Mouth of the sleeve

My newest addiction has to be WLS/healthy food blogs. My top faves include: 

• http://bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com/
• http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/
• http://www.skinnytaste.com/
• http://www.heatovento350.com/
• http://mealsandmovesblog.com/
• http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/
• http://muffintop-less.tumblr.com/
• http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/
• http://peaceloveandlowcarb.blogspot.com/
• http://sleevedinthecity.blogspot.com/
• http://healthyindulgences.net/
• http://dashingdish.com/

As soon as I'm cleared to a normal diet, I am definitely going to try my hand at a couple of dozen of these recipies. I had no idea how strong of a relationship with food I had until after surgery. To be quite honest, I spend most of my time stalking food blogs, figuring out what I can and can not eat... Dreaming about the ones I can't. When rolling into 2013, I set goal of becoming healthier in mind, body, and spirit, and I've done quite well.

Mind-wise: I graduated esthetics school in January and will go to university this fall

Body-wise: I joined a gym and have been going religiously, and of course had weight loss surgery

Spirit-wise: I have made a set time to study God's word and spend time with him. It has definitely changed my life more than anything. Things just seem off when I don't give God his deserved time!

My newest goal for 2013 is to actually become a "cook.":) Which actually falls into the body aspect. No use of being sad about what I can't eat. I must learn to embrace this new lifestyle! I'm going to get in the kitchen and recreate all those past comfort foods!

Tuna and eggs

I decided to put a supper easy spin to my normal tuna and eggs this morning.

1. EGG

2. CAN OF TUNA

3. MIXTURE OF SPICES

4. A FEW SHREDS OF FAT-FREE CHEESE

 PLEASE EXCUSE THE BAD PICTURES

I sprayed a little olive oil cooking spray and cooked fritters on both sides

Than topped with a few diced tomatoes, a little Greek yogurt, and jalapenos 

SUPER EASY, AND SO YUMMY

Talks With Tony: Stop Praising Boyfriends!!

Come on ladies we can't keep giving husband benefits to boyfriends! We put men on this pedestal with all these expectations, that he shouldn't even have to deal with. So yea he may do right for a while, but over what happens? Things change. He gets tired, we get tired of him being tired. Neither one of us signed up for marriage, through we trying to play it out on a daily basis. Lets be real! Tears, pain, and heartache have come from you trying to turn your man, into your god. The only person that should be reigning in our lives is God. Not some man, but God! Dating does not = marriage! Until he walks you down that aisle, he gets NO benefits.

11 days post-op

Happy Monday! So I've been MIA for a few days:( But nonetheless I've had some really exciting things happen!
1. I had my first official weigh-in which I believe deserves a drumroll....








I'm down 15 lbs!!! My weight before the surgery was 323lbs. I can truly say that all the pain I've gone through is worth it! The fact that I can see a healthier, slimmer me in my future, I'm overjoyed!










2. I had another hospital stay:) You might be saying "what's so exciting about being in the hospital?" Well before I had my VSG, I had a opportunity to be apart of research for diabetes with Vanderbilt hospital. I had my last appointment Wednesday. There was much poking and prying but I had an excellent team, and was sad to leave.

3. Last but not least, I received my clearance to soft foods, and O BOY how I needed it! Having everything you eat be baby food consistency was really starting to bore me and quite disgust me.

\

IN HONOR OF MY FIRST SOFT FOOD:

Day 6 post-op

Morning! Today is the first day that I am finally tired. But I refuse to lay in bed ALL day! Maybe just maybe, if I force myself to stay up, I can get my first full night of sleep in 6 days. I have my 1 week appointment later on today, so we'll get an official weigh in!

IN JESUS NAME

WITHOUT CEASING.....

