I am 3 weeks post-op today, still struggling with ups and downs. It seems I have a good day or two and then a couple of bad days and so on. I am still having quite a bit of pain around the abdominal incision that is being packed (though it is healing and getting smaller), and the pain radiates to the lower left side of my abdomen and towards my bladder. I am thinking I'm going to send an email to my surgeon's nurse and see if this pain is still normal healing pain or if I should be concerned. This recovery has been no walk in the park, that's for sure.
Tomorrow I am supposed to start soft foods. Who knew figuring out what to eat could be so confusing. I am just going to try a few things and see what I can tolerate. It will be nice to not have to puree up everything, that was definitely a pain in my butt. I am going to try a soft scrambled egg with cheese and half of a veggie sausage cut into tiny pieces for breakfast tomorrow and probably some hormel chili for lunch. I have heard mixed reviews on the eggs, some people live off of them and others can't tolerate them at all, so we'll see. Interestingly enough it seems most people tolerate chili well, which is good because I like chili and it is pretty high in protein.
I weighed in this morning and I lost 3.6# this week which means I have lost 13.4# since surgery and 39.8# since I started dieting in January. I will be honest I am a little disappointed that I haven't lost more weight, I was hearing of people dropping 10# or more each week and frankly I was losing this much weight low-carb dieting. Then I had to just step back and think for a minute, sure I could be losing this weight dieting without surgery and then go on an eating binge 1 month, 3 months, 1 year into it and blow it all and gain the weight back plus some. The weight is coming off slow and steady and I have broken my endless cycle of yo-yo dieting. This will work out in the end, I just have to be patient. I plan on taking pictures next week and taking measurements, I will post them and hopefully there will be a noticeable difference.
Until next week.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
2 weeks post-op and a hard lesson learned
Today I am two weeks post-op. I won't lie, I thought I'd be feeling better by this point. I feel a little better every day but no where near where I thought I'd be. I am honestly contemplating taking a slightly longer leave of absence from work and taking off the first weekend in May instead of going back. I am still sore, I still need to have the visiting nurse come to my house daily to pack my wound (though it is healing nicely), and I have no endurance for anything. I went to run some errands with my husband and went the grocery store Saturday and we were out for maybe 2 hours and I was wiped out when we got home. How am I ever going to make it through a 12 hour night shift much less three of them in a row??!??!? I know I need to be patient with myself and I am trying to be. This was major abdominal surgery and I need to take it slow, I guess I am just not bouncing back as fast as people on the forums who related that they had no pain, or they went back to work after a week. Kudos to them, but that is not my experience.
I learned a hard lesson last evening, we had gone to a movie in the afternoon and I just sipped water through the movie, didn't eat anything. When I got home I was very hungry so I pureed up some refried beans and heated them up with a little mozzerella cheese and then I also grabbed a little leftover pureed tuna with mayo. I was hungry and didn't take the time to measure out my portions and I ate it all. I knew as soon as I was done that that had been a big mistake, I was so full! It was the full that you get after over indulging in a buffet. I started pacing the hallway hoping that the food would start moving but then the nausea and watery mouth hit and I knew I was in trouble. I dry heaved into a bucket for nearly 20 minutes. Let me tell you that hurt my abdomen more than you could imagine! It felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach repeatedly. I had a lot of pain after that and no appetite. I just basically sipped water the rest of the evening. Lesson learned I will measure everything from now on!!
So at two weeks out I have lost 9.8# post-op and a total of 36.2# since January. I am still wearing the same pants I was in January which is frustrating, I am just one of those people who loses weight and my clothing sizes don't go down very fast. I can tell my pants are looser, I'm just not able to get into a smaller size yet. Soon I hope!!
I will weigh in again on Thursday, that is my normal weigh in day and a day I post my weigh in on a forum I belong to, so I will update then.
I learned a hard lesson last evening, we had gone to a movie in the afternoon and I just sipped water through the movie, didn't eat anything. When I got home I was very hungry so I pureed up some refried beans and heated them up with a little mozzerella cheese and then I also grabbed a little leftover pureed tuna with mayo. I was hungry and didn't take the time to measure out my portions and I ate it all. I knew as soon as I was done that that had been a big mistake, I was so full! It was the full that you get after over indulging in a buffet. I started pacing the hallway hoping that the food would start moving but then the nausea and watery mouth hit and I knew I was in trouble. I dry heaved into a bucket for nearly 20 minutes. Let me tell you that hurt my abdomen more than you could imagine! It felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach repeatedly. I had a lot of pain after that and no appetite. I just basically sipped water the rest of the evening. Lesson learned I will measure everything from now on!!
So at two weeks out I have lost 9.8# post-op and a total of 36.2# since January. I am still wearing the same pants I was in January which is frustrating, I am just one of those people who loses weight and my clothing sizes don't go down very fast. I can tell my pants are looser, I'm just not able to get into a smaller size yet. Soon I hope!!
I will weigh in again on Thursday, that is my normal weigh in day and a day I post my weigh in on a forum I belong to, so I will update then.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
1 week follow up appointment and real food!!!!
I had my 1 week follow up appointment with the dietician and the surgeon yesterday (even though it was 8 days out). The dietician said I could advance to pureed foods and the surgeon agreed that would be fine. To be honest I am a little nervous about eating food, even if it is pureed. It has been a long time since I've had food. Yesterday I just had some strained low fat cream of chicken soup for lunch and for supper the same soup and some natural smooth applesauce. My stomach capacity seems to be about 4 tablespoons, at that point I'm not stuffed or uncomfortable but just satisfied. I'm sure that will change as time goes on. For breakfast this morning I had 4 tablespoons of Fage Greek yogurt, it was the plain kind and I added a sprinkle of truvia and some sugar free torani syrup. I was worried it might have been too thick, but it went down well and didn't feel like it got stuck. I am still planning on doing at least one or two protein shakes per day to make sure I am getting enough protein. I am still having the visiting nurse come daily to pack my wound, but both the surgeon and the visiting nurse said it is healing well. The packing of the wound is so painful, I can't wait until it is done.
I will be on pureed foods for 2 weeks, after that I can do soft foods which I will do for about one month until I go in for my 6 week follow up appointment at which point the dietician will discuss with me what I need to eat for the rest of my life. 6 weeks in the grand scheme of things really isn't that long, I guess.
Today for lunch I am going to puree some tuna with lite mayo, we'll see how that goes. I have heard that pureeing tuna and cottage cheese together works well, so I plan on buying some cottage cheese at the store this weekend and giving it a try. It's funny how food sounded so good when I was on my pre-op liquid diet and I was imagining eating certain things, and now while I may see a recipe or food commercial and think about it looking good I really am not hungry for it. Hopefully that feeling will last.
So I weighed in at home on Monday which was 1 week post op and I had lost 2.4#. I was kind of disappointed with that but when I was talking with Dr. Garza's nurse yesterday she said some people don't lose anything that first week because of being in the hospital and the IV fluids and such. I actually was down another pound or so when I weighed in at the office yesterday. On the weight tracking sheet at the doctor's office, I am down 30# since I started seeing him in December, that was pretty cool! I will probably weigh in at home on Mondays and Thursdays for a while, I will do Mondays so I can track what I've lost weekly from the day of surgery, and Thursdays just because I have always done a Thursday weigh in and eventually may go back to doing that again. Who knows what I will decide to do in the future but that's my plan for now.
According to my records I am down 28.8# since I started dieting January 6th and I'm down 2.4# since surgery.
Until next time...
I will be on pureed foods for 2 weeks, after that I can do soft foods which I will do for about one month until I go in for my 6 week follow up appointment at which point the dietician will discuss with me what I need to eat for the rest of my life. 6 weeks in the grand scheme of things really isn't that long, I guess.
Today for lunch I am going to puree some tuna with lite mayo, we'll see how that goes. I have heard that pureeing tuna and cottage cheese together works well, so I plan on buying some cottage cheese at the store this weekend and giving it a try. It's funny how food sounded so good when I was on my pre-op liquid diet and I was imagining eating certain things, and now while I may see a recipe or food commercial and think about it looking good I really am not hungry for it. Hopefully that feeling will last.
So I weighed in at home on Monday which was 1 week post op and I had lost 2.4#. I was kind of disappointed with that but when I was talking with Dr. Garza's nurse yesterday she said some people don't lose anything that first week because of being in the hospital and the IV fluids and such. I actually was down another pound or so when I weighed in at the office yesterday. On the weight tracking sheet at the doctor's office, I am down 30# since I started seeing him in December, that was pretty cool! I will probably weigh in at home on Mondays and Thursdays for a while, I will do Mondays so I can track what I've lost weekly from the day of surgery, and Thursdays just because I have always done a Thursday weigh in and eventually may go back to doing that again. Who knows what I will decide to do in the future but that's my plan for now.
According to my records I am down 28.8# since I started dieting January 6th and I'm down 2.4# since surgery.
Until next time...
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Not what I expected
Or maybe I'm just a big wuss when it comes to pain.
My surgery was on Monday and the surgeon said it went pretty much by the book and there were no complications. I was really nervous going into surgery but as soon as they got me into the OR suite they gave me meds to relax me and then a mask over my face and I was out. I don't remember too much from the recovery room but my first vivid memories are those of crying in pain as they were transporting me from the recovery room to my hospital room because every time they hit a bump it hurt terribly. I remember thinking it wasn't supposed to hurt that bad, no one really said the pain was that bad. Oh but it was...
I slept quite a bit on Monday but I remember my husband coming to my bedside and I told him even though I was sleeping I didn't want him to leave. They had me hooked up to a PCA pump and I could push the button for pain meds through my IV whenever I needed to and I did that pretty much whenever I was awake. I had a foley catheter in my bladder so I didn't need to get up to use the bathroom but I did ring for the nurse to help me stand up at the bedside sometime in the middle of the night just because I needed to get out of bed. It was tough but I needed to stand up after laying for almost 24 hours. The hospital had me in an inflatable bariatric bed that was super comfortable to sleep in but absolute HELL to get in and out of. It sat too high up off the ground and needed to be deflated for my feet to even come close to the ground to stand, and it was impossible to use my arms to push myself up to get to an upright position. Not to mention that once they pulled that bladder catheter I needed to pee when I needed to pee and if no one came to deflate the bed it was hard to get out. Needless to say my last night in the hospital I slept in a high back chair, which was fine, too.
The pain medicine and the pain itself frequently made me nauseous and they were giving me IV nausea meds as well. I decided to wean myself back on the IV pain meds which was a bad idea because while the nausea from the pain meds improved the pain skyrocketed until I was in tears not knowing what to do. I was miserable all day on Tuesday. I did walk with physical therapy on Tuesday, it's the last thing I felt like doing but I knew I had to do it. I had to go for a swallow test on Tuesday morning where they make you drink this vile, bitter, syrup like contrast material so they can see if there are any leaks. It literally left a bad taste in my mouth for half the day afterward it was so gross. At least there were no leaks so I could start drinking clear liquids Tuesday instead of just swabbing out my mouth.
On Wednesday they had me up walking even more and changed me to oral pain meds which seemed to help. I was drinking more and didn't have to deal with the nausea as much, and if I did it was tolerable or at least manageable with a protonix pill that helped reduce acid in my stomach. I felt a little better on Wednesday so I had a feeling every passing day was going to see me feeling better, even if only a little bit. Dr. Garza decided that I needed to stay over night one more night in the hospital and really concentrate on getting more fluids in and make sure that the nausea was going to be OK.
