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Two Days After Banding

Well, here I am, back in my own little home office. Things didn't go quite as I envisioned them, but I'm pleased to say I'm very happy with the results.   I went in hungry and darn near whimpering with a growling belly. I came out with no wish to eat at all. None. Zip. Nada. I have to force myself to look at bouillion, Jello, and popsicles. :thumbup: They kind of turn me off. Whether that's from eating them for nearly a week, or lack of appetite, I can't say.   Conversely, food still smells great. My roomie Dante cooked one of my chicken recipes last night, and I supervised (more or less). I got a splash of the sauce on my thumb, licked it out of habit, and that was enough. I didn't want any more, just that taste. He did a decent job. I wandered out in the living room with another cup of tea, totally disinterested while my two men acted like starving wolves over a carcass. :thumbdown:   Admittedly, I tire easily. This is to be expected. I did just have abdominal surgery, after all. Long as I take my Gas-X to get rid of the lingering gas pains, I'll be fine. I feel a bit jet-propelled already, but my shoulder still hurts now and then. Best to stay on top of it.   Other than that, I need only Liquid Tylenol. Not bad at all. I'll keep you informed as I can.   Lena
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The Tension Eases Slightly

DH and I went to one of those "We Buy Houses" guys yesterday. While Patrick declined to touch our house, he did it for the right reason-- we don't need him right now.   Patrick assured us that the mortgage company will call eventually, and they will likely make a deal that will allow us to keep our home. It's just likely to take awhile. He said the sheer number of foreclosures happening dictates the mortgage companies are willing to work with anyone who'll talk to them despite the embarrassment. Besides that, the volume of foreclosures mean it can take more than a year to complete the process!   If Randy takes a year to find a job, then we may as well hang it up. We don't need much in the way of income. A mere $1600 a month would guarantee we could stay here and still eat.   Randy and I took a few hours to digest the information and numbers Patrick gave us and decided to take his advice. We relaxed and vowed to not be so hard on ourselves. Good thing, too. The coffee pot blew up last night. LOL!
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TimeSaver Mushy Recipe Part One- Basic Chicken Broth

Have you ever bought one of those already seasoned and ready to roast birds from the grocery store? Or better yet, one of the already roasted birds? I highly recommend starting this three-part series that way, depending on your personal confidence levels.   You absolutely could roast your own chicken, and for those willing to do so, please feel free. I did, but there's no shame in letting someone else do the work.   For the purposes of this series, it doesn't matter how you ended up with a "frame" of a chicken, meat removed and leftovers stored for future consumption. We'll use that lovely meat tomorrow.   Now, you could be wasteful and throw away that frame of bones, but you're foregoing a very tasty opportunity for two more meals from those bones and tattered remains. You see, those bones contain a very essential ingredient called collagen. It's a thickener for soups! You know it. You've seen that disgusting jelled substance on cooled plates just before you threw it out with the garbage. That was the collagen.   You have on that counter the ability to make your own "Condensed Cream of" soups for your recipes. Incidentally, you eliminate quite a bit of the excess carbs, calories, preservatives and sodium.   How do you know when you've cooked out all the collagen from the bones? They'll practically crumble when you try to break them. The fact that you can break a leg bone all by yourself is a clue you've gotten all the condensing collagen out. Remember, you can use the frame in place of the bony meat in the recipe. Here's the recipe:     Tomorrow, I'll post the recipe for using that chicken meat. It's mushy enough for Chicken Salad!   Remember! This is the basis for many recipes. Freeze it in about 10 ounce increments. You should end up with about 4 containers. Double the batch if you like, and add el cheapo chicken wings if you just need broth.   See you tomorrow!
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I Never Thought of This!

