A New New Start... Intro night

Okay, so I'm at it again... a new start... for the third.. fourth? ... okay I've lost track of how many times I have done this new start thing.  However, this time is different.  This time, instead of it being me going it along and trying to force myself into something new I have a team behind me.  My husband (hopefully), my Dad (who's taken this journey recently) and the hospital team... including a kinesiologist, nutritionist, RNP, to name a few.

I applied to be in the Bariatric Nutritional program put on through our hospital Health Sciences North back in April.  Leading up to a routine visit to my GP I had a plan in place.  I had done my research, had my info printed out and had rehearsed what I was going to say.  Turns out I didn't need any of it.  I requested that my GP refer me to the Bariatric Program.  He asked if I wanted to do the surgery program (where they either input a sleeve in your stomach or they staple part of it off, making it super small).  I quickly (and I mean quickly) declined the surgery route.  No amount of words on this screen could possibly make you understand the level of fear I have with the prospect of any kind of surgery. His response... a very direct "good, because it's something I don't recommend for you". Whew. He asked if I knew what the program entails, I advised that yes, I just watched my Dad complete the entire program and saw what good it did for him.  The doc filled out my referral and faxed it off.  Let the nervous excitement begin!

Within a few weeks I received my package from the hospital in the mail.  With a boatload of info to complete! Let's do this!  I scheduled an appointment with my GP again so that he could complete his part of the paperwork in June, completed my blood work (I detest that almost as much as surgery) and faxed off the paperwork to the hospital.  I this point I proceeded to stalk the mailman and haunt my answering machine until August when the call finally came that I made it into the program! Sweet Baby Jesus and I thought I was nervous before!!

I had my first orientation on August 30th, 2016.... I'll fill you in on that one next...

Back Into the Swing of Things

Okay, so it's been a while! A long while, so I will give you a quick update on what has been going on... my beautiful daughter turned one, I turned 29, we celebrated our fourth year of marriage and a bunch of other wonderful things have happened along the way!

One of those things happened just last week! After many many loving people in my life shared their stories and urged me to take a look at alternative medical care I finally bit the bullet so to speak and went to see a naturopath.  I've been battling various ailments and ongoing issues that I've always been told by regular G.P.'s "here, take this pill and it will sort itself out".  There comes a time in your life where you get tired of hearing that line and want to try and take a bit more control over your own future and get the viewpoint of someone else to help get you to where you want to be.

So, I made the appointment and spent two hours sitting with a naturopath, pouring over every personal and medical aspect of my life for the last 29 years trying to get a starting point to find out what is going on with the inner me.  It was enlightening to say the least!  I was given a totally different viewpoint on my life and the things that have gone wrong and right and how it has impacted where I am now.  I have also found out that there may be absolutely simple fixes for the issues that I am currently battling in my life, like stress, sleep loss, weight loss plateauing and well, so to put it out there... and sorry love to make this public, loss of libido.  It is what it is and that's what I'm facing right now.

The great thing is that this naturopath I have started seeing is wanting to work on things right away! She gave me some melatonin to try and reset my sleep cycle, which has already been fantastic! I think the last four nights have been the best sleep I have had in almost a year!  She's prescribed some natural herbal supplements to help level out my hormones, which for any mom reading this blog, you know that as soon as that amazing little bundle is born our system can just go completely off course!

The other thing that she has done is she has recommended that I begin a four week elimination diet! Needless to say, after speaking with a dozen people that I know have already gone to a naturopath I suspected that this would be in my future.   Was I worried about it? Hell yes! I love food! I live for food! Food is the longest relationship that I have had! Yes, we've had our fights, and at times there have been some of us that have not spoken for long periods of time, such as my six year divorce from meat, but we've always come back together!

