About Gastric Girl

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Tomball, TX, United States
My name is Laurie. I'm 34 and I live in a suburb of Houston, TX. My life isn't super exciting or ultra dramatic, but I love it! My blogs are just a peek into my life as I know it. I'm quite random and have an opinion on everything, but I love everyone's aspect on things, even if I disagree. The world would be quite boring if not! :-)

8/24/2009

Frozen Lunches


Happy Monday, one and all! In an effort to further saving money and to make sure I don't waste money over and over again on frozen lunches that I don't like, I've started a spreadsheet reviewing frozen dinners. There are so many different varieties out there, when I go to the grocery store, I'm so damn confused! Several times I've ended up buying one that I previously tried and disliked immensely just because it sounded halfway decent on the box.

Is anyone interested in participating, or want a copy of once I've reviewed once I've gotten a good list going? Basically, I'm listing the brand, the name, whether I'd buy it again or not, and a short review (also listing the # of points and grams of protein). I'm not doing Weight Watchers, but I'm so familiar with their point system that it gives me a general idea of calories just by looking at it! :)

On another note, I finally dragged my ass back to the gym this weekend! It was nice... I was worn out, but I felt good!!!

8/21/2009

The Grocery Game

My sister told me about a really cool site - The Grocery Game. Basically, it's a site where you pick your grocery store(s), and then you are provided with a weekly list of great buys based on advertised and unadvertised specials as well as coupons. They claim that you can save over 60% on your groceries!! WOW!

I am just starting, and although I haven't saved 60% yet, I've gotten some great deals. Each list is color coded (and different fonts, so it's b&w printer firendly). Green (bold) is an item you can get FREE, Blue (italics) is an item you can get at significant savings, and stockpiling is recommended if it is an item you use often, and black (plain text) is something that will go on sale for a better price soon.

Want to try it out? Go to http://thegrocerygame.com and sign up for the free 4 week trial. After the trial (which is really easy to cancel if you don't like), it is only $10 for the first store list every 8 weeks, and $5 for each additional if you would like more than one grocery store. Please use me as the referral! My email address is laurie9797@yahoo.com

Hope you enjoy!

8/20/2009

Craziness!

Life has just been going by sooo fast lately! I am trying to keep up! lol It's hard to believe I've been living with John for almost a month already. We haven't gotten to see a whole lot of each other because work has us both so busy! :( I have not made any plans this weekend besides a haircut, so my weekend will hopefully consist of going to the gym, possibly for an early morning bike ride, and to finish unpacking the kitchen.. I had set aside unpacking the kitchen because we were going to pain the cabinets, but I think I'd be fine just getting new hardware. I'm ready to feel settled and get unpacked so I have a good sense of accomplishment. The kitchen and a few random boxes are all I have left! Woo hoo! :)

As far as my last post goes, I've slightly curbed the stress snacking.. I've turned back to my old friend, coffee. Yes, it has caffeine, but it's better than my high calorie alternatives. Plus, I'm so exhausted lately, it sounds damn good! LOL I am back under 160, and hope to be back down to 155 or lower the next time I weigh in. We shall see!

My downtime at home has been spent playing those cheesy games on facebook.. I love the Mafia Wars, Pirates, Special Forces, Bejeweled and Farkle games.. OMG they're addicting! haha

Anyways, wanted to touch base with you all... I really miss blogging and reading everyone's blogs.. I'll get back to where I was soon! :)

8/13/2009

Time to Get Serious

I've been in denial. I've been avoiding the scale on purpose. Why? Because I've been so busy and stressed. What do I still do, after this period of almost 2 years post op? I stress eat. I can eat marshmallows and not dump. I know exactly how much sugar, fat, etc I can ingest before I hit the dreaded dumping syndrome. It's not failsafe, sometimes I do dump. But I truly wish I dumped EVERY time. That way I would have an issue with eating something I know I shouldn't!
I stepped on the scale this morning, and although I knew I'd probably be teetering around 160, I was at 164. My lowest weight was 151 I think.. but I haven't been above 157 in quite some time.. until now! I know my problem is snacking at work. I frequently chew on a variety of snack foods that are provided free by the company I work for. The temptation is ALWAYS there. In the kitchen, we have the packs of chips, cookies, granola bars, etc.. In payroll, we have every sort of chocolate you can imagine. We have free sodas - everything from Diet Dr Pepper to Ginger Ale. No wonder I gained 30 pounds working here BEFORE WLS.
I'm going to become conscious of what I put in my mouth like I should have been all along. I will not let the food win, and I refuse to become a WLS statistic by regaining what I lost!