birdgherl

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I have had this devil flu that's been going around the country. It was a few days of fever, aches, chills etc. and about a week of congestion and coughing and sinus pain. Not fun! As a result, I have been off my game in terms of exercise. I plan on getting back into the gym tomorrow. 

Other than that, I debuted my Size 16 Old Navy pants at work yesterday. I am totally blown away that I was wearing Size 22 and up not so long ago. I think some of the larger ON pants didn't even fit! My top has always been smaller than the bottom of me, but now I can wear regular sizes and depending on the designer, it's a M or L!! 

The best thing about this surgery has been the tremendous change in the way I eat. I call it Forced Mindful Eating. Since everything I put in my pouch has to be the best nutrition for me, I really think about what I am eating before I eat it whereas before, I would be shoveling things in all day, sometimes without even remembering. I also plan the week on Sat or Sun so I am not without food and snacks in the house. I start each day with a variation of the same smoothie to ensure I get a good protein hit in the morning with a decent amount of calories to start the day. I almost always pack my lunch and snacks for work now, since I know I will regret it if I don't have good choices at hand. 

The rewards of this surgery have been amazing. I am so grateful for having been able to do this.

I found this last night at my local Stop N Shop and made my smoothie with some chocolate protein powder this am. For each 8 oz serving, there are only 70 calories, 1g sugar and 7 g protein. It's really yummy! I am going to try it with my cappuccino machine tonight - steam it with some decaf espresso. 

I am heading to Barix for an appointment with Dr. P. I will update that tomorrow. But I will be weighing in wearing new pants - size 16 from Old Navy. Pretty exciting considering I was wearing a 24-26 before surgery!

UPDATE:

I am down 67 lbs. That's 52% of my excess weight. Dr. P was very happy with my progress and she said the weight loss will be slowing down (which it has since Dec) but to keep at it. The next mini milestone is 75lbs and I am shooting to get there by March 15.

Happy February! And Happy friggin ONEderland to me!! I got on the scale at my mom's last night. It was in the evening, just eaten dinner AND have PMS and I weighed in at 196!!! That's 67 lbs since surgery 6 1/2 months ago!! I put my 6 month pictures up also, and it's pretty tough to look at Day 1! 

I discovered some new favorite foods also. I am in love with the steamed vegetable dumplings from PF Chang's. They list the nutritional info on the web so it's nice for planning.  I can eat 2 of them, maybe 3 so I am getting in a decent amount of protein and few calories.

VEGETABLE DUMPLINGS (STEAMED) Filled with shredded vegetables.

Calories 330   Protein 12g   Carbs 53g   Total Fat 8.0g   Saturated Fat 0.5g   Fiber 2.10g

Ingredients: 5 spice tofu, bamboo shoot strips, bean thread noodles, black mushrooms, cabbage, ginger, green onions, Mi Chiu rice wine, red bell pepper, sesame oil, vegetable preserves, side of potsticker sauce, spicy Vegetarian Mushroom Oyster Sauce (contains no animal product), Wonton Skins. 

Whole Foods sells General Tsao's Soy Chicken in their prepared food section and it's delicious! I eat very little of it at a time as the protein is very dense. It seems like it would be high in fat so I have it on special occasions. 

I currently LOVE Newman's Protein Pretzels but I need to be careful as they go down very easily. One serving is 22 pretzels and has 120 cal and 5g protein but I can see myself abusing them so I didn't buy any this week. They are also very salty so I try not to overdo it.

My other addiction (well I am not prostituting myself for these yet) are sugar free vanilla, decaf, soy lattes from Starbuck's. Delightful.

THE SCALE WON'T MOVE!! Will I ever be in ONEderland??? This is so frustrating. I have only lost about 6 lbs in the last month. I am right at the 200 mark and not moving! I know...it's temporary, like all stalls. But I just needed to vent. 

Okay, it's been 6 months since my surgery. I am down 63 lbs, just at the 200 lb mark. I am a little frustrated to not be under 200 but my measurements sure made me smile. Here are the numbers as of this morning.

Day before surgery (July 16, 2007)
Ankle - 12.5
Calf - 19.75
Knee - 19.25
Upper Thigh - 31.75
Hip - 56.25
Waist - 47
Bust - 47
Upper Arm - 17
Neck - 15
Wrist - 8.5
Ring Size - 10
Shoe Size - 10 (though some 10's were tight)
Pants - 26/28
Tops - 22/24

6 Months Out (January 17, 2008)
Ankle - 10.75   DOWN 1.5
Calf - 17     DOWN 2.75
Knee - 17     DOWN 2.25
Upper Thigh - 25.75     DOWN 6
Hip - 49.5     DOWN  6.75
Waist - 38.75     DOWN 8.25
Bust - 43     DOWN 4
Upper Arm  - 15     DOWN 2
Neck - 14     DOWN 1
Wrist - 7.5     DOWN 1
Ring Size - 8.5
Shoe Size - 9.5 or 10
Pants - 16/18
Tops - Misses Large and even some Mediums

Total Inches Lost: 35.5

I am almost 6 months out and plan on posting some pics and measurements in a few days. The changes are already amazing. As I sit and type this, my legs are crossed UNDER my desk. HA. Who would have thought I could do that so soon?? Ah, life's little pleasures. I feel great, have a lot of energy, and get to the gym about 3x per week. I still battle occasional nausea but it's rare compared to what it was like in the beginning. 

