JUNE 15 2016 ~Monthly Update (4-Months)

JUNE 15 2016 ~Monthly Update

The above is true, and only when we start seeing changes in ourselves, and find the things we like about ourselves can we see it truly in others and mean it. I find us as woman are quick to notice beauty in other woman, but brush it off when someone says something wonderful about us. Its a hard lesson, and going forward I am trying to accept compliments, and not awkwardly turning them into negative comments n my mind. I've got this unhealthy relationship with compliments, and have my whole life. Someone says something nice and I immediately turn it into a unhealthy response, and self sabotage myself in some way or form, usually leading me to eat something bad, as a way to hide. Is it about food, weight, or self esteem...I don't think so, I think it is something deeper. I feel that somewhere in my brain I don't feel good enough, I don't feel worthy of peoples love, and perhaps putting n the weight is my way of staying behind the scenes, not getting noticed, and staying in that dark place I have made for myself. You wouldn't know it, being around me, as I also hide behind an image of happy go lucky Nat, the fun one in the group, the organizer, and to some point that is me, the true me, and who I want to be, who I am, but if you look deeper, I usually have complete control of those situations so I cant get hurt, or be the center of attention. I over give of myself, my time, my money, but at times I have been taken advantage of, and I am really aware of that. Anyways, a bit off track here, I am working on these internal issues, as my physical self reflects so much on my emotional self, and reasons for why my weight got out of control. I know, like most of us our childhoods were unstable, and not ideal and this has a big part of out adulthood, and we must deal with these issues as well. 

I get it, there are underlying issues and I am working those all out so I can get past them. Its all one step at a time, and building my mental strength is a big part of building my new physical self. So moving forward I am trying to accept compliments and really let them soak in, and make myself believe that the person who gave them did with no ill will, and truly meant it. I want to soak in those moments and allow myself to feel the love that person shared with me. This will be hard for me, but I need to grow and this is one way to do so. I know that when I give a compliment from this point on...I will make sure the person who I am complimenting knows it comes from a place of love, and I wont let them brush it off. If I say it, I mean it, and want you to feel it.

This last month has been interesting. The scale has not moved much, but that is okay. I knew getting to this point the scale would slow right down. This is the beauty of this whole system, is having people who have gone before you, having supportive people telling you what to expect and how each stage will be. Knowing what is to come, the struggles you will have and the ways to deal with them help so much. I am so grateful to my Doctors support group for allowing me the weaknesses and the uplifting people to help me through the moments where I feel defeated or not great, or need a pick me up. It is an amazing source of strength as I navigate this always changing path I am on.

My body is constantly changing and it is fun to watch, experience and see. I have a love hate relationship with getting thinner. I absolutely love seeing my body change, fit into small clothes, shopping, and know that I am getting healthy, I hate the extra skin dangling around, which to be fair I knew was going to be my greatest struggle and in a way I believe this is why me starting to lose weight had been put on the back burner, as I feared the skin. I did not want to have it, to deal with it, have the health concerns that come with it, and for vanity reasons. I have not been a self conscience person before, and I knew with the skin I would be, and I am. I had always been a hard fat type of person, meaning the 'bad' fat that didn't jiggle. My belly was hard, my legs were hard and my arms were fully round and hard fat. Now all these areas are dangling. The 'bad-fat' is going away, which leaves lots of skin. My arms are hanging, my belly is drooping and my thighs are starting to have loose skin.

 ~This is how I feel right now, about all the extra skin. I know its part of the process but it is a pain in the ass. At least it shows how far I have already come, and I should be happy with that.

I CHOPPED MY HAIR OFF.
Another troubling system that I was not looking forward to was hair loss. And let me tell you the struggle is real. At approx. the 2 month mark my hair started falling out....and falling out BIGTIME. Each time I would touch my hair, run a brush through, have a shower, or just exists bunches of hair would come out. I have to constantly pick hair off my shirt, de-clog the drain, and constantly pull all the hair from my brushes. Its so bad that I have bald spots on the top of my head. Again, I knew this was coming but OMG it sucks. Vanity is such a weird thing. I never cared how I looked before, didn't care how others viewed me, but that was before when I was hiding behind my fat, trying to blend in to everyone/thing around me, being the person in the background, doing for others and ignoring me.....BUT times have changed and I started focusing on me, working really hard to make changes in my life, and stepping out in front for once, putting myself first. I have people watching me, following my blogs, my facebook and being in the spot light a bit more makes me self conscience for the first time ever. SO funny right....I care what people thing right now. I am doing so good for me and people notice, and I don't wanna have extra skin or balding spots...grrrrrr.
BUT small prices to pay for the amount of weight I have already lost and where I plan to be going in the future with my health. I am really lucky and cant lose focus on that.

