Eggface Healthy Halloween Trick or Treat Giveaway 2015

Halloween is quickly approaching and we can't let the kiddos have all the fun. I've got a goody bag of health, fitness and weight loss surgery friendly products, protein shakes, bars and more.

Happy Halloween! Tell a friend! It's Giveaway Time!

The Prize(s):

A Halloweeny Orange Nike Exercise Bag so you can hit the gym, beach or travel to the Your Weight Matters Convention in DC and hang out with me next year and it's filled with some of my post weight loss surgery bariatric favorites...

3 single serving packets of Celebrate Vitamins ENS in Vanilla Cake Batter, Chocolate Milk, and Orange Cream flavors (each delicious shake contains a high potency multivitamin, 500 mg of calcium citrate, 4 g of fiber, and 25 g of whey isolate protein in each serving) and a Celebrate Vitamins ENS Raspberry Lemonade Multivitamin, Calcium, Fiber Drink Mix

7 single serving packets of Chike Nutrition Protein Drink in Chocolate Bliss, Very Vanilla, Strawberry Burst, Banana Magic, Orange Creme, and High Protein Iced Coffee Original flavors.

2 Boxes of Premier Protein Bars (6 - 30 gram bars in Peanut Butter Crunch flavor and 6 - 15 gram bars in Cookies and Cream)

28 oz. Orange Blender Bottle Shaker

The World According to Eggface Reuseable Lunch Bag


How to Enter: LEAVE A COMMENT on this blog posting (be sure to include a name and some email address where I can contact you if you are the winner) Scroll down to # of comments below to leave yours. That's it, easy peasy.

Example: Jane Doe jdoe@someemail.com

***Bonus Prize: If you follow me on at least one of my social media networks: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest. Tell me which you follow in your comments for a chance to win the second prize! I'll choose a second winner to win a 17.56 oz bag of Chike High Protein Iced Coffee (20 g whey protein) in winner's choice of Original or Mocha flavor and a Blender Bottle Shaker (color may vary.)

Example: Jane Doe jdoe@someemail.com I follow you on Instagram and Facebook

Contest Period Ends: Sunday, November 1st, midnight (pacific), sometime Monday, November 2nd. I'll draw a name using a random number generator and announce the winner here on the blog! I will also email the winner at the email address provided. You'll have one week (7 days) to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen. Remember winners of the bonus prize must be following at least one of my social media networks, links in post above. One comment entry per person. Blog comments are moderated so there may be a slight delay (up to a few hours, especially at night if I'm sleeping Zzzz) in seeing your comment/entry post. Giveaway is open US mailing addresses only, 48 contiguous, AK & HI (sorry it's a legal and $ thing.)

THANK YOU for always sharing the blog with your family, friends and support groups.

Be sure to check out my Healthy Halloween Post Weight Loss Surgery Survival Tips.

Post Weight Loss Surgery Menus: A day in my pouch

A day in my pouch is a series of blog posts to show what a typical daily menu looks like in my post weight loss surgery world. Yesterday's healthy and delicious menu...

Breakfast: This weekend about the only thing I accomplished with a gnarly 2 day migraine and a sore finger (trapped it in a door) was baking a batch of these Mini Apple Breakfast Loaves. I've been having them for breakfast this week, I froze a few and will defrost them for an easy breakfast next week and I sent one over to my neighbor with a tin of Caramel Apple Tea as a Happy Fall treat.

Shelly's Mini Apple Breakfast Loaf

1/2 cup Spelt Flour
1/2 cup Coconut Flour
1/2 cup Oatmeal, dry
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 1/2 teaspoons Apple Pie Spice
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup "Stuff" (Chopped Walnuts or Raisins or Cranberries or a Combo)
2 cups Apple, peeled and chopped (I used 2 Honeycrisps)
1/2 cup Sugar Free Caramel Torani Syrup
2 Eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt (2% plain or flavored, whatever)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all wet ingredients together and combine with dry ingredients.

