New Soup #love

I went to Panera for lunch with my coworkers, and I ordered something I've never had from there before: Black Bean Soup.

OMG. This stuff is DELICIOUS! I highly recommend it. The Bowl size has 260 calories and 13g of protien. And it's a vegetarian option.

I've already googled knock off recipes online, because this WILL be made in my house this weekend. I have everything on hand for it, and well, I can't wait to try and see if it turns out good!

I think that this could very easily be made in the crock pot, as it seems like a soup that would  get better the longer it cooks. I'll share the recipe once I've tested it and made it work.

Since getting Donny, I can't believe how much I love love love soup now. Soup used to be winter thing. Potato soup, vegetable soup, occasionally a pot of French Onion soup. Now, I'm all about trying new soups, making new recipes, and putting that 40 year old Crockpot to work at least one day a week with a hearty healthy homemade meal.

I finally found 'the' slow cooker that I think I want. I've been stalking it online. I went to order it last night from Walmart.com, and it was SOLD OUT! Seriously?

So, now it's back to the researching process. If it was meant to be for me to order that particular model, then it would have been available. Since it wasn't, that is a subtle hint that maybe I need to keep looking.

That's okay--I'm finding out very quickly that the crockpot that I have now, even as old as it is, is a pretty good size for a pot of soup that will feed me for well over a week.

Baby, it's COLD outside!

I am so suprised that I am still rocking the same restriction that I got from my last fill in November.

Yesterday, I started the day with protien coffee. Lunch was 1/4 cup homemade greek yogurt chicken salad and some of the new Cheezit Grooves (18 crackers = 130 calories--and I didn't even eat 18 of them!). Then I waited kind of late for dinner--so I had a cup of coffee in the afternoon (probably around 50 cals with the SF creamer), and a Krispy Kreme Homer Simpson donut from the RoFo on the way to PA. Dinner was an Almond Snicker (LOVE!) and 6 Chickfila nuggets. I was still able to stay under my daily calories and only hit 1269! And even though I didn't have dedicated walking, I did go shopping and walked around Walmart, the Goodwill, and CVS. I know that some of my choices weren't the best--but I was on the road and did the best I could given the choices!

My thighs have gotten progressively more sore since Monday night--but I plan on rocking the elliptical again tonight while the ELB is at a gig.

We woke up to snow this morning--about an inch of that dry powder that is a cinch to clean off your car but which makes roads kind of slick and gross.

But anyways, I got some good stuff at the 'Will, yo! I went with the intent to find a new purse to replace my last bag I got from there. I have gotten SO many compliments on my last bag (a black/white plaid) that I thought I could find something equally as cute to move into. I scored a Tigananello blue suede shoulder bag for $4. That's right--FOUR DOLLARS. It's gorgeous, it looks brand new, and it doesn't have any funky marks or stains or anything. It's beautiful! I also scored a couple of books and two 1984 Olympic collectible figures for the ELB. He loves Olympics stuff. $18 for all of that. I love the goodwill.

Happy Hump Day!

Gettin' Physical

Last night, I made a choice to pull out the elliptical and work out instead of watching 30 minutes of TV. It's so easy to go home at night, throw on my comfy clothes, and then join the couch for some me time. This is why I do my walking in the mornings before work. I'm up, I'm dressed, I'm motivated in the mornings. But the weather hasn't been cooperating lately. It's been snowy. It's been rainy. It's been TOO FRIGGIN COLD to go out for extended lengths of time.

I'm glad I exercised. I only did 20 minutes on the elliptical, but man, I feel better about things today. I have a slight soreness in my thighs, which is just a reminder of my good choice to exercise instead of sitting on my (less)fat(but still fat) ass.

Tonight, I'm going with the ELB to one of his gig's in PA, so no walk today (because the temps are back to the frigid range), but tomorrow, I'll do the elliptical again while the ELB is working another gig.

I can't afford to join a gym, but I already own the elliptical. I can surely afford the TIME to work out, just not the money.

I want to see a number in the 340's when I go in for my next appointment on 2/19. Here's to setting (and accomplishing) a goal!

Happy Tuesday! 

