WildIris

I know, it's weird--I thought it was some sort of deformity at first, was all set to call my surgeon and ask him what-the-heck-kind-of-alien-device-he'd-inserted-as-an-experiment... Heehee. Seriously though...I've been wearing size 10 for the last month-and-some, and I'll be into size 8 jeans by mid-December. I actually LOST weight over Thanksgiving!!! It's been almost 5 months post-op. And I'm starting to think I might have to revise my target weight upward. If I hit 130, I'm honest-to-god going to look like a coat-hanger. I'm thinking that 140 is a good goal for someone of my height and build.

So, I'm down to a size 10 in jeans, and my hubby commented last night that I look even better now (at age 35) than I did at 19, when we met. He doesn't give gratuitous compliments, so I can rest assured that he certainly thinks so! But I've been worrying (when do I not?) as I get further post-op, and my weight-loss slows, and my appetite increases. I also have to face the sad reality that I'm not going to be able to get back into running--I've got too much spinal arthritis. What really freaks me out is trying to figure out to maintain a stable weight long-term given the realities of my past physical injuries catching up with me and making it difficult to get regular exercise without paying for it later in terms of having to take muscle relaxants and prescription pain medication (it's really that bad ). I guess it's back to the old 'celery-carrots-and-string-cheese' snacking, instead of nuts (no matter how raw they are). And various other tricks I learned as a diabetic...that's the one that really freaks me out, is the idea of having to go back on insulin.

I stumbled onto this one by accident. I've always had a weakness for chocolate milk. Not so much hot cocoa, just nice rich creamy chocolate milk. Hadn't had any in ages and ages, and figured I'd never get any again. Then I started drinking low-fat soy milk in my Protein shakes and discovered that the unflavored, unsweetened soy makes for a REALLY rich-tasting Protein Drink, along with the sugar-free syrups that you can put in coffee and so forth. And, I discovered this flavor called Chocolate Macadamia Nut (the brand is Pasano, and it's sold by some place on the west side of Washington state, I think). I am SO not kidding, this combination of soy milk and sugar-free syrup fools MY tastebuds into thinking it's good ol' chocolate milk, and an eight-ounce serving is 50 calories and 2 sugars/carbs. I can indulge my weakness to my heart's content now, and never feel a shred of guilt again in my life! Better yet, just today, I found almond milk at Walmart that's unsweetened and unflavored, and it's only 35 calories for an 8-ounce serving, 1 gram of carb, and NO sugars at all. Not as much protein as the soy milk, but since I generally am consuming it with my Protein shake, it's more or less irrelevant. Ahem. I'm sure you can all tell that I'm wildly enthusiastic about all this, by now... Anyway, hope someone else enjoys 'chocolate milk' as much as I do.

What's wrong with jeans and plain knit shirts? I LOVE jeans. 'Course, on the West Coast--particularly in the Pacific Northwest where I live--jeans almost ARE a uniform. People dress 'em up with a blazer, fancy shoes, a belt, and a nice shirt. Dress 'em down with a tee-shirt, hiking boots and a hoodie. Wear 'em with cowboy boots (especially at the Pendleton Roundup) and a Stetson. Wear 'em with a cashmere sweater, stockings, heels, and pearls at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Wear black ones to a funeral. Wear 'em to the office with a button-up shirt and a tie (no kidding!). Wear 'em to church (still not kidding). I don't care how good I may ever look in a dress or skirt--I still hate the things. I have ever since I was a little skinny stick of a tomboy with a gap-toothed smile and an Orphan Annie head of white-blonde curls.

Heheh...I just had to say that. Friday, I went clothing shopping for reals (as opposed to Goodwill) and bought--drumroll--SIZE TEN JEANS!!! And, just for the heckuvit, I got a pair of ridiculously high-heeled zip-up black leather ankle boots...just because they looked so cute with the skin-tight jeans. I always had this image of myself as something of a stocky Russian babushka-woman peasant build, and suddenly I'm looking long-legged and lean(er). I have cheekbones and a jawline for the first time in YEARS, no double chin, and the other day when I was in JC Penney getting those new jeans (and boots, and a couple of shirts, and a blazer), I was sort of vaguely staring at nothing much while I was waiting in line to pay for my stuff, and suddenly realized that the woman I'd been looking at and thinking that she looked terribly familiar somehow was ME, my reflection in a mirror that a trick of perspective and lighting had fooled into thinking I was looking at another person. Talk about startling! It's the little things, too, that somehow make this all more real: parking in my garage and not ending up with a dirty butt when I squeeze past between car and wall. Flying over to the other side of the state last month for my checkup, and having to tighten the belt when the flight attendant was going around preparing the cabin for takeoff and landing because in her opinion it was too loose--and having several inches left over when I did tighten it up. Realizing that coach class flying isn't nearly so torturous when you don't even fill up an entire single seat (although the leg-room still sucks eggs, and the service is still lousy). Having to get a new driver's license photo taken because I almost didn't get through airport security TWICE because they weren't sure I looked sufficiently like my old photo (which I'd had renewed just back in 2009--although even in the new photo I still look like I'm being booked for drunk and disorderly conduct, or something). Noticing my image on a store surveillance camera monitor at the grocery store and thinking, "You know, the ten pounds that cameras tack on don't look quite so hideous and lumpish anymore." Not that I especially enjoy getting my photo taken, still. I have always thought that when the camera freezes my image for posterity that I always manage to either display the apparent intelligence of an especially IQ-impaired cow, or look like an escapee from a high-security psychiatric ward for the criminally insane. That impression hasn't changed. I'm just not a FAT IQ-impaired cow or nut-ward escapee...

