Life Savers!

I'm very much a fan of the Minute Maid Light beverages. They're quite tasty and a quick way for me to get in some liquids. The lemonade only has 5 calories in the entire can and the other 3 flavors have 10 calories. The cherry limeade is probably my least favorite, but it's still really good.

What would I do without cheese? These little things are fantastic. Each individual serving has 50 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, and 6 grams of protein. They're perfect for portion control, sack lunches, and an on-the-go meal.
We've gotta have fat. My fat no longer comes from tortilla chips and queso, but from wonderful things like seeds and nuts. I feel that I'm kind of a nut snob, but I gave these a whirl. They're amazing! They were roasted and salted perfectly. I love that this mixed nut combination includes walnuts.
This is a ZERO calorie chai. Yes, you're supposed to blend it 50/50 with milk, but I break the rules. I add a little bit of half-n-half (1 1/2 Tbsp. (30 calories)) and lots of water. It mostly tastes like chai tea with cream versus a chai tea latte, but it's so much healthier.

This will make a great dessert. 2 tablespoons of the Reddi Whip has 5 calories. Well, I can't physically eat much so I figured I can responsibly enjoy some of this. Bones will have to help me eat the banana too because there's no way I could eat an entire one myself. I will absolutely savor my tiny bites though. ; )

I never tried a bread and butter pickle until this year. Can you believe it? Well, I found these wonderful no sugar added bread and butter pickles at my local grocery store. They were on sale for 2 bucks and I had a 50 cent off coupon. I stocked up! They're sweet like dessert and have the perfect crunch. Yum!

I'm an Aldi shopper. This deli meat is budget friendly. I get a whole pound of deli sliced chicken breast for less than 3 bucks. I enjoy taking 1 slice and rolling it around a slice of 2% American cheese or around some low-fat cream cheese. They're great hot or cold.
I found these at my local grocery store. I figure I'll allow myself 1 for Thanksgiving. I plan on adding some sugar-free Torani pumpkin syrup to ricotta and then stuffing it in one of these little guys and then top it off with a squirt of Reddi Whip. We'll see how that goes.

I know it's not on my list of foods I can eat, but it's better than all the other sweets and carbs that will be everywhere I look on the Holiday's.

What a find! I'm looking forward to trying this with my next batch of chicken, tuna, or egg salad. This was on sale at my local grocery store for 1.50 and I had a 50 cent off coupon. I only paid 1 buck for this. Excellent!
I've NEVER been a fan of sweet pickles, but at the price I paid I figured I'd try 'em out again. These are the no sugar added kind too so they're much healthier for me. I love that they're in single serving packages. I'm guessing I'll probably get several servings out of each little package though. Funny how that works now. lol! Good thing they don't expire for a really long time.

LOVE these! I highly recommend them. They count as a fat. I only eat about 4-6 at a time. That's 1 fat serving. Fat never tasted so good. Mmm....

Flounder

I tried a little bit of baked flounder for lunch today. It was so delicious that I decided I'd eat some for dinner if I was hungry. Yep, I was hungry and had it again for dinner. It was really wonderful. Unfortunately, I think I went overboard. I struggled to keep it down. I kept telling Bones that I was gonna go yack in the toilet, but he said I better keep it down because I don't want to perforate my stomach. I kept feeling my fish creep up and was burping, but I managed. What a relief!

Pretty sure I ate too much because I've been feeling lousy. I don't think I've been getting in enough protein so I was trying to compensate. You know those pics of Africans with the big round belly? Well, that's kinda happening to me. My stomach is filling with fluid because I'm protein malnourished. My word... I never ever thought I'd say I was malnourished. Ha!

Getting my fluids in started out rough today, but I treated myself to some Fuze at the store. That stuff tastes so much better than Crystal Light and other flavored drinks. The blueberry raspberry is my favorite.

I spent several hours going through more clothes today. The clothes in my closet will get me by for a while. I'm really excited about getting some use out of the stuff I've had stored away for years.

I have a personal goal. I've been wanting to start running again around Christmas time. The reason I've been waiting is so I have a chance to lose more weight. Being down many more pounds should make running a little less painful. Well, I don't think I can wait any longer. I'm ready to start now! My current weight is the same as when I started running a few years back. It was awful then because I was basically a couch potato before and didn't have the lung strength or anything else. This time I've been working out regularly in the gym and my body is a little more conditioned. So, I'm ready to give it a whirl. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I can start tomorrow. I'll keep ya posted on how it goes. Wish me luck!

