ObesityHelp

This post is based on my personal experiences based on questions I see posted on the board quite often.

Going back to Work after Surgery

I see people post a lot asking how long they should wait before they go back to work.  I waited three weeks.  I was up and around before then, but I probably felt so good and recovered quickly because I took some time for me.  I couldn't fathom going back to work before I was even able to eat solid food.  I went back to work after I had been on solid food for three days and after my three week doctor's appointment.  My job is not strenuous or physically demanding but at the end of my first day I was tired.  More tired than I had been at any point since I had the surgery.  I went back right before Thanksgiving so I worked a two day week the first week and a three day week the next week.  It was a nice way to ease in but I know not everyone has that option.  My advice is not to be so quick to rush back into your old life, take this surgery for the life changing event that it is and take as much time as you can.

Getting Regular

Since I'm letting it all hang out.  I struggled with being regular after surgery and the first week or so after I started eating solids were rough.  I got a lot of great advice on the board and I have started having one colace every other day (not the laxative just the stool softener) and 6 packets of benefiber per day.  I dissolve the benefiber in my juice and I don't taste it at all.  So far that is doing the trick.

Food Portions

Early out from the surgery I started to feel panicked that it somehow didn't work, that I could eat more than I should.  I thought I had broken or stretched my pouch out this early out.  The reality is that early out you don't feel full, the nerves that signal fullness are cut or damaged during the surgery and take a long time to heal.  I am seven weeks out and I am just now starting to feel full.  Early on it is very important to watch your food portions to make sure you don't eat too much.  In terms of portion I can eat one individual size cottage cheese, a small yogurt cup, two cheese sticks, one third of a chicken breast.  In other words, very little.  

Dry Skin

I have struggled with dry skin since the surgery.  I am not sure what it is from, the trauma of the surgery, the drastic change in my diet or a combination, but my legs are dry and itchy quite often.  Haven't found any great solution except to drink as much as I can, use lotion and keep them shaved, for some reason they itch less when they are shaved.

I believe I have entered what will be my first stall. I have lost 66lbs, but have not lost anything in the last five days. I am told this is normal and the scale will start moving again soon. This weekend I begin exercising and I think that will do wonders to get the scale moving.

What I'm eating now:

I'm still eating everything I was before though eating has become more of a challenge than it was before. I would say that about 80% of the time I have no problem, but I am noticing some foods that agreed with me before no longer agree with me. For a few weeks I was eating quiche every day, then one day the one with bacon starting causing me pains in my pouch. I have laid off of it for a while and hope eventually I can go back to it.

Coffee--I always loved coffee but it used to upset my stomach. One pleasant change since the surgery is it no longer does that. I limit it to only one cup with caffeine per day and then switch to decaf, but it might be time to dust off the coffee maker. (No more indulging my starbucks habit until I have a job :-))

Fage--is a greek yogurt that is very sour almost like sour cream, but is very high in protein. I've been putting French Onion soup mix in it and having my own version of (soy) chips and dip. It feels like a guilty pleasure.

Chocolate pudding--I have discovered that cook and serve chocolate pudding with protein powder is quite good and when I find the time to make it, I have it just about every night.

Cream of Chicken soup--Jeff has been sick and so I made him some chicken soup, the chicken was a little tough so I blended it up in my magic bullet and added fat free half and half. I really liked it. So much that I ate it for lunch and dinner for four days in a row.

Chicken--Some people have trouble with chicken, but as long as it is moist I have no problems with it. It is one food I can reliably get down.

Cheese--I still have string cheese every day.

Life gets more and more normal every day. I am able to go to a restaurant and find something to eat, and it is once again the enjoyable social event it used to be, only now its cheaper.

When you have surgery like this it is hard to see the weight loss in yourself. I look in the mirror every day and while I know my clothes are too big and the scale says I'm losing weight, it is hard to see the changes on a daily basis. I'm proud to say that I've had my first few wow moments:

I looked in the mirror the other day and I saw the me that had been missing for so long. The chubby cheeks are still there (and in reality no matter how much weight I lost may always be there) but there is a definition to my face, my eyes are brighter, my neck is slimmer. I see myself the way I always thought I should look in pictures.

I look forward to physical activity. A trip to the mall is an exciting idea. I have excess energy which I haven't had in years and am happily planning all my organization projects. Yesterday Jeff scheduled an appraiser to come to our house, giving us about 4 hours to get the house cleaned. I vacuumed and scrubbed and cleaned and organized without breaking a sweat and when I was done, I wasn't exhausted.

All of a sudden there are lots of babies and children in my life. The stamina to walk around holding a baby was something I hadn't been able to do in a long time. A trip to target holding a baby the entire time now tires out nothing but my arms.

I am unemployed. I suppose this is a thought that should make me unhappy, but it does not. For the last five years I have run a million miles an hour making money for someone else, working for someone else and playing by their rules. They operated on my stomach, but it is also like they operated on my brain. It gave me clarity on my life, and three weeks out of the office made me realize exactly how unhappy I was, and so here I sit jobless and yet happy and free. Like I can finally breath again. Life works in mysterious ways and for every door that closes another one opens and now I must choose which one to walk through.

My new years resolution is that I am taking me back.

I am down 57lbs!!!