Stress...

So I have come to the realization that stress, more specifically, stressful situations, really make me want to eat. According to an episode bariatrictv it is a normal response. 

Of course it is something I will always have to fight. I know that stress is a part of life, it makes me feel alive. But sometimes it is a little too much. This afternoon I had a stressful situation at work happen and all I thought about was eating something really bad for me. I really had to fight with myself to be good and I was good but still have an urge to be bad. So now I am just trying to stay "busy". Earlier I was relaxing on the couch and I didn't think about it too much. But it is the time of the night where I crave sweets. So I decided to  come here and write rather than eat. Plus the good news is even if I went to the kitchen I wouldn't find anything really bad since we cleaned out everything. So I am learning to find solace in other things. I took a hot shower (which was relaxing). Now I'm in bed with the good ol' laptop typing my problems away. Much better than shoving my face with food. It is still a work in progress. I am sure there are times I will fail. But the point is to have more progress than failures.

I did go to physical therapy today. The physical therapist is going to work on both knees and upper legs. We worked mostly on my left leg (the one that isn't hurting but WAS my bad knee prior toabout a month or so ago) and it feels pretty good. The right leg we did some work on it I can tell just doing a few stretches has helped. Basically I was given some stretches and some exercises to do twice a day. He (my physical therapist) said everything is really tight which is also causing pain in addition to everything else going on so if we can stretch things out and build some strength I shouldn't be in as much pain. He said it can take about 6-8 weeks to show some improvement so I need to be patient. I will see him again in 2 weeks and we will go from there.

I'm definitely learning how to breathe and that I am grateful for my life and everyone in it. I am working on not letting the stress get to me like it does. Again a work in progress. I think I may go meditate and see how I feel afterwards.

Talk to you again soon!

It is Monday!

It is Monday! I know how you all love Mondays. Another day that we are alive in this world, right? So much to be grateful for. I’m working on changing my attitude. Not that I think I have a bad attitude but I am going to be happy about Monday (and everyday for that matter). I have been existing and not living. It is time for me to connect and live life. Of course a lot of that is going to be easier once I have more weight off of me. I would not wish this extra weight on my worst enemy, ok maybe I would. NO, just kidding I wouldn’t. I am just so happy to be alive and able to have a supportive husband. He has been my rock through this process. He has really been on board with me as of recently which I am very happy about. It benefits him too since he has weight to lose and he is diabetic.

Eating healthy can be fun. Think of all the new and exciting recipes out there that I’ve never had. That is the attitude I need (and I have). As dr. Nick says in his book, My Big Fat Greek Diet, “You have to change the way you see before you can change the way you look.”. Boy isn’t that true. Many people don’t understand that but I understood it the first time I heard it. You have to change your mindset and your approach and outlook on the journey of weight loss (you have to be willing to change) in order to change the way you look (lose weight).

I have not heard from doctor yet but it is only Monday. Tomorrow I will start physical therapy on my knee/legs. I am hoping this time they don’t tell me after one session that they don’t feel it could benefit me. I definitely do feel it can benefit me.

Alright I’m done for the day. Good night and see you on Tuesday. J

New recipes

So this afternoon I decided to try some new recipes. I don't bake or cook like I used to. In fact I have to humbly admit that River has done most of the cooking. He enjoys cooking so I let him. He can't bake though. I can bake pretty darn good. So tonight. I went to theworldaccordingtoeggface blog and found a Mexican mini meatloaf recipe I thought I would try. I substituted ground turkey instead of beef but otherwise I pretty much followed the recipe. It did take some time to put together but it was delicious! River was very impressed how good it was and still healthy. I added some fage greek yogurt instead of sour cream and mixed it with some taco seasoning for some zest. The yogurt is high in protein. It is a bit bitter and I don't like it plain but love it with fruit or added to something else. Anyhow the meatloaf came out great and even I could eat it. I tend to have an issue with eating food I make (I usually don't like the taste). I added a bit of tapatio sauce for a little bit of zest and wahlah and delicious high protein meal. We have some leftovers as well so it will be nice to have again another night.

For dessert (which I often don't do now) I decided to try one of the 5 minute cakes that Shelley (the owner of the blog page) makes. I decided to make the 5 minute chocolate protein cake but I made a few changes. Instead of chocolate protein power I used chocolate-peanut butter protein powder. I used Torani sugar-free chocolate syrup. I usually don't like this flavor (hubby bought it and neither of us like the flavor) but in the cake it was good. I topped it with a little bit of peanut butter and a little bit of Torani sugar free chocolate sauce. DELICIOUS!! At some point this week I want to try one of the protein ice creams. Then I will get brave and try the ice cream cake. If I can get that for my birthday I will be happy. I did spend a lot of time on the meatloaf this afternoon but it was actually kind of fun. I could see myself getting into cooking more and experimenting with what I can eat that is healthy.