Disclaimer, Disclaimer on Blog Ads

Just a note to my friends.

Although I added Google AdSense to my blog, I don't pick which ads are shown. I think I can block some of the ones I don't necessarily like and I'm working on going up that learning curve so I can do that.

But in the meantime, I don't endorse any bariatric surgery program except the one I have experience with and that's WeightWise. 

My advice is if you are interested in gastric surgery, go on the various online forums and read the comments. If you want to inquire about certain surgeons, you can join VerticalSleeveTalk.com for free and there's a section of the forum that deals with that. 

Thanks and onward,
Carol

Smoky Chipotle Turkey Burgers with Cooling Creamy Salsa

Love to recommend good recipes when I find them and this one came from VerticalSleeveTalk.com's recipe forum.

I made this and although the looks of it are a little offputting, it's a tasty, moist take on turkey burgers. I don't know that I'd call the sauce a salsa, but it's good anyway and a nice accompaniment.

It's from the blog savorysweetie.com. It's shared by permission, since she doesn't mind if people link to her blog -- fact, she's hopeful that it might get her some more readers.

Her philosophy is pretty close to mind after my Dec. 27, 2011, gastric sleeve, and her's on Jan. 20, 2012.

"One of my challenges is that I really want to make this a lifestyle, and not make it feel like a diet. So I am trying to eat small portions of sensible food, but not deprive myself. This fits in really well with the fact that I LOVE to cook and also that I cook for my fiancee, who loves to eat!," she writes in the forum.

I was down to 217.4 yesterday.

Onward,
Carol

My Weight Chart:

Another Weigh Day Down

Woke up to find that -- dry and unpainted as hubby would say -- I was down to 218. Go figure after the crazy, up-and-down weight week I've had.

The math shows I'm down about 55 pounds total since my highest weight of 273 last summer, and about 37 since my gastric sleeve surgery Dec. 27. Just for my friends who worry, the largest portion of that came in the first month and then my loss settled down to 1-2 pounds per week.

Have been having some minor issues with nausea when I haven't expected them. My nausea medicine is a lotion you rub on the inside of your wrist and usually, it makes those nasty feelings go away. I had gotten cocky and forgotten to carry it, but I got it renewed and I'll be keeping it in my purse. Prevention will make those feelings go away methinks.

Having some "head hunger" while down at our "cabin in the woods" in Texas where I fed many of the bad habits that made me gain weight. Lusting after hubby's Fritos and French onion dip, and fortunately there are no Fritos in the house because I threw them out. When I looked in the frig and opened up the French onion dip, it was covered with mold. Ick and hallelujah!!!! Can't even attack it with celery. Saved me from myself.

I'm thinking it would be good to come up with something that could satisfy my snacking desire on a low-calorie basis. Will have to think about that and when I come up with something -- I'll definitely share it.

Onward,
Carol

Irish Eyes are Smilin'

For this Irish lass, St. Paddy's Day has always been special.

I'm 3/8ths Irish, 1/8 German from my mother's side and who knows about my father's side. I do know my father's name Cole is Scotch-Irish, and my paternal grandmother was part Cherokee. Other than that I'm still learning about it.

So I'm close to half Irish. And I've always liked celebrating all parts of my heritage. It's what makes me up what I am.

Today is probably one of the first times I haven't had at least one festive green beer and maybe a scone or some Corned Beef and Cabbage. I don't even have a desire to have a beer, but I did miss the fun, social aspects of St. Patrick's Day.

I did make myself some faux bangers and mash and that was pretty satisfying. I made my new-favorite mashed cauliflower and garlic for the mash and hit the griddle with some sausages. Bangers and mash!!!

Had a rough last couple of days stomach-wise ... it's pretty tender after losing my lunch yesterday, which was sort of traumatic because I didn't have the nausea medicine I'd been prescribed for emergencies (which I 've not had many.) I may have been at fault for that because of the salsa I'd left out and then used in my omelette yesterday morning. I made myself some ground buffalo (bison) patties with sauteed onions for lunch yesterday and they came out just perfect. I have two patties left and am hoping those aren't the culprit, since they tasted so good and they are really high-quality protein. Plus, they go to my Cherokee part of my heritage. Will find out when I eat the leftovers I guess.

