A Better Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving for my extended family at our house for the second year in a row and it was a great success. I really like hosting Thanksgiving. If the fam doesn't object, we might have to claim this holiday as 'ours'.

Getting ready for this big of a production sucks up about a week's worth of time getting the house and food ready. And we've always really enjoyed doing that kind of thing. But this year for me it just seemed easier. All of the shopping, planning, doing, cleaning, organizing, decorating. It was just less of a big deal.

And that surprised me some...because I never thought it was a big deal before. I've always liked throwing parties and such. But I never realized how much it truly wore me out.

Thanksgiving 2012 

 

I was sick the week leading up to turkey day and struggled to get things done in a timely manner. But when I asked the hubs if it seemed different he said yes. That even though I was sick, I was less stressed and got more done in less time. He noticed it before I even said anything. 

 

He's been noticing for some time now.  

 

Thanksgiving 2013

(the only full shot of me I could find was in front of a crap-ton of food)

I attribute this to several things. The weight loss and increase of physical stamina. And most notably...better sleep and a major decrease in blood sugar struggles. These three things have been my magic elixir for vitality.

Vitality that I never really realized I was missing.

And how did I fair with the turkey day food? Quite well. I had a little pile of turkey and some green bean casserole, which I had decided ahead of time would be my meal. Later I had a piece of pumpkin pie and even later, some wine. The next day I reheated one of Mamaw's amazing dressing patties and had some cranberry salad.

The rest of the food I didn't have and didn't really care. I knew what I really liked the most and wanted and that's what I went for.

And after all that prep and work and illness and antibiotics, I still had the energy to spend all day Friday antique shopping with the family, and partying until the wee hours with my oldest friends on Friday night. I didn't feel wiped out or fatigued.

And it Thanksgiving was so much better that way.

8 Month Progress Pics

Wednesday marked 8 months post surgery, and I'm feeling great. Well minus the pink eye that's been going around my house.

March 2013- pre-surgery

November 2013- 8 months post surgery. Down 77lbs. 

The C-Pap, My Secret Weapon

Nowadays I often get the question of how I feel....do you feel fabulous? do you feel so much better? The truth is that I do, but I think the weight loss is only part of that. The weight loss is great, the change in insulin response is amazing, and the difference made by my sleep changes is downright mind-blowing. 

Let me start by saying that I've always been a bad sleeper. When I was young, I was a sleepwalker. My parents would find me doing all kinds of strange things in the night, including once giving the dog a bath. In continued into college and my college roommates have a couple of good stories too.

Eventually that calmed down, but I was still just a crappy sleeper. After babies I just hardly slept at all, even when they would sleep for 12 hours. I took every over the counter sleep med (but was always afraid of things like Ambien) and eventually resigned myself to the idea that I was forever sleep cursed. And life went on.

When I was getting ready for bariatric surgery, I was required to do a sleep study because I snored. It's a very common pre-requisite to surgery.  I did not really want to do it and did not really think it would yield much information.

Boy was I wrong. 

The study showed that not only did I have obstructive sleep apnea, but an acute case of it. Given my age and weight at the time, the sleep doc said he was 'very concerned' for my future health. He said that if I left things alone, I might suffer from an apnea-related stroke 10 years from now.

The readings from the study said that on average, I stopped breathing 24 times per hour. Also my oxygen intake was hanging out at around 70% for the entire time I was in deep sleep. I never truly fell into REM sleep. Ever.

So about a year ago, I met my new bestest friend....my C-pap machine.

All this guy basically does is force air down my wind pipe while I'm sleeping, with quite a notable amount of pressure. Like a blow dryer up my nose (minus the heat of course).

The sleep doc (and my Dad who also has one of these) told me how awesome the difference would be, but I'm not sure I really grasped it until months later.

I've hesitated writing this post because I was afraid I couldn't quite vocalize the awesome difference that this machine has made for me. It is like God has given me the most amazing gift and a light switch has been flipped in my brain. My body is different, my brain is different, my personality is different, my goals are different. I woke up.

And all of this happen before I ever had bariatric surgery. It happened when I got my machine.

Now, my understanding from the sleep doc is that weight does not cause sleep apnea, it just greatly exaggerates it. He made that point very clear. He said I may eventually be able to sleep without the machine someday, and I may not.

And sometimes when I tell people that I get a bit of sympathy from them, like they are sorry that I have to put on an elephant mask every night. That's when I know that they have never experienced that level of supreme physical and mental fatigue that I have. I would do anything, wear anything, take anything I needed to to feel this good.

Sleep, real deep sleep....the most magical medicine of all, has been evading me my whole life. And now I feel blessed, beyond measure, for this silly looking blow dryer up my nose.

My life has changed.

