mark on April 16. My weight loss has slowed WAY the heck down. April 22, I lost another pound. And then? I gained. I gained 8#, and all of a sudden found myself back up to 220#, from 212#. This morning, I weighed myself at 216#, so, it's coming off again, thankfully, but yeah. Scary. So, what made me gain? I think a few things need to be taken into consideration. 1- It's summer. It's hot. I'm eating more pickles, because I'm craving salt. I'm eating a decent amount of pickles. I'm retaining water. 2- It's that time of the month. I always gain 3-5 pounds this time of the month, and then suddenly, they all go away when it's over. Again, water retention/bloating. 3- Things are a bit slow moving in the GI department, if you know what I mean. They're moving, but slowly. 4- I started eating Peanut Butter. This I believe is the biggest factor to the gain. I wasn't sticking to my 1 cooking tsp. of peanut butter. I was up to 2-3 tsps. or sometimes 2 tbsps. of peanut butter a day. And that wasn't good. So, I tossed the rest of my peanut butter in the trash, and I'm getting back on plan. :)

To help combat my sweet cravings, I had my husband buy me some SF Jell-O pudding cups. They're cold, refreshing, and hey, totally in my plan! :D In addition to that, I do occasionally do a super small amount of Halo Top (like a cooking tbsp.). Right now I've got S'Mores, because, you know... summer. :D

This weekend is my sister's bridal shower luncheon. She picked Olive Garden to have it at. I found out that I AM able to eat their salad, nutrition-wise, as long as I only have a small amount, and since they have an option to add grilled chicken to entrees, I bet I can convince them to just charge me for a grilled chicken breast to have with my salad. If not, oh well. I'll have protein bars with me, and I just won't eat their food. :) No biggie.

I'm actually planning on taking 5 protein bars with me tomorrow. I'll have my normal early-morning protein shake, and then start pounding the water after that. I'll have a protein bar around 9am for breakfast, I'll have one in case I need one for lunch, my normal 1:30pm Protein Bar to help get me through the day, and then on the way home, I'll have one for dinner. Yup. Protein bars all day long. Oh well. At least they taste good. :D

Speaking of protein bars, I've tried all available flavors of PowerCrunch bars now with the exception of the Mocha, and the Berry, and that's because I don't like coffee (mocha), and none of my local stores carry the Berry. But, my sister said that her Walmart has them, so, I'm going to get a box this weekend. So far, Salted Caramel is literally my favorite. Chocolate Mint is a close second... probably because it tastes like a freaking Thin Mint. PB Fudge is awesome, plus helps me get my PB fix. PB Creme is meh. Vanilla Creme is good. Cookies and Cream are Ok. Red Velvet is amazing, but it's a little high in sugar (7g/bar), so, I won't do that one super often. Triple Fudge is decadent. In other words, you really can't go wrong. :D

Another post about something I tried recently and didn't really follow-up on? Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Powder. I've tried several flavors now, and totally am going to give my opinion on them. :D So, Double Rich Chocolate is still my favorite. I even boost it most mornings with a squirt of SF Chocolate Syrup (I prefer the taste of the Great Value brand to Hershey's, but whatever floats your boat), or some Torani, or both. But honestly, you could totally do without either of those if you're watching your money. I mix my shake with 12 oz. Skim milk, which ends up being like 36g protein. Not bad at all. The other flavors I've tried? Extreme Milk Chocolate, Chocolate Dipped Banana, and Birthday Cake. Ok, so, the Extreme Milk Chocolate is not my cup of tea. I had to extremely flavor it every time I did it. It almost has a cinnamon taste to it, which is just weird. So, I won't be doing that one again. The Chocolate Dipped Banana isn't bad, but it's definitely banana flavored... not like natural banana flavor, more like Banana Laffy Taffy. Again, not really my cup of tea, but this one is doable with a squirt of SF Chocolate Syrup. Birthday Cake is awesome, but a little light on flavor. I'm going to get some SF French Vanilla Torani, or even just some vanilla extract, and see if that helps. It tastes good though, and even has little "sprinkles" in it, so, you feel like you're having a treat. My friend SWEARS by the Rocky Road flavor. I haven't seen that one in my local GNC, so, I'm going to have to order it online. They have a TON of flavors, and I've barely even scratched the surface. :D

I went and got my bloodwork done for my six-month surgery follow-up appointment last Saturday. They took SIX vials. Holy hell. But when they're running literally five pages of tests, you can't expect much less. :D

People keep asking me if I have plans for Mother's Day. Yup. Big plans. Lots and lots of Laundry. Since I'll be out of town (my sister lives in NW Ohio) tomorrow, I have to play catch-up on the laundry on Sunday. I'll at least work on some of it tonight in addition to packing the car so that I'm not so overwhelmed on Sunday. Since my daughter is a whopping two year's old, Mother's Day isn't a super big thing yet. My husband did get me two super awesome practical Mother's Day gifts though... we redid all our beds this year... new mulch, buried our downspout, tore out crappy bushes, put in boxwoods, added some lilies, transplanted my mums, double-layered our stone border... a LOT of work. All in one afternoon. And yeah, we didn't really have to take breaks... just once to eat lunch, and then I had to run out to Lowe's a second time to get a few extra things. Thank you gastric bypass. Last year when we were doing yard work? I was taking breaks like every 15 minutes. It was horrible. But, I digress. He bought me a hose reel, and a telescoping hose attachment for Mother's Day. I'm so proud of my beds that I want to take care of them, and this is the perfect way to do it. I have some pictures up on Instagram of our work. Go check it out! :)

I think that's all that I really have for now! You all have a wonderful weekend! :)

~♥~
Lady D