3 Months

My 3 month check up with Dr. Brader went very well. My blood work showed a slight deficit in Vitamins A and D. So I'm taking an extra supplement to keep those levels up. I was borderline ok with my iron. But I did reveal to Kevin, my dietician, that I take my iron pill every other day due to the havoc it causes on my bowels. After a little hand slap, I agreed to take it every day. Dr. Brader was impressed with my results being ahead of the game. He told me a weird stat that rural patients between month 3 and 6 lose 25 pounds and urban patients lose 30 pounds. So, he said he will give me the urban stat to meet even though I am rural. So, my next goal for month 6 is 30 more pounds which will put me at 185 and into "onederland". Dr. B gave me an preemptive congrats on hitting the 100's. That has been seen since, since, since...I don't know when. I didn't really weigh myself too much back then. I can measure better by pant size.
Yes, it's been 3 months. So hard to believe that much time has passed. I guess that's a good thing. It means that the struggle isn't so bad. There are aspects of my life that are changing and becoming habit. It's a strange feeling to be turning into someone who looks different and does different things. Sure, I think there are parts of me that are the same. I'm still sarcastic, bossy (recently reminded of this by my own mother), independent, like to laugh and still enjoy bad reality television. My hope is to not lose who I am as the weight is coming off. But this is what I have noticed recently after losing almost 60 pounds; people are nicer to and include me more in conversations. Now, is this because I'm thinner or is it because I'm happier and more approachable? This is something to ponder. But I can feel myself becoming happier and embracing things with a more positive attitude. Not a bad "side effect" of weight loss surgery.

2 1/2 Months Progress

Its been a long time since my last post. Im back to work and very busy. I am adjusting nicely to the crazy days spent with 19 7/8 year olds and other crazy adults!
The first picture is my two month progress. The second picture shows my 2.5 month progress. I've also hit a goal of losing my first 50 lbs. as of this morning! It's hard to believe that I am 50 lbs lighter. I can feel how much of a difference I can move. Another new thing I can do is cross my legs freely. If you have never been severely overweight, you may not know the feeling of not being able to cross your legs. My next non-surgery goal is to sit criss-cross-applesauce. For all the non-teachers reading this, that means Indian style. Always trying to be politically correct. Hehe. I can already get up and down on the carpet easier with my students. But I'm hoping to sit like them, as well.
Another victory is lowering my pants size. At my highest weight I was wearing size 24W! I'm now able to fit into an 18. It's a good feeling to walk into a dressing room with what you think will fit only to try them on and they are too big! Goodbye 20s!
I've been realizing how much of a stress eater I was. I've had a few times of leaving school totally stressed out and my brain was telling me to order bad food from the local pizza place on the way home so I could gorge my stress away or come home and make a cocktail. Um, those are not options I have right now. So, I try to decompress in other ways like go for a walk, shop, lay down & meditate, make a an iced coffee drink. I'm learning that I can find other outlets that don't leave me feeling guilty and bloated. I will admit I did partake in my first alcohol in months after some hair color trauma. The wine was accepted by my stomach and system with flying colors! But I know everything has to be in moderation.
This journey has sure been a process of learning and reflection. I'm taking the steps toward bettering myself physically and mentally. I am very fortunate to have a line of supporters waving me on each day!

1 Month

Can you believe it? It's been one month since my surgery. What a difference one month can make. Look at those pictures! The past month has kind of flown by. It seems weird to say that because there were some days that were a struggle and seemed to last an eternity. But that'a in the past. I'm moving forward to the "losers bench". This bench is one I am excited to be sitting on.

I met with my beloved dietician, Kevin, this week to discuss my next stage: soft foods. Soft foods are basically anything you can eat without using a knife. Think of crock pot meals. This is a great stage to be in, so far. But I am realizing that the amounts I am used to cooking will require a bit of adjusting. Right after my appointment, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few items. I bought some cod and haddock because they were on sale. That night I chose the haddock and put a little olive oil and dried pesto on to make a rub and added some roasted red peppers. Yummy! I ate 4 oz of the fish, about half of the filet and a few peppers. The rest is in the fridge waiting. I've been pretty fortunate that everything I have tried has been agreeing with mini stomach. This is not always the case with fellow sleevers.

When I had my appointment, Kevin also shared a study with me about a group of sleevers in Ohio. Because this is a rather newer weight loss surgery in the states, there is not a lot of long-term information. But this study did share that on average most sleevers lost 83% of their excess body weight. There is a whole big mathematical way to figure this out (math is not my strong ability). But bottom line is that I can lose enough weight to put me at 154 pounds. Now this sounds great to me. But the more I thought, I have no idea how I would look or feel at this weight. Considering my first diet (cabbage soup and low carb) was in 5th grade when I was around 10 years old, it's hard to remember what I weighed then. If you do the math (this math isn't too hard), that means I have been dieting and struggling with food addiction for 31 years. That's a mighty long time folks. This was a difficult decision to make for myself. I am sure glad that I took this step to have a tool to help me have a healthful, more enjoyable life.

Not sure what 154 is like. That sure seems like a long way off. Right now I'm just shooting for something called "one-derland". Try to figure that out what that means. That's your homework assignment. You can leave your answer in the comment section below.

