Oy and Vey... and Then Some!

So I've been derailed...

AGAIN!!!

There's a reason I've been silent. A big one.

Last Monday I got horrendously sick. I made the mistake of eating, among other things, a chicken soft taco with A LOT of hot sauce on it. Now as some of you know when I got pregnant with "the Tyrant" I craved jalapenos. Lots and lots of them. I ate them with everything. Even with pancakes and peanut butter once. I've never really eaten jalapenos before then so needless to say I pissed off my gall bladder and ended up in the emergency room one fine day about 7 weeks into my pregnancy. There wasn't anything they could do for me being pregnant and they told me to lay off the spicy food.

Which I did.

Well I had "the Tyrant" and forgot all about the emergency room episode and started eating spicy foods again. Monday night was not the first time I'd eaten them either. Well I woke up so sick and in pain. I spent 2 hours throwing up Monday night. Tuesday, any time I ate I threw up and got horribly sick (you'd think this would've sent me to the doctor, it didn't.) Wednesday I barely ate anything at all and still was throwing up and being horribly sick.

Thursday I ate a piece of dry toast. Miracles of miracles I didn't get sick. So an hour later I ate another piece of dry toast. Still no sick. I hadn't really eaten anything in two days so I ate another one. Well.. dry toast isn't the most delicious thing on the planet so I livened it up with some peanut butter. Not even a half teaspoon.. you could see the bread through the butter... I immediately got sick, started puking, and my gut started hurting so bad again I really wanted to be dead.

I went to the emergency room.

Turns out I had a really pissed off gall bladder as my doctor so succinctly put it and it needed to be removed immediately. I was admitted without warning and surgery was scheduled the following morning. Well they took pictures while they were removing it and I had gall stones that had escaped my gall bladder and were trying to get it on with my pancreas.

This equals a REALLY BAD thing.

So lucky me, I was scheduled for another procedure under anesthesia the next morning to retrieve the stones before they could make me really sick. (I wasn't really sick??? Could've fooled me.)

I got to come home yesterday. I'm not allowed to workout, lift anything over 10lbs (the Tyrant is 14lbs.. I'll be damned if I'm not holding my baby -- so I'm not exactly listening to that one fully), and a bunch of other things.

Again -- I'm told to lay off the spicy things. I think this time I'll listen.

It's Muscle, Right?

It's Sunday again which means time to climb onto the scale -- the judge and jury of my journey. I had my winning argument and supporting evidence. Another week of relatively healthy food choices except for the evil temptation of the Nutella that one day. Another week of crunches, push ups (have I mentioned how much I hate them?), and 40 minute dance routines to the fabulousness that is Dance Dance Revolution -- of which I did it everyday except for yesterday. I flew a kite on the beach instead, well tried to anyway, which was more of a workout than if it'd actually flown.

I was ready for the verdict. At least I thought I was.

I gained 2lbs. TWO POUNDS!

How does that work? I horked down my weight in pizza the DAY before I weighed in last week and I lost 2.4lbs. I have an unfortunate mishap with Nutella in the beginning of the week and I gain 2 of them back. I'm, needless to say, irritated.

I'm proud to say that even though the urge to just say, "Eff it," (bleeped tastefully for Blogging but thought in all it's vulgar glory) and eat the entire bag of Milky Way bunnies I got for 3ft's Easter basket chased by the biggest greasiest, cheesiest, baconiest burger on the planet, onion rings, and a chocolate shake, I didn't.

Instead I had Cream of Wheat for breakfast, a Turkey Wrap for lunch, edamame, carrot sticks, and raw mushrooms for a snack, and we're having a healthier version of shrimp tacos for dinner.

Because after all I'm banking on the fact that I gained muscle and not weight. I mean, it's got to be muscles, right? (looking desperately for confirmation :D )

A Beach Trip = A Workout?

Today the hubs and I took 3ft and the Tyrant (my two-month-old) to the beach. We decided it'd be fun to go play in the sand, watch 3ft play in the waves, and fly a kite.

First there was "The Hill". It was steep and long and the only way down to the beach. Fine, we tackled that with all our beach gear (which was a lot -- for those of you who have taken an infant anywhere can attest to that). Then there's the sand. Walking in sand is hard work. especially when it's deep, dry, and you sink into it. And naturally we didn't want to take a strip of sand in front of "The Hill" because horses and people were coming and going all day, so we walked a ways before setting up camp. Play in the sand -- check.

And naturally we didn't set up camp near the water so it was a trek to the waves. At which point 3ft didn't pay close enough attention and fell, getting completely soaked from his jeans to his sweatshirt (thank goodness I had the forethought to bring a change of clothes). Play in the waves -- check.