Monday...blah-day

Woke up this morning and felt pretty good. It was the first night in a while that I haven't woken up and had to sleep with a cough drop to quell the coughs. But, about 45 minutes after I got up, I was hit with a wall of nausea. I think it's ear pressure issues. I feel somewhat better, but hate that feeling of wanting to throw up. Blech.

I've been kicking around the idea of writing a very personal and emotional post. I've been working through some feelings about a topic that has really hit me hard lately, and I kind of want to air it out on this forum. But then I'm like,why waste my time, or yours, with something that probably won't make alot of sense to anyone except to me. I'm still thinking about it. But I've written down alot of my thoughts and have started to organize them...but there is alot of thoughts, and it would be a massive post. I'll debate and refine and see what I come up with.

Nothing much else right now. My noodle-less lasana was good--but I think that I should have cooked and used spaghetti squash to give it more substance and to keep the layers more separate. I'll keep that in mind for the next time.

Happy Monday, I guess.

I was worried

Yesterday I felt like I ate a ton. I don't think I did but it felt like it. In my head I was thinking crap there goes my restriction. Well that was silly because I'm tight today. I still feel like I've eaten a ton but that's just the restriction talking. I was right yesterday also but just didn't make the connection.

Another few weeks before I go for weighin. Hope it's going down! I'm going to be disappointed is it's not.

There (might) be a storm a brewin'!

It's winter. It's FREAKING FRIGID out.

So, the ELB and I have been staying in. Cooking at home. Eating better food, and for less money. I don't know if its making a difference in my weight loss, but it can't hurt, right? I usually allow myself one day a week to have lunch out--and I didn't even do that this week! Saving money and calories!

Today was grocery day. I went before work (and still got to the office by 7:40!). The ELB got an assortment of frozen pizzas, chicken nuggets, potatos, and I bought things to make him homemade lemon poundcake this weekend. I got stuff to make noodleless lasagna, and turkey meatballs. Luckily, I have a good supply of soup/chili fixin's already stocked.

I am so looking forward to lasagna. I haven't made it in a while, but it's so delicious, even without noodles. I might even sneak some kale in there! Or I might get an eggplant!

Anyways, happy Friday. Stay warm! and Eat well! :)

Potato chip chicken

I made this for dinner tonight. So delicious! And you can use any flavor chip you want. I used a bag of Golden Flake hot that we got in SC on vacation.

Super easy!
4 chicken breasts
1 egg, beaten
Crushed potato chips

Dip chicken in egg, then dredge in potato chips. Bake on a sprayed baking sheet at 425 for 25 minutes or until juices run clear.

I served plain mashed potatoes on the side.

Snow day!

The office closed at 12 yesterday because of the bad weather.

Today I took a personal day. I coughed most of the night and woke up with a pounding headache.

The ELB and I went and defrosted the car and shoveled the walk and now we are on the couch watching daytime TV. #lazyday

It's also cold as f#ck.

Stay warm everybody.

It's Blizzard time!

And I don't mean the yummy Dairy Queen kind.

On the forecast today? 6-12 inches of snow, depending on which news broadcast you watch--and we checked out all three locals this morning.

I got to work early, pounded out four laps (since I might not be able to walk the rest of the week---along with the snow are frigid temps that will linger through the weekend--and means no melting).

I am not going anywhere near the grocery store. If I don't have it at home, we don't need it.

I'm going to keep an eye on the weather today--might be heading home early if things turn sour. And they probably will--it's slated to start around 9am and go through this evening. I packed jeans and snow boots for the trek home.

Still fighting the cold, but it seems that maybe it's breaking up more. I'm coughing more, but they are more productive coughs--clumps of green infection working their way out.

I ended up having leftover sauteed spinach and some bulger for dinner--never even fixed my fish. But bulger is high in protien, so I think it's okay. I just wasn't hungry--aunt flow along with this weather system are tightening Donny up--so I have to take it easy on my food choices--go for more soups and less solids until the end of the week--otherwise, I will probably not be in a good place.

If you are going to get hit with this weather, stay safe and stay warm!

