Weigh-In Saturday

Starting weight: 301
Last week's weight: 264
Today's weight: 260
Total loss: 41 pounds

Whoa! What's up with that? Last week 1 and this week 4. But I'm not going to over think it. I'm just going to be thankful.

Shortly after surgery, it was kind of fun to future trip and think about how much weight I might lose by certain occasions. I tried to reel this in a bit and not get too crazy. I mean...you never know what's going to happen and some things are not in our control. So...cautiously, optimistically, I wondered if I could lose 41 pounds by my 41st birthday on September 14th. I hit that this morning. It feels really good to be two weeks ahead of schedule!

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend! Thanks for reading!

What Am I Eating This Week?

Just like last week, my meals have involved the same foods over and over again. I like it because it keeps things simple and convenient for me right now at the beginning of the school year. Before being banded, I really hated eating the same thing for days in a row. I don't know exactly what has changed, but now I don't mind it all. I enjoy things just as much the third time as the first time.

With the exception of Tuesday, which was a full liquid day, and Monday night, which was clear liquids only, here's what I've been eating this week.

Breakfasts have been my yummy Egg Muffins. This week's version includes ham, black olives, and shredded mozzarella. They are so much lower in calories than the ones I made last week with Jimmy Dean reduced fat sausage, but they have just as much protein.

Lunch has been 2 ounces of smoked turkey. 2 tablespoons of red bell pepper hummus, a Kraft jalapeño cheese stick, and some red bell pepper strips.

And speaking of repetition… How many times can I make this old standby? Yep...I'm talking about my Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole. I made it tonight for dinner, and I'll be eating it tomorrow night for dinner too. I've noticed that this is what I always crave in the days following a fill. It's delicious, it's super easy to chew, and it's just plain comforting.

It's always a good day when you see a delivery from Nordstrom at your door when you get home. I have been stalking this bag for a few weeks now, and it thrilled me to see that it's just as fabulous as I thought it would be. I'm ready for fall fashion and cold weather!

My nutrition totals:

I hope everyone is having a great week. Thanks for reading!

Well...THAT Makes Sense

So I've been walkin' around, livin' my life,  thinking I had 5cc in my band. Wrong! I had 4, and now I have 5.2 after my third fill yesterday. My surgeon did my fill yesterday and he set the record straight. Apparently the fluid they use to "prime" the band during surgery doesn't count. Say what?

But...soooooo many things make sense now. Not the least of which is that I was able to devour this whole thing at Genghis Grill on Saturday night.

And how I sometimes feel  hunger 2 and a half hours after a high protein meal.
Not that Genghis Grill bowl, though. I was good for the rest of the night after that. :)

I've been on full liquids all day today. You know the drill...Progresso Chicken Enchilada Soup, Unjury iced coffee, Chobani yogurt. And it hasn't been at all miserable.

Tomorrow I will be back on regular food and it will be interesting to see how that goes. I'm hoping this was the fill that pushed me into that elusive Green Zone. We shall see.

Thanks for reading.

Weigh-In Saturday

Starting weight: 301
Last week's weight: 265
This week's weight: 264

Hmmmmm.... a pound. 1 pound.

Kind of thought it would be more than that considering my activity this week. I'm going over the different possibilities in my head. Trying to think about it, but not dwell too much, you know? My calories and water were on target every day, my body was constantly in motion. Standing all day, walking all over the place. Who knows. I'm going to keep my head down and forge on.

In other news, this was a really good week. Exhausting, but good. My students seem sweet and really eager to learn Spanish. Our new principal is the BEST. Right now I feel like year #20 could be the best one yet.

With a lot of prepping beforehand, my meals were easy and really delicious too. Those Egg Muffins I made on Sunday are going to become a staple. Tomorrow I'll be making a ham, mozzarella, black olive version. One thing I was really relieved about is the timing of my food. By starting my morning with my Unjury Iced Coffee, that keeps me going until 10:00 when I can eat breakfast. Lunch is at 12:45. Not ideal, but I'm working with it. I am finding, however, that I am hungry for dinner around 5:00 or 5:30. I am not used to eating quite that early. But....considering that I am ready for bed by 9:30, maybe it's not such a bad thing after all. Oh how my life has changed in the past two weeks!! I really miss being a Lady of Leisure. :)

Getting ready to make a Chocolate Splendor coffee and start my day. I've got to make a quick trip to the grocery store, but that's the only chore-type thing I'm planning to do today. I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Thanks for reading!