Las Vegas Freedom

Last weekend the hubs and I went on a four day trip to Vegas to catch up with some old friends who were there to renew their wedding vows with Elvis. It was a great weekend. We saw a show, gambled a little bit, laughed our butts off at the Elvis wedding chapel, reconnected with our old friends, drank and ATE.


And I have to say that the eating part was more enjoyable than I even imagined. This is the first time in a long time that I've gone out on this kind of a trip without a list of food restrictions, without blood sugar swings, without guilt about being so fat and without fear of gaining weight.

I just ate my portion of what I enjoyed, and enjoyed it.

It was a freeing feeling, one I haven't felt in a very very long time. When temptation came I didn't hold back. One day I had 8oz of truffle fries for lunch. One day I ate two macaroons from the Thomas Kellar bakery. I had wine. I had honey roasted peanuts. I had a pineapple ginger mojito. I had a biscuit with gravy.

And it was all great, and it was all very appropriately portioned and I came home down one pound.

My dieticians would say to proceed with that kind of eating with caution of course, because I will slow down my weight loss....but this was vacation right? And like most people on vacation I threw caution to the wind because I COULD and I WANTED to.

And the guilt is gone.

Bad Pictures Made Better

Do you ever randomly run across a really really bad picture of yourself that shocks you? I did yesterday. If this were real life and not the internet, I would tell you to brace yourself and then do a slow reveal so you could gasp outloud. Ready?.....

*GASP* 

Bad outfit, butchy haircut, bad lighting and oh yeah...a lot of extra weight. This is me at a Christmas event in 2010. I had a 3 year old and almost 2 year old at home. This was before my robo-foot ever existed, before I realized I had an acute case of sleep apnea that was keeping  me perpetually tired, before I had ever considered weight loss surgery. And before I ever realized that there would be a solution that offered me permanent hope for the future.

 

And this was me yesterday, down 69 lbs. Not skinny, no...but with much better overall health. Proof that not every bad picture has to stay that way.

6 Month Progress Pic

Jeremy took my picture on our video camera (because our actual camera remains very broken) and it turned out a little out of focus.

Rather than try again...what's better for improving crappy photo quality than an old timey filter? That's what made Instagram famous right?

 So enjoy, my retro lookin' 6 month picture.

After- October 2013 (6 months post op), 69 lbs lost

Before- March 2013

Aside From Weight- Some Other Changes

I realize that I haven't kept up with this blog they way that I had originally intended to, but I figure that's okay. The fact that I'm spending less time sitting at my computer is a good thing right?

I am currently at 6.5 months post-surgery and teetering right on 70lbs lost. Aside from looking better, I'm feeling more different all the time. I still attribute a large portion of my extra energy to my C-pap machine, which I promise to write about soon.

But aside from a smaller waist band, other things have happened to my body, like...

-- Breakouts on my skin have improved.

--I get tired much less easily. Again, I attribute a lot of this to my amazing c-pap machine. Aka, Mommy's best friend. 

--My long time battle with blood sugar swings seems to be mostly controlled. I suffer from very little low blood sugar feelings like I used to. 

--According to my dentist my gums are healthier, which I attribute to the lack of diet coke. 

--My menstrual cycles have been a little strange lately which lead me to go see my doc. She said that's a pretty normal thing for bariatric patients due to major hormonal shifts. Nothing that some bc pills can't regulate. 

--My back is vastly improved. I have an old back injury that I kind of thought would always be there. Maybe it will but carrying less weight has made a HUGE difference. And every time I see my chiro (every other week) he showers me with praise regarding how much I've helped my body. 

--Surprisingly, I'm even noticing better bladder control which is something I've had trouble with since my second child was born...the 10 pounder. I even had my bladder tested a couple of years ago, which was one of the crazier experiences of my adult life. I didn't realize that the weight was adding so much extra pressure.

--My hair is a little thinner, but nothing too crazy. Thankfully it was thick to begin with. The stranger thing is that it is laying straight more easily than it has in years, instead of being frizzy and curly mess. 

--I have hardly any swelling with my robo-foot. I don't whether to attribute that to the passage of time since foot surgery or less weight pressure on the hardware. Probably both! 

I wouldn't say that I'm the perfect picture of health, but I am much much closer to it than I was a year ago right now. And that makes everything I've gone through so so worth it.

Giving up the Bubbly

In addition to being six months post-surgery, I am also celebrating about 7 months soda free. There should be a support group for that kind of thing huh?

Hi my name is Laura and I'm addicted to Diet Coke. It's been 7 months since my last drink. 

Honestly, if I didn't HAVE to give it up I probably never would have. I tried in vain to quit many times. I would even quit for more than a month's time and go back to it. Even when I was under dietician care and they told me you MUST give it up, I didn't. Not until it was time for the pre-surgery detox diet and I had to.

