Wednesday

I have been pretty busy the past couple of days with getting my garden ready to plant. Last night was the last thing I needed to do before grounds maintenance comes up to till the soil!!! I had to go buy fertilizer and I also bought some tomato plants and some herbs. I am very excited to get this all going!! I also started to work in the other bed in my back yard, that I have to assume at some point was a type of garden. It is built into the side of a small hill and it had a fence around it. I have started to dig up everything and rake it down. I also am removing the fence in an attempt to return it to a regular grassy area.

Next up is a couple of chairs for my front porch and I am ready for summer!!

I am not sure if it is the extra activity I am doing or the surgery, but I am sleeping a lot more than usual. I am talking about almost 10 hours a night. I used to get 8 and was good with that, but these extra two must be needed??

Tonight I start Yoga!!!

One Month

Today I had my one month followup with Dr. Khaitan! I have lost a total of 26lbs so far. I need to beef up my work outs and get more consistent with that, but the food seems to be going well. I have myself on a routine and specific foods that I know I can eat. I am trying to introduce more of a variety and that seems to be going well too!

Cooking for one has always been a challenge, but now that I am eating so little it is getting harder. I have devised a system of cooking a small mean for dinner and taking half for lunch the next day. Tonight I am making stuffed mushrooms with chicken sausage. I will take one link and make enough for two meals. It's working and it's saving money!!!

Wheat Berry Salad

Wheat Berry Salad

½ Cup uncooked Winter Wheat Berry
1 Poached Turkey Cutlet (shredded)
¼ Cup Diced of Each
Bell Pepper (I used orange)
Red Onion
Cucumber
Grape Tomato
1 Ounce Feta Cheese (Crumbles)
2 Tbs Fresh Parsley
Bay Leaf
Salad Dressing
1 Lemmon
2 Cloves Garlic
2 Tbs Olive Oil

Combine the wheat berries with 4 cups water, bay leaf and 1 clove of garlic. Boil for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until tender (Watch water level and add more if it needed). Once the water has come to a boil add the turkey cutlet. The turkey will be done before the berries, just remove from the boiling water and cool.

To make dressing, use the zest and juice of 1 whole lemon, ¼ cup olive oil, 1 grated clove of garlic, salt and pepper to taste. This will be very tart, but it needs to flavor the berries as well as the vegetables. You can also substitute this dressing for any of your favorite fat free bottled ones. Place dressing in the bottom of a medium bowl.

Once the berries are cooked, drain and add hot to the bowl with the dressing. Add the turkey at this time as well. Let the berries and turkey cool for about ½ hour before adding the vegetables, cheese and parsley. Combine and place in storage container in the fridge. This recipe makes approximately 3 ½ cups.

1 Cup Serving : 281 Calories, 10.75 g Fat, 68 mg Cholesterol, 31g Carbs, 22g Protein, 2.5g Sugar.

Clothes.....

Tonight after dinner a friend and I started going through the BACK of my closet. That is where the clothes that no longer fit lived....! Well, I have four new outfits for summer and cleaned out some stuff that is too BIG... I can't even believe that I just wrote that, but it's true....

I don't even know if I have the words in me to describe how I feel right now. I have had a great day! Up early and got my car fixed, went to whole foods and bought fresh fish to grill for dinner, wheat berries, goat cheese and feta for a yummy high protein salad and the fixings for fresh salsa for my afternoon snack!! Tonight I am wearing some clothes that I thought I would never see again, AND I feel great!!!

I believe that this is the first time that I have allowed myself to actually believe this is going to happen. Up to this point I have held my excitement for the future at bay. Not allowing myself to dream of the possibilities, not allowing myself to go there... But today.. today I took that step and boy does it feel great! I actually believe in my heart of hearts that I can do this, that I can lose this weight and that I can be the person on the outside that I feel like on the inside!!

I'm not sure how the stars have aligned, or what Divine powers have intervened to allow me to have this opportunity in my life, but I will NOT waste it......

Columbus

Headed to Columbus for the weekend. I need to get my windshield fixed and also hit Whole Foods, or Trader Joes. I need more organic food in my life...lol.. I decided a long time ago that when I had this surgery, each and everything I put in my mouth with be healthy and tasty.

I have also found a new source of exercise... Gardening.. who knew...! I have spent about an hour each night digging up ivy taproots to clear the area to plant my garden! I am sooo excited to have fresh veggies right out of my own back yard. Plus I am going to learn to can this summer as well!! I am very happy to be on the other side of this surgery and to begin to live my life again. Staples or no, I am going to live my life much more healthy now. I have felt what it feels like to lose weight, and how good I feel about being off a couple of meds. I want more and know that I have to work for it, but darn it feels good!!

In a couple weeks I am going to buy the Wii fit bundle, that way I can work out in my house when it is not so good outside!!!!

I have my one month follow up on Monday with Dr. Khaitan, I am hoping I lost a couple more lbs!

Ouch!

I have done something to my foot that is now affecting my knee. I have no idea, but if I had to guess I would say plantar fasciitis would be the culprit. I can do a few stretching exercises to my foot and it relieves the pain. I just have to wonder why now.... grrrr

In other new, I plan on joining a yoga group next Wednesday and am joining the Wii fit club! I live out in the boonies and really need to get creative on my exercise. I can walk and get plenty that way, but I need some variety. The closest gym is about 30 to 45 mins away, and that just won't work for me....lol...

I am also heading to Columbus this weekend to hit whole foods, I want to start going organic as much as possible. I have allergies to preservatives and am finding that diet food is loaded! I will update with my purchases soon!!

Dining out!

Today is Admin Appreciation day so I took my assistant out to lunch. Now they are all aware of my surgery, but still it was an odd experience. There were about 8 of us, and we headed out to a buffet. Now I used to go to buffets all the time, but this is the first time out after surgery and I was a bit scared. When we got there I noticed that all the meat products were fried, so they were out instantly! I did find that they had chili, so I had about 1/4 cup of that, a very tiny salad, a sliced beet and about 1/4 cup cottage cheese. All in all I ate my usual 1 cup of food. I did feel a slight embarrassment when everyone else had finished their salad and were going up for more, but did a quick internal dialog letting myself off the hook.

It turned out to be a good experience for me and let me know that I can do this!!