What's on Your Saturday Menu, RNYers?

Yes the 1/2 cup is the already cooked oats. I sometimes eat eggs for breakfast if we eat out but they don't seem to settle real well early in the morning. I can do just fine with them though later in the day.

I miss oatmeal.  Tried over the years but about an hour after I eat them I will crash hard. Shaking and panicked. 

The good thing is my eating machine teenaged son eats bowls of them. Cheap eats!

Happy Saturday Friends!  Yesterday was absolutely beautiful here in DC but I did see it was just nice back home in VT as well.  Today I heard it is going to rain. My daughter has two shows but we are only going to the evening show we thought it would be creepy to go to all three shows so today we are either going shopping or to a movie.  Hum buy me some clothes or watch a movie decisions, decisions..... 

QOTD:  I have no recipe!  When it came to shakes I went and bought the huge thing of non flavored protein powder, all kinds of the sugar free Torani syrup and this girl was ready to go!  But every time I tried making a shake I got sick I mean sick.. ( I will save you all the details as you are all my friends!)  So I just gave up and gave all my supplies to a family friend who was going through the the WLS program.

MY food of the day:  WHO knows!  We are having brunch with my daughter before her show and I have already scooped out the restaurant and I see they have granola and berries, but they also have omelets but the granola sounds good.  But I know iced tea will be in my future as we will have to stop at here coffee shop so I can do my part to put a big tip in the jar.  After that who knows....

Enjoy the day friends have a good one....

Qotd-I have no interest in making my shakes thicker. Since about 2 months post-op my pouch is absolutely anti-protein shake. I can get down premier premade shakes, but only chocolate. It's incredibly frustrating, since I have around 10-12 tubs of protein that I loved pre-op and now they're just sitting in the cabinet. I had hopes of getting through it and using them again someday, but I'm really discouraged at this point. I don't try to force anything anymore, I learned the hard way,  my pouch is the boss of me. :O

I have some chicken, beef and deli meat planned for the day, trying not to cook. It's been a rough week and I'm finally feeling my strength return so I don't want to overdo it.

Happy Weekend!

I woke up at 6 AM this morning, which is supposed to be my sleep in day, but clearly my body has other ideas.  Well, it's about an hour later than a weekday get up, so I guess I got to sleep in a little.  My husband is usually the first one up on the weekends and is guaranteed at least an hour or two before everyone else gets up.  He uses the time for computer games uninterrupted.  When he came down this morning half an hour after me he was surprised to see me (he doesn't turn the lights on when he gets up, just sneaks out of bed and gets dressed in the bathroom so he doesn't wake me up - so thoughtful) so he thought I was still in bed.  Now he is crabby.  I am apparently infringing on his morning alone time.

We still have snow on the ground from earlier in the week.  It's a weird kin of snow called "grapple."  Looks like Styrofoam.  Most of the Portland Metro are did not get it, but we are at 1400' and it's usually about 4-5 degrees colder at my house than in town, so here it came down as that strange "grapple" stuff.

QOTD I am close to 3 months out, so I still have at least 1 shake and sometimes 2 shakes a day to ensure I am meeting my protein goals.  Right after surgery I realized the cases of pre mixed premier protein shakes were TERRIBLE (liked them before surgery) and went on a quest to find something I liked.  It was tough.  I finally tried something called "mocha madness" on the eggface blog and fell in love.  Now I have it every morning.  I tried other things for breakfast thinking I needed some sort of variety, and then I realized..."shy?"  If I like this, then I should have this!  I am not a breakfast person so this is also a good way to get some protein and calories into me before noon.  It's Chike coffee protein powder, SF torani chocolate syrup, 8 oz nonfat fairlife milk and 5 ice cubes.  I also like the syntrax nectar that come in individual serving packs, as I can throw the packet in my blender bottle and use or not use it during the day as needed.  I can usually find water to mix it just about anywhere.  They are very convenient.

B - Mocha Madness protein drink with fairlife skim

L - greek yogurt with vanilla protein powder, kiwi and pomegranate

D - Greek grilled chicken and Mediterranean quinoa salad

S - not sure

E - Yoga (15 mins) and elliptical (40 mins)

Iowa trip was cancelled - my cousin came down with the flu.  I'm not too bummed, though - I had a long, busy week and part of me just kinda wanted to just relax this weekend.  I also want to get stuff for my taxes organized (and possibly even start on them) and make crack chicken!!  (or is it chicken crack?).  So it's fine  - I'm secretly sort of glad it fell through.  And there will be other weekends...

Had a DEXA scan yesterday at one of those commercial places that also does body composition analysis.  My fat percentage is down to 22%, so she said my weight is fine and I could even come up a bit if I wanted to (I don't....I like being in the 140s).  This parallels what my PCP said.  I was wondering beforehand if I should drop another 10 lbs as a cushion against rebound, but maybe instead I should just fight like hell to stay where I am.  At least I have a much better idea now of where I need to be.   My PCP told me in January either 140s or low 150s, and this test seems to confirm that.  