It's liquid crack. 

The reason I can't have it now is simply because of carbonation. Carbonation is no longer my friend because it can cause my new stomach to expand. And after going through all of this, I simply don't want that to happen. So I don't ever eat more than my allotted volume (8oz) and I never drink the bubbly. One of the dieticians told me once that putting soda into your stomach is putting air into a balloon. And that visual scared me straight.

Luckily I've always been a fan of iced tea so I switched to these puppies for my portable cold caffeine beverage of choice.

This unsweetened iced tea is usually all the caffeine I consume in one day, with the occasional exception of a cup of coffee. I've never been as much of a huge coffee nut as my husband so if you see me going for a cup on a normal day...that's when you know that the tired has really hit the fan.

I do miss my old friend Diet Coke on rare occasion. At a local firehouse chicken dinner in the 100 degree heat, I literally salivated at my family drinking ice cold Dr. Pepper. But I lived. And when I see those occasional articles pass by on Facebook about how diet soda is bad for your kidneys, your teeth, you blood sugar or that aspartame will give you every cancer known to man...I'm a little bit glad to be forced away from it.

I'll miss you my old bubbly friend. We've been through so much together. But all bad things must eventually come to an end. I won't forget you.

6 Month Selfie

I'm coming up on the six month post surgery mark and am down around 65 lbs. I'm feeling good and rocking my first pair of non plus-sized jeans in a LONG time.

 Recently I went out painting with my old friend Erin. She's known me since 4th grade so she's seen me at EVERY size...pre-pubsecent to pregnant to plump. In that order, probably. Anyway we had been conversing all night through dinner and our art class and she finally blurted it out...you know I've been looking at you all night but I just now noticed you have a LOT LESS face! That made me laugh. Yes I do think I have considerably less face.

Dec. 2012

Sept. 2013

Also a little less hair, which can be a common bariatric side affect due to the striking cut in calories. But honestly my hair was so thick and curly that it doesn't bother me much. Plus my hair dresser gave me some biotin supplements to help keep it healthy and they seem to help. My dietician is also going to tell me to up my protein intake when I go in for the six month appointment, I'm calling it now. More protein, better hair!

Aside from hair I'm happy to have less of everything. Less face, less butt, less everything.

5 Months Progress Pic

 5 Months- 60lbs

Answering Some Questions

I haven't blogged about my surgery for a while and figured it would be a good time to come here and answer some of the common questions I have been getting since I went 'public' back in March.

I'm open to questions and don't usually mind them...I know it's a curious thing to some people. I figured all along that losing 60lbs in 4 months would gather attention from the people around me, whether I wanted it or not. I think anyone who thinks they can be secretive about bariatric surgery are operating under a delusion. People will notice when you only eat 6 oz of food at a sitting. And they'll notice when look significantly different from when they saw you last month. And they'll want to know what the heck you've been doing.

So questions are okay. Information is good! The only question I ever had that I found a bit unsavory was....are you sure you're fat enough to have this kind of surgery?

Yes I was fat enough. And I'm sure.

Anyway, to the FAQ's:

Do you get hungry?- Yes I do. I get hungry often enough that I usually snack between meals. My stomach growls and to me it feels the same. The difference is that it takes very little food to fill it.

Do you digest food normally?- Because I had gastric sleeve and not gastric bypass, yes my food is digested just exactly like yours. The difference is that my stomach is much much smaller. Bypass patients are a little difference because doctors remove the pylorus which does in fact change the way they digest and absorb.

Was it painful? It is a major surgery so yes, there were some painful days right after surgery, but I got through them. For a couple of weeks I would have painful gas and cramps when I ate but that did not last very long. Since then it has not been painful at all. 

What can you eat?- At this point I can eat anything except steak and bread, both of which I am able to have at the one-year mark. I was on a restrictive diet for a while afterward but that has passed. Because my pylorus is still in tact, I do not have 'dumping syndrome' that bypass patients sometimes do...so high fat and sugar foods don't make me sick. That being said, they do of course slow down weight loss.

Can you drink alcohol?- I can and I do and yes I am a super cheap date now. Because some of the stomach enzymes needed to break down alchohol were removed, it goes into your blood stream in a more pure form. Meaning one glass of wine is all I'll ever need to have a happy evening.

Is your procedure permanent?- Yes, very much so. 2/3 of my stomach was removed, incinerated and will never be heard from again.

Will you have trouble staying healthy?- If I keep up on my vitamin supplements and protein, I will be just as normal as anyone if not healthier.

Do you feel different?-Yes. The weight loss is one thing of course, but I feel ample amounts of energy compared to a year ago right now. I know a LOT of that has to do with having better control over my blood sugar, which is one of the main reasons I wanted to do this. It was something I was struggling with every day, as well as the affects of having sleep apnea. Being well rested and having a balanced blood sugar level is a game changer for me, regardless of how much weight I've lost. I could never and would never have gotten to this level of health on my own.

