No. Really. I love her. I have been to dietitians before (once in college, once after college) and they have always told me things I already knew: portion control, calorie control, exercise, blah blah blah. But since my insurance covers it I decided what the hell, I'll give it another try. So glad I did. In the two weeks since I started seeing her I have lost 5 pounds. Five! Before that I had been in a standstill for almost two months! So now I have about 11 pounds to go and 50 pounds total I have lost since last January.
I am hoping I can drop three more before my next appointment with the RE on the 11th. She said it is do-able, and gave me lots of tips to make sure I am as low as I can healthily be at the appointment. Stuff like restricting sodium starting two days before the appointment and really pushing liquids. She hasn't done anything amazingly crazy to my diet. We rearranged my calories a little so I get more in the morning and a little less in the evening. I have cut out ALL coffee, not just Starbucks. And we upped my protein a lot, I really wasn't getting anywhere near enough before.
She has even started talking about what we will do when I do get pregnant. We are talking about putting me on the diabetic diet straight off the bat since my Mom had gestational diabetes with all of us. If I can avoid the whole GD train I am all for it. But I just love that she isn't just thinking about what is going to get me this goal, she is thinking about where we go once I get there.
It doesn't hurt that she also has the exact same sense of humor as me, and started dropping f-bombs left and right after I did. She also does this funny thing where she randomly picks up her calculator and taps numbers furiously into, writes whatever she got down and then goes on talking like she never did anything, and never references what she was calculating. I find it hilarious!
I am feeling more and more optimistic about the IVF consult with my RE. I literally can not wait to walk in and get weighed so he can see how hard I have been working. The next 12 days can not go fast enough!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Finally... Cookie Recipes
It took longer for me to put these up than I wanted. Sorry about that, but it felt like I was racing back and forth from my parent's house to mine all week. So finally, here are the Christmas cookie recipes I made last week. Only two this time, most years I make five or more different kinda of cookies. But this year everything was just too crazy so I didn't have time.
First up is the teaser cookie I showed you in the last post.
Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tpsn vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 bag chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli best)
1 cup toffee peices
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir flour, sbaking soda, and salt together and set aside.
Beat butter with the sugars until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time. Mix on low until everything is incorporated.
Gradually blend flour micture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee. Drop by the tablespoon (I use a small ice cream scoop) onto a cookie pan. Bake for 9 mintues or until the cookies are still slightly under done in the middle (that is how I like them anyway). Cool and enjoy with a glass of milk.
And now, my favorite...
Chocolate Peppermint Chocolate Chunk Cookies
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring in between, until almost melted; do not overheat.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, peppermint extract and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 10 to 15 minutes.
And now for some rndom Christmas goodies
There is a long and painful story behing these crepes. I love crepes. I love making crepes. It is very zen. You drop the batter in the pain and roll it around till it covers the whole bottom. Then you flip it, and cook the other side for just a second ot two and slide it onto a plate.
First up is the teaser cookie I showed you in the last post.
Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tpsn vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 bag chocolate chips (I like Ghirardelli best)
1 cup toffee peices
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir flour, sbaking soda, and salt together and set aside.
Beat butter with the sugars until creamy. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time. Mix on low until everything is incorporated.
Gradually blend flour micture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee. Drop by the tablespoon (I use a small ice cream scoop) onto a cookie pan. Bake for 9 mintues or until the cookies are still slightly under done in the middle (that is how I like them anyway). Cool and enjoy with a glass of milk.
And now, my favorite...
Chocolate Peppermint Chocolate Chunk Cookies
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring in between, until almost melted; do not overheat.
In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, peppermint extract and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 10 to 15 minutes.
And now for some rndom Christmas goodies
There is a long and painful story behing these crepes. I love crepes. I love making crepes. It is very zen. You drop the batter in the pain and roll it around till it covers the whole bottom. Then you flip it, and cook the other side for just a second ot two and slide it onto a plate.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
The Treatment Train
I am very very anxious to hop back on the treatment train. I hate not being able to do anything fertility related. I see all my left over meds in my crisper drawer and it just makes me so impatient. I want to inject myself with fertility meds damn it! Bring on the Ganirlex and Gonal F, hell even the Lupron that I am allergic to. Anything. Just so I am not standing still anymore.
I have an appointment with my wonderful RE in two weeks. It is just a consultation. I keep having this fantasy about going to the office, which I know is an odd thing to fantasize about. Here is how it goes: I walk into his office and sit down. We start chatting about how I have been since my last cycle (can't even remember when that was now). Then we start talking about testing that needs to be done and the protocol he wants to put me on. Then he looks in my chart and says how awesome he thinks it is that I have lost over 40 pounds since April, and screw the last ten pounds, let's start this IVF next cycle! God that would be awesome. I know it won't happen, but a girl can dream.
The new plan my nutritionist has me on seems to be working. I have lost a pound an a half in the past week, which is great. I miss my Starbucks, but I will live. I still need to get to the gym more often. I took two weeks off from the gym, and since going back I have only been able to go every other day. Hopefully after the holidays I will be able to start going everyday again.