 

Going back to work has been both amazing and yet stalling my work out schedule quite a bit. I'm not getting out as much as I was being off work. Not walking as much, however making adjustments at work to get out and walk during my shift even just for 15 min, and while working I am constantly moving, going up and down stairs etc so I do my best to get going and still work out lots when I am off work.
I wont make excuses, as I told myself I will never do so again, and once settled in my new schedule I will get more in again. I find that I am missing my outdoors walks, and was so grateful I had the time off to enjoy some of the fantastic weather we had, to walk around in nature and enjoy some of the great locations on the island. I cant wait to get back out there.

         ************ 100 lbs ~ just around the corner *********************
I am right on the cusp of a HUGE milestone and I have so many emotions going on. I am within steps of reaching 100lbs lost and I am so excited, and yet these last few pounds seem daunting and like they will never come as the weight loss has slowed dramatically but that is ok at the same time. Its a really weird feeling as in some moments I cant see it, it feels like I have so much further to go. And sometimes I am like, holy crap I've lost a lot. I mean 100lbs, that's incredible, and if I were looking at any other person who achieved this I would be in awe, I would cheer them on, hug them, make them realise how bog of a deal this was, and yet when its you, you think could be better...BUT I am trying to live in the moment and be happy, excited, and amazed by myself. I'm going to do something big, something to make this moment memorable, to remind me how free of my restraints (weight) I am. Lets put this into perspective....check this picture out......

I am not there yet, but soooo close and by the next update I will of crushed this goal. My one weight goal in this journey was to lose 100lbs, as all my other goals were health related. And its here, just around the corner...and I am proud of myself.
OKAY, lets get this done...the last 10lbs..
Let the countdown BEGIN....
...did I mention I have almost lost a 2 month old horse!!!!!

Today was a HUGE moment. I did it, I climbed to the top of Cobble Hill Mountain, and I loved it. I struggled at times, but was not going to give up on making it to the top. For the first time ever I felt like I just had to do, to prove to myself I could, to feel that feeling of accomplishment, and to feel alive. I needed this right now, and I felt so proud of myself when I got there. The view is amazing as many people in the last few years have told me it was, and now I got to experience it. It was at the top of my Weight Loss bucket list and felt so good to cross that off.

Stay Tuned~ Nat :)
Mind/Body under construction

Don’t Expect Change Without Making One!

Don’t Expect Change Without Making One!

Don’t eat bread! That latte has 45 grams of sugar! No macaroni salad. NO tortillas. No rice. Drop the crackers. You don’t need real sugar in your coffee! Don’t drink with your meals.

Lots of Support Groups tell you ‘its okay’ that you ate the potatoes & bagel with your eggs because ‘everyone makes mistakes’. We are not that group. Groups who tell you not to worry aren’t doing you any favors.

It won’t last without change

There is no delicate way to say this. We have always set ourselves apart from other bariatric groups in that we don’t look the other way while post ops continue to eat the bad carbs. We try and bring them back to the bariatric reality. We coax you to knock off the pasta, rice, tortillas or bread and often people get mad or try and justify it. For years we’ve watched people blow through this surgery and they all have the same story. Everyone thinks they are ‘Different’, that they can handle the bad carbs and the sugar (they don’t get sick!) and ‘because they have lost a 100 pound in 7 months they must be doing something right’.

The first hundred pounds is the surgery

Hate to keep making the same point, but your surgery did it, not you. Remember that you are not driving the car for the first year. Eating the same foods that grew you to 300 pounds, but in smaller amounts is not a good long term plan, as eventually you will be able to eat larger portions. Ask yourself why eating the same bad carbs would be a good plan. No doctor has advised you to eat the same way post op as you did pre op. Post ops pick this up somewhere, latch on to it and defend it, often to the bitter end of a total regain. You have approx. 6 months of restriction to help you get on your way.

