Journey to a Healthier Me

Signing off ... Visit the archives

2014-04-06T09:50:00.000-04:00

I'm happy & healthy...my journey continues.

When I started this blog on August 5, 2006, I never thought it would still be around in 2014. In blog years, this thing is a dinosaur!

As you may have noticed, there hasn't been any new blog posts for several months -- but I was a bad blogger and didn't actually tell you that I was going to take a break from regular updates. So I'll tell you now. I'm taking a break.

I'm 6.5 years out from my RNY weight loss surgery and I am a success in maintaining my new found healthy lifestyle. I owe my success in large part to this blog. It has made me accountable to myself and my readers, but also it has allowed me to meet so many amazing people who rally together in the WLS community to support and cheer on one another.

As you know (from the post below this one), I have written a book about my experiences in the weight loss surgery community. Journey to a Healthier Me: A travel guide to physical & emotional well-being after weight loss surgery is on sale at Amazon and some local bookstores - or so I've been told. I hope you buy a copy and tell me what you think. (If you want an autographed copy, just let me know and we can make that happen!)

Even though I don't plan to write more updates here, I will continue to maintain the site and let the archives stand as-is. There is a ton of information, research, resources, and my fair share of ramblings here for you to browse through. Check the list of links on the right column for some of the most popular blog posts. And don't forget to visit the Recipe Index - lots of great yumminess there! If you're a WLS Support Group Leader, please visit the page with topic ideas and links to resources.

I'm always available by email, feel free to reach out to me anytime.

For those who might be interested in following my quest for creative inspiration, I invite you to check out my newly-revived blog called {CREATE}. It's a work in progress, but it should be fun.

If I can leave you with one piece of advice it is this: Celebrate your victories! No matter how big or how small the goals might be, take time to pat yourself on the back for them all - reward yourself! And whenever you achieve a goal, set a new one. And lastly, make a list of your WOW Moments.

Enjoy your journey to better health. Stop along the way and enjoy the good life and don't get too bogged down in set backs, hurdles, or sharp curves ... just keep moving and you'll be a great success!

~Pam

The Book: Journey to a Healthier Me

2013-10-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

For many of you, this might be old news. But I wanted to include a new blog post about my book so new readers can easily find it.

It only took me three years of writing and editing and fussing and rewriting... but I achieved a dream the day my book was finally published. Many of the chapters in the book are based on posts here from my blog. I'm approaching the six-year post-op milestone in my life and I'm so proud of all I've accomplished since my weight loss surgery. This book was a huge one on the list.

Buy Journey to a Healthier Me on Amazon, or in some local bookstores.

Table of Contents:

The story of Pam's journey
Is Surgery Right for You?
Preparing for Surgery
Life after surgery
Your Altered Body
The Rules have a Reason
Nutritional Needs - Macronutrients
Nutritional Needs - Micronutrients
Changing your mind
Goals & Triumphs
When things get hard
Reference and Resources

Thank you to those who have already bought a copy of my book. If you've read it, please go to Amazon and leave a comment or review. Amazon gives higher search result ranking to books with more reviews, so please help others find this resource too.

Spicy Corn on the Cob

2013-09-09T17:08:00.003-04:00

It's corn-on-the-cob season and I have always loved a good ear of corn with butter and salt. But recently I had roasted corn at a festival and the corn came sprinkled with a spice mix that the vendor called "Shucks" mix (i.e.: shucking corn) and Parmesan cheese along with the copious amounts of melted butter. Ever since that festival a few weeks ago, I've been playing with spice combinations and searching the web for recipes. Finally today, I've found the right combo and you're going to love this!

Corn-on-the-Cob Spice Mix

(I used a regular spoon from the silverware drawer, not measuring spoons... so these "measurements" are sort of approximate.)

3 spoons - Lawry's Season Salt

2 spoons - Garlic Herb Seasoning (similar to this variety of Mrs. Dash)

1 spoon - Garlic Powder (not garlic salt!)

1/2 spoon - ground Red Pepper powder (adjust to your own taste, this gives it a kick!)

1 spoon - Paprika

Mix together and put into a shaker bottle. Sprinkle on buttered corn then add a generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

One more tip.... how to cook corn-on-the-cob. I use to shuck the corn and boil it. But ever since I saw this video on YouTube, I don't use any other method. Just throw the whole cob - husks and all - into the microwave for 4 minutes. Don't attempt to clean up the corn before putting it in. If the hairs are really long, sometimes I'll chop them off with kitchen shears, but I usually don't bother.

When your 4 minutes is up, take it out with a hot pad and cut off the "stem end" and then just shake out the cob from the husk. Easy! Watch the video, this guy is so cute!

Summer Recipes

2013-07-12T10:13:00.000-04:00

When the sun is high in the sky and the temperature is rising, I just don't feel like cooking. I want summer food! Usually that's something simple and cool like salad or a wrap sandwich or a big ole pile of fruit. I thought I'd share some of my favorite summertime recipes today.

Chicken Salad -- delicious with rotiserie chicken, grapes and celery. I love this on a bed or mixed salad greens and slices of fresh tomato

Tortilla Pizza -- So many this isn't just for summertime but I love how quick and easy these Tortilla Pizzas are - and once you get going on these, the topping choices are endless! They work great by using the round fajita shells, or you can use the FlatOut Bread for something a bit more sturdy.

Fruit Smoothies -- nothing like a healthy protein smoothie on a hot summer day. The Fuzzy Navel is a favorite. Or my go-to option is just banana & strawberries.

Protein Popsicles -- Yes, we all need a sweet frozen treat. Here's a recipe for Protein Fruit Popsicles. Or how about Frozen Chocolate Covered Bananas? I especially love my Blackberry Yogurt Protein Popsicles.

Salads -- I love this Crunchy Asian Coleslaw and it makes a great dish to pass for picnics. Or you could do some Greek Yogurt Coleslaw for some added protein.

Fruit Jello Bars -- and who doesn't love Jello for a cool summer treat? These are a great hit at picnics too. They're like finger Jello for adults.

For more food ideas you can always check out my Recipe Index for a full list of all the recipes here on my blog.