I walked a lot on Wednesday and Thursday. Danny spent time with me and the kids came for a visit Wednesday night. Paige stayed home from school Wednesday because she hadn't seen me Tuesday night as planned, and basically had a melt down before school. She was fine after she got to see me Wednesday night. I guess I didn't really think about how this was going to affect everyone in my life, even though I did it for me. In the long run it will be worth, but right now it sucks!
They turned down my IV fluids and let me drink all I could on Thursday and by Thursday evening Dr. Garza said I could go home. I follow up with him on Tuesday morning in the office.
I still have a lot of pain and I am needing my oral pain meds every 4 hours. I am beginning to think I just have a low pain tolerance because I really don't remember reading much in blogs or forum posts about how bad the post-op pain is. I can honestly say the amount of pain I've had post-op took me off guard. He did take my gallbladder out too, which I guess contributes to the pain after surgery, but holy cow, I didn't think it would be quite this bad. He did leave an open incision in my side that the stapler passed through and the visiting nurses come once per day to pack and re-dress it. I hate that part, it is painful and gross and I can't even really watch...gross! It sounds like that will take about 2-3 weeks to heal. I guess I don't understand why this incision is left open, I know he said he does it for infection control purposes but it seems so barbaric to me and I really haven't heard of other surgeons doing that. I guess as long as it heals well that is all I ask.
I came home Thursday evening to a super clean house and all my laundry run through, thanks to Tori. She had been busy all day to make it look nice. That was so sweet of her. I basically set up my "place" in my bedroom. I have my bed and a hard straight back chair from the kitchen and a recliner. Danny has been sleeping in the recliner so he can help me if needed. I can really only sleep on my back if I lay down very carefully and even then I only sleep for 3 hours maximum before the gas pain or internal pain wakes me up. Then I usually walk the upstairs hallways for a while until it is time to take more pain medicine. The gas that rolls around in my stomach is audible to anyone within a 6 foot radius of me and I have been having some loose stools every day which is how I expel the gas. Gross I know, but the surgeon said that is all normal at this point. My intestines are swollen and are not going to be acting like they should.
I am so thankful I took off work the amount of time I did, and I may tack another weekend on there if I need to for recovery. I know I am not going to recover as soon as I thought I would but I am just taking it one day at a time and taking baby steps hoping for little improvements every day.
I got my period yesterday, too, it's been great fun managing that. Great timing! I can't bend at the waist because of pain so if I drop anything it just stays on the floor for someone else to get. I can't reach the floor to get dressed and pull my pants up, so I need help from my husband for that. It's been a humbling experience, to rely on someone for even the most basic of needs. I said I was going to write a book called "The joys of trying to get a pad into your underwear after abdominal surgery and other hilaroties post gastric bypass." It's been a journey and it's far from over.
That is all I can think of for now, I'm sure there is much more and I will post as I think of them. I didn't weigh in last week Thursday because I was still in the hospital, I guess I will see what I weigh at Dr. Garza's office on Tuesday and then I'll be back to my own Thursday weigh ins again.
OH...one other fun thing! I am going to cut my hair short and dye it blond before I go back to work. I have decided to do something radical!!!
My surgery was on Monday and the surgeon said it went pretty much by the book and there were no complications. I was really nervous going into surgery but as soon as they got me into the OR suite they gave me meds to relax me and then a mask over my face and I was out. I don't remember too much from the recovery room but my first vivid memories are those of crying in pain as they were transporting me from the recovery room to my hospital room because every time they hit a bump it hurt terribly. I remember thinking it wasn't supposed to hurt that bad, no one really said the pain was that bad. Oh but it was...
I slept quite a bit on Monday but I remember my husband coming to my bedside and I told him even though I was sleeping I didn't want him to leave. They had me hooked up to a PCA pump and I could push the button for pain meds through my IV whenever I needed to and I did that pretty much whenever I was awake. I had a foley catheter in my bladder so I didn't need to get up to use the bathroom but I did ring for the nurse to help me stand up at the bedside sometime in the middle of the night just because I needed to get out of bed. It was tough but I needed to stand up after laying for almost 24 hours. The hospital had me in an inflatable bariatric bed that was super comfortable to sleep in but absolute HELL to get in and out of. It sat too high up off the ground and needed to be deflated for my feet to even come close to the ground to stand, and it was impossible to use my arms to push myself up to get to an upright position. Not to mention that once they pulled that bladder catheter I needed to pee when I needed to pee and if no one came to deflate the bed it was hard to get out. Needless to say my last night in the hospital I slept in a high back chair, which was fine, too.
The pain medicine and the pain itself frequently made me nauseous and they were giving me IV nausea meds as well. I decided to wean myself back on the IV pain meds which was a bad idea because while the nausea from the pain meds improved the pain skyrocketed until I was in tears not knowing what to do. I was miserable all day on Tuesday. I did walk with physical therapy on Tuesday, it's the last thing I felt like doing but I knew I had to do it. I had to go for a swallow test on Tuesday morning where they make you drink this vile, bitter, syrup like contrast material so they can see if there are any leaks. It literally left a bad taste in my mouth for half the day afterward it was so gross. At least there were no leaks so I could start drinking clear liquids Tuesday instead of just swabbing out my mouth.
On Wednesday they had me up walking even more and changed me to oral pain meds which seemed to help. I was drinking more and didn't have to deal with the nausea as much, and if I did it was tolerable or at least manageable with a protonix pill that helped reduce acid in my stomach. I felt a little better on Wednesday so I had a feeling every passing day was going to see me feeling better, even if only a little bit. Dr. Garza decided that I needed to stay over night one more night in the hospital and really concentrate on getting more fluids in and make sure that the nausea was going to be OK.
I walked a lot on Wednesday and Thursday. Danny spent time with me and the kids came for a visit Wednesday night. Paige stayed home from school Wednesday because she hadn't seen me Tuesday night as planned, and basically had a melt down before school. She was fine after she got to see me Wednesday night. I guess I didn't really think about how this was going to affect everyone in my life, even though I did it for me. In the long run it will be worth, but right now it sucks!
They turned down my IV fluids and let me drink all I could on Thursday and by Thursday evening Dr. Garza said I could go home. I follow up with him on Tuesday morning in the office.
I still have a lot of pain and I am needing my oral pain meds every 4 hours. I am beginning to think I just have a low pain tolerance because I really don't remember reading much in blogs or forum posts about how bad the post-op pain is. I can honestly say the amount of pain I've had post-op took me off guard. He did take my gallbladder out too, which I guess contributes to the pain after surgery, but holy cow, I didn't think it would be quite this bad. He did leave an open incision in my side that the stapler passed through and the visiting nurses come once per day to pack and re-dress it. I hate that part, it is painful and gross and I can't even really watch...gross! It sounds like that will take about 2-3 weeks to heal. I guess I don't understand why this incision is left open, I know he said he does it for infection control purposes but it seems so barbaric to me and I really haven't heard of other surgeons doing that. I guess as long as it heals well that is all I ask.
I came home Thursday evening to a super clean house and all my laundry run through, thanks to Tori. She had been busy all day to make it look nice. That was so sweet of her. I basically set up my "place" in my bedroom. I have my bed and a hard straight back chair from the kitchen and a recliner. Danny has been sleeping in the recliner so he can help me if needed. I can really only sleep on my back if I lay down very carefully and even then I only sleep for 3 hours maximum before the gas pain or internal pain wakes me up. Then I usually walk the upstairs hallways for a while until it is time to take more pain medicine. The gas that rolls around in my stomach is audible to anyone within a 6 foot radius of me and I have been having some loose stools every day which is how I expel the gas. Gross I know, but the surgeon said that is all normal at this point. My intestines are swollen and are not going to be acting like they should.
I am so thankful I took off work the amount of time I did, and I may tack another weekend on there if I need to for recovery. I know I am not going to recover as soon as I thought I would but I am just taking it one day at a time and taking baby steps hoping for little improvements every day.
I got my period yesterday, too, it's been great fun managing that. Great timing! I can't bend at the waist because of pain so if I drop anything it just stays on the floor for someone else to get. I can't reach the floor to get dressed and pull my pants up, so I need help from my husband for that. It's been a humbling experience, to rely on someone for even the most basic of needs. I said I was going to write a book called "The joys of trying to get a pad into your underwear after abdominal surgery and other hilaroties post gastric bypass." It's been a journey and it's far from over.
That is all I can think of for now, I'm sure there is much more and I will post as I think of them. I didn't weigh in last week Thursday because I was still in the hospital, I guess I will see what I weigh at Dr. Garza's office on Tuesday and then I'll be back to my own Thursday weigh ins again.
OH...one other fun thing! I am going to cut my hair short and dye it blond before I go back to work. I have decided to do something radical!!!
Sunday, April 7, 2013
T- minus 7 hours
My surgery is 7 hours from now. I am nervous and excited and I just want to go in and get it done. We are leaving home in about 4 1/2 hours. I have my bag packed and everything at home is in order for while I am in the hospital. I found myself praying many times today that everything goes well and that I don't die and leave my kids without a mom, I can't help but worry, it's my nature. It doesn't help that I am a nurse and probably know a little too much about what can go wrong.
The anesthesiologist called me this evening and chatted for a bit, he said the OR is booked for 4 hours, hopefully it doesn't take that long.
I had to use antimicrobial wipes all over my skin after showering tonight, they are gross, they left my skin tacky and itchy...blech.
I had my husband take some before pictures tonight and I took a bunch of measurements. The time is here...let's roll!!
I'll post as soon as I feel up to it when I get home from the hospital.
The anesthesiologist called me this evening and chatted for a bit, he said the OR is booked for 4 hours, hopefully it doesn't take that long.
I had to use antimicrobial wipes all over my skin after showering tonight, they are gross, they left my skin tacky and itchy...blech.
I had my husband take some before pictures tonight and I took a bunch of measurements. The time is here...let's roll!!
I'll post as soon as I feel up to it when I get home from the hospital.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Almost there
I can say I am honestly sick to death of this liquid diet. This has been the hardest thing (next to child birth) that I have ever done in my life. I have been good and the end is in sight! My surgery is on Monday and I am so ready to do it and get on with my life. Just FYI...Atkins shakes=good, Muscle Milk Light=tastes like ass!!! I haven't really felt too terrible on the shakes, yes I have been hungry and yes I miss chewing and I miss food, and sometimes I feel sorry for myself, but all in all is wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's not easy, but it is easier to do when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I have been on this liquid diet since 3/25/13 and I have lost almost 10# on the liquid diet alone. My weigh in this week showed a loss of 5.4# for a total of 23.0# since January. I am really hoping to loose another 2.2 # by Monday so I can go into the hospital at 240#, today I am 242.2#.
I work 12 hour night shift Friday and Saturday night. On Sunday I plan to get caught up on laundry and take my photos and measurements. I will keep myself busy, that is what I have been doing while I'm on this liquid diet. It's almost here, I can't wait!! Pretty soon this period of my life will just be a memory.
I will post more on Sunday with pictures.
I have been on this liquid diet since 3/25/13 and I have lost almost 10# on the liquid diet alone. My weigh in this week showed a loss of 5.4# for a total of 23.0# since January. I am really hoping to loose another 2.2 # by Monday so I can go into the hospital at 240#, today I am 242.2#.
