Nose Surgery

I know this has nothing to do with food or being healthy, but I wanted to capture this somewhere so I'd remember it.

I had surgery on my nose just almost 5 weeks ago. I broke my nose in the 8th grade, and after 2 surgeries the septum was still dramatically deviated (barely a mm of clearance in my left nostril). I finally saw the wonderful Dr. Downs about finally getting it fixed.

I went in the Monday after Fourth of July. I remember making myself almost literally sick over the idea of the IV (for those of you who are not familiar with my fear of needles, it's huge). Ryan was trying to calm me down by talking about random things that I don't remember now. They brought me back to the prep room where I changed into my gown and hopped into the bed. Panic was truly starting to set in as I realized the nurse was bringing in the needle stuff. She turned to me and said, "Now, your husband told me about your fear of needles and don't you worry! I know a few tricks to get you past it." I felt so grateful for Ryan in that moment -- to even think about telling the nurse of my fear -- I could have hugged him to death. I don't remember a lot of her trick now, but she had very logical reasons for all of them and how they worked with anatomy in general. I do remember having to take deep breathes. And then the IV was in and it was over. She started pumping drugs right away. That's when I got chatty :)

After another period of time (who knows about time when you're drugged!), they wheeled me into the operation room. Right after I transferred onto the op bed, a nurse had me remove my ring and run it out to Ryan. The anesthesiologist put a mask on my face and the doctor said "now we're only giving you oxygen right now." That was total crap. I've had plenty of oxygen AND drug-filled vapors put on my face over the years, and this was no pure-oxygen mixture. Seconds later, the anesthesiologist said "we're giving you the anesthesia now" and I thought that seems about right and then I was out. Like a log.

Now, for every other surgery I've had in my life (two nose surgeries, foot surgery), I have ALWAYS woken up crying. The pain, being by myself, hearing the beeping and other noises around me -- it all added up to me just balling my way out of sleep. This time, however, as I was waking up I felt someone stroking my hand. It was so comforting that it totally distracted me from everything else. I managed to open my eyes enough to see that it was Ryan. If I was capable of smiling, I would have. For some reason, they had let him back there with me before I had woken up, which has never happened to me before. I felt so warm and fuzzy seeing him there (feeling him there) first thing after waking up, it greatly upped my mood. I'll never forget how endearing it was to have him there.

I also remember suddenly realizing that I could breath through both nostrils. Fully. That hasn't happened in over 13 years. Even through a tube, I could feel the difference. I told Ryan "the air through my left nostril feels so cold!" I think he thought I was still doped out. Which I was, but hey.

The rest is pretty typical of nose surgery. I was sent home with pain killers, which made me nauseous so I had to get nausea pills ordered. By the third or fourth day, the tubes in my nose had plugged up with gunk (you can imagine what "gunk" is). It was not pleasant. I cried a few times because I was unable to sleep at night without mouth-breathing, which was awful. Ryan even took me to Walmart at 3 in the morning to try and find nasal solution. He really is a wonderful man :) Did I mention he took a whole week off from work to take care of me too? Truly amazing man.

A week later, the doctor took out the tubes. CRAZIEST thing ever! They were WAY larger than I thought! HUGE!! They were also like two slimy worms coming out. I don't see how Ryan sees me as sexy after that experience. But the relief was awesome. I could BREATH through BOTH NOSTRILS!! I can't say that enough. Over the next 1.5 weeks until my final appt I was paranoid that the septum would collapse -- it was SO squishy feeling. But it eventually firmed up to the lovely septum that I have today :)

Discouraged

So, Ryan and I have been doing this new workout routine for about two weeks now. We've been on our new diet for almost 3 weeks. There was a time where even cutting out soda for a week would make me drop 5 pounds automatically. 

I have officially lost no weight in the past 2-3 weeks. 

I can feel my body changing, for example my pants are fitting lovely today with almost nothing hanging over the top, even though I've been up for 4 hours already AND have eaten something. I think I'm even beginning to look thinner from the side, and a friend even said to me that I'm looking better. 

