Phoenix79

My lunch today- I'm pre sleeved. Steak salad with bolthouse yogurt blue cheese dressing using lettuce, spinach, chives and pansies from our garden. Hopefully someday I can say it's our cow the steak came from too! Eating local all the way!

I'm so happy you liked it! I'll have to pass the kudos on to my mom- it's her recipe.

Blushing now....

Just have to give kudos to my husband fiddleman who has been working out at crossfit for about 2 months or so now twice a week. He just came back from a workout and I touched his upper leg- it felt like it had no give in it whatsoever! I seriously couldn't believe his leg was that hard and had to keep touching it to be sure. He's got his college cycling legs back! Plus he getting nicely defined pecs- he's never had that! Crossfit really does get your body into shape and resculpted. :) . Happy wife! I can't wait to have my surgery and be able to do workouts like that!

Oh, dear Lord, I knew someone's mind would go there! Lol!

You're welcome! I hope someone can come back and tell me how it turns out!

Here's a recipe for Sesame chicken! I love it because it's Sooo tasty and yet healthy with lots of Protein. The chicken stays really moist and is great paired with lightly salted in the shell edamame. From a slightly modified Pintrest weight watchers recipe. 4 raw boneless skinless chicken breasts, 6 oz each 1/4 cup flour 1 tsp Kosher salt 1 tsp ground black pepper Sauce 2 Tbsp soy sauce 2 Tbsp maple syrup (you can sub brown sugar or the half brown sugar half Splenda stuff if you want) 2 Tbsp Water 2 Tbsp dry sherry 2 tsp fresh chopped ginger 2 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder ( easy to make your own mix- look online for a recipe) 2 Tbsp white sesame seeds 2 Tbsp peanut oil Combine sauce ingredients (soy sauce, maple syrup, water, sherry, sesame oil, ginger & five spice) in medium bowl and whisk thoroughly to meld flavors. Set aside. In a small pan, over medium heat gradually toast sesame seeds until they take on a light golden color. Take off heat and set aside. Preheat wide skillet on medium high on the stove with peanut oil added into pan when hot. Take your chicken breasts and cut them into about 1 inch chunks. Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish and use the mix to coat the chicken on all sides a few pieces at a time, shaking off excess flour, then place in preheated skillet Repeat until all chicken pieces are coated and added to hot pan. In a hurry? Try adding flour mix to gallon size ziplock bag and add chicken pieces. Seal bag, and shake until pieces are thoroughly coated, remove from bag and add to skillet- attempt to shake off excess flour off chicken on the way to the skillet. Brown the chicken on each side until golden brown (will smell like fried chicken!). Once all pieces are golden on multiple sides, add the sauce mixture (still on med high heat) and stir as sauce thickens- about 1-2 min. Add toasted sesame seeds and stir to coat chicken. Serve and enjoy! Will serve 4 pre sleeve folks, will make lots more for you post sleeve folks. Did someone say leftovers for lunch?

Gardening!! I love to cook and that used to be my first love but it has now taken a back seat to gardening- even while I'm pre- surgery! In fact, my mom even remarked how it was a good thing I loved gardening so much with my surgery coming up in June- I could transfer my food love to the garden and keep my hands busy. It's awesome for me but not so awesome for my pocketbook! Lol. I'm not so occupied with food anymore, first thing I do is take a walk around my garden and see what new things are blooming and I end up planting something, watering or weeding...and before I know it it's 11am and almost time for lunch, and I haven't had breakfast yet! Totally addicted! Sort of bummed that someone else will get to eat my strawberries & raspberries this year since I will still be on liquids & purée when they fruit. Oh well, only one year. Any other gardeners?

I'm looking forward to joining a masters rowing (crew) team. There's something so peaceful about gliding inches off the water on a glassy lake or river! I was a member of the Green Lake crew team in Seattle in high school- rowed sweep and skull- singles and quads were my faves. I can't do it right now...my hips would scrape the side of the boat! They'd have to pry me out. How about you? What are you looking forward to?

I've been too heavy to ride a horse for years. Before that I didn't want to- haven't been around horses all that much growing up in the city. Now I really want to learn and can't wait get up on a horse- especially a smaller one that doesn't look like a draft horse! Good luck with your surgery!

