My Two Favorite Things

SUGAR

and

PIE

That's how I came up with my Trailer Trash name, "Sugar Pie" for the Trailer Trash theme party on Saturday night.

If you really want to see a redonkulous pic of "Sugar Pie", go check out Facebook. 

It was very memorable and fun party, with some serious red-neck party games!

So, you may be wondering...what does one eat at a Trailer Trash party?  

Well, if you are avoiding all food porn...you may want to avoid looking at the following pic:

Are you ready for it?










Here goes:

There were cheese doodles and pork rinds too!

Unfortunately (fortunately?), I only had water at the party.  My gall bladder (?) has been acting up with some pretty awesome upper right tummy stabbing pains that stab me in the back too. Always after I eat.  Good times.  It made me not want to eat ANYTHING at the party...not even a Ho-Ho or a Twinkie.

The ultra-sound of my gall bladder (about a month ago) came back with no conclusive results.

No stones, no nothin'. Who knows?

I am going to be in denial about my gall bladder for at least a little while longer so just roll with me on this.

Weigh-in Day & a Question for You

Today is either my 156th or 157th (?) weekly weigh-in. I should really keep track of these details.

Anywhoozle, here's the scoop:

Goal Weight: 145lb

Today's Weight: 141.6 lbs

Another week in maintenance.

**********************

Now a question for you:

I am going to the annual trailer trash themed party this weekend and need ideas on what to wear, how to do my hair, make-up, etc.  Help!

Here's what I wore to last year's party.

Note: duct tape name tag (we made up trailer trash names for each other), NASCAR hat, fake tattoos, and cigarettes stuffed down the bra:

Isn't it funny how...

...day by day nothing changes, but when we look back, everything is different?" ~C.S. Lewis

Abso-freakin-lutely.

Nothin' seems to have changed with my routine and what I choose to do day to day to maintain my weight loss, but oh how different I feel and look because of that routine I've been rockin'.

I'm now stronger.

I'm now healthier.

Why do I keep doing what I do to be successful?

I've started to wonder if I am genetically wired toward being slightly obsessive-compulsive and a structured, routine-following kinda gal?

Can I please blame my genetics? If I can, I would like to point out that I think it has skipped a generation (but that's a discussion for another day).

Is this what makes me successful with the continued maintenance of my 115 lbs weight loss?

As you know, I do love me a nice color-coded spreadsheet.

I am usually confused when I hear a bandster say, "I am so sick of eating the same things every day, I need new food ideas."  Huh? New ideas? I literally have about five to seven meals that I just rotate through out the week.  I've been eating the same stuff.  Some foods have stayed with me since even the pre-op days.  That's almost three years.

In case you haven't noticed, I love being inside my comfort zone of routine and structure.

If you look up "control freak" in the dictionary, I'm afraid you just may see my pic.

To say that I live "inside my box" is an understatement.

That's why I occasionally push myself out of my comfort zone and try new things.

Like how I literally pushed myself out of an airplane at 10,000 feet up in the sky a few months ago.

Or how I wore a bikini in public last month.  That was a HUGE step for me.  Way bigger than the sky-diving.

Or how I went on vay-cay to Florida recently and didn't feel the need to make a clipboard of fun and schedule every. single. moment. of. each. day.  I'm finally learning to go with the flow on certain things in my life.

But I think that my routines help me in maintaining my weight loss.  Routines help me create structure.

My life is crazy busy...job, friends, family life, staying on track with food/exercise, etc.

Routines help me avoid bad decisions that can happen when my life gets busy (which is often) or when the "food pushers" strike.

For example: when in the morning, a coworker pops into my office and says to me, "Hey, let's go get donuts in the cafeteria!"

I can respond with "no thanks" and resist the temptation because I always have my Greek yogurts waiting for me in the fridge.

For me, making decisions about food in the spur of the moment or on the fly can lead to BAD food decisions.

Yep. Welcome to Borings-ville.

Will I get burnt out?

Will monotony creep up on me?

It hasn't yet in in almost three years.

I guess those are some of my worries in maintenance.

But don't you worry, if you've made it this far down into this post and still don't undestand my level of cray-cray, just remember, it's a control freak thing, I wouldn't let you understand.

Non-Scale Victory Alert!

When I am Jazzercising, I feel like I look like this:

But I bet I look more like this:



But that's OK, because I am gettin' my sweat on and building muscles.

Who cares.

Now, onwards to the Non-Scale Victory (NSV):

Yesterday in Jazzercise class, a random woman who sometimes stands behind me (who also seriously needs to rethink her personal safety circle -- a close-stander I tell 'ya), said to me:

"I like being behind you in class because you know how to do the dance moves right."

Wha?

Huh?

