Woohoo!!! And... Cookies?!

So, someone from my Bariatric Surgery group posted a video the other day with "Old Fashioned" Peanut Butter Cookies. Now, I know per MY plan I can't have PB, but, I know that some surgeons don't frown upon it. So, if you're allowed to have PB, this would be a super yummy thing to make. Heck, I'm planning on making these "bari-friendly" for my kid. Who needs all that sugar in regular cookies anyways?

3 Ingredient Old Fashioned PB Cookies

-1 c. All Natural Creamy Peanut Butter
-1 c. Splenda
-1 Egg

-Preheat oven to 350*F
-Mix ingredients together.
-Scoop onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
-Bake for 6-8 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE!

Yup. That's it. How have I never learned this recipe before?! Heck, even if I decided to "Cheat" and have a bite of one, it wouldn't be a HUGE cheat. Chances of me slipping like that after my earlier PB fiasco are slim to none, but, ya know, it's good to have options. :)

So, as for the woohoo? All the weight that I had gained back? Gone. I weighed in yesterday morning at 212 again. This morning I was 213, but, I didn't drink a whole lot of water yesterday, so, that's what I'm blaming that on. So those 8#... yeah... they're gone again. And that's why I've decided to not say "Gone Forever" when talking about the weight I've lost. We all make bad choices. We all slip up. I know several people who've had the surgery, and lost all kinds of weight. And then something happens. Either something in their life, or they let their guard down, or just feel like being "normal" again, and they gain weight back. It can happen. I don't want it to happen, so, I'm going to try to be as good as I can. :)

~♥~
Lady D

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

3 Month Follow-up, and more PowerCrunch Love

**Wrote yesterday**

Hello wonderful readers! :)

So, I had my three-month follow-up appointment last Thursday. I totally spaced posting about it that night, and over the weekend. *sigh* But that's ok, since it was all good news, and will kind of be boring.

I met with the dietitian first, and we talked about my biggest issue right now, which has been snacking... I've started snacking a bit... and it's not like I'm going all out, and eating things I'm not supposed to... with one exception, but she didn't correct me on the one exception, so... maybe? *shrugs* I've been doing 10 yes... 10... SF Hershey's chocolate chips. I counted out how many would fit into a teaspoon, and 10 is my magic number. I do that when I'm craving something sweet. They're not low-fat, but they're sugar free, so, they semi fit into the plan. She told me to look into 100% cacao bars instead. They give the chocolate flavor, but they're so bitter that you don't want to eat much.

So, what else have I been snacking on? PowerCrunch bars! I ended up eating 1/2 of one today, just because it broke really funny, but I usually only eat 1/3 bar. As I said in a previous post, it's kind of like a two crunchy wafers with a mousse in between, covered in chocolate...

Since my last post, I've tried the Cookies and Cream, and the Mint Chocolate flavors. The Cookies and Cream is amazing. It's a white chocolate coating, with chocolate wafers, and the mousse is a Cookies and Cream mousse. The mint Chocolate is all chocolate, with a hint of mint. It's ok, but it's definitely got less flavor than the others I've tried so far. Still really good though. Again, the dietitian didn't seem too concerned about the PowerCrunch bars, maybe because they're a protein bar? My husband went to GNC yesterday and got me a bunch of flavors... Triple Chocolate, PB Fudge, Chocolate Mint, Cookies and Cream, and Red Velvet. They also have a Mocha flavor, but I don't like coffee, a salted caramel, vanilla, and berries and cream flavor, but none were in stock. I'll have to try those later.

She suggested I drink a second protein shake, but most days that puts me up over 100g protein, so, not so much? She said 90g protein is good though. :)

So my final snacky thing that I've been eating is All-Natural No-Stir Creamy PB. I LOVE Peanut Butter. And I found out that Great Value has an all natural one that has a whopping 3g sugar per serving (It's $3.32 at Wal-mart... same thing, just Aldi Brand is like $1.52... I LOVE Aldi). It's high in fat, but, I'm only eating LITERALLY a cooking tsp. of it... just enough to get me the flavor. And honestly, I think that's why the dietitian wasn't concerned about that either. The thing she's concerned about is how much I'm snacking. She wanted to make sure I'm not grazing all day (I'm not... just a small snack when we get home, and maybe a second one after dinner). Two snacks a day is still a lot though. Part of it was it was that time of the month for me. I'm sure I can cut down my snacking. :)

After I met with the dietitan, I met with my surgeon's PA. She is once again thrilled at my progress (17# down since my last appointment), and told me to keep it up. She ordered my labs that I have to get done before my next appointment (It's like 5 pages of tests they're going to run... I wonder how many vials they'll take), to make sure that I'm not experiencing any vitamin deficiencies, which can happen when you have Gastric Bypass because of the bypass of the duodenal switch. They're also checking my A1C, Thyroid, Protein, Liver, Kidneys... all sorts of major functions. Yay. I hate the vampires... Oh well. The tests are very important, because if I develop deficiencies, it can be VERY serious.