Enjoy!
Pam

Enjoying Summer as a WLS Patient

2013-07-05T14:14:00.000-04:00

For the past 12 years, or so, I have been part of the planning (and graphic design) of a golf outing that happens in June every year. It's turned into a huge event that takes a lot of work. Because of the amount of work that I put into being a part of that planning committee, I typically lose out on the first part of my summer. June is shot and summer begins in July. At least the "relax at the beach or go on vacation" part of summer.

So here it is the July 4th weekend and I'm finally feeling like summer has arrived for me. Lately I've been thinking about how my life is different after WLS compared to how it is now.

I'm usually stuck being the camera, so having photos of me at the golf outing is not normal.
Here I am in 2006, a year before my surgery and in 2011, four years after my WLS.

Before my weight loss, the golf outing was a major ordeal. A 14-16 hour day on my feet, in the hot sun, running around handling committee details where I was needed -- it took me days to recover and get my energy back. This year's outing was the same grueling routine but I was back to normal the day after the outing. Of course, the 60-70 hour workweeks leading up to the outing itself contributes to the overall exhaustion, so it's not just a one day thing.

But it's officially my summer now and I'm in full blown SUMMER mode! I have a goal of being at the beach or in the water as much as possible. In fact, this weekend I'll be joining my family at the campground where apparently they are planning to go tubing down the river. I went kayaking last summer and I am itching to go again. My favorite beaches are calling me, as usual. And I'd like to take a couple long weekend mini-vacations to the west side of Michigan to enjoy the shoreline there.

Since losing 100 pounds of excess weight, I'm more active, obviously. But I'm also more open minded about adventures and trying new things. I have more friends and enjoy doing things with them that I wouldn't have done 6 summers ago. But, of course, I didn't need to wait until I lost 100 pounds to do all this. I was moderately active and outgoing before my surgery... it's just that now I'm more apt to jump in the car and go do whatever I want without worrying about how much energy it would take to accomplish.

So I'm off to enjoy a beautiful holiday weekend in the sun. What's your favorite thing to do since you had WLS?

~Pam

Celebrity Bariatric Patient is an Inspiration

2013-05-31T22:32:00.001-04:00

Before & after photo posted on Bart's Twitter feed.

Friday morning on the drive to work I was listening, as usual, to K-Love Radio. It's a contemporary Christian music station and they are on location this weekend for the K-Love Fan Awards in Nashville (which will be hosted by Phil and Jase from Duck Dynasty - love them!).

So they've got a lot of nominated artists on the air with DJs all throughout the weekend. And Friday the K-Love Morning Show crew, Craig, Amy, and Kankelfritz, were chatting with Bart Millard (yes, follow him on Twitter, he's hilarious!) of the band MercyMe about his progress with weight loss surgery. I first heard an interview with Bart about a year ago when he first announced he'd gotten WLS and was really impressed with the way he talked about his experience and how he's changing his life to become healthier.

This morning's interview was equally inspiring and I wanted to share it with you, the WLS community. Here's a link to listen to the interview:

Some highlights from the interview:

Bart is 1.5 years out from RNY Gastric Bypass Surgery
He's lost 122 pounds lost. The surgery allowed him to lost the first 70 pounds, then he had to "work at it" after that.
Pre-surgery medical conditions included: Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension, high cholesterol, the start of congestive heart failure and a family history early mortality due similar co-morbidities. Most co-morbidities were eliminated within two days after surgery
Weight loss surgery is NOT for everyone. You have to be in the right mental place for it to work.
WLS and psychological therapy need to go hand-in-hand.
Many people think that WLS is the "easy way out" -- but don't let pride get in the way of what is best for your health and what God has planned for you.
"If they made a pill to fix alcoholism, who wouldn't take it? Or if the doctor can insert a pin to set a broken ankle, you'd use that. So if this operation works to lose the weight and cure diseases, why wouldn't you do it?"

Thank you Bart for inspiring so many of us with your music. And for being the voice of WLS that we can be proud of within our community. So many celebrities who go through bariatric surgery don't say the right things and lead many people astray, but your words of wisdom are spot on and I'm so thankful that you're open and honest about your experience.

And to leave you with one of my favorite songs by MercyMe -- The Generous Mr. Lovewell.

Exercise Would Be Nice

2013-05-20T16:03:00.001-04:00

I've got my walking shoes packed up and in the car. I've carved time out of my schedule and plan to hit the trails again as regularly as I'm able. It's time to get my butt back into a routine of regular exercise. I've slacked for too long. My weight is steady within my normal weight range, except it seems to be hanging out at the top end of my comfort level -- with a sometimes bump over the top by a pound or two, then right back into the normal range again. But I don't like hanging out in that area and I know that exercise will likely bring me back down to the bottom of that comfort level. Plus, I've been feeling sluggish lately and it makes me wonder if I need to pump up my activity level to counteract that.

As you know, I'm a big supporter of BodyMedia Fit -- (formerly known as GoWear Fit) the armband you wear 24/7 to track your movement, calorie burn, sleep patterns, etc. My armband is several years old and is on its last legs. The writing is all worn off the face of the device and the sound doesn't work anymore. I work my old one for about a year straight and then periodically for another several months -- so I got plenty of use out of it. It still logs all the data, but it's definitely seen better days. So I've just ordered a new one!

This time around I upgraded to the BodyMedia Fit LINK - which has Bluetooth capabilities that will automatically sync with my smartphone and no need to connect the device to my computer to download the data collected as I wear it. The BodyMedia website offers this one for $149, but I bought mine on Amazon for $116 and it comes with 3 free months of membership too.

So if I'm going to be wearing the armband and logging exercise .... logically I need to be logging my food intake too, huh? So I will. I've always preached about FitDay as my food log of choice. But unfortunately, they haven't kept up with the times so I've had to ditch them. I now use MyFitnessPal because it syncs with my desktop computer and my phone. Plus it sync with BodyMedia's logging system and lets me see my daily deficit.

GOALS:

What do I hope to accomplish with all this? Well, I'm glad you asked. Here are my goals:

Generate more "energy" and pep-in-my-step from the increased activity and hopefully not feel so sluggish. They say exercising makes you feel more energetic, so let's test that theory.
Drop a few pounds. I know my body will likely rebel against this notion, so I'm not shooting for anything crazy like 40 pounds or anything (although that would be nice, I know it's not realistic for my stubborn body). But if I can drop about 10 pounds, that'd make me happy.
Make sure I'm on track. I talk about what it means to be on track with my eating, vitamins and exercise and it's been a while since I've really logged everything to check myself. So this will give me the opportunity to make sure I'm doing what I should be doing and that my calories/activity are in line.
Keep me out of trouble -- now that my school schedule has been greatly reduced (only doing 1 class per term going forward, but I took this term off), I find myself with more free time than normal. So rather than use up all that free time in front of the TV, it's better to be productive, right?

