Why do I overeat?
I have been thinking a lot about obesity, why some of us choose to eat too much, whether it is addiction or addictive personality, etc. And of course, that is leading me down the path of trying to figure out why I overeat, when I began to overeat, when I first realized I was fat. I have 3 brothers and none of them are obese. All of them have had short periods of time where they got a little overweight but they took control, lost the weight, and have stayed pretty fit and healthy. Why am I different?
We grew up pretty poor and food was sometimes kind of scarce. The food we did have to eat was not of great quality and our mom was not a good cook. I was pretty skinny as a child and I don't remember food being much of an issue. I was very active, always outdoors, always playing, running, riding bikes, you name it so I probably would've been skinny no matter what we had to eat. I remember lots and lots of bologna. To this day I don't like it, had enough as a kid I guess. I remember being upset when dad butchered our rabbits and made Hasenpfeffer. But other than those 2 memories I don't recall much surrounding food.
When I eloped with DH at 16 I was pretty thin. We hardly had 2 pennies to rub together and ate cheap. Lots of things made with ground beef, hot dogs, that sort of thing. We were in the military and made very little money and had to stretch it between paydays. I was still pretty thin and even after my daughter who was born when I was 17, I still didn't have a weight problem. I guess it was after my eldest son was born when I was 22 that I began to pack on the pounds. I was a stay at home mom and I didn't have a car so I guess I began to use food as a companion. I would bake a lot, especially cookies and when the kids would nap I would get a big glass of milk and a plateful of cookies and watch TV while I scarfed them down without paying much attention to what I was doing. Mindless eating...I think that has been part of my downfall and I am still struggling with it. For at least 40 years I have been eating while watching television, reading a book or doing something on the computer. It is hard to change habits that have continued for that long. I still find myself doing it and it is a big no-no on the list of things I have to do for my success.
I don't have any answers for you as to what was making me overeat for so many years. I am and will continue to explore and try to recognize what it is that causes me to do it and if I come up with any answers, you, my blog readers, will be the first to know!
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.Thursday, September 26, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
Day 26 Post-Op
Coming up on 4 weeks since the surgery. Some days it feels like it has been a long time and I have to remind myself that this is still new. I kind of messed up but not in a bad way. I have been doing 2 weeks of the pureed diet but when I re-read my info it says I only do 1 week of pureed. It certainly hasn't hurt me but I am ready for more normal texture and perhaps more choices. I will be moving to the soft phase of the eating plan. No more having to make everything the texture of baby food or applesauce, yay!
I have been struggling a little with some head hunger. Just normal life situations, for example, yesterday DH made baby back ribs for the rest of the family. Several hours of slow cooking with that wonderful smell permeating the entire house. I caught myself imagining trying to eat some of them. But after a few minutes and a little self-talk I was okay.
Then today we went to my grandson's football game. Afterwards they all wanted to go to Cold Stone Creamery. My oldest son, Eric, is dieting so at least I didn't have to be the only one not indulging. It was a little bit hard. My granddaughter, Kaitlin, had a Chai flavored ice cream in one of those chocolate dipped waffle bowls. That would've been my container of choice back in the day. My Kaitlin is a beautiful 14 y/o dancer and has that body. It was interesting to watch her eat her ice cream. I would've eaten every bite and also consumed the entire chocolate waffle bowl but she ate some of the ice cream and nibbled on the edges of the waffle bowl. She left most of it for the trash. I keep reminding myself that is how thin people eat. The lesson I took away from the experiences is that this is still going to be really hard. Up until now I haven't really thought that much about food other than the things I can currently have but I have to live in the real world and figure out ways not to feel so deprived in situations like this. Don't get me wrong, I was fine, I got through it but it was a wake up call for the rest of my life.
Today my weight was 204.8 so I have officially hit the 40 pounds lost mark! What I am really having a hard time with is the fact that I don't feel so much better. I guess that somehow I thought my fibromyalgia and my painful joints and my energy level (read that as, having no energy at all) would improve or maybe go away. And they still might but I am sad that I don't feel a lot better yet. I just thought I would. I am getting all my vitamins every day. I am getting at least 60 grams of protein so I don't know. DH wants me to talk to the docs about it so I guess I will...eventually.
