Personal Wonton Lasagnas

I have had a mad craving for some kind of pasta dish lately.  Save for a few bites here and there Ive avoided pasta since my surgery due to the high carbs in most pastas.  I came across a recipe where someone used wontons as a substitute for noodles.  I liked the idea and used it for this recipe.  I liked how it easily made individual servings so I could package them up in individual cups for future meals.

Personal Wonton Lasagnas

Servings: 12

Total cooking time: 15 Minutes

Ingredients:

8 oz. Part Skim Ricotta

5 oz. Freshly Grated Parmesan

1 Egg

1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 3/4 Cups Pasta Sauce (look for a heart smart variety)

1 Pound 96% Lean Ground Beef

8 oz. Freshly Grated Part Skim Low Moisture Mozzarella

36 Small Square Wonton Wrappers (Look for them in the produce section)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF
2. Combine the Ricotta, Parmesan, Egg, Italian Seasoning, Garlic Powder, & 1/4 Cup of the pasta sauce in a bowl and set aside.
   
3. Brown the ground beef, drain, and set aside.
4. Spray 12 texas muffin style muffin cups with cooking spray.
5. In each cup place two wonton wrappers and press firmly onto bottom and against sides of each cup.
6. Divide the ground beef evenly amongst the 12 muffin cups (Roughly 1 1/2 Tablespoons per cup).
   
7. Top ground beef with 1 Tablespoon of sauce in each cup.
   
8. Top each cup with another wonton wrapper and press down.
9. Place 1-2 Tablespoons of cheese mixture in each cup. 
   
10. Top with another Tablespoon of sauce.
11. Divide the mozzarella evenly amongst the 12 muffin cups (Roughly 1 1/2 Tablespoons per cup) and sprinkle with additional Italian Seasoning if desired.
12. Bake for 15 minutes.
13. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
    

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

Calories: 264

Fat: 11.7 Grams

Carbs: 17.7 Grams

Protein: 22.5 Grams

Taco Bake

     In my search for bariatric friendly recipes taco seems to be a reoccurring theme in the flavor department.  I came across quite a few taco themed dishes but i think this one might be one of my favorites.  Funny enough I came across the recipe I modified to make this while searching for a pizza alternative.

Taco Bake

Servings: 8

Total cooking time: 50 Minutes

This recipe is modified from the original which can be found here.

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces fat free cream cheese, softened
• 3 egg whites or 6T egg white substitute
• 1/3 cup fat-free half-and-half
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 8 ounces reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 lb 96% lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce

Special Ingredient Notes:
     Remember, like I said last time, it is healthier and cheaper to buy your cheese as a block and shred/grate it yourself.

Directions:

1. Beat the cream cheese and egg whites until smooth.
2. Add the cream and 1 teaspoon of seasoning from the packet.
3. Grease a 9"x13" baking dish; spread the crust mix over the bottom as evenly as possible.  It will be runny.
   
4. Bake at 375ºF, 25-30 minutes.
5. Let stand 5 minutes.
   
6. Brown the ground beef.
7. Drain fat.
8. Mix the remaining taco seasoning together and tomato sauce together and then mix together with ground beef.
9. Spread mixture over the cream cheese base.
10. Top with cheese.
    
11. Reduce oven to 350ºF and bake for 20 minutes.
12. Allow to cool slightly as I found this makes slicing and serving easier.
    

Nutritional Information Per Serving:
Calories: 199
Fat: 8.2 Grams
Carbs: 6.4 Grams
Protein: 22.6 Grams

Created using My Fitness Pal App

Products I Like: Barimelts

     So as you may or may not know; when you go through bariatric surgery one of the end results is that your body doesn't absorb as much when whatever you take in travels from your stomach to its final destination.  This becomes a double edged sword because where as your body absorbs less of the fat from what you eat it also absorbs less of the nutrients from what you eat.  This leads to you having to take multivitamins.  And Im sorry, a Flintstones chewable isn't going to cut it.  You have to find a multivitamin especially designed for bariatric needs.  This means the have a higher concentration of all your needed nutrients.