Although the DEXA technician couldn't say it (because she's not a medical professional), it looks like I have osteopenia (she just said my bone density is "below average for women your age").  Between that and the chart that's on my print-out, where it clearly shows that I'm in the "yellow" zone (as opposed to "red" - which is WAY below average and I'm guessing means osteoporosis), I'm assuming I'm in the osteopenia category.  Crap.  Since I didn't have a baseline before or immediately after surgery, I have no idea if I just naturally have low bone density or if it's the result of surgery.  I did email my PCP and my bariatric surgeon to see if we should test for calcium, PTH, and Vit D before July (my regularly scheduled labs) and if there's anything I can do besides more weight-bearing exercise to preserve my bone mass.  Probably not - so there's going to have to be more strength-training and walking in my future!!  (but not today - I blew out my ankle again yesterday - I probably should have waited longer to recover from the sprain I got 3 or 4 weeks ago!!)

QOTD:  totally making that cheesecake protein shake, JB!  I've been wondering how to make a cheesecake-flavored one without dumping in a ton of cream cheese - I didn't even think of using SF/FF cheesecake pudding mix!  I'll pick some up at the store today!!  I'm always experimenting with shakes since I'll probably be stuck drinking one every day for the rest of my life (I malabsorb protein).  My favorites usually involve adding instant espresso powder to chocolate protein shakes and changing it up with different flavorings (for example, hazelnut and/or vanilla Torani syrup, cinnamon, PB2).  I also add ice and blend it.  I've made a couple of fancier ones that were great but too high in calories to drink every day (e.g. mango - used vanilla protein powder, unsweetened cashew milk, some canned mango, a little ground cinnamon and cardamom, half a packet of mango/tangerine Crystal Light - also added ice and blended it) (or Snickerdoodle - as you know, snickerdoodle cookies have vanilla and cinnamon, but I also had to add some PB2 and a piece of frozen banana to get it to taste creamy and butter-y, whi*****reased the calories a bit too much - but OK for an occasional treat if I can work it into my calorie allotment).  Oh - simple but good - a chocolate one with a couple of drops of peppermint extract - again with added ice and blended.  I also once tried a peach melba one - Syntrax Fuzzy Navel, unsweetened cashew milk, a few frozen peach pieces, Torani SF raspberry syrup, a little ground cinnamon.  It was good - but not as good as some of the others.  Or pumpkin chai tea latte - vanilla protein powder, unsweetened cashew milk, a couple tablespoons of canned pumpkin, cold chai tea, SF Torani pumpkin pie syrup or SF Torani brown sugar & cinnamon syrup (sometimes I add a couple tablespoons of SF Cool Whip to make it creamier).  I've made so many it's hard to remember them all!!  Play around with the flavorings - a little vanilla extract or vanilla syrup can go a long way in giving any of them depth of flavor or "warmth" - I add it as needed to any shake

also, if you like your shakes thicker (I only like my chocolate ones thick), there's a product you can get a drug stores that are for people who have a hard time with swallowing.  It's a food and beverage thickener.  I suspect it's the same idea as cornstarch, only it has no flavor.  It takes a few minutes to fully thicken, so just add like a half scoop at first and wait a few minutes before deciding whether it needs more - otherwise you could be stuck with some gloppy goo instead of a decent shake!!

oh - one of my favorite shakes - Quest Vanilla Milkshake added to unsweetened cashew milk with 4 or 5 frozen strawberries - again blended. Fabulous!  Tastes like a strawberry shake, and Quest powder thickens up more than some of the other brands, so it really does seem like I'm drinking a milkshake.

OK  - sorry to go on and on - protein shakes are one of my favorite topics!

20 months out/maintenance:

B:  homemade plain Greek yogurt with fresh strawberries (strawberries had added Splenda and balsamic vinegar)

S:  coffee with half & half, SF protein/Miralax pumpkin chai tea latte

L:  the last of the pulled pork.  Maybe cole slaw made with sesame-miso vinaigrette??

D:  CHICKEN CRACK!!

maybe a L&F Greek yogurt later on this evening

exercise:  probably none - I really need to try to stay off this ankle for a few days, unfortunately!!

I should add that Quest protein powder is NOT whey protein isolate (it's a blend), so probably not the best choice for newbies (OK for those of us further out who are getting most of their protein from food).  You want to stick with Unjury or Syntrax Nectar or another brand that's 100% whey protein isolate for the best absorption.

Lol--protein drinks are one of my favorite topics too. We can geek out over recipes together if you want :)

oh totally!!  I always love new ideas!!  I sometimes check pinterest for ideas, too.  Send me any good ones you find or create - and I'll do the same!

Good morning,

It's cold and snowing in my part of Michigan.  Ugh, I want warm weather.

QOTD I used only body fortress chocolate protein powder and milk for my shake.

B spinach,  yellow pepper,  ham and cheese omelet and string cheese 

L leftovers from Logans,  steak, grilled mushroom skewer and half of sweet potato 

D hodgepodge soup 

S Greek yogurt, turkey sausage snack sticks and cutie orange 

Have a great day