Well - I am not down any this week. I was in Disneyland last week and by no means was watching what I ate. (Not to mention the ice cream was way too tempting.) But I am glad to say I didn't gain any.
I continue to not have many problems eating any particular item. (*knock on wood*) I definitely have reached my limit a couple of times - but luckily not had any of the "normal" ill affects. Which is good and bad... maybe if I had the bad affects I would be more careful.
So - the journey continues now that I am back to normal after all of these holidays.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Lapband upate 12/12/09
I am officially one month since surgery. I can't believe it has already been a month. Since Nov 3rd (when they put me on the liquid diet) I am down 26 pounds. I am down another 2.2 since last week. By the way this also marks that I am down over 40 lbs since February. So the pic on Facebook and here - shows me 40 lbs heavier, crazy huh?
I can't say this week has been easy. I have been crazy hungry. I do really well for breakfast, egg beaters on a piece of toast. I have even been bringing lunch to ensure I don't eat too much. But the in between times have been getting me. I have brought half an apple, celery w/peanut butter and even some wheat thins to snack on at work. But I will still be hungry. Then as I am making dinner I tend to have a couple crackers... I know none of this "sounds" like a lot but when you are only supposed to have 4oz three times a day... it isn't good.
I had a mini-break down last night - felt like I was failing. I went on a rapid walk, 2.2 miles. The dog protested about half way through - boy I think she needs the excerise more than I do! It helped clear my head a bit though, and getting on the scale this morning and seeing that I was down a bit more definitely helped.
It is not an easy journey but I definitely want to succeed. I can't keep carrying the extra weight. So one step at a time I guess.
I can't say this week has been easy. I have been crazy hungry. I do really well for breakfast, egg beaters on a piece of toast. I have even been bringing lunch to ensure I don't eat too much. But the in between times have been getting me. I have brought half an apple, celery w/peanut butter and even some wheat thins to snack on at work. But I will still be hungry. Then as I am making dinner I tend to have a couple crackers... I know none of this "sounds" like a lot but when you are only supposed to have 4oz three times a day... it isn't good.
I had a mini-break down last night - felt like I was failing. I went on a rapid walk, 2.2 miles. The dog protested about half way through - boy I think she needs the excerise more than I do! It helped clear my head a bit though, and getting on the scale this morning and seeing that I was down a bit more definitely helped.
It is not an easy journey but I definitely want to succeed. I can't keep carrying the extra weight. So one step at a time I guess.
When your original Grocery Bill is $425...
Try NOT TO PANIC!
I mean good grief - who needs $425 worth of groceries! But hey, I do have three teen age boys and a husband who tends to think he still is also.
Now before I break it down - I did have $60 worth of iTunes gift cards in there (which got me $10 off toward my next shopping trip.) So total groceries 365.51.
Albertson's
Total Bill: $425.51 (with the Gift Cards) $365.51 without
Club Card: -$114.37
Coupons: - $28.85
Total Savings: - $143.22
Out of pocket: $202.29 (Without the GC)
Total number of items - 119 (w/o GC) $1.70 an item.
So this week in addition to the usual (milk and juice - the boys go through 4 - 5 gallons in a week, at least 4 gallons of OJ ) I picked up some scallops (that were 9.99 a pound!) for a recipe I found - I will let you know if it turns out.
I picked up their beef roast for 1.99 a pound, several boxes of Cocoa Puffs, cake mix and frosting, WAY too many pillsbury bisquit/pie crust/cinnamon roll tubes, 24 ct Aquafina water, shrimp for jambalaya, steak they had on sale that I cut up for use in chili and a recipe I found called "Coal Miners Pasties." Which also called for a turnip - which I did pick up. Another I will have to let you know how it turned out. I have never had or used turnips so this should be interesting.
I have decided that some of my holiday baking needs to include cupcakes - I have over 15 boxes of cake mix - so I think my neighbors might be getting cupcakes. (They may also get cinnamon rolls - considering the ridiculous amounts of tubes I have.)
Here is a yummy thing to make - super easy. I made home made pizza the other night. I used the Betty Crocker recipe for pizza crust. (water, flour, yeast, sugar and oil I think), then in the food processor - processed a can of tomatoes - with basil, garlic and oregano (already in the can.) I pre-baked the crusts a little as per directions, poured about 1/3 to almost a half of the sauce on each of the crusts. Added browned hamburger seasoned with onion, garlic salt and pepper, pepporoni and two kinds of shredded cheese. (I was out of mozz - so I used monteray jack and mild cheddar.) I baked about 12 - 15 minutes. They LOVED it! They ate both pizzas!
