April Snow Showers Bring...

Tonight, I'm sitting here at work (yes, work) on a Saturday night evening dispatch shift and updating my blog.  So, clearly April snow showers are not bringing us anything to do, that's for sure!  In the last 24 hours, we've had a Severe Thunderstorm Watch, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning (complete with hail) and currently we are in a Winter Weather Advisory.  Don't think you can have all 4 seasons in 24 hours?  Iowa, "Hold my beer!"

This could be us tomorrow morning in Iowa!

Anywho, I've been thinking a lot lately about how once again I've totally neglected my blog.  How I do so much better in my daily food tracking and accountability when I have you all to read about it (or not read about it) and when I put it all out there for everyone to see.  Plus, I enjoy posting the occasional recipe, or maybe my newest find in the WLS world.

When I started this blog YEARS ago, it was my WLS pre-op blog.  A place where I first started my weight loss journey.  Where I wrote about my journey ahead, some of it weight loss related, some of it not.  And then after having my surgery, I would also add in bits and pieces of my not-so-normal daily life.  My ups and downs, my thoughts, my fun purchases and my many, many break-ups with Diet Coke *taking a drink of Diet Coke* (clearly we're dating again).

So, I'm sure this comes as no big shock when I type that I'm going to try to do this thing again.  Be a little better at it.  Be a better Internet blogger friend, even if what I have to post may not be interesting to you.  I know, I know, I've typed this before.  Just like I've typed this before, but my regain has got to go.  I'm tired of carrying it around.  I'm tired of my clothes not fitting and having to buy bigger clothes.  I'm tired of seeing the person I've become, the person that worked so hard to get approved for surgery, to lose 100 pounds and fought so hard to keep it off, only to gain some of it back.  I'm physically, emotionally and mentally tired of the extra weight.  I'm.Tired.Of.It.

Wouldn't life be great if weight loss came with an easy button?

Even though I had my WLS in 2010, I'm still human.  I still make bad HORRIBLE food choices, more often than not, hence the weight regain.  Life doesn't come with an easy button, weight loss doesn't come with an easy button and WLS certainly doesn't come with an easy button.  If it did, no one would be overweight and life would be perfect!  It has taken me many years and numerous times failing things to figure out that I may not perfect and I never will be, but I am me, I have my faults but I'm a pretty good person.  And once I finally came to that realization, I could finally focus back on myself and my health.  I'm not a WLS failure, I failed to use my tool properly. 

Last fall I started having some health issues, nothing too serious, but serious enough that I went to my PCP.  I was sleeping 12 hours a day, I couldn't kick a common cold and I just didn't have any energy.  After a bunch of blood work, it was discovered that my Iron and Vitamin D had bottomed out.  Now, those of you that know me, know I'm not a huge meat eater and I'm not a red meat eater at all, so when the Dr. told me my Iron was low, I wasn't too surprised.  But I have been working my tail off to get that back up.  325mg Iron (ferrous fumarate) a day...yep, a day and 10,000 units of Vitamin D a day.  I started this back in January and within a couple of weeks I started feeling better.  In fact, until the last month when I got sick (thank you very much Mother Nature) I was feeling great!  I had a ton of energy, I was only sleeping 6 hours or so a night and I had started a new lifestyle of eating (more on that next time).  I let my symptoms go way to long, like months too long.  Listen to your body people, it really knows when there's something wrong!

Well, I'm pretty sure I've bored you guys enough with this "Hey!  I'm Back!  Again!" post, so I'll sign off for now.  I just checked our outside cameras and it's still snowing, harder now and I still have an hour and a half of work left *sigh*  Maybe next week will be Spring???

We should have some pretty impressive flowers in our future!

Until next time!

Adulting Is Hard!

Need I say more?!  When I was in high school,  I couldn't wait to graduate, live on my own, have a full time job and be an adult.  Well, it's been fun being an adult for the last umpteen years, but I'm ready to go back and slow down time.  Does anyone else feel this way?  I mean, I can't be the only one that wants summers off again as a kid, zero responsibilities and someone to make me dinner every night.

Adulting...it's hard!  Plain and simple.  And just when you think you have all of your ducks in a row, one of those little jerks wanders off.  *SIGH*  But, you pick yourself back up, you pull up your big girl panties and rock those kitten heels...with a cup of coffee in your hand of course!

But sometimes that's easier said than done.  June was a big month of changes for me diet wise.  I stopped drinking soda the first week of June.  Then the second week of June I stopped my morning snacking and last but not least, the third week of June I stopped all afternoon and evening snacking.  All of this while cutting back my calories to 1200 where they were supposed to be for YEARS post-op.  With all of those changes came a wonderful summer cold accompanied by a severe ear infection.  An ear infection?!  Who at almost 40 gets an ear infection?  This girl, that's who.  UGH!!!!!  But there is a silver lining to all of this, I promise!!!!  Wait for it.....I lost 10 pounds!  10 pounds of my 50 pound regain.  Heck yes!  I'll take it!  It's pretty amazing what you can do when you actually pay attention to what you're putting in your mouth, making the right food choices, measuring everything and quit grocery shopping like your parents left you home alone for the weekend.

