Reblogging Myself
11,111 Giveaway!!!
11,111 Giveaway!!!
11,111 Giveaway!!!
In honor of passing 11,111 followers, I’m giving away a tasty and adorable prize package. The package includes the following scrumptious/cuddly items:
- Hot Pepper Peach Preserves
- Berry-Infused Roasted Edamame
- Powdered Peanut Butter (ONLY 45 CALORIES! OMG!)
- Ginger Crystalized in a Dark Chocolate Bar
- Peas-In-A-Pod (Please don’t eat them. They’re too cute.)
Total value: more than I should’ve spent, but I love you guys. YOU CAN’T PUT A PRICE ON LOVE!!!
So, how to win:
- Reblog this post up to 11 times. I will not be responsible for dash spam. Normally I restrict my giveaways to 5 or less reblogs, but just because this is my 11,111 giveaway, I’ll do 11. But like… space ‘em out or something at least.
- Must be following me. It’s for my followers, so… duh. (If you’re following under a different name than you reblog it with, it’s your responsibility to notify me.)
- Likes don’t really do anything.
- Must have your ask box enabled so I can message you if you win.
- If you donate to my surgery fund, I will give you an extra entry for every dollar donated. Just let me know it’s you.
- The deadline to enter is January 31, 2013, at 11:59 PM EST.
Any questions, just message me.
Easy-Peasy Chocolate Mousse!
My grandmother (the one from the photos) taught me this very tasty, and surprisingly healthy, chocolate mousse recipe back when I was a little kid. It’s super simple and quick to make when a typical prepackaged dessert won’t cut it. It also makes a great filling for pies! I definitely recommend adding some raspberries to this after making it, but I was out of raspberries today. If you want your mousse lighter and fluffier, add a bit more Cool Whip. And you can always make a big batch and save some for later!
So guess who’s not single anymore? If you answer either person in this photo set, you are correct. Fun story:
Mitch and I went to high school together. We met in 10th grade (2004) when we were working on the school paper together. (West Boca High School. They named the paper “The Westside Story.” Laaaaaaaaame.) There was always something there, but neither of us ever acted on it. We never really talked after that newspaper class or hung out outside of school. Just kind of drifted apart. Every so often, I’d wonder about him. How he was doing, what things would have been life if we stayed in touch more or even if we had gotten together.
Then enter Facebook. We found each other on Facebook and started catching up in 2011, 7 years later. We had both lost a ton of weight, furthered our education, really grown as people… I invited him to the New Years party I was throwing because I really wanted to finally see him again after all this time. Two days before the party, I couldn’t wait anymore, and I asked him to be my date for New Years. He was trying to hold out until New Years to ask me out (as was I), but I guess I’m just impatient. I can’t remember the last time I was this happy. Possibly when I found out I got into my major in college because they only take 40 people a year? But I don’t think it really compares, and it definitely didn’t last as long as this still-going happiness. My friend Jack has known me for a couple years, through another relationship, actually. And he said he had never seen me this happy. He said I was glowing. Mitch and I connect on a level that’s so difficult to describe. It’s that kind of thing you feel with your best friend, only best friend mental connections usually take years to form. So yeah. 2012 is already becoming an amazing year. Except for being attacked with coconut this morning (coconut allergy), but that’s another story.
Normally I don’t post these kinds of personal things on this blog, but I just wanted to share the happiness a little. <3
3 years ago today my life changed forever.
I have never published this photo before on Tumblr or Facebook. This is me on December 18, 2008, shortly after my gastric bypass surgery. I was 19 years old. Even drugged up and in some of the worst pain of my life, you can see that I am still managing a smile. (I was seriously drugged up here, so consider that an ear-to-ear grin.) In this photo, I was 316lbs, just below my highest weight of 326.5lbs 2 weeks prior. My lowest weight since was 172lbs. I’m at 203lbs today because I gained a little back earlier this year, but that’s going back down at a steady pace, and I know I’ll be passing 172 within a few months.
