It’s been a long time. Bullet points this is how my life has been.

• working tons
• traveling tons for work
• overworked and underpaid
• nailed down a wedding date and venue

Other than that life has been pretty stable. We did a trip home to Winnipeg for my good friend Jenna’s wedding. We did this as a road trip, it was a three-day drive there with just Geordie and I. His Dad flew in from Vancouver and met us in Winnipeg to get to know my family, and then he drove back with us. The whole trip was lovely and I ended it off getting hammered at the wedding, I am the consummate bridesmaid.

Nothing says class like flip flops

With all of the wedding planning I’m feeling the pressure now more than ever to lose the last chunk of weight. There are tons of things that have been hindering me as of late. Part of it is the amount of traveling I do for work. If I don’t plan ahead I end up drinking/eating whatever is convenient, which all WLS patients know is a disaster in the making.

The second part is that I eat differently when I’m with Geordie as opposed to when I’m home alone. We both share the cooking duties and while he understands my dietary restrictions to an extent I don’t expect him to eat the same way (especially because he has this ridiculous aversion to fruits and veg). But when I cook, I cook without thinking of my own dietary restrictions as well, and if it’s around, I’ll eat it. So I’ve been making a conscious effort as of late to make meals that I can load up on with protein and fill myself up with that and not feel the need to eat the carby goodness that I make for Geordie.

And on that note I have discovered these energy balls that I can’t get enough of. For those of you who avoid sugar, you understand the low blood sugar feeling that can sometimes accompany that. These are my new fave thing to shake off that woozy, unsteady feeling.

Coconut & Cashew Energy Balls

• 1 cup of raw cashews (soaked overnight and dried)
• 1/4 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
• 10 pitted dates
• 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (I used Syntrax Nectar in Vanilla Bean Torte, but Vega is good in this too)
• 1 tbs of chia seeds
• 1/8 cup of carob chips (or not)
• 1 tbs honey (this is optional too, I think the dates make it sweet enough)

1. In a food processor (I used my ninja blender) blend cashews into a fine crumb.
2. Add protein powder and pulse until blended.
3. Add dates, honey chia seeds and coconut, blend until everything is incorporate.
4. Empty mixture into a bowl, if you are adding carob chips, add them now and stir until blended. It should now form a ball.
5. Measure into heaping tablespoons and roll into balls, I rolled mine in coconut afterwards because I’m a fiend for coconut.
6. Allow to set in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

This should make 10, and I just keep em in the freezer and pop them into my lunch bag in the morning.