     I tried at least two different bariatric multi-vitamins and couldn't find one I liked.  Most are like giant chewable horse tablets, and they can be rather chalky.  I even had a few times when putting the monster tablets on my tongue made me feel like I wanted to throw up.  Apparently for those that have gastric bypass (a process where your stomach is cut down much smaller than mine was in the SIPS procedure) it can also lead to you feeling like you just ate a meal as the chalky goodness fills up your little pouch sized stomach.  Now remembering to take a pill/supplement on a regular basis is hard enough for me.  Adding in the fun of it not tasting good and occasionally making me feel ill does not help at all.  So I started searching for a better alternative.

     Paul had picked up a gummy multivitamin for him to take and I started searching for a bariatric version of gummy vitamins as I thought they might be easier to take.  Unfortunately I did not have any luck.  I started looking for alternatives and stumbled across:

     Barimelts are a dissolvable multivitamin making them much easier to take.  I thought and thought about ordering a bottle of the vitamins but before I did I wanted to check in with the nutritionist at my surgeons office.  I sent him the link the the website I had stumbled across along with the nutritional information of the Barimelts.

     I learned after emailing my nutritionist (who has been very patient, supportive, and helpful in my new life) that my requirements for Vitamins A, D, and K were elevated to the point that a standard bariatric Multivitamin would not typically meet my needs (hence no Flintstones Chewables).  I required 10,000 iu vitamin A, 3000 IU vitamin D, & 300 mcg Vitamin K.  I would need to take 4 of these a day to reach these levels. That would be fine for vitamin A and D but would exceed my needs for vitamin K. by about 300 mcg daily.  I was a little discouraged, not knowing if too much vitamin K was such a bad thing, so I held out on ordering till I met up with my surgeon for my follow up appointment.  When I talked to my DR during my follow up he told me the vitamins would be just fine for me to take so I ordered a bottle that evening.  They arrived soon after and I loved them.  They have a great berry flavor and just like they state, dissolve rather quickly, making them easier to take.

     BariMelts.com offers quite a few options for your bariatric needs.  Outside of the basic multivitamin they have a Iron+Vitamin C option as well as D3, Calcium, B12, and Biotin.  I just placed a refill order and added a bottle of the biotin to try as it is a great supplement for promoting nail and hair growth, which is a good thing because the malabsorption of nutrients due to weight loss surgery can also lead to hair thinning.

    So I would definitely recommend you check out BariMelts.com for your bariatric supplement needs if you are planning on having or have already had weight loss surgery.  

     

Turkey Parmesan Meatloaf Muffins

     Since having my SIPS procedure back in December I have had to find new recipes to make that are high in protein while also being low in fat and carbs.  It also helps to find recipes my partner likes so that I'm not just cooking for one.  Since I need to pack up my meals for work I also look for meals that are easily divided up into servings.  I have found help from many websites and even on Pinterest.  I came across this recipe on Pinterest and made a few changes.  Hope you enjoy!!

Turkey Parmesan Meatloaf Muffins

Servings: 17-18 standard muffins

Total cooking time: Aprox. 25 minutes

This recipe was modified from the original recipe found here.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground turkey 
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg whites
• 8 tablespoons panko style breadcrumbs
• ¾ teaspoon dried basil
• ¾ teaspoon dried thyme
• ¾ teaspoon oregano
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ a small onion, chopped small or grated
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1/3 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 cup (12T) parmesan cheese shredded
• 1 1/4 cup (1T per muffin) pasta sauce
• 1 1/4 cup (1T per muffin) part skim mozzarella cheese shredded

Special Ingredient Note:
     When it comes to shredded cheeses I prefer to buy a block of cheese and grate/shred it myself.  Yes those pre-cut bags may be time savers but they also come with extra preservatives to make them last longer and part of this new life for me is about putting better things in my body.  Also if you compare the price per volume you'll be pleasantly surprised to learn its actually cheaper to buy the cheese as a block.

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350. 
2. Lightly mist a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, egg, egg whites, breadcrumbs, basil, thyme, oregano, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese and lightly mix together. Do not over handle.
4. Form the meat mixture evenly into your prepared muffin tin.  I used a cookie/ice cream scoop to evenly dispense the meat mixture.  
5. Spread 1 tablespoon of the pasta sauce evenly over the tops of each muffin. 
6. Bake for 20 minutes and remove from the oven. 
7. Top each muffin with about a tablespoon of shredded mozzarella cheese and then return to the oven for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melted. 