I know this wasn't a very uplifting post and that is just not me. Perhaps I am going through some of what the gals at www.bariatrictv.com call wls puberty. Apparently your hormones are carried in your fat cells and when you lose weight you get a sudden influx of those hormones to your system. I am sure feeling emotional the last few days so maybe that is what it is. I will keep you posted, my friends.
Coming up on 4 weeks since the surgery. Some days it feels like it has been a long time and I have to remind myself that this is still new. I kind of messed up but not in a bad way. I have been doing 2 weeks of the pureed diet but when I re-read my info it says I only do 1 week of pureed. It certainly hasn't hurt me but I am ready for more normal texture and perhaps more choices. I will be moving to the soft phase of the eating plan. No more having to make everything the texture of baby food or applesauce, yay!
I have been struggling a little with some head hunger. Just normal life situations, for example, yesterday DH made baby back ribs for the rest of the family. Several hours of slow cooking with that wonderful smell permeating the entire house. I caught myself imagining trying to eat some of them. But after a few minutes and a little self-talk I was okay.
Then today we went to my grandson's football game. Afterwards they all wanted to go to Cold Stone Creamery. My oldest son, Eric, is dieting so at least I didn't have to be the only one not indulging. It was a little bit hard. My granddaughter, Kaitlin, had a Chai flavored ice cream in one of those chocolate dipped waffle bowls. That would've been my container of choice back in the day. My Kaitlin is a beautiful 14 y/o dancer and has that body. It was interesting to watch her eat her ice cream. I would've eaten every bite and also consumed the entire chocolate waffle bowl but she ate some of the ice cream and nibbled on the edges of the waffle bowl. She left most of it for the trash. I keep reminding myself that is how thin people eat. The lesson I took away from the experiences is that this is still going to be really hard. Up until now I haven't really thought that much about food other than the things I can currently have but I have to live in the real world and figure out ways not to feel so deprived in situations like this. Don't get me wrong, I was fine, I got through it but it was a wake up call for the rest of my life.
Today my weight was 204.8 so I have officially hit the 40 pounds lost mark! What I am really having a hard time with is the fact that I don't feel so much better. I guess that somehow I thought my fibromyalgia and my painful joints and my energy level (read that as, having no energy at all) would improve or maybe go away. And they still might but I am sad that I don't feel a lot better yet. I just thought I would. I am getting all my vitamins every day. I am getting at least 60 grams of protein so I don't know. DH wants me to talk to the docs about it so I guess I will...eventually.
I know this wasn't a very uplifting post and that is just not me. Perhaps I am going through some of what the gals at www.bariatrictv.com call wls puberty. Apparently your hormones are carried in your fat cells and when you lose weight you get a sudden influx of those hormones to your system. I am sure feeling emotional the last few days so maybe that is what it is. I will keep you posted, my friends.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Diabetes
Diabetes...really one of the worst diseases out there. Why is it so bad? Well, let's see...it causes heart problems, it can cause blindness, it can cause you to lose limbs, usually legs, it can shut down your kidneys, it causes neuropathy in your feet and elsewhere. And that is just some of the complications. Now diabetes is not just a disease of the obese, I know lots of obese folks who do not have diabetes (yet) but if you have a genetic tendency to high blood sugars and you become obese you are at a much higher risk. I was diagnosed with diabetes about 17 years ago. Over the years since that diagnosis my blood sugars and therefore my blood tests around the diabetes have grown progressively worse. At the time I first went to see my surgeon, Dr. Joshua Long, I was on Metformin, taking four 500mg. tablets per day, I was on glimepiride, taking two 4mg tablets a day, I was on Victoza, taking an injection of 1.8 units daily and I was injecting 44 units of insulin twice a day. I have read that many diabetics are able to go off their meds with some of them never taking anymore once they leave the hospital. My doctor told me that surely my diabetes would improve but because I have had it for so long odds weren't real good that I would be one of those people. Well, boys and girls, I am here to tell you that as of 2 days ago I am off all of the above mentioned medications. !! Yes, that's right, all of them! My blood sugars, which used to run as high as nearly 500 are now stable at 80 - 120 most of the time. My endocrinologist said even if I have an occasional blood sugar as high as 160, not to worry because as more of my weight comes off those should be a thing of the past. All I can say is...Woo hoo!! For those of you reading this who suffer from diabetes, there is hope!