I'll keep you posted on how things go...

~Pam

A flower needs sunshine

2013-05-04T13:43:00.002-04:00

I discovered an online photo editing tool called PicMonkey. It's got some great features and a fun interface ... I created the above photo/quote using one of my own pictures and a quote I found on Brainy Quotes. The PicMonkey site is billed as a fun tool to use in creating your own photos to be added to your Pinterest Boards. So check out my Pinterest account for this one being added to my pile!

Have a beautiful day!
~Pam

Freezing Strawberries

2013-04-25T08:26:00.000-04:00

I love strawberry season! It's a bit early for Michigan Strawberry season (that's in June-ish), but it must be the season somewhere because my local grocery story recently had a huge sale. Whenever I find berries on sale -- strawberries, blackberries, raspberries -- I buy up a whole bunch and freeze them.

Frozen fruit is great for making smoothies by replacing ice cubes with fruit for a rich flavor. You can also freeze banana chunks and yogurt cubes or even leftover fruit salad, pureed and transformed into smoothie starters.

So I bought about 15 quarts of strawberries ($15 investment). Just hull the strawberries, cut them in half and spread out on a baking sheet. Then freeze for a few hours until the fruit is solid and then transfer to gallon size zipper bags.

Once finished I ended up with 3.5 gallon bags of strawberries. When I checked the price of this amount at the store, it would have cost about $35 for that much!

I Hate WLS Fad Diets and So Should You

2013-04-15T21:09:00.002-04:00

Bariatric Food Pyramid for long-term guidance. Source

How many years of dieting did you endure before you decided to have weight loss surgery? For me, it was about 20 years of dieting. With that many years of habitual obsession with the number on the scale, it takes a lot of hard work to break that mentality of dieting. But even inside the WLS community, there's a plethera of WLS Fad Diets that some tout as the solution to a stalled scale, plateaued weight loss, or a freak-out about a stretched pouch. This blog post is my attempt to bring together several resources I have already talked about on this website.

Yesterday I had a conversation with my friend Nikki over at Bariatric Foodie about weight loss surgery patients who were trying the 5 Day Pouch Test (5DPT) to lose weight and "reset" their pouch. UGH! Nikki and I share the same view on this crazy fad diet and other such hogwash. Don't do it! Don't fall victim to that old dieting mentality. Nikki was quicker on the uptake than I was in writing a response to this discussion. She explains the 5DPT and Cottage Cheese Test and why they don't work. Go to Bariatric Foodie now and read her post.

So if WLS Fad Diets aren't the answer... what is?

When the scale stops moving, when you hit a plateau, when you're battling portion control, when you can't get a handle on emotional eating .... the solution is simple. Eat right and move your bootie. The solution is simple, the execution is the hard part. So trying to take shortcuts with WLS Fad Diets is never going to get you the results you want, they will just set you up for failure and disappointment. So why not skip the fad diet step and jump right into the "eat right and move your bootie" stage instead.

Here are some helpful information to get you on the right track:

Back to Basics

This article gives you 7 simple steps to make sure you are doing all the right things for your health. Go through the list and honestly evaluate your behavior and make adjustments as needed.

Breaking a Stall

If the scale stops moving, this list is a great resource to figure out what might need to be adjusted. Weight loss is never a linear experience -- you have to make constant adjustments based on what your body is doing at any given time along the way.

Battling Emotional Eating

I firmly believe that the weight loss surgery we have - the physical surgical part - is only about 10% of the weight loss process. The other 90% is all about getting your head screwed on straight. So if you're battling emotional eating and need some tools to help you win that battle, this article can get you started on the right path.

Understanding Your Pouch

For RNY patients our pouches start out being about 1-2 ounces in size. But over time the pouch grows and adapts to the trauma we inflict with the surgery. So it matures and expands naturally as part of the adaptation process. Understanding how your anatomy changes over time is essential to adjusting your behavior as your guts change. This article is a good starting point for you to study the biology and anatomy lessons that go with having your gut rearranged with WLS.

Intestinal Diagram

While you begin your study of biology and your anatomy, check out this diagram of your digestive system and where nutrients are absorbed along the way. This diagram helps us understand better the importance of taking vitamins for the rest of your life.

Bariatric Food Pyramid

Dr. Sharma is a leading obesity researcher and doctor practicing in Canada. His blog is filled with many valuable resources for those battling obesity - in whatever way they are fighting the battle, whether it's WLS or some other method. He has re-published the Bariatric Food Pyramid which explains the type of diet we should be following for the long-term. (Originally published in the medical journal Obesity Surgery in 2010.) I've also included an image of this pyramid on this blog post, but please go over and check out Dr. Sharma's website for lots of great information.

Nikki's List of Resources

In that blog post over at Bariatric Foodie about the Fad Diets -- scroll down to the bottom of the post where she lists several additional resources for intelligent, balanced, healthy approaches to weight loss after WLS. Visit websites like Melting Mama, The World According to Eggface, and ObesityHelp for solid information about how to live life after WLS in a healthy way.

Thank you for letting me rant about this topic. I'm very passionate about it and I just want to make sure that you're healthy and going about this WLS thing the right way. Avoid the Fad Diets, just be healthy.

~Pam

List Ten Things for your Bucket List

2013-03-15T21:19:00.002-04:00

I recently came across this image on Pinterest (have I mentioned I'm obsessed with Pinterest? Follow me!). I don't know where it came from originally because the link from the Pin wasn't active, but if you look closely at this image it looks like the quote was typed on the back of a store receive where the person bought pens.

But look at the advice it gives... it's been rolling around in my head for the past week.

Name 10 things you want to do...
Name 10 places you want to visit....
Name 10 books you want to read...
Name 10 songs you want to hear again...
Think of all the things wrong in your life and fix them...
Think of the things you love about life and be thankful...
Think of the things that hold you back and get rid of them...
Think of the mistakes you made and don't repeat them...
Name ten thousand reasons you never want to die ...
Name the reasons it's good to be alive...

