Best Feeling Ever!

Hi everyone! TGIF! I have been so busy this week! I know I haven't posted as much. I created the Facebook page for this yesterday, and WOW what a spike in readers! So for those of you who are new, Welcome!

Yesterday, I took a SnapChat picture of myself because I was pretty proud of my eyeliner work for the day (silly reason really, but I was bored). The second I took it, I realized just how much smaller my face looks!

The picture on the left is from the day that I started this journey, almost 3 months ago. The picture on the right is from yesterday! You can seriously see how much weight I've lost in my face! I've lost it in other places as well, but this by far is the most noticeable!

When you lose weight, and you see that number go down on the scale, it's an amazing feeling. But the best feeling in the world is actually seeing the difference and having others see it as well!

I don't know if any of my readers are on a journey of their own or not, but I would love to hear from any of you, whether it be suggestions for topics, or words of encouragement, or even struggles and successes of your own. You can either comment on these blogs, or you can email me directly at jenellesjourney@gmail.com

Have a great weekend everyone!
Jenelle

Nature's Popsicles

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

I hope that everyone had a good long weekend and a happy Memorial Day! Memorial Day is often seen as the unofficial start of summer, and I for one can not wait until Summer! I am a heat person, so anything over 80 degrees is my ideal weather.

With the summer comes all of the beautiful fruits and veggies that are in season in the summer. One of my all time favorites is grapes. I LOVE grapes, especially green grapes. I would have to say that it is one of the fruits I could not live without. Along with the bounty of fruits and veggies, also comes the heat of summer.

Our instinct when we are hot is to reach for something cold to cool us off, whether it be a nice ice water or lemonade, or ice cream or a popsicle. The only bad thing about ice cream and popsicles, is that there is usually a ton of sugar and calories involved. Since we are trying to stay away from those things, one of my favorite things to do is freeze fruit! Not only do you get the satisfaction of the ice coldness that you are craving, but you also get the health benefits of the fact that you are straight up eating just fruit.

My all time favorite fruit, therefore, becomes my all time favorite popsicle! They are perfect little bite sized snacks. What I usually do is buy a bag of grapes a week, wash them, and pick them from their vines. I then put them in a Ziploc freezer bag and stick them in the freezer. Then they are there to put in a bowl any time I need them. They also become more satisfying than eating regular grapes because they are so cold, and you can only eat so many at a time.

 

 

Let's look at the nutrition facts for 1 cup of frozen green grapes vs. my favorite ice cream:

 

Frozen Grapes have 104 calories per cup (I usually only have about half a cup or even 1/4 of a cup), and 23 grams of natural sugar per cup.

 

My favorite ice cream is Ben and Jerry's Vanilla Heath Bar Crunch (drool). A serving size of this is 1/4 cup, but let's face it. Who's only going to eat 1/4 cup of ice cream. So for the purposes of this, I have made this somewhat realistic and changed it to 1 cup (which is still not all that realistic in my world). For 1 cup of my favorite ice cream, we are looking at a whopping 1,040 calories and 92 grams of sugar! That is almost an entire day's calories, and soooooo much sugar! We could have 10 cups of frozen grapes for the same amount of calories!

 

Some of the other fruits that I like to freeze include strawberries, blueberries, mangos, pineapples, peach slices, plums (we have an Italian plum tree in our yard), etc. Try freezing your favorite fruit this summer for a healthy alternative and nature's popsicle!

 

Happy eating,

Jenelle

Granola Bars

Happy Thursday everyone!

Today at work we received a gift from a client of a box of KIND fruit and nut bars. These are by no means inexpensive granola bars, and this was a very generous gift. Looking at these bars, you would think they're super healthy and good for you. With names like Strawberry Peanut butter, Blueberry Pomegranate Cashew, and the like, and the label telling you they're all natural, gluten free, low glycemic, seven grams of protein, and a great source of fiber. Plus, just looking at them through the see through wrapper makes you think that they're super healthy. You can see the actual nuts and bits of fruit.

However...you turn the bar over and flip up the plastic that conveniently covers the nutrition facts, and...

210 calories!!! And over half of them from fat! Not only that, but there are 10 grams of sugar in each bar. That's insane! Let's compare the nutrition facts of this bar to a Snicker's bar...

Okay. So our Kind bar had 210 calories, 120 of them from fat. The Snickers bar has 280 calories (only 70 more), but less than half of those calories come from fat. Granted, the Snickers bar has three times as much sugar in it, but if we're being completely honest, wouldn't you rather get the satisfaction of the Snickers Bar's chocolaty goodness over that of a granola bar?

Let's look at some other popular Granola bars...


A Chocolate Chip Clif Bar has 250 calories (only 30 less than a Snickers bar) and 23 grams of sugar (only 7 less than a Snickers bar).