All total, I've lost about 50 pounds from last year at this time. I was happy and proud to wear a brand new gown I had to have for the Scottish Festival here locally. My old ones were either so huge as to look like tents or too hot for the Florida spring-like 80-degree temperatures.   Dante, Karen, JJ and I walked around all day from opening until late afternoon just before closing. I've never had the energy to walk, dance, and shop all day before. I'm still considered obese at a 39 BMI, but darned if I didn't feel wonderful!   That is, until my feet let me know that they weren't used to this kind of abuse. I expected them to hurt. After all, they're still carrying around a little more than 75 pounds more than they should.   What I didn't expect were blisters. OMG! I've got blisters in places I've not had blisters since childhood. I had dirty, blistered feet from all that fun I had. :smile: I can't remember the last time I exerted myself to the point where my feet were dirty and I had big blisters from my shoes rubbing through the stockings! That takes some serious abuse!   I'm proud of my blisters and sore feet. I'm grinning as I wear my flip-flops so my shoes don't rub those very tender spots on my toes and heels. I earned them by walking, shopping and dancing! Woohoo!   I'm also sunburned. I wore something that showed lots of shoulder and didn't have to be hustled into the shade or a cool building to recover when my heaving, fat, sweaty body couldn't bear the awesome job of walking around the merchant booths another moment.   I'll swallow the aspirin and rub aloe on my burns with joy today. I earned these blisters and burns in the best way possible.
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Country Pork Stew

Country Pork Stew   Serves 4 generous portions   Ingredients: 1 tsp olive oil 1-1/2 lbs pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1” cubes 1 cup chopped onion 4 cloves of garlic, pressed or equivalent from a jar 1 tsp. Dried sage Black Pepper, to taste ½ cup dry white wine (or ½ cup white grape juice combined with 1 T. cider vinegar) 1-3/4 cups low sodium chicken broth 2 T. tomato paste ¼ tsp. Ground allspice   Note: While these directions are given for an electric skillet, you can use a Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid. An electric skillet gives very even heat, and has a useful simmer setting, but not everyone has one.   Heat the olive oil in the electric skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork cubes and onion, sautéing until brown, about 4 minutes. Add remaining ingredients in the order given, stirring a moment before adding the next. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and walk away for one hour. It’s done when the pork is fork tender.   Nutrition: 284 calories 7 g fat 42g protein 7g carb 1g dietary fiber 111 mg cholesterol 380 mg sodium   Exchanges: 0 starch, 5.5 lean meat, 1 veg   Weight Watcher points: 6   Low Carb serving suggestion: Serve over either Cauli-Rice or any version of Faux-tay-Toes.   This recipe was adapted from a recipe provided by www.SavingDinner.com. Highly Recommended!!
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Mushies-- Italian Vegetable Soup

BG http://www.bhg.com/recipe/soups/italian-vegetable-soup/   I printed this one out for myself! However, I may omit the barley, because I do find my banded tummy doesn't care for starchy things.   Lena
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Low Carb vs Family

