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.