But that number on the scale bothers me. I know it shouldn't. I've always been one to say "the number doesn't matter -- it's how you FEEL that counts!" But for some reason, it's bothering me. I keep stepping on the scale to see some wonderful dropping happening, but it always lands within the 3-pound window that I just can't seem to escape from. 

Ryan says, Come on, it's only been two weeks! And on the inside I'm thinking, It's already been two weeks! What the flip!

Anyway, there's where I'm at. Overall. I'm feeling good though (or rather my body is feeling good). We did an intense 1-hour weight lifting session last night on our backs. It feels awesome :) 

First Week summary

We've completed the first week.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm still exhausted to get up in the morning, but I find that it's not so much of a fight anymore. I'm usually grumpy all the way to the gym, but once I'm done there and on my way to work, I feel much better. It's been good.

I don't see much results in myself. My weight fluctuates by about 2 lbs on any given day normally, so to see it bounce between 149 and 151 really doesn't tell me much. But according to my scale at home, I've lost an itty-bitty bit of fat and gained an itty-bitty bit of muscle. That's something :) I also don't feel like my stomach hangs out as much. Perhaps the abs are holding things in??

I can tell Ryan is looking better though, jerk. His stomach is flatter and his weight is more stable. He's lost about 4 lbs.

Coming soon: Potato Chili Bowl recipe!!

Workout Day 4 -- oh the pain!!

I hurt so bad. But it's a good kind of hurt (I need to keep telling myself that :). My legs (particularly my calfs) are feeling the most pain, followed closely by my back. I can feel my abs beginning to feel the pain as well, but since we only just worked them out yesterday, I don't expect to feel real pain from them until tomorrow.

It was the worst ever getting up this morning. We had to get up an hour earlier than usual (4am) so we can leave work early today, which just added to the horror. My whole body was stiff and the lack of sleep made me a very, VERY grumpy person. I can truly say it was worst this whole week. Fortunately, Ryan is stronger than I and forced us out of bed. Stretching at the gym was awful. It felt like all my muscles were tearing apart. But the one thing I couldn't ignore -- despite my grumpiness -- was that after stretching I did feel much more mobile.

We did the StairMaster, as if this morning wasn't already bad enough.

After all the horribleness and pain, once I had showered and was in the car on the way to work, when Ryan asked how I was feeling, I could honestly say that I felt good. I felt awake (though sleepy), stretched out, and generally good about my workout. I was thinking "well, that wasn't soooo bad."

All of this is to say that when you feel at your worst, like you just can't do it anymore and you just want to fall back asleep, do it anyway. You'll feel better in the end.

Workout day 3

We're on day three of this double-cardio workout. It's killer. I pass out so quickly as soon as I lay in bed. My muscles are killing me, particularly my legs right now. But it hurts so good!! Here's the run-down of what we've done:

Day 1: StairMaster in the AM. Running then legs (weights) in the PM. 

Day 2: Bike in the AM. Back and shoulders in the PM (we ran out of time for cardio before Ryan's class)

Day 3 (today): Elliptical this morning. This afternoon will be abs and an undetermined form of cardio. 

Results thus far:

> Ryan has dropped about 3 lbs. I have dropped 1. But I'm very proud of that 1 lb. In 2.5 days?? Heck yes! :) :)

Food: We're still doing the Happy Herbivore meal plan set-up. I just bought this week's meal plan. I'm going to customize it a bit though with meals from last week.

Workout

I'm trying out this new style of working out, inspired by this girl. She talks about the different ways she trains for a competition, and I thought I would give some of it a try, as well as trying out some of her tricks for controlling food binges. There are two stages to her prep for competitions: a cardio-intensive workout season and an "improvement season". The cardio-focused workout involves her doing double cardio sessions a day in addition to her weight lifting, which consists of several lower-weight reps/sets one right after another to keep the heart rate up during lifting. This is the time to lose fat. During her improvement season, she focuses less on cardio (although still does it once a day) but shifts her focus on lifting more weight. This is the time to build muscle and sculpt.