This week I also made an enchilada caserole - so easy to make.
1 lb Browned hamburger with onion which I seasoned with pepper and garlic salt. Heated up refried beans to make them easier to deal with. I put a bit of canned enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 13X9 pyrex dish, put about 4.5 corn torillas on the bottom (had to break a few in half) I only let them overlap a small bit. Then took about half the refried beans and covered the tortillas. Then half of the burger and onion, half a can of diced green chilis, shredded cheese, a bit of sauce and repeated the steps for a second layer. I covered that with another layer of tortillas, sauce and cheese. Baked for about 25 minutes. Again, they loved it. Even had seconds!
So on the list for this week:
Monte Cristo Sandwiches
Chili
Jambalaya
Seared Scallops
Coal Miner Pasties
Island Chicken with a mango/pineapple salsa - thought it would be a great change to traditional "winter fare"
Josh wants me to make home made corn dogs for his birthday dinner next Sunday. I picked up corn bread mix, again I will let you know how it goes.
I mean good grief - who needs $425 worth of groceries! But hey, I do have three teen age boys and a husband who tends to think he still is also.
Now before I break it down - I did have $60 worth of iTunes gift cards in there (which got me $10 off toward my next shopping trip.) So total groceries 365.51.
Albertson's
Total Bill: $425.51 (with the Gift Cards) $365.51 without
Club Card: -$114.37
Coupons: - $28.85
Total Savings: - $143.22
Out of pocket: $202.29 (Without the GC)
Total number of items - 119 (w/o GC) $1.70 an item.
So this week in addition to the usual (milk and juice - the boys go through 4 - 5 gallons in a week, at least 4 gallons of OJ ) I picked up some scallops (that were 9.99 a pound!) for a recipe I found - I will let you know if it turns out.
I picked up their beef roast for 1.99 a pound, several boxes of Cocoa Puffs, cake mix and frosting, WAY too many pillsbury bisquit/pie crust/cinnamon roll tubes, 24 ct Aquafina water, shrimp for jambalaya, steak they had on sale that I cut up for use in chili and a recipe I found called "Coal Miners Pasties." Which also called for a turnip - which I did pick up. Another I will have to let you know how it turned out. I have never had or used turnips so this should be interesting.
I have decided that some of my holiday baking needs to include cupcakes - I have over 15 boxes of cake mix - so I think my neighbors might be getting cupcakes. (They may also get cinnamon rolls - considering the ridiculous amounts of tubes I have.)
Here is a yummy thing to make - super easy. I made home made pizza the other night. I used the Betty Crocker recipe for pizza crust. (water, flour, yeast, sugar and oil I think), then in the food processor - processed a can of tomatoes - with basil, garlic and oregano (already in the can.) I pre-baked the crusts a little as per directions, poured about 1/3 to almost a half of the sauce on each of the crusts. Added browned hamburger seasoned with onion, garlic salt and pepper, pepporoni and two kinds of shredded cheese. (I was out of mozz - so I used monteray jack and mild cheddar.) I baked about 12 - 15 minutes. They LOVED it! They ate both pizzas!
This week I also made an enchilada caserole - so easy to make.
1 lb Browned hamburger with onion which I seasoned with pepper and garlic salt. Heated up refried beans to make them easier to deal with. I put a bit of canned enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 13X9 pyrex dish, put about 4.5 corn torillas on the bottom (had to break a few in half) I only let them overlap a small bit. Then took about half the refried beans and covered the tortillas. Then half of the burger and onion, half a can of diced green chilis, shredded cheese, a bit of sauce and repeated the steps for a second layer. I covered that with another layer of tortillas, sauce and cheese. Baked for about 25 minutes. Again, they loved it. Even had seconds!
So on the list for this week:
Monte Cristo Sandwiches
Chili
Jambalaya
Seared Scallops
Coal Miner Pasties
Island Chicken with a mango/pineapple salsa - thought it would be a great change to traditional "winter fare"
Josh wants me to make home made corn dogs for his birthday dinner next Sunday. I picked up corn bread mix, again I will let you know how it goes.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Bariatric Surgery and Me
So I thought I would also use this space to talk about recent changes to my life.
