sicky-poo and meanies too

i was sick earlier this week...i will spare you the gory details, but essentially i  had a fever with chills and wasnt about to stray far from my bathroom. 'nuff said, huh? in the end i felt like i had been run over by a Mack truck, that then backed up over me.  i had to miss 2 nights of work, but since i work with medically fragile kiddos i cant take chances about exposing them to illnesses.  i suppose it was just your run of the mill virus, but i have been pretty run down lately, mostly due to my crappy sleep patterns. i plan to be first in line for my flu shot at work next week!
moving on to WLS related blogging... the first meeting for my support group has been set, there is an add in the "community happenings" column of the local paper, and the official event invite went out on Facebook. Yaaaaay! the meeting is scheduled for this Thursday evening. I am very hopeful this will take off, although i have had a somewhat "lukewarm" response. we shall see.
we have been having freakish weather this week, muggy and humid early in the week with temps in the high 70's and today only made it to 62 with strong breezes. my morning beach walk today was FRIGID!(38 degrees when i started out) but i like it that way, cold = less sweat.  i need to remember to bring tissues (as soon as the tip of my nose gets cold, the dripping starts) and i need to buy one of those fleece headbands with the ear flaps.
ok, well i cannot publish this post without throwing my 2 cents out there on the Maura Kelly, MarieClaire online article. although i am loathe to add to her 15 minutes of fame.  Many colorful words come to mind to describe Ms. Kelly, but i shall refrain. i simply wish to address her, in my opinion, backhanded, half-assed "apology". to blame her remarks on her personal history of anorexia and body image issues is a complete and utter COP-OUT. having an eating disorder does not give someone license to be CRUEL. her cruel remarks are a shining example of a schoolyard bully who never grew up. tearing others down so she can feel better about her own inadequacies.  Ms. Kelly, grow up, and seek MORE counseling, because YOU obviously need it.  ok im done.



 i guess thats all i have to say for now. but i have one small request...the STATS page shows that there are quite a few people lurking around this blog, and i would love to hear from you. sign in,follow me or just leave a comment, i really would love some feedback, (needy, i know) just dont be mean, cuz i will just delete your comment anyway. mean people can bite me (Maura Kelly) so there.

have you ever noticed how the scale in your doctor's office NEVER corroborates what your scale says at home? or does this only happen to me? this morning i set off for my doctor's office with a song in my heart and a smile on my face because it was a good scale day (even fully dressed! minus shoes)...i stopped off at WaWa for my favorite cup o' joe, and headed to the office, where upon, less than an hour later, i had apparently gained 5 pounds. now, their scale did weigh me 6.6  pounds LESS than my last visit, but STILL. ugggh. On the bright side, i had a very good visit, although i did not see Dr. Wynn, but a new doctor (new to me) in the same practice. She is awesome, she actually listened to me and took me seriously about some of my ongoing medical concerns that, frankly, i don't think my PCP has. So i am going to be having some lab tests done and seeing a vascular specialist. She was very encouraging and offered some great advice. Overall it was a very nice visit. except for the scale phenomenon. whatever. I'm over it. almost... I took my momma with me so she could see her doctor too (both offices are about 45 miles from home and at the moment she does not have transportation) and after our appointments were over we went to a local orchard/produce market and loaded up on fresh apples of all kinds, and then i took  her to lunch at Chik-Fil-A. I had their chargrilled and fruit salad with the berry balsamic vinaigrette. YUUUUMMM--*disclaimer-the dressing has 9 grams of sugar for 2 tbsp, but i only used about 1 tbsp * the salad is waaayy huge and i basically eat the chicken breast and fruit with maybe 3 bites of the romaine. Oh, and the granola topping. i must say it again--YUUUUMMM! after lunch we went to a local discount grocery store and stocked up on some good deals, then home. i really enjoy spending time with her like that, it doesn't happen near as often as  i would like.

TOP 3 things that annoyed  me today;
1. the previously mentioned scale phenomenon
2. the fly in this room that keeps buzzing my face and hair
3. that my smart phone battery does not hold a decent charge anymore

Current Obsession: Wrigley's SF Extra Dessert-Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream flavored gum...wow. just. so. good. next i am going to try their banana cream pie version.  guilt-free dessert!

bum badda ba! my before and after pics

ok blog-readers...i promised them eons ago, but finally,  here, at long last, are my "before and after" pics...

before--i was296 in this pic (no pics from when i was 310)July05

on my  honeymoon-Jan07 14months post op 163

296 (2 months before surgery)

Me now, 5 years post op 174

well there you have it. took me long enough, huh? next before/afters will be the tummytuckbooblift sometime next year, then ihopesomeday the thighliftbatwingremoval :) :) hey, a girl can dream can't she?

Happy "Surgiversary" to me!

