Thursday when I got home from work, I ate what was left of that steak. A couple hours later, I had a little hamburger helper. I started feeling icky about this time. I went outside and walked around for a bit, as it got progressively worse. It felt like indigestion. I tried to keep moving. My throat kept making a weird sound - not quite a burp, but similar I guess… like a creaking. I came inside and leaned on the banister. I was sweating profusely, and my hands were feeling numb. I was getting really freaked out at this point. Hubby went upstairs and got me a Prevacid. After the sweating and numbness subsided a bit, I sat on the stairs - I still didn’t feel like moving. Pain kept building in my stomach, my throat would make that “creaking” - like it was releasing a tiny bubble, but I didn’t feel any come out, and the pain would subside, but it came right back. Finally, I vomited a little. My stomach felt immediately better. I still felt weak the rest of the night. I laid on the couch and fell asleep. I’ve had dumping, but never like this. Can it be food poisoning if it didn’t bother hubby? Maybe. He has a pretty strong stomach. I really thought something was wrong like a stricture, etc. I was kinda afraid to eat the next day. I stuck to soft, easy to digest food for a little while. I don’t know that I’m 100% now… it seems a little sensitive yet, but much better…. seems like it had to be the steak.

I had steak and corn for dinner last night. Then I drank half of a root beer (slowly). Shortly after, my stomach was feeling not so great. I stopped drinking the root beer. First it felt like bad indigestion, after a couple burps I thought it was going away, but then I started feeling like I needed to throw up - like my mouth was watering badly. I got up and moved around and went upstairs to get a Prevacid. I rocked in my office chair for a few minutes and it settled a bit. I still got the “near-puking” feeling a few more times last night and I woke up with it a couple times through the night and it came back again this morning. Seriously, WTF? I guess my stomach’s telling me I can’t eat as normally as I do sometimes. Maybe it can handle corn with a burger, but not with steak. Maybe I didn’t chew the steak long enough.

I’m 29 today. I’ve got to say, I’ve been a bit depressed. Not about turning 29, but because so many things in my life aren’t the way I’d like them to be. I’m old enough to know that life is not fair, but damn, sometimes it’s just cruel.

I love almond butter! Strange for a girl who never liked any kind of nuts until a couple years ago.

Almond Butter

• 1 cup roasted almonds (dry roast for 20 minutes at 300 and let cool to room temp)
• 2-3 Tb EVOO
• 1/4-1/2 tsp salt (I use sea salt)
• 5 packets splenda
• dash cinnamon

Grind almonds in food processor with salt, splenda, cinnamon. Stream in EVOO until desired consistency. Store in covered container in refrigerator.

…but mostly ups lately. I saw 177 on the scale a few days ago and freaked. Granted, it was the day before I ’started’, but damn. I swore off carbs for a couple days and got back into my range. I’m back to 173 today. 4 pounds really makes a difference in the way my jeans fit. I’ve been trying some different protein shakes lately. I’m still pretty stuck on my yogurt, frozen fruit, and vanilla Unjury. I have found that milk (or Almond Breeze), chocolate protein, 1 Tb almond butter, splenda and a couple ice cubes is pretty yummy.

I went to Meijer this weekend to do my grocery shopping. I usually go to Walmart. I really hate the Meijer here - it’s kinda ghetto. However, they stock some stuff that Walmart doesn’t so I make it a point to go there about once a month for these things…

• Cheeseburger Lean Pockets
• Boneless/Skinless Chicken Thighs
• Any flavors of Diet Rite beyond Cola

New additions to this list:

• Yogurt Smoothies - Walmart had these until about a month ago, WTF?
• Vitatops - yay! I was super excited to find these at a local store - I don’t like ordering things that have to remain frozen.

The good news is that a new Meijer is being built in my town. It’ll be less than 1 mile from my house… maybe Walmart will be my “once a month” shopping trip.

This recipe came from Hungry Girl… I’m in love with these cheesesticks! And I’ll be using Fiber One whenever I need bread crumbs. Yay!

HG’s Fiber-ific Fried Cheese Sticks

Mozzarella Fix
Before creating these cheesy faux fried hunks of heaven, we had totally given up on the whole mozzarella sticks thing. Total bar food… completely greasy and horrible for you. Not anymore, thanks to (you guessed it!) a box of Fiber One and our trusty blender. Check out this super swap and prepare to be wowed (and filled with cheese!)…

Ingredients:
2 light mozzarella sticks (50-60 calories and 2.5g fat per stick)
1/4 cup Fiber One bran cereal (original)
2 tbsp. fat-free liquid egg substitute
salt, pepper & Italian seasonings; to taste
Optional: low-fat marinara sauce (for dipping) *Mary uses lite Ranch for dipping

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor or blender, grind Fiber One to a breadcrumb-like consistency. Place crumbs in a small plastic container with a lid. Season crumbs with as much salt, pepper and Italian seasonings as you like. Set aside.
  
• Cut cheese sticks in half, so that you have 4 sticks. Place sticks in a small bowl, and pour egg substitute over the top of the sticks. Swirl egg substitute around so that it thoroughly coats the sticks.
  
• One by one, transfer sticks to the container with the crumbs. Cover container, and give it a shake to coat the sticks in the crumbs.
  
• Carefully return sticks to the dish with the egg substitute, and coat them again.
  
• Next put sticks back in the crumbs container, cover, and shake once more to coat (try doing this two at a time the second time around).
  
• Place sticks on a baking dish sprayed lightly with nonstick spray. Spritz the tops of the sticks with a quick mist of the spray.
  
• Place dish in the oven, and bake for 10 minutes (or until the first sign of cheese oozing out).
  
• If desired, serve with warm marinara sauce. Best when eaten immediately, while cheese is hot and gooey!

Serving Size: 4 pieces
Calories: 155
Fat: 5.5g
Sodium: 500mg
Carbs: 13.5g
Fiber: 7g
Sugars: 0g
Protein: 19g

*3 Points!

I finally got my wedding ring sized. My hands look completely different to me now. In early high school, I got a class ring in a size 8.5. I got married in 2002, my ring was a 7.75 (or so I thought - it may have actually been 7.5). I just got it sized down to 5.75. That’s completely weird to me. My senior year of high school, I got down to 195 pounds and there was no way that my hands were anything smaller than say a 7. On my right hand, I’m wearing an Emerald ring that I got from Avon in a size 6. My knuckle seems a bit bigger on that finger. It’s just very strange - I was really apprehensive to get my ring sized down this far. I hope my hands don’t swell with the humidity this summer.

Hey look, I did my nails. I couldn’t tell ya the last time I actually put color on my fingernails.

I figured I’d have gained a couple pounds. Luckily, I’m still in my range. I had an amazing time and ate a lot of stuff I shouldn’t have. It’s so weird like that - at home in diet head, I can’t lose a pound to save my life, but away and eating a bunch of crap it seems to work… my um “plumbing” worked a lot better while I was away.