Old and New pictures

My son Patrick's last day of first grade is tomorrow. Today he was wearing the same shirt he wore the first day of school and it made me curious to compare him from then until now. I pulled up the pics and I came across a picture of the two of us. I was a little over a month out from surgery so 270ish. I remember being so happy with the shirt I was wearing because I was able to actually buy something from Ross again. Looking at the picture now makes me sad on so many levels. First off, my son is getting so old! Done with first grade? Where has the time gone? Second, I was huge. No getting around it. It makes me sad that it took so long for me to do what I needed to do to have the surgery. Realistically, 2009 was the best year for me because we ended up with great insurance for that year only because the policy changed and there is no way I could have afforded it this year, but you know what I mean. Why did I stay fat for so long? I feel like I missed out on so much. I feel like my sons missed out on so much. I didn't get to be a cute pregnant girl. I didn't get to cuddle them close to me when they were babies. I didn't try hard to breastfeed because my boobs and stomach were so big it was uncomfortable. I didn't have a lap for Patrick to sit in when he was little. Cooper thankfully has a mommy with a lap now. In this pic you can see that my son can't get his arms around me, not by a long shot. As I was losing weight we would check every week or so to see if he could touch his fingers around me. He can now :) I was so lazy and tired and miserable at that weight. Thankfully my boys are still young and won't remember me as heavy too much. Cooper won't at all. I don't have to worry about them being embarrassed of my weight or teased at school because of me. At least not for my weight :) I'm sure I'll still embarrass them because that is what moms do, right? I am glad this part of my life is behind me and all I can do is remember how I felt then and how much better I feel now, especially when I think an Oatmeal cookie would be a great idea for dinner :)

Now about new pics. I posted this pic on my facebook page (kristemitchell) and my wonderful friends have been so supportive and said such encouraging things. One friend said that some hot mama was posting updates and pics under my account and I should contact fb. Another one said that I look like ME now. That really stuck with me. I feel like me now. I always wondered what I looked like under all of that fat, all of the layers that I had built up around me. I still have a little ways to go, but this is what I truly look like and who I was always meant to be. I don't ever want to take this opportunity for granted. I have been so blessed and I need to remind myself of that every day.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and for sharing this journey with me.

Date Night

My husband and I went on a date tonight to the batting cages! It was so much FUN! We only did a few rounds, but it was a blast! Like my helmet?

After the batting cages we went to dinner at Red Robin. I thought about getting my old favorite, BLTA Croissant, but I couldn't justify $10 bucks for a meal I would pick apart. Instead I opted for some fries with the poppy seed dressing. Yummy! Today was not the best eating day for me. I got in my protein, but I made some not so hot choices, like my dinner...

Yep, that's an oatmeal raisin cookie from Starbucks and an iced coffee (with skim milk and Splenda)! So french fries, a cookie, and coffee...Dinner of champions :) While it wasn't the healthiest dinner, it was what I really wanted, so I let myself have it. I can't do that everyday, but I don't think there is anything wrong with it occasionally. The only problem with my "dinner" is it made me feel like CRAP! I wanted to lay down on the floor in Barnes and Noble and take a nap. I really shouldn't have had the whole thing. Oh well, live and learn. Off topic but remember my mini freak out about the scale inching up? Well, I think my scale is actually broken. My hubby got on and he was up 4 lbs for the week. I got on tonight and it went from 182 to 186 to 184. Yep, time for a new scale! So that made me feel better. I really am still in my 178-180 range! Now if I could just stay in the 170s I would be happy. Also, see the book! I LOVE me some Sookie Stackhouse! I am a huge True Blood fan and I can't wait for the Season 3 premiere this Sunday! Anyone else a fan??

Tastes of summer

I've never liked summer. Aside from 4th of July (BBQ) and my B-day (presents and cake) I loothed the entire season. I was always so hot and miserable in the heat of Southern California. I was too embarassed to wear a swim suit in public or in my own yard. Fun summer activities like going to the park or the beach or even lounging around in a blow up pool sounded like torture. What a difference a year makes! I am acutally looking forward to the summer! I am craving picnics at the park, walks on the beach, bike rides, swimming, everything! Yesterday I spent the afternoon in my swimsuit in the back yard reading and lounging. I put the blow up pool up and by the end of the afternoon the water was so warm I decided to lay down in the water and chill with the kiddos. It was so much fun!