Why did you choose surgery over some other method of weight loss?- Well, obviously it's not the right choice for everyone. But as I said in my last answer...I was caught in a vicious cycle of blood sugar swings and low energy due to other health problems related to weight (what the bariatric peeps call 'co-morbidity factors') and those were the main reason I chose to go this route. I told my husband long ago that regardless of how much weight I lost, I would choose to have this procedure done anyway just to get control on those two things.

There is also something very liberating about knowing I don't have to rely only on my own self-will for weight loss. I have admitted to the world that I didn't have the self-will, by asking my surgeon to force it upon me and it's like a great weight has been lifted (no pun intended) and I can better focus on just eating what's good and healthy. I don't have to worry that I'll eat too much, because I won't.

Those were the key factors in my decision making: forced self-will, blood sugar and hunger control, and a major change in other medical conditions. I would never have found those things anywhere else, and I desperately needed them.

Do you still crave things? Yes. I'm still human of course. Lately I have been craving sweets which is kind of new to me cause I've never had a huge sweet tooth. I keep thinking about things like birthday cake, pumpkin pie and cheesecake. I wonder if some part of my brain is subconsciously trying to get me to consume more calories and carbs! To curb the craving, we hit up the local frozen yogurt place yesterday and got about 4 oz of red velvet yogurt to the tune of 150ish calories. It was goo-oood.

Can you stretch out your stomach back to normal size and gain weight back? From what I've read it is easier to do this after gastric bypass surgery than it is with gastric sleeve. That's not to say it's impossible. I will have to watch the volume of my portion (currently 6-8oz) for the rest of  my life, but at this point that has become like second nature. A few times I have eaten too much and it is both painful and nauseating. When I feel full, I should always stop right then no matter how good it is. Eating enough volume to permanently stretch out the stomach pouch seems to me like it would be a painful process, and I'm hoping that I would never put myself in that position.

Do you ever regret it? No yet, no. Not at all.

Roid Rage

I haven't posted  much lately because there hasn't been much to post. I've been taking steroids for two weeks now due to a poison ivy outbreak and well....haven't lost a pound. I have to remind myself that weight gain is the main reason the athletes and muscleheads take steroids to begin with and that I shouldn't beat myself up. I haven't gained any. I just haven't lost any.

To top it off, it turns out that I am allergic to the steroid I was taking which made my poison ivy hives and reaction much much worse than it needed to be.

I feel fat and crappy. Well, at least that's not a new sensation to me. It's a category that I'm quite familiar with.

Today I stopped taking it all together and started a heavy regiment of Benadryl which prompts me to ask...where am I? ..what time is it?....huh?

Here's hoping I have happier healthier news to report in the next week or so. In the meantime, I just need to make sure my pity party doesn't include too much junk food.

Monkey Off My Chest

This is how much I've lost since March. Exactly one six year old Tessa.

Now you see it...

Now you see it, but in the form of a monkey girl.... 

Once I past 50lbs, I've started to notice my posture and stance is changing, maybe even the way I walk. I'm sure that the chiropractor will say that's a very good thing, but it also makes me feel kind of physically disoriented sometimes. I'm assuming that's because it's happened so fast that I haven't adjusted. Either way, my back feels much better than it used to!

Vacation, aka "I Can Eat Anything Syndrome"

Last week and the week before we were on vacation. Two seperate road trips, to be exact. One lasting about 17 hours each way, and one only 3.5 hours each way. No matter how it adds up that was a lot of time in the car, a lot of snacking, and a lot of fast food.

The good thing is that I'm far enough out from surgery that I can pretty much eat anything.

The bad thing is that I can pretty much eat anything. Like...

Yes I had chips. And ice cream. And chicken nuggets. But the solace that I find is that it was all in very small amounts. It took me three separate snack attacks to finish this big-grab sized bag of chips. And when I got chicken nuggets, it was only a four piece order. High fat food, but small amounts.

I actually found chicken nuggets to be a good source of road-protein when my options were limited. Which was partially due to a leaky cooler that soaked all of my cheese. Squishy wet cheese, bleck.

But life happens right? I think that's the point. Life will continue to happen and I will be equipped with my own inner portion control and at the same time able to enjoy treats.

Now, many patients who have had bypass are not able to eat a lot of high fat foods and experience what is called 'dumping syndrome.' Thankfully, that is not common in sleeve patients. And thankfully even despite my road food adventures, I have yet to experience dumping.

What it WILL do of course is slow down my weight loss. In two week I only lost about 3 lbs, and honestly had I been home and on a normal diet it would have been more. But I'm happy with that. I didn't gain anything. Today I am holding at 52 lbs lost.

