Diet Pulpit

Can you believe it has been a whole year since I officially got back on track and in that time I’ve a lost a total of 118.5 lbs.

However, the month before the “official” starting over date I was 308 lbs, so I’ve actually lost 120 lbs all together since the beginning of the pre-op stage preparing for gastric bypass surgery (Feb-Aug. 2009) to now.

Week 52 – weighin 188 lbs

It has been much longer though since this whole journey began.  It has been a frustrating journey since I started blogging about my weight loss.  It all began with an Introduction post dated April 30, 2006, weighing in with a starting weight of 293.5 lbs.  The next day, May 1, 2006 was the official first day of my journey to getting healthy.  Over the course of the next two and half years I managed to lose 99 lbs but  hit a wall and began gaining rapidly no matter what I did, and ended up gaining it all back and more and hit 308 lbs in Feb. 2009 (weekly weighin summary).  This had happened so many, many, many times in my life since I was 13 years old and trying to lose 5 to 10 lbs in order to weigh 120 lbs that I just felt like I was doomed to fail. 

My health was getting worse, I was in pain constantly, and emotionally I had hit bottom.  But I picked myself up and through the fog of depression and pain, to kick off the new year in 2009 I decided to look into gastric bypass surgery. Now after the six months pre-op of more doctors visits than I care to remember in preparation for surgery and seven months post op, I am so glad I did it.  I am feeling healthier, happier, and optimistically looking foward to enjoying life.

I still have my goal of 140 lbs in mind, but it is not written in stone.  I am focusing on taking one day at a time, one pound at a time, and moving forward to improve my overall health and well being rather than just a number on the scale.

One thing I am doing to improve my health is learning qi gong.  I have always been interested in learning about qi gong for healing and last month I met with a couple who teach it here in New Jersey.  I signed up for a seminar (an afternoon class) at the end of this month and a summer intensive class (for two weekends) in July.  I’m very excited to finally be able to feel well enough to pursue my goal of learning gi gong.  The first step is learning gi gong to improve my own health, but I plan on continuing my education as far as I can in order to be able to help others learn about it too.

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Another month and a giant step away from being 200 lbs – down to 190 lbs so far, for a total of 118 pounds lost. There is less than a week to go to mark my one year anniversary of starting over and I’m looking forward to the next year to continue making progress towards better health, more energy, and enjoying life to the fullest.

Week 51 190 lbs 2/27/10
Week 50 194 lbs 2/22/10
Week 49 194 lbs 2/13/10
Week 48 196 lbs 2/6/10

I had a doctor’s appt. 2/8 for a weigh-in, but can’t find the paper I wrote it down on – but the reading was close to the home scale reading within a couple pounds. I will see the doctor again in 3 months, followed by another 3 month interval and at that appointment they will run bloodwork to test my vitamin levels, etc.

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Another week and another step further away from the 200 lb line on the scale.  Today’s weighin: 197 lb, down two more pounds from last week’s scale reading when I reached the milestone of weighing in under 200 lbs.  

The next milestones I am focusing on are: reaching 185 lbs, the weight I was when I travelled to Egpyt years and years ago and after that reaching 155 lbs what I weighed on my wedding day in Sept. 1991, then it will be on to focusing on reaching a realistic healthy weight to maintain (140 lbs).

The scale was not working for most of this week so I wasn’t able track my weight as closely as I like too and I was worried I would need to buy a new one.  But before heading to the scale store I decided to try a new battery, so last night I stopped by the local CVS and got a 9 volt battery.  After popping in the scale was working just fine.  It would not have been that big a deal to have to get a new one, but am glad I can stick with the same one I’ve been using all this time so I know the scale readings are consistant.

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I received this awesome cookbook, Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery , from my best friend as a Christmas gift.  The recipes are varied, well-written, and produce delicious results. It is a great cookbook for all stages of gastric bypass post-op (from mush to solids).   Every single recipes gives instructions for each stage of post- op so you can enjoy great taste as you recover and work your way back to eating solid foods.

