Did you miss me?

So let me update you on my recent news and eats. Last week I received a message from my nutritionist that they needed to reschedule my last nutrition appointment. I called first thing in the morning hoping to prevent a delay in my surgery. Luckily for me - she had someone cancel that same morning! So, since it had already been 30 days since my last surgery (as required by my insurance company), she scheduled me for that same morning. I made it there in 20 minutes - right on time! We spoke about my supplements, food, and my thoughts and feelings on surgery. She is excited for me. She thinks that I'm ready. She said that I am obviously taking this seriously, I have already committed to changing my diet before surgery. I'm already taking the vitamins I need for after surgery. And most of all, she thinks that I seem emotionally ready. She told me that she thinks my positive, determined attitude will help get me through those first few rough months. I also found out that I lost 6 pounds. :) Yay!!! Now I know that 6 pounds isn't much when I have to lose just over 100, but it's a start. :)

In food news . . . here are some of my recent eats.

This was absolutely delicious! I used two cans of Rotel chopped tomatoes with green chilies, 2 cups of frozen lima beans, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, fajita seasoning (otherwise known as my crack - I put in almost everything), 1 cup of low-sodium vegetable broth, and three frozen tilapia filets. I just put it all in the stove and let it simmer until the fish and lima beans were cooked all the way (this would be a great crock pot dish). I was going to make lettuce wraps (which I would recommend) with it. Instead, I put it on flour tortillas with some fat-free cheese. My boyfriend loved it. I loved it. I call it a success. I would make this again in a heart beat - but with lettuce instead of flour tortillas. This is my own recipe out of the old noggin. :)

This was one of my lunches recently. I had a sandwich that included sandwich thins, Tofurkey Oven Roasted Deli Slices, lettuce, tomato, a slice of pepperjack cheese, dijon mustard, and a little mayo. I also had fresh cut watermelon and sugar free pudding.

Let me tell you more about that pudding . . . Mmmm . . . 

I call it my Reese's pudding. I used Jello Sugar-free chocolate pudding. I mixed it with peanut butter, 1% milk, and Reese's Peanut Butter chips. It was great. I think that next time I would like to try using PB2 instead of regular peanut butter and I would like to mix in a chocolate protein powder to "protein it up." 

So that's all for now. I promised my boyfriend that I would get all up close and personal with you all next time. You know, all that emotional weepy stuff that some women *coughs* are prone to. . . ;)

Mmmmmm . . . Lasagna . . .

I tried a new recipe from my book: "Hungry Girl 300 Under 300: 300 Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Dishes Under 300 Calories" by Lisa Lillien. The recipe is Lasagna Cupcakes. It was absolutely delicious! I love that the servings are small individual servings to help with portion control. It was so easy. It took my 15 minutes to make including prep time. I adjusted the recipe to be vegetarian. Instead of ground turkey I used frozen spinach and my own blend of spices.

On other news, I got my new book in the mail: "703: How I Lost More Than a Quarter Ton and Gained a Life." It's on sale on Amazon right now for $10.38. I have read many reviews on this book and it is recommended by most of the big gastric bypass bloggers. It sounds very interesting. I look forward to reading it. I did buy a Nook, but I will buy physical books for books that I want to keep for inspiration or reference.

Well, that's all folks! :P


- Gastric Kitty

A rant on diabetes . . .

Today a coworker of mine came in feeling very ill. I asked her what was wrong. She told me she ate to much sugar yesterday and now she's paying for it. A few weeks ago she had a doctor appointment and was told that she is a borderline diabetic. Her doctor told her specifically to stay away from fried foods (now this is a girl who will eat most of a KFC bucket by herself), switch to sugar-free items, etc. The same old diabetic rap.

I don't know why so many diabetics that I know don't change their eating habits until they end up in the hospital. A couple of them ended in the hospital before they started changing what they eat. One kept up with it and eats much better and the other doesn't even care anymore and eats whatever.

My coworker now has an appointment to see the doctor and probably get an insulin shot. The other day she got a Slurpee from 711 (a convenience store). Straight up sugar. I tried giving her crystal light but she didn't use it. I told her about splenda or truvia and gave her some packets to try it out. Several people gave her ideas for diet sodas and such. I feel so frustrated because I really want to help her, but I can't. She seems interested when I give her ideas for substitutions and recipes, but I don't think she's really listening or really cares. Another person I know has diabetes as well. He's basically developed the attitude that he'd rather die enjoying life rather than eating crap.

Why does good food have to be crap? Thanks to the internet, cookbooks, and some personal creativity, there is a huge assortment of ideas for eating a healthier, diabetic-friendly diet. There are so many resources out there. The problem is you have to care enough to find them and take the time to take care of yourself.

I know this is coming from the chick who had sugar like crazy yesterday. I know that I do not have diabetes and can't truly understand what it's really like. I really do try to be understanding. I know it's hard. I know diabetics are going to cheat sometimes. That's OK. The point is that you actually try. No half-assed attempt - but really try. Which, of course, I need to do better. I need to try harder. I guess she's motivating me to do better myself.

On that thought, I guess I should go over my food choices today. There were some good, and some bad. I ate a english muffin with an individual Philadelphia strawberry cream cheese for breakfast. They didn't have a light cream cheese. I know that I didn't eat enough protein for breakfast. I know that the cream cheese wasn't the best choice. The english muffin wasn't too bad, but would have been better as whole wheat. I got groceries today so I have healthy food to bring for breakfast now. I took all of my vitamins too.

I had a Light & Fit: Strawberry and Banana yogurt for a snack.Then for lunch, I had a leftover veggie burger cooked in a low-sodium veggie broth based gravy (made from scratch), some basmati rice, and a side salad.  The bad choice was the small heart-shaped red velvet cake I brought with me. I did split it three ways. If I really wanted the cake, I would have been better off with just one bite.

For dinner I had an egg bowl. I got the idea from my new cookbook "HG's 300 under 300: 300 Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner Dishes Under 300 calories". My bowl consisted of 1/4 cup of fat-free egg beaters, one Laughing Cow Light Swish Cheese wedge, 1 tbsp of low-fat shredded Kraft Mexican cheese, 1/4 cup of leftover rice, 1/4 cup of veggie burger crumbles and 1/4 cup of chopped, sautéed onions and bell peppers, and some seasoning.

Overall I think I did alright. I'm still trying to make better food choices. First thing I need to do is dump all the Easter candy. It's too much temptation. The second thing I need to do it boil some eggs so that I can bring them to work to eat along with a protein drink (17g protein, 2g carbs) for breakfast. More protein, less carbs, and more veggies. My nutritionist sad that I should eat a whole cup of veggies before I eat anything for lunch and dinner.

Anyways, way more than enough for now.

Cat out. (lol. I know cheesy ending. *shrugs*)