Oh and I shouldn't forget the nightly glass of wine in Colorado and lime-aritas at the lake. They may have added to my calorie count as well. But vacation is over and in my mind it was welllllll worth it.

12 Weeks Progress Picture

 March 2013

June 2013 (12 weeks post op)

48 pounds gone. I was REALLY wanting to say 50lb by the time I hit 12 weeks. Oh well, still obviously very happy. I should stop raining on my own parade huh?...hey, it's a lifelong struggle. 

We are getting ready to go on a 16 hour road trip and I have all my vitamins and some protein shakes. Now that I can eat all normal food (except steak and squishy bread), I'll need to watch myself on the road. More apples and less gas station pringles. Okay there may be a FEW pringles involved. 

I won't weigh myself for over 10 days which will be kind of nice actually, being that I currently do it twice a day. I can just focus on eating well and having a good time...and here's hoping that I like the scale reading on the flip side.

Regiment

In the time since surgery, I've been going through phases with my vitamins. For a while I was very regimented and after some time had past I became less so.

Since I am getting very little nutrition from food, my dietician at the bariatric center really enforces vitamins vitamins vitamins. Oh and protein. Protein is your friend.

So it's not good for me to slip.

It's a poor excuse but I think part of it was having so many bottles to deal with and many of them cannot be taken together so I have to remember when is okay. I wrote on the top of the bottles which helps some, but I also invested in one of these bad boys...

What you see here is my daily regiment:
breakfast- a multi vitamin, vitamin D, and a sublingual (aka under the tongue) B12
mid-day- 6 caramel chews of Calcium Citrate. I slipped one in their just to remind me. Even though they are super delicious, this has been the hardest one to remember.
dinner- another multi and a fish oil pill
bed- another vitamin D and iron

Now, the multi and calcium cannot be taken at the same time. And the iron and multi cannot be taken at the same time. The fish oil and D can be taken whenever. And I can't lie, I was accidently chewing up the sublingual B12 for over a month. Sublingual....what do I speak Greek?

The way I keep it all straight is simple...the Bariatric Center gave me a huge binder of info in which it is all very CLEARLY mapped out for me. If in doubt, check the binder. The binder is your friend too.

So far my new pill popping container has been helpful. I think it was money well spent.

Uncharted Territory

I am currently down about 46 pounds and am venturing into uncharted waters weight wise. What I mean by that is that I have weighed a lot LESS than this and clearly a lot MORE than this but I've never weighed my current weight unless I was pregnant.

I've never been in this size or at this weight as a non-pregnant person.

See? Skinnier than now and a little pregnant....

And a little heftier after that baby was born....

 

And well, it just kind of stayed there for a long time. That baby is now four years old and I've still got the 'baby weight' hanging around.

Last time I weighed what I do RIGHT NOW, I was carrying extra cargo....

I cannot get this pic to rotate to save my life, sorry!

Sad but true that this is the way it's gone for me. I think it's unfair to totally blame my weight gain on pregnancies, but they certainly didn't help. I guess it's fair to say that they helped me gain weight a lot more easily and quickly than I otherwise would have. 

After Tessa's birth, I was able to easily lose everything that I had gained, especially while nursing. With Charley though, something weird happened with my body. Maybe the hormones of having and nursing two babies in 2 years? But I had a LOT more trouble afterward not only with losing weight but with control of blood sugar, sleep apnea and fatigue and even menstrual cycles. 

My body just kinda freaked out. 

And about the time I was back on track, I shattered my foot and have to have surgery which lead to about a year of recovery before I was back to full usage and excercise. 

Excuse after excuse? Maybe. But I was definitely stuck, there's no denying that. 

And when you're stuck, I guess the best thing to do is to look at the most logical ways to get yourself unstuck. And that's why I decided on surgery. Because I know my body SO well and I knew what I was capable and not capable of doing. And so far I'm nothing but happy with my decision.

Sumer Stylin' and Clothes Pilin'

This week I finally hit a 40lb loss and also got a few more pieces of EXTRA LARGE size clothing. Yes all caps, it's from the regular section of the store, not the plus sized section. Not to mention only $14.99 AND the leggings are XL sized as well.

I felt super comfy and cute in this outfit which is more than I can say for alot of my shorts and capris right now. They are all either too big or too small with my weird deflated lower belly roll.

In the words of the wise Homer Simpson....I won't look like a freak, I'll just wear a muu muu.

But I have to be happy when I look at pictures from almost exactly a year ago when we were in NYC, also wearing a dress.

I really truly have loved that black and white dress but today I threw it in our garage sale pile, along with everything else in size 2X or 22. I'm sure it will find a good home with somebody who love it but for me...it's time to move on.

