LaTonga's Weight Loss Journey

I have a weakness for red velvet cake... It is my absolute favorite. This Christmas I had dinner at my house and of course, I did not get my red velvet cake. After talking to a cousin of mine, I decided that I would go to Duncan doughnuts and buy me one red velvet drizzle doughnut... I believe in occasionally treating myself.. Denying myself is definitely not the answer.

 Today is my first day off for Christmas holidays. I have noticed when I have idle time I often snack. So I am using my alarm on my phone to assist me in planning my meals. If my alarm does not go off, food will not go in my mouth. I know it sounds crazy however it works for me! Head hunger and emotional eating are not going to make me sabotage my new lifestyle! 

Matthew 19:26    states that  But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible .” This past week has been extremely  busy. I really felt like a slice of pie. Everyone wanted a piece of me. My job, my child, my friends, my relationship, my church, ok.. I know you get the point.. every where I looked I had so much to do. I know that with God all things are possible, I looked at my schedule and realized that I was NOT placing myself as a priority. Prior to wls, one area that was my weakness was doing things for me... Placing myself and my needs before others.  I quickly analyzed my time and reevaluated it: 1. Take type to go to the gym( I am paying for a membership , so I might as well use it... Who cares if it is cold, once  you are in the gym... Your body will adjust. 2. Throw away all useless snacks that are in my house. Bring that I was out of school for the Christmas hoilidays, I bought extra items that...

My treat for today... I do not eat these on a regular basis; however, they are so yummy!!

Thanksgiving is often the time people sit and look and reflect over the year. As I was strolling through previous entries, I compared my plate from last year to this year.Just like last year, I carefully measured everything @ 1 cup and a 1/2 of food. I also had one little piece of red velvet. That is my favorite cake and this year I actually ate the frosting. I only partake in cake 3 times a year, Easter, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. As usual, I enjoyed being around my friends and family. Later on my daughter and I played JUST DANCE for  the WII. Tomorrow is back to my normal routine.

I love adding flavored syrups to my protein shakes and to my coffee. I found these great bargains at Ross and Tj max for $5.00 on clearance! I can't wait to experiment with them in the morning... Watch out Starbucks! 

Yippee,  Today, I participated in my first 5k... You never know what you CAN do until you TRY!!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV) states: 16  Be joyful always;  17  pray continually;  18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.  Today my daughter Layla gave her life to Christ and is going to be baptized. Layla is seven years old and has been talking to me constantly about becoming a member of the church. Today when she walked out, I realized my prayers have been answered, and that my daughter is growing up in Christ. I always pray and ask God for direction as it relates to parenting and all things that I do. Proverbs 3:6 states: In all thy ways  acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths . I am a single-parent and sometimes I find myself second-guessing my decisions. I thank  God for everything that he has done and everything that he continues to do for me and my family. This last month has been hectic, but thank God ....trouble does not last always!  As the month of November is here, I am th...

 Today must be my day to catch up on my blog post! I saw this in Food Lion earlier and couldn't wait to get home and try it! This is perfect for my morning coffee! When the weather is cool I find myself drinking more decaffeinated coffee in order to get in my liquids for the day.

Today I have been craving sweets, so I stop by the vitamin shop, and purchased a Quest bar.If you have not tried the new Quest bar chocolate brownie...you  don't know what you're missing.... DELICIOUS. I took the Quest  bar and placed it into the microwave for 12 seconds...warm,gooey, melts your mouth. It tastes  just like a brownie! 

Philippians 4:6-7 states New Living Translation (NLT) 6  Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus . This past month has been filled with lots of challenges. I have had 4 trips to the ER and two hospitalizations. I had a female  procedure on Aug 30, had an allergic reaction to some antibiotics which lands me in the hospital , had a kidney stone, gallstones and gallbladder removal, had a small case of  Atelectasis (at-uh-LEK-tuh-sis) is a condition in which one or more areas of my  lungs collapse or don't inflate properly, which unfortunately, lands me back into the hospital for 3 days.  Whenever, I get sick, it always causes me to reflect and to be thankful for all that God has done for me. It draws me closer to God. I...

