12 Days!

The days are roaring by and my black pen is running low on ink as I madly cross items off my to-do list.  12 days until reconstructive surgery!

This past Saturday marked two years since I had my gastric sleeve surgery.  The last year was tough on me mentally.  The first year was full of excitement and a lot of weight loss (118lbs in one year).  Year two saw me lose just 12 more pounds and while it felt disheartening at times I did have a lot of challenges that I had to overcome.  In year two I was nearly to the point of being able to run for 5km straight.  And then I broke my ankle.  I suffered through an absolutely horrible sinus infection that went undiagnosed for weeks.  Those set backs kept me out of the gym and, at time, sitting rather miserably on my sofa.

But thanks to the support great friends and family I have been able to pull myself out of those funks and stay on track.  I have gotten much fitter in the last two years and have put on a lot of muscle.  Did you know I did an ab challenge that had me doing 120 situps, 200 crunches, 60 leg lifts, and a 2 minute plank?  I did it all!  I am doing well. 

Eating will always be a challenge for me.  There really isn't a day that goes by where I don't want to fill my face with food instead of feeling emotion.  But I am learning to work my way through those emotions, talk them out, exercise them out.... whatever it takes!

We are taking the boys to Whitehorse for the weekend to have some fun family time before Matt and I leave them for three weeks.  My mother is driving up from Dawson Creek to watch them while we are down in Beverly Hills.  So this weekend we are taking them bowling, swimming, and out to the movies.  I am pretty excited to have this fun time with them since I will be pretty laid up when I get back here after surgery.

I shared a photo this week on facebook and I talked a bit about body shape.  I know that I will never be a size two.  I am built just like my mama, my grandma, my granny who has passed, my aunties...  We are all well endowed from the waist down!  We all come with junk, upon junk in our trunks!  But I am sure that once the excess skin is off, I will really appreciate all of the curves that those wonderful ladies passed down to me.

Here I am at age 13 (nearly 14) with my mom and her mother.  I think I probably weigh less right now than I did in that photo.

Two years post surgery and down 130lbs.

Two years post surgery and 130lbs down.

Feeling pretty darn good about myself! 

Sometimes I clean up well. 

20 days

I booked this surgery back in the spring and the date has creeped up on me.  Well, it has felt as though it has taken forever to get here, but as I get closer to leaving I feel like I don't have enough time to get ready!

While I am excited for this huge change, I am also an anxious wreck.  Anxiety nearly gets the best of me on a good day (I am a wee bit of a control freak) and with so many unknowns regarding surgery, it is taking a toll on me.  I don't know how my recovery will be, no clue on how well I will heal, or what the heck will I even look like when it is all done??!!

Prior to weight loss surgery, I would have dealt with my anxiety by eating and hiding from the world.  Now, I just turn more into a control freak and try and keep myself as busy as possible (until 7pm when I don't leave the comfort of sofa).  All of my food is logged with precision, lists are made (I have three on the go currently), and if stuff isn't in its place I just may wig out a little.  I think Matt may be researching "easy ways to dispose of a body" whenever he uses the computer.

Just twenty days until a crap load of excess skin is cleavered off my body.  Exciting, but scary as shit too.

Making Protein Snacks

This evening I hid in the kitchen while the guys were all outside having some play time.  There were a few new recipes for protein/energy bars that I wanted to try.  With Matt having a gluten allergy and me trying to get in enough protein, it is nice to have a homemade snack that we can both enjoy.

I tried these three recipes and only tweaked each a little bit, mainly just to up the protein content:

Pecan Pumpkin Bites- I added two scoops of vanilla protein powder (20g of protein per scoop) and I didn't have almond milk, so I used Silk Coconut Milk and I doubled it.  With my tweaks and cutting it into 16 portions, these are 194 calories a serving and 6g of protein.

Apricot Coconut Energy Bars- Again, I added two scoops of vanilla protein powder (20g of protein per scoop).  To make it bind together a bit better with the extra powder, I added 2tbsp of Silk Coconut Milk.  Also 16 portions and 158 calories per serving with 6g of protein.

Almond Joy Raw Bars- Here I put in 3 scoops of protein powder (half vanilla and half chocolate) and I cut out the chocolate from the recipe.  Adding 2tbsp of Silk Coconut Milk help bind it together too.  16 portions with 136 calories per serving and 6g of protein.

These are not the best use of calories for me since the protein count isn't that high, but they are a nice treat.  Next time I would use a different protein powder that is higher in protein per scoop.  Tonight I was just using up a couple of bags I had left in the cupboard.

I love my new food processor!  Snack making made easy.

Pumpkin on the left, Almond Joy in the middle, and Apricot Coconut on the right.  Heading to the freezer so I can cut them up into their portions later.

Growing Boys

No wonder we get asked if they are twins!

Silliness with good friends.

New batman toques!

Storm Troopers invade Faro!

SNOW!