On a lighter note, I am getting into trouble as far as having any clothes to wear. I have long since given away anything any smaller than a size 20 pants or a 2x top and those are getting really baggy. I can take all of my size 20 jeans off without unbuttoning them. So my dear, sweet niece told me she had a bunch of clothes she would bring over that she can no longer wear due to her weight gain. I was so excited. Day before yesterday, her dad, my brother, brought them by. I spent a couple hours going through 4 large bins of clothes. The 1st bin contained all size 10's, the 2nd bin all size 12's and the other 2 bins contain a bit of both of those sizes and some large sizes. Well, as much as I wish that those would fit me now, we all know you don't go right from a 20 to a 10, there has to be all those in-between sizes first so as cute as many of those clothes are I will have to wait. And to add to the humor I have to tell you...Okay, when it comes to boobs the good Lord just did not bless me with much and no matter how much weight I gain it does not go to my chest. I have a B-cup and I just go from a 36-B to a 38-B to a 40-B, etc., as I need more to go around under the bust. My niece had about 5 bras in the bins that are too small for her now. I had to look. They are 40-DD's. My hubby can only dream, lol!
Down to 206 today, which means 1 more pound and I will have lost 40! I can see those 100's coming! I have seen on a lot of blogs where they call it "Onederland" I am so excited and have to come up with a non-food way to celebrate!
Thanks for listening again today, my friends, see ya' soon!
Diabetes...really one of the worst diseases out there. Why is it so bad? Well, let's see...it causes heart problems, it can cause blindness, it can cause you to lose limbs, usually legs, it can shut down your kidneys, it causes neuropathy in your feet and elsewhere. And that is just some of the complications. Now diabetes is not just a disease of the obese, I know lots of obese folks who do not have diabetes (yet) but if you have a genetic tendency to high blood sugars and you become obese you are at a much higher risk. I was diagnosed with diabetes about 17 years ago. Over the years since that diagnosis my blood sugars and therefore my blood tests around the diabetes have grown progressively worse. At the time I first went to see my surgeon, Dr. Joshua Long, I was on Metformin, taking four 500mg. tablets per day, I was on glimepiride, taking two 4mg tablets a day, I was on Victoza, taking an injection of 1.8 units daily and I was injecting 44 units of insulin twice a day. I have read that many diabetics are able to go off their meds with some of them never taking anymore once they leave the hospital. My doctor told me that surely my diabetes would improve but because I have had it for so long odds weren't real good that I would be one of those people. Well, boys and girls, I am here to tell you that as of 2 days ago I am off all of the above mentioned medications. !! Yes, that's right, all of them! My blood sugars, which used to run as high as nearly 500 are now stable at 80 - 120 most of the time. My endocrinologist said even if I have an occasional blood sugar as high as 160, not to worry because as more of my weight comes off those should be a thing of the past. All I can say is...Woo hoo!! For those of you reading this who suffer from diabetes, there is hope!
On a lighter note, I am getting into trouble as far as having any clothes to wear. I have long since given away anything any smaller than a size 20 pants or a 2x top and those are getting really baggy. I can take all of my size 20 jeans off without unbuttoning them. So my dear, sweet niece told me she had a bunch of clothes she would bring over that she can no longer wear due to her weight gain. I was so excited. Day before yesterday, her dad, my brother, brought them by. I spent a couple hours going through 4 large bins of clothes. The 1st bin contained all size 10's, the 2nd bin all size 12's and the other 2 bins contain a bit of both of those sizes and some large sizes. Well, as much as I wish that those would fit me now, we all know you don't go right from a 20 to a 10, there has to be all those in-between sizes first so as cute as many of those clothes are I will have to wait. And to add to the humor I have to tell you...Okay, when it comes to boobs the good Lord just did not bless me with much and no matter how much weight I gain it does not go to my chest. I have a B-cup and I just go from a 36-B to a 38-B to a 40-B, etc., as I need more to go around under the bust. My niece had about 5 bras in the bins that are too small for her now. I had to look. They are 40-DD's. My hubby can only dream, lol!
