Post Thanksgiving Confessions . . .

I have good news and bad news to report. . . The good news is that I ate less during Thanksgiving weekend this year than I have in years past. The bad news is that I did not follow my 1000 calorie diet at all throughout the weekend. Having no restriction in my band, there was nothing but will power standing between me and food & wine a'plenty . . . and will power was there in low grade supply. . .

I may wait a few days before getting on the scale, and I'm bracing myself for a number I'm not going to like. Nonetheless, I'm back on the wagon as of this morning and any pounds I put back on during the past few days will be off again before long.

On the bright side, I had a really great holiday. My sister was in town with my adorable 2 1/2 year old nephew, and we had a blast together. With respect to food, my favorite thing that I made was a pumpkin and brown sugar creme brulee (recipe was from the November Bon Appetit -- it's definitely not diet friendly). It was even better than I'd hoped -- to the point that my home made apple pie went largely untouched and no one ate any ice cream. (I strategically decided to dump the remainder of the pie in the trash after I packed up the last leftover box and had one of my friends take the container of ice cream home with her -- definitely wasn't going to blow it big time by eating that stuff!)

Speaking of leftover boxes, here is a photo of the ones I made for my guests -- it was a great size for holding a bit of everything! I "cut" my last name out of the label before posting this photo, which is why there is a big blank spot.

This year was the first time I ever made an entire turkey all by myself. I splurged and got an organic, free range turkey through Williams Sonoma, and I brined it in a bath of buttermilk and spices for about 30 hours before cooking. It was very flavorful and not at all dry (whew!). I put a photo at the beginning of this post.

I also ultimately decided to do an appetizer and served some of that yummy butternut & acorn squash soup that I blogged about a while ago (I made a new batch). I didn't want to stuff everyone, so I served just a taste, in cute little shot glasses that I picked up at Crate & Barrel. This is how the table looked before we sat down:

I won't put pictures of everything up, since I'm really trying to focus on band-appropriate food in this blog. Plus, I don't want to make people crave things they aren't supposed to have! However, I will put up a photo of (what else?!) the rutabegas!! I only made 2 of the 5 that I bought, and we still had leftovers! Here they are just before they were cooked & mashed!

I hope everyone had a very happy, healthy Thanksgiving!

Some Rutabega Silliness

Growing up in my house, every year, my dad had one big job on Thanksgiving and Christmas. He'd start by going to the store and buying up basically every rutabega they had. (Generally, that was not that many, since they don't really taste that great and aren't big sellers!) :)

On the day of the holiday, my dad spends most of the morning laboring over the rutabegas. He painstakingly & meticulously peels them (nightmare task -- they are really hard!). . . then chops them (also not easy) . . . then puts them in a giant pot to boil away for 20-30 minutes under his keen supervision, and then he mashes them up like the rutabega-loving connaisseur he is!

After all that Herculean effort, we generally have enough rutabega to feed a small army. Once Dad's masterpiece is put on the table, everyone in my family eats roughly 25% of a teaspoon full, and after the dinner, we bag and freeze the leftovers. They really are a delightful orange and give some much-needed color to the freezer, where they remain, largely untouched! Just before Christmas each year, we have the ritual Throwing-Out-of-the-Thanksgiving-Rutabega-Left-Overs. And then, some time into the new year, the same happens to the Christmas ones. I know this is wasteful and may not sound as funny as it is to us, but trust me -- the family rutabega rituals are one of the best parts of the season! We pretty much tease my dad about it all year long, which is a lot of fun.

So, this year, since my sister will be with me, I clearly must have rutabegas! However, in the spirit of not being wasteful, I figured that I'd just get a small number of them -- say, 4 or 5 -- so that we wouldn't have a lot of left overs. Since I live in NYC, I do a lot of my grocery shopping on-line and have it delivered. So, I put in my order and . . lo & behold. . . 5 rutabegas were in my order. Five MASSIVE freaking mutant rutabegas!! They are the biggest ones I've ever seen in my life!!