Note:  this book could be useful to others also, i.e. people recovering from dental work or jaw surgery or having disgestive trouble with solid foods

Anoher thing I like about this cookbook,  the recipes are so good the entire family will enjoy them so you don’t have cook two different kinds of meals, one for you and another for your family.  Even in the early stages of post-op you can cook one meal, prepare your portion the way you need to for your stage of recovery and your family enjoys the rests.  The added bonus is your family will also be eating healthy.   Note:  be sure to follow your doctor’s post-op timeline and simply adjust the recipes accordingly (the timeline given in the book for when to switch from each post-op phrase is simply a guideline).

The book contains a lot of useful tips to help you get your kitchen and pantry in order for a lifetime of healthy post op eating and making eating easier.  It is a helpful book to help adjust to life after gastric surgery and learning to eat tasty healthy foods without deprivation.

I have looked at other cookbooks that claim to be for post gastric bypass eating but most of recipes ended up not having enough protein and were too heavy on carbs and sweets.   This books offers an “everything in moderation” approach to eating healthy, while at the same time providing an emphasis on protein which is what is needed for post-op gastric bypass patients. 

Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery: Over 140 Delicious Low-Fat High-Protein Recipes to Enjoy in the Weeks, Months and Years After Surgery by Patt Levine

Brief description from Amazon:   Levine put her cooking skills to work and now, in Eating Well after Weight Loss Surgery, she and collaborator Michele Bontempo-Saray offer over 140 original, low-fat, high-protein recipes that taste just as delicious pureed and chopped as they do served whole, so you can enjoy flavorful, satisfying meals through every stage of your post-op eating program and cook for your family and friends—all at the same time. These mouth-watering dishes, which cover everything from breakfast to dessert, include:

Crustless Spinach and Cheese Quiche * BBQ-Baked Chicken * Asian Turkey Dumplings * Cider-Glazed Pork Chops * London Broil with Horseradish Cream Moussaka * Salmon with Creamy Lime-Dill Sauce * Scallops Provencale * Orange-Ginger Tofu * Vegetable Frittata * Southwestern Tomato Soup * No-Noodle Zucchini Lasagna * Basic Cheesecake * Apricot and Strawberry Smoothie

Complete with advice from a certified nutritionist, helpful tips for stocking your pantry and refrigerator, and nutritional analyses for each recipe, Eating Well after Weight Loss Surgery is guaranteed to make eating a true pleasure and help you maintain your weight loss for years to come.

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It is official, the scale finally reads under 200 lbs – another milestone reached.

1/23/10 Week 46 199 lbs **ta da**
1/16/10 Week 45 200.5 lbs
1/9/10 Week 44 203 lbs

This is about the time, in the past, where I have hit the wall. The wall is more then just a plateau, it is where I would reach 197 to 199 and overnight no matter what I did the scale would bounce up and I’d gain a few pounds. I would struggle again for weeks to get under 200 but no matter what I did my body refused and I’d continue to gain 3 to 5 lbs overnight to keep me over 200 lbs until I finally gave up, becaue what was the point of starving every minute of every day and still gaining weight.

I did hit the wall once this week already. Tuesday I weighed in at 197 lbs and the next morning I had bounced to 200.5 lbs. I recorded the weights in my food journal, as I do almost every day, but it was not an official weighin.

I plan on eating very, very, very strictly for the next several weeks. I do all the time any way, with the average calorie range between 600 to 700 a day and an occassional near day of 800. For the next few weeks, however, there will be NO 800 calorie days at all. I will do my best to get past the wall in the next month or two.

However, as I’ve said many, many times before this is not about the numbers on the scale. I had gastric bypass surgery to improve my health and that I will continue to do no matter what the scale says. This time there is no giving up and with the surgery I have very little hunger, I can never ever touch anything with sugar in it again, and eating more than a couple of ounces of healthy food at time makes me feel icky so I am not even tempted to eat anything with a lot of calories in it. I am not facing days and weeks of starving while gaining weight any way.

Looking ahead to brighter days, eating light, and enjoying life.