Down to 206 today, which means 1 more pound and I will have lost 40! I can see those 100's coming! I have seen on a lot of blogs where they call it "Onederland" I am so excited and have to come up with a non-food way to celebrate!
Thanks for listening again today, my friends, see ya' soon!
Monday, September 16, 2013
Ah, exercise!
I have never been a really active person as an adult. As a kid I was never still, I was a major tomboy and I climbed trees, rode bikes, played crazy games and kept myself moving all the time. I don't know what happened but except for spurts of activity over the years I just haven't exercised much at all. Now here I am, 63 years old, just had gastric bypass and I absolutely have to exercise to help get the weight off and more importantly, to keep it off! But here's the rub; I am now so disabled that I can't do much of anything. I am making a big effort though. I walk on my treadmill about 10 minutes. Before surgery I was getting close to 15 but I have had to kind of start over at the 1 minute point and I am getting to the 10 regularly. Most active people just won't get this, I know. I am on 2 liters of oxygen so that slows me down a little but the main issue is my back and my joints. I have had a knee and a hip replaced and I need the other knee and hip replaced. My replaced knee hurts more than the one I haven't had done so I am not rushing to have another major surgery that might not give me positive results anyway. I walk with a cane and I cannot walk very far or stand up for very long because of something I have in my spine called lumbar stenosis. My prayer is that losing a lot of weight will ease up the pressure on my back and my joints so much that it won't be such an issue. Time will tell and in the interim I am trying to be faithful to my good old treadmill. One of the blogs I love is http://www.300poundsdown.com/. It was the first blog I ever read and Holly continues to inspire me every day. In the beginning she could only walk to her mailbox but she did that and gradually she made it to the next mailbox and then the next. She continued to push herself and at some point on her journey she has run a 5K and she has lost about 240 pounds so far. I have age and physical limitations to fight against, she had a lot more pounds to deal with than I do but the point is to do a little and then do a little more and keep increasing as you can. I just saw this article at The American Journal of Health Promotion about a study that has proven that even little short bouts of exercise are beneficial. Yay! Good news, huh? If you'd like to read it here is the link. http://www.ajhpcontents.com/doi/abs/10.4278/ajhp.120606-QUAL-286 So if you struggle like I do to move for whatever the reason, just do a little. It counts!
On the weight loss front I am down another pound or so. I was stuck for a few days. My weight this morning was 208 down from 245. That is 37 pounds so far! Woo hoo! I am such a slave to the scale! I hope I can someday become the person who only gets on once a week but for now I can't seem to stop myself. That scale just stares at me and says, "Ah come on, you know you have to check!" And I give in to it, lol!
I have never been a really active person as an adult. As a kid I was never still, I was a major tomboy and I climbed trees, rode bikes, played crazy games and kept myself moving all the time. I don't know what happened but except for spurts of activity over the years I just haven't exercised much at all. Now here I am, 63 years old, just had gastric bypass and I absolutely have to exercise to help get the weight off and more importantly, to keep it off! But here's the rub; I am now so disabled that I can't do much of anything. I am making a big effort though. I walk on my treadmill about 10 minutes. Before surgery I was getting close to 15 but I have had to kind of start over at the 1 minute point and I am getting to the 10 regularly. Most active people just won't get this, I know. I am on 2 liters of oxygen so that slows me down a little but the main issue is my back and my joints. I have had a knee and a hip replaced and I need the other knee and hip replaced. My replaced knee hurts more than the one I haven't had done so I am not rushing to have another major surgery that might not give me positive results anyway. I walk with a cane and I cannot walk very far or stand up for very long because of something I have in my spine called lumbar stenosis. My prayer is that losing a lot of weight will ease up the pressure on my back and my joints so much that it won't be such an issue. Time will tell and in the interim I am trying to be faithful to my good old treadmill. One of the blogs I love is http://www.300poundsdown.com/. It was the first blog I ever read and Holly continues to inspire me every day. In the beginning she could only walk to her mailbox but she did that and gradually she made it to the next mailbox and then the next. She continued to push herself and at some point on her journey she has run a 5K and she has lost about 240 pounds so far. I have age and physical limitations to fight against, she had a lot more pounds to deal with than I do but the point is to do a little and then do a little more and keep increasing as you can. I just saw this article at The American Journal of Health Promotion about a study that has proven that even little short bouts of exercise are beneficial. Yay! Good news, huh? If you'd like to read it here is the link. http://www.ajhpcontents.com/doi/abs/10.4278/ajhp.120606-QUAL-286 So if you struggle like I do to move for whatever the reason, just do a little. It counts!