Tonight I am really feeling myself. I have been home all day relaxing. This past couple of weeks have been busy for me. I decided that today I was going to relax and enjoy myself around the house. Look at pictures on Istagram, search Facebook, watch Netflix, read a book, organize closets. I wanted to do the things that I enjoy but ALWAYS put on the back burner. My daughter and I sat around the house all day in PJ's. It is the little things in life that matters. All this week I have been ripping and running. It was time for some ME TIME!! As I reflect, I started looking at old pictures. Comparing the old and the new. I decided that I must look forward to the future and stop looking at the past. No bitter feelings..Keep it moving~ On my two year anniversary, I had a photo-shoot done in Duluth, Ga. Below are some of the pictures the photo shoot and current pictures from this summer. I call them my accountability photos. I love the way I look and must stay accountable for my ...

As you all know, I really enjoy cooking and experimenting with my food. Today was so busy for me, but I took time out to prepare lunch and dinner for the rest of the week. I cooked ground turkey  for taco salad for dinner and I also prepared my mini meatloafs. Tomorrow when I get home from work, I am going to sauté some yellow squash to complete my meal. The mini meat loaves are approximately 2 or 3 oz  and are extremely filling. Sometimes if I find myself hungry in between meals, I will warm up one of my many meatloafs... It's a great protein packed snack. My mom had this pan for years and would bake cornbread and little cakes in it.. Now I use it for portion control. 

I just wanted to share with you my issues that I have the last couple of weeks. I had a female surgery done that is totally unrelated to my gastric bypass surgery. I started having cramps in the lower part of my left abdomen one Saturday night. I went to the ER and was treated for urinary infection. I had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic that was given to me in the ER and was rushed through ambulance back to the hospital the following day.  I spent 24 hours in the hospital doing additional test to make sure that I didn't have any more problems. I came home and followed up with my regular primary care physician. Four days later I started having the same pain in my lower left abdomen. I drove myself to the hospital to the ER to see what was going on. Low and behold I have a kidney stone. Lesson learned: drink, drink, drink, and drink ,drink drink more water!!! I am supposed to follow up this Thursday with my gastric bypass doctor, hopefully by the end I will have pants this kid...

This is a late upload... Labor Day I made some Black beans and sweet potatoes slider burgers. I saw the recipe in Kroger and decided to give it a shot. I used black beans, sweet potatoes, and pepper jack cheese. I added a little bit of breadcrumbs to keep the burger together along with an egg. Put it on a slider bun with some ketchup and mustard... Very tasty! 

Last Friday I had day surgery (The surgery is totally unrelated to my gastric bypass). My doctor called to check on me yesterday and I asked when will I be able to exercise. She advised  me to wait until after my post op appointment with her.  My post op appointment with her is in a week and a half.I am about to lose my mind because I am not going to be able to exercise!!! I have been waking up at 4:45, And my body is conditioned to be at the gym by five a.m. Who ever  would have thought I would actually really really really really really really really miss exercising!!! I guess when your body is conditioned to do something it makes it easier to do! Therefore for the next week, no gym time for me. I guess I will catch up cleaning... Because at my house there is something always that needs to be cleaned. 

As you all know, I am a middle school teacher. So this year I decided to write SMART goals with my students. I shared with my classes that my three goals for this year are: 1. To get to work on time @ 7:10 everyday ( I am not a morning person) 2. To work out at least 3 days a week before I go to work. 3. To get to bed on time @ 10:30 during school nights. As I was exercising, I saw this no parking sign...I had to snap a picture of it. This year my motto is "no parking"... I got to keep things moving!!  Let me relate it to my weight loss, in order to achieve optimum levels of fitness... I must exercise, weigh my portions, get enough rest...I am good but everyone needs their rest...at least 7 good hours.  When I am tired and do not feel like exercising... "No parking". When I am pushed for time, and do not plan my meals... "No parking". When I am experiencing head hunger, " No parking". When I do not feel like Getting in adequate amount...

Whew! This summer has gone by too QUICK! Tomorrow is my first day back to work from summer break. So I spent my time planning and preparing meals for the week. I  prepared a chipotle chicken salad ( I had gone to the fresh market and bought some..so I decided to replicate and alter the recipe). I also prepared some stew beef, and some deviled eggs for my snacks.