Speaking of shopping like your parents left you home alone for the weekend, my trip to the grocery store today actually surprised me, in a great way!  I came home with healthy snacks and ideas!  Foods like red grapes, bananas, cantaloupe, brussel sprouts for roasting and frozen veggies.  For a sweet treat I picked up some Greek and other yogurts and I think I'm ready for my vacation days off!

In an effort to keep my hands busy and to break the snacking cycle, I've really picked up the pace on my Modern Granny blanket.  I have big plans to get it finished before I go back to work next Thursday, so I can give it to a very special little girl that needs a big girl blanket to keep at her Grams' house when she comes to stay.  As soon as this is off my hook, I'll be onto making another blanket to keep my hands out of the snacks.

So, you can guess what I'm off to do...picking up the hook to keep the snacks down!

Until next time!

Is Starting Over (Im)Possible?

We've all be there.  And if you're sitting there saying you haven't been, give it time, you will be.  I have yet to met a single weight loss surgery patient who hasn't pushed the limits of their new pouches, who haven't cheated or just plain given up on their diet.  I will be the first to admit I have fallen completely off the wagon...like bad.  Restricted diet?  What's that?  Is that something I'm supposed to be doing 7 years post-op?

Who remembers the complete and total bliss of not feeling hungry after surgery?  Who else remembers the excitement of actually wanting to get on the scale because you knew you had lost weight?  And remember how much fun it was to go shopping for a new pair of jean because you were buying a smaller size?  Ahhhh....the good old days of weight loss euphoria.

But on the flip side, who remembers the first time you got food stuck?  OUCH!  Or that time your pouch decided it didn't like a food that it liked the day before?  OUCH!  Or when your whole body hurt and you used to be able to pop a couple of ibuprofen and make the pain go away....does Tylenol even do anything or help with pain?

When you decided to have weight loss surgery, you decided to take the good with the bad.  Hoping, praying there would be more good times than bad and for most people the good times far outshine the bad.  We wouldn't have decided to have this surgery if we hadn't thought it would be worth it, right?  So what changed?  Where did things go wrong?  Where did you turn left instead of right?

You know what happened?  You're human.  I'm human.  I am a perfect example of what happens when you think you have a handle on things.  I think I have a handle on my diet so I can start eating things I know I shouldn't, but damn it, I just want to have it.  I think I can have more than one beer in 24 hours because damn it, I want it!  I can eat out more often, it's okay, because I'm not eating as much (lies, lies, lies), but damn it, I want to be normal!

But what is normal?  Normal is defined as conforming to a standard: usual, typical, or expected.  I don't know about you, but I signed away my definition of normal at about 6:30am October 5, 2010 when I checked into the hospital to have weight loss surgery.  We no longer have the typical definition of normal.  We have new definitions and they are anything BUT normal.  We have taken everything we have ever known when it comes to food and eating: mixed it up, moved it around, rearranged it, spit it back out and here we are...some of us are fractions of the person we were before.  Some of us (me) are a bit fluffier than what we would like to be, which brings me back to my post title, do you think starting over is (im)possible?  I know I've said many different times that I've had it and that I'm starting my diet...again.  No exceptions!  I jump in head first, hardcore and then I bottom out and fail.  Every.Single.Time.  When am I going to learn?  I didn't gain all of my weight overnight, it's not going to come off overnight.  Every time I start over full force it feels so overwhelming, I get so discouraged, I end up giving up.  

This time I have decided to take on this task a couple steps at a time.  My first step?  Giving up soda FOR GOOD.  I'm very good about giving it up for a week or two, but then the weekend comes along and I sneak one in.  Not anymore.  Today is one week soda free.  My next step?  Picking a healthier morning snack.  Every day at work at about 11am or so, I would get hungry so I would snack on either some crackers or chips.  Not anymore.  My new snack?  Oikos Yogurt if I'm even feeling hungry.  Up next?  Logging food.  Man, I hate, hate, HATE logging my food, but it keeps me accountable.  And last but not least that I actually just started doing today is adding a handful (which is about 1 cup) of fresh raw spinach to my morning protein shake.  I know it sounds weird and I was very doubtful, but I'm telling you, you can't taste it and it only adds 7 calories to your shake.  7...that's it!  7 little calories and you have a simple serving of your veggies in.  

