Potluck at Ohio Dental Family Center, 5180 E. Main St., Columbus, Ohio 43213

Today we had a huge potluck at work. I didn't eat a thing, just like I didn't eat the fries at "M!" I'm on a roll!

At "M" at Miranova. It's my niece's first day on her first job! I'm so proud of her! And check out those fries!! Omg! Real potatoes!

The night before Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year

The night before the Jewish Holidays began, I had to go to a family dinner and face many food challenges.

My niece came out to the car to talk with me before I went in to face the food buffets, the desserts, and all the people!  My sister-in-law and brother hosted almost 40 people for dinner!!

The food was fantastic!  Matzoh ball soup, my mom's chopped liver....at dessert time I brought out my soy crisp snacks and had a huge cup of hot tea!  I made it through the night and only had a little too much protein and fat.  NO SUGAR!  Whoo hooo!!

Acid Reflux, Ulcerative Colitis, & Nexium

I had acid reflux when I began the program, but it was fairly under control.  I did read in the literature that a potential side effect of Take Shape For Life could be acid reflux!  So, mentally I was ready for it.  However, the degree of acid that flared at the 3 week mark was stunning!  I was coughing, waking up congested, and my throat hurt in general.  I had to see the doctor, who put me back on Nexium.  As usual, I promptly got an itchy rash on my legs from the Nexium!  OY!!!   Well, the rash is the lesser of the two evils I suppose, so onward ho with the "little purple pill!" 

The great news is that me and my ulcerative colitis are doing well.  No flares at all being on Medifast, thank G-d.  I have to admit I was a little worried about a possible colitis reaction to the change in food intake.  I am thinking that with the massive reduction in food volume, fat intake, and elimination of alcohol all together, it must be helping me in more ways than just weight loss.  I had a colonoscopy in June before I started, so I knew my bowels were going into it with just a little bit of inflammation.  So far so good!  As long as I don't eat too many pistachios, I feel great!!! 

MolarTron, Ronald McDonald, Free To Be a Kid Day, Hits 105.5, and Medifast!

Last weekend I had a MolarTron gig in Sidney, Ohio!  "Free To Be a Kid Day!" with DJ Joe Laber from Hits 105.5.  What a blast!  The Little Caesar "Pizza! Pizza!" guy was there!  But the social highlight:  We got to meet Ronald McDonald!  He wasn't permitted to take a photo with all the mascots because, as Ronald informed me, "I'm an icon, not a mascot!"

And boy did some of those folks who came to my booth need some dental health education.  Sadly, I saw a lot of bombed out mouths, full of decay.  But luckily, I was there to remind them to brush 2 times a day for 2 minutes, and to floss every day.   

MOLARTRON TO THE RESCUE!  Check out these Plaque-Fighters!

We love our CORN in Ohio.  Boo hoo for me....no roasted corn.  I LOVE roasted corn!

I managed the food sitch pretty well.  I made some Medifast chili in advance and had it nearby in a Thermos.  I also packed some Medifast cereal for the ride home, a soy crisp snack, and I was golden!
Check me out!  The bloat is gone!  I've lost 18 pounds!  Whooo hooooo!!!  It's great motivation to see myself in this photo!  Onward ho.  

Navigating through a Mexican Restaurant! Mi Mexico!

So my brother and his kids LOVE a Mexican restaurant called Mi Mexico.  I wanted to spend time with everyone, so I decided to attempt to go to my first Mexican restaurant since beginning Take Shape for Life.  OY!  The CHIPS!!!  Double Oy!  I love chips.  I adore chips.  I love tortillas. Guacamole.  All the fattening stuff I absolutely cannot have!!!!  But...I could have a little salsa!  And I can have three celery stalks as a snack.  So I planned ahead and brought along some celery! I also brought along some Medifast cereal to crunch on while everyone else was crunching on CHIPPPSS!!!

Mo Jo Flo and BIRTHDAY CAAAAKE!!

GIMME A BREAK! 

It was a Saturday night a few weeks ago when Mo Jo Flo played at The Venue, which is an R&B BAR.  Naturally, the people who sat next to us were celebrating a birthday, and the cake was glaring at me all night. IN A BAR!  I was like, "NO WAY!"

Ohio Dental Association (ODA), belly fat, smoking, & inflammation

I'm at the Ohio Dental Association annual session in Columbus, Ohio.  While visiting the Table Clinics, I met a very nice dental hygiene instructor from Cincinnati.  She and her associate educated me on belly fat and inflammation!  Who knew!  Just another reason to lose weight.

And here's some info about smoking (and just another reason to quit)!

I LOST 11 POUNDS!!! Bittersweet on the heels of a friend's death the other day.