I work 12 hour night shift Friday and Saturday night. On Sunday I plan to get caught up on laundry and take my photos and measurements. I will keep myself busy, that is what I have been doing while I'm on this liquid diet. It's almost here, I can't wait!! Pretty soon this period of my life will just be a memory.
I will post more on Sunday with pictures.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
What doesn't kill me...
What doesn't kill me will make me stronger.
I started my 2 week pre-op liquid diet on Monday the 25th, the first two days were great and then yesterday BAM migraine from hell with nausea. Let me tell you what, trying to drink those nasty shakes is bad enough when you feel fine but when you have a headache and nausea it is 100 times worse. It's not that the shakes taste that terrible but when you have to drink 5 of them per day it gets old real fast, especially when you aren't feeling good. I will muscle through it, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Today is day 4 so only 10 more days to go...ha! My headache feels somewhat better today but that doesn't mean it won't flare up again. I haven't taken any ibuprofen because I was advised not to because it is a blood thinner and we don't want that for surgery. I have been taking tylenol which doesn't really touch the headache for me, maybe slightly takes the edge off. I have imitrex injections that I use for my migraines and I used one yesterday and it helped for a couple of hours and then the headache came back. I think unless I absolutely have to I am going to hold onto the 3 injections I have here at home for after surgery in case I have a migraine again from the narcotics or whatever.
I never really realized how many food commercials there are on TV or how many damn dessert recipes people pin on pinterest...holy shit! I miss food and more specifically I miss chewing. Chewing sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles doesn't really count! I know it will be quite a while until I get to eat, but man, those food commercials really get me. I saw someone post something about a peanut butter sandwich on facebook this morning and I thought how good a peanut butter sandwich would taste. I never ate peanut butter sandwiches in the past, ever...lol! I think I just miss food. Honestly, though, I feel strong, I have no desire to cheat and I really don't have physical hunger most of the time, it's more head hunger, something sounds good or I remember how good it tasted in the past. I will get past this. I'm not going to cheat. I'm not going to justify just a taste of this or that. I am in this for the long haul and I am strong and able to do this!
Now let's get to the weigh in. I weighed in this morning and I am down 4.2 pounds. Keep in mind I pretty much ate crap the last half of last week and over last weekend. Not an all out food binge but some definite high carb meals and sweet treats. I started my liquid diet Monday so I'm sure that weight came off in the few days I have been on the liquid diet and I'm not surprised, it comes in at about 800 calories per day. So I am down a total of 17.6# since January and I need to lose a little over 7 more pounds by surgery to hit my goal of going into the hospital at 240#.
One last thing...chicken broth is my friend! The shakes aren't super sweet but they are sweet-ish and seeing that is the majority of what I am taking in that one flavor gets overwhelming. At night when I am sitting on my computer or watching TV I make a big cup of chicken broth and it just hits the spot. I sip at it and it is hot an salty and makes me feel more like I am having some food. Just thought I'd share...lol!!
I will post next week or sooner if I have something great to say :)
I started my 2 week pre-op liquid diet on Monday the 25th, the first two days were great and then yesterday BAM migraine from hell with nausea. Let me tell you what, trying to drink those nasty shakes is bad enough when you feel fine but when you have a headache and nausea it is 100 times worse. It's not that the shakes taste that terrible but when you have to drink 5 of them per day it gets old real fast, especially when you aren't feeling good. I will muscle through it, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Today is day 4 so only 10 more days to go...ha! My headache feels somewhat better today but that doesn't mean it won't flare up again. I haven't taken any ibuprofen because I was advised not to because it is a blood thinner and we don't want that for surgery. I have been taking tylenol which doesn't really touch the headache for me, maybe slightly takes the edge off. I have imitrex injections that I use for my migraines and I used one yesterday and it helped for a couple of hours and then the headache came back. I think unless I absolutely have to I am going to hold onto the 3 injections I have here at home for after surgery in case I have a migraine again from the narcotics or whatever.
I never really realized how many food commercials there are on TV or how many damn dessert recipes people pin on pinterest...holy shit! I miss food and more specifically I miss chewing. Chewing sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles doesn't really count! I know it will be quite a while until I get to eat, but man, those food commercials really get me. I saw someone post something about a peanut butter sandwich on facebook this morning and I thought how good a peanut butter sandwich would taste. I never ate peanut butter sandwiches in the past, ever...lol! I think I just miss food. Honestly, though, I feel strong, I have no desire to cheat and I really don't have physical hunger most of the time, it's more head hunger, something sounds good or I remember how good it tasted in the past. I will get past this. I'm not going to cheat. I'm not going to justify just a taste of this or that. I am in this for the long haul and I am strong and able to do this!
Now let's get to the weigh in. I weighed in this morning and I am down 4.2 pounds. Keep in mind I pretty much ate crap the last half of last week and over last weekend. Not an all out food binge but some definite high carb meals and sweet treats. I started my liquid diet Monday so I'm sure that weight came off in the few days I have been on the liquid diet and I'm not surprised, it comes in at about 800 calories per day. So I am down a total of 17.6# since January and I need to lose a little over 7 more pounds by surgery to hit my goal of going into the hospital at 240#.
One last thing...chicken broth is my friend! The shakes aren't super sweet but they are sweet-ish and seeing that is the majority of what I am taking in that one flavor gets overwhelming. At night when I am sitting on my computer or watching TV I make a big cup of chicken broth and it just hits the spot. I sip at it and it is hot an salty and makes me feel more like I am having some food. Just thought I'd share...lol!!
I will post next week or sooner if I have something great to say :)
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Thursday weigh in and damn you carbs!!
I am officially done with all of my pre-op appointments!! FINALLY! Now I am just waiting on the final insurance approval and I can breathe a sigh of relief. 18 days to go! I can't even believe how fast it is coming up!! It seemed like it was so far off and now it is almost here. I have so many emotions right now, excited, nervous, happy, scared, but mostly just ready to get on with this and get on with my new healthy life! I keep thinking about things in my life and comparing what I see now versus next year at this time. For instance the swimming suits are out in the stores and I think about how next year at this time I will be thinner and able to buy a new swimming suit in a smaller size. Things like that help me put it in perspective.
One thing I did find out at my pre-op appointment with my surgeon is that he leaves the incision that he passes the stapler through, open, and it needs to be packed and have dressing changes until it heals. It is to prevent infection. I told my husband about wound packing and he said it made his knees feel weak just thinking about it. I am a nurse so I am fine with that kind of thing but my husband is pretty squeemish. Hopefully it will be in an area I can reach and see to do it myself, if not either he is going to have to suck it up and do it or I will have to see if my mom will come over to do it. I'll be sure to post pictures when I get that far.
My weigh in this week showed a gain and that is no surprise. I haven't been on an all out eating frenzy by any means, but I did have my potato soup and bread with butter from Panera yesterday and I have been having more carbs than usual this week. I am up 2 pounds this week. On Monday I start my 2 week liquid diet. I will be interested to see how much weight I lose while I am doing it. I really want to be at or under 240# on the day of surgery so that means I have to lose around 12#. If I go into the hospital at 240# I will have a personal goal of losing 90#. I would be happy to get to 150# and maintain there, if I lose more, great, but 150# is the goal. I think I can do it, the liquid diet only gives me 800-900 calories per day. I will be buying sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles to get me through, I know that!
I will post again next week once I am on the liquid diet. Until then...
One thing I did find out at my pre-op appointment with my surgeon is that he leaves the incision that he passes the stapler through, open, and it needs to be packed and have dressing changes until it heals. It is to prevent infection. I told my husband about wound packing and he said it made his knees feel weak just thinking about it. I am a nurse so I am fine with that kind of thing but my husband is pretty squeemish. Hopefully it will be in an area I can reach and see to do it myself, if not either he is going to have to suck it up and do it or I will have to see if my mom will come over to do it. I'll be sure to post pictures when I get that far.
My weigh in this week showed a gain and that is no surprise. I haven't been on an all out eating frenzy by any means, but I did have my potato soup and bread with butter from Panera yesterday and I have been having more carbs than usual this week. I am up 2 pounds this week. On Monday I start my 2 week liquid diet. I will be interested to see how much weight I lose while I am doing it. I really want to be at or under 240# on the day of surgery so that means I have to lose around 12#. If I go into the hospital at 240# I will have a personal goal of losing 90#. I would be happy to get to 150# and maintain there, if I lose more, great, but 150# is the goal. I think I can do it, the liquid diet only gives me 800-900 calories per day. I will be buying sugar free jello and sugar free popsicles to get me through, I know that!
I will post again next week once I am on the liquid diet. Until then...
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Thursday weigh in and appointments
I had the pre-op appointments with my dietician and then one with the surgeon today. The dietician went over a whole folder full of things. Next on my list, finding meal replacement shakes for my 2 week liquid protein diet. I have a list of recommended shakes now so I can figure out what I need and buy enough for two weeks. We also talked about things after the surgery, how the diet progresses, how to get enough protein, what I should look for on labels, etc... I think we talked for almost an hour. After my appointment with the dietician I saw the surgeon and his nursing team. We discussed all the details of surgery and tied up any lose ends. One thing I'm not too crazy about is that he leaves one of the incisions open ( the one the stapler has to pass through) and it has to be packed with gauze and changed daily to prevent infection. I have no problem with that stuff, I'm a nurse, but my queasy husband, who may have to do the packing and dressing changes for me, may not be too excited to have to do it. I did find out that my annual physical with my OB/GYN that I just had last week won't be able to be used for my pre-op physical, so I have that set up for Monday. After Monday's physical, everything can be submitted to the insurance and I hold my breath until I get the final OK from them.
I got all of my leave of absence stuff squared away at work today. Talked to the leave of absence office, emailed my boss, human resources, and employee health. It's funny, I really didn't plan to tell everyone what I am having done but now I am thinking I might. I was chatting with one of the night shift nurses on facebook a little earlier because she popped up and asked if I was OK, she had heard I was taking a leave of absence for surgery. Word sure traveled fast! In less than 12 hours my co-workers heard. Now of course everyone who hears I am having surgery gets worried that it is something serious and if someone asks me I guess I will tell them. I work in a small unit and I'm sure everyone will know just what surgery I am going to have whether I want them to or not.
My weigh in at home this morning was good. I am down another 2# for the week and down a total of 15.4# by my scale since January. In the surgeon's office I was down 15# since they first weighed me in in December. I am cool with that!! The dietician actually told me to enjoy my last week of eating food (within reason of course). I did have a fish sandwich and fries for supper tonight, but I am going to continue my diet tomorrow and over the weekend. I am feeling too good to go crazy on carbs and then have to withdraw from them again. I plan on having a bowl of potato soup from Panera next week some time but that is really the only "cheat" meal I have planned. I love that soup and hunk of bread with butter. I know I will find suitable food substitutions as I progress down this weight loss path but that is one thing I really want to have, so I will.
I will update again next week. 24 days until surgery! Wow that sure came up fast!! I am nervous and excited all at the same time.
I got all of my leave of absence stuff squared away at work today. Talked to the leave of absence office, emailed my boss, human resources, and employee health. It's funny, I really didn't plan to tell everyone what I am having done but now I am thinking I might. I was chatting with one of the night shift nurses on facebook a little earlier because she popped up and asked if I was OK, she had heard I was taking a leave of absence for surgery. Word sure traveled fast! In less than 12 hours my co-workers heard. Now of course everyone who hears I am having surgery gets worried that it is something serious and if someone asks me I guess I will tell them. I work in a small unit and I'm sure everyone will know just what surgery I am going to have whether I want them to or not.