Now, I believe I promised some baked goodness. So here is just a teaser, I will post the recipe as my Christmas Eve present to my followers (all 36 of you). So here is your tease:
Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies
I have an appointment with my wonderful RE in two weeks. It is just a consultation. I keep having this fantasy about going to the office, which I know is an odd thing to fantasize about. Here is how it goes: I walk into his office and sit down. We start chatting about how I have been since my last cycle (can't even remember when that was now). Then we start talking about testing that needs to be done and the protocol he wants to put me on. Then he looks in my chart and says how awesome he thinks it is that I have lost over 40 pounds since April, and screw the last ten pounds, let's start this IVF next cycle! God that would be awesome. I know it won't happen, but a girl can dream.
The new plan my nutritionist has me on seems to be working. I have lost a pound an a half in the past week, which is great. I miss my Starbucks, but I will live. I still need to get to the gym more often. I took two weeks off from the gym, and since going back I have only been able to go every other day. Hopefully after the holidays I will be able to start going everyday again.
Now, I believe I promised some baked goodness. So here is just a teaser, I will post the recipe as my Christmas Eve present to my followers (all 36 of you). So here is your tease:
Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
M.I.A.
I know, I know... I have been seriously M.I.A. lately. It is amazing how I can go from looking for things to keep me busy and my mind off all things fertility and baby related, to wishing everything would slow down and stop piling on top of me. Work has been nuts as usual. I really wish I could leave and find a less stressful job (one where.. gasp.. I might be appreciated at). Damn awesome insurance preventing me from leaving.
So here is the update: Nothing New.
I am still stuck in this damn plateau. I have been in the same 2 pound range for almost two months now. I finally broke down and made an appointment with a nutritionist. I thought it would be the same old thing I have heard from every diet/doctor I have talked to in the past. Portion control, cut out the sugars and carbs, blah blah blah. But she was actually awesome and had some great tips. She thinks I am right on with my calorie intake, but we need to mix it up a little and re-distribute the calories throughout the day. She also said I am not eating near enough protein. So she gave me a basic outline of a meal plan, and told me to cut it out with all the Starbucks. Which I already knew, and I suppose I will have to cut out the caffeine when I get pregnant (notice I am saying 'when' and not 'if' now). So I am switching to green tea instead of my daily grande non-fat peppermint mochas. More than anything though this appointment has gotten me excited about trying to lose weight again. After the first 40 pounds I was kinda just tired, and then with things stalling I was frustrated. But I am starting to feel that old motivational push again.
I also went and talked to an acupuncturist, and I think I will be starting treatments with him every other week in January. I am both excited and nervous about being stuck with dozens of needles.
Also I have decided I am getting this IVF bus rolling. Screw the last 15 pounds, I set up a consult with my RE to talk about our IVF options. I want to know specifics. What protocol will we try first, are we going to do ICSI, what testing do I need done before we start? And I want to get all the tests done before I hit my goal. that way as soon as I see those magic numbers on the scale we can just start jabbing me with needles and get those follies growing damn it! I am ready! I am sick of getting passed by people who have been married half as long as we have!
So I guess that is a little more than nothing new. Expect lots and lots of baking coming up. I am making a birthday cake for my hubby today (a skull cake no less) and I have just crap loads of Christmas baking to do. With any luck things are starting to seriously look up around here.
So here is the update: Nothing New.
I am still stuck in this damn plateau. I have been in the same 2 pound range for almost two months now. I finally broke down and made an appointment with a nutritionist. I thought it would be the same old thing I have heard from every diet/doctor I have talked to in the past. Portion control, cut out the sugars and carbs, blah blah blah. But she was actually awesome and had some great tips. She thinks I am right on with my calorie intake, but we need to mix it up a little and re-distribute the calories throughout the day. She also said I am not eating near enough protein. So she gave me a basic outline of a meal plan, and told me to cut it out with all the Starbucks. Which I already knew, and I suppose I will have to cut out the caffeine when I get pregnant (notice I am saying 'when' and not 'if' now). So I am switching to green tea instead of my daily grande non-fat peppermint mochas. More than anything though this appointment has gotten me excited about trying to lose weight again. After the first 40 pounds I was kinda just tired, and then with things stalling I was frustrated. But I am starting to feel that old motivational push again.
I also went and talked to an acupuncturist, and I think I will be starting treatments with him every other week in January. I am both excited and nervous about being stuck with dozens of needles.
Also I have decided I am getting this IVF bus rolling. Screw the last 15 pounds, I set up a consult with my RE to talk about our IVF options. I want to know specifics. What protocol will we try first, are we going to do ICSI, what testing do I need done before we start? And I want to get all the tests done before I hit my goal. that way as soon as I see those magic numbers on the scale we can just start jabbing me with needles and get those follies growing damn it! I am ready! I am sick of getting passed by people who have been married half as long as we have!
So I guess that is a little more than nothing new. Expect lots and lots of baking coming up. I am making a birthday cake for my hubby today (a skull cake no less) and I have just crap loads of Christmas baking to do. With any luck things are starting to seriously look up around here.
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