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There are a lot of things I am enjoying about having lost 100 lbs, here is my top ten list:

1. Having a visible curve at the waist
2. Packed up and donated all my 3x, 2x and 1x clothes, since I never need them again – I have a lot more closet and drawer space now that I am not holding on to a variety of sizes of clothing
3. My stomach is no longer bigger then my chest
4. Being able to tie my sneakers without struggling to bend over
5. Sitting in a movie theater seat comfortably
6. Watching the expression on people’s faces at work when they see me in new outfits that I got over the xams break (instead of my usual baggy, very old clothing I wore)
7. Having energy left over at the end of the work day to enjoy the evening with my family
8. My plantar fascitis (inflamation of the plantar fascia)  is almost completely gone and the bottom of feet no longer feel like they are burning and walking on glass with extreme pain when I walk a few steps – now I just get a little sore if I walk a lot
9. Having a lot less joint pain, and even days that are pain free
10. Smiling a lot more

I’ve lost 104 lbs so far (combined pre-op preparations and after the gastric bypass surgery in Aug. 2009). I would like to lose about 60 more pounds, but the numbers on the scale are not what is important – my health is. And I am looking forward to keeping on track and getting healthier and having more energy in the months ahead.

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Happy New Year one and all!   We had a wonderful holiday and I hope yours was happy, healthy, and blessed.    I was able to use up the rest of my vacation time for a full two weeks off from work from Dec. 18th to Jan. 3.  We visited with family and friends and overall it was a very relaxing and fun two weeks.

My energy level over the holidays was so much better then it has been.  We even went to New York for a concert (Paul Winter’s 30th Anniversary of his annual Winter Solstice concert)  and I had to walk a lot in a blizzard.  I was thrilled that I was able to do it.  I was a little tired the next day and a little bit sore – but nothing like I would have been before the weight loss.  A trip like that before would have had me exhausted and whimpering with joint pain for a days unable to do anything at all.  But now I was able to enjoy the concert, and still ahd energy to do stuff around the house and preparations for Christmas.

Food wise I wasn’t even tempted and manged to make it through the holidays without a problem and continued to lose weight.  There were a few times I was a bit concerned ahead of time – but I made a plan and I stuck with it.  Christmas dinner was at my sisters – we provided the food and she provided the space.  I skipped all appetizers and for the meal had only a small slice of turkey with a tablespoon of potatoes and tablespoon of stuffing on the side.  When I went to see my best friend for our xmas visit, we brought a ham, lots of snacks, a three salads from the local deli (which is famous in our area for the best salads) and a baked dessert my daughter made.  For brunch that day I had only 180 calories of low fat cottage cheese.  Of course I skipped all snacks and dessert.  When it came time to eat dinner at my friend’s house I had 1 small slice of ham on a small roll, with a few pieces of raw veggies, and 1 tablespoon of each of the salads (macroni, potato, and cole slaw) on the side.  I ate slowly and took very very tiny bites.  It was a lot of food but I had decided to not feel guilty about it. 

Here are my weighins for the past few weeks:

1/2/10 Week 43 206.5 lbs (starting off the New Year, 100 lbs lighter since I started with the pre-op program Feb. 28, 2009)
12/26/09 Week 42 207 lbs
12/19/09 Week 41 208.5 lbs
12/15/09 Office weighin – office scale 212 lbs (total of 8 lbs lost since previous visit a month ago, and 96 lbs all together
12/12/09 Week 40 210.5 lbs
12/5/09 Week 39 211 lbs

My New Year’s resolutions for this year I am keeping simple and realistic.  I plan on focusing on organizing my home – this is a goal I’ve had for decades.  Rather then set myself up for failure like I have done in the past by setting the goal of getting the whole house done, this year my resolution is get one thing organized a month (i.e. one small room, one big cabinet, or one dresser, one closet, etc.).  Health-wise my resolution is I am going to continue taking all my chewable vitamins and eating healthy and very, very small amounts.  I am not going to set up a goal of a specific amount of weight to lose in a specific amount of time.  Instead I am going to focus on continuing to improve my energy and my health overall.

I’m getting close to what I call “The Wall” – the weight I hit just under 200 lbs and my body refuses to drop even an ounce more.  I have lost around 100 lbs over and over and over again, and each and every time I’d hit “the wall” – the scale would read a weight around 197 or 199, and within a day or two it would jump to 203 or 205 for no reason.  I’d eat less, sometimes even fast for a day or two but the scale would continue to creep up and up until I finally couldn’t stand starving any more and still gaining so I’d give in and have a little something.  I’d eat a half of sandwich and gain 3 lbs.  I’d get angry and have a little potato with my skinless chicken and gain 2 lbs.  And on and on, until I just gave up and within about two months I would gain back all the weight that took me about two years to lose, and on top of that I usually gained back even more.