So when I was told that this was the best possible way to rule out my system being off track due to a food allergy or something along those lines I decided to go for it!  Because at this point, what do I have to lose?  I need to get my health on track, not just for me but for my husband and my kids.  I've come to the point where I want to make the decision to be here for a good long time, and that in that time I want to be the most complete me I can be!  So, starting tomorrow, and for the next four weeks I will be doing my very best to stick with the elimination diet plan.  Which includes no dairy, no wheat, no chocolate, no coffee and no red meat.  Which for anyone who really knows me, these are my food groups.

Today I took Em and we ventured out to the grocery store to make sure that I have plenty of fresh veggies and fruit as well as frozen options of both so that I can whip up various meal options as well as snacks for work since that is where I tend to have the most dietary issues.  For those people who may possibly read this blog that need to shop gluten-free, kudos to you! This was the hardest shopping trip I have ever had! Trying to shop gluten free that still didn't have cornstarch or potato in it was quite the experience!  And holy cow this stuff is expensive!  I know that this is only my first experience but I can honestly say that this has changed the way that I look at certain foods!

So, to get this new journey started (and really this is me ending this now because the melatonin spray just kicked in and momma needs some sleep!) Please stay with me over the next four weeks while I give you the ups and downs, the highs and lows and the ins and outs of what one person goes through on her first look at an elimination diet.  I will try and give you a day to day look at how this is going and hopefully share some great news about how things can change when you change yourself and your habits!

A bit of background for you...

I decided that it is time to give you a bit of an idea of who you are reading from... so stay with me lovely people as I fill you in on a little bit of me and my journey so far!

 I think one of the hardest parts of this journey has been getting it into my head that I AM NOT ON A DIET and that I am not restricting my eating.  My journey is a change in lifestyle and a healthier way of eating.  It has been better this time around.  

Now let me clarify "this time around" for you.  Not that I would be embarrassed or anything at all if this is something that I had to try multiple times, because I do know people who have had to do that and hey, applaud yourselves because you've come back to it!

When I say that this is something that I have come back to it is because after my husband and I were married and started trying for a baby we found it really difficult, not in the logistics because believe you me we got entirely too many tips in that area!  For us it just wasn't happening.  There was too much work stress, too much financial stress and too much family stress.  And to top it all off I was at the heaviest that I had been in ten years.  Not a high point for me.

So, after going to see our doctor and having to answer the obvious "well, are you having sex" question...and yes a doctor will ask that and YES I did sit there dumbstruck for a full minute before asking if that really is a problem for some people.  Just an FYI, after talking to my GP I have found out that for a lot of first time parents having issues conceiving, the main issue is that they aren't having enough sex! Der! Isn't that step one!

Anyways, back to the topic at hand... that wasn't our issue (too much info, I know) so I had to go through a whole slew of questions from the doctor as to what could be going on and we narrowed it down to waaaay too much stress and simply that I need to lose a bit of weight to get my body back in balance.

I understood the stress part, but the weight thing bothered me.  I didn't think that I was that big, and I didn't think it was effecting our ability to conceive.  But after going to my first Weight Watchers meeting with a friend of mine at her suggestion to try it out, I heard a story from another young lady that was in my same position, and was PREGNANT!  I was changed, I was convinced... I was thrilled! I signed up!

It was really tough in the beginning because well, if only one person is on board, no one is on board.  My husband was really not into it the first time around, but he was "supportive" as he sat eating his big back of chips on the couch.  I did it though, and in time he did start eating healthier meals with me so it helped both of us in a way.  The weight came off, about twenty pounds of it and along came this kid...

I like to think that we made a pretty cute one.  

Within six weeks of me having him, I was back at meetings and gearing up to lose the weight again, which as it turns out, me being pregnant turned out to be a really good diet since I was so sick I actually lost weight during my pregnancy and came out of the hospital lighter than before I conceived!  * Please don't worry though, my son was a healthy seven pounder!

I tried to tell my husband that if we have another five or six kids I could probably be a super model buuuuut he doesn't seem to be on board with the plan.  Can't blame a girl for trying!