Then it was time to fly the kite. I have never flown a kite before. I don't have a technique, I don't know any tricks of the trade, I hadn't a clue at what I was doing. So I did a lot of freaking running on the sand trying to launch that puppy. I even climbed the side of a cliff to have a higher launch point while someone else ran. No go. That albatross refused, REFUSED, to stay afloat. Flying the kite -- well, not from the lack of trying.

Then there was always the "things we forgot to bring down from the car". That was how the hill became "The Hill". I don't know how many times I went up and down that sucker.

Wait. No.

First I had to do the long trek across the sand THEN I had to tackle "The Hill". Let me just say 3ft is the KING of forgetting things in the car.

Before we left this morning I told my husband I was going to have to workout when we got home since I didn't have a chance this morning before we left. Ha. Ha. Ha. I never thought a beach trip would be a workout.

I was wrong.

Healthy Eating via Fast Food

Fridays seem to be the bane of my existence when it comes to healthy eating. It's the only day I keep the car and that means I have to drive my husband to and from work. We leave so early in the morning (he has a commute and there is always heinous traffic) that 3ft (my five-year-old) is starving by the time we drop Daddy off so we have to pick up something to eat.

3ft has an addiction. We're not proud of it and someday he'll have to go to rehab. He loves Loves LOVES the Cinnamon Melt from Mc Donalds.

So...

Every Friday morning we go to Mc Donalds so he can have one for breakfast. That's isn't so much the problem as I don't have time to eat before taking my husband to work either and I'm hungry. Mc Donalds has a LOT of healthier choices for lunch/dinner -- ie salads and grilled chicken sandwiches -- but for breakfast it's pretty much eggs, meat, cheese, and grease. The Egg McMuffin (the one with ham) has the least amount of calories sitting at 300. Three Hundred! For ONE little sandwich. Ridiculous I tell you, but that's what I get and that's ALL that I get. Then I slowly eat my lowly sandwich and watch 3ft dig into his Cinnamon Melt. To date I haven't eaten any of his. So that's something at least.

We're home for lunch so that's not a problem.

Then dinner. We have to pick up Daddy which falls during dinner time so we end up not eating and we're all hungry once we pick up my husband. 3ft is too hungry to be patient and well behaved at a "sit down" place, aka restaurant, so where do we end up?

Yep you guessed it. Fast food again.

So, I get the pleasure of scouring menus and nutritional charts looking for something halfway healthy to eat. Which isn't always the easiest thing to do when your boys (who are completely blessed with fast metabolisms and in no way need to watch what they eat ever) want Weinershnitzle or pizza or some other equally fast food that doesn't really offer healthy alternatives. I make do, though. I usually get something small and when I get home hit some of my healthier snacks if I'm still hungry.

But truth be told, I usually whine when they want that and tell them I can't eat anything at their choice so we end up at Mickey D's again because 3ft loves their cheeseburgers ( I think they lace their food with kid crack) and their salads are pretty good and not that bad for you either.

Recipe Thursday - Pseudo-Fried Chicken Strips

So I thought I'd start something new on Thursday's on here and toss up one of the healthy recipes that I think up once a week -- that is until I run out of them.

This week is: Pseudo-Fried Chicken Strips

Ingredients
1 cup cornflakes
2 chicken breast halves
and whatever seasonings you feel like

Directions -- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1.) Place chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound the hell out of them. I used the side of a corn can because I don't have any fancy mallets in my kitchen (my husband won't let me have one -- afraid I'm going to pound him I guess. Which means he knows me).
2.) Crush the cornflakes to smithereens. I put the corn flakes in a gallon sized ziplock bag, sucked the air out, and then rolled the same can of corn over them until they were crushed into tiny pieces.
3.) Mix in your favorite spices into the ziplock with the cornflakes to taste. I like to use garlic powder, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, rosemary, sage, and when I feel like a little spice, chili powder or cayenne pepper.
4.) Cut the chicken into strips and put into the ziplock bag. Shake your money maker and coat the chicken in the spices and cornflakes.
5.) Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes or until done.

The recipe is extremely easy and takes about a half hour from start prep to eat. Which is nice when you didn't have a lot of time to cook. It passes the picky eaters test as Both my extremely picky eaters eat this recipe with smiles on their faces.

My favorite thing to do with the chicken strips is to chop them up and toss them with romaine lettuce and have a crispy chicken salad like you can get at a restaurant.

It turned out great tonight!

And Another Revelation Was Made....