And to add insult to injury, for some crazy reason I weighed in at 223 this morning, when I was 219 a few days ago. Go figure. When you're geting less than 1,000 calories a day, there is absolutely no reason for that. I don't feel puffy or any different than I did at 219, so I just don't get it.

I did read on VerticalSleeveTalk that eating too few calories could cause a stall from your body trying to horde the food. I'd never heard it might make you gain weight. Can't figure out what might have caused that -- maybe sodium? Still not going to stop weighing in every day though -- reminds me of how I was when I was truly thin in my 20s.

It will all come out in the wash, if you'll forgive the cliché, my dear friends.

Onward,

Carol

Dieting is Hard Work -- Period!!

Several friends have recently implied lately that having been [gastric] sleeved Dec 27, that I've taken the easy way out on losing weight.

NO.

I love you guys who are following my progress, but you need to know one thing.

Getting sleeved doesn't eliminate the work to lose weight. What it helps is reducing the hunger. Also, because your "pouch" is so much smaller, you have to stop eating or it's just not pretty.

I'm in a master gardener program right now and the feisty woman I love to sit next to in class offered me red-hot candies several times today. I decided early-on that I was going to be completely "out" about my weight loss surgery, and I told her I couldn't do sugar yet because of the WLS. She was SO supportive, which has been mostly my experience since Dec. 27 (A huge date for me, and one of the more important dates of my life. Just a note. Doesn't even remotely eclipse my wedding to Bob or giving birth to Kat, if either one of you are looking at my blog.)

My post today is to tell any of my friends/family, who are thinking of gastric surgery, that IT'S NOT THE EASY WAY TO WEIGHT LOSS.

That said, it's a fabulous TOOL to help you get a grip on your weight loss. But you still HAVE TO DO THE HARD WORK and discipline of losing weight yourself. You have to follow the program of weight loss or even having surgery will fail.

There are down sides, not a lot, but some fairly significant ones. It takes a while for your innards to figure out regularity. Mine haven't quite yet, but I'm OK with it. I understand things are going to heal. I do miss eating like I used to and some people get depressed with missing "eating."

I have a couple of friends who are having great success working traditional diet programs , i.e. through Weight Watchers or another good, balanced diet program. I AM YOUR BIGGEST CHAMPION! I tried those many multiples of times and just couldn't pull it through. I really, REALLY wish I could have made it work. But that doesn't mean your efforts or my ongoing effort are diminished. ALL efforts to get healthier will be rewarded with better health! You and I deserve it. And we're getting it!

I hate exclamation marks and I find myself using them repeatedly. Really, if you say it right, you shouldn't need exclamation marks. That said, sometimes I don't feel that I've adequately expressed the profound change that I'm going through. I even have resorted to using caps, which of course is like YELLING!!!!!

I'm not sorry about that. I want anybody who is reading my blog to "get it." That's really the whole point of sharing how my life is changing because of my sleeve.

I'm happy to respond to any comments or if you want to e-mail me directly, please contact me at carol.colefrowe@gmail.com.

Love you guys and thanks for reading my blog. CAPS. Exclamation point.

Onward,

Carol

InStyle March Cover Features 'My Weight Loss Goal'

Well, I was grocery shopping, shopping, shopping in the store formerly known as Albertson's (Homeland,) and there what before my eyes did appear was the All-American girl Jennifer Aniston on the cover of Instyle's March issue.

Now, a disclaimer. At 273, I was probably lugging around an extra "more than Jennifer Aniston weighs," since my goal is 140 and that would bring her in at 133 pounds. But when I was starting my weight loss blog years ago, there she was front and center and I thought -- wow, I'm walking around carrying the equivalent of Jennifer Aniston.

When I was less heavy, I would joke that I was carrying around a fourth grader or a toddler or whatever. Doesn't matter, it's still too much. I stopped carrying my own beautiful daughter Kat when she hit about third grade, and more practically, it was years earlier.

Now Jennifer's probably a size 0 or a size 2, so maybe I picked someone who is too small. I'd be happy to be a size 6, 8 or 10, and I was about 135 pounds the last time I wore a size 6 (but I confess that although it was a lovely, tunic-fitted cocktail dress, so it may have been a large size 6.) I'd like to be that size again. But Jennifer also has an incredible physique, so she's an inspiration in several ways. My hubby would say she's too thin, but he likes "guns" on women i.e. toned biceps. He's never complained about her legs or flat abs, etc.