That's a NORMAL SIZED apple. . . !!

I took the above photo and sent it around to my whole family, which resulted in everyone basically laughing their heads off and sending me suggestions about what to do with the surplus! I got a few alternative ideas as well . . and sent the following around to the family on Monday . .

Who knew?! Rutabegas make an attractive and SUBSTANTIAL holiday centerpiece
Their surprising weight also makes them excellent doorstops!

. . . And paperweights

Not to mention that they really are fantastic posture-Improvement Devices! (Tough to get good photo when fearful of ginormous root vegetable falling and smashing toes. . ) :)

Um, anyone need any rutabegas? :)

Preparing for Thanksgiving

As you might have guessed, I love to cook. So, this year, I'm very excited to be preparing my first complete Thanksgiving meal totally on my own! My sister and cutie-pie nephew (2 1/2 years old) are coming in from D.C., and my friend Marjorie is going to join us as well. Being that it's Thanksgiving, I'm going to make all of our family favorites and will focus on portion control during the day.

I did decide not to get too crazy with appetizers and hors d'oeuvres -- we are three women at dinner this year, and none of us wants to be totally stuffed before we even sit down to dinner. So, here is what I'm planning to make:

Hors d'oeuvres (to be put out in little bowls for grazing)

Goat cheese-stuffed medjool dates (warm)
Olives, artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers
(I'm not trying to starve everyone -- I swear -- just didn't want to stuff them!)

Main course
Turkey
Stuffing
Cranberry sauce (the recipe on the Oceanspray package is amazing -- will never buy it pre-made again!)
Rutabegas (like a turnip -- it's a family tradition -- more on that next time!)
Mashed potatoes
Green beans
[I think that's it -- I think sweet potatoes and/or squash on top of all this would be too much -- we're only 3 people!]

Dessert
Home made apple pie
Pumpkin creme brulee

What do you think? Did I forget anything important? Is this enough? I purpously am not making rolls this year. Anything else I should consider making?

Fill 'er up!!

I'm now just over a month post-op! I'm feeling really good, have lost almost 14 lbs (I'm ignoring my scale this week -- no change since my last count) and made it through my post-op 2 weeks of full liquids and 2 weeks of mushies.

So! Now I'm on a "normal" diet and feel no restriction at all. I've been doing my best to really watch what I'm eating and to keep the calories down. By and large, I've been doing a decent job of that. HOWEVER, I'm eager to get into the real weight loss phase! Bring on the fill!


My doctor's instructions are to wait until 6 weeks after surgery before your first fill, so I have to wait a bit longer. My first fill date is 6 weeks & 4 days after my surgery date, and I am really looking forward to it. I know that it will be another big adjustment, but I'm ready.

Before surgery, I printed out a calendar from October through May and marked down different milestones on it. My band date is there, my full liquids phase, the mushies, Thanksgiving (which is about a week into "regular diet" for me -- "regular" meaning as close to 1000 calories as I can manage), my 2 month anniversary, etc.

When I was deciding which date to have my surgery, I hesitated at the October date. I thought -- oh no! What will I do on my birthday!? And how will I get through Thanksgiving?! I was so worried that I'd feel really deprived and that everyone would notice how I was eating and that I'd feel very conspicuous. In retrospect, none of these things were that big of a deal. As you probably saw from my b-day post, the band didn't hold me back from enjoying my friends & the celebration. As for Thanksgiving, the only challenge will be to hold myself back so that I don't overdo it on the fixings!

In retrospect, what I should have focused planning on was what I was going to do during the several post-op weeks when I have no restriction and an appetite! Still, I am managing well and feel like I'm doing a respectable job of it.

Also -- I managed to get in the bike on Saturday & Sunday, so I'm feeling good about that! I'm going to try to do more this week in preparation for Thanksgiving!