On Tuesday I weighed in at the doctor's office, and I have lost 11 pounds!!  Whoo hooo!  I would do a video blog about it but a friend of mine, Kim, passed away on Tuesday and I have been a bit out of sorts.

Under the stress of her death, I have been pretty good with the food.  I've been indulging a little too much in sugar-free popsicles (15 calories each) and staying away from buffets of food.  Not sure how I will handle the viewing and funeral coming up but for now it's one hour at a time for me.  I am so sad.  It is taking all my effort to sit with my feelings and not drown them out with overeating.  I figure if popsicles are doing the trick, then bring them on.

Last night I had four popsicles during a binge, equaling 60 additional calories.  I guess I should be grateful that it wasn't 6000 calories wolfing down cakes, pie, and other empty calorie treats.

That's something!

Kimmie would be proud!  

Dinner Discussion About Making Changes in Our Lives

On Sunday night after the pool, I had dinner with some friends.  Jennifer expressed her concern about me changing my life with TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE, and would I still be the same ole fun Suzi she has grown to know and love?!  

And then there was the discussion about flabby arms!  I got a lesson on how to wave from the car during parades now that I am older and my "Hadassah Arms" are getting worse!  Hopefully soon, I'll have "Michelle Obama Arms!"  hahahah!

Sunday, Sunday...SWIM TIME!

Now how's this for a self-photo?!  Hahahah!  I really know my angles because I for sure don't look THIS good yet!!  It's all about the angles, people!!!!

MolarTron, HOT TIMES FEST, Children's Parade, & Babysitting!

BABYSITTING CHALLENGE:

The 12 year old girl you are babysitting constantly places fattening foods in your face, tempting you to eat it.

In the morning on Saturday I had a MolarTron gig at the HOT TIMES FESTIVAL.  We were in the Children's Parade down Main Street, and the 12 year old girl was in the MolarTron costume!  I paid her ten bucks to wave at the people as we drove by.  She did a great job!  It was MolarTron's very first parade!!

                                                         Go MolarTron!  Shake your groove thang!

So fun hanging with the Po Po and Super Heroes at the HOT TIMES FEST!

                                                                      Later that night....

The Macedonian Festival 2012

Hello!  I missed you!  I've been busy as heck and these video blogs are a lil time consuming!

Last friday night I went to the Macedonian Festival on Waggoner Road in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.  What a blast!  I even danced.

Janet's daughter did my hair and make-up.  She made me look great!  Here I am with Janet.

I miraculously avoided the sweets but couldn't resist the meats!  

Randy's Ballooniacs Late Night Birthday Binge - 214 extra calories. OY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY, RANDY!  OMG!  My dear friend had a little birthday party last night.  Randy has a business called BALLOONIACS and he makes these huge balloon sculptures and installs them!  He's really quite extraordinary when it comes to balloon designs.  But you would think that when he's off the job he would put the balloons to rest!  Oh noooooo!  Not our Randy!  So while everyone was drinking and having a great time, Randy was twisting balloons.  I was sipping on water and eyeballing the pistachios.

Now, I had already had my one snack of the day by then, but at midnight those pistachios were looking pretty good.  So I had 10.  Very carefully I counted them out and placed them on my napkin.

Then the sugar-free 15 calorie popsicles appeared, and I ate one of those, too.  Plus a bite of someone else's other flavor.  20 calories tops.

I did manage to avoid the birthday cake.  And the brownies.  And my favorite salt and pepper potato chips. OH  MY   GAWWWDDDDDDD!!   I love those things.  But I didn't even lick the salt and pepper off of one single chip, and I didn't sniff any of the other gorgeous crappy alluring foods that are the.....ENEMY!

What I did do was eat those two extra snacks at the party (popsicle and pistachios).  Then I passed out for about 20 minutes.

When I got home after 1:00am, instead of going straight to bed, I raided the fridge.  I don't know why I did that, but the first thing I did when I got in the apartment was I opened the fridge and starting hunting for something to eat.  I didn't know what I was looking for (and thank G-d I had removed ALL carby contriband from the house!) so there was really nothing to eat.  Except....I have pistachios and almonds and Medifast crackers and sugar-free popsicles!!

Before I knew it, I was pulling out the pistachios and ate two handfuls.  Then, as if that wasn't enough, I ate four hard boiled egg whites.  And I had another package of crackers with my delicious fake butter smeared on them!  And then, as if that wasn't enough, I ate a bag of Medifast cereal in bed.  By the time I was finished, I congratulated myself on not eating anything OFF the Medifast program, and then quickly reprimanded myself for eating all that stuff so late at night, and of course, eating it while being so out of control.