On one of the LapBandTalk forums, someone asked me if I really do count even the carbs in my coffee creamer and manage to stay under 30g a day. I do indeed count the creamer in my coffee. It kills me to limit my coffee, but switching to hot tea helps in the winter. I stopped taking Metamucil and switched to Miralax on my doctor's recommendation. I don't have to count the Miralax. Yes, keeping the carbs that low is very rough sometimes, especially during holidays and family celebrations. However, I can be forgiving of myself for the rare celebrational moment, as long as I'm reasonable. Sometimes it means getting inventive, other times it means depending on someone else to be "coach" and say, "Aunt Bea, we really appreciate what you did baking that birthday cake, but Lena's only allowed a sliver of cake. Anything more will cause a blockage and a hospital visit. Thank you." Really, it's outside influences that cause me the most distress. I actually have learned to love living low carb now that I no longer crave the carbs like I did at first. It's others who think they're being kind by offering me carbs despite my protests and refusals that make it difficult. "Oh, this little bit of mashed potato won't hurt you!" Yes, it will. That's the hard part-- getting them to understand what kind of damage one little serving of rice, pasta, bread, cakes or potato can do to us. I've actually had to make a paste of ground up cooked rice to prove how it can create a plug that will act like a cork on the LapBand. A bowl, a “little bit” of rice, and a just a few tablespoons of water all mashed with a fork prove my point very well. When I'm in control of what is on my plate, I love how my LapBand forces me to live a low carb life. The food is delicious and plentiful. Who knew real mayonnaise, real butter, and whipping cream were lower in carbs than the so-called diet foods? I challenged my daughter recently concerning learning to live low-carb. I told her that I can live with 30g or less of carbs every day and still eat things like Saigon Shrimp, Cauli-rice, Sausage and Egg Cups, hot dogs, bun-less hamburgers, pickles, salads, and even cheesecake without going over 30g of carbs a day. I told her to pick up her favorite soup, salad dressing, Special K cereal, and a steak-n-potato meal for dinner. She considers this a good healthy diet meal plan. Seems healthy, right? Her calories and carbs would have choked a healthy adult male. The soup alone had 60 carbs. I thought she’d faint over the number of carbs she put in her mouth every day, thinking she was dieting! The next time my daughter went to the grocery store, she did some comparison-shopping and came home sputtering with outrage. All those so-called “diet” foods were often higher in carbs, calories, and/or fat than the regular versions. My daughter was furious that she’d paid extra money for bad tasting “diet foods” only to find she’d have done better to get the better tasting real things. Then I gave her a one-day meal plan based on many things she already had on hand, such as eggs, tuna, cheddar cheese, and some ground beef. Instead of Special K cereal, she had a hearty breakfast of an egg and broccoli frittata with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese, for lunch a Caribbean Lime Tuna Salad wrapped in romaine leaves with a homemade tomato soup, and for dinner a “comfort food” special of Bacon and Cheddar Meatloaf with sides of canned green beans (with a bit of beef broth replacing the water they were canned in) and Faux-tay-toes using some frozen cauliflower she’d stuffed in the bottom of the freezer. Her husband was ecstatic. He plowed through his dinner like a man on a mission, according to my daughter. No one believed her that this all was her new diet food. Yes, she portioned out the servings for herself and kept to the carb count. Any lifelong dieter knows how to measure a serving! The big deal was, she wasn’t hungry! She prefers hot tea anyway, so she didn’t have to count the carbs in the creamer like I do, but she did have to switch to Splenda. Sure, she’s struggling. She doesn’t have the help of a LapBand, and her husband and kids squall when she gets rid of the breads, cakes, potatoes and rice. But She’s learning she can do without or substitute where she can. I have hope one day she’ll be able to join me in the low carb world. Nevertheless, for now she’s aware of how much she puts in her body and does her best. I wish all my friends and family would understand how they’re harming me whenever they offer me carbs.
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Suddenly Human

Dante and I were invited to go to a musical at the theatre the other night. Since I've lost well over 40 pounds already, and can wear my pretty evening clothes again, I was thrilled...and nervous.   I hadn't been in public much for the past several years, other than conventions where I was surrounded by other women similar to myself. Last time, I was nearly 300 pounds, brunette going gray, and in such poor health, I walked with a cane.   The other night I stepped out as an overweight but healthy blonde wearing a cool outfit, makeup, and had the ability to not just walk unaided, but step lively.   Imagine my surprise when, instead of being ignored or treated like an invalid, I was greeted and smiled at like a real person. Several folks complimented me on my clothes, hair, and jewelry. I was...suddenly human.   Weird. Hadn't I always been?
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Mock Mashed Potatoes, Deluxe and Turnip Versions

I've pasted the original recipe below for Mock Mashed Potatoes. I do a Deluxe version where I add softened cream cheese and give it a whirl in the food processor. I swear, it's so close to the mashed potatoes I serve at holiday time, I didn't miss the carb-loaded real thing.    
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Low Carb Recipes on Food.com