Jane Fonda would not be impressed. . .

OK, confession time. I'm not sure what my problem is, but I've been really bad about exercising post-op. This morning, I skipped my yoga class (the first of a new series), despite that I was awake and - um - it's in the gym in my building. . WTH? I love yoga!

If I'm being totally honest (and why bother blogging if I'm not going to do that. . ), I was a little worried that after several weeks of not going, that I wouldn't be as good at keeping up & doing the various poses. But that's no reason not to go! Not sure what is wrong with me -- I need to just force myself to go (I can do a make-up class any morning this week) and get back in the swing of things.

In the meantime, I'm going to sign off now and do 30 minutes on my stationary bicycle. At least that way I will get something in today!

Sorry Jane. . .

The Mederma Challenge . . .

I finally got my act together and bought some Mederma scar fade cream at the drugstore yesterday. I'd love for my two surgery incisions (thank you, Dr. Rumbaut!!) to fade to nothing, if at all possible. Mederma was a bit expensive -- around $24 or so for a little tube -- but I've heard from a few people that it's the best product to use. And, let's face it -- if I can fade those scars for only $24, that sounds like a bargain.

So, here' s a photo of my incisions as of yesterday (remember -- Dr. Rumbaut did my surgery with only two incisions -- I love that man -- which is why you're only seeing two here.) There's another shot of them, avec belly button, in an earlier post, just in case you want some context.

I'll post another photo alongside this one in a month or so, for comparison purposes. Fingers crossed that this stuff really works!

SMALL SV!! (But I'll take what I can get!!)

We have a breakthrough! After a week or two of struggling with the same 2 lbs, I'm finally .4 down below my lowest post-op weight. YAY! This means I'm down a total of 13.6 since I started my pre-op diet -- which translates into 3 lbs a week since I started my pre-op diet. I'm feeling really good about this. Must remember not to get so disappointed when I stall, especially since I have no restriction right now.

There's no place like Ohm. . There's no place like Ohm!

I really had a great birthday yesterday. I went with a few close friends to Ohm Spa, which is one of my very favorite day spas in NYC. We all had luxury mani/pedis so that we could be together during our treatments, and I brought in champagne and wine for us! It felt very decadent and wonderful!

Interestingly, I thought I wouldn't be able to have champagne because of the bubbles, but decided to try it out, since they poured me a glass of Veuve Clicot before I could say that I wanted wine instead. As it turned out, it was completely fine. I expect that once I have my first fill, that situation will change, but for now it was a non-issue. I'm glad. I don't mind giving up bread, but champagne is another story! :)

Suffice it to say that after the champagne and my dinner last night (not too crazy, but definitely went well over 1K calories yesterday), I'm planning to avoid the scale for a few days. I'm going to be on the straight & narrow this week and hope that that -- plus increased exercise -- will help me get rid of some more of those pesky pounds!

Cooking with Catherine #2

The last two soups I made were so yummy and band-appropriate that I thought I'd make another one! I wound up putting both of the soups I made last week into individual serving sized Tupperware and freezing most of them. Then, each day, I've been taking one of the containers to work and having soup for lunch -- with a yogurt for a snack and a SlimFast shake for breakfast. Between taking my breakfast and lunch to work every day, not only did I have good food choices available, but I also saved around $20 a day! (Appalling that a bowl of soup and a drink in NYC can easily run you $15!)

The soup I made today is a Curried Zucchini Soup from the Smith & Hawken "The Gardener's Community Cookbook." I got the recipe from the site of my grocery delivery service (link at end of post). This recipe was really easy and, if I hadn't wanted to stage the ingredients, I could have done it without dirtying much more than my cutting board, nonstick wok, blender and a big bowl.

Here are the ingredients (minus the salt . . will I ever learn to put everything out at once?!) . . .

First, I sauteed the zucchini, onion and garlic in 2 tbs of butter for 10 minutes. . .