I had bariatric surgery on 11/13/09. They installed the "lap band" device on my stomach. For more information on the actual device and how it works - click here.
To recap what has happened since Insurance Approval:
On 11/03/09 - they told me I had to go on a liquid diet - this consisted of 3 - 4 protein shakes per day and one salad. In this process I found out, the hard way, I was a bit "lactose intolerant." So I felt like crap for a week and a half. However I lost 9 lbs during that time frame.
11/13/09 - I worked that morning until noon. I arrived at the hospital at 130pm and wasn't taken for surgery until after 4pm. I remember on my way to the surgery room having a mild panic attack thinking I had lost my mind for doing this...I woke from surgery feeling like I had been hit by a mack truck a bit after 7pm. The procedure for a normal Lapband is about 45 minutes. They said that mine took a bit longer because I had a bad "hiatal hernia." By the time they got me into a room it was after 9. Darren was a trooper and stayed with me until after 11 - which I told him to go home as I was in and out of sleep by this time. I walked some, slept some and was in general pain most of the time even with the pain killers they were giving me.
The next day after they checked me for "leaks" (much less common in a lapband proceedure) I was able to have "food." They gave me 2 tbls each of broth, crystal light lemonade and diet jello. This I was barely able to tolerate. I luckily was released at lunch time. Which Darren took me home and I was able to repeat my 2 tbls each of the above and promptly hit the bed.
Sunday 11/15, I took some loratab (liquid) and had Darren take me to the grocery store to walk (and buy our essentials.) I really was questioning what I had done to myself since I felt like such crap.
Monday 11/16 - I called out of work and took it easy this day. I went back to work on Tuesday, I was sore and my shoulders and neck felt like they were in bad need of a massage. They say that is because of the gas they put in your belly to be able to do the proceedure.
The rest of the week was uneventful, from not feeling well I was not drinking enough water and by the next week, felt run down and beat up. I managed to get through Thanksgiving - had a tbls of the things I liked. but was bad when it came to the left over goodies, I picked at my birthday cake and the pies over the weekend. So I threw them out on Sunday.
When I returned to work on Monday 11/30, I was taking extra special care to eat small portions. I had (and still use) a scale by my dinner setting each night.
Last week I bought a couple cases of water to have at work since my skin dried out, my legs broke out and I generally was feeling crappy. I had no more soreness from the surgery.
This week marks that I am down 24 lbs since 11/03/09. I am down a total 39 lbs since my heaviest weigh in this year, back in February.
From here out I will let you know how I progress. Right now my focus is - DRINK WATER!
I had bariatric surgery on 11/13/09. They installed the "lap band" device on my stomach. For more information on the actual device and how it works - click here.
To recap what has happened since Insurance Approval:
On 11/03/09 - they told me I had to go on a liquid diet - this consisted of 3 - 4 protein shakes per day and one salad. In this process I found out, the hard way, I was a bit "lactose intolerant." So I felt like crap for a week and a half. However I lost 9 lbs during that time frame.
11/13/09 - I worked that morning until noon. I arrived at the hospital at 130pm and wasn't taken for surgery until after 4pm. I remember on my way to the surgery room having a mild panic attack thinking I had lost my mind for doing this...I woke from surgery feeling like I had been hit by a mack truck a bit after 7pm. The procedure for a normal Lapband is about 45 minutes. They said that mine took a bit longer because I had a bad "hiatal hernia." By the time they got me into a room it was after 9. Darren was a trooper and stayed with me until after 11 - which I told him to go home as I was in and out of sleep by this time. I walked some, slept some and was in general pain most of the time even with the pain killers they were giving me.
The next day after they checked me for "leaks" (much less common in a lapband proceedure) I was able to have "food." They gave me 2 tbls each of broth, crystal light lemonade and diet jello. This I was barely able to tolerate. I luckily was released at lunch time. Which Darren took me home and I was able to repeat my 2 tbls each of the above and promptly hit the bed.
Sunday 11/15, I took some loratab (liquid) and had Darren take me to the grocery store to walk (and buy our essentials.) I really was questioning what I had done to myself since I felt like such crap.
Monday 11/16 - I called out of work and took it easy this day. I went back to work on Tuesday, I was sore and my shoulders and neck felt like they were in bad need of a massage. They say that is because of the gas they put in your belly to be able to do the proceedure.