The foods of summer are also sounding very appealing! I found these darling popscile molds at Ross yesterday for $7.49!!!
I decided to put my yummy greek yogurt smoothie into the pop molds and it turned out delish!!!

Healthy Strawberry Pops!

A bag of frozen strawberries (Pop inthe microwave for 1 minute to soften)

8 oz of greek yogurt
6-8 oz of liquid. I usually use oj but since I was out, I used pink lemonade.

Blend until smooth and put in molds. Here is our finished product!

Yummy!

As you have already seen I have been on a big grilled veggie kick and today will be no exception! I got some maranade at Fresh and Easy on clearance for $0.30! so I will be maranading chicken and veggies in that and I will fire up the grill again tonight! It is so easy to eat healthy when it tastes as good as this stuff does! I also saw on Food netword about grilling salad?? Thought I might give that a try too. Seems I can eat veggies upon veggies without filling up the pouch too much so thats nice!

I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Re-cap of my protein switch up...

So today I changed how I ate my holy trinity of protein food and it went VERY good! Instead of my protein bar in the car on my way to work, I held breakfast off until 9:30 am. I came across an interesting recipe on a blog last night but I can't find it anywhere today. It's called and "overnight jar!" Theirs had PB and some other stuff, but I loved the concept so I put together my own and enjoyed it for breakfast! I put 8 oz of greek yogurt, a handful of dry oatmeal, 5 or 6 frozen strawberries, and a tablespoon or so of SF vanilla syrup. I mixed it all together and let it sit overnight. It was soooooooooooooooooo good! It was alot of food but I was able to get through it slowly. It held me over until lunch! I usually start snacking around 10:30 am so this was amazing! For lunch I had another super healthy meal! I had quinoa mixed with chili beans (just plain old seasoned chili beans in a can) and cheddar cheese. I added some salsa and used some tortilla chips to spoon it out! It was delish and again, very filling. My friend offered me some of her garlic bread and meat sauce from her lunch and although I wasn't hungry at all, I ate some. I don't know why I did. It was so yummy but I didn't need it and it gave me indigestion. I never got indigestion before but it keeps happening lately. When I got home from work I was still full from the 2nd lunch so I didn't start grazing like I usually do. Around 4:15 I ate my protein bar when the urge to snack hit. I wasn't very hungry but I wanted to get the bar in so I ate it. My sister and I decided to make chicken and grilled veggies again so I nibbled on veggies while I prepped and cooked them! It was so good!!!! We went and got some frozen yogurt too! When the kiddos went to bed (a trigger time for my eating) I tried a new recipe for a 3 minute oatmeal raisin cookie. It was very tasty and satisfying so I have no desire to eat anything else for the night.

So to recap, I got in all of my protein, but in a different order. In turn I made better eating decisions today (extremely healthy if I do say so myself) and my extra eating/snacking was greatly reduced! I think I nibbled on a few Vanilla cat cookies from TJs (less than a serving) and some Carmel rice cakes (1 serving). Not bad at all! I think this new schedule is really going to work for me! Yeah!!!