I don’t know if I will hit “the wall” this time.  But I plan on sticking with my healthy eating plan no matter what.   The difference this time is I won’t be starving.   With the gastric bypass surgery I really have very little interest in food and very small amounts make me very, very full.  I stay away from any foods that have sugar in them (to avoid “dumping”).  I also avoid any and all foods that I know I truly love and therefore could trigger cravings (like pizza). 

This time it doesn’t matter what the scale says.  It doesn’t matter if I never get past “the wall” and the scale refues to budge under 200 lbs.   With the gastric bypass surgery, I have a tool that keeps me focused on my goal of eating healthy.

Health and Happiness to all, Cynthia

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It seems like these past four months flew by since I had gastric bypass surgery.  The six months leading up to surgery went a lot slower.

I weighed in today at 211 lbs, which is a total of 95.5 lbs lost ( 49.5 lbs in preparation for the surgery and 46 lbs post op).

Overall everything has been going well and I feel good.  My family and friends have been very, very supportive, for which I am extremely grateful.   It is so much easier to keep my calories where they need to be for weight loss - between 600 and 800 a day now and I rarely get hungry (before the surgery I was on 800 calories a day and was starving all the time).  I still keep a daily journal of everything I eat, which I have done for years now.   I also continue to never ever taste anything, never lick a knife after making my daughter’s lunch, etc.  and it is lot easier now to resist any and all temptations.

I’ve learned to adjust how I eat and what I eat.  A couple of times in the beginning, I would have a bite or two too much or ate too fast, but the consequences were unpleasant enough I learned to be more careful.   Mostly the consequences were just feeling bloated and bleching a lot, but sometimes I would get discomfort and pain in my stomach, and I did throw up a couple of times. 

Highlights: 

• I have a lot more energy and  a lot less pain in my joints, I no longer get out of breath just from walking from my car in the parking lot to my desk at the office.
• My size 3x, 2x and 1x clothes are extremely baggy and unwearable.  I’m currently wearing extra large, (but I did buy my first pair of size large pants yesterday as a reward and I look forward to wearing soon - they are tight right now, but I got them on and should be able to wear them in a couple months.)
• I am sleeping a lot better and getting about 5 to 6 hours of solid sleep a night – I feel like a million bucks compared to groggy, brain fog I lived in before.  Prior to the surgery I was lucky to get 3 to 4 hours of  broken sleep all together because I was constantly getting up to go to the bathroom all night.
• I was able to go New York and walk around and had a great time with my family without hurting every where and being so exhausted that it took days to recover.
• I’m looking forward to the holidays and I’m actually excited about Christmas for the time in years.  I’m done my gift shopping and can’t wait to wrap and decorate the tree.  In the past, I was so exhausted all the time I dreaded the holidays because it meant pain and even more exhaustion then usual.  I also hated having to face days of temptations with all kinds of food to resist while feeling like I was starving constantly, but now I can bring my bottle of water and a protein snack and not even give a second look at any sugary goodies or fattening snacks.

 The Down Side

• I have to take a handful of chewable vitamins every day for the rest of my life, but they taste ok and I have them automatically delivered as needed so it’s convenient.
• Talapia (fish) and ground turkey (two of my favorite lean proteins) still don’t settle well in my pouch, but I’m sure eventually I will be able to have a small amount. For now I have found other tasty things to have.
• I had two skin infections last month, mostly likely because my immune system was down from the surgery and not getting in enough nutrients from fruit and veggies, but I’ve recovered completely and feel fine.  I’ve been having a clementine every day and taking other supplements to build it back up.

The postives and health benefits far out weigh any minor negatives, and I’m so glad that I has the gastric bypass surgery.

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 This past Sunday the weather was very nice so we headed up to New York on the train to visit Dylan’s Candy Bar.   I enjoyed it a lot and didn’t even have one bite; instead of eating something, I treated myself to a special xmas tree ornament and enjoyed buying some special gifts for others.

I leave my purse home when traveling to New York, but to get me through the day I managed to pack some healthy snacks in my belly bag: 100 calorie pack of almonds, a  protein bar, and a clementine.  I also brought along a big bottle of water.  I made sure to eat breakfast before we left and had a small dinner when we got home.  It was just enough for the day, with the added bonus of getting in some walking around the city.