Full Speed Ahead

Whoa. This week is a whirlwind. So to make it super easy and convenient for myself, I have been eating the same thing for the past couple of days. In fact, my breakfast and lunch is going to be the same all week. Not that I mind.

I'm really digging the egg muffins I made on Sunday. They are delicious and I just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds when I get a chance to eat breakfast at 10:00am. The timing of that is really working out well, by the way. By 10, I am pretty hungry, but not so completely ravenous that I eat too fast.

Lunch has been 2 ounces of smoked ham, an ounce of fresh mozzarella, 2 tablespoons of hummus, and 8 black sesame rice crackers.

Monday night I made one of my favorite recipes of all time. Emily over at Emily Bites has a great selection of delicious and healthy recipes. Quite a few of them are Weight Watcher recipes that are good for Bandsters too. This is the Chicken Tamale Bake. My recipe differs from Emily's in that I use  about 11 ounces of chopped rotisserie chicken instead of shredded chicken breast. That makes the calorie count slightly higher, but I really like the mixture of white and dark meat. Here's what it looks like when it comes out of the oven.

 

And here is my portion:

 

I've had this for dinner the past two nights, and I'll also be having it again tomorrow. By Thursday I will definitely be ready for a change of pace! Here are my totals for Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday... the same for all three days. Repetition is not so exciting, but it's easy. And this week I need some EASY! :)

 

I hope everyone is having a great week. Thanks for reading!

Green Chile Cheddar Sausage Egg Muffins

So this is what I'll be eating for breakfast every day this week. And I'm excited about it!

I know there are a million versions of these out there, but this is mine. That's one of the things that make these so great...you can really put anything you want in them.  I'm already thinking about a black olive, ham, and mozzarella version for next week.

I lined my muffin tins with some baking cups and sprinkled a small bit of grated cheddar cheese in each one. At first I thought I'd be making 12 egg cups, but it was evident pretty quickly that the recipe would make way more than that. I ended up with 18 total.

I browned some Jimmy Dean Reduced Fat Sausage and added a small can of chopped green chiles.

When that was done, I divided the sausage/green chile mixture evenly among the 18 cups.  I mixed up 12 eggs with a little bit of salt and pepper and poured that into the muffin tins. These baked at 350 for 20 minutes, but I probably could've baked them for a bit less time. You definitely don't want to over cook your eggs. Especially if you'll be popping them in the microwave throughout the week like I will.

They looked so good when they came out of the oven, I ended up having two for my breakfast this morning. Had to try them out, right? :)

 

Here are the nutrition stats for two egg muffins:

Enjoy! Thanks for reading!

Weigh-In Saturday

Starting weight: 301
Last week's weight: 267
Current weight: 265

I'm happy with the 2 pound loss this week.  Especially considering that there wasn't much exercise (other than a little light, morning yoga) to speak of.

This weekend is going to be all about mental preparation and relaxation. The busiest week of my year is about to go down, people! :) We have a new principal this year and he is SO nice. His positive attitude and calm demeanor is really influencing my positive attitude. Not to get too specific, but it's a monumental change from what we have been dealing with for the past three years.

I think I'm good to go, food wise. I went to the grocery store last night and got all of the things I'm going to need this week. For breakfast, I'm taking a cue from Austin Bander and making Egg Muffins. I am going to do a reduced fat sausage, green chile, cheddar version. For lunch I'm going to keep it simple with smoked ham, fresh mozzarella, and hummus.

The relaxation portion of my weekend includes the second season Scandal marathon on BET. I cannot believe how good this show is. I mean...Kerry Washington's wardrobe alone. Simply amazing. And did I mention John is off tonight too? Yea!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. Thanks for reading!

p.s. And a big thanks to Hollee over at Hollee's Weight Loss Adventure for coming up with a genius name for the unfortunately named Man Pleasing Chicken. Wait for it......People Pleasing Poultry. LOVE it!