No one fights for broccoli carbs!

It’s not that the bagel will kill you, it’s that these carbs make you hungry. They rapidly turn to glucose and burn… poof, gone, #Lookingformore. They don’t give you any nutrients. They don’t create a feeling of satiety or lasting fullness. The empty carbs work against what you are trying to achieve. If you were arguing for eating salad or green bean carbs, more power to you, but people are trying to hang on to foods without value. If this big argument was for VEGETABLES, well it wouldn’t be a debate as vegetables didn’t make us fat, it was those ‘other’ carbs. Did you ever meet an obese vegetarian and wonder ‘HUH?’, how’d they get obese if they are vegetarian? Same deal. It’s not the vegetables, it’s the other stuff, the processed carbs like Hot Pockets & Little Debbie Iced Oatmeal Pies, the fries, baked potatoes with both sour cream and butter, bread, macaroni, rice, tortillas and sugar!

Square peg… round hole

Stop looking for slightly better substitutes for bad choices and find new healthier foods to love instead. We keep trying to force that square peg into that round hole. Stop EATING crackers and chips, don’t find ones that you can justify because they have fewer carbs. Enough with the terrible fishy shirataki tofu noodles and chick pea macaroni. Learn to live without bread and pasta so it will not call your name. We aren’t changing the behavior or trend if we continue eating them, just slightly shifting it. Before long you’ve got your hand back in the Doritos bag and fork in the Mac & Cheese.

Look It’s Protein Cheesecake!

Don’t add protein to muffins and convince yourself they’re good for you. Stop with the Starbucks Creme Brûlée Lattes because ‘they’re your one indulgence’; they have 500 calories and thin people don’t even drink them. Stay the heck out of Wendy’s. I read a blog the other day touting all the ‘good choices’ in fast food restaurants. How about ‘stay out of them’. That’s the best choice of all! Why go to the place where you know there is danger. Before you know it, oops… there are fries in your bag!

You know people gain back weight, right?

In our first month of any new Facebook Support group I have cried for new members who have gained back all their weight. I am not immune either after fifteen years, three bariatric books and knowing better. When life hit the fan, I comforted my bruises in the way I knew best and it has taken me twelve months to lose fifty five pounds of it. People are having revisions, a lovely sounding word for a second serious body damaging operation. What will change with more surgery? Unless there is major change along with that new surgery, won’t it have the same result?

Step away from the bagel!

Own that there was and maybe still is something wrong with your food picker! Use surgery as an opportunity to change, not cheat. I used be bothered by the ‘word on the street’ that we were the carb or food police, but am now proud of it. If you want to promote the virtues of Everything in Moderation while eating half a Subway, there are plenty of groups that will help you do that. If you want to eat right and learn new behaviors to make the feeling of slipping on those skinny jeans last, we have a support groups and websites that’s a healthier fit.

Bariatric Surgery IS the easy way out

It’s a personal food cop that is always with us, that helps us push away from the table. We make it hard when we don’t live by the bariatric rules we’ve been given. There is nothing harder then gaining weight back after surgery. There is nothing better than losing it a second time. Control is empowering.
If you need to pick up and start losing again… If you need to work off a regain, it’s not too late and your pouch works just fine if you choose the right foods. Clean those lethal carbs from your life and go back to bariatric eating – protein first and lots of fresh salad and vegetables. We’ve got the support for you to make that change!
 

BLT Deviled Eggs

BLT Deviled Eggs

I make deviled eggs for holiday appetizers because everyone loves them! This version is a BLT – Bacon Lettuce and Tomato. It can’t get any better! They are super low carb and bariatric friendly. Make them for a party platter today.