Then I added in 1/2 of the chicken stock, pepper and curry powder. . . Then, I pureed all of that in my trusty blender, remembering to take the top of the lid off & cover it with a towel so that I didn't get splashed with boiling soup!
Check out that manicure -- the color I have on is called "Bastille My Heart" -- loving it!!

And then, I added in the milk and the rest of the chicken stock, heated it all up & was done! Took me about 25-30 minutes, all told!

Here is a link to the recipe -- http://www.freshdirect.com/recipe.jsp?recipeId=rec_wk_curry_zucch_soup&trk=srch

It' s tasty and worth making, but honestly, the other two were even better. I think that's because I like zucchini, but it's not one of those foods that I get excited about, unlike butternut squash and a spicy chicken soup.

Happy B-day to me! :)

Today is my birthday (yay!), so I've been having a very nice morning of phone calls and opening some presents! I also managed to get in 30 minutes on my stationary bike, which is good. I'm going to try to make this year one in which I work out more days than not.

Right now, I'm laughing out loud because I just opened this card from one of my best friends -- we've been friends for more than 20 years (and, I should add have done more than our fair share of karaoke and attending Madonna concerts during that time). Too, too funny! :)

(Not sure how clear this will be on the computer -- it says
"Damn it! I wanted to sing 'Like a Virgin'!")

I have a fun day in store -- heading to my favorite local spa to meet a few girlfriends at 1:45 for an afternoon of pampering! Then, I'm having dinner with another friend later tonight. I had been worried that I wouldn't be able to do a dinner out this year (I'm still on soft foods now), which is why we arranged for the spa plan. But, in retrospect, I see that it really would have been fine and that there are plenty of things I could have ordered. Good to know!

In other band-news, I'm still struggling with the same 2 lbs -- they have come back & gone off twice now. That's partly behind my motivation to get back to working out. I want them gone for good! And to take plenty of their friends with them!! :) :)

Stuck!!

Cocky me . . . I got home from work a little while ago (it's 9:30) and was super hungry! So, I decided to have a few bites of a turkey meatball right when I got in and practically wolfed them down. A second or two later and I got the "golf ball" feeling I've been hearing so much about. . . and then the "sliming" effect I've also heard so much about . . . and then eventually, my first PB (well, a gently coerced PB anyway -- I just wanted it OUT).

I'm sure this would have been so much worse if I actually had saline in my band. I guess that's what I get for thinking I could just do whatever I wanted (within reason). Funny thing is, as I was eating the meatball, I KNEW that I needed to go more slowly and chew carefully, but I didn't. Lesson learned!!

Hi!

I have to admit that I'm really curious about who has been reading this blog and what everyone's story is! I know that readers from all over the U.S., Australia, parts of Europe and even Israel have logged on, which is amazing and wonderful to me! Would love to hear from anyone who is interested in posting. If you want to post, I'd love to hear. . .
- where you're from
- what your band date is (if you have one), and
- how things are going!

Hope all is well! Shout out to Cindy, who I hope is doing very well after her first fill!

BTW, I think my shoulder pain is finally gone for good!

YAY!

Finally . . some more movement on the scale front! As of this morning, I'm down 13 lbs from the point I began the pre-op diet. Glad I didn't sledgehammer the scale the other day after all!

(Note -- I had to edit the amount in this post -- originally, I wrote that I was 13.7 down from pre-op. However, it was only 13 from that point. The other .7 was part of the figure for my post-op loss, which is probably what I was thinking at that time)

Cooking with Catherine. . .

I am making soup no. 2 right now -- the Winter Squash Soup! Yum! I was channeling Martha Stewart when I did the prep, so I thought I'd take a few photos. Check out these gorgeous fresh herbs (sage and thyme)! The ingredients looked so pretty that I took a photo of them as well. . .

Martha would NEVER have forgotten to include the broth and 2 tsp sugar . . . (Oh the shame!!) :)

I took a few action shots too (I DO have a life. . I swear!) :) :)

Melting the butter. .

