Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Went for a walk

I went on a walk... No cane! It was just under 30 mins and it felt sooo great. The weather was beautiful and I had both dogs by my side. I stayed close by the house, just in case I had knee pain. I'm too thrilled about my knee surgery. Just over six months out and finally, I'm up and about without my cane.

It's the little things that make this life so enjoyable.

Low carb menu and weigh-in

- Two tuna patties with cheese, mayo and low carb ketchup
- Turkey~ham~cheese~tomato paninni on an oopsie roll with low carb honey mustard
- Chicken/broccoli (cauliflower) "rice" with Dottie's cream of mushroom soup as a base for the sauce
- Two more tuna patties
- Another paninni

Weekly Wednesday weigh-in: 200.6. Three pounds UP from last week. Ughhh... I am going to focus more on stopping eating when I'm satisfied. Too often, the food is just so good and I don't want the experience to end, so I will eat everything on my plate, even if I don't need it to be satisfied.

I'm also going to focus more on drinking more water so that my hunger-signal does not go off when I'm just thirsty. I'm also going to steer clear from eating out and if I do, it will be just a regular restaurant, NOT a buffet.

I also had my little brother and sister down for the weekend, and while I stayed almost 100% on plan, I went a little crazy with the amount of food, etc. Instead of eating three pieces of low carb pizza, I would be okay with one piece and maybe a scrambled egg or two.... that kind of thing.

Hope you are all having an enjoyable leap day!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Low carb menu

- Sausage, mushroom and ham quiche
- Quiche
- Quiche
- A plain oopsie roll
- Chicken/broccoli (cauliflower) "rice" with Dottie's cream of mushroom soup as a base for the sauce

Monday, February 27, 2012

Low carb menu

- Sausage~ham~mushroom quiche
- Two tuna patties with mayo and low carb ketchup
- Low carb brownie with peanut butter frosting
- Three pieces of low carb pizza with ranch dressing and parm

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Low carb menu

- Four tuna patties with mayo and low carb ketchup
- Drumstick treat
- 1.3 oz almonds
- A little movie theatre popcorn
- Two jumbo beef jerky sticks
- Drumstick treat
- Three pieces of deep dish pizza with parm and ranch

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Low carb menu

- Two sausage patties
- Low carb choices at buffet (salad, chicken dipped in ranch, a few bites of roast beef, some ham)
- Drumstick treat
- Two pieces of deep dish pizza and some ham/broccoli/mushroom/green pepper/cauliflower cheesy casserole

Friday, February 24, 2012

Low carb menu

- BBQ pork steak
- Sausage
- Three tuna patties with mayo and low carb ketchup
- Ham, broccoli, cauliflower, green pepper and mushroom cheesy casserole
- Two pieces of low carb pizza
- Drumstick treat

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Low carb menu

- Cheese omelet
- Pork chop breaded with parm with low carb ketchup
- Ham~broccoli~cauliflower~green pepper~mushroom cheesy casserole
- Half of a bbq pork steak with scrambled eggs
- Lemon pound cake with lemon flavored whipped cream

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Low carb menu and weigh-in

- 1.5 pork chops, breaded with Parmesan and dipped in low carb ketchup
- Shepherd's pie
- Ham, green pepper, broccoli, mushroom and cauliflower cheesy casserole
- Half of a bbq pork steak

I weighed in at 197.2. Lowest weight ever! That puts me at 23 lbs to lose before I get to a normal weight. I couldn't be more thrilled. I'm in a women's size 12 Tall jeans and a women's size Large top. I wonder what size I will be in when I reach goal.

Tomorrow marks the 6 month anniversary from when I quit smoking and had my reconstructive knee surgery. I'm finally in less pain now than pre-surgery, which is amazing.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Low carb menu

- Shepherd's pie
- Low carb lemon cake with lemon flavored whipped cream
- Beef jerky
- 1.5 pork chops, breaded with Parmesan and dipped in ketchup
- Cheese omelet
- Two sausage patties

Monday, February 20, 2012

Low carb menu, taking charge of my health

- Two sausage patties
- Two tuna patties with low carb ketchup and mayo
- Two more tuna patties with ketchup and mayo

Dermatology update: They took a mole off Friday and I'm waiting on the results. I went for YEARS with going to the doctor barely once a year, for my physical and such. This was mandatory to get the birth control that I was on. I was on an oral birth control (which started off to regulate my cycle) for over a decade, closer to fifteen years.

My chiropractor told me that birth control tricks the body into thinking it's already pregnant. I must admit, when I came off of it, I did notice a huge decrease in my appetite. I went off the pill (to the shot) and it was HORRIFIC at best. It was a big whirlwind inside Planned Parenthood. My blood pressure was at Stage III hypertension due to smoking and being morbidly obese, and they informed me that I should not be on the pill at all if I'm susceptible to migraines. The next thing I knew, the receptionist was giving me a shot in my arm almost without warning and I was handed a stack of stapled-papers on "the shot." I came home and read all kinds of horror stories about the Depo shot. After that, I was not in a relationship anyway and then now I'm with my girlfriend, so thankfully, birth control needs are not at the top of my list.