My weigh in at home this morning was good. I am down another 2# for the week and down a total of 15.4# by my scale since January. In the surgeon's office I was down 15# since they first weighed me in in December. I am cool with that!! The dietician actually told me to enjoy my last week of eating food (within reason of course). I did have a fish sandwich and fries for supper tonight, but I am going to continue my diet tomorrow and over the weekend. I am feeling too good to go crazy on carbs and then have to withdraw from them again. I plan on having a bowl of potato soup from Panera next week some time but that is really the only "cheat" meal I have planned. I love that soup and hunk of bread with butter. I know I will find suitable food substitutions as I progress down this weight loss path but that is one thing I really want to have, so I will.
I will update again next week. 24 days until surgery! Wow that sure came up fast!! I am nervous and excited all at the same time.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Thursday weigh in...17 day diet still going well!
I am still following the principles of the 17 day diet, basically low carb, high protein, and it has been going well. Today when I stepped on the scale I was down another 3 pounds!! I am now down a total of 13.4 pounds since January 6th when I started watching what I was eating. That puts my weight at 251.8, hopefully next week I can get into the 240s. My goal is to go into surgery at 240 pounds, that gives me 90 pounds to lose post op to get to 150 pounds. I could live at 150 pounds and be happy. Plus having to lose 90 pounds sounds so much better than 100 pounds to me for some reason. Apparently a good portion of weight comes off with the 2 week pre-op liquid diet so I am thinking I shouldn't have any trouble getting to 240 pounds before surgery, only 11.8 pounds to go. I start my liquid diet on March 25th and surgery is April 8th. It seemed like it was so far off and now it feels like it is coming up fast!
Next week is going to busy with appointments. I see the psychiatrist for my pre-op visit on Monday, and I see the dietician and the surgeon on Thursday. These will be my last appointments before surgery. It's starting to feel real now! I had my yearly gyn check up yesterday and when my doctor left the room he shook my hand and told me he looked forward to seeing "less of me" when I come in next year! It will be so neat to see what the change is because I should be about 11 months out from surgery at that point.
I have started a weight loss bucket list. I know that is like the buzz phrase these days and it's kind of cliche to have a bucket list but I think in this instance, for me, it is a good idea to do. I feel like everyone goes to kind of a dark place after surgery and thinks, "what the hell have I done", and I want to be able to have this bucket list to look at to remind myself of all the good things I have to look forward to as the weight starts coming off. I am going to post my bucket list in a text box to the right of my blog and I plan on adding to it as I think of things to add. I am kind of excited that I came up with this idea :)
I will update my weigh in next week and how my appointments went. Until then...
Next week is going to busy with appointments. I see the psychiatrist for my pre-op visit on Monday, and I see the dietician and the surgeon on Thursday. These will be my last appointments before surgery. It's starting to feel real now! I had my yearly gyn check up yesterday and when my doctor left the room he shook my hand and told me he looked forward to seeing "less of me" when I come in next year! It will be so neat to see what the change is because I should be about 11 months out from surgery at that point.
I have started a weight loss bucket list. I know that is like the buzz phrase these days and it's kind of cliche to have a bucket list but I think in this instance, for me, it is a good idea to do. I feel like everyone goes to kind of a dark place after surgery and thinks, "what the hell have I done", and I want to be able to have this bucket list to look at to remind myself of all the good things I have to look forward to as the weight starts coming off. I am going to post my bucket list in a text box to the right of my blog and I plan on adding to it as I think of things to add. I am kind of excited that I came up with this idea :)
I will update my weigh in next week and how my appointments went. Until then...
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Thursday weight in...can I get a woot woot!!!
I have been loosely following the 17 day diet since Monday and I was pretty pleased with the results of my weigh in this week. When I say loosely following this diet I don't mean that I am cheating on the eating portion of it, there are just some things in the book that I don't do, like drinking hot lemon water every morning...gag!
I started this diet on Monday and when I weighed in this morning I have lost 3.6 pounds!!! That brings my total weight loss to 10.4# since I started dieting on January 6th. That doesn't really sound like that much to me until I put it into perspective. My goal was to lose 1-2# per week and I have been dieting now for a little over 8 weeks. 10.4# divided by 2 months is 5.2# average per month and an average of 1.3# per week, so I met my goal. I'm sure it would have been better if I had been more serious about dieting in the beginning, at least I'm headed down the right path now, the last two weeks I had a gain, not substantial, but still a gain, so I had to make up for that. I like the lower carb diets because the hunger goes away when I eat higher protein and that is a great bonus.
I still did not hit the gym as often as I wanted to this week, just went once. I feel really tired and dragged out this week, I think it is detoxing from all the carbs and crap food. If I remember correctly from the last time I did this diet I will start feeling more energy at a week or so out, so hopefully I can get the gym more next week.
Nothing too exciting on the horizon next week, just my annual physical. It will be interesting to see what my weight is this year and then next year at this time when I go in. I am excited for this change to happen.
Until next week.
I started this diet on Monday and when I weighed in this morning I have lost 3.6 pounds!!! That brings my total weight loss to 10.4# since I started dieting on January 6th. That doesn't really sound like that much to me until I put it into perspective. My goal was to lose 1-2# per week and I have been dieting now for a little over 8 weeks. 10.4# divided by 2 months is 5.2# average per month and an average of 1.3# per week, so I met my goal. I'm sure it would have been better if I had been more serious about dieting in the beginning, at least I'm headed down the right path now, the last two weeks I had a gain, not substantial, but still a gain, so I had to make up for that. I like the lower carb diets because the hunger goes away when I eat higher protein and that is a great bonus.
I still did not hit the gym as often as I wanted to this week, just went once. I feel really tired and dragged out this week, I think it is detoxing from all the carbs and crap food. If I remember correctly from the last time I did this diet I will start feeling more energy at a week or so out, so hopefully I can get the gym more next week.
Nothing too exciting on the horizon next week, just my annual physical. It will be interesting to see what my weight is this year and then next year at this time when I go in. I am excited for this change to happen.
Until next week.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Support group wake up call
I went to the first support group meeting at the hospital where I will be having my gastric bypass in April, and I really enjoyed it. I had reservations because it is 2 hours long and I just didn't know what to expect for 2 hours. The first hour they had a nutritionist talk to us about foods and meal planning, portion sizes and what order to eat your food. It was very informative. The second hour was spent in a circle discussing certain talking points. There were about 20 people there and maybe 5 or 6 of us haven't had surgery yet. Many subjects came up and I can tell that these people will be a great support as I embark on this journey. They are a wealth of information and there are people there at all stages, everyone from those of us who had not had surgery yet to some who are years out. I definitely plan to go monthly to the support group meetings.
My wake up call at the support group meeting was when one of the ladies was commenting on how skinny one of the other ladies had gotten and she said "I'm not jealous of you, I just wish I had been more serious about losing weight before I had surgery so I could gotten down lower after surgery." I will be honest, I have been playing the game I always play, dieting some days and other eating whatever I fancy. The last two weeks I have been up .8 pounds both weeks. It may seem like a 1.6 pound gain in 2 weeks isn't a big deal but in the grand scheme of things since my first weigh in on January 6th I am only down 6.8 pounds and 4.2 of those pounds were lost the first week. I am finally coming to terms with the fact that I have an eating disorder, I am a food addict and I am tired of the games I play with myself. I have obviously been "playing the game" my whole life and it has to stop. I will never be successful long-term with this weight loss surgery if I don't fix my head. I have decided that once I get the surgery I am going to start seeing a therapist to deal with my food issues as well as starting to deal with things that happened in my childhood, and in my past that I never dealt with. I have had a lifetime of heartache and I am coming to realize that I have just turned off my emotions because feeling nothing is better than dealing with the pain. I have sacrificed the happy in order to not feel or deal with the sad. I have squashed everything so deep inside that it's eating me up. I think my emotions have manifested as a food addiction and I need to figure this out as my journey progresses.
That being said, I have my 17 day diet book in front of me and I am going to re-read it this weekend and start the diet on Monday. I know I felt wonderful on it when I did it a year and a half ago so maybe this will be the ticket for me to get myself in check and take off some weight before surgery. It is a high protein, lower carb diet and that will help me transition into the way I will need to be eating after surgery. I really want to weigh 240# when I go into surgery, that would give me 90# to lose to reach 150#. I could live at a weight of 150# and be happy.
I am having a really hard time giving up caffeine. I drink caffeine in the form of coffee and water mix-ins when I work my 3-12 hours nights shifts on the weekends. I try to not drink caffeine during the week when I am off and at about the 24 hour mark of no caffeine I develop a horrible migraine. I then have a cup of coffee and it feels better. Last week I had a combination hormonal/lack of caffeine migraine that lasted 3-4 days. This week it was about a day and a half. I think I am going to pick up some half-caff coffee at the store and at least switch to that and see if that helps. I am also going to stop buying the energy water mix ins, they have a ton of caffeine in them. I bought some V8 energy cans I want to try at work and see if it actually works for me. I think it's caffeine comes from green tea which is much lower than coffee or the mix-ins. I will probably have a half caff coffee at then try the V8. Maybe instead of starting my shift with a cup of coffee as is my habit, I will wait and hour or two into my shift and then have coffee. I still haven't gone back to diet sodas so that makes me happy. I think that is a habit that is finally broken.
My weigh in today was 258.4# which is a .8 gain from last week. My total loss so far is 6.8#. I haven't been to the gym all week, the excuses about that have to stop, too. I know I can't work out when I have a migraine, but what about the other days I didn't go. I guess I am my own worse enemy!! I downloaded some fitness apps to my tablet, I'll review those when I start using them too.
My wake up call at the support group meeting was when one of the ladies was commenting on how skinny one of the other ladies had gotten and she said "I'm not jealous of you, I just wish I had been more serious about losing weight before I had surgery so I could gotten down lower after surgery." I will be honest, I have been playing the game I always play, dieting some days and other eating whatever I fancy. The last two weeks I have been up .8 pounds both weeks. It may seem like a 1.6 pound gain in 2 weeks isn't a big deal but in the grand scheme of things since my first weigh in on January 6th I am only down 6.8 pounds and 4.2 of those pounds were lost the first week. I am finally coming to terms with the fact that I have an eating disorder, I am a food addict and I am tired of the games I play with myself. I have obviously been "playing the game" my whole life and it has to stop. I will never be successful long-term with this weight loss surgery if I don't fix my head. I have decided that once I get the surgery I am going to start seeing a therapist to deal with my food issues as well as starting to deal with things that happened in my childhood, and in my past that I never dealt with. I have had a lifetime of heartache and I am coming to realize that I have just turned off my emotions because feeling nothing is better than dealing with the pain. I have sacrificed the happy in order to not feel or deal with the sad. I have squashed everything so deep inside that it's eating me up. I think my emotions have manifested as a food addiction and I need to figure this out as my journey progresses.
That being said, I have my 17 day diet book in front of me and I am going to re-read it this weekend and start the diet on Monday. I know I felt wonderful on it when I did it a year and a half ago so maybe this will be the ticket for me to get myself in check and take off some weight before surgery. It is a high protein, lower carb diet and that will help me transition into the way I will need to be eating after surgery. I really want to weigh 240# when I go into surgery, that would give me 90# to lose to reach 150#. I could live at a weight of 150# and be happy.