Even something like a Premier Protein (mentioned in an earlier blog) Nutrition Bar has 280 calories (same as a Snickers Bar), and 8 grams of sugar (not bad, but still a lot).

Now, the moral of this story is by NO means "just eat a Snickers Bar." The moral of this story is to be cautious of what you eat. Reading labels is very important, not just reading the front of the package, but the nutrition facts.

Healthy snacking!
Jenelle

Remember to chew your food!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

One of the biggest changes that I will have to make on this journey toward weight loss surgery is not only the food that I eat, but how I eat my food. One of the major things that you have to do once you have weight loss surgery, is to chew your food until it is the consistency of baby food (about 20-35 times per mouthful), and you have to spread out the time that you take to eat your food to 25-30 minutes minimum. This allows your stomach to better digest the food you take in.

Before I was told this, I had never really stopped to think about just how I was eating my food. Once you actually focus on how you eat your food, it's amazing to realize that most of us consume our entire meal in between  7 and 15 minutes, and for the most part the food that we swallow is hastily chewed.

I like to think of this as "shovel syndrome," where you literally shovel food into your mouth without thinking about how your body will digest it. A lot of it has to do with just how distracted we are when we eat. If you are anything like me, your watch TV while you eat. This can distract us from focusing on what we are eating in front of us, and ultimately harm us. If we don't focus on what or how fast we eat, we can overeat, which is never a good thing.

One of the things that my nutritionist suggested to help pay attention to how we eat our food, is to turn off the TV and focus solely on what you eat. Now, let's be blunt here. That's boring. I couldn't sit and eat without some kind of distraction for a minimum of 30 minutes. So, the more realistic thing that she suggests, is to put down your utensils between mouthfuls and not to pick them up again until you have swallowed. She also suggested taking smaller bites of food, and using toddler utensils. I really like using toddler utensils, because it forces me to slow down and take smaller bites, just because I can't physically fit as much food on the utensil.

It's just like our mothers told us all these years. Slow down and chew your food!

Jenelle

Mini Lasagnas

Hope everyone is having a great Tuesday!

Last night I made one of my favorite, but seldom made dishes, Mini Lasagna. I saw this recipe on Pinterest several years ago and made them for a party. They were a huge hit, and super easy to make. I have to credit the original recipe to TheFitHousewife.com, but I made a few modifications to it.



Jenelle's Mini Lasagnas:

Ingredients:
-1 package of wonton wrappers
-1 jar of Trader Joes (or your favorite brand) marinara sauce
-1 lb lean ground turkey
-1 15 oz container of Light Ricotta Cheese
-Shredded Parmesan Cheese
-Cupcake liners (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8"x10" Muffin tin or line with cupcake liners (I find it easier to use liners)
2. In a medium sauce pan, sauté ground turkey until fully cooked over medium heat. Turn stove off and add marinara sauce to cooked meat. Stir well.
3. In the greased or lined muffin tin, place one wonton wrapper in each cup, letting the excess go up the side of each cup. Bake for 8 minutes in the oven, or until the wonton wrapper gets slightly crispy. Remove from the oven.
4. Put a small spoonful of ricotta cheese on top of each wrapper. Place a spoonful of the meat sauce mixture on top of each ricotta dollop. Sprinkle the top of each lasagna with parmesan cheese and top with another wonton wrapper, corners of the wrapper in the opposite direction of the bottom layer. Repeat the ricotta, sauce and cheese mixture on top of the new wrapper in each cup.
5. Place the muffin tin back in the oven for 8-10 minutes until the cheese on top is bubbly and golden.
6. Remove the lasagnas from their cups and garnish with parsley if desired.

These lasagnas not only are lighter than original lasagna, but they are just as tasty and lower in calories than regular lasagna. They are also great for people who have had weight loss surgery, because the texture of the wonton is crispy enough to be able to pass smoothly through the altered digestive system of a post-surgical patient.

Happy eating!
Jenelle

Monday Snack Attack - Apple Straws

Happy Monday everyone!

I hope you all had a good weekend. I struggled a little bit on Saturday, ordering pizza for my dad and I since my mom was at my aunt's house for the night. I did, however, only have two slices, and I made myself a small salad to go with it. I kept it low(er) calorie, and still got in some Vitamin P (P for Pizza!)

Now, I don't know how many readers I have at this point, but if you are new, welcome, and if you've been around since day 1, welcome back!

If any of you are like me, you are snack people. I'm not so much a sweet snack person, but I could eat salty snacks all day long! Cutting down on my snackage, and finding healthy alternative snacks, has been one of the more difficult things to do, and I know that many of us struggle in this area. So, I want to dedicate Mondays to snacks!

This week, I want to talk about one of the few sweet snacks that I do indulge in; Apple Straws. Specifically, Apple Cinnamon Straws!