8 Week Progress Pics

On the left is my pre-surgery pic. The right is 8 weeks post op, minus 38 lbs and one full pants size.

I've been feeling pretty darn good lately. I guess I haven't blogged much because there isn't much to report. I've gotten used to my new stomach size and can eat almost all regular food now. The trick of course is still not eating tons of junk because even in small amounts...calories are calories.

My only other hardship at the moment is when our days get really busy and I forget to drink adequate protein. I'd say I hit it about 5 out of 7 days. Not bad odds, but still I'm not a fan of the idea of my hair falling out so I could probably do better.

I was reallly realllllly hoping to hit 40 lbs in 8 weeks but my dang menstrual cycle seems to have kept me on hold the past week. It would seem that even surgery can't change some biological truths, like menstrual bloat. 

Overall I'm feeling happy with the decision and progress. I'm starting to forget what life was like before my new stomach, and now it's just part of  my every day life. We've been making some new recipes and such which I promise to post more of.

In the meantime, I'll direct you to my favorite bariatric foodie blog. I love her 'bite' recipes: www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com

Small Goals-- My Sunday Shirt

Back before surgery, someone suggested that I buy myself a goal outfit. Like it doesn't fit me now but someday it will. I didn't much care for that idea because I didn't want to waste money but I did buy one $20 shirt at Old Navy in size XL. It's been a long time since I could wear XL in a blouse or nice shirt (as opposed to a tightly fitting men's XL sports sweatshirt).

 But today...I got it on! And it's not even tight. It fits perfectly. Could it be that I'm starting to move out of plus sizes?I would say barely. I'm straddling the cusp.

Sorry for the dorky picture. I tried to get the six year old to take a pic of me and they were all blurry. This is my best attempt at a selfie that shows my shirt.

Oh....hello! I could have tried taking a picture in the mirror like everyone on Facebook. Oh well.

A small step in the right direction!

Bariatric Pizza and Painful Bike Seats

Doesn't it look like heaven? Trust me, after all of the baby food I've eaten it IS heaven.

It's half of a flour tortilla made into pizza with a few olives and some low fat cheese. Just over 100 calories for the whole deal.

Changes like these are VERY welcome at this point, especially because I still can't have bread or anything like pizza crust and I've been missing the 'normal' flavors of food. 

I did pretty well during the wedding vacation last weekend, although I think I consumed perhaps too many bites of Charley's chicken strips and too much full fat cheese. Oh and the occasional glass of wine. The digestive repercussions were mostly minimal, but I also stalled on my weight loss. Back on the wagon this week!

And by wagon I mean bike, which I rode around my neighborhood yesterday. And man does my butt hurt! Any suggestions on a comfortable bike seat for big butts? I feel like I need to shove an ice pack down my pants.

Flying Bariatric Style

Tomorrow we leave for our first big trip since my surgery. To my sister in law's big fancy East Coast wedding!

I think it will be hard at times, but I know it will be MUCH easier than it would have been a couple of weeks ago when I was eating purees. I should be able to find something to eat in most circumstances...chicken, pasta, fruit, eggs, etc. That being said, I'm still packing quite a bit.

I portioned my protein powder by day. I packed unflavored so I can mix it with whatever works that day...orange juice, milk, coffee.

This will only give me 50 grams per day which isn't enough, so I will have to focus on finding edible protein in other places. Normally I also have some clear gatorade-style Isopure to reach my protein goal, but that's just too hard to pack. Could I pack more powder? Yes...but frankly I don't want to. I think I'll live just for a couple of days.

I'm shoving all my baggies of unidentified white powder inside of my friend the blender bottle and packing it in my checked bag. I don't even want to mess with it in the security line.

It's protein powder officer, I swear!

I used my snack taxi bag to hold all of my vitamins, and shoved it in my purse. I use these little bags for all kinds of things in place of a ziploc. Perfect for kid lunches or snacks, or packing hair bows and bobby pins.

I was happy at Target when I found these puppies, which I plan to shove in my insulated bag inside my purse for the plane or whenever. I can't eat the apple skins and I also can't eat the WHOLE thing, but I figure if I share with one of the kids I'll be alright. It's a nice little 'meal' option in the airport.


And of course the kids got exciting treat bags for their carryons as well (containing some things you can't see in this pic like M&M trail mix and fruit snacks....forbidden for Mommy!)

At the rehearsal dinner and wedding, I plan to pick off of Jeremy and Tessa's plates. He ordered fish which is something I can have, and being that I'm still restricted to 3 oz at a sitting he doesn't have to worry about me taking that much.

I'm looking forward to this trip. It's been a long winter and spring and it will be nice to see family and have a bit of a vacation. Here's hoping my new stomach can keep up with the rest of me!

Tasty Tiny Snack

Now that I can eat lowfat crackers and lowfat cheese, I'm enjoying snacks like this....