I'm more than a third of the way there, with about 52 pounds and change lost and 36 since surgery Dec. 27. Will see what I weigh on my Tuesday Weigh Day.

Onward,
Carol

Comfort Food -- A New, Improved Shepherd's Pie

Last weekend, I was craving some kind of comfort food. And my dietician buddy Steph at WeightWise had given me a recipe for a Low-Carb Shepherd's Pie.

The key is replacing the mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower mixed with ricotta cheese.

Of course, I can't ever leave well enough alone and I worked on elevating the humble Shepherd's Pie a bit. I added onion, garlic and carrot for color. And I infused some more flavor with fresh rosemary from my garden and some dried thyme. I halved the recipe because I was just cooking for me.

I also cooked the cauliflower a little differently than the recipe called for to get some more flavor into the cauliflower. So here 'tis:


Low-Carb Shepherd's Pie
Ingredients
Meat Mixture
1 lb. ground beef, preferably organic
2 oz. fresh green beans, cut in about 1/4" pieces
1/2 zucchini, diced in about 1/4" pieces
1/2 c. carrots, diced in about 1/4" pieces
1/2 c. onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 T. fresh rosemary, diced finely
1 t. dried thyme
1 t. dried basil
1/2 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 egg, beaten

Topping
1/2 head cauliflower
1 c. chicken broth, preferably homemade
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 T. butter
1/3 c. part-skim ricotta cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brown the ground beef the beef is no longer pink. Drain the cooked meat in a colander and return to pan.

Chop vegetables and start with carrots. Cook carrots for about 2 minutes, then add zucchini, onion and garlic. Add ground beef mixture, herbs and tomato paste. Mix in egg. Pat mixture into a quart baking dish.

Chop cauliflower and put in deep pan with chicken broth and smashed garlic cloves. Bring broth to boil, lower to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Either mash with a potato masher or use a food processor or immersion blender to pureé. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix in ricotta cheese. Spread evenly over meat mixture.

Cook for about 30 minutes.
___________________

And apologies for the pictures going up all katy-wampus. I'm still learning when it comes to figuring out the finer points of blogging.

Onward,
Carol

50 Pounds Gone!!!

Hooray! Hooray!!

Saturday, I notched 50 pounds gone forever since my highest weight of 273 last summer and it feels great. And I've lost 33 pounds since my gastric sleeve surgery weight of 256 on Dec. 27, 2011, with Dr. Gregory Walton of WeightWise.

There are already so many NSVs or Non-Sleeve Victories:
• I've gone from a size 22 to an 18 in jeans and to a size 16 in my stalwart, standard black pants.
• I can do a whole lot more yoga stretches than I could before. In fact, my yoga teacher Thomas said I'm doing the best I've ever done.
• I'm off one of my two blood pressure meds.
• I have a whole lot more energy already and am back to doing cardio and strength training.

I was going to post a my revised recipe for a pretty darn good Low-Carb Shepherd's Pie I made Friday, but I think I'll do that tomorrow.

I guess I'm going to have to break down and post some pictures. Sigh. I hate pictures.

Onward,
Carol

Measuring Up ... or Down

One of the lovely things about losing weight is that the change doesn't always come on the scale. Sometimes it comes with a measuring tape. Weight is still moving off like Methuselah (sp?) and I'm a tad frustrated with it.

And because today is March 1, it also means it's my day to measure.

Since Jan. 20, here's my progress:
Bust: - 0.5"
Waist: -1.5"
Hips: -1.5"
Upper Right Arm: -0.5"
Neck: -0.75"
Thigh: -o.25"
Right Calf: -0.25"

The biggest progress was off my hips this time with a half-inch gone.

I think I'll set a sub-goal of 215 for Easter, on April 8 this year, which would be 10 pounds gone by then. It may be tough because Bob's home in the middle of that, but I'll give it a shot.

Onward,
Carol

Nine weeks -- really??? How did that happen?

Wow! I feel like I'm on fast forward.

How did nine weeks go by so fast?

I'm feeling great. I'm at 225 and have lost 31 pounds since Dec. 27, 2011, surgery, and 48 pounds since I started my adventure last summer. I feel like I'm losing inches faster than pounds, although I'll check that out and record it on Thursday, March 1.