Adding in the garlic and onions (and sauteeing for 10 minutes . . )

Adding in the butternut & acorn squash. . .

Bringing everything to a boil, then simmering for 20 minutes. . .

Once that is done, you have to puree the soup in batches in a blender. Here is my now-most-used appliance in the entire kitchen . . my trusty blender! BTW, if you blend something hot, you have to leave the lid top off and put a towel over the opening. Otherwise, the whole thing will explode . . and it's no fun to get splashed with boiling hot soup . . believe me!

Done just in time for lunch! :)

Here is a link to the recipe I used . . . http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Winter-Squash-Soup-with-Gruyere-Croutons-2997

What's Cooking . . .

Hey there! Well, tonight I made one of the soups I mentioned a few days ago -- the chicken and cheese soup with green chiles. I basically followed the recipe, except that I used low fat cheese (half the amount in the recipe) and skim milk, and I added a bunch of tabasco at the end because it wasn't spicy enough for me (I probably should have left in more of the seeds from the peppers). It is YUMMY!

Will let you know how the winter squash one goes -- I should cook that this weekend too while everything is all nice & fresh!

If anyone is interested, here is a link to the recipe for the soup I made tonight -- http://www.freshdirect.com/recipe.jsp?recipeId=rec_wk_chx_grnchls_sp&trk=eau)

This has not been a good week for weight loss. . .

OK . . don't get me wrong, I'm still down 12 lbs from where I started (before my pre-op diet), but this week of socializing has not done anything for my weight loss. I asked Dr. Ren about it, and she said that I should just make sure I'm not taking in too many calories, and that this time isn't really about weight loss -- that time will come after my first fill. I know. . I know. . but still!

Is it so wrong that I kind of want to . . .

Oh, just kidding. . . I know it's not the scale's fault! I renewed my efforts to keep my daily calories down yesterday (not that I haven't been trying that all along) and only had ONE drink while I was at the cocktail party last night. Maybe the numbers will move the right way tomorrow.

Will start exercising again this weekend (since I didn't get with the program between all the other stuff I had going on this week), so hopefully that will help!

First Follow-up Doctor's Appointment Went Well!

Dr. Rumbaut's office helped me to arrange for my follow-up appointments and fills to be done through Dr. Ren at NYU. Yesterday was my first appointment there. I just went in, primarily to meet the people and to have them take a look at my incisions. I saw Dr. Ren (she and her husband, Dr. Fielding, are the doctors who co-wrote Khalia Ali's book about banding). Here is her photo and a link to the NYU Web site -- http://thinforlife.med.nyu.edu/aboutus/surgeons/

It seems that my incisions look good, and Dr. Ren cleared me to go on mushies! So, this morning, I had some cottage cheese with some sliced peaches (canned in lite syrup -- I never usually eat canned fruit, but it was good after 2 1/2 weeks of liquids). Not too shabby!

This morning, my grocery delivery of mushy-friendly ingredients came in. I got ingredients so that I can make two soups -- a winter squash soup with butternut and acorn squash and a chicken and cheese soup with green chiles. Will let you know how they turn out!

Here are links to the recipes I'm planning to use (will modify a tiny bit, e.g. no croutons & low fat cheese):

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Winter-Squash-Soup-with-Gruyere-Croutons-2997; and

http://www.freshdirect.com/recipe.jsp?recipeId=rec_wk_chx_grnchls_sp&trk=eau)

NSV!

Well, I've never been so happy to have someone tell me my outfit isn't working as I was this afternoon! I was talking to our receptionist (who I am friendly with and who I let know that I was dieting a few weeks ago -- I am not telling people at work about the band), and she said that she could really see that I've lost weight. AND, she said that the dress I wore today (mind you . . it's one of my favorites, a grey wool wrap-around that is as comfy as my bathrobe, but looks (er, better make that "used to look") polished enough for work) is now too big and doesn't fit me properly. She said that I might be able to get away with wearing it ONE more time, but that it's time to retire the dress!! She is a total sweetheart, so all of this was delivered really nicely. Anyway, while this definitely meant that I wasn't looking all that great today, it was really nice to hear!