To get on with it, I'm taking better care of myself these days. I'm worth a trip to a pricey-specialist, even if we have to cut back on the expensive stuff for a while. So now, when I have a mole that I don't like the looks of or that looks like it's asymmetrical and evolving, I get that thing hacked off and biopsied! They said that due to my family history of skin cancer and the fact that I have lots of moles (aka beauty marks), I should get a once-over yearly anyway.

It seems that losing weight has all been under the greater umbrella of, "I'm demanding health because I deserve to be happy and healthy." I think it all comes down to loving myself enough to take good care of myself, which sounds so cheesy but it's true.

This has included finally seeking out a surgeon I can trust to fix my messed up knee, going to the dermatologist and on and on. Within the next month, I am going to schedule an appointment with a new doctor in the area for my yearly physical. I was not impressed with my last primary care physician at all and she did not seem to hear or understand my needs. That seemed good enough for me at the time because I do not think that I was even addressing my own health needs. When I went to her for pain management before my surgery, she ended the visit with asking me if I hurt my knee. I wanted to cry. DID I HURT MY KNEE? Ummm, I just told you that it has been the wrong angle since I was twelve years old due to a surgery-gone-wrong and now you are acting like I just fell off my bike or something?? I haven't been back to her since. Not only was there a language barrier between me and my then-doc, but she just didn't seem to care. Her mind seemed a million miles away most days.

Even though I visited the chiro earlier this month, I'm headed back today. The girlfriend gave me a really good massage last night, which made the foot of my bad knee tingle and pulsate. My surgeon speculated that the numbness in my foot was probably due to a mal-alignment of my spine, due to the fact that my left leg is a little shorter than my right foot. This theory is probably true because when she was giving me a massage, it was almost like the blood just started flowing properly down my leg into the foot! I have also noticed slight color difference in my legs, my surgical one being red and splotchy, which my doc assures me is "from the surgery."

I still can't believe that I am always in and out of the doc, but it feels good when I get a clean bill of health and it's nice to not dread it so much anymore. I really think that the part I hated the most was getting on the scale, which seems crazy now that I look back on it.

A few days ago, I mentioned that I was over twenty pounds overweight, which seemed to shock my mom.

"You are not overweight," she was horrified. I corrected her and told her that according to the charts, I am, in fact, overweight. I was wondering why she would even question this, but I was in a size women's medium sweater which fits very nicely. Maybe I don't look as big as I think I still do. I have heard of other bloggers saying the same thing about other people's comments shocking them.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Low carb menu

- Sausage, egg and cheese with an oopsie roll
- Two tuna patties with mayo and low carb ketchup
- Shepherd's pie
- Two tuna patties with mayo and more ketchup
- 1.3 oz natural, unsalted almonds
- Popcorn

We went to see "The Vow" and it was really sweet.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Low carb menu

- Two sausage patties
- Cheese omelet
- Pistachios
- Deviled eggs
- Shepherd's pie
- More shepherd's pie

Friday, February 17, 2012

Low carb menu

- Sausage, egg and cheese on an oopsie roll
- Half a piece of shepherd's pie
- Three tuna patties with low carb ketchup
- Two pieces of lemon pound cake with low carb lemon frosting

Headed to the dermatologist today. My mom had a melanoma and I have a lot of moles, so they do a once-over each year. Last year, they removed two moles and took biopsies, which came back benign, thank goodness. Then, I'm getting my taxes done. They made a mistake last year, so I'm hopeful that they can rectify their error. It will amount to me getting an extra thousand or so back, so they'd better! We are taking the dogs to see my mom and are having dinner over there. I made a double recipe of the shepherd's pie and we are taking some of the pink cake from Valentine's Day.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Low carb menu

- Cheese omelet
- BBQ chicken leg quarter
- Shepherd's pie
- Low carb brownie with low carb peanut butter frosting

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Best.news.ever!

Good news! My surgeon examined my hip-to-toe x-rays and said that I don't need surgery, at least not that he could justify doing! I'm over-the-moon THRILLED.

He is doing more x-rays again in six months and if the arthritis sets in again (or the angle starts going wrong again), then he may consider it again in the next few years. He is going to keep his eye on me...

But for now, it's celebration time, baby!

Thanks for the good thoughts and being so supportive through all of the updates about my knee!

I told him how grateful I am for his work on my knee and he said that what he is most impressed by are the lifestyle changes I've made... (quitting smoking and losing weight). I said I'm a whole new woman.

