This Day is Over... New Day Tomorrow.

This is not WLS related.... so if you want to stop reading I'd be okay with that.

I came home from the Chiropractor's office this morning wanting to take my son to feed the ducks and have a family picnic. When I got home, my husband poo-pooed on my picnic idea and then he got a work call.... which took forever. While we (my son and I) were waiting for him to get done with his work call (his is on call this week) it started raining really hard with thunder and lighting. Yep... we didn't make it to feed the ducks and I'm in a bad mood.

10 Things Thursday

1. I got an email yesterday from the surgery center and they have sent all of my paperwork to my insurance for approval!!!!!!!! I'm hoping for a quick turn around with a yes!

2. I'm really tired, I should have left my CPAP mask on all night.

3. Bring your kids to work day is going pretty smooth. My 1 year old is at Grandma's like every other work day.

4. I'm looking for a P&C Underwriting job (I have no P&C experience, but i have 3.5 years of Flood Underwrting experience and I want to move into another industry) or a job were I can work from home.... any leads?????

5. I ate a doughnut today, just one.

6. I have 26 followers!!!!

7. I watched part of a show called Extreme Cheapskates on TLC and they were taping a lady in Kansas City, MO and she went to this store called Dirty Dons..... For those of you that don't know it's a grocery salvage store and they have some other non-food items like Huggie Diapers for cheap!!  Like 88% of the food there is expired, some of it is soon to be expired (I'm ok with soon to be). They have refrigerated and frozen  items, which I wont do it they are expired and canned goods and dry goods. It is not for the weak and the place is dirty and not very organized. Everything is basically on an opened palate. So the lady purchased pasta sauce that had been expired since 2009 and cheese there and than took her kids to scavenge for salad greens at a local park and she feed the diner to children that she was babysitting. I would not be a happy camper if I found out that my child was eating  weeds from a public park, who knows what the city puts on the ground. There was also someone else on there that reused paper towel by washing them and hanging them to dry.  I'm all about a bargain, but I'm not going to reuse paper towels!

8. I need motivational ideas to help me work out. I hate working out, but I'm fine once I get started. I'm looking for something to work towards, maybe a 5K or something. Any ideas?

9. I child was being really cute last night.  He was behind the couch chasing (crawling) after one of our cats, and he kept saying kiddy and than some long string of baby babble. This went on for 5 minutes or so.

10. I have cramps! Thank you TOM and I may need chocolate.

WTF Wednesday....

My first  WTF Wednesday.... from Drazil

This WTF started yesterday...  I was informed by another office that I'm in charge of  Bring your Kids to Work day in my office and it's tomorrow. They send me a packet of "activities" to copy for the kids that will be here. I email the person back and ask how many people are bringing there kids to work in my office. I was then informed that I'm suppose to know and that I should have sent out the email.... last week! (I must be Physic) So I get a copy of the email that went out to the main office and I send out an email to my office..... and then spend 4 hours answering the same questions. Why are there 2 tome sessions to sign up for if there are no activities? So my kid can only be here for 4 hours? How am I suppose to pick them up/take them home? So since I'm in charge in my office, I just tell them what I was told. Your kids can be here the whole day as long as  you are watching them. So they are all going to be here for the whole day. I start to look at the "activity" packets and they are not related to anything that my office does. They are coloring sheets, word finds, mazes, etc, busy work. Why would parents pull their kids out of school to do busy work at the office? So I found some work related themed kid activities online and am trying to find people that would be willing to be interviewed by the kids about their jobs. I want them to learn about what we do, what their parents do at work, and have the opportunity to learn about another job function.

On going Husband WTF...... My husband will not get out of bed in the morning and is always late to work. This is an issue for a few reasons: 1. We car pull. 2. We have to drop our son off at my parents. 3. Traffic.... and 27 miles turns into an hour! 4. A few months ago I  moved my start time from 8 am to 8:30 because my husband was making me late.... and than I was early and he was still late (he has to be there at 8 am, now I'm starting to be late again. 5. We need his paycheck.

My husband's boss likes to have a meeting at 8:30 am every day. If my husband is dropping me off at 8:30, he still has to drive 5 miles down the road to get to his office (don't be fooled, it take approx 20 mins to get to his office from mine!), so he is walking in after the meeting. His boss emailed him today and said that he needs to make it to the meetings. So my husband texted me and asked me how I was going to make this happen? Really??? WTF.... maybe I'll push him out of bed!

WTF?? Why am I still hungry?

Green Monster Protein Shake!

I wasn't driving the car!!

Every morning we (my husband and I) start our day with Green Monster Protein Shake.  You can go Here to learn about the Green Monster Movement and find more recipes.

My Green Monster has per a serving 3/4 cup of milk, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder, about a cup of fresh spinach, about a cup of frozen fruit (we use a mix from Sam's that has strawberries, peaches, mango, and pineapple. I also make a Pink Monster version using tart red cherries instead of the mix) and blend it all up. Depending on the fruit and protein, there are about 18g of active carbs and 28g of protein.

