Holey Moley!

Today I had a great surprise on the scale – 245!! I am now down 30lbs in total and 15lbs since the surgery. Since it has been 6 weeks that is a loss of 2.5lbs a week! Woohoo! The funny part is I think that there were two weeks that I didn’t loss anything (at least not according to the scale).

I never thought that I would be here this week – even though I was secretly wishing for it. I am still sticking to the overall diet, but it is getting harder. I know that I could eat anything I want as fast as I want and as much as I want. I don't, but I know I can and after 8 weeks of preop and postop dieting some things are sure tempting.

Honestly, I have had a few “bad” things. I gave into my diet coke craving (my doctor doesn’t allow it only b/c it causes indigestion in most people). I had a couple pieces of candy and even some cheese popcorn. But I didn’t go crazy. I had a small pop instead of 3 large ones. I had 3 gum drops instead of a couple handfuls. And the popcorn – a handful.

But the “cheating” doesn’t bother me. I don’t even consider it cheating. On days that I kept a journal I recorded it and even on days that I didn’t I mentally added it to my intake. I don’t think that anything should be off limits unless I can’t tolerate it. Otherwise this just another diet and not a lifestyle change – at least for me.

My problem has been portion sizes and hunger not the occasional treat. That is why I picked the band. Even though have been very good at keeping to the less than a cup rule I can’t wait to feel some restriction. Like I said it is getting harder.

Water has been my saving grace so far. If I get hungry before it is time to eat again I drink a few cups. If I don’t get full on a meal or snack I wait my half an hour and drink a few cups. So far it has kept me from going crazy and my high liquid intake is probably one reason I am losing so fast right now. But knowing I can easily grab something to eat instead of drinking is still hard.

I can’t wait to have some help. Thankfully, only a few more days to my next fill!! I would love to get some good restriction, but I at least want to feel something – anything. Until then I will enjoy my 30lb victory!

10%

As of yesterday I have reached my 10% goal (27.5lbs down)!! 

Most of this has been on my own since I still don't have any restriction with my new 5ccs.  I am also pretty happy to still be losing over the Christmas holiday.  This makes at total of 12.5 lbs this month.  I am hoping to continue my loss while I am on vacation.

The great thing is I get my second fill a couple days after I get back (at 6.5 weeks).  I am very thankful that my surgeon's office let me move my first fill to before my vacation.  Even though I don't feel any restriction yet, it is great to be two weeks ahead of where I could be.   

Also, since my weight loss has been jump started almost 6 weeks by my quick loss, I updated the dates on all my goals.

First Fill

On Tuesday, I went to the Drs for my first fill. My surgeon was supposed to be there, but he was on a humanitarian mission and didn’t get back in time. Since my NP is still learning she had the PA in the main office travel out to help her so she didn’t have to cancel.


Once we completed all the usual questions (how much liquid, how much protein, etc…), she reclined the chair I was sitting on and raised it up to her waist level. They asked if I was ok with her (the NP) doing the fill and since I could always have the PA do it if things weren’t going well it wasn’t a big deal to me.

Even though they were using me as a learning opportunity the whole process went very fast. The PA showed her how to find the port and position it. Then the NP did it on her own and inserted the needle – and yes it is a big needle. The two of them passed the needle back and forth while checking to see if it was positioned right. Then the NP removed the air from the tubing and port. Finally, she injected the saline. Even with all the switching of control it was easy as pie. There was a small poke, but it hurt less than getting your blood drawn.

I don’t feel restriction yet, but I am 5ccs closer to my sweet spot. I do notice the band a little bit – especially when I eat too fast or take too big of bites. Unfortunately, I am not staying full for very long. Luckily I get to go back in two weeks - 11 days now. By then I should be off the post-op DIET and on to a new lifestyle. :)

Food Journal - By Request

Yana asked me to post what I am eating so I went into my food journal and here you go. Now each one of these have problems and I am still working on getting everything balanced right. However, it will give you an idea of what one newly bandster eats.