Needless to say I ended up getting pregnant again! Woo! And to our delight we had a little girl...

It's been great! But now I am determined to get back on track and to become the healthier me that I want to be! Not so that I can fit into skinny jeans or become a marathon runner because let's face it, when I run I look like Phoebe from friends and NO ONE should ever see that!  I want to be a healthier me so that I can be there for my kids later on and be able to watch them become the awesome parents I hope they will be......

BUT not for another twenty years at least!

Keep with me...the best stories are to come... like how my best friend knew I was pregnant both times, before me or my doctor got the note...

Stay tuned!

Chicken Paella Recipe

I've been working on some healthier eating habits for dinners for the family this past week and have posted some pics on Facebook of the yumminess so I thought that I would post some recipes on here for your enjoyment! 

Last nights dinner was Chicken Paella, something I thought was really hard but it turns out that it's super easy! Especially in the crock pot! My house smelled fantastic all day which made this so much better!

Ingredients:

1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken thighs

2 medium fresh tomatoes - chopped

1 medium onion - chopped

1 medium uncooked bell pepper (I went with red for some color) - chopped

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 cloves garlic - chopped

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp turmeric

1/3 cup frozen green peas - I used a full cup since Xan loves peas at the moment

2 cups uncooked white rice - you could also substitute quinoa for this, could be yummy!

Put everything but the rice and peas in a large crock pot.  Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.

Add the peas and rice, stir and cook about another 15 minutes.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups per serving with 1 chicken thigh per serving.

For those of you following this would be a 10 point meal.

It turned out absolutely great!  Just a tip, careful with the turmeric, I got some on my hands and it most definitely turns everything it touches yellow!

Try it out and let me know how yours turned out!

Getting Back on Track!

I was so on a roll! I was doing great! And then Christmas happened! Crud!!!

It happens every year, we all know it does since it happens to nearly everyone! And if you say it doesn't happen to you well then either you have super powers or you're just plain awesome!

I was doing super awesome with my Weight Watchers goals, I started the online version just after my daughter was born and was steadily losing every week which was great! This time around I had actually kept up with my tracking and was making smart choices.  Buuuuut, then my Christmas baking started and for some nutty reason I feel the need to sample all my baking to make sure it passes muster before sending it out to people since heaven forbid the double chocolate cookies are dry!

Since my Mum passed away in July 2011, I have made it my goal to drastically cut back on all things unhealthy in my life.  I've majorly cut back on what I drink (not that there was a problem or anything like that, it's just really who needs a glass of wine with dinner every other night or every weekend for that matter).  Ps.. we found some awesome non-alcoholic wine at Costco that is more like a sparkling juice that I am in love with!

I've tried to cut out at much stress in my life as possible, but really with a two year old and a new baby there is going to be some stress so I've amended that to just try and roll with the stress a bit easier.

And last but not least I have re-joined Weight Watchers in an effort to get my weight and health to a better level.  So like I said it WAS going great but then the holidays happened.  I think at this point in my life I've come to realize that every Christmas this is most likely going to happen, so when the scale goes up for two weeks in a row I just need to suck it up and move on!! 

If you know what you're going to be seeing it somehow doesn't make it as hard to bear.  So, now that the holidays are well behind me I am getting back on track! The last three nights I have made a conscientious effort to make healthier meals for us and it's been pretty darn great! I'm loving the improved recipes that WW online has!

Friday night I went with some flavorful chicken with polenta cakes and a sauteed baby bok choy and spinach salad on the side.

Last night I made some super yummy Moroccan pork chops with whole wheat couscous and apricots...something I will most certainly be making again!

I'm trying to keep with the plan ahead so you don't get surprised method...which seems to work! So in keeping with that, breakfast and lunch are already planned out, now just need to come up with something for dinner!

I have some more crafty creations and some yummy recipes coming your way to the blog soon! Stay tuned and stay healthy!