I am having a really hard time giving up caffeine. I drink caffeine in the form of coffee and water mix-ins when I work my 3-12 hours nights shifts on the weekends. I try to not drink caffeine during the week when I am off and at about the 24 hour mark of no caffeine I develop a horrible migraine. I then have a cup of coffee and it feels better. Last week I had a combination hormonal/lack of caffeine migraine that lasted 3-4 days. This week it was about a day and a half. I think I am going to pick up some half-caff coffee at the store and at least switch to that and see if that helps. I am also going to stop buying the energy water mix ins, they have a ton of caffeine in them. I bought some V8 energy cans I want to try at work and see if it actually works for me. I think it's caffeine comes from green tea which is much lower than coffee or the mix-ins. I will probably have a half caff coffee at then try the V8. Maybe instead of starting my shift with a cup of coffee as is my habit, I will wait and hour or two into my shift and then have coffee. I still haven't gone back to diet sodas so that makes me happy. I think that is a habit that is finally broken.
My weigh in today was 258.4# which is a .8 gain from last week. My total loss so far is 6.8#. I haven't been to the gym all week, the excuses about that have to stop, too. I know I can't work out when I have a migraine, but what about the other days I didn't go. I guess I am my own worse enemy!! I downloaded some fitness apps to my tablet, I'll review those when I start using them too.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Tuesday eating
I don't plan on blogging every day for the rest of my life with what exact foods I eat, I know that would be incredibly boring to read, and I can use Sparkpeople for that. However, for the next couple of weeks I do plan on blogging the food items I eat, the calories, and the protein, mostly for my own benefit, so I can look back and see what worked and what didn't work. I will keep doing reviews of the protein shakes I try as well. I feel I need to do this to get my butt on track.
Today I ate:
Breakfast-Syntrax chocolate truffle protein shake with 8 oz of skim milk. Calories 190 and Protein 31 grams
Lunch-2 Boca burgers, 140 calories for both and 26 grams of protein for both, with 1 ounce shredded cheese melted on top 100 calories (an ounce is probably more than I used but I didn't weigh it so I will use the higher calories) Protein 7 grams. Ketchup 35 calories for 1 Tbsp. No bun with the burgers, I just melted the cheese on top and ate it with a fork. Green beans with butter spray. 70 calories and protein 3 grams.
Supper-2 chicken sausages with artichoke and mozerella. 240 calories for both, 34 grams of protein for both. I know I said I was going to stay away from carbs today but I did have some mustard pretzels with my supper. 110 calories and 3 grams of protein. Ketchup 35 calories. NO buns!
Totals=920 calories and 104 grams of protein. The calories were low enough, I need to get used to that because my pre-op liquid diet will be 600-700 calories from the look of it. The protein was 104 grams. I know I am supposed to shoot for 80-100 grams or protein daily, I barely made it over 100 eating ALOT today, I don't think it is going to be easy to get that much protein in post-op when my stomach pouch has such a small capacity. That will be interesting.
I have had a pretty ridiculous headache today so I didn't even feel like doing much snacking, so that was good. I think this headache is a combination of drinking less caffeine, and detoxing from carbs and processed stuff. I have been taking tylenol and motrin pretty much all day.
I did make it to the gym this morning. I did 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes doing various weight machines. Hopefully this headache doesn't go full blown migraine and I can go to the gym again tomorrow. I want to either use the exercise bike or one of the elipticals or both for 30 minutes and then do the weights again for 30 minutes. I really want to go to the gym the next 3 days. Tuesday through Thursday mornings at the gym are what I hope to make habit and hopefully I can throw in a Monday night Zumba class, too. I am very self conscious at the gym, I know I look terrible, I see myself in the mirrors that are everywhere. I can't wait to take this weight off.
Off to bed for me. I review my next shake and journal my food later tomorrow.
Today I ate:
Breakfast-Syntrax chocolate truffle protein shake with 8 oz of skim milk. Calories 190 and Protein 31 grams
Lunch-2 Boca burgers, 140 calories for both and 26 grams of protein for both, with 1 ounce shredded cheese melted on top 100 calories (an ounce is probably more than I used but I didn't weigh it so I will use the higher calories) Protein 7 grams. Ketchup 35 calories for 1 Tbsp. No bun with the burgers, I just melted the cheese on top and ate it with a fork. Green beans with butter spray. 70 calories and protein 3 grams.
Supper-2 chicken sausages with artichoke and mozerella. 240 calories for both, 34 grams of protein for both. I know I said I was going to stay away from carbs today but I did have some mustard pretzels with my supper. 110 calories and 3 grams of protein. Ketchup 35 calories. NO buns!
Totals=920 calories and 104 grams of protein. The calories were low enough, I need to get used to that because my pre-op liquid diet will be 600-700 calories from the look of it. The protein was 104 grams. I know I am supposed to shoot for 80-100 grams or protein daily, I barely made it over 100 eating ALOT today, I don't think it is going to be easy to get that much protein in post-op when my stomach pouch has such a small capacity. That will be interesting.
I have had a pretty ridiculous headache today so I didn't even feel like doing much snacking, so that was good. I think this headache is a combination of drinking less caffeine, and detoxing from carbs and processed stuff. I have been taking tylenol and motrin pretty much all day.
I did make it to the gym this morning. I did 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes doing various weight machines. Hopefully this headache doesn't go full blown migraine and I can go to the gym again tomorrow. I want to either use the exercise bike or one of the elipticals or both for 30 minutes and then do the weights again for 30 minutes. I really want to go to the gym the next 3 days. Tuesday through Thursday mornings at the gym are what I hope to make habit and hopefully I can throw in a Monday night Zumba class, too. I am very self conscious at the gym, I know I look terrible, I see myself in the mirrors that are everywhere. I can't wait to take this weight off.
Off to bed for me. I review my next shake and journal my food later tomorrow.
New week. New plan.
I'll be honest, I haven't been watching my food intake very closely these last couple of weeks. It all started about 2 weeks ago when I got sick with a stupid head cold, I felt miserable and I got lazy about documenting my food intake which lead to a drive thru meal here, and some extra snacks there, and it has to STOP before I spiral further out of control! I am sick of the games I play with myself and the justifications I throw out there for my behavior, it is not acceptable. Luckily I haven't gained any weight the last couple of weeks, but my loss isn't the greatest either. I weigh in at my surgeon's office on Thursday and I certainly don't want to show a gain there.
So, my plan is this. I need to try out protein shakes for my 2 week pre-op liquid protein diet so I want to use the protein shakes I am trialing as my breakfast, I will give reviews of the shakes I try here on my blog. I will eat a no or low carb lunch that consists of lean meat with vegetables that are filling vegetables, no breads, no pastas, no potatoes etc. For supper it will again be lean meat and filling vegetables and maybe the occasional half of a baked potato or something small like that. For my night time snack I am going to have a plain greek yogurt that I will doctor up some how with torani syrup or sugar free jello powder, or cinnamon. I will post how everything goes with my meals on my blog nightly. I need the accountability. If I need snacks I will have a sugar free popsicle or jello during the day. I have completely eliminated diet sodas and I want to cup back from 2 cups of coffee on my days off to one or none and make sure I get my 64 oz of water daily. I work 12 hour night shifts so I am not sure if I will be able to completely eliminate coffee on the weekends when I work, but I will try to cut back on caffeine there, too.
I am heading out to the gym in a little bit. I got my membership at Snap fitness went a couple of times and then got sick a few days later and haven't been back. My goal is to work out at the gym on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays in the morning and I want to sign up next week for the Monday night Zumba class they offer there at the gym. Saturdays and Sundays aren't going to be work out days for me because I work 12 hour night shifts on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. I am lucky if I stay coherent on those days! Work-Sleep-Repeat x3.
I just finished drinking a protein shake as I am typing this. The one I tried this morning is:
It was actually very good, it wasn't chalky and it didn't leave a terrible after taste, there was some of that protein shake after taste but it was tolerable. It was very rich and chocolaty. It reminded me somewhat of chocolate milk or a thicker version of yoohoo. I had a single serving size packet and I mixed the whole packet with 8 oz of skim milk. The skim milk is 90 calories and 8 grams of protein and the syntrax nectar has 100 calories and 24 grams of protein. The front of the packet says it has 23 grams of protein but the nutrition label says is has 6 grams of protein per 1/4 packet so that (if my math is correct is 24...) I guess I will go with the 23 grams listed on the front of the package.
That leaves me with a grand total of 31 grams of protein and 190 calories for my breakfast shake. Do I think I will be hungry before lunch, I'm betting so, but hopefully I will get used to it.
I will definitely be trying more syntrax products!!
Off to the gym! I'll update my food intake later :)
So, my plan is this. I need to try out protein shakes for my 2 week pre-op liquid protein diet so I want to use the protein shakes I am trialing as my breakfast, I will give reviews of the shakes I try here on my blog. I will eat a no or low carb lunch that consists of lean meat with vegetables that are filling vegetables, no breads, no pastas, no potatoes etc. For supper it will again be lean meat and filling vegetables and maybe the occasional half of a baked potato or something small like that. For my night time snack I am going to have a plain greek yogurt that I will doctor up some how with torani syrup or sugar free jello powder, or cinnamon. I will post how everything goes with my meals on my blog nightly. I need the accountability. If I need snacks I will have a sugar free popsicle or jello during the day. I have completely eliminated diet sodas and I want to cup back from 2 cups of coffee on my days off to one or none and make sure I get my 64 oz of water daily. I work 12 hour night shifts so I am not sure if I will be able to completely eliminate coffee on the weekends when I work, but I will try to cut back on caffeine there, too.
I am heading out to the gym in a little bit. I got my membership at Snap fitness went a couple of times and then got sick a few days later and haven't been back. My goal is to work out at the gym on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays in the morning and I want to sign up next week for the Monday night Zumba class they offer there at the gym. Saturdays and Sundays aren't going to be work out days for me because I work 12 hour night shifts on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. I am lucky if I stay coherent on those days! Work-Sleep-Repeat x3.
I just finished drinking a protein shake as I am typing this. The one I tried this morning is:
That leaves me with a grand total of 31 grams of protein and 190 calories for my breakfast shake. Do I think I will be hungry before lunch, I'm betting so, but hopefully I will get used to it.
I will definitely be trying more syntrax products!!
Off to the gym! I'll update my food intake later :)
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Thursday weigh in AND...
I have an official surgery date!!!!!! My surgery will be Monday April 8th. Let the countdown begin!
I have a few things on my plate before now and then. I have my weigh in this month at my surgeon's office which is next week Thursday the 14th of February, then I will be seeing the psychiatrist on March 11th and I have an appointment with the dietician and surgeon both on the same day March 14th. I will be doing my two week liquid diet the last week of March and the first week of April. The nurse coordinator asked me if I wanted to postpone surgery a week until April 15th so I wouldn't be on my liquid diet on Easter. My answer to that was a big hell no!! I want the surgery and a holiday isn't going to get in my way, even for one week. It helps that I work weekends and I'll be doing 12 hour weekend shifts that whole weekend so I won't be around much on Easter to even be tempted. The family can go to my Mom's to celebrate without me, and I won't even feel bad about it!! I am just super excited to finally have a date and a plan, and I can see it on the horizon and it no longer feels like an endless stretch of time until then.