Sunday (oct 17) was my 5 year "surgiversary"!!! i still can't believe that five years ago i weighed 310 pounds. i still cant believe that i STILL feel like the fat girl. yeah, i am a work in progress...i haven't posted in a while, mostly because i have been in some sort of funk for the last few weeks, i have battled depression since i  was a teen and every now and then i just need to wallow for a little while. I needed to pull myself out of the funk because i have a lot of work to do... i am very excited to report that my church has agreed to provide the location and i have the green light to start my support group! so i am going to start getting the word out this week, and plan to have the first meeting 2 weeks from now!!!  i believe that starting and running the group will give me the additional motivation i need to keep on track and work my way towards goal. Confession Time:  my eating habits over the past few weeks have been truly crappy...i have been grazing on carbs and have not had a protein shake in...(gulp)2 weeks. *hanging head in shame* i need to buy some new protein powder because what i have right now tastes like money butt. (ok i don't really know what monkey butt tastes like but you get the point) and i have not exercised in two weeks either. i have no excuse for that because i have a treadmill, numerous work out DVDs, ab lounge, bun and thigh roller AND wii fit. i just let the lazy part of me take over. and i am paying for it...not only does it make my depression worse, i feel deflated, like a latex helium balloon five days after the party, still tied to the back of the chair but lying on the floor.  Yesterday i took my family and showed them where i walk (it was late in the day near sunset so we couldn't do my whole circuit) and i realized how much i was missing the walks...so  i promised my self yesterday that i would do better. i also promised myself that i would not beat myself up about it.  i promise to love myself.
You may notice that something is missing from the blog. i removed the almost larger than life picture of myself. i never wanted it to be that big, but i could not figure out how to reduce the size of the picture, so i just removed it. i was afraid people might think i was a narcissist or something!  Just add it to one of those many things i am learning as i go.uggh... i am in desperate need of a tech savvy editor.
In my last post i mentioned that i was planning a warm apple pie protein smoothie. I did make it; it was pretty good warm, but nasty when reheated:
1c warmed skim milk
1/2 c apples,chopped
1 tsp fave sugar substitute
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
*chop up apples;sprinkle with sugar substitute, cinnamon and nutmeg-nuke in microwave for 2min, combine with other ingredients in blender, whiz on high til well blended. Enjoy, but dont plan to drink left overs...eeeewww.

Thought for the day:
You have failed only when you quit trying. Until then you are in the act of progression. So never quit trying and you will never be a failure-anonymous

this blog thing is harder than it looks!

well, i just realized i may have made another blog design error! (oopsie) As you may  know, a couple of weeks ago i added two pages on the side bar of the blog; one for recipes and one for product reviews. But now, when i went in to add my second product review, i could not add another post to the added pages. ??? im stumped. So while i try to figure out what im doing, i will be posting my product reviews and recipes in the body of the blog on the "home" page.
Before i get down to the buisness of the review, let me update you on life as i know it...today was rainy and COLD! I am not complaining, just stating a fact. i looove cold, bundle up and snuggle weather (just could do without the rain sometimes-i love my outdoor walks) i had an appointment scheuled for this upcoming thursday with Dr. Wynn (my bariatric doc) but i realized last night that i need to reschedule due to a work conflict and i am really bummed out. i was really looking forward to this appointment because i have dropped aobut 10 pounds since i was there this summer (3 months ago) and i cant wait to tell her that she was right and how grateful i am to her for keeping it real with me. So, hopefully it wont take too long to get a replacement appt, but we all know how that can be sometimes! i have had a bad week as far as excercising, its been rainy and nasty so no beach walks, i walked a couple of times on the tread mill, and we had a family moonlight bowling night with our church (i am NOT a bowler, more like the comic relief--my high score of the night was 113 WITH gutter guards, but we had a good time, and i definetly used muscles i dont normally use!) i've really been trying to eat right, overall i have done well this week, although i have not been getting in all my protein. i just wasnt feeling my protein shakes. But i try to remain concious of protein in everything i eat, and make sure i get some with every meal and snack, even if its just by adding parmesean cheese or some natural peanut butter. i have some delish mcintosh apples i need to use up so i am going to try to make a warm apple pie protein smoothie in the morning, i will let you know how it turns out. i picked up a granola bar as a snack tonight, here is my review:
*disclaimer--these are unsolicited, non-paid product reviews.also, i am not a doctor or registered dietician, therefore please refer to your surgeon for advice on what you should be eating.*
KASHI TLC Honey Almond Flax chewy granola bar

STATS:
Calories 140
total fat 5g
sat fat 0g trans fat 0g
polyunsat 1.5g
monounsat 2.5g
Fiber 4g
Protein 7g
Sugar 5g  carbs 19g

Decent Stats and yummy! it has whole almonds (my bar had 5!), a lightly sweet taste, chewy and dense, but slightly dry--i think it would be great dipped in some greek yogart sweetened with SF[insert your fave flavor here] Torani Syrup. (plus that would help it to be more filling) Very nice snack item to carry in your purse or car for those emergency times you forget to plan well, or when out to coffee with a friend and the coffee shop has no WLS friendly options. I paid  99cents for this at a convenience store--you can buy a box of six for around 3 dollars at your local grocery store.
 i give it 4 stars ****