 

Also, my doctor has 4 stages of eating: Clear liquids; Full liquids and thin purees, Pureed Foods, and Soft Foods. These don’t match what I have heard from others since I basically have 2 different types of mushies. I push the envelope some since I don’t have any issues, but my nutritionist can see everything and monitors me closely (one “advantage” of being part of a small office).

Meal 1: 

I was in the “Pureed Foods” phase here (which equals really mushy). I still got most of my meals through shakes, but I started to go to more substantial items. I added in a crab and cheese dip (with extra crab) and a chicken chili. Both were pushing the limits some, but I made sure that they were smashed really good (I hate purees of non veggies).

Meal 2:

 

In this meal I was moving to soft foods (I move slowly – normally one item at a time). My fat is WAY too high here, but I was really struggling to get calories in so I didn’t worry about the high fat. I also should have added more protein in during the evening, but I thought my goal was 50-70, but it is actually 60-80.

My favorite way to get mushies (especially my purees) is through homemade soups. I take a veggie that I have (in this case cauliflower), boil it in broth, add seasonings and then finish it off by adding evaporated milk. I then blend it until it is smooth and creamy. This makes a great lower fat cream soup (you can use low fat or no fat evaporated milk). You can also add a unflavored protein powder to your bowl when warming it up.

I made my green been casserole with French Style green beans so they would be more “mushy” :) I also had a piece of fish, but it was extremely soft (toooo soft). Since this was my dad’s birthday I also had some cake and ice cream. However, I had a sliver of cake and 2T of ice cream. It was great and the little I had hit the spot.

Meal 3:

I am solidly in the soft phase at this meal and am pushing towards regular foods. My fat and protein are good, but my carbs are too low. I was told today to start adding more to my snacks – especially in the morning. If you can’t tell by this journal I am not very hungry in the morning, but start getting more and more hungry in the late afternoon and evening.

The cream of chicken and vegetable soup was made similar to what I talked about above. In this soup I added several veggies and added in chicken. I cut things up small, but also used my immersion blender to blend it a little more (not completely smooth).

Other things I have found that I really enjoy:

• Laughing Cow Cheese and crackers
• Egg salad on crackers
• Wheat thin Flatbread crackers (New product)
• Well baked Sweet Potatoes with a little cheese on them
• Cottage Cheese

 Hope this helps some!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work I Go

Today was day two of going back to work. It feels good to be back working after a month, but holey moley did I have a lot of emails to go through. It took me a good day go through everything. My projects have fallen behind schedule, but luckily it wasn’t my teams fault. In fact, they did me proud while I was gone and the quality of work was sooo good.
Unsurprisingly, the project manager sent out some emails to my boss about how my team was over budget and the project was late. What he didn’t mention is that we are actually under budget in total $ and hours, just over on the contractor dollars – and that was APPROVED by him since he added things to the project and wanted us to push as much to the contractors as possible so we could start the next (higher priority) project. Plus, the major reason we are behind is because of late customer testing. Grrr…

My team is great, but being contractors (and from another country) they won’t tell the PM he is wrong. I don’t have that problem  I was once told that the reason I was hired into one of my roles is because I am not unwilling to challenge the status quo. Blaming the outside team (my team) on the project is just so easy and PMs do that so much it drives me crazy.

On the weight front things have been going so-so. I have only weighed myself once since hitting the 250 mark. I can tell I am not losing as quickly (or at all) and I don’t want to focus on the number. I know that in the end I am losing fat. I HAVE to be since I am eating under 1100 calories everyday. I am not cheating and I am measuring and recording everything – even though the idea of cheating (and not recording it) has popped into my mind several times a day.