That's one massive list! And you know I love lists.

This has a lot in common with the Bucket List idea that's been floating around since the movie came out a few years ago. (A list of all the things you want to do before you "kick the bucket.") There's even thousands of Bucket List Pins on Pinterest if you need ideas.

I don't have a formal Bucket List or a list of things like what is listed in this picture here. But maybe it's time I make one!

Do you have a list? What is your next big thing to accomplish? I'd love to hear what you've got planned.

~Pam

The "other" side of the dream vacation

2013-03-05T20:46:00.001-05:00

As much as I loved my dream vacation last week... there are a few adventure stories to tell that weren't such a dream. Just so you'll get a chuckle out of all this, I thought I'd share what the flip side of my dream vacation looked like.

THE BASICS -- This is an eleven (turned twelve) day dream vacation that started in Tampa for a couple days including a trek to Orlando for a conference... then I got on a cruise ship bound for the Western Caribbean for seven days, then back in Tampa for another day and a half before heading home. Sounds innocent and easy, right?

PACKING -- It all started when I left work 3.5 hours later than I'd planned to the day before my vacation. I had a lot of work to wrap up before I was completely unplugged and disconnected from the office (no internet or phone on the cruise). And when I got home, I still had some errands to deal with and packing to start-and-finish. By the time I was finished packing my last bag, I had about 30 minutes before I needed to leave for the airport on Friday morning for a 6:00 a.m. flight. So I just stayed up. It's been a long time since I pulled an all-nighter!

PACKED TOO MUCH -- So what happens when you pack in a hurry and do it in the middle of the night? You pack too much! So I got to the airport and paid an over-weight fee for my single checked bag. Stupid, Pam! Lesson learned on that one. I bought an extra suitcase in Orlando when I arrived so I wouldn't be faced with that charge again. I needed a new small carry-on-sized suitcase anyway, so this wasn't a big deal and since I was buying in a tourist city, I got a super great price. See the picture here for what my pile of luggage looked like on the way home - filled up after souvenir shopping and before the suitcases got lost in the Chicago snowstorm (more on that later).

SNOW and ICE -- As my flight was leaving we were getting the beginnings of a snowstorm in Michigan. The flight was delayed slightly and once we got in the plane we had to go through the de-icing station which seemed to take forever. We arrived late in Detroit, so I had to run to my connecting flight on the other side of the airport. They held the plane for me and a couple other passengers who were delayed and left as soon as I got my seatbelt on. I didn't need a workout after that major trek!

GRAPHIC DESIGN CONFERENCE -- I wanted to attend a 3-day conference in Orlando, but I couldn't afford the whole conference fee and extra night of hotel and car. So I settled for a day long class on Saturday and a ticket to the expo afterward. My tickets said the class started at 9:30. After getting slightly turned around in Orlando, I walked into the arena for the class around 9:25 only to find out the class time had changed to 9:00 and the instructor had actually started the class around 8:45. So I missed a huge chunk of stuff. But what I did learn was amazing and I'm so glad I went. Lots of cool tips and tricks I'd never heard of before. And the expo was a stunner too!

FOG DELAY -- Apparently my cruise woes made national news. Check out the video below for the news story about how my ship got stuck outside the Tampa Bay port by the Coast Guard because of heavy fog on the day we were set to sail. (Another news update here.) We should have boarded the ship around 11:00 a.m., but we didn't get on board until around 9:00 p.m. and set sail around midnight. I was not at the Port with the other 2,000 or so people... I was at the airport with about 450 other Carnival cruisers who had arranged for transportation from the airport to the port ahead of time. Thankfully the staff at the Marriott in the airport took care of us and let us crash in their lobby and pool and patio areas and even set up a banquet room with coffee, ice water, and cookies all day. They even let families with kids use their pool to help keep the kiddos occupied. I love Marriott! We had the full run of the airport rather than having to stand in line at the port like you see in the video. And Carnival gave us a credit on our account to cover lunch and dinner. Being stranded at the airport (like Borat) was not exactly how I wanted to spend the first day of my cruise, but it was definitely an adventure and gave us all something to talk about on the cruise all week.

EXCURSION BOAT -- a tiny mishap, but still something to add to the pile of misadventures was a mechanical issue with the boat that took us to the private island in Cozumel on the second day of the cruise. After speeding out of the dock for a 40 minute boat ride to the island, and just as the Latin music was cranked loud so we could party on the way there, we heard a loud beeping alarm go off. The captain stopped the boat, killed the music, and went to investigate. I'm not sure what the ultimate problem was, but some part needed to be replaced and they had a spare on board... we were back in action within 15 minutes.

MY POUCH RULES THE WORLD -- I said before I left that I was going to eat whatever I wanted (and I did) and that my pouch would have to take care of the portion control part of things. I only had one episode with my pouch and I not getting along on the cruise. It was the night I had filet mignon at dinner and probably didn't chew well enough - or maybe it was just because I ate too much (which is more likely the cause). For all the meals that I ate, I'm lucky that it was just that one that gave me trouble. I went to bed early that night, right after dinner, because you know how us WLS folks feel when something gets stuck and it's not going down or coming back up... you just suffer through.

THE BOAT WAS A ROCKIN' -- I suppose you can't have perfect weather every single day of your vacation and the last day on board the cruise ship was anything but perfect. It was very cold (40's) and very windy. Plus, the ship was going pretty fast to get us back to port on time. So there were a LOT of seasick people on board. I got a tiny little touch of seasickness -- maybe that's what it was, or maybe it was just a yucky feeling from eating too much all week long. Even though it was cold, I just put on some long pants and a sweatshirt and still went out on the deck to enjoy just being outside. I froze my butt off in the wind, but I didn't care much.

GETTING HOME -- Oh boy! This is where things got very interesting for sure. Here's the shortened version: My original flight home on Monday got cancelled due to weather in Chicago (where my connection was going through) -- the flight was cancelled just as they were boarding my original flight, so my luggage was already on board and would go on without me. American Airlines recommended a hotel and gave me a great rate for the night -- but the hotel was very scary and I didn't leave my room once I locked myself in. I should have left, but I was sorta stuck. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much because I kept waking up to loud noises and car/room doors banging outside.

