MickATL

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This morning when I first got up, went to the bathroom and weighed myself... 272.8 again.  I was frustrated.  2 days on that exercise bike and nothing.  I went back to bed.  Slept a little longer, got up, went to the bathroom again and weighed myself... 272.  Does pouting burn calories?

I'm glad it moved a little.  I've now lost a solid 50 lbs.  Nice feeling.  There are several events we are doing today.  Yesterday, we went to a pool party with pizza and beer... I just sipped my water.  Last night we went to a meet & greet social.  I had eaten teryake chicken, rice & asparagus.  It was really good.  When we got there, it was full on BBQ pork, chicken, potato salad, etc.  I didn't eat a single bite.  I just sipped my water.  

It's wierd for me to be on such a restricted diet and monitor what I eat so closely and then see other people PIG OUT.  This one guy had a plate of food piled so high, it was one thing on top of the other.  Sort of like a pig's trough.  I was disgusted.  He went back for 2nds!  Was I that bad?  I remember some pretty big plates but not "my plate runneth over".

So today is more of the same.  I think there's gonna be alot of food options which I'll stay away from.  I have been thinking these protein powders have 100 calories plus milk 80 is 180.  Drinking 3 a day gets my protein in but adds almost 600 calories.  I have to find a solution where I am not drinking alot of calories through the day.

At least the scale moved!  It feels like it's been 4 days.

Today I weighed 272.8.  I am not going to change my ticker for it.  It's frustrating because I feel like I am eating right and I even exercised.  I think I need to start keeping a food journal to track the calories.  These protein & milks are 180 calories each and I had 3 yesterday.  Plus breakfast, lunch & dinner.  Maybe I took in too many calories.  I also rode that exercise bike for 30 minutes yesterday.

Is it too much to ask that the scale move a little every day?!?!?  I remember when I didn't weigh myself.  When I didn't want to know how much I weiged.  Now I feel obsessed!

Yesterday, I put my metal nipple rings back in.  I had to take them out for surgery and had pyrex (glass) rods in their place to keep them from closing.  Maybe these rings weigh a pound or two.  I was hoping to crack the 260's and I'm hovering right above 272 for several days now.  

Pretty soon, I'll be talking about the 250's.  I can't even remember when I was in the 250's.

I just finished 30 minutes on the exercise bike and took a quick shower.  I feel on top of the world right now!!!  It's funny how I was dreading getting on, thinking about how long it was going to be and before I knew it, I was creeping up on 25 minutes.  Then 30.  

Today I had a little bit of grape nuts cereal heated up with some brown sugar splenda.  It was actually pretty good.  I waited an hour and then had a skim milk with protein powers (28 grams of protein).  Now I am going to have another protein & skim milk which will push me close to 60 grams.  That's my daily goal.  Well 60 - 80. 

Good news.... no light headedness!!!  

Tonight I went to dinner at my neighbor's house.  He said it was going to be immediate family but my next door neighbors were there, another neighbor I don't know very well and their sons and their friends.  Overall, it was a lot more people than I was expecting.  I was worried about eating there.  

When I arrived, he and his wife complimented me and said I looked great.  The neighbor I didn't know very well started asking all kinds of questions about my surgery. I felt awkward.  Guess they told her about it.  I tried to answer her questions concisely and politely.  

For dinner, they had a variety of options.  I took about 2 tablespoons of potato salad, 1/2 a brat which I figured was 2 1/2 tablespoons and these tostiots that has pepper jelly inside (tostito scoops).  I had 2 of those.

It was a wonderful meal.  I really enjoyed the potato salad.  The brat was okay and the pepper jelly was really good!  I liked that people didn't really bug me about what I was eating or how much I was eating.  I did keep getting asked about a drink when I arrived but I said, "I can't really drink 15 minutes before I eat."  Problem: solved.

The next door neighbors arrived after I ate and they brought a friend who had had a lap band several years prior.  He had lost 180 pounds or so.  Wow!  I enjoyed chatting with him about his experience and things that worked well for him and those that didn't. 

My neighbors son has a few friends that I've been at previous parties and they asked if I had lost weight.  I said I had.  The one guy said he didn't even recognize me.  I thought that was pretty cool.  I don't think they knew about my surgery so they were commenting on my appearance more than the knowledge that I had had surgery and should have lost weight by now.  That was a nice feeling cause it was more of a genuine compliment or observation.  

I'm really thinking the light headedness is due to low protein so I am going to start drinking the protein powder in skim milk again.  I need to get this under control and feel like I am steady on my feet at all times.

So... my short term goals are to resolve the light headedness, get myself exercising and figure out my meal / drinking schedule

So I have been enjoying being able to enjoy new foods like fresh fruit, ground meats and cooked vegetables.  This morning I had some vanilla yogurt with pear chunks on top for breakfast.  Then I had 8oz of non fat milk with some protein powder in it.  

Lately I have been feeling light headed when I stand up.  I think it's being dehydrated or low protein.  Now I am trying to beef up my protein and milk intake.  Oy.  

I am enjoying 6 tablespoons of water melon.  It is delicious!  