Yes that's the whole snack. Not enough to tide me over forever, but a satisfying snack. I found these low fat Townhouse PRETZEL crackers yesterday and then found that Laughing Cow makes a blue cheese flavor. Match made in heaven?

The laughing cows are nice because they are exactly one ounce and low fat. They are kind of like cream cheese consistency. Honestly, I've never paid much attention to them simply because they are so tiny. I mean...what was I going to do with one ounce of cream cheese?

But for my current life, they fit quite nicely.

The Switch to Real Food

So last week I started being able to chew my food to a certain extent. The transition is supposed to be a slow one, which hasn't exactly been easy. Personally I want to ditch the purees and celebrate, but I also don't want to make myself sick.

So my current restrictions still are:
--No raw veggies at all, only cooked
--No fruit with skins or seeds
--No rice
--No red meat (for a year)
--No bread (for a year)
--Avoid high fat/high sugar foods
--Avoid caffeine and alcohol

I know to many this may seem like a very restrictive list but it feels to me like I opened a Pandora's box of awesome choices! Pasta, cooked veggies....UNPUREED meats!

One of my favorite meals so far has been 3oz of Tuna Helper with some sautéed mushrooms. Since I eat such small amounts, it's nice when I can get several different textures and flavors in my little bowl. A little tuna, a little pasta, a little veg.

On a bariatric foodie blog that was recommended to me, she explores that concept by making 'bites' in mini cupcake pans so there are many flavors like a real meal. Pizza bites, Greek bites, breakfast bites. I really want to try this idea soon.

The hard part about transitioning to food has of course been temptation. I would say I have been doing pretty well. But I'm not going to lie...not perfectly. I may have snuck a couple of my kids Cheetos or a couple of ounces of wine.

But, honestly, I don't feel too  bad about it. The major reason for having the surgery was so I could DO that, while operating within a very forced parameter of self control. The good news is that the weight keeps coming off, so I must not be sabotaging myself too much. 

I hear that Mamaw is making a baked chicken for Sunday dinner tonight, and man am I excited about that!

4 Week Progress Pics

 2 weeks pre-surgery. March 2013.

4 weeks post-surgery. April 2013. 25lbs lost.

Subtle Changes

I am inching up on the one month mark and am hovering somewhere around 25lb weight loss so far. I feel it in a few places but mostly it's unnoticeable to me. Some of my clothes are a little looser. Not so loose that I need new clothes yet, but just enough so that they fit differently.

I am wearing my owl sweater today and decided to compare with a pic of me wearing the same thing around Christmas time.

Decemeber 2012

April 2013 (3 weeks post-op)

I guess I see a little from this pic...which would probably be more obvious is my whole stomach was exposed. But I'm not going to lie, the second picture still looks pretty fat to me. This is a long process though...just gotta keep on. Maybe next Christmas it'll be too big to wear at all!

Mama's Frappy Recipe

I've been getting a little tired of my cookies and cream protein/soy milk cocktail. It's pretty tasty but like all things that you consume every day for a month...it gets old. Plus I figured I might be consuming too many milk calories per day and needed to limit that a bit more.

So I came up with a really good concoction. I think anyone looking to get an extra shot of protein could do this. Almost like being at Starbucks...almost.

Mama's Protein Frappy
-- 6-8 oz of cold decaf coffee
-- 6-8 oz of vanilla soymilk (or any milk would do but the vanilla adds some flavor)
-- a hefty splash of sugar free caramel coffee syrup
-- one packet of Splenda
-- 2 scoops of unflavored Isopure protein (=50 grams of protein)
Shake vigorously to smooth out the protein globs. Enjoy with ice! I tried blending it up too and that works but the protein powder sometimes has a foamy weirdness with it's blended. I preferred it neat. Enjoy!

My Calcium Friends

I have to have calcium citrate supplements every day. Because of the citrate part, I can't just have those regular chocolate ones you can find in the store. I special order these from Bariatric Advantage and they are the bomb diggity.

They are chewy caramels that taste exactly like candy. And since I can't chew very much of my food right now, I love the sticky texture they have

I get six a day. Six!

At our family Easter gathering I took them along to eat while everyone else was enjoying peeps and chocolate eggs. Then I came back from a walk and learned that my cousin's two year old son had gotten into them and eaten a couple. See they're that good...he thought they were Easter candy!

I wonder if that was a calcium overload for such a little guy. I guess he'll have strong bones.

Obsessive

Last week (week 2-3 post op), I only lost like 1lb the whole week. It makes me nervous that I'm doing something wrong so I've just mildly tweeked my daily intake...a little less juice, no butter in my mashed potatoes, trying not to cheat, etc.

