Getting on a Different Wagon

~ Lookie here- a second post again today!! ~

Before I had my hysterectomy a friend of ours shared with us that after his wife had a hysterectomy she had about doubled in size- maybe not exactly but went from a size 8-10 to a size 16. I had worked hard to maintain my weight after my surgery. Then I got the news that I had cancer and would have to have chemo. Every single time that I had chemo - I was given steroids prior to getting the chemo. After one of my chemo treatments - I am thinking about 3-4th one I noticed I have splotches of red on my skin here and there. And when I told my Dr - she thought it would be a good idea for me to take a round of steroids with my next chemo. Apparently pretty strong steroids. I had to take 2 the day before, the day of and the day after. Taking the steroids made it hard for me to sleep good. And wouldn't you know it I ended up gaining some weight probably about 8-10 pounds. I decided I would do my best not to have to take any more extra steroids and so I did not. Of course - I still had to continue to take the prior to chemo steroids. Well overall I ended up gaining about 15 pounds. And I am not happy about it. I was already overweight, but I had been happy to be able to at least maintain where I was till I could get to a place that I could lose weight. It has always been VERY hard for me to lose weight. That is why when I changed my diet several years ago and was able to lose weight - I had been so thrilled about it. Only problem is that it was very hard to continue with what I was doing and still maintain taking care of my family and such. So I fell off the wagon.

I have decided to get back on the wagon; however, this time it will be a different wagon. I am incorporating more fruits and veggies. I have gotten myself some more oat groats - and I am cooking them and eating them for breakfast along with 2-4 pieces of fruit. I will probably share a post later at how I do my oat groats. I am also trying to eat more healthfully over all. This means that I will still be eating some normal foods that I prepare for my husband, but I am hoping to just eat smaller portions of those foods and focus more on the veggies and salads - when having those meals.

I have decided to cut way back on my consumption of sugary drinks. By the way speaking of that - Today marks the one year anniversary from me giving up caffeine! I am so thankful that God helped me let that go. Once I gave up Coke - I had allowed myself a rootbeer now and then. But over the last couple of months I have been slack in that area and have drank a rootbeer or some koolaid or limeade maybe even every day. So I am focusing on drinking more water. I may do a drink ever so often for a treat but it will not be every day.

One thing that I am doing that I wanted to share with you all - just in case it would be helpful information for you is how I am doing my salads. My husband does not like a lot of the extra stuff on his salads that I do. Well I used to cut up lettuce and carrots and keep that in a bowl in the fridge, but I have found an even better way. I cut up my lettuces (I am using more of a variety of lettuces to get more vitamins) and then after I let them drain I am putting a paper towel into a gallon sized ziplock kind of bag and then putting my lettuce into the bag and sealing it. I keep it in the fridge like that. Then I cut up what ever veggies I have that I want to put into my salads- and I put each individual thing in to separate zip lock bags. That way each time I made a salad I am able to get out what I want to put in that salad! It has worked out SO well. I eat SO many more salads now because I love to have the variety! I am trying new things and adding them to my salads to add more nutrition to my salads. Here is a list of the things I use - Not all at one time - just more of what I have at that time:

Lettuce~ I use some iceburg lettuce, romaine hearts, and then I also get some other lettuces - this time I got a contain from Aldi's that had some little baby lettuce in it. I would only do about enough lettuce or less that fits into the gallon bag- usually only about half way at a time. Lettuce tends to get brown and yucky - so if you will just cut up a little at a time - your lettuce will last longer.
carrots~ peel them and chop them and put them in a baggies.
bell peppers -green, red, yellow, and orange ~I love to get the multi colored packs when I can- was able to get 2 packs today Aldi's has them for $1.99
cucumbers~ I have used regular ones, mini cucumbers and the seedless ones - that are long and individually wrapped - I love them all.
kale ~I cut it into small pieces and pull out what ever I want for each salad
purple cabbage or green cabbage- I just chop up a section of it at a time so it will last longer.
tomatoes ~ Praise God I am still getting my sweet100's cherry tomatoes from my garden - have really enjoyed them!
purple onions ~ I keep some chopped in an onion keeper in my fridge all the time - I love them in salads - this is another thing that I get the best deal from Aldi's - I buy them by the bag and just use them till they are gone - then another bag I get!
celery ~ When I get my celery home from the store many times I will process it then. Some of it I will chop up for salads, and then I usually cut some into sections that are 2 - 3 inches - that way I can put peanut butter on them to have with a meal.
Olives~ When we have taco salads - what ever we have left - I put into a bag and use for salads. When we have taco salads - I just have a regular salad in the taco salad shells because I don't like hamburger meat.
Bok Choy~ today I bought some bok choy for the first time. I just got a leaf(they are big) washed it then cut it up. I took the stem of that piece and I cut it into pieces and added it to my salad as well. Until I read up on it more _ I will process it as I need it. It actually was pretty good. 
Garbonzo Beans ~ this adds protein and helps it be a more satisfying meal.
Sunflower seeds
Walnuts

This past week end when we did our taco salads- my husband remembered that we had some roasted corn on the cob left over- and so he got one out and he cut the corn off of the cob and added that to my salad. And we opened a can of black beans- drained them and added some to my salad- it was VERY good. I will be doing that again.


I do use low fat ranch dressing- I try not to use too much- I like to put the dressing on after I put the lettuce in the bowl and then mix it around and then add all the other stuff to my salad. Then stir again. This helps there to be dressing flavor all the way through the salad.

Anyway all of this to share with you that I decided that I need to be healthier. And I would really like to lose some weight. I don't have a huge amount that I want to lose because that is just over whelming and since it has been so hard for me to lose weight in the past - I just have set a low goal for now. I would like to lose at least 15 pounds. Now I know how much I weighed at my last Dr appointment and I am hoping to be down a least 3-5 pounds by my next appointment in November. But I am not putting a whole lot of pressure on myself.

I want to lose weight to feel better and so that my clothes will fit better. And I am hoping by making a few small changes here and there -  I will get to my goal.

I am thinking that I have forgotten some things- but just can't think of anything else at this time. Oh well - this post is just to help encourage you all to add more raw foods into your diets - it's good for you. And I am hoping that by sharing with you all - at how easy it can to have a good salad maybe you too will try it. Ever so often it will take a little time to process your stuff - but on a day to day basis you will be so surprised at how easy it is to come up with a great salad! Please pray for me that I will be able to lose this weight. I know that only with God's help will I be able to be successful! Thanks :O)