MSinger

I am back on track after a few stale mates. I am having trouble finding clothes to wear at the rate I am losing. I don't want to keep going out to buy new stuff only for a month or less.  such a problem I know. I do frequent second hand stores and the like.  I saw a couple of submissions about people falling off the wagon...stay strong and get back on. We're all human I have had a couple of falls for ice cream ( and I'm not such an ice cream lover ...go figure) .  But the devil made me do it   LOL !!

Had quite an interesting day yesterday. Besides my shoes rebelling and deciding to be too big, a lot of other things are now too big. I was aware that my underwear was getting a bit big for me, but just forgot to pick up new pairs. This finally bit me.
So yesterday, my underwear fell while i was at work. And not, slide down my butt slightly, but like full on dived for the floor falling. They wanted to be free and only my thunder thighs stopped their descent. Thankfully it was end of day and i was walking to my car at the time, so all I had to do was keep my thighs close to stop them from falling into view of the bottom of my dress until i got into my car. Which was interesting since it was not only storming ( so i was wrestling with an umbrella) but i was juggling a bunch of bulky bags too. And seeing as I park not only in full view of the building, but my boss's office as well, I couldn't reach and pull them up. -_-. 

What doctor (or qualified medical professional) makes his or her patient believe that he or she is going to have dramatic weight loss right off the bat and lose all his or her weight in a matter of weeks?  I sware, there is a poster that is shocked that he or she hasn't lost 30 pounds the first month almost every day.  It makes me wonder what some of these pre-op conversations are like, or if people just hear what they want to hear...

Tomorrow I can eat scrambled eggs! I am really excited about this! I am also going to try to make a ricotta bake......even if I just get a bite of each down I would be a happy camper. I am also really proud--- today being Day 13 Post op--- I FINALLY got down two protein shakes! (60 grames protein) It is really hard - plus trying to get my water intake in as well. I have a very full feeling that has not gone away. Today was a good day, and  my 2nd day at work since surgery....feeling optimistic. My tummy is not hurting as much, I just wish I was back to sleeping normal. I am super tired and no caffeine until the end of the month...sheesh!

Today marks 7 weeks post op! This month has not gone as smooth as last month did as far as eating on plan. I had a couple of days this month where I ate well over my calorie budget. Even though it was not nearly as much as I used to eat before surgery, it doesn't take much for me to stall.
I'm not sure of my weight loss (if any) because I'm still weighing once a month, but whatever number pops up when I weigh in next week, I am still doing better than I ever could have before having surgery. I still know that I for sure would have blown it by now as I have never been successful for more than 2 weeks. I am also taking every failure as an opportunity to learn. I realized I made bad choices in some of the foods I bought because the sugar/carb content stimulated my hunger. There are certain foods I have to stay way from if I want to be successful. Even with that, I made some adjustments and do not feel deprived at all. 
My plan is still to weigh in once a month. I feel it really makes me focus on nutrition and what I can do starting at my very next meal to be successful. When I'd weigh in weekly sometimes I'd have a week where I knew I was not eating as well as I could have, yet I still had a loss. It could have been a big poop, or pee, or dehydration, but I'd remain blissfully ignorant and loosen up on my diet the next week to celebrate. On the flip side, I had weeks where I was working hard, diet was on point, and I'd lose less than a pound, sometimes nothing, sometimes I'd gain... and it would break my spirit. Weighing in weekly is too emotional for me and I believe on some weeks it can be misleading regarding the overall trend. That's what I'm interested in now - the overall trend. If I weigh and measure everything I eat, stay on plan, then I feel comfortable weighing in once monthly for the time being.
This post is much longer than I was expecting, but lastly, I'm learning how important it is to stay positive and believe in yourself. It truly makes a difference. Preop, when I would wake up in the morning, I would always be in a terrible mood, but I'm stopping myself and changing the script now. There was a story on the radio of a famous science fiction writer. When she was initially writing her best-selling series, she would line her manuscripts with little positive mantras. She believed in herself and achieved her dream. I think all of us can do the same with the right mindset.

I'm usually not a cardio gal (even though I do cardio) but I'm digging in getting my cardio in with JUST DANCE. I haven't had a session yet without my girls in it.  They love to dance/workout too.  Even if I do a YouTube workout video, they're in it.  I want them to always remember the days that they worked out with me.  I did the same with my dad back in the 80's when he had an exercise class he taught.  That's where my love to exercise came from....I just pray and hope they don't let go when they get older as I did.  