"Yeah, but I thought the old one was pretty good, too," he replied.

If you need a reconstructive knee surgery in Kalamazoo, MI, go with Doctor Bernard Roehr!

Low carb menu

- Shepherd's pie
- Two sausage patties
- Cheese omelet
- Low carb brownie with peanut butter frosting
- Low carb options at the Old Country Buffet, including salad, chicken, ham, burger patties and a bite of cottage cheese

Headed to the knee surgeon this morning. I wonder if he will think that I need surgery again or what. I have some questions/concerns for him, which I'm writing down because who knows when I will see him again. Last time I saw him, it was December 1 and I was not yet on my cane.... Now I forget to use it half the time.

We made it through Valentine's Day, yall!

I'm off to whip up some cheese omelets before we have to leave.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Low carb menu

-Pork bbq with home made bbq sauce
- Unptoato salad
- Two poached eggs on a buttered oopsie roll
- Quarter pound hamburger on half an oopsie with tomato and onion
- BBQ chicken quarter with low carb bbq sauce
- Low carb brownie with peanut butter frosting

Happy Valentine's Day to you all! Angie and I exchanged gifts last night. She got me a beautiful recipe book which is full of blank recipe cards and is just gorgeous. She said that I should have my own cookbook and I've been searching for a way to organize my favorite recipes. I also received a beautiful angel. I'm big on my guardian angel and it has a beautiful love quote carved into it and she is holding a heart. She also got me a heart coffee mug (I drink a LOT of coffee), a rose bush plant, a wood wick candle and a Dog Whisperer magazine. (She is an ambassador for Cesar Milan). We couldn't resist because it was midnight and she has a long shift today.

I got her new cologne, a lily candle holder, the rest of the Harry Potter dvds, candy and a beanie baby.

I made a pink low carb pound cake and I will probably make some cute pink frosting to go on it.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Low carb menu, scary movie and x-rays

- Unpotato salad
- Pork bbq with home made low carb bbq sauce
- Cheese omelet
- Shepherd's pie
- Low carb brownie with peanut butter frosting
- Beef stick (two carbs)
- BBQ pork rinds

We went and saw The Woman in Black last night. It was pretty scary and pretty good. Angie is such a Harry Potter buff, so we just had to go see it to see what Daniel Radcliffe is up to these days. We were referring to him as Harry throughout the movie. He will always be Harry to us. I had to use the bathroom during the movie and I made Angie go with me. I stayed on plan and smuggled in some low carb munchies for me to enjoy during the movie.

I'm going in for a hip-to-toe x-ray today if anybody at Radiology answers the phone. There is a specific technician that my surgeon insists on me seeing and she was out of town all week. Today is Monday and my appointment with him is on Wednesday, so I really have to get in today to see her. Her colleague told me she should be in today and tomorrow, so I'm hopeful. My surgeon will hold up a straight ruler or something like that from my middle of my hip aiming downward, seeing where my leg now falls to see if it was successful enough to not require more work or not. Before this last surgery, my leg did not even fall in the range of the ruler at all. It was way off to the left!

I'm really banking on the fact that my knee will be so well-aligned now that I will not require a second surgery. If I do need another surgery, this one will be pretty much the same, but slightly less-severe, due to the fact that it will be on my tibia this time. The tibia is smaller than the femur, so I'm guessing the healing time would be faster. Same basic process, though... Remove a wedge of bone from my hip, saw my leg bone in half, insert the hip bone from my hip into the leg to make it more aligned, holding it there with nuts and bolts and a plate... Aka open-wedge osteotomy. Let's all send out good thoughts to the universe that I will not require this second surgery, but if I do, at least I know I'm in the best hands ever. I think my surgeon who performed the surgery is top-notch and I trust him more than any doc I've ever come across. I see him on Wednesday, so I'm excited/nervous/anxious about that. Where is the valium when I need it?

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Low carb menu

- Lemon pound cake with peanut butter frosting
- Unpotato salad
- Half pound burger on an oopsie with tomato, mayo, mustard and low carb ketchup with diced onions
- Few bites of pork with low carb bbq sauce
- Cheese omelet
- Brownie with peanut butter frosting

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Low carb menu

- Two sausage patties with a cheese omelet
- Pistachios with some swiss cheese slices
- Cauliflower and broccoli with cheese
- Pork bbq with low carb bbq sauce
- Lemon cake with peanut butter frosting
- Two sausage patties

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Low carb menu

- Sausage, egg and cheese on an oopsie roll, grilled
- Cheesy hamburger and broccoli casserole
- Low carb lemon cake (1.5 pieces) with low carb peanut butter frosting on half
- Two sausage patties with a cheese omelet

Low carb menu

- Two pieces of zucchini lasagna
- Plain oopsie roll
- Unpotato salad
- Sausage, egg and cheese on an oopsie, grilled in the panini press
- Walnuts and pistachios (about an ounce)

