Weight Loss Surgery Center

Five and a half months after surgery I've lost over 90lbs and I'm now at the point where I've gone over my calorie goal for the day a couple of times. Just what I've been afraid of. I'm watching my numbers carefully on thedailyplate.com where I log in all my meals throughout the day. Definitely don't want to get to overeating again because is so easy to let myself go. I've found I can go overboard on sugar free icecream and sugar free candy and eat a whole large pack of sugar free bubblegum in one sitting, so I'm keeping those away from me from now on. I still struggle to get all my water for the day, so I'm going to try and buy Crystal Light and see if it makes it easier. Now I'm definitely bumping up my workouts to the harder classes like Body Combat (Tae Bo) and spinning. They're very challenging and rewarding at the same time because you get motivated and feel like you've had a great workout. Anyway, a few more random thoughts: Trader Joe's has protein bread of their own brand. It's very thick and heavy and I love it because it fills me up with one slice. Farm Fresh sells a protein cereal called Hi-Lo. High in protein, low carbs, great way to start your day adding a cup of skim milk or soy milk and it's made with Splenda. More info at http://www.nutritious-living.com/hilo_cereals.html.

So much for coasting through, huh? At last I'm feeling better once again, able to sleep better (on my stomach) and trying to get my eating schedule and portions where they should be. This second surgery set me back at least a month. I can't wait to go back to the gym again, but have to work on my food first because now while I'm still loosing weight I'm barely consuming 40-50g of protein and under 500 calories a day. At least the pain is gone. Funny to think I had stomach pain before when I ate certain things and now it's over. I always thought they had too many carbs or too much fat, but apparently they just triggered smallish gallstone attacks every time until I succumbed to the big one. Now I have to do my best to get back on the original course and stay there for good. It'll be easier once I can go back to work and get on a schedule, then hopefully with the best of luck I'll meet my goal by the time the holidays roll in and go shopping for a larger more permanent wardrobe. :)

It turns out gallbladder surgery was harsher than gastric bypass... who knew? But only because they don't do as much pain management on this one, for some obscure reason I still don't understand. Doctor's discretion maybe? All I know is I woke up from that surgery and I couldn't move. I couldn't even breathe deeply because I would feel a stabbing pain under my ribcage, and I had no catheter on, so I actually had to get up and go to the bathroom, where I found out I had excruciating pain trying to urinate too! Doesn't make any sense. Now I'm at home, a day after feeling only a bit better dealing with lung congestion because it still hurts to breathe, so I can't do my exercises and my UTI still hurts, maybe because guess what? They didn't order any antibiotics post surgery! (???!) I really don't get it. Why am I going to have to miss more work time just to have two small appendages snipped out of my body than the time I had my whole digestive system re-routed. Someone explain this to me because I just don't get it at all.