Divide equally among 8 mini loaf pans that have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Bake for 25 minutes or till knife inserted comes out clean. The house smells amazing as they are baking... very Fall. These are dense loaves so 1/2 is plenty for breakfast with a smear of almond butter or sugar free jam or my favorite with a dollop of ricotta cheese smeared on top and a drizzle of SF maple syrup.

Lunch: I had to run some errands and I took my Mum to lunch at a local burger joint called Burger Lounge. It's the organic, grass fed yummy kind of burger place. I had mine wrapped in lettuce (no bun) with cheese, grilled onions and wild mushrooms. Yum...

FYI: Most burger places will wrap your burger in lettuce on request... all the fast food places, 5 Guys (sort of puts it on a pile of lettuce), In & Out (calls it protein-style.) I don't eat them often probably every 2 months or so but it's nice they will accommodate. Grab a knife and fork or prepare to get messy.

Strategies for Eating Out Post Weight Loss Surgery
Healthy Travel Tips

Dinner: Costco sells this Basil Tilapia I love: Highliner Sea Cuisine Basil & Pesto Tilapia. You just toss it frozen on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or so.

I chopped up some squash I bought at the Farmer's Market, drizzled it with a little olive oil, dash of Kosher salt and pepper and roasted it at the same time & 425 temp the fish cooked. When it was done I sprinkled it with a little Parmesan. Delicious, quick and easy.

Snacks: Coffee and when I came home from errands I made a protein shake.

Shelly's Cherry Cookie Protein Shake

1 cup Milk (I used a combo of Almond and Soy)
1 scoop Double Stuffed Cookie Protein Powder
1/4 cup Frozen Cherries
1 Tablespoon Sugar Free Black Cherry (or Raspberry) Torani Syrup
a few cubes of Ice

Whiz on high in blender. I topped it with No Sugar Added Homemade Whipped Cream and a few nonpareils.

More Eggface Protein Shakes and Smoothies
More Days in my Pouch

National Obesity Care Week - Changing the Way We Care

The National Obesity Care Week (NOCW) Mission:

Ignite a national movement with a united 
focus to ensure anyone affected by the
disease of obesity receives respectful
and comprehensive care.

More than 35 leading U.S. healthcare organizations have joined together to form National Obesity Care Week (NOCW) an annual public awareness campaign to facilitate a national conversation and shine a spotlight on issues related to obesity treatment. November 1-7, 2015.

The campaign will help educate the public and healthcare professionals on the disease of obesity, the need for a comprehensive approach to care and how to have more productive conversations with their patients. Can I get an AMEN! for more PLANS, FOLLOW-UP and SUPPORT and less blaming and shaming or what I used to hear a lot, "you know you really need to lose some weight" without support or assistance beyond that...

• Intensive Behavioral Treatment
• Behavior modification: exercise, diet/meal replacement, support groups
• Weight management products and programs
• Healthcare provider-supervised weight management
• Medications for weight loss and chronic weight management
• Bariatric surgery

There are so many options to address obesity and one treatment does not fit all. As a person affected by obesity I need my medical team to help me navigate my options (there are a lot of scams and BS out there) and continue to help me reach and maintain my health goals (chronic disease = chronic treatment.)

The campaign also addresses societal barriers, such as weight bias (which sadly occurs even in the healthcare setting.) Walking into a Dr's office I MUST FEEL like I am in a SAFE place. It starts with the simple things like having appropriate furniture, gowns, medical equipment. Medical professionals that are engaging, compassionate and committed to working with patients to develop comprehensive weight-loss plans and who don't assume they know my story based on my size.

How you can help...

• Please follow Obesity Care Week on Facebook and Twitter (#ObesityCareWeek)
• Please take a few moments to check out the resources for patients and healthcare professionals
• Please share/pin/re-tweet all the great infographics and links: now, during Obesity Care Week November 1-7 and beyond!
• Sign the pledge

I'm proud and excited to be serving as NOCW's patient spokesperson, sharing my experiences and hopefully helping to create some positive changes in the treatment of obesity. Follow my tweets too.

