Rave Review: Soy and Flaxseed tortilla chips

I went to my first OH picnic last weekend and had a fabulous time!  One of the best things was hearing tips and food recommendations from the other people who'd had surgery.

Scott and Melinda are two of the very active people in the group and they have tons of suggestions, recommendations and recipes.  Both rave about Trader Joe's and Mel talked about how when she and her guy go to Mexican restaurants, she brings along a single serving of her favorite Soy and Flaxseed tortilla chips.  They're from Trader Joe's, have a lot of protein and omega 3 oils, and are a healthier alternative to gorging on restaurant chips.

I went to the doctor yesterday (yes, I actually have stinkin' bursitis in my hip) and the doctor's office is mere blocks from Trader Joe's.  So I made my first visit.  I was kind of surprised because I am used to it being that health food store from a few years ago.  The store is more open than it used to be (not as many shelves), but for what it lost in shelves, it more than makes up with in stocking employees.  Jeez!  I could barely get through the aisles!

But I finally found Mel's recommended chips plus a few protein bars and headed out.  I tried a chip in the car en route to picking up my work iMac.  Actually, they're quite good.  I like the nutty taste that the flaxseed gives them.  Obviously they're one of those special treat foods, but they are definitely something I will buy again. 

And like Mel, when I meet my friend Katy at Cinco de Mayo for dinner, I'll bring my ziploc bag of a single serving of the healthy chips.  What a great idea!  This is why I hang out with these guys--they have such a wealth of experience to share.  And I adore them for sharing!!!

Rave Review: Garnier Nutritioniste Ultra Lift Pro Roller

I have wanted one of these things since I saw them on Martha Stewart while recovering from my surgery.  

With my weight loss so far, my double chin is changing.  It's getting smaller but, freakishly enough, it's getting wrinkly.  Ugh!  It's totally genetics because my mom's wattle is wrinkly too. Lucky me, it seems I get the BEST genes from my parents.

Anyway, it's like a small roll on deodorant, except it's wrinkle reducing juice.  I finally broke down and bought one at Target the other day.  And I LOVE IT!

I don't know how it works, but it does!  Even after just a few applications, my wattle wrinkles are less pronounced.  We'll just say at this point, I am a total convert to the Garnier Nutrioniste products, even though I don't particularly care for their spokesperson Sarah Jessica Parker.

Perks to being fat are few and far between.  One of few is that fat people are generally less wrinkly.  I guess I should get proactive about skin care as I lose the layer of chub that plumps out wrinkles.

Owning It

Do you remember that old Great Depression song that used to show up a lot in Warner Brothers cartoons?  The tune went, "We're in the money; we're in the money.  We've got a lot of what it takes to get along!"

Well, right now I keep singing, "I'm in the 20s!  I'm in the 20s!  I'm really happy 'cause this fat is gettin' gone!"

Yeah, I'm owning it and saying it out loud!  Today I weighed in at 229.2.  I finally broke the 230 mark after hovering there for the last several days.  FINALLY!  (plus I know I have to go to the bathroom at some point this morning, which may take me to the 228s, heh heh.  Every little bit counts, ya know!)

That also has me mere ounces away from losing 45 pounds from my all time highest weight. Oh yeah!  

Plus I'm less than a week and a half away from my first fill.  Once that happens, I'll be out of the healing phase and into the serious weight loss phase.  I can't waaaaait!

Seriously? Looking forward to Monday?

Though I love the weekends, I miss the structure of the work week.  

I eat breakfast and take my meds and vitamins at home.  Enjoy a nice 20 minute walk to the office from the parking lots.  11 am is a blood sugar check followed by 2 calcium lozenges.  I eat lunch around noon. Between 2 and 3 pm, another blood sugar check, a yogurt snack and the rest of the day's calcium.  Take another 20 minute walk to the car.  Dinner when I get home from work.

Structure.  For an Oh Shiny person like me, structure is a good thing.

This weekend has been great, but my schedule has been completely random.  No breakfast yesterday, had a huge meal at the OH picnic. Had a little left over crock pot chicken and beans for dinner.  Today I had coffee at 9 am, ate nothing until about 2 pm, and just finished dinner at 8:45.  Bleh.  Not ideal.

Plus, I am now in the scary world of Soft Foods.  There are so many options in Soft Food Land!  Yikes!!!  Having a larger selection of things to eat AND no structure is a recipe for disaster!  Just a good reminder that I need to continue to be aware of what I'm doing (or not doing) and make sure to be in control of my choices, not falling into old, bad habits.

Hopefully the rain will go away soon so I can spend more time out working in the yard and far away from the kitchen!

Only 10 days until my first fill.  Hopefully at that point, my bandy will help out some and I'll have to rely less on will power.  I'll tell ya, it's been a long 5 weeks since I started the liquid diet.  I am SO looking forward to some restriction!

I went to P.F. Chang's!

Today was my first restaurant meal since my surgery.  I have been sticking more to mushy foods than the soft foods that I should be on. Since it was Friday, our traditional lunch out day, I decided it was time.  And I wanted it to be good.

So Jane and I schlepped in the rain to P.F. Chang's over on West End.

I also took my printed copy of their nutritional information.  I love Chang's and I also know all the good stuff is pretty bad for you.  Since my reset button was hit (surgery day), I know that if I want to go out, I need to make healthier choices.

The thing about restaurants these days is that the portion sizes are HUGE and unless you know what you're getting into, you might be quite surprised as to what you are putting down the old hatch.  The Band demands responsibility.  Otherwise it won't work.  So I printed out the information and brought it along.

Since the wait was nearly 40 minutes, Jane and I were lucky enough to find seats at the bar.  We sat with heads together poring over the data.  Maaaaan!  I was really wanting the crispy honey chicken.  If opted for the lunch bowl, the stats were a mere 1271/50/150/56 (calories/fat/carbs/protein).  OMG, that's like 3 days worth of carbs in a single meal!  I used to eat like this all the time?  If I opted for the dinner plate, it contains 236/10/46/13.  Oh, that's not too bad. Except that there are SIX servings in one dish!!!!  So if you ate the whole plate, which is easy to do, you'd consume 1416/60/276?!?/78.  Holy crap!

Well, I'd definitely meet my 70g protein/day goal . . . and my carb requirements for the WEEK.  Yeah.  As much as I love you Crispy Honey Chicken, I'll pass.

What I ended up getting was the cup of egg drop soup and the shrimp potstickers, steamed.  The soup was 61/2/10/1 and the potstickers were a reasonable 58/1/8/6 each.  I picked them all apart, but all in all ate about 3 of 4.  My grand total for lunch out was 235/5/34/19. Still a little high in carbs for me, but totally acceptable.  I am actually pleased with my choices!  

I didn't much care for the shrimp potstickers.  Next time I'd get the peking dumplings (93/5/7/6 each), but I like them better than the shrimp, so eating 2 of those and taking 2 home would be a good plan. Or get the salmon.  Jane had that (785/35/73/43, which includes a 2 gallon bucket of rice) and gave me a teeny sample.  It was quite good, actually. The salmon not in the rice bowl has two servings, each with 367/16/27/28.  No rice included and I'll probably pass on the rice anyway.  But I know that's delicious and as healthy as it gets at P.F. Chang's.

This experience just drove home the fact that now I need to think before I eat.  I may not get the tastiest thing in the world every time as I experiment, but as my tastes change from greasy to healthy, I think I will be very happy with my new perspective on dining out.