gamergirl

I just made it and omg. I licked the beater and I'm not even ashamed.

What an amazing difference! Good for you.

It took me a good three weeks before I didn't feel like crap all the time, get tired all the time, want to pass out all the time. I felt great right after and then I started to get tired and I could not understand it. Why was I so tired?? Well let's see. No calories. No caffeine. No sugar. No carbs. Major surgery. Barely hydrated. Incisions. Recovery from anesthesia. MAJOR surgery! People here told me the same thing I'm telling you. Take it easy. Rest. sleep. Cut yourself some slack. Pretty soon, once you graduate to real foods, you will have more energy than you know what to do with.

New recipe on my blog with pictures of finished product as well as a few steps along the way. http://sleevers.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/417/ Recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. What we love about these crab cakes is that they don’t have fillers, mayo, and other flavor-maskers. A delicate shrimp puree sets up the binding, enhancing the flavor and increasing the protein content of these little crab cakes. Normally I try to simplify and/or modify recipes but I mean, it’s Cook’s Illustrated. I know better than to mess with perfection! I did remove a couple of steps that won’t change the flavor significantly, but the proportions are theirs. Makes 8 crab cakes, 1 per sleever, 2 per non-ops. Ingredients 1 lb lump crabmeat, picked over for shells Salt and pepper 2 celery ribs, chopped 1/2 cup chopped onion 1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed 1 tbsp unsalted butter 4 ounces shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed 1/4 cup heavy cream 2 tsp Dijon mustard 1/2 tsp hot pepper sauce 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs 4 tablespoons vegetable oil Method 1. Pulse celery, onion, and garlic in food processor until finely chopped, 5 to 8 pulses, scraping down bowl as needed. Transfer vegetables to large bowl. Rinse processor bowl and blade and reserve. 2. Melt butter in empty skillet over medium heat. Add chopped vegetables, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened and all moisture has evaporated, 4 to 6 minutes. Return vegetables to large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Rinse out pan and wipe clean. 3. Pulse shrimp in now-empty food processor until finely ground, 12 to 15 pulses, scraping down bowl as needed. Add cream and pulse to combine, 2 to 4 pulses, scraping down bowl as needed. Transfer shrimp puree to bowl with cooled vegetables. 4. Add mustard, hot pepper sauce, lemon juice, and Old Bay seasoning; stir until well combined. Add crabmeat and fold gently with rubber spatula, being careful not to overmix and break up lumps of crabmeat. 5. Divide mixture into 8 balls and firmly press into 1/2-inch-thick patties. Place cakes on rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Don’t skip this step. They are delicate and hard enough to coat with panko as it is, and putting them in the fridge does help firm them up. 6. Coat each cake in panko, firmly pressing to adhere crumbs to exterior. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Place 4 cakes in skillet and cook without moving them until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. 7. Using 2 spatulas, carefully flip cakes, add 1 tablespoon oil, reduce heat to medium-low, and continue to cook until second side is golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer cakes to platter. 8. Wipe out skillet and repeat with remaining 4 cakes and remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Serve immediately.

So my husband made up a recipe that he has promised to make for us today, using proti-diet hot chcolate. He said the texture is like mousse, but it has so much Protein in it, it sort of goes thunk. I will post a picture later, but for now, here's the recipe. If you're sick of Protein shakes but are still in full liquids, or soft food stages, try my blog for other wls-friendly recipes: www.sleevers.wordpress.com Ingredients 1 cup low fat milk. 1 pkg. Jello sugar free cheesecake pudding. 2 scoops Proti-Diet protein hot chocolate mix sugar-free Cool Whip of spray whipped toppig Method Pour milk, pudding mix, and Protein powder into a mixing bowl. Use hand blender to blend ingredients for 2 minutes. Spoon mixture into 4 small cups. Cover and refrigerate until set. (it will almost be set when it is put into cups) Put 1 table spoon of spray whipped topping on each cup. Enjoy!

What a wonderful post! I love the way you took pictures of yourself--the consistency really tells a great story. From month to month the changes might look less dramatic, but over time they sure do add up. I also liked that you posted pics of yourself exercising before you hit goal weight. I'm peering at them hoping to absorb some of your motivation via cyber-osmosis Congratulations on your achievements, both weight-wise, and fitness-wise. Very impressive and thoroughly inspiring!