My weigh in this week is less than stellar. I have said I wanted to lose 1-2 pounds per week and so far I have until today. I lost a measly .6 pounds bringing my total up to 8.4 pounds lost. I know it is better than a gain, or no loss at all, but it is frustrating none the less. This infuriatingly slow weight loss has been my pattern since about the time I hit 40 years old. Tenths of pounds...ugh!! Hopefully after my surgery I will be able to see the losses I need to see and want to see. It's hard to do things the right way and not see the reward for doing it.
On another note, I read this quote on facebook today and I love it. It fits right where I am in my life right now.
I have a few things on my plate before now and then. I have my weigh in this month at my surgeon's office which is next week Thursday the 14th of February, then I will be seeing the psychiatrist on March 11th and I have an appointment with the dietician and surgeon both on the same day March 14th. I will be doing my two week liquid diet the last week of March and the first week of April. The nurse coordinator asked me if I wanted to postpone surgery a week until April 15th so I wouldn't be on my liquid diet on Easter. My answer to that was a big hell no!! I want the surgery and a holiday isn't going to get in my way, even for one week. It helps that I work weekends and I'll be doing 12 hour weekend shifts that whole weekend so I won't be around much on Easter to even be tempted. The family can go to my Mom's to celebrate without me, and I won't even feel bad about it!! I am just super excited to finally have a date and a plan, and I can see it on the horizon and it no longer feels like an endless stretch of time until then.
My weigh in this week is less than stellar. I have said I wanted to lose 1-2 pounds per week and so far I have until today. I lost a measly .6 pounds bringing my total up to 8.4 pounds lost. I know it is better than a gain, or no loss at all, but it is frustrating none the less. This infuriatingly slow weight loss has been my pattern since about the time I hit 40 years old. Tenths of pounds...ugh!! Hopefully after my surgery I will be able to see the losses I need to see and want to see. It's hard to do things the right way and not see the reward for doing it.
On another note, I read this quote on facebook today and I love it. It fits right where I am in my life right now.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Weigh in Thursday and Psychiatrist appointment
I saw the psychiatrist for my evaluation this past Tuesday, I'll be honest I was worried about the appointment, but it went fine. I think maybe in the back of my mind I was thinking she was going to try and fish for some deep seated psych issues related to my food intake, weight issues, and yo-yo dieting, and maybe try to find a way to say I didn't qualify for surgery because I was a total head case or something. Dumb, I know. I think I was worried she wasn't on my side and that this might be a huge stumbling block in my journey but that wasn't the case at all. The appointment was actually fine, she was very nice and very easy to talk to. We talked about my health and dieting history and problems that may arise with the rapid body change after surgery along with coping mechanisms. She talked to me about my support system, my job and other aspects of my life. I did ask her her thoughts on continuing therapy after surgery and she said it is up to each individual person as to whether they want to or not. She said sometimes she sees people who need therapy before surgery but that wasn't the case with me. She gave me clearance for surgery and said she would see me again in March before my surgery in April. I am doing the happy dance that yet another appointment is checked off my list. It looks like I have my February and March weigh ins, and then appointments right before surgery with my surgeon, the dietician, and the psychologist. I emailed my surgeon's nurse who is the care coordinator for the program and asked when I would get an official surgery date and she said she could get me one any time. So I am patiently waiting for that email. I am hoping I can do my 2 week liquid diet the last two weeks of March and have surgery April 1st but I'm not sure that will work out for them. I'll post when I find something out. I am excited and nervous. I want to do it right now and not have wait, and then again I want it to be 2 months from now so I have that time to continue to prepare. I am just ready to do this and continue on towards finding the healthy, thinner girl that is trapped under this big layer of fat. 2013 will be my year!!!!
My weigh in today showed I was down another 1.2# for a total of 7.8# down so far. I guess that will be my pattern, slow (very slow) and steady. I certainly don't take weight off at a very fast rate that is for sure. I find myself getting frustrated but I need to just chill out and appreciate the progress I am making right now. So far I have stayed within my goal of taking off 1-2 pounds per week.
I do think that around mid-February I am going to start doing the 17 day diet. The diet is basically a high protein, low carb diet, and I think it will help me get used to eating more protein and way less carbs, which is what I will need to do after surgery. I also need to try out some of the samples of protein shakes I picked up. I am still really nervous about doing the 2 week pre-op liquid protein diet, I hope I can stick with it. It's one thing to be on a liquid diet when you are post-op and your stomach pouch holds an ounce or two, and it's entirely another to be on a liquid diet when your stomach is normal sized. I expect to be starving and I know I will need to be strong.
One other exciting development is that I am completely done drinking diet sodas. My first goal was to stop diet sodas which I have done, yay! I knew in doing that I wanted to increase my water intake, which I have also done, yay!. However, when I started drinking more water I also started using those sugar free mix in flavorings for water, and that seems like a lot of artificial sweetener to me. Yeah, I know my diet soda addiction put tons of artificial sweetener in my bod too, but I want to get healthier in every aspect of my life if I am doing this surgery, but I digress, so now my goal is to not rely on the sugar free mix-in packets in the water all the time, I want to cut back. Personally, I think that is too much artificial sweetener in one day. So my next goal is to have maybe one 32 oz water bottle per day with a mix in flavor and one bottle per day with just plain ice water. That is my goal to accomplish over the next month or so. My final goal is going to be to cut further back on caffeine overall. I still have a cup of coffee (OK two cups) of coffee most mornings, and I work three 12 hour night shifts per week so I drink a coffee at the beginning of my shift and something with caffeine mid-way through my shift, whether it's coffee or a sugar free water flavoring with caffeine ( I was shocked to see how much caffeine the sugar free energy water flavorings have, way more than coffee or soda). I plan on cutting back to one cup of coffee in the mornings and one at the start of my shift when I work, and if I absolutely need some caffeine mid night shift I will have something, if not, great. I don't think I will entirely stop caffeine and my surgeon said a little is ok, so I'm sure I will keep having some, but I know I can cut way back on it as well as the mix-ins with the artificial sweetener.
That is all I have for now. I will write a new post as soon as I find out more about my surgery date.
Until next time!! :)
My weigh in today showed I was down another 1.2# for a total of 7.8# down so far. I guess that will be my pattern, slow (very slow) and steady. I certainly don't take weight off at a very fast rate that is for sure. I find myself getting frustrated but I need to just chill out and appreciate the progress I am making right now. So far I have stayed within my goal of taking off 1-2 pounds per week.
I do think that around mid-February I am going to start doing the 17 day diet. The diet is basically a high protein, low carb diet, and I think it will help me get used to eating more protein and way less carbs, which is what I will need to do after surgery. I also need to try out some of the samples of protein shakes I picked up. I am still really nervous about doing the 2 week pre-op liquid protein diet, I hope I can stick with it. It's one thing to be on a liquid diet when you are post-op and your stomach pouch holds an ounce or two, and it's entirely another to be on a liquid diet when your stomach is normal sized. I expect to be starving and I know I will need to be strong.
One other exciting development is that I am completely done drinking diet sodas. My first goal was to stop diet sodas which I have done, yay! I knew in doing that I wanted to increase my water intake, which I have also done, yay!. However, when I started drinking more water I also started using those sugar free mix in flavorings for water, and that seems like a lot of artificial sweetener to me. Yeah, I know my diet soda addiction put tons of artificial sweetener in my bod too, but I want to get healthier in every aspect of my life if I am doing this surgery, but I digress, so now my goal is to not rely on the sugar free mix-in packets in the water all the time, I want to cut back. Personally, I think that is too much artificial sweetener in one day. So my next goal is to have maybe one 32 oz water bottle per day with a mix in flavor and one bottle per day with just plain ice water. That is my goal to accomplish over the next month or so. My final goal is going to be to cut further back on caffeine overall. I still have a cup of coffee (OK two cups) of coffee most mornings, and I work three 12 hour night shifts per week so I drink a coffee at the beginning of my shift and something with caffeine mid-way through my shift, whether it's coffee or a sugar free water flavoring with caffeine ( I was shocked to see how much caffeine the sugar free energy water flavorings have, way more than coffee or soda). I plan on cutting back to one cup of coffee in the mornings and one at the start of my shift when I work, and if I absolutely need some caffeine mid night shift I will have something, if not, great. I don't think I will entirely stop caffeine and my surgeon said a little is ok, so I'm sure I will keep having some, but I know I can cut way back on it as well as the mix-ins with the artificial sweetener.
That is all I have for now. I will write a new post as soon as I find out more about my surgery date.
Until next time!! :)
Friday, January 25, 2013
EEEK!! Dirty Girl
I just registered for the Dirty Girl Mud Run in August. I was chatting with a good friend of mine on facebook and we decided to bite the bullet and just do it, so we both signed up. The run is in mid-August so that should give me plenty of time to be prepared. This friend and I did our first 5K together a couple of years ago (obviously I have back slid with my weight gain and lack of exercise since then), I know we will keep one another motivated to get ready for it. 2013 is going to be MY year, a year of changes, a year of health, and I year where I can RUN!!
http://www.godirtygirl.com/
http://www.godirtygirl.com/
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Weigh in Thursday and Pulmonology appointment
I weighed in today and I was down another pound. I am happy with that. As I have said I will be happy with losing 1-2 pounds per week until I have surgery. I am going to be honest my food choices on some of the days last week were not the greatest. On a better note, I got my gym membership yesterday and I am planning on going today. It has been so long since I have done any exercise besides walking that I know I will need to take it slow in the beginning. I am going to go today to walk on the treadmill and do some of the weight machines for arms and legs. I asked whether or not they have a personal trainer in the gym and they do, so I will probably email him and get his thoughts on what I should do now until surgery and then I will probably pay for him to work with me after my surgery. I really want to stay on track and progress to running as I am hoping to do. Maybe even a 5K this summer??? Who knows.
I saw the pulmonologist earlier this week to have pulmonary function tests and discuss my home sleep study results. My pulmonary function tests were fine and he cleared me for surgery. His other concern was the home sleep study showed some mild sleep apnea and he thought I should possibly have a regular sleep study done. When I told him I had a sleep study done in 2004 and I was at the same weight and it showed I didn't need cpap, he said he would get the results and determine off of those results whether or not I needed to have another sleep study done. His office called back that same afternoon, they had already gotten the results and he said I was fine to not have a sleep study prior to surgery. I am happy about that!! He was a really nice doctor and he said he would let my surgeon know I was clear for surgery. Another thing checked off my list!! Happy Dance!! :)
My husband is going to get weight loss surgery too, but a new, better job prospect came up and if it is offered to him he is going to take it. In that case he would wait until next year to have his surgery, once he is at his job a year. We'll see how that all pans out.
I have been doing a lot of thinking about whether or not to see a therapist after having this gastric bypass and I've waffled as to whether I need to or not. It is tough for me to admit that maybe I will need help to deal with the rapid changes my body will be going through and what my new relationship to food will need to be. I have decided that I will talk to the psychiatrist about it when I see her next week, see what her opinion is and what she sees other patients doing. I have pretty much decided I would like the names of some therapists closer to home that I could work with after surgery. I do plan on attending the monthly support meetings at my hospital as well. I guess it won't hurt to go to therapy and in the end it will only be for the better. I guess I have always seen myself as a strong person who can handle things myself, but I really want this surgery and my new life/lifestyle after surgery to be successful and I will do whatever it takes.
