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!! :)
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