EGG-static!

I've been sipping on my liquids all morning. I was feeling hungry and kept drinking with the attempt to curve my appetite. I finally gave in and had a boiled egg with salt and pepper. I was able to eat the entire thing and keep it down. I'm not too sure I'll be hungry for dinner, but that's okay. I'm egg-static that I ate an entire boiled egg! = )

I walked with my hubby to our local QT today and I bought some 5 Rain gum and a big cup of ice. Yum! It was pretty hot out there. I think I'm ready for a nap now. Zzzz's......

3 Week Surgiversary!

I'm officially 3 weeks post-op. Things have been a little crazy. I don't know what happened, but things started going downhill a few days ago. I've felt really nauseous and nothing sounds good. Everything has been tasting bad, from water to crystal light to eggs and deli meat. Ugh!

It's been tough getting in my minimum 64oz. liquids a day, but I'm doing it anyway.

I've been taking my nausea medication about every day now. I should probably get a refill soon just so I'm prepared.

I seemed to turn a corner for today, but I don't know if it will last. I was able to get down ice water, which hasn't been easy. I did a "no-no" and had egg drop soup for dinner. I figured I'll just count it as being a protein shake or something. It's really just water and egg, so it probably counts towards my liquids too.

A few hours later I seemed to be hungry again. I had some chicken thigh pieces that I had baked in a cream of chicken soup and water. It was really moist and I had no problem getting it down or keeping it down.

I've heard many stories about people overeating, not chewing well enough, taking too big of bites, etc. These people usually end up worshipping the porcelain gods, but I haven't experienced that. I'm so thankful!

My wounds are still healing up nicely. A couple of them still have some Dermabond on them and I can definitely feel my internal stitches.

I think I'm going to back off the scale for a while. Since I watch it every day, it's not moving. I hate that and get frustrated. I'm stuck at -56 lbs. and I'm ready to lose more weight. The rapid weight loss has caused me to have a period. This isn't convenient for me at all. I have the Mirena IUD and swear by it. I've never had a full blown period with that thing in until now. Ugh!!! So, I'm probably bloated, retaining water, and all the other great stuff that goes along with it. And since there's not much food going in me, there's not much coming out. I seriously think it's been a week. Not that I enjoy that part of my life, but it was always nice to feel regular. Sorry if this is grossing anyone out, but that's the world of blogging for ya.

I hope tomorrow is a great day. I need to get in my exercise, fluids, and protein. The laundry is also calling my name. I'm a little confused about the situation because I probably won't be wearing half the clothes that are in my laundry basket ever again. I hate to waste the money cleaning the stuff. Hmmm... I'll figure it out tomorrow.

Peace out!

1st & 2nd Post-Op Meals

My first 2 weeks post-op consisted of a clear liquid diet. I know it sounds horrible, but it wasn't so bad. Herbox broth, Smart Water, Crystal Light, and sugar-free sno cones were my drinks of choice. I'm pretty sick of the sweet stuff right now, so I've switched to unsweetened herbal iced tea. It's delicious! I didn't struggle with hunger at all during the 2 weeks. Thank goodness!

Here are a couple of pics of my first post-op meal. There is a before and after pic. I only had about 1/3 of an egg on my plate to begin with.

I never felt full, but I felt content. I sure didn't want to eat so much that I tasted it twice.... if you know what I mean.

This was my 2nd post-op dinner. I had fat-free refried beans with 2% sharp cheddar cheese. I gave most of the cheese to my dog. He loves that stuff!

In order to get more protein, I also made some tuna salad. I used tuna from a pouch with lots of low-fat mayo and some mustard. The mayo and mustard were to help it go down. I still seemed to have a bit of a problem with it though. I would chew, chew, and chew, but the mayo and mustard would leave and I'd be left with the gritty tuna in my mouth. Lets just say that I preferred the refried beans, but at least I tried to get more protein down.

Here are my before and after pics of my post-op meal #2. I'm doing better!

What did you have for your first few post-op meals? How much did you eat?

**** Down 52 lbs. since 06/14/2009****