I was going to call this Break On Through To The Other Side (thank you Doors). But I figured I'd get sick of it after a while. I'm going to use this space to keep track on the 2 week march toward surgery and then to keep track of the recovery and progress. That way I can keep it all together and if I just do one thread, it's all in one place without clogging up the Blog Area. I'm sure it's gonna be excruciatingly boring to everyone--me included! I'm a list and minutia kinda gal. I like tracking and counting--although I can be equally lax about crap. So I stop just short of OCD town (not that there's anything wrong with that).

My official 2 week liquid diet starts tomorrow. I decided to jump on it today because Sunday feels like a great place to start and because it's hard to do better than yesterday as my last food day before surgery. I'm a Texan, born and raised, and yesterday we had a fairwell to my ass and thighs via a Texas BBQ tour through Houston and Tomball. I ate so much brisket, sausage and ribs, I can honestly claim to be over it. Growing up in a BBQ family, slow smoked meats is almost in my blood. So it was only natural that I would choose that as the last rights.

I'm having RNY on February 20th and as I understand it, moist (fatty) brisket might not be my friend post surgery. Supposedly high fat foods (which moist brisket is) might cause a sort of "dumping" in the poop department. So I figure my future, once healed, might only include lean cuts of brisket and smoked meats. It's a choice I will readily make to lose weight and get my health back.

So the morning Day 1 hasn't been very difficult--a little hunger and growly tummy, but nothing that makes me feel anxiety. Protein drinks on board and this afternoon will shop for SF popsicles, SF jello and bone broth. I think I'll stick to packaged bone broth so I can get the actual nutritional information from a certified source. There's no real way for me to tell how many calories and carbs are in the bone broth I make here at home.

My Pre-Op Plan includes: 80-100g of protein; low fat; 60g carbs and somewhere around 1000cals per day.

4-5 Protein Drinks containing a minimum of 15g of protein per serving. They must be low fat and low sugar and can't contain over 4g of sugar per serving. I can have clear low sodium broths, sugar free drinks, sugar free jello and sugar free clear popsicles (no fudgsicles or ice cream based pops).

I will do this from now until February 20th.

I'm pretty sure I will be doing plenty of the following:

Edited February 4, 20188 yr by FluffyChix

36 minutes ago, Apple203 said:

That avocado toast looks delicious...this must be on my plate soon. :-)

Did you lose the 2#? Is this just the body storing more glycogen based on supply/demand? This happened to me today -- up 3# since yesterday morning after a week of steady, modest declines.

Ugh don't you get cranky when the scale doesn't deliver?? ((hugs)) It SUCKS!

Well so I'm now back down to 195.4lbs. So not quite back to where I was, but enough reassurance that I'm not on a road to regain to let me calm the hell down, breathe, and keep adding back the calories and carbs. LOL! I was still a pound up, but really felt like I had full bowels. So I took 4oz of mag cit yesterday and low and behold...I gave birth to a bouncing 1 lb pile-o-poop. Sorry TMI, but I FEEL so much better in my gut. I can almost tell now, when it's building. So I think it was a combination of the 2: fluid and poo fairy needing to make a call.

This week was start of Week 9 and I only lost 0.6lbs. (UUUUGGGHHH! I really have to stop the "only" sh*t! ) That happened exactly 3 weeks ago, then had 2 really great weeks following 2 sucky weeks.

Are you seeing any pattern to your weekly losses? I made this nifty chart in Excel that self populates as I add data:

The avocado "toast" was really delicious! You have to love GG Bran Crisp Breads or Wasa Crackers though. I'm a weird one that loves both of them! I'm hoping to start nuking my colon with fiber to keep motility up and will be able to decrease my use of Miralax and Colace. I hate taking those meds.

This morning I will try to take a pic. I'm having peanut butter cheese "toast" with Granny Smith apple. I'm shooting for around 20-30g net carbs, and am gonna allow as much as 50g total as long as there is MUCHO fiber included! Also, pretty interesting, but my tummy is self-limiting me now and cals are fairly naturally falling around 675-750 cals per day. I've no doubt I could add back some fat and get to 800-850 easily. But why? If I'm happy and satisfied...why do I need more than 700-750? Answers please? (I think I'm getting plenty of fat to allow assimilation of vitamins from food and supplements...theoretically.) The reason I think to keep fat low is that if I'm in ketosis which I am, the body burns fat for fuel and in the presence of dietary fat, it switches to consume dietary fat for fuel first before re-accessing fat stores.