Post Weight Loss Surgery Menus: A day in my pouch

A day in my pouch is a series of blog posts to show what a typical daily menu looks like in my post weight loss surgery world. Yesterday's healthy and delicious menu...

Breakfast: I love this egg cooking gadget. I got it for my Mum to use (no need to turn on stove) but I have used it more than her I think. Squirt a little non-stick spray inside, sprinkle some bacon bits (teaspoon, not even really, 2 dashes, I used Hormel Real Bacon Sprinkles, found them at Walmart), crack egg on top, put the lid on tight. Microwave, times will vary and you have to play with that... I have a small 700 watt and over hard (Egg McMuffin texture) takes 1 minute. Take out of microwave (careful when opening the sucker is hot) and flip onto a plate. It's like a Mini Bacon and Egg Omelet. I sometimes sprinkle with a Tablespoon of shredded cheese.

More of my favorite Egg Recipes
More Eggface Breakfasts

Lunch: I had a couple of yellow squashes from the last Farmer's Market trip that needed using, I sliced and sauteed them with an onion. Sprinkle of salt and pepper. Topped it with a dollop of Ricotta Cheese and a sprinkle of Parmesan. The heat of the squash and onion warmed the ricotta and Parmesan and it spread like a sauce throughout. Simple and delicious. This was actually one of my first veggies post weight loss surgery... without the onion.

Dinner: Leftover mini meatloaf. I love these little meatloaves. We use a couple for dinner then wrap the others individually in foil or plastic wrap and place them in a gallon-size freezer bag. Then we can pull them out and nuke them anytime we need a stress-free lunch or dinner well really even breakfast with an egg. You can also defrost and crumble them and use them in soup, in a lettuce cup or as a topping for a salad or tortilla pizza. I reheated mine (in this little steamer, love this for leftovers) and ate it with sliced tomatoes.

Shelly's Mushroom, Onion & Bacon Mini Meatloaf

1 pound Mushrooms, chopped
1 Yellow Onion, chopped
1 pound Ground Beef (or Turkey)
1/4 cup Oatmeal
1/4 cup Milk
1 Egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
a few twists of Black Pepper

Topping
1 slice of Bacon

Saute onion and mushrooms till golden. Set aside to cool. Soak oatmeal in milk for 1 minute (you can use almond meal or bread crumbs if you do bread) Beat egg. Add egg and soaked oats to ground meat. Add all remaining ingredients including cooled veggies. Mix till combined.

Divide into 8 equal mounds. Form into mini meatloaves or if you have this super groovy pan like me use it. Place 1 slice of bacon on the top of each loaf. Bake for 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

More Mini Meatloaf Madness

Snacks: Too much coffee, a hunk of one of those Limited Edition Quest Pumpkin Pie Bars and I made a yummy frosty Protein Shake in the hottest part of the afternoon, despite the calendar saying it's Fall we kissed triple digits yesterday and it's supposed to be hotter today. This totally cools your whole body down. I used Celebrate Vitamins yummy Caramel Vanilla Swirl Protein 20 Powder and added things to make me feel like it was Fall.

Shelly's Pumpkin Caramel Vanilla Swirl Protein Shake

1 scoop Celebrate Vitamins Caramel Vanilla Swirl Protein 20 Powder
8 oz. Milk (I used 1/2 Almond Milk and 1/2 Soy Milk)
1 Tablespoon Sugar Free Torani Syrup (I used SF Caramel)
a dollop of Pumpkin Puree (not pie filling)
a sprinkle of Pumpkin Pie Spice
a few ice cubes

Whiz on high in a blender. Sprinkle with a little more pie spice.

More Eggface Protein Shakes and Smoothies

Oh in case you were wondering if you can make cookies out of the Pumpkin Quest Protein Bars... You can but they aren't like regular Quest bars they have a coating so when you press them down in the cookie making process it gets a little messy... tasty messy but not as easy or pretty as the regular Quest Bar Cookies. Check it out below they were an insomnomnomnia cooking project one night last week. My favorite Quest Bar Cookies are the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars with a Pecan pressed in.

More Eggface Days in Pouch Menus