Random Thoughts

Hello everyone-

Thank you for your words of wisdom, stories, tips, and celebrations. Tuesday it will be 10 weeks since my RNY surgery.

Overall life is good. I am down a total of

73 lbs from highest weight and 53 lbs

from surgery. 

There have been ups and downs. Three weeks of being sick to my stomach, learning to eat slowly! And chew, chew, chew!  

Things i am struggling with, any advice is welcome:

Cooking, shopping and wasting food. I try to make some of the delicious recipies everyone posts, yet i throw away more than half. The same thing goes for grocery shopping. I eat such small amounts food seems to go to waste.

Taking my vitamins. Between supplements and regular meds i get so full i can't eat anything. I have tried staggering the vitamins but then i forget. 

Not getting enough iron and B1. I hate the chewable iron, any suggestions. For the past week my energy has been low and i have been so forgetful! Even forgetting my zip code one day. The Dr. gave me a B1 shot and it seems to help. 

Exercise. I hate exercise! I have never been good at sports and when people say find something you like, nothing comes to mind. How have you incorporated exercise? 

Thanks for reading. I appreciate it.

-Lea 

I'd get your B12 checked.  Fatigue and forgetfulness are symptoms of B12 deficiency.

I use Sundown Perfect Iron, which is not a chewable.  They are very tiny pills, though.  25 mg each.  Carbonyl iron, so absorbed well and not likely to cause constipation.

Wow, you are kicking ass! My surgery was one day before you and I have also lost 53 lbs. but I started at 351. So you're doing amazing, considering you had less excess weight to lose :)

Re: wasting food, this is a huge issue for me. I do the following:

1. Freeze food. For example I made turkey meatballs the other night. One 20 Oz package made 19 meatballs! Since I eat 1.5 per meal, I will freeze some. When I put good directly in a ziplock bag and into the freezer, it tends to get freezer burn. I learned from a chef friend to wrap food tightly in Saran Wrap and then out it in the bag. So I will wrap two meatballs in Saran Wrap and then put four or five wrapped meatballs into one bag. As I need to defrost them, I take out one Saran wrapped little package. 

2. Share food. I have a pregnant friend at work who has gained a lot of weight and she loves my high protein low carb recipes. I bring her egg bites, turkey meatloaf, etc. it's better than throwing it away!

3. Do you have a trader joes? They have more reasonable portions of food, IMO. 

4. Cook up one thing for a variety of meals. When I pan sauté ground chicken or turkey, for example, I then make 3 Oz little tiny tupperwares of meat. Some get Italian seasoning, some get taco seasoning. That way I get variety :)

Re: exercise, I'm working with a personal trainer. Yes this is expensive. But it keeps me accountable. I was at the gym this morning because I had an appointment. Otherwise I would have rolled back over and gone to sleep! I figure I'm not drinking alcohol and I'm barely eating, so I may as well splurge on fitness lol. Also, muscle burns calories at a higher rate than fat and I am gonna take advantage of this year long honeymoon phase. I look at exercise as a necessary evil but as I get stronger and fitter, I actually (gasp!) like it :)

Re: vitamins, taking a multi twice a day is easy for me to remember. Taking a stool softener will never slip my mind! Lol. I also ordered Bariatric Advantage 500 mg calcium citrate chews in caramel. They're like dessert. Trust me, you won't forget!

Good luck!

You're doing great.  I wanted to address the food and left overs issue.  I to freeze the egg bites but I have a FoodSaver.  You can pick one up on Craigs List at times at a good price.  I "never" throw out leftovers.  I'm able to save them for a much longer time span.  I get a roasted chicken and it stays fine for over a week in my vacumn sealed containers.  I make large batches of veggies and save them as well. I use the bags for vacumn pkg and freezing which prohibits ice crystals.  Food is great when I need it.  Just an idea.  

I had the same concerns about food. Saturday I bought a FoodSaver at Walmart...$79 and it had a $15 coupon attached to the box. Tomorrow I vacuum seal.....

Thank you so much for the advice. I am going to check into a foodsaver. We have a trader joe's across town. I don't get over there much but will try. 

DC girl - YOU are amazing! Everyday you inspire me. Thanks for the great advice. I may need a personal trainer. I had plenty of time to go to the gym today, but took a nap instead :-) 

I know how you feel about leftovers!  It kills me to waste food!!   I do freeze a lot of food and now that I'm reading this post - I need to get a FoodSaver.  That would be helpful!  I also give food away.  If I make a large pot of soup (or a large anything).  My family eats what they want, then I freeze some, then I give the rest to my parents or neighbors.  It does take away some of the guilt.  I will also eat the same thing everyday for lunch for a week.  I take leftovers for my lunch every single day.  I make spaghetti last night (only used 1/4 of the box of noodles).  My husband and 2 kids ate the noodles and spaghetti, I ate the meat sauce.  I will have the leftover meat sauce for at least 2 lunches. 

I'm not a big fan of exercise either.....until now.  I'm down 128 pounds, so it is so much easier to exercise now.  I do a pretty intense cardio class 2 times a week and have been doing couch to 5K and found that I actually enjoy running.  I know I need to do weights too, but with two young children, I'm having a hard time getting everything in.

Vitamins/supplements..... I HATE THEM!  I do.  I always will.  I take most of them in the morning all at once, then 2 hours later take calcium and mult, then 2 hours later iron/vit C and a calcium chew before bed.  I totally hate doing this, but it's pretty quick and I know I have to.  It's easy to slack off, but I don't want to know what the consequences will be!  Set timers on your phone if you need to for vitamins.  I just take them to work with me in the morning and keep taking them until they are gone.  It doesn't get easier, and some people may not mind it, but I do hate it.  It's a necessary trade off.

You are doing great!  I had surgery 12/16.  Excellent ideas on this thread - I am going to check out the food saver too.

I take iron pills that my PCP prescribes for me.  I tried the chewables - Celebrate was tolerable.  I much prefer just taking the pill form.  I also love the Bariatric Advantage chews for calcium, though I am also working on finishing Celebrate and Bariatric Support calcium chewables, then I will just be buying the caramel chews! 

I started a walking program in June - my program includes fitness consults.  With the long cold winter I have found this difficult to maintain - so I mall walk when I can.  I also had some complications which kept me from exercising for the first six weeks after my surgery.  I am looking forward to spring and getting outside again more regularly.  For next winter - I am planning to join a gym and may do so before then. 

Good luck to you!

Liz

Thanks again everyone!

Ocalasam - thanks for helping me feel like I am not alone. Mall walking is a good idea - there is one by the office and it could be a good break for me. I need to take my vitamins / supplements to work so I don't forget.

Liz - thanks for the positive thoughts. Many people enjoy the caramel chews. I bought some at the doctor's office. I am not really a fan, it's okay. I will keep moving forward - one day at a time - right?