My rational mind took over this morning!!  Since it was already past midnight and we were on to a new day, I counted ONE handful of pistachios toward today's snack, and I counted the cereal as my first meal.  I counted the fake butter as my two fats (plus one extra). I counted the egg whites toward the protein I can eat today.  I still can have 10 more egg whites today!  WHOO HOO!!  Too bad for me because I wanted chicken salad for lunch...oh well...

All in all, Randy's Birthday Bash Binge cost me an extra:
1 fat           (80 calories)
4 snacks     (69 pistachios calories, 15 popsicle calories, and 50 Medifast cracker calories_
----------
equals an extra 214 calories

DAMMIT.  214 is 214.  And that's not getting me any closer to my targeted number of 1-6-0!

But at least it's less calories than even ONE piece of birthday cake, right?!

The Mommy Report. Babysitting coming up! Stress??!!!

Good morning!  So this weekend I have a stay-over babysitting gig with a 12 year old girl.

The potential problem is the stress factor of being out of my own environment and rhythym.  With that said, the cabinets at their homes are FILLED with the most awesome junk foods ever!  That house is chocked full of cookies, chips, soda, etc.

The challenge is to STAY AWAY from that crap while the kids get into it.  I'll just have to put on my horse blinders and keep chanting:  ENEMY!  ENEMY!!! everytime I see sugar.  Arrrghhhh!!!  I've been dealing with baked goods, candies, and cakes my whole life.  My mom loves to bake, and she's damned good at it, and she bakes ALL THE TIME!

I'm off to see my mom at her work for lunch.  We have MolarTron business to discuss, and thank G-d she works for my brother, Steve, so we can talk "MolarTron Bid'ness" on the job!!

And now, for a new weekly segment I like to call, "The Mommy Report!"  starring:

MY MOM

Tonight when I went to work at Ohio Dental Family Center on Main Street (my other brother, Jerry, is a dentist and I work at his office one night a week), I learned that both my mom and step-mom had been in recently.  My mom brought pastries from Panera, and my step-mom brought in a box of chocolates!  OMG!!  It's been a plethera of sweets on parade my whole life.  NO WONDER I LOVE SUGAR! 

Here's Velma, one of the receptionists at Ohio Dental:

WELCOME TO MY WORLD, VELMA!  AND BRACE YOURSELF FOR THE HOLIDAYS! 

Wednesday: First Watch Day

I'm enjoying lunch at First Watch today with Aunt Betty.  I'm having a turkey burger patty on a bed of field greens.  YUM---MEEEE!!!

So far, no complications with food issues today!  HOOOORAY!!!  I feel pretty good.  Lots of energy.  Not hungry.  Not tired and lethargic.  No headaches.  All is well.

Tuesday was a good day!

Not much going on today.  I'm home working and doing laundry.  No stress.

Dinner was fantastic!  Salmon baked with lemon pepper and a tsp. of lemon, sauteed scallions, celery, tomatoes, cabbage, and spinach in the wok with a shpritz of canola oil spray.  Remember the red peppers!

My only food problems today were those dang 15 calorie sugar-free popsicles!!  I had about 3.  No, I for sure had 3.  A grape, an orange, and a cherry to top off the night.  As a TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE snack, one would have been the magic number!

On a personal note, Tuesday night was great.  I spoke on the phone for 2.5 hours with my 18 years younger ex...let's call him Mr. T...the one who lives in California...the one who told me two years ago that I was getting too fat to have sex with!  Yeah, that one!  Well, after a few attempts to break apart, we never really did break the connection.  Not even moving back to Columbus has kept us apart.  We've been talking all along, seeing each other every time I go back to Cali for work, and texting a lot.  We've settled into a nice friendship, actually.  Well....as much of a friendship as you can have when two people are still romantically involved.  Now that I'm in Ohio, he's starting to appreciate and value me more, and that feels soooo good.  I still love him.  I was super pissed off at him but I never stopped loving him.  A few months ago he dared me to lose weight and get healthy.  I promised him I would do it and he said, "I'll believe it when I see it."

I wasn't ready then.  I'm ready now.  I have Mr. T's picture in my head when I'm on the treadmill.  I have my niece Samantha's fierce breast stroke picture in my head, too.

AND, I have that skinny picture of ME in my head, too.  The skinny me is inside here, waiting to experience life as a skinny person!  I was 27 when I was finally fit, for the first time since I was five!  It lasted for about a year, and then I started packing on the pounds slowly but surely.

Everything has got to be better!  And I guarantee you, the next time Mr. T sees me, he's gonna be in shock!!!!

Gotta pay the piper

Good morning!  It's 10:00am and I've already been to the bathroom twice.  That meat is laying in my stomach like a bowling ball, and this morning I am miserable.  I had a little coffee and a power bar about an hour ago because my stomach has gotta be stretched out, and I didn't want to get to the point where I would be STARVING!  (yeah!  riiiiight!)