So hmmm. Just more deep thoughts by Jack Handy.

Edited April 24, 20188 yr by FluffyChix

My Daily Plate - 9 Weeks - Breakfast

Here's another glimpse of my daily plate! I'm so happy to have my Brancrisps back. LOL. Happy feet. So it's another brekky with them. Super simple. I made peanut butter from Peanut Butter Slim powder. Super low cals and high protein, moderate carbs. And had a peanut butter cheese cracker. I love cayenne sprinkled over it! And am also having GS apple! Happy about this addition too! I'm a total omnivore and love my meat and seafood, but it does feel less restrictive to have more non-meat options for protein.

Peanut Butter Bran Crispbread with Granny Smith Apple

Serves 1

2tbsp Peanut Butter Slim powdered pb (Vitacost)

2tbsp water

.5oz cheddar (Tillamook)

1 GG Bran Crispbread

cayenne to taste

1.5oz GS apple

Mix peanut butter powder and water into a smooth paste. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or make it the night or meal before. Make cracker and eat with the apple. Yum. Filling and easy.

Nutrition: 149cals; 11g protein; 6g fat; 16g carbs; 7g fiber; 9g net carbs; 5g nat sugars

Edited April 24, 20188 yr by FluffyChix

I so envy you all the food choices that we don’t have here. BUT - I am coming to the USA in September, Baltimore. So, once I know the hotel I will be sleeping in, I think I can place some orders and have them delivered to me there to bring home!

I have been thinking about your calories post, a lot. I am still losing a kilo a week, I am below my best gastric band weight - which was my goal but I have revised the goal downward to the top of the BMI ‘not overweight’ range. I know I should, by surgeon’s predictions, be losing at half this rate by now. But I find myself loathe to let my calories go over 700.

I have been considering that it might well be very easy for me to simply replace one eating disorder (overeating to deal with any emotion whatsoever) with another (caloric limitation and obsession)...

So - thanks for raising this thinking for me, too. Will my relationship with food ever be normal?

Edited April 24, 20188 yr by birdynz

Yay on getting to the states!!! Too bad you won't be in Houston! Yes, bring an empty suitcase with you! Then load it up once you're here!

I think the proof for us will be empiracle. You know? We will either maintain? Or, we will lose! If we don't lose, then we have to ask, is it worth going below a deck in order to lose the weight? I honestly can't answer that question for myself right now.

But dang, losing 2.2lbs per week at your weight is so awesome! And outdoing your surgeon's rate of loss and predictions is even more awesome! Congrats!!!! What does he say about your cals being below 700/day?

I think with your activity, that you will see yourself continuing to lose while being at a sustainable caloric level. But there are 2 schools of thought on this and that's where it gets so confusing when you're the one in the trenches. You know? I don't know which to believe or which will work for me. But I do know that being at 550cals was getting very old and I was hungry a lot. Since raising them to 700cals I'm not hungry at all and meal time is a satisfying experience. Yay!

LOL, I know you're not saying I'm experiencing an eating disorder and engaging in an unhealthy obsession, right?

13 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

LOL, I know you're not saying I'm experiencing an eating disorder and engaging in an unhealthy obsession, right?

I wouldn’t presume to presume!! But you seem to me to have your head screwed on!!

I may get to Houston (there is a direct Air New Zealand flight to Houston now!) - I am just about to be made Vice President of an international oversight organisation in my field, so will be in the USA 4 times a year for 3 years - if I come your way, I will give you a shout. We could get together for peanut-butter-cheese heaven.

My surgeon is very lose on food. He sets no calorie limits, and post surgery I was on solids before I left hospital. He tracks his patients’ food - 1700 of them. A year after surgery, they typically were around 800-900 calories a day. And they don’t get sick. So for me - secretly delighted when I have a 500 cal day but knowing that DOESN’T mean big weight loss tomorrow, committing to over 700 is sensible, 800-900 is normal. I do need to slow the weight loss a bit - my chest is downright bony!