On the weight loss front I am down another pound or so. I was stuck for a few days. My weight this morning was 208 down from 245. That is 37 pounds so far! Woo hoo! I am such a slave to the scale! I hope I can someday become the person who only gets on once a week but for now I can't seem to stop myself. That scale just stares at me and says, "Ah come on, you know you have to check!" And I give in to it, lol!
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Day 18 Post-Op
Well, we are still drowning here in Colorado! It was sunny for a while this morning and then suddenly it got cloudy, tornado sirens started going off, it began to rain really hard then it began to hail also. Our street quickly became a river up over the curbs. I keep expecting cars to start moving from the deep water!
Anyway, onto matters at hand. I am having a lot of pain in my abdomen, just a couple inches above where the drain was. It is a little swollen in that area and I have no clue what the problem is. Yesterday, and last night, I actually took pain medication again and I hadn't done that since Sunday, 5 days before! I guess if it doesn't resolve by Monday I will have to break down and call the doc. I just won't do it on the weekend unless I think I might be dying. My DH gets so upset with me, lol!
Still moving along with the pureed diet. I am finding it almost harder than the liquid diet because I have a few choices and it is making me think more about "real food" and by that I mean food that has some substance to it. I like tuna, I like canned chicken, but I like the chunks not this slurry that I have to turn it into! The flavor is fine, for example, I had some white meat canned chicken and I added a couple Tbs. of cottage cheese to it and a healthy amount of Mrs. Dash seasoning, not too bad! But after reading a blog I love titled http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ and looking at her post about her days of pureed foods, I sent DH to the store for some corned beef hash. Now once I pureed it, it looked almost the same as my refried beans but gosh it tasted good! I have never been much of a fan of hash but for right now it is the best thing I have tasted on this leg of the journey. Woo hoo!!
Well, I guess that is all that is new or different for today. My weight wasn't down any today but I am not worried. Not to get too graphic but I was always very regular with bms. I went every morning like clockwork and now all of that has changed. It looks like every 3-4 days is the norm for now and it's been 3. Hard to lose much weight when you are putting stuff in but not getting anything out. Tomorrow will be the day, I am sure of it, lol!
Well, we are still drowning here in Colorado! It was sunny for a while this morning and then suddenly it got cloudy, tornado sirens started going off, it began to rain really hard then it began to hail also. Our street quickly became a river up over the curbs. I keep expecting cars to start moving from the deep water!
Anyway, onto matters at hand. I am having a lot of pain in my abdomen, just a couple inches above where the drain was. It is a little swollen in that area and I have no clue what the problem is. Yesterday, and last night, I actually took pain medication again and I hadn't done that since Sunday, 5 days before! I guess if it doesn't resolve by Monday I will have to break down and call the doc. I just won't do it on the weekend unless I think I might be dying. My DH gets so upset with me, lol!
Still moving along with the pureed diet. I am finding it almost harder than the liquid diet because I have a few choices and it is making me think more about "real food" and by that I mean food that has some substance to it. I like tuna, I like canned chicken, but I like the chunks not this slurry that I have to turn it into! The flavor is fine, for example, I had some white meat canned chicken and I added a couple Tbs. of cottage cheese to it and a healthy amount of Mrs. Dash seasoning, not too bad! But after reading a blog I love titled http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ and looking at her post about her days of pureed foods, I sent DH to the store for some corned beef hash. Now once I pureed it, it looked almost the same as my refried beans but gosh it tasted good! I have never been much of a fan of hash but for right now it is the best thing I have tasted on this leg of the journey. Woo hoo!!