UPDATE: it started snowing right at 9am. The forecasters actually got THAT part right for a change.
UPDATE 2: Right after I posted this initial posting, I went to drink some of my daily protien coffee--the lid wasn't on right, and I spilled it EVERWHERE--the majority of which was on me. So now, I'm stuck wearing clothing that are slowly drying, and I reek of coffee. Ugh. And my pants and sweater are stiff where the coffee/protien powder/soy milk has dried.
UPDATE 3: I'm so tight and full of drainage this morning that my first drink of the remainder of my coffee yielded a very uncomforable feeling, and I started sliming. On coffee. W.T.F. Yep, this is deffinitely going to be a soup kind of week.
UPDATE 4: Did I mention how much I HATE snow? Already dreading the drive home tonight--the lack of parking that is sure to exist (city living is NOT awesome like people say), and the super cold temps.
UPDATE 5: And I think I have cramps....two days early. Seriously. Can I cry now? I would eat, but OBVS that is not an option.
UPDATE 6: except for the candy bar. I was able to eat THAT without issue. Ironic that it was a Zero bar--because it sure isn't zero on calories! Oh, and that the temps are supossed to be close to that this afternoon!

Monday...funday?

Thanks to CFlick, Hollee, and Chuckleheads for their input and advice on my compulsive eating (which typically occurs on weekends). I never thought about having a food plan that would be a whole day at one time. Typically, I have my calorie count and I work to stay under that number--which gives me leeway with what I can and cannot eat. And then on weekends, I tend to just eat whatever and whenever.

Monday-Friday isn't the struggle, because I have the structure of work to keep me on schedule. It's the dreaded weekends that I flounder around. However, I'm going to make more of an effort to plan out my food choices today.

So far, this is what I've been able to plan for the day. This is actually pretty typical of Monday-Friday for me with the time and portions--the foods will change.

Breakfast: Protien coffee (1/2 scoop Unjury, Soy milk, black coffee). approxmately 130 cal
Lunch: Chicken Kale soup (no idea on calories because it's just chicken and vegetables)
Snack: homemade bread pudding (made with soymilk and smart balance)
Dinner: Talapia and sauteed spinach and maybe some bulger or quinoa.

Now, Saturday and Sunday, it looks more like this:
Whenver I get up: protien coffee
Sometime after that: soup and/or leftover dinner
Sometime later: more soup and/or snack food (chips, popcorn, etc)
Sometime later: dinner--usually the same soup, or whatever I've made for the ELB for dinner
After that: another snack (as long as it's a minimum of 3 hours before I plan to go to bed).

Weekends don't have structure. Sometimes, we are out and about, running errands, doing fun things, etc--which means eating out, or having foods that I normally wouldn't eat. I always feel that I eat way more on weekends--when sometimes, I don't think it's MORE, I think it's just eating too often, or eating again too soon after a previous meal, which makes me feel full and bloated and uncomfortable and like I've eaten way too much. And I'm a boredom eater. This weekend, the ELB was working gigs all weekend, so I was home alone--which meant idle time for my hands. And instead of pulling out my jewelry tools, or starting a new knitting project (both of which are GREAT for keeping the food out of the face) I instead watched crap tv and snacked.

But today is Monday. I'm on my regimen this morning--walked, having protien coffee. Packed soup for lunch. Dinner will be Talapia. See, I do plan during the week! The Talapia is thawing as we speak.

My goal is to try to rein in the weekends, and try to have a schedule that can be adjusted to my relaxed hours.  And to always have something creative in my hands.

Happy Monday, ya'll!
 

Old habits

What the hell is wrong with me?

I keep eating even though I have restriction. I keep eating even though I'm not hungry. I'm not eating bad for me food. But I'm eating even though I shouldn't be. Even though I don't want to be. Even though I've made myself sick from eating too much.

How do I turn off the compulsion?

This soup is DELISH!

I wasn't sure how I would feel about chicken soup with no noodles but honestly I don't miss them. The flavor in this is amazing. Now to see if it cures what ails me. Happy Saturday!

My goal this weekend....

Is to kick this nastyass sinus infection out of my body.

My game plan? Homemade chicken soup.  No noodles. I'm not wasting calories on something that I can't enjoy--and I've found out time and time and time again that I cannot eat noodles any longer. I'm replacing the noodles with white beans and kale. Oh, and I'm going to drink tons of plain water....and sleep. Glorious sleep.

I have my shopping list ready. Just a few basics to get through the weekend.

Now, to just get through the rest of the day, hit the grocery store, and head home to the warm loving arms of the ELB.