Well, let me know if you're coming! We'll definitely figure out how to meet up! ((hugs)) And congrats on losing so much weight and on bony chests!

Just thought I would drop in and update on how the extra 200-250calories are fitting into my day.

On Saturday my RD strongly encouraged me to add in more calories/protein. She told me that they rarely like to give caloric targets but know I'm a "special case." *snic* And as I already mentioned, she was a little teensy weensy concerned about the whole 500calorie threshold where I was a little stuck.

I met with her yesterday and she agreed that I don't need to artificially "pad" my diet with fat just to get my calories to 800-850 per day. I explained that I'm already eating 6 small meals a day (and she is totes on board with that -- eating about 3 to 3 1/2hours apart) and that I feel maxed on volume at this time of recovery (9 weeks).

I explained that I wanted that 800-850 level to be organically driven and for my days to fluctuate naturally according to different food choices. Some days might be "richer" and more calorie dense, others will be clean. I actually prefer eating clean and my body seems to respond better with that type of fiber rich, lean protein and veggie, low fat approach. I think that has to do with my post meno status, PCOS, and my hormone blocker cancer drug.

So since Saturday I've been averaging around 725 calories per day and around 68g of protein per day. And as many of you suggested--the weight loss started again! I've lost about 1lb per day for the last couple of days. Maybe my body is sighing in relief and saying, "About dang time bi*ch!" I know that my meals are satisfying me, and I now feel tummy restriction upon eating. So those are both reassuring things!

She said I'm eating textbook perfect amounts and that I should not worry just because I'm able to eat more than someone else at my same stage--we all have different levels of inflammation, rates of healing, amounts of leptin/ghrelin, amounts of physical stretch in our tummies. So no two will be alike.

This made me feel more reassured and confident. She also said my goal of 150lbs is a little on the low side, but still should be realistic. However, more than the scale reading, I need to be confident in the physical and life changes this weight loss will mean to me.

BS to that. I want both!

Well heck yes you want both and you will get both!!!! My calorie intake has fluctuated by 200 calories or so per day depending on what's going on and the scale doesn't seem to reflect either higher or lower (I like to think that by confusing my body I can lose faster). BUT, my water intake does reflect in my weight gain or loss. Our bodies are very interesting and very different. It's actually fascinating. Keep up the good work! Short and bathing suit season is right around the corner!!

26 minutes ago, newself said:

Well heck yes you want both and you will get both!!!! My calorie intake has fluctuated by 200 calories or so per day depending on what's going on and the scale doesn't seem to reflect either higher or lower (I like to think that by confusing my body I can lose faster). BUT, my Water intake does reflect in my weight gain or loss. Our bodies are very interesting and very different. It's actually fascinating. Keep up the good work! Short and bathing suit season is right around the corner!!

Very cool to have this info!! Yes, my water consumption is really important to the losses! Also sodium intake has a big impact.

Oh man I'm facing the decision today about whether to wear a pair of shorts and a short sleeve tee in public or not. Tomorrow will already be hot at the ball field! I haven't worn shorts in public in almost 20 years!!

6 hours ago, FluffyChix said:

Very cool to have this info!! Yes, my Water consumption is really important to the losses! Also sodium intake has a big impact.

Oh man I'm facing the decision today about whether to wear a pair of shorts and a short sleeve tee in public or not. Tomorrow will already be hot at the ball field! I haven't worn shorts in public in almost 20 years!!

Well judging from the picts you posted a few days ago, I would say that you are more than ready to break out the shorts and t-shirts and have a great/cool time! It will be so fun!!! Eeeek- I'm so happy for you!!!!!!!!!

Awww! Thank you! I decided on capris and I might even need a jacket. High of 80 but going down to 55 tomorrow night. The park gets a big breeze.

Ode to Toasted Almonds

Hail! Toasted almond!

Your salty crunch delights me

My tongue leaps with joy!

16 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

Ode to Toasted Almonds

Hail! Toasted almond!

Your salty crunch delights me

My tongue leaps with joy!

Haiku to weight loss

Hail! When I look down

My baggy thighs delight me

My muscle shows through!

Viva la muscle!!!

Hail! My new capris,

Your sassy fit delights me

At my present size.