Dinner, digital numbers and shopping

It has been just over a month since my surgery and even though I have been adding certain food items back into my diet there are so many I haven't tried. There are even food items I haven't had the desire to try and others that I am afraid to try. However, that is all for another post. I will say that I have been wanting to add more flavors to what I have been eating. Can I add spices, will my body react negatively to what I add? So tonight I tried something. I made an individual lasagna without the noodles! Yes, you read that correctly I made a meat lasagna without the pasta! I had all the ingredients; sauce, turkey meatballs, ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese. I took a small baking dish for one and put some sauce on the bottom. I then added some ricotta cheese. In order not to use too much ricotta cheese, I mixed it with fat free cottage cheese, garlic salt, and oregano. I then added the turkey meatballs (2 oz total) which I cut up to create the third layer. Then it was more sauce, the ricotta cheese mixture and finally I sprinkled some mozzarella cheese. I baked this for 20 minutes and it was FABULOUS!!!

It was just the flavor I needed without a lot of calories. I measured everything:
Less than 1/4 cup of sauce
1/4 cup of ricotta cheese mixture
2 oz of turkey meatballs
1 tablespoon of mozzarella cheese

I really enjoyed my dinner tonight and I finished it off with dessert ... 1/2 cup of watermelon

In order to make this all work I have to weigh and measure all my food. I can not eyeball anything. For me this is the only way I can stay in control. Even though my stomach is smaller doesn't mean that my relationship with food is cured. This is something I need to work on every day!!

The other thing I have to work on every day is my relationship with the digital box or what is normally called the scale. Every time those digital numbers show up on the box and stare back they have a power over me. I have hid my scale for now. I am trying, very hard, only to weigh myself once a month. I need to focus on other things other than the numbers on the scale. This new journey is about more than just the numbers on the scale. One day at a time but for now the digital box has been hidden! September 20th should be my next  weigh in date!

So speaking of focusing on other things other than the numbers on the scale ... I went shopping this weekend. I had a coupon for Kohl's so I thought I should pick up a few things. I ended up purchasing two pairs of pants; a few shirts and a dress. I went into the store not really knowing what size I was, so I knew I would have to try everything on. After trying on several or should I say a lot of items, I realized that I am down 3 pant sizes and 2 sizes in the tops. This was a big day...and I am hoping I won't be wearing these new clothes for very long!

Always learning something during this new journey!

One month post surgery

Today was my one month post-surgery follow-up with my doctor. During my appointment we discussed my diabetes daily number readings, my high blood pressure and the weight I have lost so far. I shared that my daily numbers have been in normal range and I am not taking any diabetes medication at this time. We then discussed my blood pressure which is low and once again I am off that medication too. After we discussed this, my doctor had a huge smile on his face and said, well wasn't that our goal? I smiled and said yes, that was our first goal, to be medication free. We can now check that off the list! The surgeon laughed and then said the weight-loss is just extra. I am losing about 4.5 pounds per week and I am down a total of 27 pounds since the two week pre-surgery diet started.

We continued the appointment and talked about my food intake, any problems I may be having and also exercising. I shared with him that so far I hadn't had any negative reactions to any food I have tried. Since leaving the hospital I only had the one incident of bad indigestion and other than that I have been pain free. Once we covered that I was excited to tell him about my exercise. With a smile on my face I told him I was back running routinely and I had also been swimming and biking! I shared with him that I had discussed my nutritional intake when exercising with the nutritionist and he thought I was right on track. The doctor's final question for me, "so are you happy with your decision to have the surgery"? I said so far I am very happy!

I have been attending a support group for bariatric surgery patients in the area. The support group is fabulous. In the group there are patients who have had the surgery years ago and some like me who had the surgery weeks ago. Last week the discussion was about how much you share with people about your surgery. When it was my turn to talk I laughed and said I am an open book. I said prior to the surgery I told certain friends and family and based on their positive support it made it easier for me to go through with my decision. Since the surgery I shared with the group that I have been keeping a blog and sharing my news with everyone. Keeping this "journal" helps me but I do hope it does or someday will help others too. Since I am a newbie in the support group I also shared how my recent surgery went and post-surgery had been going. I think I shocked the group when I shared that I was back running 11 days post surgery!! I have to tell you I am very proud of the fact that I got back into my workouts. I have been taking it slow, but it was important to me to get back into my routine!