Post OP- Day 12
So since my pre op meeting (June 5th) I am down 40 lbs. I have lost 14 lbs since my surgery June 28th. I saw my nutritionist this morning and she said I have to work to get in more protein. I have been getting better. They found during my surgery I had a hiatal hernia, which my doctor repaired. Sometimes I gasp for air as I have not been breathing for minutes. But I have been doing breathing treatments and it is much better. Yesterday I did over half a mile on the treadmill in under 14 min. That felt good, it felt good to sweat. I am so ready to get to the gym and hit the ground running. I know I have such a long road ahead of me but I am excited for the journey. For the first time I cooked dinner for my family last night and it felt soooo good. I had been removing myself from situations involving food.  My husband and son went to Mcdonalds and I just sat in the car and waited. I would get angry and I did not like that. Cooking for them gave me pleasure and I wasn't tempted at all surprisingly. I just tasted some sauce I made to make sure the flavors were on point and boom shacka lacka! Since my surgery I have lost a loved one and gained a niece, it has been such an emotional time for me but I know that God has a bigger plan for me. <3

16 weeks post op yesterday. 18 weeks since pre op diet. 70 lbs down. Unbelievable really

I am down 30 lbs now. Feeling lighter. I went ahead and went shopping since my pants look disgusting with how droopy they are now.    Quite exciting for me. The only problem is that now, all my shoes are too big.  I love heels, but now my feet are flopping out of them.  A little scared to think I will need to replace my entire collection. 

So I decided last night I was going to go to the gym this morning and do an upper body workout with the weight machines. My husband looks at me like I am crazy..lol.. he knows how much I hate the gym. He said, you do realize even though you are going before work it will still be packed in there. I said I know, I am trying to get over my dislike of working out in a crowed gym.
Well I tried. I did not like it. I don't know why I thought it would be different. I felt so awkward using the machines and I was never able to really focus or get in a good grove. I am just going to stick to doing my own workouts at home on days I am not running. I can do push ups, squats, sit ups, ect.. Maybe it would feel better if I had a friend to go with me, but I don't, so I am not going back.

Hey, I think I found where people are putting their status updates!  Lol.. (Only took about 6 months...)  
Ok, so I'm 16 weeks post op today, and am 50% of the way to my conservative goal (42% of the way to my stretch goal).  I don't know if it's good, bad, or ugly.. but I feel great!

This post is an attempt at, as the kiddies say, keepin it 100...
I've decided I need to re-vamp my diet. Starting today I'm transitioning to low carb eating. I have always been extremely carb sensitive. I've always loved sweets and would spiral into terrible binges the more carbs I introduced into my diet. I've been doing ok post op since I'm focusing on getting my protein first, but over the last few weeks, I've been able to eat larger volumes of food and started introducing more carbs into my diet thinking I'd be able to control myself better. Unfortunately, I noticed I'm starting to slip.
I thought since I had my surgery that it would be ok for me to eat carbs and I wouldn't have the same food cravings since I would have restriction, but that line of thinking isn't quite working out. Carbs are easy to digest, even if it's paired with protein. The only thing my sleeve keeps me from doing is eating an ungodly amount of food all at once. I can easily eat a smaller amount several times to total an ungodly amount of food. 
This choice is tough for me, because I always wished I could be that person who eats one serving of chips and is satisfied, or has only one serving of ice cream, or one slice of bread. The "control" I think I have only lasts a few days, and then descends into me repeatedly going to the refrigerator for more food. This never happens when I'm on a low-carb diet. 
I know I have restriction because although I have been eating more food this week, it is nowhere near the amount I was eating preop. But this is not the only thing I need in order to successfully lose weight. I have to meet my sleeve halfway and focus on foods that do not stimulate my appetite the way simple carbs do. I'd love to have chips, ice cream, crackers, but those are the foods that led to where I was preop. No more. I am thankful for the help my sleeve is giving me, but it's not a complete solution. I have to do my part and choose the right foods that will help me be as successful as I can. 

So I've been playing around with my eating schedule and decided yesterday that I was going to increase my meals from 5x a day to 6x a day with smaller portions. I went from 4x a day to 5x a day a few weeks ago, and it went well, but I was wondering if it might be better for me to constantly be eating, even if it is smaller amounts.
Today's the first day I'm trying it out, and I'm noticing something very strange. Even though I'm eating smaller meals, today I'm feeling MORE restriction from my sleeve. I don't know what it is... Is there a "sweet spot" where if you eat past it your stomach goes numb? I know it usually takes me a long time to feel my restriction after I've eaten, about 45minutes or so.  Anyway, I've been eating every 2hrs and for the entire day today I've been feeling full.
It's weird. I'm coming up on 7weeks out and I'm still learning how my sleeve works.