Headed to the chiro tomorrow. I've been attempting at-home adjustments, so this is a plus! We are also taking the pug to the vet for his rabies shot. After that, we are going to see the new dolphin movie with my mom.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Low carb menu

- Two sausage patties
- Cheese omelet
- Unpotato salad
- Two scotcharoos
- Sugar free jello
- Zucchini lasagna with a buttered oopsie roll
- Cheesy hamburger broccoli casserole

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Low carb menu

- Sugar free raspberry jello
- Turkey/ham/tomato/cheese panini on an oopsie roll with bacon on the side
- Two low carb pancakes, plain
- Zucchini lasagna with an oopsie roll with butter and parmesan cheese

I weighed in this morning at 200.8. A little bit down from last week, which was 201.0. Considering we even went to the Chinese buffet, I will take it!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Low carb menu

- Four parm-breaded chicken fingers with low carb honey mustard
- Broccoli and cauliflower with a little shredded cheddar
- Two low carb pancakes with one sausage patty
- Three scotcharoos
- Four strawberries
- Two and a half hot dogs with tomato slices on an oopsie roll
- Three chicken fingers

Low carb menu

- Two poached eggs on buttered oopsie rolls
- Low carb lemon cake with low carb lemon frosting
- Three parm-breaded chicken fingers with low carb honey mustard
- Four whole deviled eggs

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Low carb menu

- Chinese buffet (mostly low carb options, but you never know about those sauces)
- Three scotcharoos
- Turkey, ham, bacon, cheese, tomato panini on an oopsie roll with mayo and low carb honey mustard
- 1.5 chicken fingers, breaded in parm with low carb honey mustard

The scotcharoos are too good! Beware!

Friday, February 3, 2012

Low carb menu

- Two pork chops, breaded with parm
- Broccoli and cauliflower with a little cheddar cheese
- Two deviled eggs (one whole)
- Turkey, ham, bacon, bacon, cheese panini on an oopsie roll, grilled and dipped in low carb honey mustard
- A spoon of natural peanut butter

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Low carb menu

- Two pieces of ham/hot dog/broccoli quiche
- Half a piece of bacon
- Three low carb pancakes with sugar free syrup
- Four deviled eggs (two whole ones)

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Donate to Linda Sue!

I get 99% of my recipes from Linda Sue's recipe site.

Even if it's just a couple dollars, please consider making a donation to keep her site running.

She is an inspiration to all of us with her recipe site and she never asks for anything in return. She has devoted countless hours to testing recipes, rating recipes, taking photos and presenting us with invaluable information.

I've made a couple donations in the past and my gf and I donated $25 more tonight. It's a small price to pay for all of the terrific information that Linda has given us.

Thank you, Linda!

Low carb menu

- Pork chop breaded with parm
- Dottie's green bean casserole with ground beef added
- Meatloaf
- Cheese omelet
- Lemon pound cake with low carb lemon frosting
- Meatloaf on an oopsie roll with tomato slices, mayo, mustard and low carb ketchup

Weigh-in: 201.0

That is a little over a one pound gain from January 1, which sucks. I could say that I've built up muscle due to working out and I could say that I feel like I'm retaining water, but instead, I'm just going to own it. I know I'm a little bit bloated for whatever reason because when I woke up and weighed in, my rings were tight when they are usally not tight at all. Angie got me three rose gold rings, a pair of rose gold earrings and three rose gold bangles for Christmas when she returned the earrings which were not staying in tact. I made out like a bandit! I am back to doing weekly Wednesday weigh-ins, which will be a good thing, I hope. I have also gone to the movies a few times this month and eaten popcorn each time. I've eaten probably what amounts to a small serving (definitely not a medium), but it all kind of adds up, I think. I also think I need to up my water intake because sometimes I think I'm just thirsty and I eat something. I will say, though, that I do think some of it must be muscle because my jeans feel looser than at the beginning of the month. Like, a lot looser. I will be in a size 10 soon I think! I think I should start doing body shots each month for a good comparison. Maybe I will have Angie get out her camera!

I went for a walk with my girlfriend today with the dogs and then I did a ton of cooking, but that means that the heel of my foot (of my leg that I got surgery on) has been numb. I made oopsie rolls, deviled eggs, low carb honey mustard, a ton of low carb pancakes and I still have to make chicken because it's thawed out and ready to go. I'm used to cooking up a ton of stuff in one day so that I don't have to cook every day, but I think that I need to work more on giving my leg more breaks. Rest is a tough thing for an impatient person! Angie wants to give me a foot rub later to help with my circulation and she gives the best massages ever, I'm telling you. She gave me some Burt's Bees lotions and they work so great for that purpose.

As Harry would say, Onward and downward!