DINNER DELIVERED -- Okay, this one is funny! As I was stuck in this crazy hotel room, I placed a pizza delivery for dinner. I just wanted something small (again, refer to the "eating too much all week" stuff above). So I ordered half of a stromboli and a house salad. The stromboli was only $8.99 so I figured it'd be small enough for one person. The salad was only $2.49, I think, so figured that would be small too. Oh was I wrong! The delivery came and there was enough food for six people! LOL! I cracked up as I was opening everything. I ate enough for my one small pouch portion and left the rest for trash. I guess next time I'll know to ask the size of stuff before I order. Here's a picture of the HUGE stromboli that arrived.

STILL GETTING HOME -- I was rescheduled for a new flight on Tuesday -- but that flight got cancelled too (more snow in Chicago). I spent two hours on the phone from my hotel trying to get a new flight home. Finally got one secured and had to rush to the airport to make the boarding time. Once I got there, the ticket agent informed me that my connecting flight would most likely be cancelled, so she tried to find me a different flight that avoided Chicago. She found one from Tampa to Detroit, but couldn't find anything from Detroit to Flint until Wednesday. I took the Detroit flight and figured I was close enough to home that I'd find my way to my car somehow. Thankfully a friend picked me up and got me to Flint (thanks Lynn!). By the way, I was still wearing the same clothes I'd been in for two days since I didn't have any clothes with me on my carry-on tote. All my clothes are in my checked suitcases. The only stuff I had with me were all my electronic gadgets. So I was feeling pretty grimy by the time Lynn picked me up.

LOST LUGGAGE -- I arrived at the Flint airport to pick up my luggage (although nobody could seem to find my luggage in the system whenever I asked about it the past two days) -- the bags weren't there, of course. So I've put in a claim and hope that they show up sometime soon.

MAIL MISHAP -- I got in my car and drove home to find that my no-good-lazy-mail carrier hadn't bothered to put a package between my doors, she just left it square in the middle of my porch (she's been doing that lately and it drives me nuts!). Unfortunately, inside the package was a book which hadn't been packaged in plastic and the box was actually frozen to my porch because we'd had a snow and ice storm this past week. So now I need to put a claim in with ... Amazon? USPS? Someone? to get the book replaced.

So whenever I start thinking about all the crazy stuff that happened on my dream vacation... I'm going to just focus on the good parts of the vacation and not all these "adventures." I'll just think of all these things are the interesting story-worthy parts. Ha!

Chuckling...
~Pam

Much needed vacation

2013-03-04T16:00:00.000-05:00

Eleven days ago I left Michigan during a winter weather advisory and jetted off to Florida for vacation. After spending two days there and attending a graphic design conference I went on an exciting adventure aboard the Carnival Legend cruise ship. Along the way I stopped in Cozumel, Belize, Roatan Island, and Grand Cayman Islands. After disembarking from the ship, I spent another couple days in the Tampa and Clearwater Beach area before making the trek back home to freezing Michigan. It was the perfect dream vacation.

Many people were amazed that I took this big trip all by myself and that I wasn't afraid to travel alone to a foreign country. But I suppose when you're single and just need to unwind and get away from all the stress of life, traveling alone isn't that big of a deal. I'm glad I went alone. It gave me time to find my balance again. Sometimes (all the time?) I work too hard and over schedule my life a bit too much with school and freelancing too.

The picture below is me in a hammock on Passion Island - a private island owned by the cruise companies in Cozumel, Mexico. I had gotten a sunburn the day before onboard the ship, so I found a place in the shade to relax... after spending the day in this spot, I want a hammock in my bedroom at home! I also enjoyed the most amazing massage on the beach during this excursion.

After returning to Cozumel from the island, I spent sometime shopping and browsing the tourist traps. Of course I had to buy some Mexican vanilla for all those who requested a bottle (that's you, Mom!). And picked up a few other souvenirs while I was there.

The next day we made a stop in Belize and I boarded a bus at the port for a trip across the country to see the Xauntunich Myan Ruins. OMG! The ruins were pretty amazing. The picture below is from the top of the large castle at this site looking down on the lesser "homes" in the settlement.

Even though the ruins were pretty amazing, I actually was more impressed (awed?) by the two hour bus ride that took us across the country. We ended up within 1/2 mile of the Guatemalan boarder. The tour guide on the bus talked the entire time and told us all about various cities or villages we passed through and educated us about the culture of the Belizian people. It's a very poor country and they rely heavily on tourist to boost the local economy. I was fascinated by all the little Internet Cafe`s that dotted the villages... the one pictured below is one of the fancier ones.

This was an amazing vacation. I feel rested and ready to face whatever is next on my agenda. It's also given me time to step back and remember that I have to take better care of myself and stop working so hard. Taking time to unplug and unwind is just as important as ticking all the tasks off the list. And being in the sun is making me anxious for Michigan's summer sunshine even more...

Until next time,
Pam

Focused on Protein

2013-02-03T20:04:00.001-05:00

In the past couple weeks I've really been focusing on protein, protein, protein! After my lab results showed low prealbumin and after getting guidance from my nutritionist, I've been trying to get at a minimum 100 grams of protein per day. I'll have labs drawn again in about 2 months to recheck these levels (and the other tests that are of concern), so I want to make sure I'm hitting that 100g mark each day to bring my numbers back up where they belong.

Longtime readers of my blog know that I'm a "Stress Non-Eater" -- which means that when I'm under a great amount of stress I tend to forget meals and lose my appetite. Friends on Facebook know that I've been posting about a huge project I'm in the midst of that's got a deadline of Thursday this week - stress much?

So the two paragraphs above don't work well together, right? Which means that in the past week I've gone back to protein shakes because I can't seem to eat enough food each day to bring my protein intake up to 100g. I use my own blog to dig up some recipes long forgotten in the past year that I've gotten away from my daily protein drinks. So if I had to resurrect the recipes for myself, maybe you need a refresher too! Check out these all time favs...

Protein Hot Chai Tea

Protein Coffee - Keurig Style

Protein Hot Cocoa

What's your favorite wintertime protein drink?