The countdown commences now.

#lapband problems

Even after almost a year, I still forget that I can't eat the way I used to. Sauteed spinach, garlic cheese grits, and Talapia. I ate some grits and some spinach and I'm done. Wtf.

And it's so good! Sigh.

Is it Friday yet?

OMG. This day has been nutball cray-cray.

It's 3:45 pm. I have been awake since 5:30. The last time I peed was at 5:30am. I have not had time to even take a bathroom break today.  Weird, too, since I've had a huge cup of protien coffee and two bottles of water.

Oh well, I'm going to hold out until after 4pm. I'm taking the bus tonight, and sometimes, it can be a LONG wait for the bus to come--and then to get downtown, and then to walk home. So the later I can hold it, the better.

I have walked this week. I haven't been perfect with food, but I've been okay. Yesterday, I got thrown off by a piece of cake--but I was good--I only ate the frosting and the filling and threw the actual cake part away. So yeah--that has to count for something, right? Besides, I have a King Size Peanut Butter Twix bar in my desk that I bought at Walmart this morning and I have not even OPENED it. That is amazing, peoples!

I'm still having some pretty good restriction. I haven't snacked today, but I did make some bread pudding last night that was pretty good. I brought it to work and shared. I had one small piece just so that I could see how it turned out. Not bad for using soy milk and Smart Balance!

Just glad today is almost over. Going to go home, fix some Talapia and spinach, and chill out.

Happy Turds-day!

Another recipe!

I don't know if you guys have figured this out yet, but I LOVE to cook. It's something that I did from the time I was old enough to stand on a chair in the kitchen with my mom. My mom taught me a lot of things...but cooking was probably one of the most important things I ever learned from her. I am happy when I make food and other people enjoy it. Weird, huh?

I don't know if I've posted this recipe before or not, but I don't mind posting it again. It's super quick and easy, and it's pretty foolproof for making a knock off version of Panera's soup (without the use of heavy cream and butter like most of the recipes call for). My friends at lunch today LOVED it and said that it was just like eating at Panera--but better.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped carrots

flour

2 cans chicken broth or vegetable broth

1 can evaporated milk (I used 2%. You do not want to use non-dairy milk for this recipe--it will be weird--believe me, I tried)

1 package frozen broccoli, microwaved and rough chopped

2 cups shredded cheddar (again, you need to use regular cheese. reduced fat will not melt)

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Garlic (powder or minced)

Cook the onions and carrots in olive oil with salt and pepper until soft. Add a little extra olive oil and then mix in flour (about 2TBSP) to make a roux. Stir in chicken broth and bring to boil. Add broccoli, garlic (to taste), and additional salt/pepper to taste. Simmer until it starts to thicken slightly. Stir in can of milk and cheese. Reduce heat (do not allow to boil--it will separate the melted cheddar and will be kind of weird--still edible and taste fine--but the texture will be altered). Stir until cheese is melted. You can also use about ½ cup of velveeta in addition to the shredded cheese for a creamier texture, if you choose (optional). Add additional seasoning as needed. I also add about 2TBSP of Smart Balance at the end. That's a personal choice, but I think it makes it taste better.

It's always darkest before the light....

or, you always get sicker before you get better.

Yesterday, I was ROCKIN' it. I felt pretty good (all things considered). I walked. I was on plan with food. I could breathe. 

This morning? Not so much. My sinuses were so clogged when I woke up that it was draining through my eye. Seriously. I had snot coming out of my tear duct on my right eye. W. T. F.

I'm functional, but not really happy. I'm at work. I walked 4 laps in fog so dense that it was creepy--and I kept thinking about that Stephen King novel about the fog and the giant spiders...It might have been called "The Fog". But anyways, yeah.

I'm having a Broke Ass Bitches (BAB for short) lunch today with my two work friends. We are all a little strained for money, so we planned to brown bag it and eat in. I made a pot of homemade cheddar broccoli soup to share as a suprise, and I stopped and bought a baguette from Panera to go with it. Since I already had everything for the soup at home, that didn't cost anything extra. The baguette was $2.59. WAY cheaper than three girls going out to lunch! And no tips required!

Anyways, hope that you guys are having a better start to your hump day than your eye snotting at you.

So it's Tuesday...