I signed up for the beta test, and I'm pleased so far. Yes, they need to work out some bugs, but it's not bad.   Here's what I got in my email:   Welcome to Food.com! Click this link to log in and get started: http://www.food.com. What exactly is Food.com? It's a handy little application that lets you search through recipes indexed from the best recipe sources on the web, and allows you to store the ones you like - all in one place.   What is the Beta about? This is a REAL Beta, which means you have access to Food.com while we are still actively debugging and developing the application. You can learn more about the features and fun stuff on Food.com in our FAQs. There is a link to the FAQs in the left hand side of the footer of the site. And if you find things that don't feel fully baked, let us know! Use the feedback links in the nav bar and the footer on the site, or simply email us at feedback@food.com..   We're thrilled to have you help us cook up something fantastic. Sincerely, The Food.com team
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Is Humiliation Part of the Treatment?

Just how much humiliation am I supposed to take? Today was a group session at the surgeon’s. You know what I learned? What an ass one of the surgeons is. That’s it. After the weigh in, in which I gained a whole half-pound, we had the usual and repetitive lecture on how important it is we shrink our livers. I was feeling pretty good about my weight, actually. I’d had a full bladder and heavy winter clothing on, but the scale said only half a pound. I could live with that. I knew also I’d had a few too many macadamia nuts over the past few days and vowed to cut them out. Finally, the surgeon appeared. He was as handsome as rumor had claimed. I had a hard time understanding his accent, since he was from South Africa. The Afrikaners I’ve known can seem to mumble a bit to our American ears. I’d had an Afrikaner teacher back in real estate school and I’d adored him, so I was prepared to like the surgeon, Dr. Cywes. How wrong I was. After introducing himself and matching faces to files, he immediately turned to me and asked me if I felt my life was busy. I warily answered, “Yes.” Then, without warning, he launched into what I can only call an attack, using me as the proverbial bad example of a patient who wasn’t on board with the program, addicted to carbs, and out of control. I was shocked and humiliated. I protested that I’d only gained half a pound. He thrust his finger at another member of the group. “She lost ten pounds.” He then went on with his lecture, now pointing out how I was defending myself and in total denial of my actions. For the next hour, I swallowed tears and humiliation while he pontificated as if he knew me, accusing me of eating all sorts of carbs, ignoring the diet, and –the crowning touch—comparing me to a drug addict in need of a twelve-step program. I was never so grateful when he finally ended his speech and swept out of the room like he could barely stand to be around us a moment longer. Baby, the feeling was mutual. Worse, I found out one of the other women in the room had gained a pound and a half. I can only surmise that my file was on top and therefore most convenient. All I can say right now is that I will make a special request that the other doctor is my surgeon. I barely responded when another one of his staff came in and told me my paperwork was complete and the packet would be on its way to Tricare tomorrow. She informed the whole group that surgical dates are now being filled for January, so we can plan for late January or perhaps early February. Lovely. Somehow, we must all remain on the liver reduction, low-carb diet through the entire holiday season. Are they insane? Why don’t I just move to a nice deserted island until January 1?
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Mushies-- Rules before Recipes

Several folks have asked me to post more mushie recipes. I'm cool with that, but let's get the rules straight. This is what my doc allowed, so you know where I'm coming from.   1. All of the foods from the clear liquids and full liquids stages. 2. Baked (not fried) fish, chicken, or turkey. No skins. Cut in very small pieces. 3. Lean ground beef finely crushed 4. Dried bans, peas, and lentils-- well cooked. 5. Canned or well-cooked vegetables 6. LOW carb! 30g total maximum carbs per day. No bread, pasta, potatoes, or rice allowed, ever. 7. Cottage cheese and non-processed cheeses are permitted, as long as daily carb maximum is not exceeded. 8. Salads-- egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, or turkey salad must be mixed well. Use low calorie mixes, if you must use commercial products. 9. Scrambled or boiled eggs. No fried eggs. 10. Stop drinking all liquids 10 minutes before meals and wait 30 minutes after meals. Leave your drink in another room so you aren't tempted.   Now look at all those lovely choices. Yum! I can hardly wait to share with you all the recipes.
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Day 16- Solid Foods Maybe-Maybe Not

