Soy Marinated, Wasabi Deviled Eggs

On a naughty weekend away a few years ago in Paris, we had the most amazing deviled eggs over cocktails with our best man (and my adopted brother) Matt. I have been meaning to try to recreate these beauties for a while now, and a Xmas potluck this week gave me the perfect opportunity.

These little puppies are low in fat, high in protein, and oh-so moreish! I dare you to eat just one!

Postscript: You are probably wondering why the photo at the top is a sketch and not a pretty image of the following recipe. My piping bag exploded all over me and the table as I was filling the eggs. I managed to salvage enough to spoon fill the eggs, and they in turn were consumed before I thought to take a picture!

Ingredients
12 eggs
375mls soy sauce
60mls hot water
2 tablespoons of siracha
4 tablespoons of white sugar
4 tablespoons of mirin (rice wine vinegar) + 2 tablespoons extra
1/2 cup of reduced fat mayonnaise
2 teaspoons of wasabi paste
2 green onions (scallions), minced

Steps

1. Hard boil the eggs - if in doubt, place the eggs in a large saucepan and cover with cold water to an inch above the eggs, bring to the boil, stick a lid on them, turn the heat off and leave for 13 minutes. Drain and place in a cold water and ice bath to cool. When cool, peel and set in a glass bowl.
2. Make the marinade - whisk together the soy, water, siracha, sugar and 4 tablespoons of mirin until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the marinade over the eggs and leave covered in the fridge to marinate for 4-24 hours.
3. Devils in the detail - slice the eggs in half when ready to serve, scoop the yolks out into a separate bowl and mash with the extra 2 tablespoons of mirin, mayonnaise, wasabi paste and green onions. Pipe or spoon the yolk mixture back into the egg whites. Sprinkle with green onions and or thinly sliced red chillies and chill until ready to serve.

Makes 24 halves, about 50 calories each (as you don't actually eat the marinade, according to MyFitnessPal).

Facts and Figures - 12 Week Stats

Seasons Greetings Festive People!

What a crazy year it has been....contracts all over the country, singing on stage, this surgery, and another year with my beloved, all gone by in the blink of an eye.

The last few weeks have included closing two bids, a week in Cornwall with a friend from Oz and her squidget, a week soaking up the sun in St Lucia (god I needed some sun this year!) and now Xmas is upon us, and we are readying for a week in Scotland in a secluded cottage, just the two of us,

Food consumption has been good, getting most of my liquid targets, and whilst I haven't started at the gym yet, I have been walking a lot (usually lugging a heavy backpack!)

So onto the nitty gritty...

Height: 5'10" (this really will never change!)
Weight: 125.1kg/275lbs (a loss so far of 21.6kg/47.6lbs) - I got a bit excited earlier this week thinking I had hit the 50lbs mark, but I just can't count!

Stats: A total of 69.5cm lost since surgery. 

	15-Sep-15	01-Nov-15	19-Dec-15
Arm Left	46	44	42.5
Arm Right	44	44	42
Calf Left	56	55	54
Calf Right	57	54	52
Thigh Left	89	84	80
Thigh Right	86	80	77
Bust	116	112	108
Natural Waist	109	105	102
Hips	160	148	136

Please Sir, I (Don't) Want Some More

One of the things you find after having had gastric sleeve surgery is that your need for portion sizes diminishes drastically. For the rest of my life, I will only ever eat a quarter to half a cup of food per meal.

Now, when cooking for myself at home, this is easy to deal with - I just serve myself a fraction of what I give the Hussyband (and then usually push what I still couldn't finish off my plate to him at the end as well!)

But eating out causes a whole other dilemma. The scenarios I have encountered so far include:

1. The Incredulous Server: who cannot fathom that a person of my size could possibly ONLY want a starter when my dining companion is having three courses. Not forgetting "Oh the horror!", that I do not want wine, as I am unable  to drink 30 mins pre-, during- or 30 mins post-eating. I mean, you are taking a valuable seat in our establishment and not spending more than £5-25 (depending on the quality of said establishment.)
2. The Disappointed Chef: when no other options are available for dining portion control (or the starters fail to entice my taste buds) and I am left with ordering a main size meal, there is the inevitable kerfuffle when the server clears my plate after I have finished dining, and 80% of the meal is still on it. My entreaties of "Of COURSE I enjoyed the meal, I just can't eat that much food!" are usually met with looks of disbelief as their judging eyes roam my (quickly shrinking) frame. 