I've still lost about 22 lbs in a month's time so I have no real reason to be upset. I'm just nervous about screwing this up and not following the rules or something else being wrong. I didn't come this far just to be screwed up by a dab of butter.

So I told myself I wouldn't weigh myself at all this week. That's exactly what my doctor had said too. Just follow the plan and do your best and don't weigh yourself. Well...I made it to Wednesday, that's half the week right? Not too much change, maybe a half of a pound.

Since all I eat is baby food, I feel like I should be losing 10lbs a day.

Okay, maybe that's a stretch. 

I know there's a chance that my body is just kind of in shock and figuring out what to do. I also know I need to be exercising more, now that I'm cleared to do so.

So I'm just going to stay the course and TRY not to weigh in again until Sunday. Hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised with myself.

2 Week Selfie

Jeremy says he's starting to see the weight loss in all kinds of places, but I still barely notice. I'm just a little over 20lbs now and this past week my weight loss has been very slow or stalled.

I find that hard to believe since I'm still eating mostly baby food but I guess I can see where I have cheated...some full fat broccoli soup, a tiny glass of wine, two french fries from Tessa's McDonalds.

It sounds silly, but maybe those bites add up in these early stages. Honestly, I think life will be SO much easier when I can eat chewable food. Then I can focus on healthy things that aren't pureed. What I wouldn't give for the crunch of some romaine lettuce.

But that being said, I guess things are still happening. I just need to be more careful. I'm also going to try a little more exercise this week since the doc said it's okay.

I know the lighting and hair on these are different, but I guess I can see a little less cheek-age in these pics.

January 2013 (2 mo before surgery)

April 2013 (2 weeks after surgery)

2 Week Check-Up

Today I saw my surgeon for the first time since the day of surgery. While I was there I also saw the dietician. I guess that's the flow of the appointments from now on. Check in with the nurse to get weighed and measured, wait 40 minutes to see the surgeon, then do a dietary run down q&a with the dietician. Pretty straight forward!

 So here's the highlight reel... 

-My last weigh in at the center was three weeks ago and I am down 18.5lb from then. My scale say more like 20, so I'm sticking with that. 

-I am cleared to submerge in a bathtub and start ramping up to normal exercise. I also started driving yesterday. 

-I turned in my sharps box, no more injections! 

-When I asked the doctor about the expected rate of weight loss he basically told me not to worry about it and not to weigh myself....just follow the diet and let it happen. Hmmm. Hard advice to the person who's been weighing themselves multiple times a day. But I get what he's saying. I will lose weight so I should stick to the plan and not fret. 

-I was called out for chewing gum. I honestly didn't know that I couldn't chew gum. Apparently if I accidentally swallow it I might die or something. Good point. 

-I was cleared by the dietician to move into 'stage 3' of the semi-liquid diet. Now I can puree almost any thing and start to have seasonings and condiments! I can also move from 2oz to 3oz. But still no chewable food. I think it's kind of funny, by the way, that the bariatric bible they gave me reminds me not to puree things like cheeseburgers and fried chicken because it's still high fat. Ew, right?

So for dinner I whipped this bad boy out.

Canned crab meat plus a tablespoon of low fat mayo and a few dashes of Old Bay pureed up in the blender....like eating crab dip with a spoon! If that sounds gross to you it's because you haven't been eating baby food for two weeks. It's freaking delicious.

Unflavored Protein You Say?

I haven't tried very many varieties of protein powder yet. I have my cookies and cream to mix with soy milk (a dash of international delight flavored coffee is nice too) and my tropical flavor to mix with juice.

I was curious about unflavored Isopure and Jeremy ordered me a mega tub of it. I have heard of people mixing into their food...probably further down the road when I can actually eat food. But I did try some today in orange juice. Blended up with ice for a nice slushy.

Verdict: It really WAS surprisingly unflavored. The powder gave my slushy that nice chalky texture of course but I couldn't taste anything else. Hmm....maybe time for some experimentation with this stuff.

My Easter Day Lunchbag

Today is not only my first big family-food-holiday, but also a pretty long day out of the house. We have church, then will travel an hour south to spend the day at the family farm, and travel an hour back.

I have a plan for Easter dinner in my mind...the mushy inside of two deviled eggs and some mashed up baked beans. Jeremy was wondering if I should count on those items being there, and I told him that an Easter at Mamaw's house without deviled eggs is like an Easter without Jesus or chocolate. I know they'll be there.

For the rest of the day I've packed a bag of choices.

My bag has some assorted baby foods and mashed potatoes, decaf coffee, protein powder and juice to mix it, a V8 and some caramel calcium chews. The chews will be my Easter candy.

I probably packed more than I need but at least this way I know I'm covered for a long day out. So if you're driving down the interstate and see a lady in an electric car eating baby food out of a jar, pay no mind.