istytehcrawk

Just made Eggface's mini chocolate protein muffins, minus the chocolate topping. They're pretty tasty, albeit a little bit dry; I think when I reheat them I'll spray them with a tiny bit of butter spray to help with that. Not bad, considering they help satisfy the sweet tooth for roughly 30 calories and 2 grams of protein (my mix made 14 instead of the 12 hers did).

Check out some posts I've written on Medium related to bariatric surgery and life as a fat person:

How weight loss changed my hair

How much does bariatric surgery cost?

Adventures in making a bariatric surgery-friendly cheesecake

A message for restaurants with booths

Moments from a lifetime of fatness

I am pleased to report the popcorn got along with my stomach perfectly well.

I haaaaaaaate exercising. Hate it. I do it (not as often or as much as I should, probably, but still more than I ever have before), but I haaaaaaaaate it.

Why?

• asthma
• discomfort (not really pain, but not a good feeling)
• embarrassment (if done in public at all)
• lack of stamina (building up, but still low at this point)
• hate being sweaty, and I get sweaty quick
• hate being sore afterward
• IT'S SO FREAKING BORING and I'd rather be doing just about anything else

I have been craving catfish for like a MONTH but hadn't been able to find any (fresh or frozen) in stores. Mom's boyfriend found some today and cooked it in the air fryer, and OH MY GOD it was perfect. Totally hit the spot. Crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside, just as catfish should be.

I am having such an issue with clothing right now -- I have several pairs of capris that fit, and several shirts that fit, but very few of them match! I'm doing laundry far more often than usual simply because I refuse to buy more clothes until I'm down another size.

Tried a few bites of pasta (protein-enriched penne) tonight. No foamies or anything, but didn't sit well. I'm sad about it, but at least now I know and can move on to trying other things, maybe revisit it when I'm further out.

I joined a gym last night for the first time in my life. Right now I'm only joining for the pool/water aerobics, but who knows what the future holds!

Had my first meal out at a restaurant (Bob Evans) tonight. 

Ordered the grilled Wildfire chicken (one breast), with sides of baby carrots, green beans with ham (very minimal), and fresh fruit. Skipped the bread. Oh, and mom and I sat around chatting after the meal, and (after waiting a while) I drank a few ounces of peppermint tea with Splenda.

Ate some of each of the chicken/veggies/fruit, and brought the rest home. Separated it out, and it made enough for three more meals (the veggies could have made four or five, probably, but there was only enough chicken for three, and I don't mind wasting a little bit of the veggies), plus the fruit for a snack. Super delicious.

Tonight's healthy dinner: homemade stovetop chicken souvlaki and homemade tzatziki, served with grape tomatoes. Delicious!

Souvlaki recipe: https://addapinch.com/chicken-souvlaki-recipe/ (I marinated mine overnight.)

Tzatziki recipe (I only made a half batch, but it still made a LOT): https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20242/tzatziki-sauce/ (I blitzed my cucumber in a blender until it was tiny chunks, then salted it and let it drain in a colander for an hour and a half before mixing up the dip, so that it wouldn't be runny from the cucumber water.)

1/4 cup chicken = 9g protein

2 tablespoons tzatziki = 2.5g protein (with the yogurt I used, which is Fage 2%)

Went through the five trash bags of too-small clothes I have accumulated (some are mine from when I was a little smaller, some were my mom's, some a friend's, some yard sale finds, some bought at store closeout/clearance sales). One bag ended up being a bag of to-donate items that had gotten mixed in with the others inadvertently, so I don't have as much as I expected. But it's now separated into two bags of pants and two bags of shirts, organized by size. 

I wrote a thing for work this week.

I'm 0/2 with new foods (fish sticks and 100% whole wheat toast) agreeing with my stomach, so the last 24 hours have been FUN.

Not.

No more new foods until tomorrow (going to attempt some cubed ham).