I am incredibly overwhelmed by this tragedy, but touched nonetheless too! Time after time America has shown that WE CAN come together after a major disaster to build each other up. Whether its the marathon participants that continued to run after the finish line to get to hospital to give blood, along with the hundreds that gave blood just by the goodness of their hearts. Or maybe its the masses of volunteers that showed up with their skills as doctors or nurses. Or football players helping with their strength. All putting their safety aside to help the needs of others. Maybe its the coming together on social networks just to shed light on this situation and pray. For the bible says in Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Just to see the masses on twitter lets me know that God is here in the midst of this tragedy:

Its sad to say that It takes situations like this or Shady Hook shooting or Trayvon Martin or Columbine, and list could go on and on, for us to wake up and call on God. Yes, it is a beautiful thing for us to all come together for national tragedies, but what about daily ones? See if people only see you say Jesus' name 3 or 4 times a year we have negative event or a natural disaster, something is very wrong. You need to take look in the mirror and check yourself. God deserves to praise as well as your call for help. So today I PRAY FOR BOSTON as well as PRAISE FOR BOSTON:

GOD I COME TODAY WITH HEAVY HEART FOR THE DISASTER IN BOSTON. I PRAY FOR THE FAMILIES TODAY OF THOSE WHO LOST LOVE ONES IN THE BOMBING. A PRAYER THAT YOU WILL HOLD THEIR SANITY AND GIVE THEM OVERWHELMING AMOUNTS OF STRENGTH TO KEEP IT ALL TOGETHER. THEN GOD PLEASE GIVE THEM A CLARITY OF MIND TO UNDERSTAND THAT THEIR IS A REASON FOR EVERYTHING, AND THAT YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE THEIR SIDES. AND THEN I LEFT OF THE FAMILY MEMBERS, FRIENDS, CO-WORKERS THAT ARE SITTING IN HOSPITALS WAITING ON REPORTS OF THEIR LOVE ONE. GIVE THEM CALM MIND AND DEMEANOR TO ACCEPT WHATEVER FATE YOU HAVE IN STORE FOR THEM AND THEN THE ABILITY TO RECEIVE IT WHETHER GOOD OR BAD. AND GOD I ALSO COME TODAY LIFTING THE NAMES OF THE INJURED. MAY YOU LAY HANDS ON THEM RIGHT NOW! TOUCH THEM RIGHT NOW LORD WITH A SUPERNATURAL HEALING THAT ONLY YOU CAN PROVIDE, IN A QUICKNESS THAT ONLY YOU CAN DO. TO GET THEM BACK TO THEIR FAMILY LIVES, THE WORK LIVES, THEIR PRAISE LIVES. WIPE AWAY TEARS TODAY GOD AND REPLACE THEM WITH SMILES. WIPE AWAY HEARTACHE GOD, AND GIVE JOY AND PEACE IN THIS STORM LORD. LET A PRAISE BE HEARD NOT AROUND BOSTON, BUT THE WORLD THAT THIS COULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH WORST. CASUALTIES COULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH HIGHER. MORE BUILDING COULD OF BEEN DESTROYED, BUT BY YOU GRACE YOU DIDN'T LET IT. MAY THERE MORE PRAYERS OF HEALING AND MORE PRAISE FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, FOR THE PROTECTION THAT YOU HAVE PROVIDED, FOR THE LIVES YOU HAVE SAVED! I ASK ALL THESE THING IN JESUS NAME! 

4 days post-op

Whoever told me "After your surgery, your taste buds change" or "Or you no longer crave the foods you use to," definitely lied to me! I've found myself longing for ice cream, pizza, chicken wings, spaghetti, donuts, etc, etc.... It probably isn't helping that my family keeps bring in all these yummy treats into the house, while I'm forced to eat cream of wheat. Which I'm not even close to finishing!

I can't wait to get to soft foods!

What 1 day post-op feels like

Nothing could of prepared me for pain I've experienced. To get up and go to the rest room results in me breathing like I'm in pregnancy yoga. The medicine they put through my IV not only made me nauseas, it made my body completely itch when it wore of. So can just imagine how last night was especially since I had to pee and recieve medication ever 3 hrs . But I'm reminded that God will not put more on me than I can handle. My life is truly in his hands, and I depend solely of Him for my quick, safe recovery

SMALL FOOD HAUL N EXTRAZ

Just a few foods to start me off. I will have to be on a liquid/pureed diet for about 2-2 1/2 weeks. FUN:)

ONLY 1 MORE DAY!!!

I only have 1 more day until my weight loss surgery, and boy am I excited! (excluding the fact I won't be able to eat real food for over a month) This has the be the most major decision I've ever made, but I'm looking forward to becoming a healthier me.