So this must be the week of me having epiphanies because I noticed something else about my eating habits that was profound today. The volume of food I eat serving a meal "family style" vs. "restaurant style".

I made a big pot of spaghetti (because really, can you make a small pot?) and set it in the center of the table, set the table with empty plates, and everyone dug in. I had a smallish portion and a salad. Finished that and went back for seconds on the spaghetti. Was I hungry? Probably not. It was there, it tasted good, and I told myself I'd only had a little the first time.

vs.

Today I had leftover terriyaki steak, brown rice (there's a funny anecdote never having cooked any kind but instant), and broccoli. I made a plate, nuked it, and dug in. When it was gone. I was done. It was the same amount of food as the first serving of spaghetti the night before. I could've heated up more and made another plate, but I didn't.

Is it the effort involved of heating up more food that deters me? Or is it that it's not sitting right in front of my face beckoning me to have "just a little more"? I'm thinking it's probably a little of the first one -- who wants to go through all the effort of getting another plate ready, having to get back into all the left over containers, and then having to wait for it to heat up. And a whole lot of the second one -- it's right there, looking at me, whispering promises of how delicious it is and I'm looking at it, believing.

So from now on food that isn't leftovers will be served "buffet style" at my house. The food will be left on the counters (far, far away from the table) and we will dish up from there and take it back to the table. And it will not be an excuse to have all-you-can-eat. One trip through the conga food line is all I get.

The Sins of the Mothers

So I discovered something interesting today that I believe is a contributer to my weight struggles. A small habit really, instilled during childhood, such a minuscule little tidbit that it flies low beneath the radar. And without even knowing it, I found myself continuing the cycle.

What is this habit of which I speak?

"Finish your food."

"Clean your plate."

"You're being wasteful."

"You can't be excused from the table until you finish."

Sound familiar? The "don't throw food away because it's wasteful so therefore you force yourself to eat it" habit. Even if you're full you still eat it.

3ft and I were eating lunch today. He was having chicken nuggets and I was having a turkey sandwich. He'd only eaten one nugget and drank his milk when he announced he was full. I started telling him how wasteful it was to not finish his food and that he should eat more when I stopped myself. Full is full. One nugget or four if you're done eating, you should stop.

I let him excuse himself from the table and stared at his plate. The urge to eat it myself was overwhelming. Not because I was hungry. I wasn't. I'd finished my lunch and was satisfied. But the idea of throwing away the food was almost painful to me. I then started thinking of how many meals I had finished for 3ft to avoid throwing food away.

More than I want to admit.

This was it. No more. I would break the cycle.

My solution:

I didn't throw the food away. I couldn't. I put it on the counter with plastic wrap over it and waited. Sure enough around 2pm, 3ft announced he was hungry. Instead of getting a snack I told him he had to eat his lunch. He ended up eating 2 1/2 more nuggets and then announced he was full again.

Now a half nugget I could throw away. And did.

Nutella equals the devil.

Ack!

Can you ever just have one tablespoon full?

Not me.

Should I have backed away from the jar and it's delicious promises?

Definitely.

At 100 calories a tablespoon and half of that is fat, I dipped a banana in it at snack time at least 4 tablespoons worth but who's counting? I slathered that banana in hazelnut chocolatey goodness and devoured it. Easily 400 calories.. easily.

I was doing so well today too. Ate my standard breakfast (haven't gotten bored of it yet) and then had a turkey sandwich, carrot sticks w/ non fat ranch dip, and the greatest chip creation on the planet -- The PoPchip. Totally healthy for you (as chips go) and taste really good too (which is a plus).

And then 3:30 *cue horror music here*

I was like Jaws. I couldn't be stopped. Where was Roy Scheider when you need him? (you know, the guy from the Jaws movies -- the one that actually kills the shark. My attempt at being witty. Moving on.)

Now before my new healthy outlook on weight loss, I would have called it a day after a blunder like that and just stuffed my face with whatever I wanted while making empty promises to myself that I would start "for real" this time the next day. But, today I didn't. For dinner I had two shrimp soft tacos and that was it. I also worked out, did 150 crunches, 20 push ups (have I mentioned how much I hate those freaking things), and a lot of stretching.

Sometimes into every lifestyle change a little Nutella must fall. Savor it and move on.

Drum Roll Please....

In the wake of the "Pizza Incident" I almost didn't hop on the scale this morning.

Almost.

But I couldn't resist it's siren call so I pulled it out from behind the fridge (I don't have the closet space to bury it behind the Christmas decorations anymore), blew off the lint bunnies, and prepared myself for the possibility that it'd read the same number as last week. I gingerly stepped on, thought light thoughts, tried to block the "Pizza Incident" out of my mind on the off chance I'd gain weight just thinking about it, and climbed on with my eyes closed.