The insurance adjuster visit went good. Yay!Now we can start putting the house back to normal.

My sinus infection seems to be breaking up---if the massive amounts of neon green crap I hacked up this morning are any indication. No antibiotics--just alot of water, hot tea, chicken soup, and trying to get sleep. Oh, and the good Sudafed that you have to sign for.  Now to get rid of this annoying cough.

I survived my two orientations with voice to spare.

I'm not hungry (yay!), but yesterday morning I woke up so nauseous that I stopped at McDonalds on the way to work. For some reason, my brain kept telling me that the combo of sugar/fat/salt would help me feel better. And oddly enough, it did. I had a Bacon/Egg/Cheese McGriddle, a hashbrown, and a small regular coke. I only ate half the sandwich, the hashbrown, and the coke, and I felt 100x better--even though it took me over an hour to eat that much. I barely ate anything on Sunday--probably less than 500 calories--so I'm sure that was part of the blechy feeling.

Today, I'm feeling somewhat better. I'm getting back on track. I walked this morning. I had my protien coffee. I'm going to have turkey chili for lunch, and dinner will be turkey meat loaf (my new recipe that the ELB loves).

Happy Tuesday!

So now i have a cold

Feeling blechy. Sinus drainage, sore throat, ear pain.

Wouldn't be so bad except that I have two orientations scheduled to present tomorrow. I just hope I can power through and my voice holds out.

Sinus drainage means I'm not hungry... Which is kind of good I guess. Back on the snot diet!

Seriously, this weekend had better not suck

So, the pipe burst fiasco should have been resolved today. The contractors came back this morning to finish the drywall repair in the basement, and to paint.

Well, when they went to the basement, they found that water from the rain was leaking in all night long--meaning that it wasn't the burst pipe that caused the basement damage--it's been rain this whole time--that we didn't know about. So, no finish the basement today--but the kitchen and laundry room should be done.

The ELB got paint on his brand new sweatshirt that he got on vacation. He is not a happy camper.

My work was two hours late to day because of the freezing rain this morning. So, I go to work, stop and buy kale at the farm, then stop to pick up a RedBox movie and get a cup of coffee on the way in. I get the movies I wanted, and then went to get my coffee. Walk back to my car, and boom! Drop my perfectly created cup of coffee awesomness. Luckily, i dropped it in the parking lot and not in my car. And the store was nice of enough to let me get another cup for free to replace it.

The ELB and I have really wanted to drive out and have dinner at our favorite DC Burger joint (Burger Tap Shake) tonight, but this crazy freezing rain crap has put a cabash on those plans. Hence the movies.

Plus, I have a huge amount of laundry to work through.

I was bad about not writing things down yesterday--I had to go home early to babysit the contractors while the ELB went to a work meeting--and I ended up snacking all afternoon on: 2 slices of leftover frozen pizza, a vanilla coke, corn tortilla chips, and greek yogurt popcorn...then topped off the night with a bowl of cheesy beef dip and bbq chips.

Sigh.  I guess the only good thing is about this whole water damage fiasco is...we rent--so the landlord has to fix it all.

Small blessings, right?

My goal--try to get back to a somewhat good way of eating. I read on pumkins blog about gluten intolerance causing drainage--and I wonder if that's what I have. It seems that when I eat some things (like bread) I think that I'm sliming--but I never PB the food--just massive amounts of phlegm. I might try going gluten free for a week and see how that feels. Besides, this will give me more brain justification to cut out the junk and stick with protien and veggies.

Happy Friday.

I'm in Hell (and I don't mean Michigan)

So, during this arctic vortex, our pipes froze on Monday night.

Yesterday, we finally had running water again---along with FOUR pipe ruptures that resulted in massive flooding of our kitchen, laundry room and basement.

The pipes got fixed, but now there are huge cut away pieces of drywall that need to be replaced. And I have a ton of laundry to do, since all of my work clothes were soaked in the water that burst through the wall of the laundry room. And I need to buy new rugs for the kitchen. And I still haven't had a shower since Monday morning--and I'm feeling pretty narsty right now.

And I'm trying to eat everything to deal with the stress.

I did pretty good yesterday. I KNOW I was under my calories. Way under, probably, because I didn't have the opportunity to eat.