I have already been lifting weights with Ryan at the gym, but I know that I need more cardio in my life. Since Ryan has mentioned that he'd like to focus more on losing fat right now than bulking up, I thought this routine might work. So, I convinced Ryan to give it a try. He seemed a little hesitant because he had been told that this kind of weight lifting results in those skinny but slightly toned guys in the gym, which is not necessarily his goal. But I reminded him that he wanted to focus on the fat first anyway, so why not give this a try for a few weeks, just until we lose enough fat for him to start wanting to focus on bulking up? He eventually agreed.

So here's our routine:

> 5am: Wake up, have breakfast, and go to the gym for cardio (this morning we did the stairmaster for 20 min -- ah!!! I was dripping with sweat).
> 7am-4pm: Work (Lunch).
> 4pm-6pm: Back at the gym for cardio focused weight-lifting and another cardio session. We will be doing legs today, so we'll pick lower weights and do twice as many reps as usual, while switching between other exercises immediately to keep the heart rate up. I haven't decided what cardio I'll do. Perhaps the bike since I might not be able to stand after leg lifts... (Ideally, we'd have protein shakes after, but I think we forgot to pack them this morning.)
>6pm-9pm: Ryan is in class, and I'll be making lunch and dinner for the next day. I need to get better about prepping meals ahead of time.
>9:30pm: Dinner. It's not ideal to be eating so late, but it'll be a smaller meal, and we'll likely stay up for a couple hours anyway.
>11pm: Bed. Again, ideally we'd be going to bed earlier, but you work with what you've got, and we've got little time.

I'll let you know how this goes!! I've heard the first week is the hardest and we are only on day one...

As a side note, I  love how the girl mentioned above emphasizes that food is not the enemy. It is necessary for a healthy and beautiful body. But she also talks about how it has to be clean, which seems to work well with our goals for food as well :) check it out!

Vegetarian Tofu Lasagna

Now don't let the fact that tofu is in this scare you. It's delicious :

Serves 4:

> about 4 oz of lasagna noodles
> 8 oz tofu, broken up/crumbled
> 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
> about 1 cup of chopped spinach (or more if you desire)
> about half of a 25 oz jar of marinara sauce or whatever spaghetti sauce you have in the pantry
> 1 tbsp italian seasoning

Cook the noodles normally in a pot of water. In the meantime, combine the tofu, cheese, spinach, most of the sauce, and the italian seasoning. Heat in the microwave. Lay a thin spread of sauce in the bottom of a 8x8 ish pyrex dish (or something similar). Spread a layer of the mixture. Top with a layer of noodles. Spread another layer of mix and top with another layer of noodles. Continue until all mixture has been used. Top with a final layer of noodles and sprinkle entire top with some cheese. Heat if necessary.

In the future, I will probably add sliced/diced zucchini or eggplant for extra veggie-ness. Also, if you wanna make it look interesting, try spreading the mixture in each noodle, roll the noodle, and place in the dish. Top noodle rolls with sauce and cheese.

Meal plans

Ryan and I having been trying out this new meal plan. I love it because I don't have to make any plan of my own. I simply follow this lady's meal plan (a week's worth of recipes for breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks, and dessert) AND I get fantastic new recipes out of it! I can trade out meals when I want to, if I like one better than another, and tweak recipes as I go to make them better or in my own way. It's been great fun so far, and the recipes have been fabulous :)

Portobello Burger

Serves 2:

> 2 portobello steaks, warmed
> 2 gluten-free hamburger buns
> 1/2 cup spinach
> 4 oz guacamole
> 2 roasted red bell peppers (from jar)
> 2 slices of pepper jack cheese (optional)

Reheat steaks. Layer on buns with spinach, guacamole, roasted bell peppers, and cheese. Enjoy!!