Weight loss has slowed to a crawl in the past three weeks, but I have confidence that it will go back to a maximum healthy weight rate of about 2 pounds a week. But I've only lost two pounds in three weeks.

My face and waist are changing. I'll post pictures sometime soon. I know my husband has surreptiously taken lots of "fat before" pictures (although he was just trying to snap a picture of me -- and I need to post those. I just wasn't ready to do that until I actually had the surgery and was a little ways out from it.

I want to up my cardio and strength training (sorry Dr. G -- yes, I want to do more strength training.)

I also plan to start doing some videos to record my journey and I'll put those up here too. Maybe I'll even flex for my darlin' hubby's entertainment.

I wish I'd started doing that earlier, but to tell the truth I had so little confidence in myself that I wanted to wait until I knew this would work and I wouldn't let my husband or one of my best friends talk me out of it in the first place. Sigh. Fortunately, at least one of those folks became one of my biggest cheerleaders. Love them all anyway.

Onward,
CC

App-ealing Tracking

My weight loss has slowed a lot and I decided I should start tracking my food and drinks with my iPhone and/or iPad to make sure I'm staying in the parameters of the recommended program.

I decided to try two apps.

One is MyFitnessPal, a free app I heard about on Vertical Sleeve Talk, and the other is LiveStrong MyPlate, which is $2.99 and an app my darlin' daughter has been having good luck in assisting her resolve to lose weight. This week, her weight dipped below 200 -- 198 pounds -- for the first time in a couple of years. I'm so proud of her for sticking with it.

The plan is to try the two apps side-by-side and see how I like them both.

So far, it appears that the Live Strong MyPlate has nicer graphics, but initially they seem very similar in function. MyPlate gave me 1,305 calories daily and MyFitnessPal gave me 1,200 calories daily with exactly the same information about current weight, amount of exercise, age, etc.

We'll see how they both work and I'll report back in a week or so.

Onward,
Carol

Eight Week Weigh-In

Today, I notched my eight week "anniversary" since my Dec. 27 gastric sleeve surgery and there's good and bad news.

It's Tuesday Weigh Day and I'm stuck, stuck, stuck. I remind myself that I've lost 29 pounds since my surgery weight of 256, and 46 pounds total since June when I first attended a bariatric seminar. That's the good news.

But trouble is that last Tuesday, I was at 227. The week before, I was at 228. Here 's how it 's been going:
Dec. 27: 256
Jan. 2: 251
Jan. 7: 244
Jan. 14: 238
Jan. 28: 235
Feb. 1: 233
Feb. 7: 228
Feb. 14: 227
Feb. 21: 227

I know it's typical to hit a stall when you start "real" foods at four weeks. I'd lost 21 pounds in the first month -- understandable with the liquid diet for two weeks and then soft foods for two weeks -- and then it's been eight pounds in the four weeks since then.

I know two pounds a week average is a healthy pace, but only one pound in two weeks is a tad discouraging. Rationally, I know I'm not eating all that much so the weight loss will resume. Giving myself a pep talk.

Part of it is in my head, because I was almost in free fall the first three weeks. It will get better I know, because I'm trying so hard to do the right things including diet choices and exercise.

For example, yesterday evening, the cast of a stage show I'm performing with had dinner before the show prepared by one of the cast members: a pasta dish with salad and garlicky buttery bread (which always smells fantastic.) I brought boiled eggs to nosh on and a couple of low-cal drinks. That worked just fine. Tonight, the cast dinner is enchiladas and I think I'll just eat before I go to the theatre.

I think I'll make that low-carb Shepherd's Pie recipe for tonight's supper that super-dietician Steph gave me. I may doctor the recipe a little bit. We'll see. If it's good, I'll post it in the next day or two.

Onward,
Carol

Flying High ... or Low

I knew I should have measured when I had my Dec. 27 gastric sleeve surgery, or even better, when I was at my all-time high weight of 273.

I attended a conference in New Orleans in early October and remember my airline seatbelt was extended all the way out to the buckle. If I'd had to ask for an extender, that would have ranked as another one of those humiliating final straw kinds-of-things.

