It is no secret that cold season is in full swing and if you happen to fall victim of the nasty head cold going around, my sympathies go out to you.  In light of this I have decided that a few cold soothing recipes are in order.  The first is a simple take on any tea you may enjoy.  As a for my own personal preference green tea is king so the Moroccan Mint Tea was wonderful soothing my recent head cold.  Mint is wonderful for congestion and fresh lemon helped sooth my throat.  Try this recipe over ice for a refreshing afternoon beverage.

2 Tablespoons loose leaf green tea or 3 green tea bags
3/4 c lightly packed fresh mint leaves
1 teaspoon greated lemon peel
4 c boiling water

Place tea, mint and lemon peel in a pot or small saucepan and add the boiling water.  Cover and allow it to steep for 8 minutes.  Using a strainer, pour the tea into your favorite mug.

Taken from: The 14-Day Perricone Weight-Loss Diet

So I guess it is time to make some revelations and talk about the dreaded numbers!!!  Dun, Dun, Duhhhhn.  First I should start out that I have been over weight my whole life.  I can not remember a time when I was not bigger than the girls in my class and most of the boys and that includes high school.  I have done the trend of slight loss of weight and then subsequent huge gain of weight after dieting but have never really lost more than 30lbs and that was when I was on Nutri-System in middle school.  Anyone 14 years of age and on a strick calorie controlled diet would lose weight.  But for a 14 year old that strict calorie controlled diet was far from realistic, especially to a child that had been making all of her own food decisions for the better part of 10 years.  Calorie control was just not part of the plan. 

The year before I had surgery I was pregnant with my second child.  I ballooned to over 300lbs, 309lbs to be exact on the day that I delivered.  Which I guess was a first at the hospital becasue the anesthesiologist could not correctly calculate the dose for my epidural.  Large numbers are a challenge to some.  Even though I was 9 months pregnant and having a baby and was privy to all the wonderful excuses that come with being pregnant and eating whatever I wanted, it was the largest I had ever been and I have never felt more miserable physically.  I couldnt move, I couldnt tie my shoes and my selection of what I could get my fat foot into was limited to flip flops and this terrible pair of wide width baby dolls that were thankfully made of fabric and not leather but were stretched to the point of agony. 

So the baby comes, healthy, beautiful and magical and the harsh reality is that I now have 2 children to chase after, because babies walk before you know it, 2 children to raise and 2 children to live for.  I put things on hold for a moment, now I am a master when it comes to excuses, justifying and turning things in my favor usually so I dont have to DO anything.  I will tell myself becasue I did not have 3 slices of sourdough bread slathered with a 1/4" slab of butter and only had 2 I was making a real effort to make positive changes in my health and I would for sure notice a difference in my clothing the next day.  Or becasue I walked for 20 minutes 1 day this week I could allow for a handful of chips, after all you did burn 1,000,000,000 calories during that walk so go ahead and have a treat.  If you are reading this and you are an eater like me you know that the 5 chips you plan on eating turns into half or the entire bag.  By the time you have finished your "treat" and the fog clears all you have left is an empty bag.  And I mean EMPTy!  Flattening the bag and banging the tiny pieces to the bottom corner while placing your mouth at one end, tipping your head bag and shaking the remainder into your mouth will just not do.  You have turned that sucker inside out and licked the bottom creases so as not to miss any of the grease, salt, or crunchy pieces begging not to be forgotten since all their "full-sized" buddies have been selected to go on to the happy hunting grounds known as your stomach and it would be cruel to leave them there in the darkness alone, moist fingers from licking them and a shirt which probably needs to be changed from all the salt and chip dust flying around during the feeding frenzy.  

So deciding to DO something came only after realizing the afore mentioned realizations and understanding that being a single mom will be hard enough with 2 children, I should be as healthy and in as good as shape as I could possibly be in to take care of them.  Plus I remembered what it was like to be a fat child and I didnt want that for my children.  Fat adults usually raise fat children, you can see it on every talk show or magazine cover out there and even if my children werent fat having a fat mother can be a hard pill to swallow when you are getting teased on the playground for it. 

It was time to change my life and it was time to do it in any way I could.  I already new about gastris bypass because I had had gastric bypass surgery in 1999.  Yep the plot thickens.  I started looking for surgeons in my area and by shear happenstance I was put in the care of Dr. Alan Wittgrove in La Jolla, Ca.  Little did I know that this renowned doctor had been fixing my not-so-little problem for years and was going to reveal to me exactly the damage in my body and do a beautiful job fixing it. 

Date of surgery: 12/14/2009
Weight: 284lbs
Weight today: 253.6lbs

Next week: My Surgery Stories

What makes a candy really great?  Is it sweet and creamy chocolate?  Maybe you like a little crunch in your candy.  Or just maybe it is the hint of salt with the sweet that make your taste buds beg for more. If you find yourself saying YES to any of these candy descriptions then read on.  This next recipe will fulfill all your candy desires.

White Death has been a favorite in the Majanvinos house for years.  Fabianna, our Practice Coordinator, contributed this recipe for a holiday bake off and it was the success of the party.  CandiQuick white chocolate, usually found around the holidays, holds all the ingredients together and shapes them into perfectly dropped mounds just right for tossing into your mouth.  Don’t let the name fool you, this delectable confection has all the makings of a heavenly treat. 