In both these cases, I find myself having to explain my surgery to justify my eating needs. Now, I am obviously out of the surgery closet, but it does get tiring having to explain it to complete strangers, what I have already taken great pains to explain to my nearest and dearest (and those of you who I have also never met, but take the time to read this blog!)

I almost wish there were little cards like this that I could give to staff at restaurants, it would save me a lot of stress and reduce tears on bad days....

Fun Times

The PQQ for HS2 went in and looks promising, sadly the ITT has been pushed out until April-ish, and they don't want to pay for staff to sit there doing nothing for 5 months, so us loyal, hardworking contractors got stood down...by email, at 9 pm on a Thursday night, while I was on holidays. C'est la vie.

It has been a crazy few weeks, the last 3 weeks of the bid were manic and long, with weekend work and 12+ hour days not unusual. I had planned the week post-submission to be spent with friends from Oz, Nancy and Myf. We met up with them in Wales and spent a few days down at Little White Alice, an old friend of a holiday stay near Redruth in Cornwall where we have stayed previously with my parents as well as just the Hussyband and I when we need a recharge and escape from life.

Slightly stoked!

While in Cornwall we laughed, got adopted by a cat who would not leave our side (or maybe it was just that it knew we would spoil it...), soaked in a wood burning hot tub, ate well, and decompressed. Myf got to meet all the animals, visit a seal sanctuary and had an amazing pony ride which is still being talked about.

The day before we went away, my passport came back from the Home Office after a six-month holiday while it was processed for my Indefinite Leave to Remain. To celebrate, I got approval for a second week off (dont know why I bothered as a few days later we were stood down anyway!) and booked us a week in St Lucia for some much-needed sun. Sun is something you miss as an Australian living in London!

But first we had to get back to London. It was a loooong drive. We stopped off in Plymouth for lunch (I still dream about the mussels from The Samphire Bush) and an aborted attempted at finding the Beatles Bums sculpture on the Hoe. We flew past Stonehenge and could just make out the outline in the fast-falling dusk (next time Nancy!)

Kew at night!

The Thursday night saw us going out on a Girls Night, with Gerry staying home to study while we ladies (and the wee one) went to view the Christmas Lights at Kew Gardens. I highly recommend the excursion if you are in London - it is still on for a few more weeks!

Friday we said goodbye to our guests, who I still miss, hearing Myf giggle with my mother-in-law was priceless!

Heading out and looking in
dire need of sun

Early Saturday morning (way too early for a Saturday) we headed to Gatwick Airport for our flight to St Lucia. The flight was only 9-hours but felt so much longer as we had been up since sparrows. We were met by Gerry's cousin and godmother Marie and her husband Mike who took us to our resort Ti Kaye and then for dinner at The Hideaway (which you had to take a floating gazebo to get there!)

We had a glorious 5-days at Ti Kaye, swimming, snorkeling, lazing, sunning and laughing.  We took a guided tour and swam under a waterfall, walked through an active volcanic caldera and ate local food. Our last 2-days were spent with Marie and Mike, shopping, swimming, sunning (are you noticing a theme) and chilling out.

Coming back to London has been hard - not only due to the 20°C difference in temperatures, but I had picked up an 8-day contract that started (and with it long hours and working this weekend!)

And we have had Sleeve Wins while away (I have saved the best for last in this post)!

Say cheese!

• I am 400 grams away from having lost 20 kgs (that is 44 lbs for you non-metric people), I seem to be averaging 1-1.5 kgs a week now) - on track for being 125kgs by Christmas!
• I did not have to use the seatbelt extender on the flights
• I wore a bikini (OK - I like swimming naked, but St Lucia is not one of those countries where I can do so)
• The guys doing the renovations at the hotel liked watching me in the shower (OK - that was a win the first time, weird the second, then it just got creepy)
• I did not drink my holiday away - just a pina colada or rum punch a day and I was happy
• I smiled the entire holiday.

Stats and pics next week - I might have to break out a silly season jumper in honour!