Well, I guess that is all that is new or different for today. My weight wasn't down any today but I am not worried. Not to get too graphic but I was always very regular with bms. I went every morning like clockwork and now all of that has changed. It looks like every 3-4 days is the norm for now and it's been 3. Hard to lose much weight when you are putting stuff in but not getting anything out. Tomorrow will be the day, I am sure of it, lol!
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Colorado is a desert!
Okay, make sure you realize that is desert not dessert! We are a state that is considered to be high desert. We seldom get much rain and we have been in a drought for a few years but suddenly we are drowning here in Colorado and it is so unusual I'm not sure we know what to do. Flooding, roads washed out, even a few deaths! So sad!
On a different note though. I have been thinking about vitamins. I started on my regimen of bariatric vitamins a few days ago and it is pretty tough. I have to get a handle on it because this is something I will have to do for the rest of my life, and so will you if you have had or are going to have bariatric surgery. It is not optional, it is part of what is going to keep you healthy. If you have a bypass like I had it is especially crucial. Our new, surgically altered systems do not absorb enough nutrients from the foods we eat to keep us healthy. We have to supplement. But wow! Okay, here is what I am taking now. A chewable multivitamin and the one I chose requires that you chew 4 a day. Chewable calcium citrate (you must have this form, not calcium carbonate) the brand I bought requires 4 a day to get your 2000mgs in and they are huge! Vitamin D3, fortunately it is 1 tiny little soft gel.. B-50 Complex - 2 capsules daily, Sublingual B-12, only 1! Then in addition I am taking a chewable iron because I have been anemic most of my life and I have added Biotin because there is some evidence that it might help slow down the hair loss we can all expect to experience to some degree. If you weren't counting, that is 14 pills. And I am still on several medications. This has to be done every single day, we can't blow it off so I am thinking that as time goes on I am going to try really hard to find good replacements that require less pills. I can't afford to toss these out and buy new ones so for now I am stuck but down the road...hopefully there is a better solution. Regardless I will do what I need to. I had this surgery to live longer and maybe get rid of some of the comorbidities that I have been dealing with so I don't want to trade them for diseases caused by lack of vitamins! Are you with me out there!!??
Today I tried mixing my canned white meat chicken with some cottage cheese and a good shake or two of Mrs. Dash's Tomato Basil Garlic Seasoning. It was actually pretty tasty. I am still not really hungry but since I need to eat pureed foods and I need to get in 60-80 grams of protein I figure it can't hurt if it has some flavor, right?
That's all I have for today, have mainly been mulling over the whole vitamin issue and thought I would share!
Okay, make sure you realize that is desert not dessert! We are a state that is considered to be high desert. We seldom get much rain and we have been in a drought for a few years but suddenly we are drowning here in Colorado and it is so unusual I'm not sure we know what to do. Flooding, roads washed out, even a few deaths! So sad!
On a different note though. I have been thinking about vitamins. I started on my regimen of bariatric vitamins a few days ago and it is pretty tough. I have to get a handle on it because this is something I will have to do for the rest of my life, and so will you if you have had or are going to have bariatric surgery. It is not optional, it is part of what is going to keep you healthy. If you have a bypass like I had it is especially crucial. Our new, surgically altered systems do not absorb enough nutrients from the foods we eat to keep us healthy. We have to supplement. But wow! Okay, here is what I am taking now. A chewable multivitamin and the one I chose requires that you chew 4 a day. Chewable calcium citrate (you must have this form, not calcium carbonate) the brand I bought requires 4 a day to get your 2000mgs in and they are huge! Vitamin D3, fortunately it is 1 tiny little soft gel.. B-50 Complex - 2 capsules daily, Sublingual B-12, only 1! Then in addition I am taking a chewable iron because I have been anemic most of my life and I have added Biotin because there is some evidence that it might help slow down the hair loss we can all expect to experience to some degree. If you weren't counting, that is 14 pills. And I am still on several medications. This has to be done every single day, we can't blow it off so I am thinking that as time goes on I am going to try really hard to find good replacements that require less pills. I can't afford to toss these out and buy new ones so for now I am stuck but down the road...hopefully there is a better solution. Regardless I will do what I need to. I had this surgery to live longer and maybe get rid of some of the comorbidities that I have been dealing with so I don't want to trade them for diseases caused by lack of vitamins! Are you with me out there!!??