My latest find is an unsweetened chocolate soy milk (9g protein per cup and only 1 g sugar). I use it every morning in my shake. It's from vitasoy and I get it at whole foods. 

My weight loss has slowed quite a bit for now. I am down 57 lbs so it's been a slow month. But I still feel great, and clothes are falling off. I continue to work out and try to do more and more at the gym. The holidays were pretty easy, and I didn't eat anything crazy. No dumping yet as I am super careful and hopefully, I will avoid that forever!

I just checked my BMI and on the day of surgery, it was 43.8. Today it is 34.3, very close to the "overweight" category, soon to be out of "obese". 

My hair continues to fall out -it's all over the house!! I know it's part of the deal, but I am getting a little nervous. I am upping the biotin and adding MSM and zinc, as well as using Nioxin shampoo and scalp treatment so we'll see if this works.

I made a great vegan jam thumbprint cookie that was super satisfying and had very few grams of sugar or fat.

Preheat oven to 350.

1 C raw, organic almonds - puree into a meal
1 C Organic oat flour
1 C Organic whole wheat pastry flour
Pinch of sea salt

Mix dry ingredients together and then add:

1/2 C organic canola, olive or avocado oil
1/2 C lite organic maple syrup

Mix only until combined. Whole grain flours can get tough if they are mixed too much.

Form into about 1 oz balls and then flatten with your thumb  (hence, thumbprint) on a cookie sheet. Place a small amount of jam or fruit spread (any kind you like - since you use so little, go for something very high quality) in the well you made with your thumb. Don't overfill. You can also sprinkle some unsweetened, shredded coconut on top of the cookies or on the edges. I liked this option a lot but you can omit.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

I don't have exact stats but since 1/2 C of maple syrup is about 106g sugar, just divide the amount of pieces you make into that for an approximate sugar count. For example, I made 28 cookies out of the batch, so it was about 4g of sugar each. I only ate 1 at a time to avoid any dumping. The almonds provide protein as well.

My 3 month visit (which fell 1 day before my 4 month surgiversary) was on Friday. I am down 50lbs! It was my personal goal and I am so grateful I made it! I am feeling good, picking up the workouts at the gym, and dropping sizes. 

My cholesterol went from 227 to 169 and my LDL/HDL ratio is almost where it should be. All of my numbers are in normal range except for iron which was only slightly low, and my thyroid, which is a family disease. I take synthroid for that. 

I have been a vegetarian for years and I am moving toward being a vegan - about 90% there. I am doing this for health but also fo moral and ethical reasons. I have been able to keep my protein levels in range by eating lots of tofu, beans and seitan (a wheat-based protein). I have also started trying some vegan protein mixes for my shakes; the protein is rice and hemp, mostly. They are quite good and helping me get to the daily goals. I am so grateful to be able to eat more vegetables and fruit, which I have been craving. 

For Thanksgiving, I will have Tofurkey, which I have had in years past. It is really tasty! For sides, I have done a variety of things: roasted vegetables with rosemary, baked sweet potatoes with sauteed, mixed vegetable, cauliflower mash (steamed cauliflower, almond milk, vegan butter substitute, salt, pepper and chives - just puree!), and I found some great vegan gravies that you would never believe in Wegman's whole foods aisle. Now to perfect the perfect vegan pumpkin pie!

Well, it's official. My hair is falling out all over the place. It's insane how much hair comes out at once! And scary too. But luckily, I have a ton of hair to spare.

Lately, I have found that I can eat a lot more easily which is nice but yesterday I ate too fast and it was PAINFUL. My chest was tight and my mouth started watering like crazy. I was in a mall and had to find a bathrom FAST. Luckily it was just a little foamies. I hate throwing up! It passed pretty quickly. It is a good reminder that I need to eat more mindfully.

I have also been a slacker about getting all of my meals in and I don't exercise like a crazy person...probably because I don't have the energy because I don't eat enough! Instead of beating myself up, I am just plodding along, trying to make the best decisions each day. Beating myself up in the past lead to sabotage. 

I am off to the gym shortly...getting back into the weight training. I was there on Saturday and walked a lot yesterday.....so at least there is some consistency!