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 dozen large eggs
• 8 slices bacon
• 6 tablespoons Fage Total Greek yogurt - buy a small single serve container
• 2 tablespoons Hellmann’s mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 shallot, minced
• 12 grape tomatoes, cut into quarters, or 1 medium ripe Roma tomato, cut into small cubes
• Micro green arugula or use a few medium romaine lettuce leaves, halved and very thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Put eggs in a medium pot, cover with water by 1 inch and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, remove from heat and leave undisturbed for 12 minutes. Drain, fill with cool water, add ice and set aside until chilled, about 5 minutes. Peel and cut eggs in half transferring whites to a platter and yolks to a large bowl.
2. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Coarsely chop when cool enough to handle.
3. Combine the cooked yolks, yogurt, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, salt, pepper and shallot - mash with a fork until well combined and smooth.
4. Just before serving, fold in the tomato and half of the bacon. Pile on some of the lettuce and add a dollop of yolk mixture into the middle of each egg white. Garnish with a little more of the bacon.

 

NAVAGATING BBQ SEASON WLS STYLE

BBQ SEASON

Getting an invite to a family or friends barbecue is always exciting, but when you have had bariatric surgery, the second thought is often about not being able to eat. Many years after my RNY surgery, going to a bbq remains a bariatric challenge as there is hidden sugar in many summer dishes and pork remains much too dense for me to eat unless I want to test it and upchuck in the bushes.
Here are a few tips, some of which were learned the hard way so you don’t have to! Have a great start to your summer.
1. Do NOT trust bbq sauce. The stuff in a plastic bottle has tons of high fructose corn syrup that is like injecting sugar with a syringe. Don’t use it. Even a little. INSTEAD, make and take a bowl of my Homestyle SF BBQ Sauce and no one will want the chicken doused with the stuff from the plastic bottle!
2. Cole slaw is a good news-bad news food. Bad news is that store bought cole slaw has high fructose corn syrup or sugar that can cause you to throw up on your new sandals (not a Princess move). GOOD NEWS is that slaw is easy to make and my Blue Cheese Slaw recipe below tasty, plus you can slop it on even a dry burger to make it bariatric edible.
3. I always take something that I am able to eat in case the food at the bbq is not bariatric friendly. Shrimp Deviled Eggs, Mexican Seafood Cocktail, Cheddar Cheese Brownies are portable and tasty for everyone!
4. Dessert can be deadly. There will definitely be some cake or dessert at a bbq! Either make my No Bake SF Strawberry Cheesecake or go super simple and TAKE A WATERMELON. Don’t wing it, as people will feel sorry for you and that is a party killer unless you enjoy playing victim.

No Sugar BBQ Sauce

 

Homemade No Sugar Barbecue Sauce

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  45 mins

Total time:  55 mins

Serves: Makes 4 cups

 

Most bottles of barbecue sauce have enough sugar to just about kill a bariatric post op. This is one of those products that uses a small serving size to appear to be low in sugar and calories - often showing 2 teaspoons or even 1 tablespoon of sauce - and coming in at 10 or more grams of sugar. Make a big bowl of this no sugar sauce and keep it in the fridge to last for a couple of weekends of saucing chicken and ribs. Its so good your friends will tell you to bottle it!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups ketchup
• ¼ cup vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons brown mustard
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• ¾ cup Smuckers Sugar Free Apricot Preserves
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 5 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons Liquid Smoke

Instructions

1. Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium high heat until golden brown and softened. Reduce heat to low and add ketchup, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, preserves, salt, pepper, chili powder, and Liquid Smoke; simmer 30 to 45 minutes, until mixture is thick and delicious.
2. Sauce those ribs, burgers, and chicken!

3.5.3208

 Blue Cheese Cole Slaw

 

Blue Cheese Cole Slaw

Prep time:  5 mins

Total time:  5 mins

 

Too many people buy cole slaw these days and it is not nearly as good as homemade. This version has blue cheese and is exceptional. Everyone will love it and its great for wetting down bbq chicken or a elevating a plain burger patty.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup Hellmanns Light Mayonnaise
• One 6 ounce cup Fage Total Greek Yogurt
• ¼ cup Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 ounces crumbled blue cheese - I love Maytag Blue Cheese
• 1 small head green cabbage - I slice mine with a knife as I like shredded and not grated - or you can use 2 pounds of Cole Slaw mix and skip the carrots!
• 2 large carrots, scrubbed or peeled, shredded or grated

Instructions

1. Whisk the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, mustard, vinegar, celery salt, salt and pepper in a large bowl until smooth. Add the shredded cabbage and carrots and mix well. Fold in the blue cheese and chill before serving.