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I recently created an OH Mini-Challenge group over at Facebook!  So, if you are a Facebook user and a mini-challenger, feel free to join the group!  Check it out at
group link:   http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=90124712056
Then, send me a friend request too!
my profile:  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=634295874
That should work!  If not, search for me as Lea Burnside!
Lea

EDITED TO ADD:
I posted this with the correct links and with no links at all...  Each and every time, the system warps the link so that it won't work.  You will have to type it in...  OR, go to www.facebook.com and then add the profile.php?id=_________ part in there yourself!

I'm not sure how many of you are aware of this, but we also have a YahooGroup that is used daily by our members for chatter, question/answer stuff, and sharing...  To find out more about this group OR to join it, click over to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OHchallengers
Once there, to join, click the Join This Group button!

Post a question....
Comment on something you've seen or experienced...
Participate in ongoing discussions...
Share web links, news articles, and more!

Though the mini-challenge itself is NOT brand new, this forum at OH is a brand new group forum.  And, as it is a new forum, each and EVERY member must be approved!  It isn't just you!  We have not lost your membership in the mini-challenge!  Once you are approved, you can post to the group posts and post discussion topics of your own!

Welcome to the new home for the Obesity Help mini-challenge! 

This will eventually replace our other chat, discussion and postings...  We'll have everything in one place!  We'll have roll calls here as discussions.  We'll be able to add topics for discussion/general chat as well as add things to the blog that we'd like to save for later.  We can add photos!  We can even have chats!

Once we're all used to this format, we may phase out the YahooGroup so that everything is here in one place.  Watch for updates on this AT the YahooGroup.

I've been trying to keep up with two blogs.  I have this one and then my other one that I started last Fall over at Blogger.com.  It has been hectic trying to post to both.  I often forget one or the other.  SO, I have decided that I will not continue to post to both.  Rather, I am posting a link here to the Blogger.com blog and will post only to that one.  This takes effect today--March 1st, 2008.  To view that blog, go to http://lovinlifewithlea.blogspot.com/
There is a link to my blog in my signature below all my posts here at ObesityHelp.com and in the Intro box at the top of my profile page as well.  My blog is called Lovin' Life with Lea.  I talk about life after weight loss surgery, my struggles to keep on track with eating and such, review products, share recipes and more!  I look forward to hearing from you!
Lea

wakeup--water and vitamins
late breakfast/brunch--chicken noodle soup with 1 1/2 scoops Unjury chicken soup flavor
no snack!
lunch--Atkins Advantage chocolate coconut protein bar
no snack!!
dinner--taco salad with meat sauce and refried beans and veggies and cheese  YUMMO!!
evening snack (I will have this one due to low BS at night while sleeping)---either protein bar or nuts and raisins

I have had 3 cups of tea (32 ozs each) plus a 24 oz bottle of water. I'll have another bottle or part of one at bedtime when I take my evening vitamins...  With figuring in a protein bar as the evening snack, that brings me to 1300 calories and 112 grams of protein.  Carbs are a bit higher than I'd like at 80, but it was complex carbs and only 11 grams of sugar for the WHOLE day total!

After a horrendous day Tuesday of eating every two hours and it adding up to TWO thousand calories (UGH!), I did MUCH better on Wednesday!

breakfast--1/2 cup egg beaters, 1 oz shredded cheese
no snack
lunch--Atkins protein bar
snack--2 slices cheddar cheese and a couple of shoplifted grapes (would have bought the bag, but they were squishy...yuck! glad I tried a couple!)
dinner--beef stir fry made with soy sauce, not a heavy terryaki or stir fry sauce
snack--half a Payday protein bar and a few almonds

I drank 2 bottles of Propel, 2 bottles of water and 32 ozs iced tea. I also had two of those Citrical calcium chews. I was out and found them at my Rite aid and bought both boxes of the chocolate ones they had. I'm not really sure why everyone is so crazy about them as I think they are sort of nasty! LOL And, they are 35 calories each! So that is 70 extra calories a day. Now I will admit that my fish oil pills are 10 cals each (I take 4 to 6 per day) and my calcium supp is 10 cals per dose (2 to 3 doses per day) and I never EVER count or even consider those. Should I ignore the ones in the chews too? As long as you're not eating them like Hershey kisses that is??