So my weigh in today showed a loss of another pound for a total of 6.6 pounds down so far. My goal is to be at 240# when I go into surgery, so that means I have to lose another 18.6 pounds before then. I think that is totally doable, especially with the 2 week liquid diet pre-op.
I will update again after my appointment with the psychiatrist next week.
I saw the pulmonologist earlier this week to have pulmonary function tests and discuss my home sleep study results. My pulmonary function tests were fine and he cleared me for surgery. His other concern was the home sleep study showed some mild sleep apnea and he thought I should possibly have a regular sleep study done. When I told him I had a sleep study done in 2004 and I was at the same weight and it showed I didn't need cpap, he said he would get the results and determine off of those results whether or not I needed to have another sleep study done. His office called back that same afternoon, they had already gotten the results and he said I was fine to not have a sleep study prior to surgery. I am happy about that!! He was a really nice doctor and he said he would let my surgeon know I was clear for surgery. Another thing checked off my list!! Happy Dance!! :)
My husband is going to get weight loss surgery too, but a new, better job prospect came up and if it is offered to him he is going to take it. In that case he would wait until next year to have his surgery, once he is at his job a year. We'll see how that all pans out.
I have been doing a lot of thinking about whether or not to see a therapist after having this gastric bypass and I've waffled as to whether I need to or not. It is tough for me to admit that maybe I will need help to deal with the rapid changes my body will be going through and what my new relationship to food will need to be. I have decided that I will talk to the psychiatrist about it when I see her next week, see what her opinion is and what she sees other patients doing. I have pretty much decided I would like the names of some therapists closer to home that I could work with after surgery. I do plan on attending the monthly support meetings at my hospital as well. I guess it won't hurt to go to therapy and in the end it will only be for the better. I guess I have always seen myself as a strong person who can handle things myself, but I really want this surgery and my new life/lifestyle after surgery to be successful and I will do whatever it takes.
So my weigh in today showed a loss of another pound for a total of 6.6 pounds down so far. My goal is to be at 240# when I go into surgery, so that means I have to lose another 18.6 pounds before then. I think that is totally doable, especially with the 2 week liquid diet pre-op.
I will update again after my appointment with the psychiatrist next week.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Weigh in Thursday
I did my Thursday weigh in today. This is the weight I will be using on this blog to track my progress. The day of my surgery, when that comes about, the weight they get at the hospital will be used at my surgery starting weight but then I will track my progress from my home weigh ins.
So...today my weight was 259.6 which puts me at a 1.4# weight loss for the week a total loss of 5.6# so far. I am good with a weight loss of 1-2# per week from now until surgery.
Next week Tuesday morning I see the pulomonologist. I will have pulmonary function tests and a visit with him. I did a mini sleep study at home that involved putting something that looks like a nasal cannula for oxygen in my nose and a pulse ox monitor on my finger and it recorded if I was having any sleep apnea. Based on the results of that I needed to see the pulmonologist. It looked like I was right on the border of needed to see the pulmonologist based on the result sheet they sent me. I hope they don't want to do a big sleep study, I don't want to mess with that and then have to get a cpap machine. I know that sounds bad, but if I am going to be losing a bunch of weight soon and end up not needing the machine, which will more than likely happen, I don't really want to mess with the testing and the added expense. I know I woke up once during the home test and I had take the tubing out of my nose, I'm not sure how that effected the results, but anyway, I'll see what he has to say.
Until next time...
So...today my weight was 259.6 which puts me at a 1.4# weight loss for the week a total loss of 5.6# so far. I am good with a weight loss of 1-2# per week from now until surgery.
Next week Tuesday morning I see the pulomonologist. I will have pulmonary function tests and a visit with him. I did a mini sleep study at home that involved putting something that looks like a nasal cannula for oxygen in my nose and a pulse ox monitor on my finger and it recorded if I was having any sleep apnea. Based on the results of that I needed to see the pulmonologist. It looked like I was right on the border of needed to see the pulmonologist based on the result sheet they sent me. I hope they don't want to do a big sleep study, I don't want to mess with that and then have to get a cpap machine. I know that sounds bad, but if I am going to be losing a bunch of weight soon and end up not needing the machine, which will more than likely happen, I don't really want to mess with the testing and the added expense. I know I woke up once during the home test and I had take the tubing out of my nose, I'm not sure how that effected the results, but anyway, I'll see what he has to say.
Until next time...
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
First Insurance Weigh In
I had my first of three monthly weigh ins at my surgeon's office today. I am required by my insurance to follow a medically supervised diet and weigh in for three months before they approve surgery. Basically I go weigh in with the nurse, she talks to me about what I have been doing to lose weight, checks my vital signs, and goes over my meds and supplements, labwork, tests, and things that will be coming up. I will be on a strict liquid protein diet for 2 weeks before my surgery, I am dreading that already, not because I'm unwilling to do it but because I am afraid I won't be able to stick to it. Willpower isn't my strong suit. I did find out I don't have to do a bowel prep the night before surgery. I am doing a happy dance about that. That is one of the benefits of having to do the liquid diet 2 weeks ahead of time, there isn't much left in there to have to clean out.
According to the doctors scale I was down almost 5# from my initial weigh in with them. That sounds pretty close to the loss I have been seeing, I was down a little over 4# when I weighed in at home last Thursday. The nurse was pleased with my loss and she handed me this big wad of rubbery stuff that is supposed to look like body fat and it weighed 5#. I couldn't even believe it! 5# doesn't seem like much to lose until I picked up that blob of fat and realized I wasn't carrying that around on my body anymore. It was quite enlightening. I am just going to document my Thursday home weigh ins in my blog, there are just too many numbers floating around out there for me to keep straight, and I will be better able to keep a handle on it if I concentrate on the numbers I am seeing.
My diet right now has just been focusing on reducing calories and that is fine for now, but I want to work on increasing my protein and cutting way back on carbs. That will be coming soon. The nurse also recommended that I start trying various protein shakes to see what I like for when I have to be on them for 2 weeks. I don't want to stock up like crazy because, I have read on forums, and seen on videos on you tube that many times tastes change after surgery and just because I like a particular protein shake or drink now, I may not be able to stand it after surgery.
Sometimes it feels like my head is swimming with all of this information and keeping appointments straight and all of the other requirements, along with feeling nervous for the surgery itself. I know I have made the right decision and I am not questioning that decision at all but having surgery, any type of surgery, I don't care what it is still makes me nervous. Sometimes I don't like being a nurse, I have seen and heard too much about things that can go wrong. I am sure everything will be fine, but I think everyone has those little fears in the back of their mind. I am still avoiding telling most people about the surgery and for now that is fine, I don't feel like justifying my choice to do this to anyone right now. I have heard everything from don't you just want to watch what you eat and exercise more, to having to listen to horror stories about surgeries gone bad, to comments along the lines of, well if you do this you need to change the way you eat forever. My response to that is...staying obese will cause me to have to change the way I eat forever, too, when I develop diabetes.
I have also decided I am going to have the surgeon take out my gallbladder while he's in there. If there is a 3 cm stone in there it is only a matter of time until it causes problems and more stones are highly likely to develop when I am losing weight rapidly. Better to just do it at the time of surgery rather than have to go back in for another surgery.
Anyway...whew...that was alot.
I will post my weight on Thursday after I weigh in.
Until next time.
According to the doctors scale I was down almost 5# from my initial weigh in with them. That sounds pretty close to the loss I have been seeing, I was down a little over 4# when I weighed in at home last Thursday. The nurse was pleased with my loss and she handed me this big wad of rubbery stuff that is supposed to look like body fat and it weighed 5#. I couldn't even believe it! 5# doesn't seem like much to lose until I picked up that blob of fat and realized I wasn't carrying that around on my body anymore. It was quite enlightening. I am just going to document my Thursday home weigh ins in my blog, there are just too many numbers floating around out there for me to keep straight, and I will be better able to keep a handle on it if I concentrate on the numbers I am seeing.
My diet right now has just been focusing on reducing calories and that is fine for now, but I want to work on increasing my protein and cutting way back on carbs. That will be coming soon. The nurse also recommended that I start trying various protein shakes to see what I like for when I have to be on them for 2 weeks. I don't want to stock up like crazy because, I have read on forums, and seen on videos on you tube that many times tastes change after surgery and just because I like a particular protein shake or drink now, I may not be able to stand it after surgery.
Sometimes it feels like my head is swimming with all of this information and keeping appointments straight and all of the other requirements, along with feeling nervous for the surgery itself. I know I have made the right decision and I am not questioning that decision at all but having surgery, any type of surgery, I don't care what it is still makes me nervous. Sometimes I don't like being a nurse, I have seen and heard too much about things that can go wrong. I am sure everything will be fine, but I think everyone has those little fears in the back of their mind. I am still avoiding telling most people about the surgery and for now that is fine, I don't feel like justifying my choice to do this to anyone right now. I have heard everything from don't you just want to watch what you eat and exercise more, to having to listen to horror stories about surgeries gone bad, to comments along the lines of, well if you do this you need to change the way you eat forever. My response to that is...staying obese will cause me to have to change the way I eat forever, too, when I develop diabetes.
I have also decided I am going to have the surgeon take out my gallbladder while he's in there. If there is a 3 cm stone in there it is only a matter of time until it causes problems and more stones are highly likely to develop when I am losing weight rapidly. Better to just do it at the time of surgery rather than have to go back in for another surgery.
Anyway...whew...that was alot.
I will post my weight on Thursday after I weigh in.
Until next time.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Gallstone
My surgeon's office let me know that my gallbladder ultrasound showed a 3 cm stone. The nurse said that was a rather large stone and she was wondering if I had been having any pain or feeling sick related to it. Honestly, it hasn't been that bad, I can remember maybe 2 or 3 nights in the last 6 months or so where I had pain and felt sick for the evening after eating a greasier meal. I never ended up in the ER or even at my doctor's office, just felt miserable for the night and the next day it was better. I asked if most people with stones had their gallbladders out while the surgeon was in there anyway, it makes sense to do it. I am leaning towards having him take it out. Odds are I am going to develop more stones as I lose weight and there will have to be another surgery to take the gallbladder out, it's highly likely, so why not just yank it while you're in there doc!! I haven't heard back from the nurse as to whether or not the surgeon would agree to do it or not. Hopefully they will just take it out. I am already going to be off work for the gastric bypass, I'd hate to have to take off again a year or so later for gallbladder surgery.
Tomorrow is the first of my three monthly weigh ins at the surgeon's office as part of the medically supervised diet required by my insurance. I hope their scale will show the 4 pound loss my scale showed last Thursday when I weighed in (or more) :)
I am going to go get a gym membership next week and start working out there now, before I even have the surgery. I know there will be a time post-op that I will have to take it easy but if I work on getting in better shape now maybe my recovery will be faster. They just moved the Snap fitness in our town to a strip mall that is literally within walking distance of my house. I've gone there before when they were in their old building and I really liked it. I hope to be able to afford a personal trainer after I recover from my surgery even if I only see the trainer twice a month I think it will help keep me on track and give me a more solid plan to follow. I guess I will need to wait and see how that pans out.
I will post tomorrow how my weigh in goes at the surgeon's office.