They gave me the option to switch to non-chewable vitamins, but, to be honest, I LOVE my Celebrate Vitamins multi 2-in-1 chew... 4 of those babies a day, and I get all the vitamins I need except iron... which Celebrate has a berry-flavored Iron chewable that I take to fix that. It's awesome. :) I told her I'm sticking with my vitamin regimin because of how easy it is... which is a necessity when you have a two year old. ;)

So, how are your weeks going so far? :)

~♥~
Lady D

130# Down and Quest Cinnamon Crunch

**Forgot to post this yesterday**

So, I forgot to post about this yesterday, but, I hit another milestone... 130# Down! :) Here's the progress shot, and one of my heaviest weight versus now, because, you know, #TransformationTuesday is a thing. And I posted both of those on my Instagram last night.

I'd love to see some of your pictures, post ops! I'm going to say something that I saw and heard from a lot of people, but, I never really followed through. Take LOTS of pictures pre-op. It's so fun to go back and do comparison photos as you start to lose it! :)

So, I tried one of the Quest protein shake packets this morning, "Cinnamon Crunch." The packet had a picture of a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal on the front, which, pre-op was my favorite cereal. I have a serious love of cinnamon, and cinnamon rolls, and all things yummy like that. So, I bought the packet to try. And I want to say, the cinnamon flavor is SPOT. ON. However... what I didn't realize, and I don't remember seeing anywhere on the package, is that there were crunchy bits in the shake... as if it had cereal bits in it. Now, when you're driving to work at 6:15 in the morning, and it's dark, and you take a decent sized sip of shake... you're not expecting to have crunchy bits in your shake. For me, it was a turn-off. However, the silver lining to that, is that it literally tasted like having a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal with milk. So, if that's your thing (I've never done milk with my cereal), by all means, try this. If that's not your thing, skip it for sure. But, yeah, the cinnamon flavor is fantastic. :)

So, how's your week going so far?

~♥~
Lady D

THE SCALE MOVED!!!! And other fun things! :)

Happy Monday dear readers!

My scale FINALLY moved! It was only a pound, but IT MOVED! I'm thrilled, if you can't tell. I also FINALLY took my measurements this weekend... they take my waist measurement every time I go in for a surgery follow-up appointment, but, I finally took all my measurements. I apparently lost another inch off my waist... so, a total of 10" off my waist since June. :)

So, I did some cooking this weekend... I made Eggroll in a Bowl, which I based off of this recipe I found on Pinterest. My recipe is basically the same, and I'm sorry that I don't have any measurements, but, you know, I kind of just eyeball/spice to taste recipes like this...

Eggroll in a Bowl

1 lb. ground pork
Ground ginger
Sesame Oil
Soy Sauce
Bagged Coleslaw Mix
Black Pepper
Minced Garlic
Dehydrated Onion

Brown your pork, and drain off the excess fat. I only ended up using 1/2 the pound, and therefore, I froze the rest.
Put the pork back in the pan, and season with the ginger, black pepper, onion, and garlic.
Add a small amount of sesame oil.
On medium heat, begin mixing the ingredients together. Add 1/2-1 bag of coleslaw mix.
Add about 1/4 c. soy sauce.
Cook over medium heat until the cabbage is lightly wilted but still crunchy.

The other recipe that I made was a take on a Bourbon Street Chicken. It was ok... I'm going to tweak the recipe a bit before I post it, but here's a picture of the dish (that's not my bowl, but my husband's... I can't have rice, and I'm still on 2 oz. portions)

So, tonight, I made GARLIC BREAD. DIET-FRIENDLY GARLIC BREAD. OMG. So, to make it... make the recipe from my pizza, the only change I made was to add a bit extra minced garlic to the egg mixture. Once the crust has baked, mix about a tablespoon of minced garlic and a 1/2 tsp Parsley into a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Take a fork, and poke the top of the garlic bread. Pour the garlic/oil mixture over the bread. I then topped it with about 1/4 c. low moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese. I let it sit a bit, and let the oil soak into the cheese. I put it under the broiler on low to melt the cheese.

Sorry there are a few slices missing... I couldn't wait to try it, and neither could the husband... I'll give you a hint... IT'S AMAZING. OMG.