Rethinking my protein regime

So as I have told you before I eat 3 things everyday to give me the bulk of my protein each day. A scoop of protein in my coffee when I first get up (7am) a protein bar in my car on the way to work (9 am) and a container of greek yogurt at my desk at about 10 am. Once I have had those three things then I don't worry about what I eat for the rest of the day (within reason of course). I still make low carb choices but I don't freak out over some bread or french fries. I got to thinking yesterday about my regime while munching on a protein bar on my way to work. Am I not reaping the benefits of all of this protein because I am eating it so close together? So I emailed my bariatric doctor at Kaiser (I love that I can do that!!!) and he said (via email a few hours later) that spacing it out a bit more would probably be best. I also posted on OH's main board the same questions because I am always curious what other people are doing in our little world. The comments I got this morning pretty much said the same thing! One poster said that it has to do with our bodies needing the amino acids from the protein all day long and another equated it to drinking 10 glasses of water in the AM just to get it out of the way. We need water all day just like we need protein all day long. So now I have to rearrange my protein schedule. I like starting my day with the protein powder in my coffee so that stays. I could move the bar to the afternoon. I tend to get snacky when I get home from work, so that would probably help with that. And I could move the Greek yogurt to my night time snack. It's creamy and delicious. It can be a treat or if I am feeling like I want something savory I can make it ranch dip and add some veggies or pop chips. I know it really doesn't matter when I eat as long as I get them in but having a plan, even a loose one makes me feel like I am on track. I hope you all have a great day!

The numbers do lie...right!?!

So the last 4 days I have hopped on the scale each morning and every morning I have been up a pound. I was 177 last week and this morning I was 182. WTF!!!!! Logically I know that it is impossible for me to have gained 5 lbs in a week. My brain knows this but I am still really bummed out when I see numbers like that. Also, I put some capris on yesterday that have always been tight in the tummy and loose in the legs and they felt tighter than usual. What is happening? Could I really be gaining weight? I could see a pound or two, but not five. It is physically impossible for me to have gained 5 lbs of fat in a week because that would mean that I would have eaten 17,500 extra calories. IMPOSSIBLE! But why is the scale moving upwards? Maybe I am bloated? Retaining Water? Constipated? I'm sure there is some reason, so I am not going to freak out anymore. I am not going to get on the scale for the rest of the week and see if anything changes. I'll up my protein and water and get to the gym a few times. That should turn this around. No use worrying about it anymore! Off to enjoy my protein coffee and some cuddles from my bassett hound!

Back to life, back to reality...

I heart long weekends! While I didn't do most of the things on my To-Do list, I had a nice weekend all the same! Saturday my son Patrick (6) and I went for a hike in the hills behind our house. My legs are still sore! It is so nice having "nature" around the corner. We were going to climb to the top of this hill that offers a great view of town, but we opted instead to go over the hill and down the trail that leads into a more wooded area. It was beautiful!

Patrick always picks me flowers. He is such a sweet boy!

Later that day we went to the fruit stand in town and picked up all sorts of goodies and my sister and I grilled veggies and chicken that night. I am not a big veggie person but I love grilled veggies! We had eggplant, sweet onion, zucchini, and red and yellow bell peppers. It was so good!!!! My sis made some rice crispy treats (bitch... :) and I ate too much and practically passed out on the couch. I don't dump often, but I did after those things!

Sunday my sister came over with her kiddos and our little brother and the kids swam in the blow up pool in the back yard. It was so nice wearing a swimsuit around and not feeling self conscious. My thighs were hidden by a sarong, so I felt like I looked pretty good! I tried posting pics, but the internet isn't cooperating with me right now! Oh well! Sunday night we took the leftover grilled veggies, chopped them up and added them to a meat sauce with ground turkey and mild italian sausage. It was delish!

My hubby was off Monday so we got up early and had breakfast at our favorite Mexican Food place, Oscars. I ate the insides of a Chili Verde breakfast burrito. It was so good but a bit too spicy for me so it helped me not eat too much. The rest of the day was spent shopping for groceries (3 stores! Trader Joes, Super Walmart and my fav Fresh and Easy) and then we grilled some steaks for Aaron's parents. I don't do alot of red meat so the steak set like a rock and I had to lay down for a while. Then we went on a drive, got a skinny vanilla latte and came home and watched the Producers! All in all, a great weekend!

Today it's back to work. It's almost 8 and my two year old is still asleep! Of course on all three days off the crackhead was up at 6:30 but on a work day, of course he decides to sleep in. So annoying but at least I got to blog in peace! I accidently bought some whole bean coffee at TJ's yesterday so this was my first time grinding coffee fresh and I must say, so much better than Folgers! Yummy way to start the day! Have a good one!