Didn't she just see me skip to the right while everyone else did kick-ball changes to the left?

No?

Hmmm...I guess that my continued attempts at my top-secret project, "Become a Jazzercise Bad Ass", is coming along nicely.

The illusion is now complete.

I Have a Secret Relationship...

...with goat cheese.

It's my favorite cheese.

Ever.

So I invented some turkey burgers to grill up on the George this past weekend.

...and

oh. 

my.

goodness.

YUM.

Here's the recipe:

Lap Band Gal's Goat Cheese Turkey Burgers

206 calories.  22 grams protein.

Servings: 5

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5-10 minutes

Damn QUICK.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey (93% lean)

1/4 Cup bread crumbs (20g)

1 Egg

2 oz crumbled goat cheese (I used the kind that had the herbs on the outside)

1 tsp onion powder

3-4 shakes/dashes of garlic salt

3-4 splashes of Worcestershire sauce

dash of black pepper

Ingredients

Throw everything in a bowl.

Mix it up.

I made 5 burgers.  You may want to make more or
less burgers depending on your portion size.
Each burger was approximately 4.2 oz before grilling. 

I sprayed George with cooking spray and
grilled it for about 5-10 minutes.

While the burger was grilling, I put the four remaining burgers
individually between wax paper and then into Ziploc bags.
Into the freezer they went for a quick dinner during the week!

These burgers turned out very moist and
full of FLAVOR.
YUM!
I had a little Girard's Light Champagne
dressing on the side for dipping.

This is for ONE burger, no dressing.

I'll definitely be making these again!

Weigh-in Day and the Results are...

Goal weight: 145 lbs

Today's weight:


- Posted from my iPhone

Is 'Overachiever' One Word or Two?

While cruising around among my old blog posts from 2009, I came across this post. 

Go read it.

You know that you want to.

In that post, I talk about what went down at my very first Lap-Band adjustment (fill) appointment.

And guess what?

I now realize over two and a half years later that my biggest take away from that appointment with the-best-nurse-practitioner-ever WAS NOT actually the Lap-Band adjustment itself.

Gasp!

I know, I know..

It's all about gettin' our fills. Right?

Wrong.

At least for me.

My biggest lesson and takeaway was this: a prescription for exercise. This was the kick in the booty that I needed to get going on the exercise bandwagon:

Yep. Exercise.

Don't you roll your eyes at me. I'm feelin' those eyes all the way over here in Podunk middle-of-nowhere-Oregon.

Before this appointment, I honestly thought that I could be successful with weight loss and maintain said weight loss with no exercise.

Boy was I wrong.

For about two years now, I've been gettin' about 60 minutes of exercise 5 days a week.

And I'm not the only one who's rockin' the exercise.  Check out these plans on today's Workout Wednesday post on Facebook.

Well done ladies!

Do You George?

In the Weight Watchers days, I used my George Foreman Grill almost every day.

But then somehow when I moved from California up to Oregon five years ago, my George Foreman grill was broke by the movers.

Who knows what happened.

But I never got another George.

Until yesterday.

Georges were on sale at my local Freddy's store.

So now I have a George again.

But I need your help with recipes and ideas.

What do you make on your George?

Speaking of elderly boxers, did you know that Muhammad Ali's daughter, Khaliah, has a Lap-Band too?

Best part of this video starts around minute 3:00

Weigh-in Day & Flashback Friday

Goal Weight: 145 lbs

Today's Weight: 142.8 lbs

Onwards to my monthly tradition.

On the first Friday of the month, we flashback in time...

Here I am at the office:  

October 2009 ~ 255 lbs

Yesterday (August 2012)

No wonder vendors, sales people, and other work peeps who I rarely see at the office, occasionally don't recognize me. Ha!

PS: Did you see my early wake-up call on Facebook this morning?

Let's Talk About My Back Fat

An intriguing topic...right?

No?

Well, just roll with me for a minute here...

I found this old photo the other day and thought that I'd  make you look at it  share it with you.

A lovely sail away photo from a cruise in April 2011. Weight: 139.2 lbs. I was at my goal weight for about five months when this photo was taken:

Dad & I chillin' on the pool deck...or wait, is it "Me & Dad"?   Whatevs.

Now let's look at a photo that was originally meant to be a "before" spray tan pic. Taken three weeks ago. July 2012. Weight: 139.4 lbs:

 Hi Mom! Yes, I know that nice young ladies don't put nakey
pics of themselves on the interwebs.  No need to call me to tell me this.

...and that is why I continue to exercise.

Almost the same exact weight.  

15 months apart.

Such a different shape not just in my back but also in my arms.  No rolly wobbly bits.

I've learned that in maintenance, it's not always what that scale says but how I look and feel.

And do you know what?

I feel strong.