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 190

Fat: 10.4 grams

Carbs: 6.8 grams

Protein: 18.9

My leftovers (After feeding my partner and neighbor)
all divided to make easy grabs for my meals while at work

*Created using My Fitness Pal

The Tools I Use The Most

I think being able to track your progress is important.  These are some of the tools I use in my new life to monitor and maintain my progress as well as daily needs.  Some of them I have used in my previous weight loss journeys but they all help me in their own special way.

Withings Pulse O2

Withings Pulse O2:
This activity tracker is really at the top of my device list.  It tracks how many steps you take in a day, how high you have climbed, how far you have traveled, and how many calories you have actively burned in a day, your heart rate, blood oxygen level, and it also doubles as my watch.  Of course this might be an issue when my Apple Watch ships in June.  It also has a sleep monitoring mode which is great for seeing what your sleep pattern is like.  It tracks your movements while you sleep and then, after communicating with the Withings Health Mate App (see below), shows you how often you were awake, lightly sleeping, and deeply sleeping.
You can learn more about the device and order one here.

Withings Wireless
Blood Pressure Monitor

Withings Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor:
I use to dread checking my blood pressure because it meant seeing a bad number.  Then I received this gem as a present and the geek in me took over and now I actually enjoy adding this information to my health profile.  The device connects via bluetooth to your iOS and/or Android device and communicates your blood pressure information to the Health Mate App (see below).
You can learn more about the device and order one here.

Withings Wireless Scale

Withings Wireless Scale:
Ive never been excited to be able to weigh myself.  The Withings Wireless Scale connects via bluetooth to your iOS and/or android device and communicates your weight and BMI to the Withings
Health Mate App (See Below).  It also has the option of using your homes wifi connection as well.  Tithings has made some interesting updates to the scale to include a weather forecast so you'll know if you should expect rain that day.  I think in the future I might upgrade this scale to the newer Smart Body Analyzer which also tracks Fat Mass and Air Quality.
You can learn more about this device and order one here.
You can learn more about the Smart Body Analyzer here.

Withings Health Mate App

Withings Health Mate App:
The brains of all the Withings products.  This app communicates with all the Withings Products and manages their updates.  It is also the main platform for organizing the data that the Withings devices collect.  It's main dashboard collects all your information into four main categories: Weight, Activity, Sleep, & Heart.  They put these four categories together into a cute picture of a butterfly with each category being represented by a wing.  As you track and reach goals you fill up each wing with its assigned color to give you an idea of where you need to focus on more.  It also has a Leaderboard page where you can set up a friendly contest with friends who have the Withings Health App to see who can reach the highest amount of steps walked each week.
You can view more about this app and download it for your iOS device (Sorry Im an apple snob) here.

Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker App
by MyFitnessPal

Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker App by MyFitnessPal:
This little gem has been with me for quite a long while.  Back during one of my more successful weight loss journeys I learned how important it is to be aware of what you are eating because those "This can't be that bad for me" foods can really creep up on you.  The App communicates with the website and tracks your daily caloric intake as well as weight, exercise, and water consumption.  It has a very extensive library to locate foods nutritional values.  This comes in very handy when you
are dining out.  If you are eating a prepackaged product you can use the camera on your smart phone or tablet to scan the barcode on the food item and it will search its extensive library for stand then log it to your diary so you can keep track of your daily dietary needs.  You can also set goals and it will let you know where you are with those goals.  For example it is important that I eat at least 80 grams of protein a day.  As I enter in what I have eaten it will also give me a daily total of my calorie, fat, carbohydrate, and Protein intake (as well as many other nutritional values) and let you know where you stand in relation to your goals.  It also has a great recipes function which has come in very handy since I now try to make healthier meals at home that fit into my new dietary needs. You can enter the specific ingredients in a meal and then specify how many servings it makes and the app will figure out the math for you. Once again you can use the camera function to identify specific ingredients even by brand name as the nutritional values can differ.
You can view more about this app and download it for your iOS device here.

     Well there you have it.  These are some of the tools I use the most to help me with reach, maintain, and monitor my health needs!