Then for the moment of truth. I opened my eyes, looked down and WHOOPED!!! Even after the dreaded "Pizza Incident" I'd managed to lose 2.4 lbs. Hooray!!! I hopped off the scale, did a booty shake, and ran to my husband to brag about my accomplishment. He was pleased -- clearly thinks I'm crazy but he was pleased.

This morning I made Belgium waffles for my five-year-old. I'd originally planned on diving into a waffle and instead of swimming in the syrup, I would top it with fresh strawberries and light whipped cream. So I'd planned on being sorta good (do you know how many calories are in ONE Bisquick Belgium Waffle? It's ridiculous) but because I'd actually had positive results from the previous week I opted for my multi-grain english muffin with light peanut butter and a banana for breakfast instead.

I mean after all I'd just survived the "Pizza Incident" there was no need to have a "Waffle Incident" the next day.

Day 6 and counting...

I have one question: How is it harder to get back on the wagon than it was to get on it originally?

I have always found this to be the case -- no matter what fad diet I've tried (and believe me there have been a few) the first time around I do splendidly until the ultimate spectacular crash into old habits and then when I pull myself out of the chuckwagon it is nigh impossible to do as again. Now, I'm not doing some crazy fad diet this time around (having learned my lesson that they DO NOT WORK), I'm doing a "sensible eating I can live with and exercise at least 3 days a week" (to start) plan and yet I'm struggling more this time around than I did previously.

Case and point. I took the kids to see my mom and dad today. Mom had 2 free coupons to go to an all-you-can eat pizza joint that's kind of like a Chuck E. Cheese but not. How could I tell my mom, "No, Mom, Don't take 5 of us out to lunch for 13 dollars -- go somewhere that'll cost 50." So I figure, that's okay, there's a salad bar, I'll eat a bunch of salad and like one slice of pizza and do fine. After all, I was able to do it before.

That was before. Didn't happen that way today. I so completely and totally overate today!

I already have my justifications in place. A.) I was really hungry. I'd only had a 3/4 serving of Cream of Wheat for breakfast this morning at 7 with my five-year-old son we didn't go to lunch until 1:30. B.) When we got our food and sat down to eat, my two-month-old son decided to start screaming like someone was killing him and thus barring the way to me and food fulfillment happiness. So 45 minutes later when my mom had finished eating and took my crying infant so I could eat, I'd gone from really hungry to eat my young ravenous.

To put it in perspective: I had to have horked down my weight in pizza by the time I was done shoveling food into my mouth.

I'm not beating myself up too much about it. In the grand scheme of things it could've been worse. I could've eaten horribly all day (which I have been known to do in the past) and really, it's only one day. One day! I won't gain 50lbs and turn into Jabba the Hut. I might not have lost as much weight this week but really isn't the whole point of lifestyle change being able to live with it? And it's the guilt when you "fall off the wagon" that brings on the yo-yo starvation/binge eating downward spiral, so I say, "Hallelujah to the Pizza Incident" and move on, knowing it'll be a cold day in hell before I set foot into another buffet or at least the mid 70's.

Blowing the Dust Off of this Old Blog

I've had a busy year:

I moved to Utah.

Got pregnant.

Moved back to California.

Had the baby.

Gained 45lbs.

Fit into only two pairs of my pants (both pregnancy pants).

With all that being said, it's time to blow the dust off the scale and this blog and get back on the wagon! It's amazing how out of shape you get when you don't work at it everyday. Before I was doing 400+ crunches a day -- 200 in the morning and 200 at night -- and doing 100 push ups -- 50 in the morning and 50 at night (I hate push ups) and now I'm at a lowly 100 crunches and 10 push ups. However, the important thing is I'm back to doing them and plan on getting back to where I was before.

I'm a woman on a mission. In May, my husband and I are taking our two boys to Disneyland on a family vacation. There will be cameras there and photos taken and I'm assuming it'll be expected that I be in said photos. I want to be back in my "skinny" jeans by then which means I need to lose 3 pants sizes in two months (which is why I'm going to be the "crunching queen").

So, I'm again making the promise to exercise at least 30 minutes a day as well as do stretching, crunches, and the dreaded push ups. I promise to make healthier food choices but also to make it livable so I can stick with it. I promise to ignore the siren's call of fast food and drive past to eat at home something healthier than a Big Mac and Large Fries.

So far, so good. But then again it's only day 3.