Brunch with the Smetheram Gals!

I love spending time with my friends.

Today I got to spend time with my dear, loving, powerful, forthright, exceedingly talented friend Alice (on the right) and her wickedly funny sister Helen. We went to Dexter's in Winter Park...very yummy but very loud! Lots of families with kids, the background music was loud and the overall acoustics aren't conducive for relaxed chatting.

All that said, it was still wonderful to spend time with Alice and a special treat seeing Helen but just didn't seem like heart to heart gal time. We had a lot of catching up to do.

Helen had a wonderful idea...I should include the recipes I've made and loved on my blog spot. I'll start today!

I found this recipe in the Rachel Ray magazine. I like 5 item recipes.

SPINACH RICOTTA PIE

10 oz frozen spinach thawed

15 oz part skim ricotta cheese

8 oz garlic herb spreadable cheese

4 eggs

1 can artichokes quartered (then cut smaller)

Preheat oven to 375

Spray a casserole or pie pan with Pam.

Put the thawed spinach in a kitchen towel and ring out the water, set aside.

In a large bowl combine ricotta, spreadable cheese, eggs, a pinch of salt and pepper. I combined these ingredients with the whisk end of my immersion blender or you can just use a hand whisk!

Add spinach and artichokes to the egg/cheese mixture.

Pour in the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. The top edges should be golden brown.

YUMMY!

When I make it again I might add some cheddar cheese either in the mixture or on top.

This will be my meal this week. To make it easy on myself I make a meal on Saturday or Sunday and that's what I have for dinner the entire week...or until it runs out! Some people think this is crazy. For me it's idiot proof.

After work I go to the gym to work out, by the time I get home it's often 7:30pm. If I had to worry about what I was eating I'd grab something from a store or restaurant which wouldn't be as good for me or as economical. Now I make something yummy and I actually look forward to it every night that week. If for some reason I feel DONE with my weekly creation I will go out to eat but that really doesn't happen very often.

As for my eating today...

I am head hungry.

Head hungry means that my stomach isn't giving me the hunger signals but my mind and mouth are craving food. I want to eat. I want to snack. I want to graze. I have not given in to my head hunger.

My plan after finishing this blog is to clean a little, get ready for belly dancing and drink! I'm drinking sugar free, caffeine free iced green tea. It's really good. If I have time before belly dancing I might also go to Dunkin' Donuts for an iced coffee...I always consider my large decaf iced coffee with four equal and just a little cream as a treat! (Good info if you're ever looking to treat me to something!)

So I'm off to finish my day...clean, belly dance, have Morgan and AD over to watch a movie and eat some baked brie and spinach ricotta pie. That's the plan!

How are you doing?

Why a blog?

I've been thinking a lot about my weight lose journey lately.

Do I know anything that can help others?

Is there someone who can relate to me and my story?

In case the answer to the two questions above is yes, I've decided to start a blog.

I've lost close to 200 pounds...I say close to because from day to day the number of pounds lost can change! For the most part I've maintained a 190-200 pound weight lose since 2006.

How did I do it?

I ate right and exercised....

I also had the help of a gastric bypass.

Was the gastric bypass the cure?

NO.

The bypass gave me a head start and allowed me to have hope, but when push comes to shove and you're a few years post op the surgery does you little to no good. I'm constantly reminded that to be at a healthy weight the secret is not a secret at all...

I need to eat right and exercise!

I exercise 3 days a week at the gym and I take a belly dancing class as another form of getting my body and energy moving.

For the most part I eat right.

Today wasn't an "eatin' right" kind of a day.

I've nibbled tonight. For me nibbling is a sickness. I lose count of what I've eaten when I just keep shoveling little bits into my mouth.

I feel good about my eating when I eat what my body craves. For the last few weeks it's craved vegetables. I made a vegetable stew. I made my own cauliflower soup and braised cabbage. YUM.

I don't always eat what my body craves.

Sometimes I succumb to what my obsession craves. My obsession never craves healthy things. My obsession craves sweets or crunchy foods. Because there is so many sugar free options, I can easily feed by sugar craving. For the crunchy demon I normally go for nuts...very crunchy and I rationalize that they are also protein.

The surgery "fixed" my stomach but not my mind. The food craving...obsession is still there. I must deal with it on a daily basis. That's what this blog is about.