I am technically on “soft foods” (semi-mushies), but could eat ANYTHING. But I don’t. I am sticking to my ½ to 1 cup meals and they do fill me up – for about a half an hour or maybe longer. Once I get hungry again I start drinking - 2-3 cups of crystal light or something similar. Then when I get hungry again I have my next snack. Strangely enough I still am not getting all my calories in. I think it is because I am still on soft foods. I am trying to avoid the high fat and simple carbs (which seems to be most mushies) and getting 1100 calories is good for me. I am hoping that once I get to solid foods I will get my calories in easier. Strange thing is that when I was eating 600-800 calories a day I wasn’t hungry. Go figure!!

I am guessing that some of this is “head hunger” or “mouth hunger”. It has been almost 6 weeks since eating fast food. 6 weeks since splurging and eating to I am “full” (read overstuffed). I think my mind might be hitting a block even though I am doing better on my eating.

Got to run to my support group. Talk to you guys later!

Hungry!

I think I jinxed myself yesterday when I said that I am never hungry.  Boy am I hungry now!  Strangly, I am not even close to hungry during the day, but as soon as it gets dark oohh myyyy...  Last night I got full after a couple small meals and a large drink (well spaced out of course), but tonight I am not getting so lucky.  I am still under my calorie goal, but portion wise I am pushing my limit.  I don't want to eat more than my cup of food so I guess I will just go to bed hungry tonight.  Hopefully, all the protien I had today will kick in tomorrow and keep me full through the day!! 

Woohoo!!

I was hoping for 23, but I will take 25 :)  That means I have lost 10lbs in three weeks (not including the weight I gained after surgery). I am sure my progress will eventually slow down, but I am enjoying the quick progress so far - without any restriction!  Woohoo!! 

I think I am going to adjust my goal dates since I wasn't planning on hitting this goal for another month.  So my new short term goal is to reach a 10% loss (27.5lbs) by my first fill December 22nd.  The next is to lose 30lbs by Jan 1st.

Snow Storm and Post Op Visit #2

I spent the week at my parent’s house and spent the week relaxing and enjoying the company. I went shopping with my mom a couple times, but that was the extent of my physical activity. I also was able to up my calories a little. Instead of averaging 700 a day I am close to 850. I have even hit 1000 one day :) Who would have thought my biggest problem was too few calories?!?


But it is amazing how my body works. I am rarely hungry (but of course I am right now), but I have no restriction. I think most of not all of the swelling is down, and I probably could eat as much as before, but I am just not hungry most of the time. And when I am hungry I normally fill up on a half a cup or a little more. In fact today is the first day I haven’t been full after a small meal. I think it is because I skipped a few meals today due to my extra long drive home today and doctor’s appointment.

in case you didn’t know Michigan (as well as many other states) got hit by that wonderful winter storm. I had planned to drive home on Wednesday so I wouldn’t be rushed going to my appointment, but since the storm warning was still active I decided to stay around and enjoy the neighbors’ kids’ snowmen - or avoid ending up in the ditch :)

Since my 2nd post op appointment was today I had to drive home this morning. It was still snowing some, but the roads weren’t too bad. It only took me a little over 3 hours to make my 2 hour drive - including one 20 minute stop in a parking lot during a whiteout, but honestly most of the trip was clear. However, the side roads like normal were still snow covered and this is the view that greeted me as I started out today.

As for the appointment, all my tests came back good and since my energy levels are higher (still not normal) I have been released for work on Monday. Hooray! Granted I didn’t mind the time off, but only sleeping and sitting around got a little old. I am glad I spent the week at my parents or I would have been bored out of my mind.

The NP did put some restrictions on release including no lifting/pushing/pulling more than 15lbs, no repetitious bending, and no strenuous activity, but these won’t affect my day to day job. It does eliminate any work travel since I can’t lift my suitcase let alone my computer bag. She also said I am not supposed to do any physical activity including exercise for more than 10 minutes at a time.