My non scale victory for today's being able to sit in a doctors office chair with room to comfortably place my purse beside me... Yeah boy!!!

Omg!! This is Delicious!!! I bought it from the Fresh market.Gosh,I love that store !  I plan on trying to replicate it this weekend. The chicken salad contains chicken,corn, and black beans, and some type of chipotle dressing. It has a twist on regular chicken salad with a little bit of a kick! An excellent high-protein snack! 

Ok I need to vent..For some reason today, I have been just snacking, snacking, snacking! I had a craving for some chocolate..so I ate a nestle crunch bar( I love the thin mint...girl scout limited flavor). I generally only eat 1/2 of the bar...I ate the entire bar! It has 16 grams of sugar in it....did it make me sick? No! A little bit later on...I wanted some Funyuns...did I eat them? Of course, I did! I generally refrain from eating them because they give me gas. Today, they did not!  As I reflect over today, WHY did I felt the need to eat the junk food? I had received some bad news and I guess that was my  emotions kicking in...instead of my brain... Was I hungry? Nope! sure wasn't! I felt the need to be honest with you..I always am willing to share my ups and downs of my journey...emotional eating is real and it is one of the demons that I constantly battle with. Tomorrow is a new day...and I am going to be conscience of my emotions and not turn to food for comfort... Whe...

As you all know I am constantly on line searching for high protein recipes. I came across this recipe  on one of the sites that I frequently look at and I decided to give it a try: 1 cup fiber one cereal 1/2  cup peanut butter Two table spoons of cinnamon 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder  Take all ingredients and mix into balls then put in freezer to set.. They are sooo good.. Sort of crunchy and sweet.

I simply could not wait to try this recipe! I found  this recipe on Facebook several days ago. I saved it to my FB page and decided to give the recipe a try.The aroma in my house smelled like Pizza Hut! I loaded the pizzas with  cheese, pepperoni, turkey crumbles, Ham, and onions...yummy! And best of all, it tastes like a real pizza with crust! I had to sample it! Delicious and carefully portion it out in my containers.   Crust  1 (8 oz) package of full fat cream cheese, room temperature  2 eggs  1/4 tsp ground black pepper  1 tsp garlic powder  1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese  Topping  1/2 cup pizza sauce  1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese  toppings - pepperoni, ham, sausage, mushrooms, peppers  Garlic powder  Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly spay a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. With a handheld mixer, mix cream cheese, eggs, pepper, garlic powder and parmesan cheese until combined. Spread into baking dish...

Look what I found at Aldi.. An excellent high protein snack. $6.79 a bag, I cooked them tonight for dinner. I am going back tomorrow to get another bag . They sort of remind me of the grilled nuggets at chick fil a. 

Today I went for my two year check up with my Surgeon... I received a clean bill of health . He gave me four habits for success 1. Always measure your meals 2. NO SNACKiNG 3. Eat protein rich meals.. Get in the 60-90 grams of protein each day.. Stop eating soft foods that are full of calories and do not satisfy you 4. Exercise and get in 64 oz of water each day The long term effect of the gastric bypass is through food reduction! When one stops following the guidelines.. You will gain your weight back.. Follow the guidelines and you will not have to worry about regain . I have successfully maintained my weight for the last 2 years.. I must keep on pressing on!

Ugh! I made a poor choice and experienced dumping. When I dump, I get so sleepy and generally wake up very disoriented. I bought a fresh fruit tart from the Fresh Market. I ate 1/2 of the tart I did not think I would effect me Boy I wrong! It made me so sleepy! I went to sleep for 3 hours.Even though the tart was a fruit tart, the fruit is a  carbohydrate and it turns to sugar.. Which in turn causes my blood sugar to go up and causes me to go to sleep.. Wrong choice!  Another lesson well learned! I do not like how I feel after I dump, so I try to make the right choices.. I am human so sometimes you have to learn from your mistakes.. You better believe  I have learned my lesson!