Okay, so it's 3:30 AM and I have insomnia. Not because of anything band related, just life issues. You know, finances, family --the usual stresses.   Today, in theory, I'm supposed to start re-introducing full solids into my diet. I think I'm going to go verrrry slowly. Most meats still won't pass my stoma. Last night was the first time I got chicken past my stoma without it being chopped into ittty bitty bits. I can eat fish and scrambled eggs, but I'm leery of trying anything more solid in the way of proteins.   Veggies OTOH go down fairly well. I only yarked up rutabaga fries recently, and that wasn't so much of a surprise. Those things are a bit fibrous. Guess I'd better mash my rutabagas for another couple of weeks. I can deal with that.   My DH got a hard lesson in shopping with a bandster yesterday. He's been going to school on weekends for the past couple of months, so my roomie had the lesson first. DH discovered just how many "methyl-ethyl-bad-stuff" foods there are for a bandster in the grocery store. He'd bring a possible meal to me and I'd have to point out why I couldn't have it, like pasta in a stir fry mix. Finally, he got so frustrated he gave up and let me stroll around until I found the ingredients for the Chicken Diane recipe I'd had in mind all along. He pouts, but gets his starches on the side instead of in the main dish like I used to cook.   He says he's afraid of what I'll do to adapt many of our favorite recipes to my new lifestyle. He's right to be afraid, somewhat, but less than he thinks. I've already made some adaptions and he barely noticed or complimented me. (snicker, snicker)   Some adaptions he will notice, as soon as I'm sure I can have beef and pork. For instance, a family favorite around here is due for a severe makeover. Piggybank Pork Bake will no longer have cream of mushroom soup and egg noodles. I'll make my own mushroom sauce (Thank you Alton Brown)and the "noodles" will be zuchinni cut into long strips with a vegetable peeler or my V-slicer.   My pantry is ready! Fried pork rinds already replace bread crumbs, a spaghetti squash will be baked today for "spaghetti noodles" for a special dish, cauliflower has already been steamed for rice and potatoes, romaine lettuce is a yummy replacement for bread in sandwiches, and cream cheese awaits my many low-carb cheesecake recipes instead of pies and cakes.   As a last thought, I'm writing myself a note. After I allow a cheesecake to cool, cutting it up into the correct portions and freezing the portions I won't serve that night works very well. I've still got two Crustless Red Velvet Cheesecake portions left over from before New Year's in the freezer.   Back to bed!
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One Month Post-Op-- The Fill Appointment That Wasn't

This should more correctly be called: The Fill Appointment with no fill. That’s right, I didn’t get a fill. Since I’ve lost 8 lbs of pure body fat, I’m not hungry, and eating correctly, Dr. Baptista feels I’m one of the bandsters who walks out of the hospital already at or very near the “sweet spot” and may never need a fill. (Happy Dance!!) As long as I continue to lose 1-3 pounds a week, I may never need a fill, but if I do he’ll be monitoring me and will let me know! Now for the semi-sorta-bad news. When he did my surgery, he found two hernias. The hiatal hernia, he corrected as he commonly does. However, there was a hernia lower he cannot repair at this time. I must reach at or near a normal BMI of 25 before that surgery has a hope of being successful, because it’s not far above my navel, where the overweight abdominal fat would possibly rip and tear his work. That’s fair, even if it means I have this weird lump in my abdomen for a year or two. After all, I have a minimum of 100 pounds to lose before I come close to my healthy weight range. Not like I’ll be in a bikini before then anyways.
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Mushies- Chicken and White Bean Stew