The company that makes Apple Straws is called Sensible Portions (great name!). You may have seen Veggie Chips or Veggie Straws in stores, but I came across these the other day at my local Albertsons. I love fruit. I cannot live without fruit, but fruit can be very high in sugar. I love that I still get my hint of sweetness with these, but a serving of 38 straws (that's actually quite a bit) only has 2 grams of sugar! You would never guess that from the way these taste! A single serving has 130 calories, and actually has a gram of protein. Another thing that I love about this product is that it is Non GMO! This might not be a huge deal to a lot of you, but I have come to notice it more and more lately, and just what it means for our bodies.

You can find Apple and Veggie Straws online at www.sensibleportions.com. They have a link to your local retailer that supplies them.

Happy snacking!
Jenelle

Professional Taco Salad Maker

TGIF Everyone!!!

I hope your week has been good, and free of temptations! Mine has been a little bit more difficult than usual. My dad had a tooth pulled on Monday, and since I cook dinner every night for my family, I had to come up with softer meals to cook for a few days. This was a lot harder to do than I thought it would be while trying to stay low calorie, but also trying to satisfy everyone and making dishes that can be made in half an hour after I get home from work.

What ended up happening...was a lot of pasta. I KNOW, I KNOW! Pasta is the devil! But here's the thing. Once I have this surgery, I am not supposed to eat pasta because the texture can make it difficult to digest in such a small stomach, and can even get stuck (scary right)? So I want to still eat pasta while I can. The key is moderation, and the type of pasta that you use. I like to use Enriched or Whole Wheat pasta, since it's not just straight up refined flour pasta. My mom likes a low-carb pasta called Dreamfields. I don't mind it. Taste and texture wise, it's just like regular pasta. However, it gives me gas to no end, so I don't usually cook with it.

Well, once we got over the pasta hump, and Dad could eat more solid foods again, I went straight for the Taco Salad! Taco salad is a staple in our house, and I have to say that I have perfected it. It's super easy to make, and just so good for you. Here's what I put in my Taco Salad...

My Taco Salad:
Ingredients
-Taco seasoned ground turkey (lean)
-Romaine Lettuce (organic)
-Corn kernels (usually organic frozen corn thawed out)
-Black beans (organic)
-Black olives (sliced)
-Red, Yellow, or Orange Bell Peppers (organic)
-Roma Tomato
-Avocado
-Mexican shredded cheese
-Chipotle Ranch dressing or Thousand Island dressing

I will also sometimes crush up some tortilla chips and throw those in for a crunch!

As I go through this journey, I will continue to post some of my favorite recipes and snacks, as well as some exercise tips for those of us who, let's be honest, have never exercised ever.

Have a great weekend!
Jenelle

Liquid Calories

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

So every month when I go to my nutrition appointment, we talk about a different topic that relates to life after the surgery. This last month, the topic was Liquid Calories.

Did you know that drinks such as coffee, energy drinks, juices, flavored waters, sweet teas, soda, alcohol, and milk are the LARGEST single source of calories in the American diet?! You don't even really think about the calories that come from these things because you aren't drinking them. Sure, everyone knows that soda is bad and has a ton of sugar, and that a Frappuccino from Starbucks isn't the healthiest thing on the planet, but you don't really think about the calories and sugar content associated with things like fruit juice, or even just a cup of black coffee.

Growing up in Seattle, it's pretty much mandatory that you drink coffee. I have always been somewhat of a coffee snob. I'm not a huge fan of the taste of coffee, so if I drink it (and let's face it why wouldn't I drink it?) it always has to be flavored so much that I can't taste the actual coffee.

 I've never been a huge breakfast eater either. I'm not a fan of breakfast foods in general, and usually just am not that hungry first thing in the morning. Breakfast is usually my most skipped meal. And let's face it. If I can sleep an extra 30 minutes and grab something quick to eat on my way to work, I would much rather do that! So, on my way to work every morning, I would usually pull in to Starbucks and get a Venti Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino with no whip (too many calories), and a bacon gouda breakfast sandwich.

The drink alone is 430 calories and 77 grams of sugar! To put that amount of sugar into perspective, 8 scoops of Coffee Ice Cream is 95 grams of sugar! I was drinking almost 7 scoops of Coffee Ice Cream worth of sugar every morning! Add to this the 350 calories from the breakfast sandwich, and I was consuming 780 calories first thing in the morning! That's more than half of my current daily limit!

Now, I'm DEFINATELY not advocating no coffee. Let's be real! It's just not possible to live a caffeine free life in my world. But, it is possible to live in a low calorie world that has caffeine in it. What I have switched to is something so much better.