True! and if you want something really chocolatey, try this one: http://sleevers.wordpress.com/?s=chocolate+mousse&submit=Search

If you do, will you post a picture? I'd love to incude a better than the one I have on my blog. I was in too much of a hurry to eat to take a good one. I'll gladly give you credit for it. Photo courtesy of Bufflehead. That should confuse a few people (I'm easily amused today, can you tell?)

Hah! It's good to know what NOT to do So did you just try that??

Very well-written and researched. Thanks so much for sharing!

I would definitely try it. Would you let me know how it works? I mean, we make up all these recipes anyway, why not have it be your turn to make up one?

So my husband made up a recipe that he has promised to make for us today, using the proti-diet hot chcolate. He said the texture is like mousse, but it has so much Protein in it, it sort of goes thunk. I will post a picture later, but for now, here's the recipe: Ingredients 1 cup low fat milk. 1 pkg. Jello sugar free cheesecake pudding. 2 scoops Proti-Diet protein hot chocolate mix sugar-free Cool Whip of spray whipped toppig Method Pour milk, pudding mix, and Protein powder into a mixing bowl. Use hand blender to blend ingredients for 2 minutes. Spoon mixture into 4 small cups. Cover and refrigerate until set. (it will almost be set when it is put into cups) Put 1 table spoon of spray whipped topping on each cup. Enjoy!

Yes for sure on pictures! Do post.

MFP lies like a dog in terms of projected weight loss. Every day it tells me that in 5 weeks, I will weight 20 lbs less, and surprisingly, I never do! But it does a great job logging calories and that's what I use it for. On the computer, MFP can absolutely be manually tweaked to set your total calories and macronutrient goals to custom levels. I've done that, and despite it's dire prognostications that I'm putting myself as risk of starvation, I seem to still be alive. I know surgery and very low calorie diets do slow our metabolism. But I've never read anything about us burning less during exercise. The most important determinant of that appears to be body weight, not metabolism. I'd be interested to see if others have run into anything about it.

My husband is 60 and had about 80 lbs to lose. I am quite sure he's increased both his life span as well as the quality of his life. No meds for BP, blood sugar, high cholesterol, etc. I think he has staved off a life that would have gotten smaller and smaller as he grew larger and larger. We want to be active and spry, mentally and physically independent in our old age. And weight works against us on all those fronts. If you could have lost it on your own, you would have by now. I'm not 60, but I don't want to die wondering what my life could have been like as a skinny, fit person. I intend to find out. Good luck with your decision.

I learned an important lesson a few weeks ago. On a recent project I was surrounded by skinny women as my weight continued to pile on. I was sure they were judging me, because week by week I was getting visibly fatter. When I got sleeved, I worried about their judging me, feeling certain they were. I was frustrated and angry at these skinny women who had NO idea what I was going through. How dare they judge me when they'd never have to deal with what I did?? A few weeks ago I took one of them to lunch. Skinny, eats like a bird, very particular about what she eats, exercises like a fiend, won't eat even half a cookie. I told her about the surgery knowing that she could not understand nor relate. And she told me that 5 years ago, she lost 80 lbs. Which incidentally, is how much I have to lose. "I was a big girl" is how she put it. Eats like a bird, is particular about her food,exercises? Because she is determined never to put that weight on again. Won't even eat half a cookie? Because she worries she'll eat the whole plate of them once she starts. I realized that she was not judging me, rather *I* had judged her, had completely misunderstood her habits and her struggles. It was a very sobering realization. What's that they say about walking a mile in someone else's shoes? It was a wake up call for me to not judge either fat nor skinny.

Another lady in red! You look gorgeous.

Love it! Very cute on you.

E, looking hot! Love the sassy confidence in the pictures.

All three of you look so good!

Thank you!!

ERP, you gave me the confidence to wear this. Thank you!

I've heard great things about goldfinch. Is it depressing though?

I've heard great things about goldfinch. Is it depressing though?

I love this! My kinda experiment