With the Propels but not the Citrical chews, I ended up with 1047 calories, 56 net carbs and 84 protein. This is my first REALLY low day in a very long time.  I've been eating 1200 to 1400 cals on the average day.  I spent 6 hours mostly on my feet either pacing at the auto mechanic or shopping several different places... That was the extent of my "exercise" for the day.  I did wake up to a lower number on the scale though!  I haven't seen anything lower than 205 in a while.  Today, it read 202.6!  Now if it will just stay down there and not go back up tomorrow, I may just see ONEderland by Easter!
Lea

Kay's Naturals
Kay's Naturals offered a 20% discount off of all orders (phone OR internet) for anyone who uses the discount code "mini-challenge."  To get this discount, go to their website (http://www.kaysbariatric.com/) and shop for the items you'd like to purchase.  Place them in your shopping cart.  Proceed to checkout and while checking out, use the discount code mini-challenge.  If you are unfamiliar with their products, they make a line of awesome protein snacks and protein cereals.  They also offer a mixed assortment box of goodies!  It is a great way to taste several of their product so that you can order things you really like!

CHIKE Protein Powder
CHIKE Nutrition has offered us a 15% discount on their 3 lb tubs of protein powder!  To get this discount, use the discount code ohmini when going through checkout.

If you get a chance to read my other blog, you know that I've been moaning about sticking to the same weight for like forever now (since early December 2007).  Well, I had an eye-opening experience last night that may help explain....

We hear folks who reach goal and enter the maintenance phase say it can not be done. They simply can NOT eat 2000 calories per day without feeling stuffed all day. Well, I am here to tell you that they are full of it! I did it yesterday. I ate 2000 calories. I am not proud of it. It did not feel like an unhealthy eating day. I did not make poor food choices. I just ate like every 2 hours all freaking day! And, until the end of the day when I sat down to chart it all out, it sure didn't feel like 2000 calories! In fact, it was 2000 calories, 140 NET carbs, and a whopping 140 grams of protein. The only (and I mean ONLY) simple carbs the whole day was some bites of potato with the beef roast for supper. ALL the rest of the carbs were from nuts, beans, veggies or milk (and only 8 ozs of milk). SO, I guess I need to start really seriously tracking my daily food intake. Maybe I'm eating more than I realize MOST days. I try to track each day in my head as I go along. After all, after 18 mos of doing this, you have most of those food nutrition facts memorized! LOL But, when a day adds up like yesterday, it is time to do SOMETHING! SO, today so far has been good. I had an Egg Beaters and cheese omlet for breakfast. I had NO snack this morning. I have to get out of here and go do some errands in town, so I'm taking an Atkins Advantage Chocolate PB protein bar with me for lunch. I'll stop somewhere and get an iced tea or another bottle of water. I am pretty good when I'm away from home. I'm too cheap to buy much that won't do me any good! LOL SO, we'll see how today goes!

Someone asked me for my meatloaf recipe tonight, so here goes...  My meatloaf is truly nothing terribly special, but it agrees with DH.  It is not greasy and has no oatmeal in it, which he hates in meatloaf.  It started out as the meatloaf recipe on the Lipton onion-mushroom soup packet!  Now, it pretty much the following:
1 1/2 to 2 pounds ground beef (usually the 80/20 stuff)
1 packet onion or onion-mushroom soup mix
2 to 3 eggs (more beef = more eggs)
ketchup
3/4 to 1 cup italian bread crumbs (again, more beef = more bread crumbs)

Break the beef up in your bowl.
Pour in the soup mix packet and bread crumbs.  Break in the eggs.  Add about 1/3 cup ketchup and about 1/2 to 3/4 cup water.  Mix well with a fork OR your hands. Bake at about 350 degrees till just almost done.  Take the pan out and pour off any fat/grease (hence why it is not greasy!).  Then, top with a nice coating of ketchup and bake again till done in the middle.  A 1 1/2 to 2 pound meatloaf takes about an hour to bake completely.

Now I will also note that I sometimes add extra shredded/dried onion.  I have also added a bit of salsa when I didn't have ketchup on hand.  That makes for sort of a tex-mex meatloaf!  And, I've added shredded cheese before too...  Just things you can do to switch it up for a change. 

We LOVE meatloaf and there is rarely any left after a day or two.  We get dinner, lunch and the occasional snack out of it.  I sometimes make a really large meatloaf (I'm talking 3+ pounds of beef) and freeze some in smaller pieces so I can have it for lunch once in a while when I'm not planning a meatloaf for dinner any time soon...  You can also make it in a few of the little loaf pans or even in pot pie tins for smaller servings.  It helps to add a bit of ketchup or salsa when reheating in the microwave if you need a really moist food to go down well. 

I've never figured nutrition info on this recipe, so no help there!
Lea