Every morning, I go to my neighborhood coffee shop and get 3 shots of espresso over ice in a 20 oz cup. Three shots of espresso is 9 calories. I then pour a Premier Protein Vanilla shake over the coffee. The result is an iced coffee beverage that tastes similar to coffee with French Vanilla creamer in it, but all for a total of 169 calories, 30 grams of protein, and 1 gram of sugar! Not only does this satisfy my caffeine fix for the day, but I get the protein from the shake to help sustain me for a few hours, and as an added bonus my bank account feels much better about this change. I went from spending close to $10.00 a day to spending $2.65 for the espresso shots, and once the espresso machine that I ordered for forty bucks on amazon.com arrives, that number will disappear altogether.

Premier Protein shakes are something that I have consumed for years. I love this product and how versatile it is, and it has only gotten better over the past year. One of my favorite things to do is to use the vanilla shake as the base for a smoothie and blend it with blueberries, strawberries, and half a frozen banana. The chocolate and strawberry shakes are great just by themselves. Their new smoothie flavor of mixed berry is really good as well!

Here is a link to their website, so you can find out where they are sold in your area:
http://www.premierprotein.com/

Enjoy!
Jenelle

The Journey So Far

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I highly doubt that I have any readers at this point, but for the one or two of you who may have snuck a peak at my first post, Hello!

While I am just now starting this blog, I have been on this journey now for almost 3 months. For those of you unfamiliar with the weight loss surgery pre-surgical process, let me fill you in. Depending on what type of insurance you have, most insurance companies require their patients to go through a dietary period before the surgery, usually either one, three or six months. During this time, you learn how to eat once you have had the surgery. You don't have to loose weight during this time, but you can't gain it. There are a bunch of other tests that you will also undergo as part of the process, depending on what type of surgery you will be having. These tests include a psychological exam, blood work, an EKG, a sleep test, an EDG (upper Endoscopy), and an ultrasound of your stomach.

I have already had all of these tests done. I found out that I have severe sleep apnea from the sleep test, and that I have a hiatal hernia in my stomach that will be corrected with the surgery. The rest of my testing was normal.

I am currently two months in to the dietary process. So far I have lost a total of 14 pounds and gone down a dress size! The diet that the nutritionist puts you on is a combination of Low calorie and High Protein. The minimum requirement is between 1200-1500 calories per day (for women - men get to eat less) and at least 20 grams of protein at every major meal. The combination of low calorie, high protein may sound confusing and hard to track to many of you, but it's actually very easy! Once you start reading labels, you notice that the lower calorie foods, for the most part, have higher protein.

One of my favorite places to shop is Trader Joe's. If you've never been inside a Trader Joe's grocery store, you are SERIOUSLY missing out! Not only do they have the BEST frozen food section...ever, the food that they do carry is either their own brand, or heavily screened to make sure that it is only the best available. This makes Trader Joe's an ideal place to shop if you are conscious about GMO, Gluten Free, food allergies, or even just being to pronounce all of the ingredients in your food.

Now, you may think that because all of their food is organic and healthy, it has to be as expensive as places like Whole Foods. Not the case! Trader Joe's actually saves me money every week on my grocery bill! I come out of the store every week with four large bags of food (not just food, but organic, free range, healthy food) for around $100.00!

I'm still on my journey, and I do hit hurdles every now and again, but for right now, I'm on a roll!

Jenelle

Welcome!

Well hello there!
Welcome to my journey! I can guarantee you that this will be harder for me to do than anything I have ever done before, and I want to be able to look back on this time and see just how far I have come.

Let's consider this the starting line. After all, everyone has to start somewhere.

My name is Jenelle. I am 25 years old, and when I started this journey in February of 2015, I weighed 392.2 pounds, the heaviest I have ever been in my life.

I have always been a heavy person. I can blame it on genetics, I can blame it anything I want to, but the fact is...I am a food addict. Not just a person who loves to eat, but an actual addict. Every forkful of pasta that I eat is equal to a junkie injecting heroin into their veins. I know I have a problem, and I have tried to fix it in the past. I have been on every diet conceivable, even the dangerous ones:

-No dairy, corn, nuts, or wheat
-Atkins
-South Beach
-Weight Watchers
-Starvation (went through a phase in High School where I wouldn't eat breakfast or lunch and would only eat dinner)
-Paleo
-Pills
-Injections
-Liquid diets

As I said, I've tried it all. With every diet I managed to lose a little bit, but gained it all back and then some. I'm at a point where I just can't do it by myself anymore.

In February I made the decision to have Gastric Vertical Sleeve surgery. The Gastric Sleeve surgery is a weight loss surgery where the majority of your stomach is removed, leaving only about a banana sized pouch of your original stomach.


The thought of this surgery is scary for anyone, but I need to be unable to physically eat more than a certain amount of food in order to lose the life threatening amount of weight on my body.

So, there you have it. This is my journey from Morbidly Obese to happy and healthy. I want this to be a forum where I can post not only my successes and hurdles, but to post recipes that I've tried and tips for a healthier lifestyle, as I experience them first hand.

Enjoy the journey!
Jenelle