I said at the end of last year that 2014 would be my greatest year yet and I am so happy that I am living up to that promise I made to myself. I didn’t know how it was going to be great as the surgery wasn’t even on the table at the time. But this friday marks the 3 month anniversary of my surgery and as of today, I was down 72 pounds! That is still hard to believe for me as I was never able to lose more than 20 lbs at a time, let alone 3x that in 3 months!
This Thanksgiving, we had dinner at my Mom’s house since my Grandma has been declining in health lately. I decided I wanted to be a part of the cooking this year and my mom and I went CRAZY with the menu. We made so much food for probably only 10-12 people but the process was fun and the food was fantastic! I tried to find some healthy alternatives for myself and other family members watching their food intake.
I wish I took pictures of everything, but I kept forgetting. Here are the items that I was able to capture!
Here we have Italian Stuffing with Celery, Onions and Italian Sausage
One of our appetizers were these Caprese Kabobs. So simple to do and so good!
For Salad this year, we went healthier. Its a Spinach and Kale Salad with Candied Pecans, Feta, Apples, Blueberries and Strawberries with a dressing of olive oil and Apple Cider Vinegar
For our other appetizer, we tried Stuffed Mushrooms for the first time with Spinach, onions, sundried tomatoes and feta cheese. Came out great!
This year, also, we did the turkey differently. I found a Martha Stewart recipe with fresh basil, rosemary and thyme with olive oil and stuffed with lemons. The aroma in the house was heavenly and the turkey came out perfect!
This was Spaghetti Squash topped with Sweet Italian Sausage and Kale. This was the big hit of the night!
This was another dish on the healthier side. It was a Sweet Potato Casserole with Sugar Free Caramel and raw pecans. It came out pretty good although I am sure it would have been better with all the sugar. One of our guests brough a Candied yam dish as well that was by far better, but this was just healthier, lol
Besides those dishes, we also made Brisket!!! It was so good and probably my favorite dish of the night!
In addition we had roasted Brussel Sprouts, Mashed Potatoes and Jalepeno Mac n Cheese. For dessert, my Aunt brought over Candied Pecan Pie and a Flourless Chocolate Cake. I wasn’t lying when I said we went overboard this year, but it was just so much fun making!
All those amazing dishes and here was my plate. I could barely eat half of it, but I was able to at least try a bite of everything. Normally, after Thanksgiving, I would be cursing myself for overeating, barely able to move and in lots of pain, but this was so great because I felt good afterwards, I didn’t get sick and I took my time.
I am looking forward to helping with Christmas this year as well and excited to see what we come up with!
As far as pain, there is none! Occassional acid reflux still, but tums knocks it out almost immediately. I still notice that I eat too fast sometimes and I can recognize it before I get sick and will just hand my plate to Erick. He takes it away immediately and knows what it means. I am still learning to force myself to eat slower, but all in all, I feel fantastic! I am 3 pounds away from the 75 mark and I am 4 days away from my 3 month anniversary! By Friday, I hope to hit that milestone and show you another Before/After pic!
Also, those dishes above can all be found on my Pinterest page under “Recipes Tried and Approved.”
Follow me on Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram @Randomthought18. Also Follow my blog for updates. Coming in 2015 will be a LOT of NSV’s (Non-Surgical Victories) and that is when the real results start coming in, being able to physically wear and do all the things I never could before. Be prepared!
Until Next time…
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