So, let's talk Protein powders... I've been on a hunt lately for Protein Powder. Sam's Club has stopped carrying my Premier 3# tub online, and I never have time to run to our local Sam's Club to get some. So, I've been trying different kinds to see what I like... Here's the results. Just remember that everyone's tastes vary... so, take what I say with a grain of salt.

Pure Chocolate Protein Powder
Ok, so, I tried the RTD Pure Chocolate shake, and I hated it. But, when I ran out of Premier, I needed to find something, and I knew that Pure was cheaper than Premier, so, I decided to try it. Well... hm. Ok, so, it does have ok chocolate taste, but, it's SUPER chalky tasting. Even my Torani sugar free syrups couldn't touch the chalky taste of it. :/ So, I didn't do more than about two of those shakes before tossing the remainder.

Equate Chocolate Whey Protein Powder
I couldn't find the link for the chocolate, but there's the vanilla. So, this one I kind of oopsed on to start. Every other protein powder I've ever had was one scoop of powder for the shake. So, this one is actually TWO scoops of powder for the shake. Now, I will say, the chocolate in this is ok. But, there's an underlying chemical taste to it that I couldn't really get over. However, with the addition of Raspberry, S'Mores, Salted Caramel, or Hazlenut SF Torani, it helped. So, I was able to do the Equate for a majority of the jug. I will say, I added it to 16 oz. Skim milk, which helped dilute the chemical flavor I think...

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Double Rich Chocolate Whey
A friend recommended this when I mentioned that I was pissed that Sam's Club was getting rid of my Premier online. I hemmed and hawed, since it's $57.99 for 5#... but, we have a GNC right up the street from my house, and they carry it in store, so, I thought, what the hell. I'll give it a try. I think I found my new protein. This was the smoothest shake to date. Easy to mix in the blender bottle, no lumps, no clumps, great flavor. It's SUPER chocolatey, but, it's a bit bitter. I think I'm going to try it tomorrow with some Torani (I didn't use any today, since I wanted to try it straight up). I was super excited to try this after I opened the tub, because the powder smells like Nesquik. And yes, it's delicious. It tastes like chocolate milk. :) They have tons of flavors, so, I'm going to start trying them all. There's no Whey taste to it, at all, and no aftertaste. I LOVE IT. Plus, if I keep getting it at GNC, I'll accumulate points, and get money off. :) So, yes, I found my Protein Powder! :)

I did also buy a few single-serve pouches of Quest flavors while I was at GNC as well. I like Quest's chocolate and vanilla, but, I bought Cookies n' Cream, Cinnamon Crunch, and Salted Caramel while I was at GNC. I'll let you know what I think about them once I try them. :)

And finally, for this post, I'm going to do a little protein bar review. I had been hearing about "Cake Bites," also made by Optimum Nutrition, and just how amazing they are... well, about that... So, I tried all the flavors: Chocolate Frosted Donut, Red Velvet, Berry Cheesecake, Birthday Cake, Chocolate Dipped Cherry, Mint Chocolate. Birthday Cake, which is the one everyone says is the best, was by far, the worst. I ended up just taking a small bite, and tossing the rest away. Chocolate Frosted Donut is meh. I opened the package, and got all excited, because it literally smelled like chocolate frosted donuts. But, it has a HORRIBLE Whey taste to it. Red Velvet is ok... not great. Again, heavy whey flavor. Berry Cheesecake has a strong blueberry flavor, which mostly masks the whey taste, but it's still there, and I can't really get over that. I'm going to have to take a second try of the chocolate covered cherry, since I ate something right before I tried it that made it taste... not good. Finally... Mint Chocolate. The clouds open up, and the sun shines down. This thing literally tastes like an Andes mint. OMG. I LOVE it. No whey flavor AT ALL. It's awesome. It has a LOT of carbs for the amount of protein in each, so, I only eat one bite, and I'm going to do it as a treat now and then. But yes, TOTALLY give the Mint Chocolate a try! :D

I also tried the PowerCrunch bar today... I did 1/3 of one this morning. Triple chocolate. It's great. It's got these wafers in them, with a chocolate mousse in between, and covered in chocolate. It's divine. It's high in fat for the amount of protein that you get, which is why, once again, I won't be doing a full bar at any given time, but, oh yeah. The flavor is awesome. This is honestly the first protein bar that I've come across that I've really liked. GNC has lots of flavors of them, but, Walmart has limited flavors for $0.50 cheaper. So, take your pick. :)

So, that's the end of the fun stuff, and honestly, the end of the post. Sorry it was so long, but, I hope it was fun. Go try some awesome protein, and hey, let me know what you think of the ones I've tried!