Since I am one month post surgery I was able to incorporate additional food into my diet. This week I tried whole wheat toast (noticed I said toast and not bread), lowfat wheat thins, and some cheese. I had been eating chicken, eggs and most recently soft meatloaf. I made the meatloaf myself with ground turkey, hamburg, and oatmeal. I am not able to add breadcrumbs so I added oatmeal instead. I have found since having this surgery sometimes it is the little things that make you happy. Adding the toast, wheat thins and cheese made my week. So far there haven't been any negative side affects to adding these food items. Plus wheat thins always make me think of two greats friends ... so that added an extra smile to my face!

Answering my doctor's question again ... Yes, I am happy with my decision to go forward with this surgery!

Clothes, workouts and swimsuits

Just after my surgery and being released from the hospital, with the help of my sister, I organized my clothes. If you struggle with your weight like I did and went up and down the scale, I can assume that you have a closet filled with many different sizes. I had a closet and two bins filled with clothes. So with my sister's help we sorted the clothes by size. I then tried some on and decided what I would keep and what I would donate, knowing I would never wear them again. This was two weeks ago and after we sorted the clothes we donated an entire bin to the rescue mission.

For the next week I didn't wear many different outfits. I was still home from work and pretty much wore yoga pants, t-shirts and my pajamas. So when I finally returned to work I started to wear the clothes that we organized. If you don't step on the digital box (scale) every day trying on clothes is a nice way to judge how you are doing. My first day back I wore a dress that I realized I may not be wearing again. I am losing weight, which is the plan, and I am losing it in my upper body area first. So with this in mind my bras are loser and so are many tops and the tops of dresses. On Friday I brought another bag of clothes to a consignment shop. The shop took half the clothes I brought to them and I made $24 off of what I was giving away. Instead of bringing the remaining clothes home I brought them to the Salvation Army and donated them there.As time goes on I have a feeling that donating clothes and bringing them to consignment shops will become part of my routine.

I have continued my workouts since the surgery and they have included walking, running, biking and swimming. I have been taking it easy because I am still trying to balance my nutrition with my effort level. So when I got on my bike, I was on my trainer and road for about 30 easy minutes. I was so excited to get back in the pool, which I did for the first time last week. I didn't go too hard but I had to move quickly because I was swimming in between thunder storms. I was able to get a good 22 minute swim complete before the thunder began. In between raindrops I have also been able to get a few runs in too. Today I completed a 3 mile run and it felt great. I have been run/walking as to not over do it. For every minute that I run I then walk the same amount. It isn't fast but I am covering the miles.

As I mentioned I went swimming last week. A few years ago I bought several new bathing suits but did not use them all in the first season. At the beginning of this summer I brought out one of those suits and used it for the first time. The suit fit fine all summer until I tried it on last week. It was much bigger than the last time I wore it. Guess who will be checking out SwimOutlet.com very soon?!? Oh the fun has begun!

Stay tuned I head back to the nutritionist this week!

Work, Workouts and Eggs!!

 
It has been two weeks since my surgery and yesterday I returned to work. I returned to an overflowing email inbox and gratitude to be back on the job. After seeing the doctor on Friday and talking with my boss we came to the decision that I would return to work but only part-time for this first week. I have to admit I still get tired in the afternoon but getting back to work feels great.

Since being cleared to workout on Friday I haven't missed a day. Saturday and Sunday I ran. Yesterday I biked and today I walked. Needed to get something done but I was tired so I figured walking was better than nothing. The workouts have felt great but still need to keep them easy. Until I meet with the nutritionist I can't increase the miles or the intensity. I am hoping with the help of the nutritionist I can learn how to balance my nutritional intake with increasing my miles.

The biggest update I have for this week is I can start adding some solid food to daily intake. For the last two weeks I have following a liquid diet. The most solid item I was able to eat was yogurt. However, I had to add milk to it to make sure it was more of a liquid. The problem with eating yogurt every day is I don't really like yogurt. Prior to the surgery I ate yogurt occasionally but not every day. So after eating it for two weeks I was looking for something else. I am slowly adding certain items back into my diet like unsweetened applesauce, bananas and eggs. However, in order to add these items I had to go to Wegman's first.

On my list was Eggs, Milk, bananas, applesauce, gazpacho (purred veggies), chicken, and light mayo. I was never so excited to go grocery shopping. I went to get the soup first, then I picked up some chicken, bananas, milk and eggs. I then had to discover what was the best kind of unsweetened applesauce I should buy and also mayo with little sugar. Come to find out Mayo with olive oil doesn't have any sugar ... who knew?!?