Tomorrow is the first of my three monthly weigh ins at the surgeon's office as part of the medically supervised diet required by my insurance. I hope their scale will show the 4 pound loss my scale showed last Thursday when I weighed in (or more) :)
I am going to go get a gym membership next week and start working out there now, before I even have the surgery. I know there will be a time post-op that I will have to take it easy but if I work on getting in better shape now maybe my recovery will be faster. They just moved the Snap fitness in our town to a strip mall that is literally within walking distance of my house. I've gone there before when they were in their old building and I really liked it. I hope to be able to afford a personal trainer after I recover from my surgery even if I only see the trainer twice a month I think it will help keep me on track and give me a more solid plan to follow. I guess I will need to wait and see how that pans out.
I will post tomorrow how my weigh in goes at the surgeon's office.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Gallbladder Ultrasound and Weigh In
Today I went to the hospital for my gallbladder ultrasound, I wasn't sure what to expect but it really wasn't a big deal. I had to have a non-fat supper last night and nothing to eat or drink after midnight, kind of like what you do to have fasting labwork except for the non-fat supper. I cheated and had a couple ounces of baked chicken breast for supper last night but everything else was non-fat. The ultrasound itself was no big deal, it was alot like getting a prenatal ultrasound, minus the baby...ha! I had to take a breath and hold it quite a number of times because that draws the diaphragm up and brings the organs out so she can scan them. She looked at my liver, gallbladder and the vessels and ducts around them. All in all I think it took like 20-25 minutes. Not bad at all.
Thursdays are going to be my weekly weigh in days, so even though I just started dieting on Sunday I wanted to get into the pattern of Thursday weigh ins. So here we go...On Sunday I was 265.2 and today I weighed an even 261, so I lost a total of 4.2 pounds. Not too bad. I know the weight comes off easily the first couple of weeks and I fully expect things to slow way down after that, that is my usual pattern, but my goal is to get down to 240 pounds before surgery. That mean before my surgery in April I would like to lose another 21 pounds. I think I can do it!
One other thing I was thinking about, and I'm not sure about this yet. I was kind of thinking of saying "good-bye" to some favorite eating establishments. I know gastric bypass will bring about a life change that will be something I follow for the rest of my life, and I know eventually I will learn to eat out again and make healthy choices, but I'd kind of like to pick one place per week and have lunch one last time. I don't mean I want to go gorge myself at a buffet or order 2 large value meals somewhere, just a nice simple lunch having some of my favorites. I know that probably sounds like I have some unresolved food issues I need to deal with but really it is just something I want to do for some closure. I thinking going somewhere to eat one last time knowing I may never be able to eat the greasy burger or Chinese buffet again and saying goodbye might be a ritual that will help me. I don't intend to gorge myself and gain weight before surgery, like it's a last ditch feeding frenzy, but one lunch per week while still working on losing weight seems like the ticket for me. I can mentally prepare myself knowing that that lunch will be the last one of that type forever and I can savor each bite. I am not trying to say I will never be able to eat out again, I know I can eventually, after the surgery, just not the way I am used to.
Next week I have my first weigh in at my surgeon's office, other than that nothing major. I have an appointment with the pulmonologist the following week and the psychiatrist the last week of January. I am really checking things off my list!!
Until next time!!
Thursdays are going to be my weekly weigh in days, so even though I just started dieting on Sunday I wanted to get into the pattern of Thursday weigh ins. So here we go...On Sunday I was 265.2 and today I weighed an even 261, so I lost a total of 4.2 pounds. Not too bad. I know the weight comes off easily the first couple of weeks and I fully expect things to slow way down after that, that is my usual pattern, but my goal is to get down to 240 pounds before surgery. That mean before my surgery in April I would like to lose another 21 pounds. I think I can do it!
One other thing I was thinking about, and I'm not sure about this yet. I was kind of thinking of saying "good-bye" to some favorite eating establishments. I know gastric bypass will bring about a life change that will be something I follow for the rest of my life, and I know eventually I will learn to eat out again and make healthy choices, but I'd kind of like to pick one place per week and have lunch one last time. I don't mean I want to go gorge myself at a buffet or order 2 large value meals somewhere, just a nice simple lunch having some of my favorites. I know that probably sounds like I have some unresolved food issues I need to deal with but really it is just something I want to do for some closure. I thinking going somewhere to eat one last time knowing I may never be able to eat the greasy burger or Chinese buffet again and saying goodbye might be a ritual that will help me. I don't intend to gorge myself and gain weight before surgery, like it's a last ditch feeding frenzy, but one lunch per week while still working on losing weight seems like the ticket for me. I can mentally prepare myself knowing that that lunch will be the last one of that type forever and I can savor each bite. I am not trying to say I will never be able to eat out again, I know I can eventually, after the surgery, just not the way I am used to.
Next week I have my first weigh in at my surgeon's office, other than that nothing major. I have an appointment with the pulmonologist the following week and the psychiatrist the last week of January. I am really checking things off my list!!
Until next time!!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
First weigh in...
...and it ain't purdy!!
Today I am starting my diet. I am hoping to lose about 25 pounds prior to having gastric bypass. I stepped on the new scale I bought yesterday AND...265.2. I am so disappointed and ashamed, I can't believe I let it get this bad! BUT, I need to put my head up and realize this is the starting point, the starting gun is about to go off and I need to lace up my running shoes and get prepared for one of the biggest races of my life, the race to better health. I am scared and excited and really, really ready to do this.
Despite my excitement about this new lifestyle and my journey toward health, I am feeling like quite the bitch today, yes I am being bitchy, no doubt about that. I am snapping at my family and just feel crabby. I started cutting back on my caffeine last week and I think that might be part of it, or maybe subconsciously I know I am saying goodbye to my old friend food and the relationship I used to have with it. I had a killer headache yesterday from caffeine withdrawal so I did have some diet coke yesterday, so far today no caffeine and no headache so that's good. I have to nap this afternoon because I work a 12 hour night shift tonight and I will have some caffeine tonight to make it through the night. I hate working night shift!
I just want to say a quick bit about green smoothies. If you have never had one you have to try one!! I made one for breakfast this morning and it had oranges, peaches, kiwi, banana, coconut milk, and spinach. It is really good and you can't even taste the spinach. Even my kids will drink it. It looks terrible but tastes good!! I know I can't have all that fruit after surgery but for now I will use it to boost my health and lose some weight.
Officially my weight ins are going to be Thursday mornings but I wanted this starting weight and my measurements to be documented. I will be weighing in again on Thursday.
OK ...off to sleep I go!
Today I am starting my diet. I am hoping to lose about 25 pounds prior to having gastric bypass. I stepped on the new scale I bought yesterday AND...265.2. I am so disappointed and ashamed, I can't believe I let it get this bad! BUT, I need to put my head up and realize this is the starting point, the starting gun is about to go off and I need to lace up my running shoes and get prepared for one of the biggest races of my life, the race to better health. I am scared and excited and really, really ready to do this.
Despite my excitement about this new lifestyle and my journey toward health, I am feeling like quite the bitch today, yes I am being bitchy, no doubt about that. I am snapping at my family and just feel crabby. I started cutting back on my caffeine last week and I think that might be part of it, or maybe subconsciously I know I am saying goodbye to my old friend food and the relationship I used to have with it. I had a killer headache yesterday from caffeine withdrawal so I did have some diet coke yesterday, so far today no caffeine and no headache so that's good. I have to nap this afternoon because I work a 12 hour night shift tonight and I will have some caffeine tonight to make it through the night. I hate working night shift!
I just want to say a quick bit about green smoothies. If you have never had one you have to try one!! I made one for breakfast this morning and it had oranges, peaches, kiwi, banana, coconut milk, and spinach. It is really good and you can't even taste the spinach. Even my kids will drink it. It looks terrible but tastes good!! I know I can't have all that fruit after surgery but for now I will use it to boost my health and lose some weight.
Officially my weight ins are going to be Thursday mornings but I wanted this starting weight and my measurements to be documented. I will be weighing in again on Thursday.
OK ...off to sleep I go!
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Is it because I'm a vampire???
Or I keep the hours of a vampire anyway...
I got a call a few days ago from my surgeon's office that one of the results from my labs showed that my vitamin D level was low and and I needed to start taking 5000 iu of vitamin D daily for one month and then go down to 2000 iu for the next month. I rarely see the light of day, seriously. I work night shift and sleep during the day, Wisconsin in the winter is gloomy more than it is sunny. It is dark when I drive to work, and the sun, if it is going to be a sunny day, is barely making an appearance on my drive home from work in the morning, then I sleep during the few daylight hours we have. I could get some sun on my days off but it's snowy and cold and not generally nice to be outside. January in Wisconsin sucks!!! Wow that does sound depressing, it really isn't THAT bad and it's nice to have 4 seasons here, I just wish winter didn't last so long.
My other lab work for the most part was fine, my HDL was a little low but that should improve as I start exercising more.
Tomorrow I am going to start my diet in hopes to take off some weight before surgery. I double checked with my surgeon's nurse and she assured me that the insurance company wouldn't deny me having the surgery if I lose weight pre-op. Basically they look at my weight history and the initial weight logged when I first met with the surgeon. I will post tomorrow with the weight and my eating plans for the day. I bought a new scale that not only does weight but also body fat percentage and BMI.
I have slowly been buying some supplies for after the surgery. Tiny little bowls and plates, little ramekins and all sorts of measuring devices. I was at the dollar store and bought baby spoons and a sippie cup today...no lie!! I will do a post some time in the future with everything I have purchased for use after I have my gastric bypass. I have been reading many forums, blogs, and also watching you tube videos to gather information. There is a wealth of information out there, search it out if you have the time and inclination.
This week Thursday I have my gallbladder ultrasound, that should be interesting. I have never had problems with my gallbladder so I hope everything is fine.
Until tomorrow, when I post my dreaded weight!! :(
I got a call a few days ago from my surgeon's office that one of the results from my labs showed that my vitamin D level was low and and I needed to start taking 5000 iu of vitamin D daily for one month and then go down to 2000 iu for the next month. I rarely see the light of day, seriously. I work night shift and sleep during the day, Wisconsin in the winter is gloomy more than it is sunny. It is dark when I drive to work, and the sun, if it is going to be a sunny day, is barely making an appearance on my drive home from work in the morning, then I sleep during the few daylight hours we have. I could get some sun on my days off but it's snowy and cold and not generally nice to be outside. January in Wisconsin sucks!!! Wow that does sound depressing, it really isn't THAT bad and it's nice to have 4 seasons here, I just wish winter didn't last so long.
My other lab work for the most part was fine, my HDL was a little low but that should improve as I start exercising more.
Tomorrow I am going to start my diet in hopes to take off some weight before surgery. I double checked with my surgeon's nurse and she assured me that the insurance company wouldn't deny me having the surgery if I lose weight pre-op. Basically they look at my weight history and the initial weight logged when I first met with the surgeon. I will post tomorrow with the weight and my eating plans for the day. I bought a new scale that not only does weight but also body fat percentage and BMI.
I have slowly been buying some supplies for after the surgery. Tiny little bowls and plates, little ramekins and all sorts of measuring devices. I was at the dollar store and bought baby spoons and a sippie cup today...no lie!! I will do a post some time in the future with everything I have purchased for use after I have my gastric bypass. I have been reading many forums, blogs, and also watching you tube videos to gather information. There is a wealth of information out there, search it out if you have the time and inclination.
This week Thursday I have my gallbladder ultrasound, that should be interesting. I have never had problems with my gallbladder so I hope everything is fine.
Until tomorrow, when I post my dreaded weight!! :(
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