You cannot taste the spinach (I promise), it just turns the shake greenish. My picky eater husband even likes it. I find that it's an easy way to get an extra serving of green veggies in. I also feel more alert and energized on the days that I have one of these shakes.

We go through about a pound of fresh spinach a week and I buy it in bulk at Sam's for $3. You can also stick the fresh (already clean and dry) spinach in the freezer and it keeps longer. It also turns into cool little frozen leaves!

Product Review- Quest Protein Bars Chocolate Brownie and Strawberry Cheesecake

Chocolate Brownie- Only 5 Carbs! 170 cal and 20 g of protein.

I have been looking for a good Chocolate protein bar, but this one isn't going to work out. Ok, the taste isn't too bad, my friend to me that she thought it tasted like a Weight Watchers Brownie that was in the freezer too long. I felt that it was dry and most likely to dry for someone who has Lap Band to eat.

You can kind of tell that it's dry. It's pretty flaky. Really other than needing 20oz of water to help swallow it down it wasn't too bad. I'm giving this on a 4 out of 10 (10 is best), because it's not band friendly.

Strawberry Cheesecake- There are 2 active carbs! 160 cal, and 20g of protein. Unlike the Chocolate Brownie, this one is really moist and it has dried pieces of strawberries and almonds mixed in. It's really good and because it's part of the All Natural line, there is no weird fake strawberry taste.  I'm giving this one a 8 of 10 (10 is best) and I'm going to order more of this flavor.

                                         

Blog Bullet Style and 5 followers!!

Lots to get off my chest today.

• I got my Quest Protein Bar order in the mail and I have been trying every flavor. I'm going to post my opinion of each bar separately. I did not get a free sample with the "SAMPLE" code, but I did get free shipping, so not too shabby. I did have an issue with one of the bars. I will elaborate more later, but I have to call the company first. 
• I picked up my CPAP machine last night. I had the same mask that I liked during my 2nd sleep study. I think I slept better, but I have a cold, so feel like poo warmed over today.
• I stayed home from work today, because I feel icky. It sucks to have to use my PTO because I'm sick and not for my surgery.
• I'm still waiting on all of my evaluations to be sent to the surgery center. I tried to fax a copy of my sleep study to them and I kept getting an error! I ended up calling my case manager and getting an email address.
• The Shrink-E-Dink and the Dietician will not email me copies of my evaluations.... Lame, faxing and mailing are not more secure methods of sending private information.  

SO I'm still waiting, but I'm thinking I'mm have my surgery end of June or beginning of July. 

I also want to thank all of my followers, all 5 of you!! Your all awesome. I have been reading Steph's blog http://www.dreamsofskinnyhighheels.com/ for the last week from the beginning and I'm almost caught up! I did cheat and look at her most recent blog about the bride who is using a feeding tube to lose weight (gross, just buy the dress the right size to start with).

I have a lot more to talk about, but I'll save it for later.

Last Visit to the Dietitian

I had my last visit with the Dietitian yesterday. I have lost 3lbs since I first saw her a month ago. I told her that I just switched my birth control this week to a different type and have been feeling a little bloated. Also I have been hungry. Not head hungry, hungry, hungry. I've been testing myself to make sure that I'm really hungry. When I feel hungry, I eat a small snack like celery sticks and a serving of Laughing Cow Spreadable Cheese. I eat really slowly and than I wait twenty minutes to determine if I'm still hungry. Most of the time I"m still hungry. Anyway, she suggested that take 400 mcg of Chromium 2 times a day, one with breakfast and the other with dinner and that is supposed to help with the hunger and carb cravings. So I'll pick some up tomorrow and see what happens.

So now I'm waiting on the Shrink-E-Dink's report and the Dietitian's report to be completed and faxed over to the surgery center. I was told a few days on one and a week and a half on the other. I'm still waiting for a call form my PCP's office so I can get a copy of the packet that the sent the surgery center (just in case).

Product Review- Pure Protein Chewy Chocolate Chip

I bought some of these bars on sale for $1.00 each. I thought that I would try them since they were on sale and I was still waiting on my Quest Bars.

I really like the Pure Protein Plus Vanilla drink mix (you can only find it a Sam's), so I thought that there bars might be as good as their drink.

Pure Protein Chewy Chocolate Chip - there is a layer of chocolate over the Chocolate Chip bar. Both the texture and taste of the Chocolate Chip filling reminds me of eating raw cookie dough. Yummy!! On a 1-10 scale with 10 being the best, it's a 9. There was no bitter after taste, no chalky flavor.... just  Chocolate Chip goodness.


200 Calories, 20g of Protein, and about 11g of countable Carbs. I feel that the Carb count is still on the high side, but better than some of the options out there and you can find coupons and sales to bring the price down on these.

Cheater, Cheater, Pizza Eater

Yep, I ate pizza, 3 slices. I actually feel better. I had the horrible headache and I was super irritable. Maybe I have been going through carb withdrawals. Don't know. I'm so ready to have some extra help controlling my hunger. Anyway, I'm not scrapping my diet, I just needed a moment, a carb moment. 