The other item I was going to investigate was baby food. Yes, you read that correctly baby food! Due to the fact that during this period of post surgical diet everything has to be blended, mashed or pureed, many weight loss surgery patients suggested I try some baby food. It comes in the correct serving size, there is no sugar added and if you try the stage II jars they are usually chicken, turkey etc and they have plenty of protein.

Well first I had to find the baby food. Obviously, not having any children, this is not an item I normally buy. So as I wonder the aisles at Wegman's I finally discover that baby food  is not where I would have displayed it. Sure it is on the same aisle as diapers and baby wipes but it is not with other food, but that isn't important. I discovered a few things as I was checking out all the jars of baby food. First I feel bad for babies because none of the jars seemed very appetizing and second baby food is very expensive!! Well, after weighing all my options I decided on three Gerber jars (at .99 a jar) of chicken and gravy. When I get up the courage to try it I will let you know!!

In the mean time tonight I had a scrambled egg and a 1/4 cup of applesauce!! I love eggs!!

There is always an adventure on this new journey!

First Run Complete ... Post Surgery

Here it is ... I completed my first run post surgery. It was an easy 35 minute run/walk and I felt great. I will admit I was nervous when I first started. I didn't know what to expect. However, as the minutes passed by the nerves disappeared and I felt like I could have run for ever!

I didn't want to over do it on my first time out but I was quite surprised at how well it went. For a while it will be easy runs until I can balance distance with nutrition. Understanding what my body can handle and what it can take in during endurance training is so important.

So what will I do today ... I am going back and forth between another run or a swim. I haven't decided yet.

Back to work tomorrow...I have to set my alarm...ugh! Just kidding I really do want to go back to work.

So many more adventures ahead ... stay tuned!

10 days post surgery -- staples are removed.

Five Weeks Before Surgery --(hope the family doesn't mind)

Yesterday was a big milestone in this new journey, post surgery, My staples were removed! I had six incisions and about 3 staples per incision. I was anticipating a lot of pain from previous staple and stitches being removed, but to my surprise I didn't even know that it was happening. My surgeon was on vacation so I met with aphysician assistant named Chris. He was the same individual who discharged me from the hospital so I have met him before. We discussed my week post surgery and what I had experienced so far; the indigestion over the weekend ... I have been advised to continue with the prilosec.

We continued to discuss the fact that my blood pressure had dropped and my daily blood sugar levels were in normal range. I told him that I saw a number earlier that week that I had never seen before after pricking my finger. The number was 85 and I had to google to find out if that number was too low or normal. Come to find out it is in the normal range! It is amazing how fast the numbers drop.

We discussed going back to work and travel, since my job includes so much of that. I am going back to work on Monday but part-time. I will be back full time on the 15th of August. As far as travel is concerned I have been cleared to add that back to my life on August 23rd, which is one month post surgery.

The final discussion was about my workouts ... when can I run, bike or swim? Prior to surgery, I was told to plan on three weeks. Chris informed me that I could start those back up again. I am to take it easy and listen to my body. Keeping in mind that I am still trying to figure out my nutrition on a daily bases never mind for my workouts. I am looking forward to that first run ...it will be happening later today.

I am sure you are all wondering, what I couldn't wait to find out when I arrived at the doctor's office. What did the scale say? Oh the power of those digital numbers!! Well, I was down 10 lbs since the surgery and a total of 20 lbs since my pre-op appointment. That appointment took place just prior to starting the pre-surgery diet (shakes, protein bars and veggies). Of course being the numbers girl that I am (ha ha ha) I instantly wanted to know if I was on track ... my biggest fear in all of this to be the freak who has the surgery and doesn't lose any weight! As of right now I am on track!!

Another day on this journey!!

Tuesday, July 12th - 2 weeks before surgery

Monday, July 25th - the day before surgery

Monday, July 25th the day before surgery

Two weeks before surgery

One Week Since Surgery

View from my hospital bed ...books, magazines and the TV remote!

One day at a time...that's what I have to keep telling myself. It has been one week since my surgery. I spent three full days in the hospital following the procedure for observation. I spent my time sleeping, reading, watching the Democratic National Convention and walking the halls of the hospital. I was told that I needed to walk as much as possible so every hour I was up and at it! After the first 24 hours of not drinking I was allowed to start taking in some nutrition ... started off small but I was so excited. My first drink was a cup of tea! Is anyone surprised??