I was foolish. I took my personal comfort over my health and now I'm back at the hospital getting ready to have surgery again tomorrow morning. I was just eating some chinese chicken and broccoli in front of my computer. About 20 minutes later, I decided to eat some cherries since I'd been in need of fiber for the last week or so. Afterwards I felt a bit too full, and half an hour later my upper back began to ache, right between my shoulderblades. I thought I must have worked out a bit too hard and decided to go to bed. Things got worse then. The pressure I felt in my stomach area was increasing and shooting up to my chest and my back was worse. I couldn't sleep or relax or get comfortable so I got up a couple of times went to the bathroom and tried my best to throw up, hoping to get some relief but without any results. An hour later, the pain was unbearable, I could stand up straight, couldn't breathe right, could lay or sit still. So I woke up my partner and after a couple of failed calls to ask-a-nurse, decided it was too much to wait on hold and she took me to the ER at the Sentara facility in Port Warwick. It was already midnight and I was annoyed by the lack of urgency the employees showed... I'm certain they could see on my face I was in a lot of pain while I sat on that wheelchair wiggling, moaning and breathing hard. Still it was at least an hour and a half and tons of repetitive questions and signatures before I got a shot of morphine to manage my pain and could finally relax. We stayed up all night going through test after test and lots of iv's. Early morning I was transfered by ambulance to the Careplex for more test and possible removal of my appendix. The doctors at the Careplex determined after my ultrasound it was not my appendix but my gallbladder that apparently had a blocked bile duct caused by a gallstone, which caused in turn my liver to swell and all the wrenching pain I'd felt the night before. I was foolish and hadn't been taking my preventive gallstone meds as directed. I hated that feeling I get with big pills like it's stuck on my throat after I drink it and takes so long to go away. I was worried too, that this would happen so I would take one occassionally, then conveniently "forget" for a week or two. Then get worried again. I was an idiot. I was hoping it wouldn't happen, that once in a while would be enough... that I would get some kind of warning and be able to start. Now I'm on my second day at the hospital, scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning. The doctor said even though my pain did go away because I probably passed the stone after the sedatives and antibiotics reduced the swelling, I still had gallstones and it would happen again and probably escalate to an infection if I didn't get it taken care of. He also said the early suspicion of apendicitis was because my CT scan showed an inflamed appendix, but if it was in fact that bad, the pain wouldn't have stopped, so they would look at it while inside and probably take it too, to avoid a future incident. So I guess two birds with one stone is good. I just wish I wasn't in this predicament because of my own actions.

A couple of good recipes I've been using: My morning smoothie: -1 cup-West Soy Plus Organic Vanilla Soy Milk . -1 Kroger's Carbmaster Yogurt. -1/2 cup of frozen fruit of choice. Make it in the blender or smoothiemaker, add Splenda if you need to sweeten, usually I don't. *estimated: 215 cals, 22g carbs, 10g sugar, 5g fiber, 19g protein. My low-fat pimento cheese dip (great with vegetables!): -1 block- Cabot 75% Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar. -1 block- Fat free cream cheese. -1 jar Goya Fancy Red Pimento. -1/4 cup Miracle Whip Light. -1 tsp minced garlic. -cracked pepper to taste. -1 tbsp minced onions. Grate cheddar, blend everything in the food processor until it's even and creamy, refrigerate until ready to use. Makes 6-7 half cup servings. *estimated per 1/2 cup serving: 143 cals, 5g fat, 15g carbs, 4g sugar, 3g fiber, 19g protein. Cottage cheese n' jelly (how I get most of my protein). -1 cup cottage cheese. -Sugar Free fruit preserves to taste. I've never really liked cottage cheese or preserves before, but this one sold me! *estimated: 210 cals, 5g fat, 21g carbs, 6g sugar, 32g protein. I have another recipe for Korean Spicy Squid with bean thread noodles, but not everybody can stomach squid, so I feel it might not be very popular. Another thing I wanted to hilight is thedailyplate.com. I know they mention it at the meetings and nutritionist appointments, but I can not emphasize enough the usefulness of this tool. If it weren't for this, I would have stopped logging in my daily meals because it was such a hassle reading the labels over and over again and adding everything at the end of the day -- I hate math! Now I just go to this website, even throughout the day at work and note everything that I'm eating. It makes it so much easier to get to my protein/calorie/water intake goals and see how I'm doing and what I need. The one definite advantage from writing it down by hand? You can add in whatever workout or physical activity you did that day and get a net calorie count after exercise! I love it. I had tried nutritiondata.com, but it's more detailed (too much detail) and not so user friendly. Alright... back to trying to do something productive with my Sunday. Hope someone else can benefit from this information as I have. 'Till next time!