I keep running into this stuff about hair loss. When did it start for people, IE, how soon post-surgery? The reason that I ask is that I haven't had ANY hair loss so far, no more than usual anyhow. Not that I've ever had a problem with thinning hair. I went through a period in September where I couldn't stand the protein supplement, until I started experimenting with flavored syrups. The main reason for me that I've stuck with the whey protein powder supplement so closely (once I stopped hating the sweetness) is that frankly, my digestion handles it better than eating most meats. I can do chicken, turkey, and tiny bits of ham, but I couldn't even eat more than a single bite of an otherwise delicious chicken-apple-walnut sausage last night with green Beans and onions. Veggies go down great for me, but not a lot else. Fatty stuff is absolutely verboten--it comes up so fast I may as well not eat it in the first place! In fact, I told my doctor that I can do one food group per meal, not two or more: veggies OR fruit OR meat, and that I actually prefer to do either veggies or fruit and get my protein needs totally from my supplement. She was actually fine with that. But yeah, ThinOneDay, I'm totally with you--I guess I'm a weirdo, because I love doing the same stuff you're doing. I'm not so far post-op as you, but I am settling into a routine already that seems to be working for me.

Now that I'm more or less on a normal diet, I've gotten so I really like the Protein supplement again. I use Nectar, but mostly what I use is the unflavored, and I make my own bloody flavors, thank-you-very-much. I've got an entire cupboard in my kitchen full of the sugar-free-with-Splenda Torani syrups, as well as a couple of other brands. Right now, I'm tracking down an eggnog syrup. I've already got Gingerbread, pumpkin Pie, Chocolate macadamia nut, Jamaica Rum, Irish Cream, Toasted Marshmallow, Brown Sugar Cinnamon, and others. They taste fabulous, especially when I make my shakes with low-fat soy milk (it comes in half-gallon cartons at Walmart--the best I've found anywhere, actually). VERY creamy, no weird flavors, and in fact just last night I discovered that Chocolate Macadamia Nut in soy milk makes the best damn chocolate milk substitute I've ever found! I've posted elsewhere on the forum as well about my chai "addiction" -- Bigelow makes a wonderful chai teabag, which I brew, chill, and then mix with Protein Powder and soy milk and Splenda to make iced chai Protein Drink (sometimes I add ground cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and/or allspice just for the extra zing). I pretty much do that for Breakfast all the time now. Anyway, I guess the point of all this is, I've gotten really enthusiastic about my protein supplement again thanks to some judicious fiddling with flavorings and experimentation. I'm getting all of my doctor-ordered 90grams of protein supplement in now, after a slump.

I've found that to handle that oh-so-lovely problem, that carrying those breath strips (Listerine is the brand I've found) works even better than carrying around a toothbrush and toothpaste. I've found 'em in cinnamon and spearmint, and WOW do they do the job. Just set 'em on your tongue, and seconds later, minty-fresh breath. Not to knock teeth-brushing (I sure do enough of it!), it's just that it's possible to actually brush too much. And, the little boxes of breath strips are a lot more discreet and easy to transport. Give it a try!

I absolutely LOVE the cucumber idea!!! You're my hero for suggesting it! Actually, it's a combination of two things, now that I think about it--the need for some "crunch," and the salt craving. And of course the salsa. I found some really, really good soy crisps (low cal, low-carb, and a fair bit of protein per serving), but they don't taste good with salsa. The cucumber thing may just save my day. :biggrin0: You got any other ideas on snack-type foods? Sometimes I just don't have time to fix a full meal, and so far I've been relying primarily on low-fat string cheese because it's pre-packaged, and mixed nuts--which are okay, but still rather high-calorie, high-fat, and high-carb even if they do provide protein. Maybe I'm just lazy. I really do love cooking, but I just don't have time during the day. You'd think working from a home studio would make it easier, but it doesn't really in a way. I haven't dared try pizza. That's one thing that I absolutely love--I pile mine high with veggies--but even before surgery sometimes gave me heartburn. Heck, I still can't eat avocados! At the farmers market yesterday I picked up some absolutely marvelous apples--some kind of heirloom variety which I cannot remember now--that made me want to sit up and howl at the moon it was so yummy. I'm going to dry some of those. Maybe I ought to keep carrots and celery around again for snacking on. I bet I could eat celery with salsa too...hmmm...I keep meaning to try dried yam, too. That would be crunchy, high-Fiber, and full of Vitamins. And low-fat, since I'd do it myself. OK, now my creative juices are flowing again. Anybody else got any healthy snack ideas? I'd love to hear 'em.