I flew to Houston earlier this week to meet hubby and serendipitously had the perfect Valentine's Day meal with him. More on that later.

But the fun part was either American Airlines has longer seatbelts than Delta, or I've lost a whole lot total around my tummy -- about a whopping seven inches. The best part was that I felt so much better.

The other interesting thing was that we had the perfect meal for a recent bariatric surgery patient like myself — Spanish tapas, which translates to the "little dishes of Spain," at Oporto Café in the West Loop of Houston. Tapas are family style and you order several of them -- we got four for the two of us. The good thing was that I got to try a bite of everything we ordered, and hubby happily ate the rest. We had reservations for late because we didn't know what time my plane would arrive and how long it would take to get there, but they worked us in early. Just a great night. You can check out the dinner menu here.

And last Tuesday aka Weigh Day, I'd taken off another pound to 227. Always good news.

Onward,

Carol

Shrimpy is Not Short -- Shrimp Salad Recipe

... on flavor.

Hubby got in Saturday morning from West Africa and I was so glad to see him. He didn't even seem surprised over the weight loss since he was here about three weeks ago, and seemed to embrace it (so to speak.)

Last night, we sat in front of the fire and enjoyed each other's company along with some cocktail shrimp. OK, he had some cocktail shrimp and I held off for the main course -- my maiden voyage back into the world of filet mignon.

The sad part was -- darn it -- because it was windy and cold outside, I chose to panfry those little filet babies and overcooked them a bit. Still, they tasted pretty darn good, even cooked medium instead of medium rare. I made mashed cauliflower with my homemade beef broth for a side and used an immersion blender to puree it. Hubby LOVED them. But reminder to self: if you're going to throw in some chopped chives from your container gardening, don't add them until you've pureed unless you want the mashed cauliflower to have a "lovely" green tint. Fortunately, it didn't bother hubby. Mashed cauliflower basic recipe is in previous post.

Today for lunch, there was about a cup of the cocktail shrimp left, so I decided to make lunch for us with those. I didn't have enough celery, so I added some toasted pine nuts for crunch and that turned out to be a great idea. Even though I ate only about a fourth of it, hubby cleaned the bowl -- always a good recommendation. Here's my concoction:

Shrimp Salad
1 c. cocktail shrimp -- cooked, peeled and cut into about 1/4 to 1/3-inch pieces.
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/3 c. chopped celery
2 T. pine nuts, toasted
4 T. light mayonnaise
1 T. Paul Prudhomme's Magic Seasoning "Seafood Magic"

Directions:
Chop shrimp and egg and put in small bowl. Add chopped celery. Spray skillet with cooking spray and toast pine nuts until golden. Add to bowl with seasoning. Add light mayo to other ingredients and stir until wet. Serve with bread for hubby to make sandwich, large lettuce leaves for the lower calorie version.

Enjoy!!

Onward,
Carol

Hunger averted?

Today was my six-week check-up with my friends at WeightWise aka my surgeon Dr. Gregory Walton's office. Things are going great guns: good weight loss, feeling good, looking better every day and only a few tiny bumps.

Steph, WeightWise's awesome dietician (and I'm not just saying that because she'll probably read this,) said I actually need to EAT MORE at my three main meals, because I have been getting hungry mostly in the late afternoons and later in the evenings. Ummmmm, what?? Really??

The key is, though, that I have to take smaller bites, chew them well and more slooooowwwwwwllllllllyyyyyy. Does she know I grew up with brothers who would basically eat everything in site if you didn't get there first.? Sigh. OK, I worked on eating slower at lunch today and I'll be a work in progress for awhile. But work I will, because I'd rather work at it than be hungry. I promise.

The small bumps I've incurred haven't been much. Had some fatigue for the first three to four weeks. A couple of bouts with nausea over things like the twice-daily, fruity, chewable multi-vitamins that make you pucker. I switched to capsules for a couple of weeks and that helped. My body didn't like it when I added veggies at four weeks, but it settle down after about a week of integrating the veggies.

I started back on yoga twice weekly for an hour at three weeks out with my yoga trainer Thomas Thompson. And I started my cardio back at four weeks out, and have worked back up to 30 minutes on the stationary bicycle and 12 minutes on the treadmill, even with rotten ol' knees. Am increasing treadmill times, so I can walk farther when I need to.