The rest of the week was uneventful, from not feeling well I was not drinking enough water and by the next week, felt run down and beat up. I managed to get through Thanksgiving - had a tbls of the things I liked. but was bad when it came to the left over goodies, I picked at my birthday cake and the pies over the weekend. So I threw them out on Sunday.
When I returned to work on Monday 11/30, I was taking extra special care to eat small portions. I had (and still use) a scale by my dinner setting each night.
Last week I bought a couple cases of water to have at work since my skin dried out, my legs broke out and I generally was feeling crappy. I had no more soreness from the surgery.
This week marks that I am down 24 lbs since 11/03/09. I am down a total 39 lbs since my heaviest weigh in this year, back in February.
From here out I will let you know how I progress. Right now my focus is - DRINK WATER!
Finally a day of savings! Saved over $100
The last couple weeks I have been very disappointed in the grocery sales ads. Seems that more emphasis has been on the retail outlets than groceries. This week though - I had to break down and restock my freezer with meat - thank goodness Smith's did a meat sale! I also picked up some additional items to do some holiday baking, plus all the normal weekly items. (Milk, juice, eggs.)
Total Bill: $323.82
Club Card: -$89.05
Coupons: - $14.75
Total Savings: - $103.80
Out of pocket: $220.02
Number of Items: 116 ($1.90 an item) Remember that is with two large packages of boneless/skinless chicken breasts, 2 max packs of hamburger meat - plus I grabbed some "reduced price" meats like seasoned pork tenderloins, hamburger patties, turkey burger patties. My cart was so full we had to grab a second cart for the juice, milk and some canned goods like Chunk All White Tuna in Water (10 for $10!) We also grabbed the sale priced and couponed NAME BRAND cereals (which my youngest still says "Who are you and what have you done with my mother" when he sees them.)
Long gone are the days of "generic"!
Also - on a previous shopping trip I picked up "Aussie" hair care products on sale and with coupons. Let me just say - AWESOME! I have very dry hair. With living in the desert, washing my hair every day and blow drying it - a special "moist" conditioner is needed. Aussie's Moist - is one of the best! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this to go on sale again and use my coupons to get it for less than a $1.50 a bottle!
I do keep an eye out for other coupons. This week I had seen a coupon for the Scrubbing Bubbles Auto-Shower - which I just so happened to run out of last week. So although they were not on sale - at least I had a "$2" off of 2 coupon to get me through.
One more bonus in getting the Sunday paper: as I was looking through the ads, I found a coupon for Guitar Center: "Take and additional $25 off a purchase of $199 or more" - this is perfect because we had planned on getting my middle son a guitar with amp and they have a bundle for a Strat with Amp for $199! So I will be saving on Christmas Presents! (Ok so actually this is his birthday present - but let's not split hairs. His b-day is the 22nd.)
So great savings this week!
Total Bill: $323.82
Club Card: -$89.05
Coupons: - $14.75
Total Savings: - $103.80
Out of pocket: $220.02
Number of Items: 116 ($1.90 an item) Remember that is with two large packages of boneless/skinless chicken breasts, 2 max packs of hamburger meat - plus I grabbed some "reduced price" meats like seasoned pork tenderloins, hamburger patties, turkey burger patties. My cart was so full we had to grab a second cart for the juice, milk and some canned goods like Chunk All White Tuna in Water (10 for $10!) We also grabbed the sale priced and couponed NAME BRAND cereals (which my youngest still says "Who are you and what have you done with my mother" when he sees them.)
Long gone are the days of "generic"!
Also - on a previous shopping trip I picked up "Aussie" hair care products on sale and with coupons. Let me just say - AWESOME! I have very dry hair. With living in the desert, washing my hair every day and blow drying it - a special "moist" conditioner is needed. Aussie's Moist - is one of the best! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this to go on sale again and use my coupons to get it for less than a $1.50 a bottle!
I do keep an eye out for other coupons. This week I had seen a coupon for the Scrubbing Bubbles Auto-Shower - which I just so happened to run out of last week. So although they were not on sale - at least I had a "$2" off of 2 coupon to get me through.
One more bonus in getting the Sunday paper: as I was looking through the ads, I found a coupon for Guitar Center: "Take and additional $25 off a purchase of $199 or more" - this is perfect because we had planned on getting my middle son a guitar with amp and they have a bundle for a Strat with Amp for $199! So I will be saving on Christmas Presents! (Ok so actually this is his birthday present - but let's not split hairs. His b-day is the 22nd.)
So great savings this week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)