My new life as a bariatric patient

This will hopefully be my longest post but you have to have a starting point.

Having my sleep study done

     Like many I have fought weight issues through most of my adult life.  I tried many different diets and fads and nothing seemed to help me maintain the weight loss.  At the beginning of 2014 my partner, Paul, and I started exploring the possibility of weight loss surgery.  Around July we learned about Bariatric Specialist of NC.  We went to one of their weight loss seminars and decided to move forward.  After really thinking about it we decided to pick a relatively new procedure called SIPS.  It is essentially a hybrid procedure between having gastric bypass and gastric sleeve and it was showing a higher success rate than the previously more popular Gastric Bypass procedure.  You can actually read more about it here.  From that point I started the long process of completing my pre-work.  This involved, blood test, psychological exams, sleep studies, as well as a few other test and then finally meeting with my surgeon to pick, plan, and schedule my surgery as well as figuring out funding for said surgery since my insurance did not cover the procedure.  I also had to get everything in line to take a two month medical leave from work.  I took the maximum amount of time because I wanted to make sure I really had my new eating and living habits down before I returned to my crazy job of retail management.

Me at my heaviest (397 LBs)
On December 6th 2014

     On December 6th I had my final appointment with my surgeon and my surgery was scheduled for December 17th.  That night I started getting everything in line for the 17th.  I had to start a weight loss shake diet the next day to help shrink my liver so they would have room to move around.  I put things in place at work for my leave of absence and prepared myself for what is quite possibly one of the biggest events in my life.

At the hospital, about to be
taken back for surgery

   
     On December 17th Paul and I headed to the hospital and I was prepped and put under for my procedure.  During my pre-work it was determined that I had gallstones pretty bad so my gallbladder was set to be removed at the same time.  The bariatric surgery went extremely well but my gallbladder turned out to be a very annoying pain.  Unfortunately my gallbladder was severely infected.  My surgeon actually used the term "decayed" to describe it.  It turns out that I had had multiple infections over the years and it resulted in my gallbladder burning my liver.  This caused problems with my gallbladder removal as my liver had trouble healing and sealing after the removal of my gallbladder.  The day after my surgery I was released from the hospital and sent to my surgeons main office where they preformed a scan to check on things.  This is when they realized that things weren't sealing properly from my gallbladder.  This resulted in me being admitted to another hospital to have a drainage bag put in to help drain bile while my liver attempted to heal.  After a few days they still weren't seeing the results they were hoping for and I was transferred to yet another hospital where my surgeon and a specialist worked together to go in yet again and put some stints in to help with my recover.  Finally on December 23rd I was released to go home.  For a little while I was actually worried that I would be spending Christmas in the hospital.

Finally home and drained!

     From that point I started to have issues with swelling as well as breathing and moving issues.  After having a week full of surgery my body had taken on a lot of water and I had fluid everywhere including my lungs.  On December 30th I went back to BSNC for my first follow up where finally had my drainage bag removed.  We learned that since my surgery I had lost 40 pounds.  My surgeon also gave me permission to take my diarrhetic, which I had previously been taking for blood pressure before my surgery.  That must have been exactly what my body needed because by the next night I was able to go for a walk with Paul and my dog Sirius without discomfort and my breathing became much better.
 
     After that I started 2015 by learning my new eating habits and closely following my doctors orders.  After another month and a half I was cleared to return to work and started back on February 17th.

Me early 2014 compared to April 2015.

     Its now four months to the day since my surgery and my life is completely different.  I am now down a total of 130 pounds.  Im wearing pants that are 6" smaller than I was wearing in December as well as shirts that are two sizes smaller.  Ive been this big before and still have somewhere between 60-90 pounds id like to loose so that I am at my ideal body weight for my height.  The best part though is that for the first time I am completely comfortable in my body.  It use to depress me to step on the scale or look in the mirror and now all I see is the positive changes that are happening.  Ive spent a lot of time researching other blogs for recipes that fit into my new dietary needs and have loved the results.  This lead me to the decision to start this blog where I can document my experiences as well as share the tools I use in my new life as well as share some rather delicious recipes that anyone can enjoy.  Paul has actually loved everything I have made from Chili to Oreo Cheesecake bites!  Hope you all enjoy and keep up!