8 oz stick pretzels broken into pieces
1 cup salted peanuts
2 cups captain crunch breakfast cereal
2 cups rice krispies breakfast cereal
2 pounds Candiquick white chocolate
Waxed paper, about 8ft

Mix all dry ingredients in big bowl. Lay out wax paper on counter. Melt the Candiquick chocolate in the microwave for about 2 ½ minutes making sure to stir every 30 seconds to avoid burning the chocolate.
When it is melted, pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix it up. Drop by teaspoons onto the wax paper and let set for about 30 minutes to cool and firm.
 

Greetings and thank you for taking the time to read My Transformation Journey.  I am Kadee, Executive Assistant and Tuition Counselor here at NaturaLook Institute for Permanent Cosmetics.  I have recently made the life changing decision to undergo Gastric Bypass Surgery.  In an effort to reach out to our patients and community we are all sharing a little bit about ourselves, recipes, updates etc. and this is my contribution.  Happy Reading!!

I think the natural place to start would be an explanation of why I am putting myself out into cyber space, sharing my story and journey with the masses and opening myself up to whatever may come.  I have to admit this is definitely not my style. I preferred to keep my addiction private.  It was not for the world or even my family or closest friends to know about, help, or understand.   Food was my companion, my best friend, my nemesis and side-kick.  Always there in my mind guiding me, talking to me almost like it had a voice of its own, its own will, through my day always reminding me of the next opportunity to put something in my mouth.  And every time making me feel worse and worse about how I had lost complete control and had no will to change.  This is what got me to an incredible weight, which we will talk about later, a deteriorating lifestyle and a slow downward movement toward death.  Hard words to admit to and even harder to put onto e-paper.

Change does not happen in a place of comfort.  We have all watched The Biggest Loser and know that the contestants have the biggest weight losses when they push past the point of comfort to where they never thought they could go.  And it hurts.  It hurts a lot.  You know you always feel better after a good cry and have worked through an issue.  It is scary but after the storm there is always a rainbow.  And more importantly, a sense of peace.  I guess if change were easy everyone would do it.  So my decision was to change, see my rainbow and feel some peace.  This, to my dismay, means placing myself in a position of severe discomfort and holding myself accountable.  I am hoping that this blog will keep me motivated to work out, adhere to the rules, because I am really good at justifying why I don’t have to follow them, and be an inspiration to just one person to make the change to live. 

Kadee

Look for Entry - 2: My weight, My body, My Choice coming next week. 
 

Dr. Lusby began his practice in 1983 as PRK surgeries were made available in the United States. He has been at the forefront of the field and has performed thousands of successful PRK surgeries over the last 17 years. By the early 1990s, Keratomileusis and PRK were combined to form the basic concept of LASIK. Since then, advanced lasers, bladeless flap incision, and wavefront-guided and optimized techniques have refined the reliability of LASIK and made it one of the most popular procedures in the United States.

In 1989, Dr. Lusby chose to focus his practice on refractive surgeries and is a LASIK specialist, performing more than 150 procedures a month. He continues to perform PRK surgeries as well as LASIK, Custom LASIK, Intralase®, and more.

For more information about Dr. Lusby and the Lusby Vision Institute, please visit Dr. Lusby’s website.

Jeanee’s Famous Chicken and Grape Salad

Famous?  Is it really famous?  It sure is!  Especially if you have ever been in attendance at a party and this salad is on the menu.  The bowl literally gets rubbed clean by crackers which makes clean up a breeze.  I can even attest to the multiple requests for this salad whenever we have an upcoming gathering in the office or with friends.  The drooling begins as soon as Jeanee agrees to bring this unconventional “salad”. 

So what makes this salad so good?  I know I have asked myself that same question over and over looking through cookbooks for that perfect dish to bring to an event but never really knowing if the dish is as good as it reads.  Add in a little laziness for making a “test dish” of the recipe and the end result is some pretty interesting food faire.

Jeanee’s  Famous chicken and grape salad may sound a bit unappetizing but it is the pairing of unsuspecting ingredients that makes it so delicious.  The chicken gives the salad body and the grapes lend a tender sweetness that is just right.  Add a hint of garlic and some crunchy celery all slapped on a buttery cracker and you have a winning combination for yumminess.  Be sure to make it the night before so everything can love on each other and get even tastier.  Try it at your next potluck, we promise you will be praised and begged for the recipe. 

Serves 40

12lbs chicken breast - whole
3 cloves garlic – smashed and peeled
1 large bunch celery with leaves – diced or sliced small
5 ½ lbs seedless green grapes cut in half length wise – can substitute red if in season
2-3 large bunches green onions sliced
½ gallon mayo
1 ½ T white pepper
Salt to taste
Handful of sugar

1.    Boil chicken breasts whole with garlic cloves.  When done remove and dice or shred chicken breasts into bite sized pieces
2.    While chicken is cooking mix rest of ingredients in a large bowl – can thin sauce with chicken broth if it is too thick
3.    Add chicken and refrigerate overnight – salt and sugar more to taste in the morning.
4.    Serve cold with butter crackers
 

Permanent eyeliner is not just black or brown.  We use many accent colors to achieve the results our patients are seeking.

Every New Year rings in with resolutions and promises to oneself, a commitment really, to make positive changes and choices for the next 12 months and ideally the rest of our life.  To help support your journey to overall health and change the following is an article I received which contains relevant information about foods we consume that we may not think about as we are watching a movie or chatting with friends.

We can’t change on willpower alone. Tap your resources for support. 

Danger at the Theatre

A Valentine Gift Especially for you!

Purchase a Permanent Makeup gift certificate for

brows, eyeliner or lips and receive a

1 month supply of Latisse FREE ($120.00 value)

& $20 off your next month’s purchase

Contact our office for details or call

866.550.LOOK.

offer expires Friday February 28, 2010.