I have now lost 72 pounds and have 63 more to go, according to what I think my goal is. That was from my weigh in at home last Monday, and I'm sure it'll change in two days when I weigh in again. I'm thrilled! This has been nearly a miracle... given it took a lot of work and money, but still a miracle nonetheless. I currently weigh 193 pounds... that was another event, when I went below 200. I've been working out quite a bit. Love the Sentara gym! It's so clean and organized and everything you need is there available to you. Right now I'm going back and forth between the Bariatric class and Body Flow. They both give me a pretty good workout and I think I'm ready to take a high impact workout class like hard core aerobics. One thing I can't get myself to do yet is break a good sweat. Now being that I'm still not taking in all the water I need every day, that would make sense... workouts also help me with that... I'm a lot thirstier after a class than a day at the office. I can't describe how good it feels to go to the gym. Specially now with all that weight lost, working out doesn't hurt anymore. I'm not drained, but energized and maybe a little bit sore. That feels great! I'm even learning how to swim a little bit every time I go workout at the pool with my partner. I mean, I've been usually able to float and paddle a few strokes, but I was always afraid of deep water and could never learn good form or breathing. Now I'm catching up more and more speed and longer stamina every time I go, and I can feel myself concentrating on nothing but the strokes and my mind clears up and did I say it feels great? I really look forward to gym days and weigh in days. Except for the ones at Dr. T's office... their scale is two pounds more than the one I use at home... I like mine better. ;)

Here I am again, haven't blogged in a while so I figured I should post an update. Right now I've been eating solids for at least a month and I'm doing great. Except for a couple of episodes where I bit more than my stomach could chew, everything from this point forth has been a piece of cake... without cake of course. I'm not having any trouble sticking to all the restrictions and eating small portions, as a matter of fact, I have more trouble reminding myself to eat every so often, it's pretty much part of my daily chores now and I love it. The weight is just coming off, week after week, I weighed myself in today as I do every Monday, and I lost six pounds last week! That is just amazing to me, and to be able to do it without those horrible cravings and hunger pangs you normally get with any diet has been a blessing. I'm no longer worried about overdoing things, my sense of taste has changed drasticly and so has my fixation with food. I eat because I have to and enjoy the first few bites, but it doesn't take long until I've had enough and I'm forcing myself to finish my plate. Now I find myself saying like I've read many times, It's the best decision I've ever made, and if I could go back, I would do it again in a heartbeat! Having said that, I'm still barely taking enough protein. I reach my goal or come close to it during the week, then slack off in the weekends. I like to stay up late and wake up late Sat and Sundays. Since I do most of my house chores and entertainment then, I'm going back and forth running errands, it's hard to squeeze all of my 6 meals in there. Yup, that's mostly what I do during the week. I start my day with a smoothie, made with an 8oz. sugarfree, fatfree yogurt, a handful of fresh or frozen fruit and a cup of vanilla soymilk... not too heavy, not too light. I start sipping at home and finish it at work. Then around 11am I have a cup of chicken breast and try to change the seasoning every other day to add a bit of variety. The pre-cooked, pre-carved chicken they have at the supermarkets is great and very tender. Around 2pm I have two ounces of sharp cheddar. The Cabbot brand makes a great sharp cheddar and white cheddar that's fat free, and I cut a block and slice it to snack at work. Then around 3:30pm I have either sunflower seeds or a protein bar. The seeds are high in calories and unsaturated fat, that help reach my calorie goal for the day and beef up my fiber intake. They are a good energy source and great to eat before going to the gym! The Atkins advantage protein bars are not too bad, I like the double chocolate crunch bar the best so far, not too sweet, not to heavy. Then after I get home around 6pm, I have either soy crisps or a turkey hotdog with german mustard, then a very small salad before bed. Sometimes I feel like I'm eating a lot, but thinking back on it, the portions are tiny and I'm barely getting in 600 calories a day. Normally I end my day having taken about 75 grams of protein out of the recommended 80-90. Not too bad... During the weekends I'm lucky if I make it to 50g. I'm also working on my water intake. I feel very dehydrated in the mornings and try to keep sipping all day between meals, but it seems harder to take in than the food is. Funny how things work, but I've progressed so much and so fast with this program, I'm sure a couple of months down the road I won't have this problem anymore. I've lost 49lbs so far, and have 85 more to go! Now back to work!