I cannot tell you how delicious this is. It surprised me! Just when I thought the portobello steaks couldn't be any better, heat them up a day later and turn them into a burger and WOW!!!! So freaking good!!

Portobello Steak

Serves 4: (use two of these for the Portobello Burger recipe later :)

> 4 whole portobello mushrooms
> 1 small onion, diced
> 2 garlic cloves, minced
> 2 cups mock beef broth (I used real beef broth because I love the taste of it)
> 6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
> 2 tbsp mirin, sherry, or white wine (I used sherry cooking wine)
> 2 tsp dried thyme
> 2 tsp dried chives
> 1/2 tsp dried basil (I used a couple teaspoons of italian seasoning instead of these last three spices)

Add onion, garlic, and beef broth to a frying pan and cook for about 2 minutes, or until onions begin to golden. While waiting, remove the stems from the mushrooms. Add the remaining ingredients (with the exception of the mushrooms) to the pan and turn to medium. Stir. Add the mushrooms and cover. Cook for 5 minutes. Flip the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes. Add water as necessary to keep mushrooms from sticking. Plate and spoon juices on top.

Ryan and I ate these with a slice of bread to help with the texture of the mushroom (we don't eat them often). It is so savory! The flavors are so delicious.

Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal

Serves 2:

> 1 cup rolled oats
> 8 oz strawberries, sliced
> 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
> 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
> 1/2 tsp cinnamon
> 1 tsp raw or brown sugar

Cook oats in 3/4 cup water. Stir in applesauce and milk. Top with strawberries, cinnamon, and sugar. Serve.

Creamy Chipotle Corn Soup

Serves 2-3:

> 4 ears of corn
> 1 cup of non-dairy milk (I have used both almond and oat milk and they are both delicious)
> chipotle powder to taste (I used about 1/4 tsp)

Combine half of corn, milk, and chipotle powder in blender. Puree until smooth. Transfer into a saucepan and add remaining ingredients. Heat over low. Add water/milk to thin if necessary. Serve.

Breakfast Quinoa Bowl recipe

Ingredients: (serves one person -- I just doubled everything)
> 1/4 cup quinoa
> 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used oat milk -- so tasety!)
> 1TBS brown sugar (feel free to use less, especially if you use sweet milk)
> drop of vanilla extract (I actually forgot to include this, but it still tasted amazing)
> 1 cup blueberries
> dash of cinnamon (optional -- tasted wonderful)

Combine quinoa and milk in saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down to low and simmer until milk is evaporated and quinoa is light and fluffy (add milk as necessary to thoroughly cook quinoa). Add extract and blueberries. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Serve.

Sooo sweet and delicious! Ryan felt overwhelmed by the blueberries, but I thought it was delicious as it was.

I took these pics in the car, so I can't vouch for the fantastic lighting, but you get the idea.

Coming up soon: Creamy Chipotle Corn Soup!

Super easy lunch bowl

Veggie and Rice bowl recipe:

>1 packet of frozen veggies ("Steamfresh" for even more simplicity)

>1 package of sticky rice (microwavable kind)

>Teriyaki sauce (my favorite kind!)

1. Heat frozen veggies (in microwave if using Steamfresh or something similar) ~ 5 min
2. Heat rice in microwave ~ 1.5 min
3. Cover with Teriyaki sauce and eat!


It reminded me of Flame Broiler, but with an even better sauce that won't get you addicted with MSG :) This ended up serving both myself and Ryan. 

Restaurants

Oh restaurants, how I love you.

And kinda hate you.