Today I tried mixing my canned white meat chicken with some cottage cheese and a good shake or two of Mrs. Dash's Tomato Basil Garlic Seasoning. It was actually pretty tasty. I am still not really hungry but since I need to eat pureed foods and I need to get in 60-80 grams of protein I figure it can't hurt if it has some flavor, right?
That's all I have for today, have mainly been mulling over the whole vitamin issue and thought I would share!
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
2 weeks post-op!
Sorry I have been missing in action for a few days. I am completely computer illiterate when it comes to troubleshooting and I was unable to log in to post anything. I had to wait until DH had a few moments to take a look and help me figure it out. Turns out I wasn't the only blogger here at BlogSpot with the problem and there was a fix posted and now I am up and running again.
Today was a bit of a milestone for me. I had my 2 week post-op appointment with my surgeon, Dr. Joshua Long. First, of course, I went through the usual stuff, blood pressure check, weigh in, etc. It is a funny feeling to be anxious to get on the scale at the doctor's office, well, actually it is a funny feeling to want to get on a scale anywhere, anytime, lol! But that was my feeling. Then lo and behold I am 11 pounds down from the surgery 2 weeks ago. Added to what I lost by making the recommended changes in my life (see the first blog entry for what those were) I am down 33 pounds in the last 4 months. My hubby suddenly stopped in his tracks tonight and stared at me and then said, "Wow, I can really see in your face that you have lost weight!" Okay, thanks honey, but why is it always just in the face at first? I mean, 33 pounds is a lot of sticks of butter, 132 of them to be exact. Why couldn't he (or anyone) have said, "Wow, your butt looks better!" or "Wow, those hips are really shrinking!" But no, it is always the face! Now I don't believe I have lost 33 pounds in my face, lol, but I guess since you are still wearing the same clothes and though they are starting to be big on you, in some ways because of that you kind of look the same to people.
The doc removed all my steri-strips from the incisions, counting where the drain was located there are a total of 5 incisions. He said they looked great and I wasn't going to have much in the way of scars after a few months. Everything looks great and he gave me my operative report. It is a play by play report of exactly everything they did during surgery. I haven't gotten around to reading the whole thing. It is 5 pages long so I will put it right by my Kindle and when I go to bed I will let my brain fight over whether I want to read that or the nice murder mystery I am currently reading, lol! He told me that something had looked a little off in my stomach so he did a biopsy and I am happy to report it came back just fine
Another issue I am dealing with is the diabetes. Now when I say it is an issue it is because I am not sure what has happened. Lots of people get totally off of their insulin and/or medications after bypass surgery. The doc told me that I might not see that result because I have been diabetic for so long, however, I told him that I always plan for the best. Before starting this journey I was on 88 units of insulin (44 twice daily) 4-500 mg Metformin, 1.8 units of Victoza and 2 glimepiride tablets. I went off the Metformin a few days before surgery and have not taken any since. I had worked down to 20 units of insulin twice a day before surgery and now I have only given myself 10 units, 2 different times. Most days I am only taking 1 glimepiride or sometimes a half of one. So bottom line is that the diabetes seems to be resolving. I may have a different experience once I start eating a more regular diet but for now I am pumped!!
And that brings me to one more thing before I stop for today. Yesterday I moved from the liquid diet to the pureed diet. I was so excited to add a few new things to the mix. I started out the morning with some cottage cheese pureed with a little unflavored Unjury protein powder. It tasted okay but I was kind of like, "Bleh." Then later I had some refried beans pureed in the food processor, again they were okay but nothing to write home about. For dinner I had some white albacore tuna pureed with some chicken broth and once again it was just okay. Perhaps I set myself up getting so excited about different food, perhaps my taste buds have changed as so many people say they do. Who knows? The bottom line at this point anyway is to gradually see how your new little pouch handles different things and that is what you really want to focus on. Elisabeth Bailey, who is the counselor on my posse (I just decided today that that is what I am calling all the wonderful staff at my surgeon's office) kept telling us over and over that we need to take care of, even baby our new little pouch because we don't want to stretch it out too much or too soon. So that is what I am going to do!