The photo on the right is the amount I could drink times 2 per hour. That is correct 2 oz of liquid per hour. And my options were broth, tea, water or Crystal light! I did discover during this time that I really like vegetable broth vs chicken broth. It is much more appetizing!

During this time I was poked and prodded. My temperature, blood pressure and oxygen levels were taken every two hours. I was hooked up to an IV drip and my blood sugar levels were tested. Prior to the surgery individuals with diabetes who had this procedure told me that their blood sugar levels dropped instantly. I had this in the back of my mind every time they tested my levels and the numbers were not coming down. I was in shock and thought of course this could only happen to me. It wasn't until my surgeon stopped in on day two that he explained why the numbers were up. The IV drip had sugar water in it along with some other medications. He said as soon as they remove the IV the numbers would go down.He was right, my numbers did drop! I am happy to report ... my medication has stayed on the shelf and I haven't taken any of it!

So I have been home from the hospital for five days and every day has been an adventure. Learning how to drink and eat again is not an easy feet. Prior to surgery if I was thirsty I would just pour a glass of water and drink it down. Instead I have had to learn to sip the water and drink it slowly. If it goes down too quickly it can cause such discomfort. This is also true of any food or drink that I take in.

On Sunday evening I had my first scare since the surgery. I ended up with painful indigestion. It hurt to move and breath. I couldn't even sleep. By 1:00 AM I was in so much pain I almost went to the ER. Instead I called the on-call doctor to find out what I could do? I spoke to the doctor and he instructed me to take some prilosec and also the pain medication they gave me when I left the hospital. I hadn't taken the pain medication yet because I wasn't in any pain from the surgery. The doctor felt that if I took it that night it would help me relax and sleep. He was correct! The medication knocked me out. I ended up sleeping in a chair that night, which surprisingly was very comfortable. The next morning I woke not perfect but feeling 100% better than I was feeling.

Since that one incident I have been feeling great. I have been walking, still not cleared to run yet, and feeling well. On Friday I have my staples removed and then it is back to work on Monday. It is only the beginning of this new journey. Every day I am learning something new. Keep in mind I am only taking in liquids at this point. If it wasn't for my sister I don't think I could have gotten through this first week. Thank you!!

The adventure continues...I am off for a walk now!

Tuesday, July 26th ...Surgery Day!

A new beginning? Out with the old and in with the new? Directions given to me to follow pre-surgery; no food after 9 pm and only clear liquids were allowed up until 6:30 am. Due to the fact that my surgery was scheduled for 9:30 am, I needed to be at the hospital at 8:00 am. So on Tuesday, July 25th, in the morning I had some water, brushed my teeth and headed to the hospital with my sister. As soon as I entered the hospital a series of questions started ... what is your name, date of birth and what surgery are you having??? I wanted to make a sign after a while, as a few times I actually stumbled over my own name! So after being checked-in, hooked up to an IV and having answered the same questions several times it was hurry up and wait ...my surgery was delayed over 2 hours ...keep in mind I haven't had anything to drink since 6:30 am, I was getting thirsty.

Well I finally got wheeled into surgery and I don't remember a thing about that, so obviously the anesthesia was working.  I do remember, however, talking with the anesthesiologist, prior to being put out, about the surgery and hoping to become a faster runner and/or triathlete (not the reason for the surgery). He laughed and said as a triathlete I usually just by a faster bike! Maybe I will try that too ... but not right now.

After surgery I woke up in my hospital room still hooked up to the IV and not able to drink anything, I was thirsty. I wasn't hungry or dehydrated, because the IV was taking care of that but my mouth was dry. I wasn't able to take anything in until Wednesday morning when my doctor came in and cleared me for that. The highlight of this time was when a nurses aid came into my room around 10 pm and asked if I wanted to wash up before bed. She told me I could brush my teeth and when I heard that I was so excited. You would have thought I heard "you won the lottery"!. I was able to brush my teeth and rinse my mouth ... it was like being in heaven! I know it is the simple things in life.

After that I headed to bed feeling refreshed knowing that throughout the night, I would be woken up every 2 hours to have my vital signs taken! A hospital is not a great place for rest!

Stay tuned for more stories to come ...