Rewards

Well, I have officially lost 85 pounds since August 2014 and 53 since January.  I want to do things to reward myself.  Just another little motivation on top of just feeling better!!  This got me to thinking...  what things would motivate me other than food?  I am compiling a list and I am not sure if I will use my surgery date weight or my total weight, but there will be fun to be had either way.  This list is a work in progress and I will add more as I think of more:

1.  Manicure
2. Weekend getaway with hubby
3.  Go to the movies (that's not a kids movie!)
4.  Flowers
5. New sandals
6. new pretty fun ring or bracelet
7.  Buy some yummy smelling lotion
8. Have my house cleaned by someone other than me
9.  Have some professional pictures made

One of my two favorite flowers:

Scary!

Cravings

I have been low in calcium.  I was taking the wrong calcium like a dum dum, but this has since been resolved.  Interestingly, I have been craving chips and pretzels... I never had before.  Even more interestingly, I found this on my online travels and look at what it says for chips...  I'll try the alternative healthy foods here  :)

The Easter Hernia

This past weekend, I went to the hospital with intense abdominal pain.  Found out it was a hernia!!!  Lovely.  I also found that a few people in my family have them.  When I was talking to my mom, I remembered shortly after I had Emma I got this weird bump around my belly button and I would assume that was it.  Having the bariatric surgery just probably made it worse.  :(  I haven't had any more trouble with it.  I was lifting some boxes and I felt a pull on my tummy then went and sat down.  So far so good..  : \

The Eggs are coming!!

Easter + Small Kids = TONS of boiled and colored eggs...

Tomorrow the ceremonial coloring of the eggs will occur.  This has made me think about what in the world I'm going to do with them, as I have changed my evil eating ways.  I can cut one up with my salad, but that's boring.  I'll eat them just out of the fridge for some extra protein that couldn't hurt either...  but that's boring too!  So I started looking up some recipes and found these off the Eating Well website:

EatingWell Deviled Eggs

24 servings

Ingredients

• 12 large hard-boiled eggs, peeled
• 1/3 cup nonfat cottage cheese
• 1/4 cup low-fat mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh chives or scallion greens
• 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish (I'll use dill.  Not a fan of sweet pickles)
• 2 teaspoons yellow mustard (I'm going to try Dijon)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (I'll skip the salt-again, not a fan)
• Paprika for garnish

Preparation

1. Halve eggs lengthwise with a sharp knife. Gently remove the yolks. Place 16 yolk halves in a food processor (discard the remaining 8 yolk halves). Add cottage cheese, mayonnaise, chives (or scallion greens), relish, mustard and salt; process until smooth.
2. Spoon about 2 teaspoons yolk mixture into each egg white half. Sprinkle with paprika, if desired.

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.            

Nutrition

Per serving: 34 calories; 2 g fat (1 g sat, 1 g mono); 71 mg cholesterol; 1 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 3 g protein; 0 g fiber; 85 mg sodium; 31 mg potassium.

Cobb Egg Salad

4 servings about 3/4C each

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt
• 3 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 8 hard-boiled eggs
• 1 ripe avocado, cubed
• 2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

Preparation

1. Combine yogurt, mayonnaise, garlic powder, pepper and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Halve eggs and discard 4 of the yolks (or save for another use). Add whites and the remaining 4 yolks to the bowl and mash to desired consistency. Gently stir in avocado, bacon and blue cheese.

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.           

Nutrition

Per serving: 257 calories; 18 g fat (5 g sat, 9 g mono); 200 mg cholesterol; 9 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 15 g protein; 3 g fiber; 515 mg sodium; 447 mg potassium.

This one is a little high in the fat and calories for me, but its just once a year, right?!?!  :)  Would you look at that protein....



There's many more recipes on there but those two interested me.  http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/recipe_slideshows/hard_boiled_egg_recipes
 

Avocados - The Super food?

Let me say this.  I love love love LOVE avocados!!!!  Since my surgery, So many tastes of mine have changed.  I used to love pickles, now I don't care for them.  Bread makes me want to barf, where I used to eat half a French bread with butter before, just for instance. 

Something I have really taken to are avocados.  I love them.  I love the texture.  The taste.  The color.  The way they have their own wrapping.  The smell.  The ease you can scoop the avocado from the skin.  If I had a small bowl of chips and some guacamole, I'd be in heaven. I haven't given into that, as that would be a danger food for me, but it makes my mouth water thinking of it.  I eat half of one one day, then I'll eat the other half the next.  I cut them up and put them on everything pretty much.  I'm thinking about a scrambled egg with some or a low fat tuna salad tomorrow.  yum!  I don't buy them often, but I have two just ripening in my kitchen right now.

Fun facts (from the California Avocado Commission):

• Avocados are a fruit
• Avocados were once a luxury food reserved for the tables of royalty
• The avocado is also called an Alligator Pear because of its pear-like shape and green skin

Some notable, yet not so fun facts:

• Avocados offer nearly 20 vitamins and minerals in every serving.
• Avocados are a good source of B vitamins, which help you fight off disease and infection. They also give you vitamins C and E, plus natural plant chemicals that may help prevent cancer.
• Avocados are low in sugar. And they contain fiber, which helps you feel full longer.
• Avocados are high in fat. But it's monounsaturated fat, which is a "good" fat that helps lower bad cholesterol, as long as you eat them in moderation.

Now, a single serving of avocado is 1/5 of the fruit (about 50 cal in a medium one), not the 1/2 I usually eat.  I have the extra calories to spend, however, and I choose to spend them on my favorite little Alligator Pears!  (I can think of a million worse ways to spend them too!  :P)