Long Hours and Old Habits

Out in the real world, I work as a freelance Bid Manager - basically I sit at a desk for hours at a time, writing, doing graphics, arguing with engineers, editing, re-editing, more arguments, herd a few cats and bash my head against a wall. Most of the time this is a normal eight hour a day job. But at the pointy end, when we are about to submit a tender, it gets crazy. 12+ hour days, weekends, not seeing my beloved for more than 10-20 mins a day...you get the idea.

Now THOSE days mean that I sit at a desk, and don't move. I forget to drink enough, I don't go the loo enough. Eating habits are bad. In the past, that would also have included pizza at 9 pm as you could eat with one hand and type/scroll documents with the other.

Last Thursday I submitted a tender, well a prequalification for a tender, which is almost as painful. The last two weeks were long and grumpy, and well...long and grumpy.

The company I am doing work for at the moment is full of an amazing team, mostly Spanish, and they bring in LOTS of snacks...biscuits, cakes, tarts, tortes, Ohh carb filled treats of badness! But I have avoided them. OK, I did have one small bit of a gluten free brownie the other week...but, all things considered, that was nada!

But, I kept a stash of miso soup in my drawer, I made sure I went for walks, albeit brief, at lunch to get something to eat, mid-morning and afternoon to clear my head. And I managed to hit the majority of my liquid requirements (some days were better than others, but I have learned not to beat myself up about it).

Yes, some days will be better than others on our journey to losing weight. But if we took every setback as a fail, then we would lose hope. I know I would. Now I see bad days as just that and start each day afresh.

This is the first submission I have ever done where I wasn't drinking a bottle of wine almost every night to get to sleep nd shut my brain off. Win. I didn't resort to junk food to keep me fed. Win. So what if I didn't get 2-litres of water in a day? I got 1.5 litres in, and I did it healthily...so agan...WIN.

Now as I write this I am sitting in a gorgeous cottage deep in the heart of Cornwall, with my Hussyband snoring upstairs, friends from Oz in the other bedroom, and I have just scoffed a hard boiled egg instead of giving into the temptation of the Coco Pops on the table. WIN!

Now let us just hope we win the prequal as if we do that has me set for work for the next 12 months!

I Almost Forgot....6 Weeks Post Op Pics!

My beloved is up and I have made him take pics. So here we go, six weeks post-op pics...can you see a difference?

Facts and Figures - 6 Week Stats

Morning Ladies and Gents,

Sorry I have been so quiet of late - not much to say. I get up, schlepp into London, work, schlepp home, eat, sleep and repeat. Bleurgh.

I have been stalled for the last two and a half week, not getting enough water, and not enough fibre has meant I have been seriously constipated. As a result my body has gone into starvation mode. I think I have managed to address that the last few days - been getting my two litres of liquids last three days, and have stopped having a protein bar for breakfast on the Tube (gone back to Weetbix). Movement has returned on both the scales and my bowels (thank fuck!)

Last weekend we went to Bath for a belated birthdaversary (my 44th birthday and our 8th wedding anniversary were on the 13th of October). I caught up with a school friend who I have not seen for...well, a lot of years. And it was great to spend time (albeit too short) with her and her partner. Gerry and I had lots of soaking time in hot baths, massages for him and facials and manicures for me.

But we are not here today to talk about what I have been up to. Today is all about the stats...so without further ado.....

Height: 5'10" - well that should not, and has not changed!

Weight: 134kgs (295lbs) - so far I have lost 12.7kgs (28lbs)

Measurements: I have lost 34cms in total from various body parts. I see a distinct difference in my face, neck and boobs - I would say that I have dropped a cup size, and am now on the last hook on my bras. Also see a difference in my ankles - my winter ankle boots sit nicer. I think I am losing from the top and tail - everything is squeezing into my bottom! cms gone from the hips which is AWESOME.

My energy levels have been low, but I am getting through. sleeping like a log. I am managing to eat a quarter to half a cup of food at lunch and dinner...will add half a protein bar in  on the Tube home in the afternoons to see if I can keep my protein high, whilst not going overboard on calories. I am also finding a pint of milk a day helps both in getting my liquids in and not letting my calories drop too low.

Some foods are easier to eat than others, and I find I am getting sick of smoked salmon. But will post later this week on foods.

Stay well peeps - this tool is a journey, and the road is long and twisty with hills and valleys.