Such delicious foods, with so much creaminess and usually MASSIVE portions. Ryan and I had our anniversary dinner date on Thursday night. We went Criollo, a fancy Latin place. Sooooo good. We usually try to split something when we eat out to save money and be healthier, but it was our anniversary and we were splurging :) Ryan’s dish was actually really healthy: duck breast with quinoa (yes, Kaysie, I said quinoa!), topped with apple shreds. It was also a good size, so he ate it all. Mine was massive and delicious. Shredded beef smothered in spices and flavor, pinto beans, and Spanish rice like no other. I ate about a third of it, the size was that big. (I've been attempting this new thing where I actually stop eating when I feel full. It's been revolutionary.) I took the rest of my food home. Ryan is not the biggest fan of leftovers, so I got to indulge in my anniversary food again all day while he's camping. I just had lunch: I took all the components from that dinner and made flour tortilla tacos, adding a dollop of dairy-free sour cream (tastes just like the real thing). They were amazing! And I still have enough for dinner!

I'm being thrifty and decently healthy :)

We're back!!!

Okay, so I suck at blogging, apparently. But I'm giving it another go, especially now that Ryan and I are on a set food routine.

We have recently starting working out: my goal is to lose the fat, Ryan's is to lose fat and bulk up. In order to achieve our goals, we've set-up a system for our food and workouts.

Food:
4 meals a day, plus a snack. We're still trying to make this work with our jobs (he's in the cleanroom), but this is the plan anyway.
1) Breakfast (few/no carbs) -- fiber/granola cereal with fruit, or omlet with with spinach and fruit, or yogurt and fruit with granola, or oatmeal.
2) Snack -- nuts, fruit, etc
3) Lunch (few/no carbs) --  salad with toppings like chicken (or some other protein like tuna, steak, etc), fruit, veggies.
4) Recovery Shake (after our workouts) -- includes whey protein
5) Dinner (carby) -- pasta with sauce and veggies and protein (chicken, clams, etc) stirred in, or meat with rice and veggies, etc.

I'm still trying to not eat a whole lot of meat (by American standards), just the topping for salad and a normal size portion for dinner. We are getting our proteins from things like eggs, beans and such as well as the meat (in addition to whey protein, although I may switch to something without lactose since my stomach has been unhappy with dairy since we cut back on it).


Workouts:
We start by stretching and doing some minor things like sit-ups, toe-touches, etc. Then we choose a muscle group to work on: abs, legs, arms/shoulders,or back. We spend almost an hour lifting weights that will work whichever group we picked for the day. Ryan is trying to go in order from the top of the body down, but seeing as I have missed our workouts frequently these last two weeks, I have messed with his schedule a bit.... It takes about 4 days of the week to hit every muscle group. We spend a fifth day doing cardio (so important for bulking up, as you don't want to starve the muscles of blood from not having a strong enough heart, and also to drop the belly fat :). Then we usually end up going 2 days without working out, but I think we are going to try and cut that back to one day. Or at the very least do something active one of those days (hike, bike ride, whatever).

Today's food:
> Oatmeal with blueberries for breakfast (plus a piece of cake at a work mtg -- I had to! I swear!!)
> Lunch with co-workers (I haven't gone yet, but I'm planning on either a salad or veggie-intensive entree)
> Pecans and green tea (iced) as my snack
> Recovery shake after the workout
> Pasta with clams, zucchini, tomatoes, and avocado (I may switch the clams out for chicken, depending on when we get home...)

That is all for now. I shall keep you posted.

MIA no more!!

After getting super lazy about writing, I have finally gotten the itch back to post something. Ryan and I bought a vegan slow cooker recipe book. It's been interesting! We throw the ingredients in before leaving for work, then it's ready by the time we get home for dinner. Genius!!! Today will only be my second day trying this out -- I have "What's in the freezer? soup" waiting for me at home. If successful, I will post the recipe. Regardless, I will post the previous recipe that we tried out a few days ago. Stay tuned....

Vegetarian Gravy (that tastes like the real thing)

I made this amazing vegetarian gravy for a turkey fry that my professor had at his house. It's really easy to make, and everyone at the turkey fry loved it! (*Warning!! It looks like baby poop at the end, but it is SOOOO delicious! Don't let the way it looks scare you....)

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons nutritional yeast
• 4 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

 Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce to form a smooth paste. Gradually whisk in the broth. Season with sage, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.