Okay, here is the creamy verde chicken recipe. Tastes sort of like pollo a la crema with a fraction of the calories and fat! 2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast ( store rotisserie is perfect for this) 3/4 to 1 cup nonfat sour cream 1 cup (about 1/2 a jar) salsa verde medium spice 1/2 cup sliced yellow onion 3 green scallions sliced 1 can sliced whole mushrooms (can use fresh- 1 cup sliced added when yellow onions are) Kosher salt Ground pepper Sliced avocado (optional- not counted in nutrition count). Cilantro to garnish Nice thing about this recipe is just dump stuff in to your taste! Just remember to measure if you put in extra or start with less. My fitness pal is good at calculating calories. Heat skillet over medium high heat and add 1/2 tbsp of olive oil. Add yellow onion (& mushrooms if using fresh) and sauté until very lightly browned on some edges & soft. You can use 1/2 cup Water instead to soften and heat (no extra fat). When onion softened through, add the green onion and stir until those are slightly wilted. Reduce heat to medium and added cubed chicken breast, sour cream and salsa verde. Stir to combine and heat through. Add mushrooms if using canned, dump whole can including liquid and stir to combine. If sauce is too thick, add 1/4 cup of water to thin. Season with salt and pepper to taste, spoon into bowls and top with sliced avocado and cilantro if desired. Makes about 2 cups....serves 2 pre sleeve, probably about 4 servings for sleeved folks. Per cup- 376 calories, 5 grams fat, 24.5 g carbs, 52.2 Grams protein!

Thanks leezel- you as well! How exciting you're in your surgery month! My husband says Pilchuck is an intermediate level hike but you can always try it and just go as far as you are able each time. He grew up hiking around Issaquah and in eastern Washington and even heavier he could steam up hills like a locomotive. I'm not much for hiking and with his speed difference it wasn't fun for me. Hopefully that will change after my surgery and we have another activity to do together! Perhaps leezel, we could meet up and visit in person sometime soon- I live in Lake Stevens. PM me if you're interested! Keep responses coming everyone- I love reading them!

Cake batter! Man, if it meets our NUTs guidelines for protein, we want it! My husband loves cake batter flavour! I hope you find it!

There are pluses and minuses to both options. My husband (fiddleman) had the sleeve done last July and I was going to do it six months after him but it will end up being about a year apart- I'm shooting for June sometime. The case I would make for doing it separately would be recovery time, especially if you have children or household duties to take of. Yes, you won't be flat on your back for weeks, but your energy level will be a lot lower than normal and a lot of your time will be taken up with just sipping protein shake or water to stay fed and hydrated, timing medication and vitamins etc. I'm glad I didn't do it together because our house and garden would have ended up being a total wreck! If you can have someone stay with both of you for the first week or so to help out with things, then I would say try doing it together. It's so nice to be at exactly the same stage, going to the same appointments together and can encourage one another. I've dealt with fleeting feelings of jealously and worry- now that hubby is thinner, getting all the compliments and shrinking before my eyes and I'm not, will he still be interested in me, what if things change in our relationship, etc. Thank God for a rock solid loving husband! What you choose really depends on your preference and situation but just some things to think about. I'd like to hear experiences from other couples too!

True, you can't put your arms through with the IV, but you can wrap it around your shoulders and let it hang. I couldn't imagine wearing sweats or pants- I don't even know if my hospital would let me. I don't think I'd want anything near the incisions and might end up with a banana bag (I soooo hope I don't!). But everybody is different- bring what you think will work for you. I also second having someone with you overnight if at all possible- no matter how good nursing care is, there is nothing like having family or a close friend with you. They will be there a lot more than the nurses and can remind you every few minutes to keep sipping protein shake, water, use your spirometer, time to walk again, etc.

You may want to bring your own cozy robe - lightweight or fluffy your choice...it's a touch of home and it's nice to wear walking the halls after surgery to get that gas out. I'm planning to bring my lightweight purple robe with me, and I know my husband really appreciated his robe during his surgery. Sure beats the hospital robe!

I'd like to try the nasal pillows- I have the nose mask right now. The tech who fitted me said I have tiny nostrils and the nose pillows would be harder to exhale with so he recommended the mask. But the mask sometimes hits my upper lip and puts pressure on my teeth and gets uncomfortable. If I move it up, it hits the bridge of my nose and air escapes from the sides of the mask. My husband doesn't use his machine anymore and he had the pillows so I may borrow his for a few nights to try it out!

You will lose some muscle after surgery but you can build it back and more. I bet you'll be dunking in no time! My husband (fiddleman on VST) can testify that strength training with a personal trainer does pay big dividends after sleeve surgery. He's currently working with a trainer doing crossfit and developing some very nice muscles! . He runs 5-10k's on his off days and also does yoga. Amazing!