Speaking of veggies, my new favorite veg is mashed cauliflower. It doesn't taste like cauliflower (really it doesn't) and it is an excellent substitute for the mouth feel of mashed potatoes. Have tried several recipes for them, but this is the best – from the Paleo Comfort Cookbook. I was so shocked when I actually liked them, but these are yummy.

Mashed Cauliflower
1 head fresh cauliflower
1 c. chicken stock
1/4 t. fresh cracked pepper
2 large cloves garlic, crushed

Cut cauliflower head into small chunks of the florets and stem.

Place ingredients in a medium saucepan or Dutch oven and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium and cover, allowing to cook for 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender and easily mashed with a fork. It may need more stock if dry or liquid can be poured off and reserved if too much.

Place cooked cauliflower in the bowl of a food processor or blender with a small amount of leftover broth, or leave in pot and use immersion blender. Cauliflower can be mashed manually, but it will not be as smooth as with a food processor. Add some of the reserved broth if necessary or additional chicken broth.

Onward,

Carol

Time for New Jeans

"Give 'em up," my friend Sue said tonight at Gridiron rehearsal, tugging at the baggy back of my pinned-up jeans. "Those jeans are way too baggy."

I'd been pinning them up, trying to limp them past a couple or three sizes. But these were the jeans I was wearing at 273, my all time high.

Darn if she isn't right. I wore out the two pairs of jeans that came before these two pairs and so I guess I'm going to have to spring for some transitional jeans. Burns me to have to buy interim clothes when I'm just going to be out of them soon enough. I think I'll go get them after my dental appointment in the morning.

Actually, I'm ecstatic to have this problem. Last week I was in a stall. This week I was in free fall.

It's Tuesday, Weigh Day, and this morning I weighed in at 228, down 28 pounds since my Dec. 27 gastric sleeve surgery and 45 pounds since the adventure started. It was a six-pound week, after last week being a no-pound week. Wow.

Today is also my six week "anniversary," and my physician Dr. Gregory Walton will allow me to take a regular bath and not just a shower. It's time to try out my bath pillow my friend Janet gave me for Christmas. And I can do strength training if I want and just about anything else except eat a few things like hard-to-digest celery and artichokes. I'm excited.

Onward,

Carol

Feeling a Little Crabby - Crabby Cherry Tomatoes

Today I'm going to a baby shower for my Gridiron buddies Megan and Kianoosh. We're all bringing finger food and I wanted to do something that was light and healthy.

The solution was to use some sort of veggies as the vehicle instead of chips and I decided to stuff cherry tomatoes with crab salad. This was inspired by a recipe from Hors D'Oeuvres by Eric Treuille and Victoria Blashford Snell. I used dill instead of tarragon because there wasn't any fresh tarragon at the grocery store. And I lightened it up with light mayonnaise instead of regular mayonnaise. I also added some seasoned salt from my collection of seasoned salts from Native Roots.

I thought it was appropriate since lots of people are looking for healthy game food for the Super Bowl tomorrow. Although I don't have a dog in that hunt, I think I'm going to have to root for the Patriots because of Oklahoman Wes Welker.

Here's my recipe:

Crabby Cherry Tomatoes

20 cherry tomatoes
1 6 oz. can of lump crabmeat
4-5 T. light mayonnaise
1 T. country dijon mustard
1 T. fresh dill, chopped
1/2 t. seasoned salt
1/2 t. freshly ground pepper

Cut the top off the cherry tomatoes opposite from the stem side, and clean the seeds out with a teaspoon. Turn tomatoes upside down on a paper towel while you make the crab salad.

Mix the crabmeat, mayonnaise, mustard, dill, salt and pepper together gently, then stuff crab salad into each cherry tomato. Top with the slice you cut off in the beginning.

Weigh Day and the Second Stall

It's Tuesday and I'm now five weeks out from my Dec. 27 gastric sleeve surgery. And that means it's Weigh Day. I'm still at 234, although this week I've been all over the place. On Jan. 25, I was at 234, then inexplicably on Jan. 27, I was at 236. And on Jan. 29, I hit 231. Then back up to 234. I'm shaking my head at the scale. Go figure. I'm still down 22 pounds since my surgery weight of 256, and 39 pounds since my all-time high of 273.