So I've been trying to wake up early and get my workouts in, only did it twice.  I can't seem to shake off my tiredness in the mornings!  I know if I kept it up, I'd make it into a habit and it'll get easier, but I don't know if I want to do that.  When I workout in the evenings, take my shower, I'm so ready to lay down and sleep.  I think I'll stick to my evenings. 
Now, if I decided to stop working, then I'll do mornings...around 9 or 10.  LOL 

This post is an attempt at, as the kiddies say, keepin it 100...
I've decided I need to re-vamp my diet. Starting today I'm transitioning to low carb eating. I have always been extremely carb sensitive. I've always loved sweets and would spiral into terrible binges the more carbs I introduced into my diet. I've been doing ok post op since I'm focusing on getting my protein first, but over the last few weeks, I've been able to eat larger volumes of food and started introducing more carbs into my diet thinking I'd be able to control myself better. Unfortunately, I noticed I'm starting to slip.
I thought since I had my surgery that it would be ok for me to eat carbs and I wouldn't have the same food cravings since I would have restriction, but that line of thinking isn't quite working out. Carbs are easy to digest, even if it's paired with protein. The only thing my sleeve keeps me from doing is eating an ungodly amount of food all at once. I can easily eat a smaller amount several times to total an ungodly amount of food. 
This choice is tough for me, because I always wished I could be that person who eats one serving of chips and is satisfied, or has only one serving of ice cream, or one slice of bread. The "control" I think I have only lasts a few days, and then descends into me repeatedly going to the refrigerator for more food. This never happens when I'm on a low-carb diet. 
I know I have restriction because although I have been eating more food this week, it is nowhere near the amount I was eating preop. But this is not the only thing I need in order to successfully lose weight. I have to meet my sleeve halfway and focus on foods that do not stimulate my appetite the way simple carbs do. I'd love to have chips, ice cream, crackers, but those are the foods that led to where I was preop. No more. I am thankful for the help my sleeve is giving me, but it's not a complete solution. I have to do my part and choose the right foods that will help me be as successful as I can. 

I think I'll go to the bookstore and find the book PROTEINAHOLIC by Dr Garth Davis.  I just read some accounts of his patients being on a plant based diet and being very successful.  I even read that his points are very valid about the amount of protein we have all been lead to believe we need.  I'm super excited, because I've been trying to do plant based for a while now and I've got the support of my husband who wants to go plant based as well.  Now, I have to get very creative for my kiddos.  The easy part with them is that they tend to not eat meat anyway.  I've got to sneak veggies and legumes in...LOL  LIke black bean brownies.  They'll for sure eat those!  I HOPE!!!!

Well...I just got my first lesson on how this surgery is a tool, not a miracle. Went grocery shopping hungry, bought some "extras", came home and made some poor choices for the rest of the day. It is scary how quickly the calories added up, and how quickly my sleeve feels empty after eating. I ate a lot of food 
I feel bad, but I'm gonna use this as a lesson. First off, it's not the end of the world. I'm 6 weeks out tomorrow, and this is the first time I've fallen off the wagon. That level of adherence to my diet was unheard of preop - I always broke within a week or two. Also, I went back and re-read my NUT materials. It's a good time for a refresher. I'm gonna learn what I can and just move on. Yesterday's poor decisions have no control over my choices today. 

Well...I just got my first lesson on how this surgery is a tool, not a miracle. Went grocery shopping hungry, bought some "extras", came home and made some poor choices for the rest of the day. It is scary how quickly the calories added up, and how quickly my sleeve feels empty after eating. I ate a lot of food 
I feel bad, but I'm gonna use this as a lesson. First off, it's not the end of the world. I'm 6 weeks out tomorrow, and this is the first time I've fallen off the wagon. That level of adherence to my diet was unheard of preop - I always broke within a week or two. Also, I went back and re-read my NUT materials. It's a good time for a refresher. I'm gonna learn what I can and just move on. Yesterday's poor decisions have no control over my choices today. 

Well...I just got my first lesson on how this surgery is a tool, not a miracle. Went grocery shopping hungry, bought some "extras", came home and made some poor choices for the rest of the day. It is scary how quickly the calories added up, and how quickly my sleeve feels empty after eating. I ate a lot of food 
I feel bad, but I'm gonna use this as a lesson. First off, it's not the end of the world. I'm 6 weeks out tomorrow, and this is the first time I've fallen off the wagon. That level of adherence to my diet was unheard of preop - I always broke within a week or two. Also, I went back and re-read my NUT materials. It's a good time for a refresher. I'm gonna learn what I can and just move on. Yesterday's poor decisions have no control over my choices today. 

One of my goals was to be in Onederland by my birthday.  My birthday is tomorrow.  I weighed in today 200.0.  
Guess I'll weigh in again tomorrow!

I am so happy to see that my bmi got out of the sixties and now it is in the fifties. I am seeing more results like my body is getting more boxy before my weight would make me looked like I was spreading out.

I loved the Bariatric Advantage calcium chews until two days ago....all I taste is a metallic chemical taste. So gross. Guess I'll be changing my calcium here too. 

I have a new-found respect for cottage cheese. 4oz is 100cals and 15grams of protein. Super filling for my sleeve too!

I have a new-found respect for cottage cheese. 4oz is 100cals and 15grams of protein. Super filling for my sleeve too!

My youngest brother asked me today to do Tough Mudder with him next May!!! Everything inside me cringed.  LOL. Maybe ten years ago I would have said YEAH! I'm reminded just ow my words to him the other day (he works out with a Marine), "your body can do so much more then you think you can." I guess I should chew my own words and do this thing. Would you do it?