Breakfast: a slice of turkey bacon,  3 oz. cinnamon raisin oatmeal, a slither of a nectarine Lunch: turkey burger slider, 2 oz broccoli and cheese  Snack: homegrown cucumbers and tomatoes with red wine vinegar Dinner: protein shake

I have always enjoyed eating burgers. Wendy's Big classic with a Kaiser bun extra ketchup, extra pickle, split in half is my absolute positive favorite. Since having gastric  bypass I had to find another healthy alternative. It is rare that I order a burger at any restaurant, so if I order one, I always split it in half and eat only 1/2 of the serving. I also take and only eat 1/2 of the 1/2 bun. While I was in Kroger, I came across these 100% whole  wheat slider mini buns. I use them with a full size turkey burger. Each mini bun is 70 calories and has 13 carbs It gives me a smaller version to eat yeah! Score!! 

Steinmark is my favorite store!!! I bought three dresses last summer all for under $20.00!  Being that I I wear a size 4 or 6.. I always find the best deals!! I am loving it!!! It cost me more to have the dresses altered than what I paid for them. So this season, hopefully, I will luck up and find some petites dresses that will not have to be altered. 

Oh snap! Oops! look what I found.. It's delicious! I take them and place them in the freezer and they taste Like a icee.. Getting my liquids is a challenge for me so I look for creative ways to get it in.. I bought the mix ins at Family  Dollar.. I saw two flavors... Watermelon and green apple.. They are kind of tart..I like it! I also bought   Motts apple sugar free mix in from dollar general.. I haven't tryed  them yet.. Will try them before the weekend is out.

Today I took my daughter, my niece,and nephew skating. So today I decided to give it a try. I always felt I was too big to skate. I always  sit down snd watch. today I decided to get off of the sidelines and   get into the game.I always take my daughter skating;however, today I decided to give it a try. Did I fall? Of course, I did. Was it fun? Yes, it was! And I most definitely will give it a try again... Because I am never to old to learn! I am still growing and learning!

Today I saw this in bed, bath, and beyond ... I wonder how it tastes? It was $5.99. I am always looking for great bargains ...please let be know if anyone has  tried it. 

Prior to having gastric bypass, I had two pulmanory embolisms and one dvt... So in lay and terms it mean the rest of my life I must take Coumadin (blood thinners).Every month since having surgery,  I always come the first week of the month and have my pt checked and get a b12 shot. It took a while for my blood levels to regulate.. Thank God.. The ladies at the lab know me by my name.. Lol Today, I am having my labs done for my annual check up. I have my baratric labs done twice a year to make sure that all everything is within normal limits. After having gastric bypass, one must take  vitamins, such as calcium citrate, and b12, and/ or iron to ensure optimum health. My thought process on it is.. Just do it! Taking my vitamins are just a regular routine.. Just like brushing my teeth... Just do it! 

LOOK AT ME!!! I can sit on the couch and cross my legs... Sounds corny... huh.. Well 123 lbs ago I couldn't do it... NOW I CAN!!!! Thank God for all victories both small and large.

Lately I have been drinking coffee. ALOT OF COFFEE! TOO TOO MUCH COFFEE! Somehow I have been going to Starbucks getting a skinny sugar free cinnamon dolce frap...I can make it at home ; however, I enjoy the relaxing atmosphere at Starbucks. This obsession will not last too long because spending my hard earned money on coffee drinks is not in my Lil budget..lol 

These are delicious!! Not too much sugar... 7grams and only 100 calories.. Totally great portable snack! They sort of taste like Oreos. 

Look what I found today at Kroger... Yes yes!!!yes!!!...8 ounce containers! I am too excited!  Don't you just love when you are able to accurately measure your portions? I know I do.. If you haven't pick up on this by now... Portion control is one of my areas of weakness but if I'm able to accurately measure my food intake it helps me out in the long run. I just had to share with my baratric friends And to anyone who is working to measure their portions for weight control management.

Breakfast.. 2 slices of turkey bacon, 4 oz grits and cheese, 1/2 egg. Lunch.. 4 oz shrimp and cocktail sauce, 1 corn on the cob Dinner...coffee protein shake Snack...almonds  Snack.. Sugar free fudge pop