For BG http://www.bhg.com/recipe/chicken/chicken-and-white-bean-stew/   At BG's request, I went hunting a few soups and stews for mushies. For the next few days, I'll post links to my finds.   Remember, you can always strain out what you think your tummy can't handle.   Lena
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First Goal Down! 100 pounds to go

Hooray!! I stepped on the bathroom scales this morning and beheld a sight I've not had in years -- 249 lbs. First time I've been below 250 lbs since early in this decade, like 2002.   My next goal is ambitious. I'm going to try for 225 lbs by June. That's a little over 1.5 pounds per week for 16 weeks.   June is my birthday month, and my DH will be out of training before then. I'm hoping he'll earn at least as much or more than what he earned at his old job. We haven't been able to celebrate birthdays in recent years. I'd like to do so, even if it means going to the steakhouse and eating a teeny bit off DH's plate. (grin) That's celebration, just to go out.   I think I'll set my goals like this all the time. Every 3 months, I'll shoot for a reasonable goal that will keep me working toward that someday of looking like that picture in gold again. (sigh)
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The Bear I Made For Selena

For those who didn't see the blog, my assistant Selena had a teddy bear I'd made her. She gave away that bear to an autistic child going into the hospital.   Here is the replacement bear I'll send. I've named it, "A Pearl Beyond Price" because that's what Selena is, and not only to me.      
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Day 12 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Fridge

Tonight I cooked a meal I couldn't have: pork chops with an apricot sauce, despite the fact it's low carb. My healing isn't done, and even chicken still presents difficulties passing the stoma.   While my DH and roomie attacked the "normal" food, I hummed happily and turned to the fridge to find some mushies.   Then I stopped.   I was shocked to realize I wanted the veggies, but no meat. Was I nuts? Didn't I want a nice juicy slab of animal? Uh, no. Not really.   I pondered this while I pulled out the kale, rutabaga, and broccoli I'd cooked a couple of days ago, deliberately overcooking them to the correct "mushie" stage. Tsking over the limp and soggy state of the broccoli, I chose it first. Zapped in the microwave, that serving lasted me about the same amount of time as the guy's massive portions. (I'm really getting into this serving myself a la russe --one course at a time.)   The guys piled back into the kitchen and scooped great big second helpings while I daintily picked up the kale and warmed it in the microwave. Dante, my roomie, helped himself to a bit of the kale with me, but my carnivore husband disdained the veggies.   By the time I'd finished my "dessert" of mashed rutabaga with a bit of Splenda Brown, the guys were burping and patting their stomachs happily. (snicker) Yes, they're both "manly men." They show appreciation by acting like apes.   I'm still a bit surprised at myself four hours later. If I'd wanted protein, there's eggs, cottage cheese, tuna, and even some Spam. (It's a mushie meat that passes my stoma. Compared to chicken, it slides down easy.) I don't want it.   I'd better think about a protein drink or something.
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Mushie--Crock Posole

BG http://www.bhg.com/recipe/chicken/crock-posole/   Again, I caution those that may be sensitive to starchy food to try this recipe with care. Hominy is a starch.   If you don't know what hominy is, here's a wikipedia definition for you.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominy   I'm from the south and part-Cherokee, so I grew up eating hominy in many forms. If you can't find hominy, try using some leftover cooked whole kernel corn.   The carb count on this recipe is an acceptable (to me) 13g, but some folks can't handle the hominy. If you try this recipe before I report, please come here and let us know.
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Mushies- Chocolaty Velvet Ice Cream (Fattening)

Okay, here's the more fattening version. However, it doesn't require an ice cream machine, and it can be made using sugar free and fat free ingredients to reduce the carb impact. I found sugar freee chocolate chips at my grocery store, so I may make my own chocolate sauce using Splenda. We'll see how it goes. BTW, I'm allergic to nuts, so I'd appreciate someone telling me how the nuts taste in this one.   The original recipe has 382 calories and 32 carbs. I'll bet we can reduce it with a bit of effort.  
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Day 13 -- Where'd the Spiders Go?