I've officially been on "soft foods" for about a week and a half now and learned the hard way how to figure out my portions. Everything has been pretty good except for the two times when my food didn't want to stay down. Now through experimentation and advice, I've found out if I spend several hours without eating, I can't just go home and try to have a meal like anyone would. That attempt last night ended up in my achy stomach turning into a whirpool of gastric juice that ended up forcing the food right back up where it came from. So today I tried easing my way into dinner and ate a bit of yogurt first, then some water, then about an hour later, the rest of last night's dinner. Everything well so far. I've been very lucky though, I can tolerate pretty much all the types of food I'm supposed to have, just have to keep reminding myself to chew very well and slow down... It helps when you're eating and writing a blog at the same time. ;)

So, I'm in! I've been given the green light to eat soft puree'd foods and I'm excited about it! Lord it never felt so good to eat seasoned food and water with nothing in it. Even though I knew I could only eat small portions, I'm still amazed at the feeling of fullness after a couple of spoonfuls. So I end up dipping the spoon and taking small nips from it until it's all gone, that way I get to enjoy and get tired of the flavor until I'm ready to let go. I ate some refried beans for dinner and I'm stuffed. I also found the Soy Crisps they sell at Farm Fresh are a great snack, decent ammount of proteins and not too filling... and if you chew on them long enough they turn into 'soft food' too. :)

I've been doing pretty well with my liquid diet. Mainly because I've stayed exclusively on liquids and kept hydrated the whole fourteen days. Now I have my first post-op appointment next week and I'm looking forward to eating puree'd foods like anyone would if only to add variety to my day. Sometimes I still worry... will I be able to keep eating what I'm supposed to after I can eat solids in larger portions? I really want to eat healthy and keep my weight, that's for sure. But I've struggled with overeating since I was a kid and bad habits die harder. The other day I was watching Anthony Bourdain's show on the Travel Channel and he was visiting Peru. They showed this one traditional dish with tons of seafood and citrus and my mouth was watering. I imagined myself wolfing down tons of that food and the flavors and how good would it feel to try that. I haven't been able to get it off my mind and stop replaying it over and over since. This scares me to the point I've even stopped watching shows from the Food Network after that. Yes, I know I will have to deal with exposure to all kinds of things in daily life. I mean, it's bad enough that every other commercial on tv invites you to drop by your favorite restaurant around the corner and try their new delicious concoction; right now I just can't bear having all these wonderful meals described to me in vivid detail and confection for several hours in a row. It's not the liking of food I'm struggling with, it's the obsession. I want to break up with the part of me that would plan entire days around meals and all I ever looked forward to was trying the new restaurant. I've always hated the fact I could never keep anything I liked in the house and eat just a bit. I would always try at first, then just sit there thinking about the food for hours on end, not being able to concentrate on anything else until I ate it all. It's like having an itch you know is bad to scratch, but ultimately give up because it feels so good, even though it might hurt later. Right now I'm ok, even going out when everyone has to stop to eat for a bit. I sit there with my water and wait patiently. Even tv ads are starting to slip by unnoticed like noise in the background but I still worry. I know most people aviod using the word addiction when it comes to food, but that's what it's been to me since my teenage years, when I realized I couldn't treat food like everyone else does. I remember eating things I liked until I was so full I felt sick, then looking back at what I had done and feeling like I was going crazy. So when the time comes and my selections are broad, will I give in and find myself trowing my arms up in the air and forsaking every healthy habit I've learned just to have that wonderful feeling again? I pray not, and I'm committed to do everything possible to avoid falling in that trap once more. Right now I really don't want to eat, but I'm craving certain foods, mostly healthy ones, like salads and vegetables. The question is, as the journey progresses, how does one find the balance and the peace of mind?