Sorry I have been missing in action for a few days. I am completely computer illiterate when it comes to troubleshooting and I was unable to log in to post anything. I had to wait until DH had a few moments to take a look and help me figure it out. Turns out I wasn't the only blogger here at BlogSpot with the problem and there was a fix posted and now I am up and running again.
Today was a bit of a milestone for me. I had my 2 week post-op appointment with my surgeon, Dr. Joshua Long. First, of course, I went through the usual stuff, blood pressure check, weigh in, etc. It is a funny feeling to be anxious to get on the scale at the doctor's office, well, actually it is a funny feeling to want to get on a scale anywhere, anytime, lol! But that was my feeling. Then lo and behold I am 11 pounds down from the surgery 2 weeks ago. Added to what I lost by making the recommended changes in my life (see the first blog entry for what those were) I am down 33 pounds in the last 4 months. My hubby suddenly stopped in his tracks tonight and stared at me and then said, "Wow, I can really see in your face that you have lost weight!" Okay, thanks honey, but why is it always just in the face at first? I mean, 33 pounds is a lot of sticks of butter, 132 of them to be exact. Why couldn't he (or anyone) have said, "Wow, your butt looks better!" or "Wow, those hips are really shrinking!" But no, it is always the face! Now I don't believe I have lost 33 pounds in my face, lol, but I guess since you are still wearing the same clothes and though they are starting to be big on you, in some ways because of that you kind of look the same to people.
The doc removed all my steri-strips from the incisions, counting where the drain was located there are a total of 5 incisions. He said they looked great and I wasn't going to have much in the way of scars after a few months. Everything looks great and he gave me my operative report. It is a play by play report of exactly everything they did during surgery. I haven't gotten around to reading the whole thing. It is 5 pages long so I will put it right by my Kindle and when I go to bed I will let my brain fight over whether I want to read that or the nice murder mystery I am currently reading, lol! He told me that something had looked a little off in my stomach so he did a biopsy and I am happy to report it came back just fine
Another issue I am dealing with is the diabetes. Now when I say it is an issue it is because I am not sure what has happened. Lots of people get totally off of their insulin and/or medications after bypass surgery. The doc told me that I might not see that result because I have been diabetic for so long, however, I told him that I always plan for the best. Before starting this journey I was on 88 units of insulin (44 twice daily) 4-500 mg Metformin, 1.8 units of Victoza and 2 glimepiride tablets. I went off the Metformin a few days before surgery and have not taken any since. I had worked down to 20 units of insulin twice a day before surgery and now I have only given myself 10 units, 2 different times. Most days I am only taking 1 glimepiride or sometimes a half of one. So bottom line is that the diabetes seems to be resolving. I may have a different experience once I start eating a more regular diet but for now I am pumped!!
And that brings me to one more thing before I stop for today. Yesterday I moved from the liquid diet to the pureed diet. I was so excited to add a few new things to the mix. I started out the morning with some cottage cheese pureed with a little unflavored Unjury protein powder. It tasted okay but I was kind of like, "Bleh." Then later I had some refried beans pureed in the food processor, again they were okay but nothing to write home about. For dinner I had some white albacore tuna pureed with some chicken broth and once again it was just okay. Perhaps I set myself up getting so excited about different food, perhaps my taste buds have changed as so many people say they do. Who knows? The bottom line at this point anyway is to gradually see how your new little pouch handles different things and that is what you really want to focus on. Elisabeth Bailey, who is the counselor on my posse (I just decided today that that is what I am calling all the wonderful staff at my surgeon's office) kept telling us over and over that we need to take care of, even baby our new little pouch because we don't want to stretch it out too much or too soon. So that is what I am going to do!
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