Okay, another small non-scale triumph from shower time. I'd already noted my feet did not swell nearly so much lately, despite a lot of walking lately. I'd grinned and moved on. That was expected. The doc had promised, and it was true. Cool beans.   What I didn't expect was what I saw --or rather, didn't see-- when I dried my legs this morning after my shower. Where'd the spider veins go? My feet, ankles, and legs used to be covered in blue and red spider veins and varicose veins, as if my three-year-old granddaughter had colored me with her magic markers.   One particularly nasty set of both varicose and spider covered an area the size of two silver dollars on my right leg, on the inside calf. It's almost gone! Yes, there's a pale blue bruise, but nothing compared to the hideous mark I've worn for years. :smile:   Excited and curious, I replaced my right leg with my left on the toilet top where I'd been drying my legs. My left has been the bane of my existence for two years. Without warning, the ankle and foot would swell until I'd burst blood vessels on my instep. Even those are reduced in size and color! :cool2:   Holy moley! Can this all really be happening, or am I dreaming?
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Day 5 Post-Op-- The Treasure (?) in the Closet

I'm laughing at myself this morning. Last summer I made a pair of lounging pants, only to discover I'd gained more weight and couldn't fit into my new creation, with the lovely pale blue and sparkly stars. Disappointed and disheartened, I folded the pants and put them on the "after surgery" pile. :confused:   Today, I looked at my five remaining soft loose pants that are bagging off me and sighed. I'm so sick of those pants. A glint of pale blue and stars caught my eye. Hope shot through me. Dare I? I looked around like a kid stealing cookies. Why not? With trembling hands, I pulled out the lounging pants.   They were loose! OMG! They look like clown pants on me! :thumbup: Later, after I've worked a bit, I may just pull down that whole "after surgery" pile to see what other treasures await me. Some still won't fit. I've got sizes in there from 18-24, reflecting all my years of yo-yo dieting. Maybe...just maybe...   Lena
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Recipe (Mushie)-- Tuscany Bean Soup

Tuscany Bean Soup This delicious soup is thin, and therefore very good to start with when you're first allowed mushies. I could not find any canned beans labeled "cannellini" so I substituted great northern beans. I also use the minced garlic you buy in jars. It’s so much easier than trying to mince itty-bitty cloves. There’s also a reason they recommend low sodium chicken broth. You’ll want to salt this to your taste, not the manufacturer’s. Ingredients: 1 T. olive oil (EVOO not needed) ½ c. chopped onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 4-5 cups low sodium chicken broth 1 (16 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed 1 sprig fresh rosemary or ¼ tsp dried is fine. Salt and pepper to taste ½ tsp dried basil, or ½ cup torn fresh basil leaves if you have them ½ cup grated low fat Cheddar cheese Heat the oil in a medium to large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and stir about 5-10 minutes until golden. Add the garlic and stir for just a minute more. Your nose will tell you it’s fragrant and ready. Add 4 cups of the chicken broth, the beans, and the rosemary. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Keep the extra broth handy just in case the soup thickens a bit more than you like. Season the soup with the salt, pepper, and basil. Taste it to ensure you like the seasonings as often as you need. Serve topped with 1/8 cup of cheese for each of the four servings. For those past the mushie stage, I do suggest a bowl of spinach salad to round off the dish. For non-bandster family members, you can add whole grain rolls and butter. This is an altered version of a recipe I got from www.SavingDinner.com . I highly recommend joining this organized and efficient way of meal planning, since they have several meal plans including kosher, gluten free, heart healthy, low carb (including Weight Watcher points), etc. Every week’s meal plan even comes with a grocery list. Nutrition: 202 calories; 5g fat, 19g protein, 20g carbs, 5g fiber, 3 mg cholesterol, 991mg sodium. Points: 4.
voiceomt2002

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