~Pam

How to buy my book

2013-01-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

Journey to a Healthier Me, the book, is finally ready for the world. It's available for purchase on Amazon right now! In the coming days I've got some thoughts to share about actually achieving this momentousness goal and what it means to me -- but for now, I wanted to make sure you have the link to make the purchase if you want.

Thank you for being patient while I've finished this huge project. And THANK YOU for all your love, support and cheerleading throughout my journey.

~Pam

The book is coming...

2013-01-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

Stay tuned for an official release date...

5 year lab results

2013-01-03T12:00:00.000-05:00

Each year after having weight loss surgery, every patient endures the Annual Blood Fest -- also known as labwork. The picture here shows 13 vials of blood, but you can add an extra 3 vials that were taken later in the day.

If you're wondering which labs should be drawn, check with your surgeon's office -- or download the list I have here on my website for easy reference. My list includes more tests than my surgeon's office requests, so I use mine instead so I can track what I feel is important based on the ASMBS recommendations.

This year's labs came back ... mostly good with a few areas of concern. Here's the rundown:

Vitamin D - 22 - This one is a constant struggle for me and my numbers seem to swing from one extreme to the other. For a little while I was able to maintain a lab result of around 80 (which is ideal) but I had to take two doses of 50,000IU per day in addition to my normal daily 5,000IU - plus spend lots of time in the sun. For whatever stupid reason, I had stopped taking the 50k pills and have just been doing the 5k for the past several months. And now I'm obviously paying for that error in judgement. So I'm back to a double-weekly dose of 50k and maintaining the 5k daily. I'll be retested in 3 months.
Vitamin K - low (waiting for numbers) -- This is a nutrient that the body is able to create itself and assists with blood clotting. When you have Vitamin K deficiency you have problems with bleeding disorders -- and I've noticed that recently when I cut myself it takes a long time for the bleeding to stop. However, when Vitamin K is low you have to be careful with dosing because too much and you could cause blood clot problems. The doctor has recommend one small dose pill per day and a retest in 3 months.
PreAlbumin - 15 - Oddly, my doc didn't order a full protein panel, so the only thing I'm able to go on (for now) is the PreAlbumin. It's low. It dropped from 24 down to 15 which is below the normal range. WLS'ers want to aim for mid-20's. I'm going to request the rest of the protein panel be drawn, but for now I'm increasing my protein intake.
Iron - in the toilet - a lot of different tests go into reading your iron levels. Hemoglobin, Hematocrit, transferrin, ferritin, etc. Remember that iron is easiest to understand when you compare it to money. So that means that my 401k is nearly depleted (Ferritin 8: L); my savings account running low on cash (Trans Sat 13%: L); even though my armored truck is shipping lots of money from the 401k (TIBC 466: H); there's no money in the savings because my cash is being spent too quickly and it's almost gone (Hemacrit and hemaglobin are both 1 point from being deficient)..... and all that means that my iron is in the toilet! What irks me is my PCP said my iron levels were "fine." I'll be consulting my surgeon's office for advice, but in the meantime I've added some more iron to my routine.

I guess overall the numbers don't look so bad for the 5 year report. I'm a bit worried about my iron levels and it makes me wonder how much more energetic I'll feel once those numbers are corrected. I'll let you know if anything earth shattering happens in 3 months with the retesting.

~Pam

The Scale Game Update

2012-12-19T20:28:00.000-05:00

I'm here for a report on the scale situation I told you about a month ago during my 5 year post-op update. I am working to drop the extra 5 pounds that made an unwelcome visit.

Here's what I've done so far:

Began tracking all food eaten and logging all calories.
Began wearing my Body Media Fit again, renewed my online subscription and religiously ran my reports to track the number of calories I burned.
Increased my consciousness of protein intake, carb moderation and a focus on healthy fats.

I did #1 and #2 for two weeks so I could get a clear picture of where I was starting. I wanted to see if I was on track with what I believed was happening or if I'd learn something new. Let me explain...

Calories In:

On the calorie intake side... I discovered two main things: 1) I was too carby in my nutrition balance with an average of 50% carbs, 25% protein. I quickly corrected that with a few minor tweaks. And 2) I wasn't eating enough calories and was averaging around 1,000-1,200 calories per day. Once I discovered I was low on calories, I started adding a snack as often as I could remember (yes, I still forget to eat even after 5 years).

Calories Out:

In the past several months I've been working a lot -- which means sitting at a desk. I've also been going to school 3/4-time -- more sitting at a desk. I've also been carrying a fair amount of stress with an overloaded task list at work and some side design business. Plus, I have not been sleeping as much as I should be. So I was expecting the BodyMedia Fit to tell me that my calorie-burn figures were down from the average I established back in 2010 when I wore the armband for a year.

But my assumptions were wrong. I am still burning an average of 2,300-2,500 calories per day on a fairly sedentary day with a slight boost on days when I was "up and about" more often (shopping, running errands, housework, etc.). I have not been doing any type of formal exercise program, so I don't have a recording of an exercise day. This calorie-burn range was surprising to me because it's in line with where I was during a fairly active time in my life when I had a formal exercise program in place.

SIDE NOTE: Remember back when I bought my BodyMedia Fit armband and paid around $260 for the whole system? Well I just checked Amazon and you can buy one for $99!!

Calorie Deficit:

So if you've done the math you'll see that the calorie deficit is around 1,000 to 1,400 per day. That deficit is WAY too high and I had probably thrown my body into a semi-starvation mode where it was hoarding energy. I've probably been sitting on this type of deficit for about 6 months or more, so it was inevitable that I'd be in danger of weight gain because my body was in a survival mode.

(There's a lot of science behind all this and I won't get into all of it here. But just realize that a "too-large-deficit" does not apply to new weight loss surgery patients, so don't freak out. This mostly applies to long term post-op and regular-gutted people who have never had WLS.)

The Strategy:

I increased my calories to be a solid 1,400-1,600 per day so that my calorie deficit sits around 750-900 calories per day. I focused on This seems to be my body's comfort zone for maintaining my weight (yes, I know I'm an anomaly and normal people would be losing weight at this range, but my body maintains, so that's what I'm doing for now). So that's what I did for about 2 weeks and the scale showed some movement and dropped 2 pounds -- so I was well on my way to losing those pesky 5 pounds.