Election Day! And a little whine about wine.

Given that I live in NYC, it's probably no surprise that I'm voting for Obama (odds are. . ). My firm gave us the day off of work to celebrate an award we won recently, which is a really nice treat. I just showered and thought I'd hit the polls before the lunch rush -- I've heard the lines are really long. One of my friends voted uptown and said that the lines went out the door and down three blocks!

In band-related news, the scale finally (!) moved in the right direction this morning -- down .4 lbs. Not a lot, but at least it's in the right direction! I'm trying to be very mindful of my food choices and am now avoiding the lovely lobster bisque that seems to have stalled me the first time around! I'm still trying to figure out a way to avoid the diet killer that I enjoy even more. . . here's a photo of the culprit:

Am finding wine a tough thing to avoid (moderation isn't an issue), because (a) I really enjoy it; and (b) a big part of my social life involves meeting friends for drinks and/or dinner. For example, here is my week:

Monday: Turned down dinner invite because I really wanted to be sure I could have a low-cal dinner. Stayed home with my cat and watched Gossip Girl and caught up on the latest episodes of Dexter and Californiacation! Not a bad night, all told!

Tuesday: Day off! Lunch with friends (called ahead -- they will puree the soup for me!) Tonight, I'm meeting a few people at a big election party being held. . . at a bar.

Wedesday: Going to my friends Adam & Erica's apartment for dinner to celebrate their recent engagement. So sad. . no champagne for the banded! Erica knows about my surgery, so a nice soup is on the menu for dinner.

Thursday: All of our friends are getting together to see Sharon & her husband (the ones visiting from London). . . at a bar.

And after that, it's the weekend, which is sure to involve more of the same -- or me staying home and missing out on the fun.

So, I need an action plan. I need something healthy to drink that I will like, that has low calories, and that won't make me feel like I'm totally depriving myself. Anyone have any good suggestions? It stinks that I have to avoid carbonation b/c I really love sparkling water with lime, and that's a good alternative. I also can't have cranberry juicy & seltzer because of the carbonation, darn it! My thought is that I can have one glass or even two of wine when I go out, but not when I'm out every night (which isn't the norm -- this week is more busy than usual). It's clear that -- GASP! -- I'm going to have to learn to change my usual behavior. I'll let you know how it goes this week.

12 Days Post Op. . (2 days to mushies!)

Quick check-in on how I'm feeling . . . I:

* Still have shoulder pain, darn it! It kept me up a little bit last night and hurts this morning as well, though at this point, it's a duller pain than I had after surgery;

* Am doing fine on the liquid diet. I keep mixing up what I'm eating (mainly different types of soups, cottage cheese and smoothies made with fruit & skim milk), and that has done wonders to keep this from getting boring.

* Am really disappointed that my weight loss has stalled, even though I know that this is supposed to be the healing phase (blah, blah blah. . .). Is just that everyone else I see on the Lap Band Talk site seems to be losing a ton during their liquids phase. Will try to make better choices -- am guessing that the lobster bisque and the few glasses of wine I had over the weekend are messing up the weight loss -- but I'm having so many fewer calories than normal that this just doesn't seem right!! Will be able to start exercising this week, so hopefully that will help as well.

* Am finding that burping isn't as big of a problem for some reason -- was very painful a few days ago, but I haven't had any issues with it for a day or two.

* Am learning how to deal with going to restaurants and am finding that it's not that hard as long as I prepare in advance.

* Seem to be getting a cold, which is not so festive. Fortunately, sneezing isn't painful for me (I've heard other people say it is for them after surgery), so hopefully it won't be too big of a deal.