The surgery I have chosen that is best for me is the vertical sleeve Gastronomy. It involves removing 80% of the stomach. A new pouch, about the size of a banana, will only hold 60-120 ml of food compared to the the  1 L (1000 ml) that a regular stomach can comfortably hold. Wish me luck!

DON'T STRESS CAUSE GOD BLESSES!

Top 6 reasons for losing weight

I've been fairly healthy my whole life, which is surprising to me. The majority of the people I see and hear about being my size, have or had experienced a weight induced complication. My "luck", as I call it, may come from the fact that I have danced quite frequently during the past 10 years. But the older I get, I feel more and more anxious that diabetes or high blood pressure is right around the corner. As generic as it sounds, my first reason for losing weight is:

1. HEALTH

I remember my mother always encouraging me to lose weight, and when I lost it, to keep it off. Not just for health reasons, but the older you get the harder it is to lose weight. Thinking back, I would start a diet and work 3-4 times a week and lose 20 pounds, but I ALWAYS gain it back. I suppose through laziness, though I hate to admit it. But more recently I tried the whole diet and exercise thing, and found some weeks I might lose a pound or two. Some weeks none at all. A RED flag definitely rose, leading to my #2 reason for weight loss:

2. LOSING IT WHILE I STILL CAN

I've danced my whole life. Have you asked die hard dancer why do they dance? I have, and her response was, "I dance to breathe." This was about 3 years ago, and I have kept that quote with me along the way because I can feel it. I not only "dance to breathe", but I "breathe to dance". Therefore, I Live to dance cause without breathe, I would die. Hope I didn't confuse anyone, it may take a dancer to really appreciate that quote :) Anyway, when I hurt my knee dancing in 2008, you can only imagine how upset I was. It healed.(YAY!) But when I hurt it a second time a year later, I wasn't so lucky. It hasn't quite healed yet, and it has been 2 years. My doctors conclusion for my knee not healing, too much weight on it! #3 reason for losing weight:

3. KNEE IMPROVEMENT

I was diagnosed with Poly-cystic ovarian syndrome at 13. If you would like to know details on the syndrome, I will do a whole post on it. But, the main symptoms I received:

• Weight gain
• Darkening of skin in places such as armpits, groin, neck, and breasts due to insulin sensitivity
• Hirsutism: excess or unwanted hair on women cause by increased androgens (male hormones) being made by ovaries
• Irregular to absent periods

While there a many medications to correct these problems, doctors will advice the best thing to do if you are overweight and have PCOS is lose weight. It could lead to a complete reversal of symptoms. My forth reason is:

4. PCOS

PCOS is also one of the leading causes of infertility. This is a big concern to me, because I hope to one day have a home full of children. Weight loss can definitely help, although medication may still be needed. My #5 reason is:

5. INFERTILITY

6. I WANT TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND SAY I ACHIEVED SOMETHING I'VE BEEN WORKING ON FOR 10 YEARS

EXTRA:

NOT SO SERIOUS REASONS I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHTI call it the pretty fat girl syndrome, and any big girl that is the least big attractive has gone through it and can sympathize with me. I am SOOOOOOOOO sick and tired of being bombarded with the quote, "Your so pretty to big," and its variations. I feel I have a pretty high self-confidence. So when I say this, I am not being conceded. But regardless to what anyone has to say I KNOW WHO I AM, WHAT BELIEVE, AND THE BEAUTY GOD PUT WITHIN ME! BEAUTIFUL IS NOT AND WILL NEVER BE CATEGORIZED BY WEIGHT! But for once I would like to be pretty just to be pretty. Not pretty to be big, or pretty to be fat or whatever!

Hi Lovlies

I'm Ashley and I will posting my weightloss journey. As the pounds fly off, and the clothes shrink (so looking forward to that), I'll be posting a few outfits of the day and fashion hauls. I am also what people would call a "JESUS FREAK"!!! I ride or die for my King, so sharing him with others is a must. If any of you ever need prayer or just someone to listen to your problems, I'm here. DON'T STRESS CAUSE GOD BLESSES!