I am so there with you, GKM! Used to be that an afternoon nap was absolutely mandatory for me, I couldn't drag myself out of bed before 8am (if then), and I absolutely had to be in bed by 9pm. Even on weekends. Kind of made any life at all a little difficult. As recently as January through March, I was taking a single biology class, and I'd come home from that so exhausted that I'd have to go straight to bed, and study in the mornings before class. Incidentally, I ended up with a C- in the class, and haven't gone back to school since, and instead started focusing on making my jewelry business take off. Anyway, now I can get up at 4am if I have to, no afternoon naps (although flopping for a half-hour on the sofa and reading is a nice break around mid-afternoon), and if I feel like it, I don't go to bed until 11pm or so. Still seems a little weird, to be honest (not in a bad way, though!). I'd always identified with the idea of not being a morning person, and here I'm all perky and chipper at o'dark-thirty. WITHOUT a cuppa. At first I was really suspicious, thought maybe I was slightly hypomanic (bipolar disorder, type II), but A) I'm not crashing, and :thumbup1: I don't feel jittery. I just have energy that I never had before. Now I'm just starting to accept it as part of my new normal, and relishing it.

Quick update: I found chai--my favorite brand, too, Bigelow--on Amazon. Ordered a pack of six boxes. It's cheaper this way, too!

:biggrin0::biggrin0::biggrin0: THANK YOU, GOD!!! :biggrin0::biggrin0::biggrin0: Heheh, sorry, I just had to say that. I have been freaking out that I'm eating too often. It works out to about every 2-3 hours. I go with relatively harmless stuff--usually a stick or two of low-fat string cheese, or a handful of nuts--but I was freaking out that I was eating too often. I've found also that I have to finish eating in about 15 minutes or so, despite what the nutritionist said about taking a half-hour to eat. Something weird: it's oddly reassuring to go out to eat at my favorite local restaurants and order meals that were--still are--favorites (salads, especially--I have a thing for fresh veggies). Stuff that I used to clean up and practically lick the plate, I now eat like a tenth of it (if that) and I'm full. I'm getting really familiar with the questions from wait-staff coming up to me when I request the check and asking, "Didn't you like the food? You've hardly touched it..." :001_smile: I probably shouldn't, but I tip extra for every wait-person who asks me that, just because I love to hear it. :thumbup1: I don't tell them why, either. I just say something bland like, "My eyes were bigger than my stomach." Which is probably true, now that I think about it. :001_tongue:

Should I be feeling guilty because I've started nibbling on tortilla chips with homemade salsa? I keep going back and forth: I can't eat very much at all, but corn chips have lots of carbs.

Honestly, sometimes I feel like I'm living in a dream and I can see reality "just over there," but I can't quite feel it yet, or join it quite yet. That's me adjusting to the difference all this weight loss has made in my life. This not-quite-in-focus feeling is strongest when I wake up in the middle of the night for some reason, and I'm only about 25% awake--talk about trippy! I feel like I'm literally reinventing myself, my own self-identity, or at least learning to react appropriately to the way others perceive me now that I'm a significantly smaller person and still shrinking...learning who I am, and how much what makes me me is going to change over the next few months and years. I don't feel like I'm going through any depression, but sometimes it seems like all of my perceived reality is just slightly askew, like I'm trying to watch 3-D without the glasses, as I'm adjusting to and getting to know this new me. I'm guessing that at some point everybody pretty much goes through this same thing; they just express it differently. And that for some it might cause depression, especially if they're not into the whole self-analysis thing (who really is, anyhow?). So many changes--even really, really positive ones like VSG surgery--do cause a lot of stress, and it takes adjusting to. I'm starting to develop this theory that we just have to learn to cut ourselves some slack and realize that things are going to be in a state of flux probably for the first year post-op--that things are going to make us mad, sad, deliriously happy, depressed...you name it, sort of like grieving for the death of someone we loved dearly. Because who we were is gone for good, no matter what.

Down 1.8 pounds this morning, last time I weighed myself was two days ago. I'm not freaking out anymore. At least for now... :thumbup1: I had a back injury that's severely limiting my ability to exercise. I got an MRI yesterday morning that didn't show anything like a herniated disc, so the doctor thinks it's soft tissue damage, but the bad news is that there is a significant amount of arthritis in my lumbar region, so the chronic stuff isn't going to get better. All I can think, right now, is that I'm way too young to have this much arthritis--I'm only 35! And the first arthritis showed up in my neck in my early twenties! On the other hand, it's a lot more bearable when I'm not dragging all that extra weight around, so I REALLY have a lot of motivation to keep the weight off permanently. I'm down 60 pounds, and only 40 more to go to my target weight. I may have to go easier on the walking/running thing, but I'll just take up swimming again. My gym has an indoor pool. I'll manage.