We had been looking forward to making the trip up to see Dylan’s Candy Bar ever since we heard about the candy store on a tv show. It is located on the corner of 60th and Third.  It is three floors of sugery goodness with a huge variety, including nostalgic candies from decades past.  They had free samples of candies and candy cane milkshake to try (my daughter and hubby said everything was great).  The first floor (entrance) had many, many bins of candy sold by the pound and there were a variety of containers to chose from to scoop your selections in to, and a lot of holiday goodies.  On the bottom floor was a chocolate fountain with a varity of items to dip into it (for a small fee), a large variety of fudges and other items.  We didn’t make it to the top floor – but upstairs is the cafe and party rooms.

My daughter, Angelgirl, picked out a small gift for each of her friends for Christmas and filled a small container with a variety of candy from the many bins for herself.  Teacherman picked up a few candy bars for friend’s. I had fun picking up a few gifts too – for three friends at the office, Mama Kelly, and the most fun was putting together a container of goodies for my 2 Goddess-daughters (Mama Kelly’s girls). The container was $10 for all the candy you could stuff inside, so I picked up a wide selection and tried to get the most unusual items I could find from the bins. In one container I put all the gummy, sour, sugary treats and in the other I put a variety of chocolate items. Once the containers were full, I looked around for tiny candies that I scooped over the top and shook it down so the little bits filled in every bit of space. It was a bit of struggle to get the lids closed but I did it. When I got home I divided everything equally into zip lock bags. There was 20 or more different kinds of candy all together, and I can’t wait to share all the goodies with them. 

From there we strolled over to Central Park and took a horse and carriage ride around the park.  It was the first time for Angelgirl, and she really enjoyed it.  Then we  stopped in FAO Schwartz  (toy store) and saw the big piano just in time for the show where they perform a few songs and after wards they let in small groups of folks at a time to hop on the big piano keys.  I also picked out a small but fun Harry Potter gift for my two Goddess-daughters.  I resisted the urge to get anything for myself. 

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Xmas!   I have all my shopping done now and only a few  more items have to arrive in the mail, everything else is all ready.  I even picked up wrapping paper, gift boxes, etc. this weekend.   I’m looking forward to wrapping and putting the presents, gifts bags and baskets all together.  I can’t wait for the holidays!   **big grin**

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Another two weeks and the scale is still cooperating (**knock on wood**), with a total of 4.5 lbs lost in fourteen days.

Week 38: 213 lbs
Week 37: 214.5 lbs

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving – but I had a plan and I stuck to it. I had a packet of hemp oatmeal for breakfast which was very filling. We ate the Thanksgiving meal around 2 p.m. over at my sister’s house. We provided the turkey and stuffing, gravy, corn, pearl onions, cranberry sauce, celery with cream cheese, black olives and desserts (pumpkin pie, cool whip, and chocolate bundt cake). My sister made the mashed potatoes, yams, and green beans. My brother brought a cherry pie.

When we arrived I helped set up and finish getting things ready. My sister had just moved into the house a couple of weeks ago so her kitchen isn’t fully set up yet, but we had brought some big bowls, containers, paper plates, etc. and we managed to have a spoon in every dish and silverware for everyone.

When it was time to eat I got a small dessert plate and followed my plan: one small slice of turkey, a tablespoon of mashed potatoes, a tablespoon of stuffing, a drizzle of low-fat gravy (from a jar), 1 small piece of celery with cream cheese and 2 black olives. I ate a a couple of teenie tiny bites while everyone had their first round of food, and slowley finished the rest of the food on my plate while everyone else had seconds. Later when it was time for dessert, I kept busy cleaning up and helping to put leftovers away so I didn’t even lick a spoon or taste a crumb.

When we got home I went to bed early to avoid the temptation to taste any left overs. Since I couldn’t precisely count calories, I wanted to avoid having any other food for the day. I estimated the meal I had, hopefully on the high side just to be safe: turkey slice 300 calories; 1 tablespoon potatoes and stuffing 200 calories; 1 pc celery with cream cheese and 2 olives 100 caloires. Added to the oatmeal packet I had for breakfast would total 750 calories for day. A little on the high side for me but still under 800 calories which is my absolute limit that I allow.

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