Plugging Away

This past week or so has been a tough one. I was really good at following all of the rules. I was hitting my protein level, taking my vitamins, exercising, eating 3 ounces every 2-3 hours and trying hard to drink 64 ounces of water or liquid. But even with following the rules, many of you know I not always good at following rules, I hit a stall. A halt. A stop. Das kaput! How frustrating. But from what I read on some Vertical Sleeve websites from other posters, this is a normal thing and happens to all patients. Well, even though this is normal it sure doesn't make it easy to look at the scale staying right around the same number. I mean I'm only eating 600-800 calories a day! That has never happened in my pre -surgery days. Maybe each meal had that many calories or more.
That scale is every weight loss person's  enemy. I finally have come to realize a few days ago that weighing myself twice every day was becoming excessive and messing with my brain. So, I have decided to weigh myself on Saturdays only. Yes, not 14 times a week, ONCE a week. This may help me not get so down on myself to not see the scale moving faster. Isn't funny how we think that scale will move after one good day or after one trip to the gym. Not the case people. The body doesn't quite work that way no matter how much we wish it would.
I am proud to report that the stall has been broken as of Saturday. I saw a lower number! Yes! You can keep track of my weight loss at the top of this blog. I added a ticker that measures my progress. The starting weight was when I had my first appointment back in August. I lost 20 pounds before surgery.

Thanks for reading and supporting me on my journey. I'm hoping to educate you along the way and give me some writing therapy as well.

Puree Foods Stage 2

Today was an exciting day! For the past two weeks I was not very eager to jump out of bed to go and "eat" some more liquids. But today I couldn't wait to get up to scramble an egg. Yes, that was my breakfast. I sprinkled some cheddar shreds to add some more protein. Did I tell you that I have a protein goal of 70 grams a day? It's harder than you think. Anyways, back to the wonderful scrambled egg breakfast. Not only did it taste like a golden fluffiness, but it felt great to use the stove again. Yes, it still works! I couldn't quite finish the egg. It filled me up! It took about 15-20 minutes to eat with one of my tiny espresso spoons.
For lunch I enjoyed some pureed tuna, avocado, lime juice and a little mayo. As eager as I was, I could only eat 2 oz. I don't know if my stomach knew what to do with this slightly more solid food. But it tasted splendid!
I had a protein shake as a mid afternoon snack to up my protein. I'm loving the pre-made ones from Costco with a little bit of PB2 added. It's like a Resee's peanut butter cup!
Dinner was a ricotta cheese bake recipe I found from another weight loss surgery blog. It was delish! Definitely good for an Italian craving that I was having. If you know me, you know my strong relationship with cheese. Cheese seduced me at a young age (the bite from the corner of the 1 lb. cheese  slices story) and just has NEVER stopped romancing me. Today was a great day!

My protein total for the day is 64 grams. Not too shabby.
calories:530
water: 40 oz (24 more to go)
exercise: none

Hoping this gives you an idea of my eating/drinking. Believe me, I never thought 2 oz of anything would ever fill me up. I don't really feel hungry and have to look at the clock to know when to eat. This is a very new feeling for this Chubbarella!

Two weeks post-op

2 weeks post-op
Today marks my 2 week surgi-versary. Ok, I know usually people don’t celebrate 2 weeks of something. But this has been a bit longer than a 2 week journey for me. This journey started back in July at a group informational meeting to learn more about weight loss surgery options.
There is where I met the doctor and other people on is team. I was extremely nervous to have the courage to even go to this meeting. I am usually a non-committal type person. I didn’t want to get locked into something without fully looking at my options. So, needles to say, my guard was up at this meeting. Were these scammer people who just wanted my money and my body for research? I sat back and listened the doctor explain the 3 surgeries available the lap band (the oneI originally wanted), the vertical sleeve, and the gastric by-pass. At the end of the meeting, I had to submit my insurance information. Ah, ha! Yeah, right like my insurance is going to cover this procedure. Not very likely, right? I knew I wasn’t going to have a procedure without the help of insurance. Well, I left thinking that the insurance piece of this process would be my way out. I tried. It didn’t work. I can still be fat. That was not the case. At my first appointment at Dr. Brader’s office I met with 3 different people. They wait until your last person to tell you about the insurance piece. And surprisingly enough, my amazing health insurance was going to cover ALL of the surgery(minus my $200 deductible)! Wow! This was reality hitting me right in the face! Now there was no easy excuse out. My insurance did require a supervised diet and exercise plan and I had to loose 10 pounds. Ok, this non-committal girl just made a commitment to a new, healthy lifestyle. And yes, I had to admit I needed help (more about that on another post).
So, this has been a 6 month journey so far. For the last 2 weeks I have been on a liquid only diet. Yes, only liquids. I am so sick of protein drinks, soups, jello. Blech… Tomorrow starts Stage 2. Pureed foods! I know, I know, to most of you this may sound disgusting. But I am looking so forward to eating pureed eggs, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, pureed tuna and chicken salad. I’m hoping my new little stomach enjoys the new foods I introduce to it starting tomorrow.