Shake It Off!

Hello everyone!  It's been a while. Some exciting things have been happening at the beginning of this summer, and keeping me very busy. As some of you know, my husband and I are adopting. We also took our 5 year wedding anniversary vacation as a trip to Dollywood! It was so exciting!

At this point I was just 6 weeks out from my bariatric surgery and down around the number mark of 25 lbs. While this is a great number at 6 weeks, I still felt discouraged because I still fit snugly into my clothing. I did not, however, take into account that most of the clothing that I fit snugly into, were the same ones that I could not wear at all before surgery.  I have been losing weight, just not in my mind's eye.

The weight loss was affirmed when I went onto several of the rides at Dollywood, that are harder for the heavier weighted people to fit. I have been losing weight, and it's not a huge deal that I'm not a size 14. After my first coaster in nearly 5 years, I cried;  for our wedding celebration we went to Disney World with Rob's family and we barely or did not fit on the rides then.

The food was plentiful, even though my pouch was small. The decor was to die for, and my heart sung at nearly every other plaque. Due to a very strict budget,  I talked me out of nearly every purchase to decorate our home. My husband is also not one to decorate with knickknacks and wall hangings either... unless it's his Weird Al poster. The people were friendly and I felt like the Dreammore Resort was home. I want to come back when our child is old enough to visit. Another five years or so.

There was one incident, where the husband and I sat on the same row on the carousel. Nothing shatters your confidence in your weight loss goals like the sound of slipping gears and the jerk of the prettiest pony on the carousel gives out and just stops. The ride doesn't stop either. Even though the parents are taking photos of their children and significant other on the ride, one can't help but to feel that they are taking the photo of you and your fat butt, that just broke the carousel and it may be on the news later on.

Thankfully none of that happened, and even the operator was kind enough to tell me that it was not our fault at all, that the row we happened to pick was already having issues that morning. She seemed to feel worse about not warning anyone about the row than we did breaking said row. And I still felt like I killed the dreams of every little kid (there were two) waiting in line for the carousel as it was shut down for repairs. Note to self, do not ride on same row with husband.

One tip I learned there is to watch your portions, even a quarter size is still quite a bit of food, and never-ever push yourself to do something you're not ready to. At one point I had to call it for the roller coasters, because I felt that my healing stomach was still not ready for the rough and tumble of the rides. Only one made me queasy, also the same one I nearly lost my wig on. I don't care how many bobby pins and tape you have in your wig, do NOT wear it on rides. Period.

On to the shakes!

This not so much a recipe as a bunch of tips for those who have learned a bit about the basics of making smoothies and shakes.

Use fruits and vegetables for the bulk of the flavor: I like to use fruits and veggies as my base for flavor and fiber.
Do not be afraid to use herbs and spices: they work in cooked food just as well as they work in the shakes!

Don't forget the extra protein: Add a scoop of protein powder, vanilla, chocolate or flavorless to each one to give it that extra oomph. Even as much as half a scoop will make a difference in how much intake you are having. I personally like to use at least one scoop for every 16 oz.

Gimmie some Honey, sugar: Sometimes a sweetener is needed, and I stick to honey in this case. Honey is much healthier than most of the sweetener alternatives that are hard on the stomach. Honey also help digestion and just a small bit helps sweeten up a drink without adding too much sugar.

Ice cubes can be made of more than just water: milk cubes, yogurt cubes, and ice cubes are a great base for every shake, and using them frozen will give you a more frozen yogurt/smoothie texture that you may be craving.

Use greek yogurt to make it creamy: again, greek yogurt is a great base for smoothies, and it doesn't take much to mix it in, speaking of mixing...

Prevent froth by blend then stir: Blend the ingredients that need broken down first. Fruits, veggies, ice cubes  are great, but can froth up when given too much air with liquids. prevent this by blending them till they have a good consistency (what you would put in your mouth) and then mix powders and liquids that do not need blending. This prevents excess air from frothing your drinks, and making you gassy!

Recycle: get your all natural peanut butter and almond butter in glass jars? Recycle those suckers when you're done by pouring your mixes in the jars, closing the top, and shaking the hell out of them. You'll get it mixed with minimum air bubbles and you can also leave it in the fridge overnight for tomorrows use!

Have helpful tips of your own? Leave them in the comments below!

-Barb