Today I am going to do some housework, laundry, swim, and burn off some of those calories.  And I am going to stick to my program to a TEE no matter what.  The food buffet party is over, and any BBQ invites I get today I will have to decline.  In fact, the next time I go to a party with the inevitable buffet, I am going to ask a friend to make me a plate and I am going to STEER CLEAR, ya hear?!  I have to have a better plan for these situations.  Living in Ohio, there are always so many invites!  It's so much fun!  But all the parties have tons of food buffets with the best food ever, and spiked punches and spirits, and DESSERTS galore.

I didn't have so many of these party food challenges when I lived in California.

BUCKEYE NATION people sure know how to cook up the BEST meats and potatoes!!!  Holy SNAP!

Off to the gym I go!  Uh Oh!  Drew at the JCC front desk reminded me not to overdo it!

I know I'm not supposed to be working out for three weeks, but I can't stand myself so I have to go and get out of the house!!!  I won't do that much, lol.  I just need to get out of the house.  Thank you, Janet and Lindsey, for going to the JCC with me!

Happy Labor Day weekend! OYY! Another party!!

Happy Day Before Labor Day!

DERAILED!!!!  My friend stepped in and "Buffet-Blocked" me!  

I'm enjoying yet ANOTHER party with my lean and green meal...and a few more ounces of grilled protein because the smell of the grill is lulling me into a trance...and then I had a few more ounces....and some outrageous brisket (when Janet was outside and not looking!  LOL) !!!!!!!!!!!!   And then I was the stuffed pig!

I think I ate about 14 ounces of protein throughout the day, I was definitely NOT hungry at all, and then I left the party in a brisket coma.  With the assortment of cakes, cookies, pies, and brownies, AND pasta and and and and...it could have been a LOT worse.  But still, I didn't even eat THAT much meat last night at Smith and Wollensky's!!!  My stomach was so bloated, and hard as a rock, and sore.  Owwwiee.  Why do I hurt myself like that?  (OK, that frickin' brisket was SO outstanding, it was ALMOST worth it!  When the guy who made it saw me take a massive hunk of a piece, he said, "Wow!  That's a big piece!"  DUH!!  OMG.  I could have stopped there but nooo...).

Here's a new snack I made up on the spot!  Celery sticks, cilantro, and Jalapeno Tobasco sauce!  YUMM!!  And only like, 10 calories!!!  I'll be eating like a rabbit on actual Labor Day to counteract the additional protein calories I wolfed down this weekend.

Two days in a row of massive beef intake is more than enough, even for a bonafide carnivore like me!  At least I went swimming again later in the night, and burned off about 150 of those extra calories.  Still, my stomach is like a watermelon right now!  

Dinner at Smith & Wollensky

To celebrate having my niece Lindsey back from Israel for a while, the family went out to dinner at Smith & Wollensky.  At first I declined the offer to go, but then I figured I have to keep on living and learn how to deal with restuarant situations, and I needed the practice.  So, I ate my 4th Medifast meal and drank a huge glass of water before I left the house, knowing that dinner wouldn't be served for about 2 hours or more. 

 I took some Medifast cereal with me to munch on while everyone was eating appetizers!  It's really hard to sit there and not eat while people at the table are eating!!  

Everyone in my family tried a bite of cereal so they could "experience what I'm experiencing!"  Awww!!!  Everyone is being soooooooooooooo supportive.   

Then I had one shrimp with a little cocktail sauce, salad with balsamic, shared a steak with my mom, had some steamed broccoli and asparagus (thus going over my alloted veggie/carb intake a bit), and for dessert, I had a snack package of apple cinnamon soy crisps while everyone else ate apple pie a la mode!  All in all, it was a great night and I stayed the course!!   Plus I got to be with everyone and join in the celebration. Those crisps are a perfect ending with a cup of hot tea.  Very satisfying! 

I WASN'T EVEN SWAYED BY ALL THAT DELICIOUS BREAD THAT WAS STARING ME DOWN ALL NIGHT!!  

I figured that with 3 hours of swimming earlier in the day, I could have one extra shrimp and veggies.  In the old days, I would have had a ton of bread, a full appetizer, a loaded salad, my OWN steak, potatoes, veggies, AND dessert!  And a little red wine!  PLUS bites of what everyone else was having!!!  LOOOOL   I'm very proud of myself! 

SWIM-WEAR BEFORE PICTURES! OY!

 I had to go to the pool.  It was soooo hot!  I planned to swim for about an hour but ended up staying for 3 hours in the water, just treading water and floating and swimming without alot of effort.  On Take Shape For Life we are encouraged to wait 3 weeks before exercising, but since I have been swimming for years I just cut back a little.  Here are my SWIM-WEAR BEFORE PICS!  OY!  I told you I turned into an apple!