Last night I talked to a friend, D, for about 2 hours.  She is considering weight loss surgery and we've known each other since I was in high school but we've lost touch.  It's very disarming when I talk to people who knew me back then.  It's like they know the real me.  The kid inside.  I notice I laugh alot more and we talk about silly funny things.  You can't replace friendships that have lasted that long.  I am excited to see her on her journey toward a healthier lifestyle.  

Tonight we are going across the street to my neighbor's house.  He's BBQ'g but I may just bring my meal with me.  I wonder if people will notice my weight loss.  I was wearing 54" pants/shorts and today I've been sporting 50" ones and they feel pretty good.  That's a nice change.

I really need to start riding that bike.  Oy veh!!!

This morning I weighed 273.4 lbs.  I started at 322.  I keep typing 2 instead of 3 now!  LOL.  Just wait until I'm typing 1xx.  I am a pound and a half away from losing 50 lbs.  I can't believe it's coming off.  I feel better and stronger.

Getting on the exercise bike helped.  I need to continue with that.  

My surgery scars are healing quite nicely I think.  Laproscopic is the way to go.  I have 4 very tiny scars that I think will be hardly noticeable over time.  The larger scar for the port looks a bit more gnarly but I'm going to tell people I was in a knife fight.  LOL.  I have a large midline scar from my previous intestinal surgery.  These scars are nothing compared to that.

I better get downstairs and make myself something to eat.

This morning for breakfast I had a very small bowl of Trader Joe's O's and a tablespoon of banana.  Oh... the joy of cereal.  It was nice not having to heat up the stove, ov en, etc.  I think the soft foods diet is going to be great!

I have to make a mental note to remember this post!  I'm sure in a month I will be bemoaning it but right now it seems like there's no stopping me!

We are going to the farmer's market to pick up some fresh veggies and fruit that fit into the Soft Foods Diet.  I can have mellon, citrus without the membrane, banana, soft cooked vegetables (no skins or seeds) and lean meats.  I have to read the book again.  I thught this first stage was ground meats but after last night I think it's just lean meats or flakey fish.

Hmmmph.

I am soooo glad that tomorrow I officially start soft foods!  Tonight I actually had a "bridge" meal.  Had 2 potato perogies with tomato sauce on them and some diced pears.  Me oh my it was nice to eat something that wasn't mushy!  Considering you can have scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes & applesauce, I shouldn't be complaining but... everything gets old over time.

We went to see Seven Bridges for Seven Brothers (the play) at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.  It was a really good show.  During intermission I had a raspberry flavored Dasani.  I should have gotten plain water.  After a little bit, the flavoring got old.  Give me Crystal Light anytime.

Tonight I finally got on the exercise bike.  20 minutes, 4 miles and some huffing & puffing but I did it!  It felt good to do it.  I rode the bike & watched TV.  I need to keep this up.  I know it burns calories, strengthens my legs and my heart.  

My goal:  work up to 60 minutes of exercise per day.  Maybe 20 minutes for a few more days and then try for 30.  Guess we'll see!!!

I went to the grocery store today to try and find some new food choices during the puree part of the diet.  I scanned the baby food section since I can eat that.  They had chicken & gravy but I didn't see any chicken or gravy in the bottle.  It sort of scared me.  Ya know.... babies can't tell you if something tastes bad!  I bought some Gerber peach cobbler, some banana, apple & pear and a few more fruit choices.  Tried the peach cobbler tonight and it was pretty good.  There really wasn't any "cobbler" in there but it tasted like peaches and that was pretty good.  

I've been enjoying the fresh fruit the past few days: mashed bananas, pureed strawberries and pureed blue berries on top of sugar free low fat yogurt.  It was like a fresh berry sauce.  Delicious!

Tonight, I had egg salad (2 tbl), peach cobbler (2 tbl) and pureed peas (2 tbl).  I gave up the peas after a couple bites.  I don't like the skins mixed in the the pea insides.  Is that wierd?  

They say I should be eating 6 small meals a day and I just can't get myself around that.  Right now, I am eating breakfast, wait an hour, have a glass of milk, wait a bit, yogurt with pureed berries, wait an hour, glass of milk, then lunch, wait an hour, glass of milk, some water thru the afternoon and then dinner.  I really like having sugar free hot chocolate at night but it's a little too hot in Atlanta in the evenings for hot chocolate.

Whoever invented Crystal Light is a genius!  There's a lot of flavor in such a small amount of powder and NO SUGAR! 

Sunday I progressed to the pureed diet.  It was wonderful to have some food other than liquids.  I had scrambled eggs, cream of wheat and mashed bananas for breakfast.  It was great.  2 tablespoons of each and I was pretty full.  For lunch, chicken salad, mashed potato and low fat sugar free yogurt with strawberry puree on top.  Also, very good.

It's frustrating trying to think of menus and things to eat when I can eat so little.  Seems like a big mess for such a small amount.  I made extra chicken salad and egg salad yesterday.  Hopefully, I can eat some over the next few days.  

I ate the suggested 6 small meals on Sunday but it's alot.  Seems like I spent the whole day watching the clock either eating, drinking or planning/prepping.  I need to find ways to prepare ahead of time or use precooked items so I am not dirtying a bunch of pots & pans for a small amount of food.



The abdominal pain is better.  I'm on my way to thinner days!