I understand WHY, but the HOW is stumping me a little. I still have a life to live and some things just have to get done. I live by myself and I don’t have anyone close enough to help with the day to day stuff so I have to do it. Things like grocery shopping, taking out the trash, changing the kitty break my restrictions, but they have to be done. I am doing my best to stick to the rules and I do feel much better when I do, but some things just can’t wait 6 or more weeks (can you imagine what my house would smell like if I didn’t).

Now that I am home can’t wait for morning so I can weigh myself on my own scale and see what my weight is. My parent’s scale said 253, but I noticed today that it was weighing heavy (not zeroed out right). I didn’t want to change it since I know it matches my dad’s office scale but I am guessing that it is a pound off. I would love to see an extra pound, but for now I am going to enjoy my last few days off.

NSV!

Even though I have been struggling a little with my calorie intake and energy level I did notice two NSV (Non Scale Victories) this weekend.

My first NSV was on Friday when I typed in my measurements to see if I had made any improvement. I have a couple people tell me that they could see the difference, but the only place I could see the difference was in my face. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I have lost 6 inches (8 if you count both thighs). The biggest difference was in my hips and thighs.

The second NSV happened last night while visiting my parents. I have been really cold lately (supposedly from the low calorie intake) so when we decided to drive around and look at Christmas lights I put a pair of sweats on over my jeans to stay warm. When I got home and went to use the bathroom I pulled down both my sweats and my jeans  – without being undone. I think it might be time to retire my larger 22s and move to the smaller 22s (cut makes such a difference on my body) or the larger 20s!

Post Op Appointment

First off I hit 20 lbs!!!

According to the doctor’s records I lost 10lbs since last week, but that includes the water weight I gained after surgery. In my calculations (using my surgery day weight) I have lost 5lbs in 2 weeks. My goal is to lose 1.25lbs a week (stretch goal is to lose 1.5lbs), but in the past I have always lost a lot in the beginning (10lbs a month) and then I have hit a plateau and stopped. I would love to lose 10lbs a month until I hit my goal, but I wanted to make sure that my goals would be realistic and reachable long term so I don’t get discouraged.

However, as I mentioned before according to the doctor’s notes I have lost 10lbs in a week. That combined with my fatigue has earned me another week off of work. The consensus was that I am getting too few calories (already knew that) even though I am following the instructions/menus for the “really mushy” stage (not to be confused with the mushy phase or as my doctor calls it the “soft” phase). I pointed out that most of the menus are for 600-800 calories and that even though I am not hungry very often I have been forcing myself to get at least that (and trying to get in more).

So when I asked for a return to work slip she said that she wasn’t going to clear me yet and that I needed to wait at least 1 more week. She wants to run more tests to make sure I am not anemic or have a thyroid problem (which I learned can be triggered by a trauma like surgery). I was also ordered to “take it easy” and that I am doing too much (even though I am following the discharge instructions).

Heck, I thought I was going to get in trouble for doing too little. I feel like I am napping or watching TV all the time. I do make sure I get some exercise in – especially walking, but I didn’t think I was doing anything that strenuous. She said that it is great to exercise (everything I am doing was approved), but a lot of the little things I am doing add up. She even weighed my jacket and purse (3.3lbs) and pointed out that to reach my 10lb limit (to carry, push or pull) doesn’t take much. She even said decorating the Christmas tree was a no no (even though I had people carry the stuff for me) since it involved a lot of stretching.

In some ways I am happy about having another week off. I was a little stressed on how I was going to work since I am always tired (I take 1-2 naps a day), but since she had originally said a week off (I stressed two since I know my schedule) I thought I would have to just tough it out. I wasn't looking forward to that.

However, including the week I was laid off before the surgery I will be out of work for 4 weeks (thank God for disability insurance). I am going to have SOOO MUCH work to do when I get back!! Hopefully, my team is working hard and hasn’t hit any roadblocks. I will be very disappointed if my project falls off schedule since I worked so hard to make sure they had everything they needed before I left. Ohh well. I can’t do anything about it now so I am not going to stress over it :)