Quite a bit of time has gone by, so what’s new? A lot of things I suppose!!! First off, SUMMER IS COMING!!!!!!!! Phew, now I feel better.. I just have to scream how freaking excited I am for warmer weather and lovely tans. I’m fairly sure (not really) that I have a mild case of SAD, as I can not stand the winter… All bleak and white and life-less. Boo on you, winter. Don’t show your face for exactly 6 months, if not more, or ELSE…
Mitch and I also moved back to my home town to live rent-free (thanks parents!!) before college in the fall. The transition was easy, and we’ve been loving the company! Mitch is back working, and I’m playing domestic goddess until I find work somewhere. I’m actually sort of loving my alone days at home doing household chores and cooking all the time.
So looking back on the past entries, not a lot has changed. I’m still able to eat pretty much whatever I want. No more vomiting for me! Woo! It’s exciting times. I would say the only slight difference from before is that I’m being quite a bit more precise about the things I eat. Would I eat a salami wrap again? No, probably never. I think my entire outlook on food has changed. I’ve started eating what I know is good for me, because it’s good for me, and finding ways to make it taste amazing at the same time. There ARE ways to have awesome food without the fat and calories (salami be damned!!!)
I am now more versed on lentils, quinoa, beans (not in sauce! Just beans,) yogourt, greek yogourt, lean proteins, and am a master at weighing food and calorie counting. It sounds anal, yes -and it is- but it’s just what I have to do! I don’t know about anyone else, but I suffer from MAJOR food guilt. “Did I eat too much? Did I eat the right things? I shouldn’t have had that… Oh god, the scales going to hate me.. Why can’t I lose weight?“
I’ve found the only way to completely battle that is to know EVERYTHING I put in my mouth. I keep a detailed food log, and read every label of everything I eat..
One of the things I’ve learned about WLS is that you have to cook everything from scratch, with some rare exceptions. Not only that, but you have to find ways of mixing up the things you do eat, so that you don’t tire of them. Ever loved a food so much that you ate it ALL THE TIME, until one day you couldn’t even stand the sight of it?! That happens all the time.. There’s only so much salmon, tuna, chicken, ground turkey, bean salad that I can eat before I never want to eat it again.
Lately I love these Tuna Cakes
Laura's Spicy Tuna Cakes
Yeild: 1 item
1/2 tin chunk light tuna packed in water, flaked
1 tbsp light cream cheese
1 green onion, diced
1 tbsp egg white
1 tsp red pepper jelly
1 tbsp plain no-fat yogourt
1 tbsp bread crumbs
1 small pile flat leaf parsley (I would hazard a guess at a tablespoons worth, chopped)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, and stir til' mushy and incorporated. If it's too wet, add a tiny bit more bread crumbs, if it's too dry, add a tiny bit more yogourt. You want it to hold together, not flood your pan.
Form into burger-style patties, and fry in a non-stick pan with a big spray of Pam (or any spray coating) on medium heat until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes a side. I am a big fan of the flip-without-using-yourhands method, because I find it very difficult to get them turned in one piece (this will take practice! Eat a few of these and you'll be a pro.)
Once cooked on the outside, spray an oven proof pan with non-stick spray, and transfer your tuna cakes to it. Cook in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes until they have firmed up a bit and cooked on the inside. Serve with a small green salad, or like I did, green beans. It's up to you!!
I had a few tablespoons of curry left-over from last nights dinner, so I warmed it up, added a few scoops of yogourt, and used it as a sauce. Totally optional.
Nutritional info for one tuna cake
145 cal*
18.5g protein
I make a million different variations of this.
You can sub tinned salmon, for the tuna. You can sub flavoured tuna's, for plain (although this will drastically change your calorie amounts.. One tin of flavoured tuna is anywhere from 100cals-140cals per mini-tin, versus 60cals per half tin of regular tuna) You can add parsley, basil, chives, dill, or any type of herb you like. You could even add curry powder, and make a curry tuna cake. You can add more vegetable- red onion, white onion, green/red pepper, etc. You could also make a vareity of yogourt dressings to go on top, like a salmon cake with lemon-dill yogourt dressing. Get carried away!!
One of my favourite creations was using spicy peanut satay tuna, and added a teaspoon of peanut butter and all the usual ingredients. So good.
*I count calories using food labels, and www.calorieking.com, so my calculations are approximate. If a dish uses a small amount of green onion, white onion, or herbs, I do not count those towards the calories as there are so few.
Also, here is my newest "Before & After" photo in my FIRST EVER DRESS!
I am down 84lbs, and currently weigh 204lbs.