~♥~
Lady D

Stalls and Feelings and Weekend Cooking

**Forgot to post this last night**

So, I've been in a stall for over a week now. And I know they happen, but I've also been losing fairly slowly since surgery, and while the dietitians all tell me I'm doing great, it's really messing with my head. I'm having a very negative body image week. I feel like I'm gaining weight (I'm not, I'm just not losing right now), and that I'm doing everything wrong (I'm not. I'm sticking to my plan). It sucks. And I think that's part of what's contributing to my feelings right now.

I have a few things not body image related that are contributing to the feelings as well, but, those are things I can't control. Things at work are changing, as they always do, and I'm kind of stuck in limbo there right now while they're figured out. Not like, I'm not sure if I'll have a job, but, my job responsibilities are most likely going to be changing, and I don't know what that will all entail yet. And not knowing what to expect is pulling at me a bit as well.

I'm also close to that time of the month, which is probably not helping with the stall or the feelings either. I'm just kind of totally bleh today.

In other body-related news, I've been really super tired lately. My sleep habits haven't changed, and I'm getting all of my protein and almost all of my fluids in... I hope I'm not deficient on a vitamin. I have a surgery follow-up on the 22nd, and if I'm not feeling better by then, I'll talk to them. :/

Lastly, yesterday was a horrid, cold, icy day here in Indiana, so, I decided I wanted to make soup. It wasn't on the menu for dinner, so, it's gone into Tupperware and into the freezer for future meals... like later this week/next week. If you follow me on IG (@ladydobz), or Facebook, you've seen the picture of the cooking product, but, here's the recipe.

Twice Baked Cauliflower Soup

1 yellow onion
2 bags frozen cauliflower
8 strips turkey bacon
3 tbsp. FF Sour Cream
2 oz. Neufchatel or other low-fat or fat free cream cheese
4 c. skim milk
1/2 c. Reduced Fat Sharp Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 c. Monterrey Jack Cheese
2 tsp. minced garlic
salt
pepper
cumin (you can omit this... I just like cumin on my potatoes, so, since I was trying to make this like a potato soup, I added it here too)
A few splashes of Frank's Red Hot sauce (again, you can omit this if you choose, I just like it hot! ^.~)

Slice the onion, caramelize it, set aside.
Fry up the turkey bacon, drain off any grease, and then chop and dice it.
Add the bacon, garlic, and the cauliflower to the pot with the onion.
Over medium heat, add the milk, and the neufchatel or cream cheese, and the sour cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the cheese is mixed in.
Add the cheddar cheese, and stir until melted in.
Add the Monterrey Jack cheese, and stir until it's mixed in.
Season with seasonings to taste.
I let it simmer for about a half an hour before I pulled it off.

As I was pouring it into the Tupperware, I noticed that some of the cheese had not fully melted in, and the soup was starting to separate a little. This used to happen when I made my twice baked potato soup too. When you reheat it, make sure to stir it a lot (either when microwaving or on the stove), and it should mix together. I'm toying with the idea of throwing it in the food processor before I reheat it to make a nice thick blended soup. We'll see. Here's the pic of it while it's cooking. I'm planning on topping it with a little extra cheese and a few turkey bacon crumbles. :)

So, how was everyone's weekend?

~♥~
Lady D

Taco Bake

So, when I was making the menu this week, I realized I wanted to try and make a taco pizza... So, I took the recipe for the crust of the No-Carb Pizza, and adapted it to a taco bake... while there was a bit much on top to make it a pizza, per se, it did make a fabulous taco bake... so, here you go!

Low-Carb Taco Bake

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs
1/3 c. milk
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp. minced garlic 1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 c. Parmesan, Asiago, or Romano cheese
2 c. Taco cheese
Taco Sauce
Taco Meat
Fat Free Refried Beans
Salsa
Fat Free Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 350°.
Grease 13x9 inch baking pan.
In food processor or with electric mixer, combine cream cheese and eggs until smooth.
Add the milk, Parmesan, garlic and spices.
Blend until ingredients are well combined.
Sprinkle the Asiago, Parmesan, or Romano cheese and 1 cup of the taco cheese in the bottom of the greased baking pan.
Pour egg mixture over the cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes then remove from oven.
Spread a thin layer of refried beans on the crust.
Add taco sauce over the beans, and top with the taco meat.
Cover with remaining 1 cup taco cheese.
Using oven broiler on high, broil a few inches from the heat elements until top is brown and bubbly.
Let sit for a few minutes before cutting.
Top with desired taco toppings.

The portion pictured was not my plate, but my husband's. I did a fourth of that, with a little sour cream in addition to the salsa. It warms up really well in the microwave as well. :)

~♥~
Lady D