It's sort of anticlimatic because I hit another stall when I moved to Stage 3 foods at four weeks, which is most of the protein choices and most vegetables, except for artichokes, asparagus, celery and a few others.

I had decided not to weigh daily until I heard a story last week on NPR about a study that indicated it makes no difference if you weigh daily or weekly. When I was thin in my 20s and early 30s, I weighed daily and found it motivating. Back then, if I gained a pound or two, I'd be more careful until the scale slid back down.

I'm not sure when it changed, but it didn't change all at once. It's easy to gain weight when you do it eight or 10 pounds a year. Heck, you don't have to increase your calories by much daily to do that. I just didn't care as much about myself after my 1990 divorce, even though I dieted hard several times including a stint with the now-discredited fen-phen diet drugs that whipped about 50 pounds off. About the time I was having really good success with them, they went off the market because of heart valve problems and my weight came back on like iron filings to a magnet.

My physician Dr. Gregory Walton has me taking my blood pressure most days and logging it, and I'm hoping eventually I'll get off both of my BP meds (I'm off one.) My log also notes my weight that day, so that's how I know how much I weighed on certain days. (I'm not really a compulsive obsessive.)

I went ahead and measured today instead of tomorrow, Feb. 1, and I've lost a half-inch on my bust, an inch on my waist and an inch on my hips. All good news since I tend to pack it in below the waist. That was since Jan. 20, when I belatedly measured for the first time after surgery.

I'm sure now that I've written about it, the Second Stall will be over soon. I'm not worried. I'm keeping on doing what I've been doing and the scales will budge.

Onward,

Carol

Fashion Forward

Nothing like a little mind-bending fashion to inspire my continuing weight loss regimen.

Saturday, my wonderfully artistic friend Shirley and I trekked to the Dallas Museum of Art to see "The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the catwalk to the sidewalk."

Of course, they wouldn't allow photos inside, but I was able to snap a photo of the two mannequins outside the show, with a scrawled note from Gaultier on the riser they stood on. These were only average compared to the fashions inside, and to tell the truth, even though one of the cowboy hats was made of hair, cowboy hats are sort of everywhere in Dallas.

The fashions inside were stunningly mesmerizing. The show was divided into several areas and of course, there were costumes from the Madonna Blonde Ambition Tour -- you know, the ones with the "pointy" boob corsets.

Some of our favorites were a dress made of film strips and another of ballet ribbons. Detail and workmanship were just phenomenal.

And the mannequins just about made the show. Molds were taken of models' faces and they were used as the heads of many of the mannequins. Then a 3D image was projected onto the mannequin's faces and it appeared they were almost looking right at you, talking or singing to you. Surreal and fun.

There were lots of his sketches that showed his design thoughts.

I think I may have to go back before this riveting and memorable show is over. Note: It's only showing through Feb. 12.

Tuesday, I hit my five-week mark since my Dec. 27 surgery, and it's Weigh Day.

Onward,
Carol

Ham and Egg Cups for Breakfast

One of my favorite breakfast meals before surgery was Ham and Egg Cups. Now that I can eat veggies, it was one of the first things I tried Wednesday.

It's another recipe I adapted to make lower fat from the Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook by Julie and Charles Mayfield.

Ham and Egg Cups (serves 12)
1/2 c. mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 c. shallots, finely chopped
12 large eggs
12 slices (lean) ham

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sauté shallots and mushrooms in skillet with butter-flavored cooking spray (instead of the butter the recipe called for.)

Coat muffin pan with olive oil spray and place ham slices in cups, cutting as necessary to make them fit. Spoon sautéed mushroom/shallot mixture into each cup.

Crack individual eggs into the ham cups.

Cook for 15-16 minutes or until edges of ham is slightly crisp and egg whites don't look runny. For large eggs, cook about 20 minutes.

Tonight, I attended the WeightWise weekly support group and feel like I'm doing really great. It seemed like the majority of people were pre-op tonight. There's a different mix of people every week. I'm going to try to make it at least once a month to help keep me on track losing.

I added veggies at my four-week mark Tuesday and have had some trouble getting my stomach to accept them. I was fine with the cooked veggies in the Ham and Egg Cups, but not so good with the slaw and lettuce around the Fish Tacos. It's a slow process. I'm thinking cooking the veggies is key right now.