The Wrench in the Gears:

I've said it before, but I'll remind you again: "I'm a stress-non-eater." Which means when I'm under an extreme amount of stress, I lose my appetite and any desire to eat. In fact, when I do attempt to eat, my stomach seems to reject food and I get sick. (Anger is my emotional eating trigger, so that's a whole other story.) A couple weeks ago I suddenly came under a big load of emotional stress in my personal life that I'm still struggling to get "fixed" but unfortunately most of the fixing is out of my control (and you all know how much of a control freak I am!). I'm purposefully being vague because I don't plan to share the details, sorry.

So yep, you guessed it.... I'm having problems with the calorie deficit thing again. And the scale is back to that 5 pound mark again. I'm highly conscious of the fact that I'm not eating properly right now and I'm making an effort to get myself back on track. Yesterday I ate three complete meals and today I've done fairly well too. It probably doesn't hurt that I shared this situation with my good friend Nikki and she basically kicked my butt and put me on her "list."

Still Working:

I'll continue to work hard in dropping these extra 5 pounds until they are solidly gone ... and then work on the other 10 pounds that'll drop me to the low end of my comfort zone weight. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

~Pam

Obesity: It's about more than food

2012-12-05T22:18:00.001-05:00

As you know I am working toward my Bachelor's degree in Digital Media Design. The great thing about the classes I'm taking now is that we're beyond the horrible "learn-how-to-use-the-software" stage and we're working on projects that allow much more creativity and freedom. One recent project was to choose a social issue we're interested in and create a public service announcement poster. The resulting design is one I'm pretty proud of and wanted to share with you. Obesity: it's about more than food...

Throughout my battle with obesity, lost 100 pounds and kept it off for five years I have learned that obesity is about so much more than just food. In fact, it has very little to do with food at all. Food is just the vehicle many of us use to deal with the emotions or feelings we want to hide or celebrate.

We use food to cover anxiety and fear
We use food to celebrate happy moments or achievements
We use food to deal with stress or fulfill obligations
We use food to show our love and affection for friends and family
We use food to comfort in times of pain or sorrow

Once we understand how to live with all those emotions in a psychologically healthy way, we no longer need to use food as the barrier against those emotions. Emotions are just emotions ... it's OK to have emotions and feel your feelings. No, it's not easy, but it's OK.

Be well.

~Pam

It's Soup Season

2012-11-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

It's soup season! There's nothing more comforting on a chilly day than a piping hot bowl of delicious homemade soup. My favorite way to make soup is in my slow cooker -- just throw everything into the crock and let it simmer all day. The house smells amazing and you're not babysitting a pot on the stove. Over the years I've posted many different soup recipes - so I thought I'd do a soup round up here for our cooking pleasure. Here are some of my favorites:

Butternut Squash Soup
Tortilla Soup - using leftover Southwest Chicken
White Chicken Chili
Bean Veggie and Ham Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup -- simplified version w/ homemade noodles
Wendy's Chili - The Homemade Version
Black Bean and Chicken Soup
Beef and Barley Veggie Soup
Creamy Wild Rice, Mushroom & Chicken Soup

Veggie Salad

2012-11-19T10:00:00.000-05:00

It's harvest time and the vegetable section at the grocery store (or farmer's market) is plentiful. In the summer you make fruit salad, so why not change it up a bit and make veggie salad in the fall? This salad was inspired by that exact idea. Chopping a variety of color vegetables and mixing them all together into a fresh harvest salad is a great way to take advantage of all the delicious farm stand goodies.

Veggie Salad Recipe

Below is the general recipe of how I did this salad, but it's more like a "guideline" because any combination of veggies will work just fine for this.

Petite baby carrots

Baby zucchini - sliced

Green peppers - diced

Yellow peppers - diced

Radishes - sliced

Broccoli - small florets

Yellow Squash - sliced

Sugar snap peas - cut in half if they are large

Fresh green beans - cut into 2" lengths

Asparagus - cut into 2" lengths

Herbs -- choose whatever one flavor you like - cilantro or parsley or basil

Italian dressing -- choose whichever bottled dressing you like

Chop all veggies and herbs, toss with salad dressing. Serve chilled.

This would be a great dish to pass at Thanksgiving as a healthy addition to the table or a replacement to the never-touched-veggie-tray.

Enjoy!

~Pam

5 Years Ago Today

2012-11-13T11:31:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning thinking about what my life was like five years ago. Deciding to have weight loss surgery was the best decision I've made for my health and I don't regret it.

I went into the operating room around 10:00 a.m. for my Roux-en-Y surgery and had no complications or problems at all. (I shared a room with another WLS who obviously hadn't paid attention during our nutrition classes because she kept asking for crackers and apple juice on the day of her surgery.) I had surgery on a Tuesday and was home on Thursday evening. If you want to read all about my surgery experience, you can read about it in the blog post I wrote 5 years ago. A lot has happened since then. So let's go through the highlights that I cover every year:

Vitamins - As I said last year, this is mostly just routine now. But all the calcium doses throughout the day still throws me off and I have a hard time remembering all four dose times. I've taken a candy dish into work and filled it up with the Bariatric Advantage Calcium and that's helped a lot in the past couple months.

Labs - I have a doctor appointment in a few weeks for my annual lab work. I'll keep you posted on how that comes out. I typically give my doctor the list of lab tests needed after WLS and he orders it up for me.

Weight - I stepped on the scale this morning expecting to see the same weight as I've seen for the past few years. As you know my weight loss stopped when I hit the 10-month post-op mark and hasn't really moved since then. I have maintained my weight in the range of about 190-200 for the past few years and it doesn't fluctuate at all. Good behavior is not rewarded with weight loss and bad behavior is not punished with weight gain. Until now.

This morning the scale told me I was at 205. This was sort of a surprise to me because I haven't weighed-in for about 3 or 4 weeks and last time I weight I was still within my range. However, for the past several months I've been hanging out at the top end of the range and the scale was playing with 200 consistently.

I know that over the past month or so that my eating has not been stellar In fact, it's been down right carbalicious. I've slacked off on my protein intake and slacked off on drinking enough water. And I've always been letting stress get the best of me and not sleeping enough. So I shouldn't be surprised that the scale is responding accordingly.

What am I going to do about it the extra 5 pounds?

Well, first of all I'm not going to think of it as just 5 pounds. I want to be back down in a comfortable place within my normal range of 190-200. So that means to get down to 190 I need to drop 15 pounds.