Sick Child and Low Carb Diets

This week my 1 year old has been sick. He ran a fever between 101-104.5 from Monday to Friday and the Dr told us it was just a virus and there really wasn't anything that he could do. Aside from having a high fever, his eyelids were swollen and he was clingy, but he was still playful. On Friday the fever broke and it was replaced by a rash. My child has Roseola and it was contagious when he had the fever. Since I didn't have it when I was little I could get it, but we wont know until next week. Ugggh!

This week I have been following the Dietician's "low carb diet."  I'm to have no more than 30g of carb each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and 15g for 2 snacks, that's a total of 120g. I have been keeping a journal and have been eating between 60g and 105g a day and I'm hungry. I need to be able to eat more smaller meals throughout the day. Now my husband has been doing the same diet and not eating as much as me and he's not hungry. He also lost 8lbs in 3 days, I only lost 3lbs in 3 days. Did I mention, he cheated 2 times this week!

I also meet with the Shrink-E-Dink this week. This was not too eventful, I'm not crazy or depressed (yeah!). He said he would have my report done in a week in a half. 

Still to do.....
Last meeting with the Dietician tomorrow!!!! So within 2 weeks everything should be sent off to my insurance.

On a side note, I was reading Poke Me with a Fork Im Done's blog and she was going to go to Dr Malley for the surgery too and than decided that she didn't like feeling like she was part of a cattle call. So, she decided to go to a different surgeon. I kind of felt like I was part of a cattle call when I had my consultation and I've been having trouble getting the insurance person that is handling my case to call me back. My father had his lap band done with Dr Malley and he didn't seem to have any issues. Ugggh, again!

Product Review- Quest Protein Bars Coconut Cashew and Vanilla Almond Crunch

I have seen a lot of WLS peeps blog about Quest Protein Bars and now it's my turn.  I first read about them on  Shelly's blog The World According to Eggface and then I went to their website Quest Nutrition and learned that there are a few stores that sell them Vitamin Shoppe and certain GNC stores. I found 2 flavors to try at the Vitamin Shoppe Coconut Cashew and Vanilla Almond Crunch by my work and the cashier said that they only carry 4 of the flavors and cannot keep them on the shelves. He wanted to know why they were soooo popular.  I told him that I had read about them on a few blogs and they are suppose to taste very good and they have 20g of protein and only 4-6g of non-fiber carbs! They had only 1 of the Coconut Cashew and 4 of the Vanilla Almond Crunch left.

Coconut Cashew

This bar gets an 7.5 out of 10 from me. I thought is tasted like a coconut macaroon with crunchy pieces of cashews. The texture is kind of like cookies dough. There are 2 active carbs! 20g of protein and 170 calories.

Vanilla Almond Crunch


My Husband and I both tried this one several times and we both give it a 6 out of ten. The texture is also like cookie dough and there are crunchy pieces of almonds in it. It's just ok. The vanilla part is a little sweeter than I prefer, but not chalky like some protein items.  There are 4 active carbs, 20 grams of protein, and 200 calories.

I have placed an order on Quest's website to get a variety box and some singles to try. The single bars are $2.39 a piece (they were $2.49 + tax at the store) and $24 for a box of 12. Right now there is a coupon code that will give you free shipping and a sample bar. Just use SAMPLE in the coupon code box at the end of your transaction.

Product Review- Seapoint Farms Dry Roasted Edamame

These were soooooo good! Edamame is a soy bean picked at the peak of ripening and it is considered a green vegetable. I bought a GoPicnic box from Hyvee and these were in it! They taste like a cross between a peanut and a sunflower seed, but they have the crunchiness of a peanut.

See there are only 2g of carbs! 14g of Protein and for those of you counting calories, there are 130.

Go to Seapoint Farms website to locate a store near you!

Sleep Study #2 and Followers!!!

Friday- I had my last appointment with my PCP. It went well. I have been holding study at 272. My blood pressure has come down a bit, but I'm still borderline high.

Saturday- I had the 2nd part of my sleep study for my Sleep Apnea. This is when they determine what pressure the machine should be on. I was able to breathe through my nose this time (I couldn't breathe through my nose last time, because I was congested). I found a cool gel nose mask that I barely noticed on my face. The only issue I had was my nose was hot, so I was hot. Turns out it's a setting on the humidifier on the machine and the tech was able to turn it off for me. Now I wait for the machine to be ordered. It kind of seems silly, because in a few months I may have lost enough weight to not need the machine.

The sleep study was done in the Marriott, so we had access to the pool and my husband and 1 year old son got to play in the pool. I didn't swim (my TOM), but I sat on the side and dipped my legs in and took care of my son when he was done being pulled around in the pool.

Today, I noticed that I had 2 followers and comments!!! I'm so excited!!! I haven't told anyone that I have a blog, so it's nice to know that someone has found my blog and read it!

Still to do.....

See the Shrink-e-dink and the last visit to the Dietician.

Post product reviews.... with photos!