My last insurance claim was just processed, so I did the math and figured out that I only have to pay $1,351.60 out of $63,966.50, or roughly 2.11 percent of the overall cost, and my portion includes the $1,000 deductible. I can handle that.

(I just made a whole post breaking it down in the Insurance & Financing forum if you're interested.)

Today is the first day in a week that I haven't had some sort of bowel-related issue. I'm actually feeling pretty good, especially compared to how I've felt the last few days (actually sleeping through the night without waking up to run to the bathroom helped considerably, I think). 

As such, I'm actually hungry and want to eat. There's just one problem: I'm absolutely terrified to do eat. I've technically been on regular foods since Thursday, but I haven't been able to actually enjoy it because of said bowel issues. I've been reverted back to a liquid diet for the last two days, and before that I was sticking to safe/soft foods for what little actual food I consumed (I was miserable and protein shakes/water were about the only things that didn't seem to make things worse). 

I want to try eating, but I don't want to end up miserable again.

This is frustrating, to say the least.

I ate a baked chicken tender with a tiny bit of cheese on top. We'll see how my stomach likes it.

I also have eggs boiling to make deviled eggs. That's an experiment; haven't tried them since before surgery. (It's the only way I like eggs.)

This weekend I'll be going to a cousin's wedding reception (she had a destination wedding several weeks ago) and my family reunion. It'll be the first time I've seen most of my extended family since surgery, so I'm sure it'll be an experience, to say the least. (It's also going to be freaking HOT -- 94-95 degrees, with both events primarily outdoors).

I'm just glad I'm not the first person in my family to have had bariatric surgery -- one of my cousins (mother of the bride, actually) had gastric bypass nine years ago, so most of my family is at least familiar with the surgery/what it entails/the effects (and they all know I was having it, because I didn't keep it a secret).

Today was not a good day. We put down one of our cats, Bubby, who we have had since he was five weeks old (I was 15). He would have been 18 years old in just five more weeks.

I finally had some crunchy veggies today (a cauliflower floret, a broccoli floret, a few thin cucumber slices, and some shoestring carrots) with a tiny bit of French onion dip, and it was GLORIOUS. 

I did some grocery shopping at HyVee yesterday and hit up their salad bar for fruit and veggies. It was kind of expensive, but worth it to be able to get just a few of each thing (aforementioned veggies, plus some cherry tomatoes, spinach, cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, and pineapple -- already had some watermelon at home), and definitely cheaper than buying a whole package of each and having some of it go to waste because I can't eat it fast enough.

One of the weirdest things about this surgery is that something that agreed with my stomach perfectly well at lunchtime may not go well at suppertime.

This tastes more like coconut than red velvet, which is doubly weird because there are no coconut-related ingredients. 

Pretty yummy, though.

Placed my first order from the BariatricPal store today. A box of Kay's Naturals apple cinnamon protein cereal (I bought a single-serve bag of it the other day at Hy-Vee, and it hit the spot for carb cravings), a single-serve bag of the honey almond version to try, and a package of the pork panko to try out. Not too bad for $8 (including shipping) after my discount from rewards points!

Used our new-to-us elliptical for the first time this morning, and even though it was literally only for one minute, my legs already felt like jelly when I got off it. Going to have to build up gradually, but at least I have something I'll actually use now. We have an ANCIENT recumbent exercise bike, but I can't use it effectively because my legs are too short even on its shortest setting (it's the kind you have to actually turn upside down and remove a pin to move the seat, and it only has three settings), so my toes just barely reach the pedals.

@BariatricFoodie Have you tried the tomato soup Celebrate protein flavor? I’m getting ready for surgery in Feb &… https://t.co/jDEB89Fbci

My legs are so sore from yesterday. I had to carry a heavy box of poster board down a steep flight of stairs (while carrying other items), then walked laps around our civic center while the city council was in executive session (about half an hour), AND used our elliptical twice (only for a couple minutes each time, but still). Going back up those steep stairs (to my office) this morning was NOT fun.