Only a handful of people knew about my operation for a good 2 years afterwards because I knew that others would judge me for it, thinking I took the easy way out. Getting this surgery was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make thus far, and it was the most painful experience of my life. Yet I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Gastric bypass surgery saved my life. Having tried to lose weight since I was a chubby kindergartener, I was on track to be in the grave before I hit 30.
Even dealing with excess skin, a stomach ulcer, malnutrition, and crazy amounts of doctors and supplements often unheard of for someone my age, I am leading a better life now that I ever had before. I can take the stairs. I can shop for clothes in a store instead of having to order them all online. I can sit in a desk. I don’t need to ask for a seatbelt extender on airplanes. People aren’t afraid to sit next to me on the bus. I can walk down the street without random strangers coming up to me and cracking jokes. People don’t roll their eyes when I order anything on the menu that isn’t a salad. I can walk up a hill. I can sit in the backseat of a full car without squishing others. I can do jumping jacks. I can bend without being instantly breathless. I can run. Not far yet, but I’m making progress.
Gastric bypass surgery is a major, life-altering decision that is by no means easy to make or easy to live with. I am highly opposed to the adds going around advertising bariatric surgeries like this and the Lap-band because the minimize just how big a deal surgery is. But for me, it was my miracle. I started looking into the surgery when I turned 16, and I didn’t get it until 3 years later. If you have ever considered bariatric surgery, please don’t rush into it, but do feel free to talk to me. I will answer any questions I can. Today is my re-birthday. And I am truly happy.
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This Chanukah, I gave my little brother a flying fuck.
This was a tough decision, but it must be done. Who’s with me?
Dear Dieters,
There is no such thing as a negative calorie food. I see posts reblogged all the time saying, “Eat these negative-calorie foods!” and such. While it is usually fantastically healthy foods that you really should eat, do not be under the misconception that you burn more calories eating the food than you get from it because that’s just not true.
Unfortunately, like so many other gimmicky diets, this is just too good to be true and currently there is zero scientific evidence that there are any foods that are actually “negative calorie”. In fact, the digestive process typically only accounts for around 10% of most caloric in-take. With the so called “negative calorie” foods, this number tends to jump to around 20%-30%, but not always, sometimes it stays around the standard 10%. Even in the extreme case, unfortunately, “20%-30%” is not greater than 100%.
For a specific example, arguably the most popularly touted “negative calorie food”, celery, tends to contain around 6 calories per medium sized piece, but only actually takes around 1/2 a calorie to digest that piece, so around 8% of the caloric in-take is “lost”, not 100+%. That’s not to say celery isn’t a great food to eat (it very much is for a variety of reasons), but it’s not even close to “negative calorie”.
(Click here for the full article I quoted that from.)
Don’t find this source credible enough? How about this note from TIME?
Dubbed “negative-calorie foods,” citrus fruits and celery have both basked in this flattering light in fad diets over the years. The problem is that it’s not true. The calories your body burns in fueling the digestive cycle are minuscule compared with the calories in the food itself. Although chewing celery might seem like a strenuous activity, it burns about the same amount of calories as watching grass grow.
Still not sure? How about an article from Livestrong?
Barbara Rolls, a professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University, told “The Washington Post” in October 2001 that the concept of negative calories will not miraculously help you lose weight. The foods contained in negative calorie lists are generally low in calories and when you replace higher calorie fare with them, you are trimming overall calories — not benefiting from some magic negative calorie effect. Negative calorie foods also tend to have a lot of fiber, which helps make you feel full and more satisfied so you eat less overall.
There are tons of articles from highly-credible sources that discuss how this negative-calorie trend is misleading people about weight loss.
However, do keep in mind that foods on negative calorie lists are often very healthy in their own right. Eat them for their fabulous nutritional benefits and substitute unhealthy foods with them for an overall lower caloric intake.
But do not fall prey to the fairytale that they somehow burn more calories than they provide. They don’t.
