Okay, so I know it has been a while since I have last posted to my blog. I’m sorry to those who have been reading that I haven’t kept up as much as I would have liked to. Where has the time gone! Goodness it has gone by so quickly.
Well… a update, first off, of how things are going for me. Since I last posted (on January 18, 2009) I have lost about a little more than 16 lbs. The other day I was at the store with my husband and he, for what I think is probably the first time, actually told me to slow down. He couldn’t keep up with me. I have always been the one to tell him to slow down. LOL :O)
Thankfully I have not had any complications physically. What I do have a little trouble with, still, is getting in 64-plus ounces of fluid in a day. I have never been one that drank a lot of fluid in a day. I can do it, but there are just days where I am so busy that I don’t think about holding a cup in my hands and sipping, sipping, sipping away at it. I am now able to eat solids and honestly can eat just about anything – with certain exceptions of course. So far I am handling what is on my list of things that are allowed at this point fairly well. At one of the support groups I went to this month I talked to the nutritionist who told me that it is okay to eat the protein bars at this point. That made me VERY excited! I will eat a protein bar any day over drinking the protein shakes…. mainly because I am a little tired of drinking the protein shakes. I still like to get some ISOPURE in though. These extra protein supplements are now my choice to keep eating. The plan that those who go through St. Vincent Carmel Bariatric Center of Excellence get says that at 12 weeks out we can cut down the additional protein supplements. We are told to make sure we get in 3 servings of Milk every day. I am doing good with getting in 3 ounces of food at each meal now. Sometimes I can’t get it all in but that is mainly if I have eaten a protein bar within 2 hours of eating the regular meal. I also have noticed that in the morning when I go to eat breakfast, or even in the evening if I haven’t eaten anything for an extended time period between lunch and dinner, I get this little “hunger pain” feeling in my stomach. I discussed this with Dr. Gupta at my last check up appointment and she said that at this point I would be okay to drink hot tea or coffee prior to eating as they have found that with others who have had this same issue it helps to “warm up” the stomach muscles. The “hunger pains”, so to speak, don’t “hurt” necessarily but more so it is just annoying. When this happens I find that by the time I take my second bite out of my food I get almost a false fullness feeling. I know that my stomach isn’t full. It can hold more than two bites of food. The hot tea or coffee does help.
Clothing… I finally broke down and bought myself 3 new pair of pants over at the local Goodwill. If I have to get a new pair of pants I’ll get them from Goodwill until I am pretty well set at a plateau at my goal weight. One day I was at the YMCA and while walking on the treadmill I had to constantly pull up my sweat pants… that is when I decided to take that first step and figure out how many pant sizes I went down. Where am I on that? Well, (big grin) I bought pants 6 sizes down, but could have easily gotten them 8 sizes down. I chose the 6 sizes down over the 8 sizes down as I am so used to wearing my clothes slightly big. BUT… I also got 3 new shirts. 2 “large” t-shirts (one long sleeve one short to be layered one over the other) in regular ladies size and 1 “XL” shirt from the juniors! THAT was an exciting moment.
Another interesting thing I am starting to notice… There are a few who know me but didn’t recognize me at first glance! Ohhh the expressions are almost priceless. They just do this double take and then have this look of total shock on their face. A few have just looked at me with the thought written across their face of “is this seriously her”? LOL. I just chuckle. I have had a few ask what kind of diet I was on. A former co-worker asked me if I work out at the Y as she thought that she saw me but didn’t say anything because she wasn’t sure. All that with only being down 44 lbs. I am curious as to what it be like when I get down to my goal. :O)
So… for those of you just starting the process or who have just had their surgery… you will have this all start happening too. I’ve heard the stories of MANY others who have gone through this before me and it just seemed so surreal. But, it is true… people around you that know you do respond differently…. they are excited for you, they are surprised, they are curious, some don’t know how to respond (and do not realize that their confusion on how to respond is written all over their face). Be ready to have some humor and respond with something that will make them laugh. I told a former student that I had who looked totally confused as to why I had changed so quickly “it’s okay… I’m just shedding little pieces at a time of my ‘Big Mama’ costume”. I am secure within myself, and you have to be, to be able to admit that I was NOT at a healthy weight and instead of feeling bad about that… instead of being self-conscious… I prefer to use that condition that I was in as a stepping stone for better understanding. You can truly say that you understand when you have had to live it. This isn’t a surgery that can be taken lightly (as you have heard said many times) and you aren’t being given a free ride (as you may have also heard). You have to work the tool. You have to exercise, you have to take the vitamins and calcium every day for the rest of your life, you have to…. well… you should know… and if you need to know then check out the info on my blog site or many of the other sites out there that discuss it all.
Okay… now… I’m done with my own personal update. WOW… that was a long one. Sorry about that. Probably wouldn’t be so long if I would take the time to update more often. I’ll work on doing this better.
Two final thoughts… Product Review…
If you live in an area where there is a Kroger grocery store… go pick up some Kroger brand CARBmaster yogurt. It is 80 calories (which is less than other brands out there.. well.. that I have seen), has 3 Net Carbs and 12g Protein!!! I cannot get over this yogurt. It is just truly wonderful.
Kroger brand CARBmaster yogurt
Website to take a look at: http://www.livestrong.com
Take a stroll on this amazingly cool site that is brought to us by the Lance Amstrong organization. You can register for free and take part of some very cool features… like a food tracker that is better than any that I have yet found online, a inches lost measurement tracker, a weight loss tracker, exercise tracker, etc. Check out “The Daily Plate” section. I believe that you will be extremely pleased with this site as I know that I quickly am becoming.
Till next time…
~Tammy~
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