Today, I'm hungry as a hostage and trying to convince myself that I want to eat so many different things.

For example, I saw a commercial for the Nature Valley soft baked granola bars. They look delicious.  that was followed by a commercial for McDonalds egg mcmuffin. OMG, did I want an egg mcmuffin this morning. 

Instead, I bypassed McDonalds--came to work, made my protien coffee, and then ate a Nutrigrain breakfast bar. 300 calories total. Now, to get out of the office park and bypass all of the yummy fast food places on the way--Mickey D's, Taco Bell, BK, Wendys....the list goes on and on and on.

Sigh.

Crazy Crazy days.

I'm just getting myself through by looking forward to a nice hot shower tonight.

And BTW, I've actually been to Hell (Michigan). It's a nice little spot on the map to visit--in the summer!

Hopelessly optimistic

Yesterday, I was optimistic that I could pull myself out of the wreckage of the morning, and walk the straight and narrow the rest of the day.

I could not have BEEN more wrong.

I swear, it's like I didn't even HAVE a band yesterday. I feel like I ate ALL DAY LONG. This is what I remember eating--since I kind of stopped writing things down out of shame....
12 pc Chickfila chicken nuggets
1 plain unbuttered Chickfila biscuit
2 mini Three muskateers bars
2 Lindt truffles
2 Ghiradelli squares
2 chicken breast tenders
3 parkerhouse rolls
1 cup of vegetable lentil soup (homemade)
1 can of diet Dr. Pepper

When I look at it, I think, OMG, that is a massive amount of food. But then, I look at it, and other than the candy, I did have protien in there. So I guess all is not lost--but it sure felt like it!

I know that when I was on vacation, I really got bad with eating candy and soda and chips and stuff like that. And that was wrong. Vacation for my mind does not equate vacation for my healthier eating.

I almost feel like I need to detox--nothing but protien shakes and lentil soup for a few days to cleanse my system and get out all the junk. Oh, and another side effect of my crap diet last week? I'm breaking out like a teenager again. Even the proactive isn't working on this one--the only thing that will is eliminating this stuff from my diet.

I CAN do this. I HAVE to do this. I WILL do this.  Clear skin and losing weight is worth giving up the junkfood!

Peace out!

Bad Bander

Yesterday, I was back to the grindstone. Back to work. And back to treating my band right. 

Yesterday, I totally rocked my calories. I didn't get any exercise--but that's b/c it was raining yesterday.

Today, I tanked by 7:30am. W.T.F. It's super cold, and since I drive a Prius, I wasn't sure how it would do when it's 4 degrees, and the windchill is below zero. So I left for work early to make sure that the car behaved. So that put me to work super early--and I ended up hitting Chickfila for breakfast nuggets and a plain unbuttered biscuit.

The thing is, I can't usually eat in the mornings AT ALL. And I can't eat alot of bread like foods, either. I tend to do my protien coffee, and I'm good through lunch. This morning, I had the biscuit (although it did take me almost 2 hours to eat it), plus six chicken nuggets..and *gasp* a diet dr. pepper.

Sigh. I have NO CLUE why I even went to the Chickfila, but I did.

The plan--I'm writing it ALL down in my book. And the rest of the day I'm going to be on track. I'll probably go over on calories--but what's done is done. I'm not going to tank the rest of the day because of poor choices this morning.

I'm scheduled to see my surgeon on February 19. I'm going to have to think long and hard the next few weeks about the merits of another fill. I'm good with restriction where I am, but I have noticed that I'm less tight than I was a few weeks ago. So, we will have to see how I do over the next month.

Fingers crossed.

One more picture

I took this on Friday during low tide. I love how the buildings and sky are reflected on the wet sand.

Back in Cold cold cold Baltimore. Sigh. Until next year, myrtle beach.

Resolutions

I'm not going to do any resolutions this year. I never really do... And I typically can't stick with them.

My main goal is to continue to listen to my lapband... And maybe eat less cookies.

I thought about a new year post

Then decided that I could just talk about my year.

I got my lapband on March 25. I do not have any regrets.

My dad got remarried in July.

I think I'm finally in my green zone as of November.

2014 should be a great year.

I've started looking for a new job.

I anticipate continued weight loss with my little helper.

Positive things are on the horizon.

Happy new year!