So, see...as of May 29 2017, it is possible to start over.  You can start over too, you just need to find out what is going to work for you.  Some people do better if they jump in head first, but after numerous attempts, I've found I'm failing.  I'm going to focus on making good, solid changes and work my way from there.  I can do this.  WE can do this.  We didn't come this far for nothing! 

Until next time!

So, I Purchased A Scale And I've Lost.....

One of the hardest things about getting back on track besides walking thru my surgeon's office door was getting the on the scale and seeing how much weight I had gained.  I hadn't stepped on a scale in probably over a year.  When my scale broke, I never replaced it.  HUGE mistake!  

When I first had surgery I got on the scale at least 3 times a day.  That was a little extreme and I finally stopped that and would just weigh myself every morning.  That was one of the many ways I would keep myself in check.  Once again, another thing I just let go in the long list of many in my journey.

After getting on the scale at the surgeon's office and seeing that number I realized I needed a new scale and pronto!  So, today while I was in Des Moines, I stopped by Bed, Bath and Beyond with my trusty 20% off coupon and decided to pick one out.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it because I'm holding out for a Fitbit Aria Scale, but found this scale for $19.99.  With my 20% off coupon, it was $16.  I love their coupons and I like a good deal, so it came home with me.

The New Addition To My #nomoreregain Journey

After I got home, I couldn't wait to hop on the scale and to see how much I weighed.  Crazy, right?!  It's amazing how something so small can make or break your day, but...my hard work over the last 10 days has paid off.  I'VE LOST 7 POUNDS!!!!  In 10 days!!!!  I can't believe it!  It's not a lot, but it's better than nothing!!!!  That 7 pounds is the motivation I needed to keep going.

That's a lot of butter!!!!

It's been a rough weekend for my diet.  Beers on Friday, a birthday celebration last night with eating out and wrapping up the birthday celebration today.  But I think I did okay.  Last night we ate dinner at an upscale diner that had comfort food.  Things like mac and cheese with bacon, chicken pot pie, a grilled cheese sandwich with short ribs.  Name it, the comfort food was on the menu.  I picked the meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes and green bean casserole.  It was fabulous!  I ate 1 1/2 slices of the meatloaf, a couple bites of the mashed potatoes and a couple of green beans and I was done and stuffed.  I don't even know where to begin to calculate the calories, but look how amazing this was!

The plating was beautiful!

So, now you're all caught up on my weekend, my new purchase and my weight loss.  I weigh in on Wednesday at my surgeon's office and am hoping that maybe I can hit that 10 pound loss by then.  I'm going to have to push extra hard, but if I don't make it, I'm not going to get down on myself, 7 pounds is still pretty good!  I am proof that if you've gotten off track, you can get back on the wagon and if I can do it, so can you!  We can do this!  Team #nomoreregain...we've got this!

Until next time!

One Week Ago.....

Can you believe it's only been one week since I've been to my surgeon's office to get back on track? Me either!  A lot has happened in this last week.  My last soda was Tuesday on my way home from my surgeon's office.  My last Click protein shake was the Friday before that.  I'm down to 1 cup of coffee a day and I am eating more of my protein instead of drinking it.  I've been doing really well at staying between 1100-1200 calories, getting my water in and getting my steps in.  All of that in a week!  Whew!

And in true Katie fashion, I've started my cooking back up and trying new recipes.  Last week I tried 3 new things.  Breakfast Burritos (without the tortilla), Ground Turkey and Broccoli Egg Bake and last but not least (and my new obsession), Overnight Oats.  Have you guys tried these yet?  They are amazing!  You have to try them!  They are low in calories and high in protein so it's a win win for a breakfast!  And they keep me full for a very long time!  What more could I want?  Want to try them for yourself?  Here's the link.  There are so many different recipes out there too, check out Pinterest for even more recipes.  I want to try so many of them, I may have to make an Overnight Oats board!

Here are the 3 I made last week:

Chocolate with Strawberries and Bananas Overnight Oats

Peanut Butter and Jelly Overnight Oats

Strawberries and Bananas Overnight Oats

All 3 of these were amazing!  The peanut butter and jelly one was so rich and creamy, but it was too rich for me.  The recipe calls for 2 Tbsp of peanut butter, but when I make it again, I will only be using one.  Tonight I will be making Pumpkin Pie Protein Overnight Oats for breakfast tomorrow. I'm excited and a little nervous, this recipe calls for Greek yogurt and I haven't had one like that before. Fingers crossed that it turns out!  

This afternoon is going to be filled with laundry, dishes, cooking for the next 3 days and filling Scentsy orders and getting them ready for delivery.  I think I'll be busy enough to keep my mind entertained and not thinking about snacking, hopefully.  But, if I'm going to get anything done, I should probably wrap this up and get to it!  Have a great day everyone!!!

Until next time!