I know my body well enough to know that this will not be easy. (I'm rejecting the notion that it's not possible.) I also know myself well enough that I can't jump into a "diet" mindset because I'll get all rebellious on myself. So instead I'm going to focus on a few key areas that I know I've been slacking on and make changes that are necessary. Those include:

Meal Tracking -- I believe my calorie range has been around 1400 per day. With the extra carbs that's probably more, but I need to check on myself to see where I am and what needs to be adjusted. So for the next week I'll be tracking all my meals at FitDay.com.
GoWear Fit -- I retired my GoWear Fit armband a while ago but I'm digging it out of storage again. My daily routine is mostly just work and school with very little formal exercise. But even when I have a full day of work and school and daily chores, I was still burning around 2000 calories a day, which was well below what I was taking in. I just want to do a check on my body and see where it is today and determine if I need to make adjustments to my eating routine.
Exercise -- My days are packed with work and school and stuff - working full time, school full time, doing some design work on the side, leading support group meetings, family obligations and all the rest.... Being real with myself, I know that I'm not going to suddenly begin a big formal exercise routine right now. So I need to find ways to just be more active during the day - even if that means more housework or yard work.
Mental Crap -- You've heard (read?) me say it a thousand times, but I'll say it again. The hardest part of this weight loss journey is the mental crap we need to get straight in our own heads. I have been neglecting some of that lately. So I'll be digging out my journal and taking the time to examine stuff that might be getting in my way.
Support -- I am still active in 3 support group meetings each month. However, I've been slacking a bit on attendance and allowing other things to get in the way of attending as regularly as I'd like. So I'm recommitting to attend every meeting, no matter what. I know that being surrounded by friends in the WLS community is essential to long term success.
Small Changes -- When I combine all these small changes into my routine, they will most likely make the difference I want to see. There's no need to panic or take radical action (like going back to eating 2 tablespoons of food or only liquid protein shakes for the rest of my life, that's crazy!) -- with these small steps things WILL get back on track and I'll be where I need to be again.

The five year mark is a huge milestone for any WLS patient. Many of the scientific studies published in medical journals use the five year mark as a point of success vs. failure when it comes to follow up and weight loss maintenance. In the grand scheme of things I'm a resounding success. I've been able to maintain my weight loss for five years and have remained healthy and my lab results prove that.

With my weight at 195 my percentage of Excess Weight Loss is 64% -- well within the range of what the scientists say is a success. If I were to use a target weight that's more realistic for my body, that percentage would be around 75% weight loss. (To understand more about excess weight loss numbers and how to calculate yours, see this post about how to set your Goal Weight number.)

I'm proud of all that I've accomplished. This little set back of a few extra pounds to shed is no big deal and I'll handle it like I've handled every other challenge I've faced. I'll keep you posted on my progress, of course.

To get a snapshot of how my WLS journey over the years, here are some annual updates.

Baked Eggs

2012-10-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

Not long ago I found an intriguing recipe on Pinterest for baked eggs. The idea was to make eggs like they do at McDonald's so you can make homemade Egg McMuffins. I thought I'd try them by adding ham right into the tin to see how they turned out. As much as I love english muffins, I also wanted to be able to eat these without being in a sandwich.

So first, you spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray. Then add about 1 tablespoon of diced ham. Add one egg (try to leave the yolk in tact). Add a bit of salt or other seasoning -- but be careful, the ham is already salty so you don't need much.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the eggs are just about set. I like my yolk runny, so I make sure to watch them carefully. I added some cracked black pepper and enjoyed the eggs for breakfast fresh out of the oven.

Michigan Fall Colors

2012-10-15T10:32:00.003-04:00

It's always around this time of the year that I take off for a long weekend and enjoy some Up North Michigan scenery. (Yes, folks the term "Up North" is a proper noun here in Michigan.) This year I went back to Mackinaw City after a few years of choosing other northern locations (last year was Traverse City which was awesome too!)

Usually I go the third weekend of October because many of the seasonal shops are clearing out their stock and getting ready to close up for the winter. Who can beat 75% off, right? This year my third weekend was already booked, so I headed up early. It's a good thing I did too! The unusual weather we've had this year has brought an early fall color season, so most of the colors have already peaked a week or two ago. But it was still beautiful - even though it rained all weekend.

Yep. It rained. I got wet. Really wet. But the benefit of a dreary day is that photographs come out super awesome and the color is so much richer and vibrant. I've added photos to my Flickr Photostream (feel free to check them out), but I'm also adding a few of my favorites here. Enjoy!

Mackinaw Bridge with a found Cairn (stacked stones) on the shoreline.

Trail leading into a scenic park.

Part of a homework assignment to find different colors next to each other in nature.

The Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse overlooking the Mackinaw Bridge.

Even ferns change color in the fall.

I have a fascination with moss. Found a park covered in it! Pure love!

More moss!

Chicken Burrito Casserole

2012-10-11T11:00:00.000-04:00

If you like my Southwest Chicken, you're going to love this recipe, too. A couple weeks ago I was at a health fair and one of the exhibitors had a chef preparing different types of healthy foods. One of the dishes he made was this delicious Chicken Burrito Casserole -- and I'm so glad he was handing out recipes! I've been eating this dish all week for lunches and thought I'd share it with you.

Of course, I adjusted the chef's recipe a bit (did you have any doubt?). The recipe calls for the mixture to be thicker than I made it (I added extra water) and served in a soft burrito shell. However, I didn't want the extra carbs and also wanted to eat "just the insides" of the burrito. So here's my version:

Chicken Burrito Casserole

1 store-bought rotisserie chicken - shredded or chopped
1 tablespoon garlic - minced
1 bunch green onions - sliced
1 packet taco seasoning
1 cup black beans
1 green pepper
2 cans Rotel - diced tomatoes with green chilies
water - optional

In a large skillet heat the chicken, garlic, onions in oil. Add taco seasoning and mix well to coat all chicken pieces. Add remaining ingredients. If you prefer a casserole type mixture, add about 1 to 2 cups water until you get the consistency you like. If you want a thick mixture for burritos, leave the water out.

Serving:

I think it's great just on it's own with a few tortilla chips on the side. Or you could add shredded cheese, sour cream and fresh cilantro to garnish.