Connie_S
3 Months Since Surgery
Sep 24, 2009
Tommorrow will be my 3 month surgery anniversary. To date, I have lost 62 pounds. An average of 20 pounds lost per month. I can't complain about that! I still struggle with not understanding why I don't loose something every week, but I don't and I haven't since the beginning. But now, being this far out and seeing the average wt loss/month, I can handle it much better.In the beginning, I was looking at needing to loose 217 pounds to get to 155 which is my goal. That seemed overwhelming and worse, my doc clearly indicated he did not expect me to make it all the way since I have so much to loose. I think he said he expected me to loose around 70% of my excess weight ??? Can't remember exactly, but I remember being shocked that he did not think I would get to goal. So, now at 3 months out, it's very encouraging to see my ticker say "155 pounds to go!" instead of "217 pounds to go!"!! It just sounds so much more reachable!
I am having much less nausea these days and I really don't know if it's because I tolerate things better or if I finally figured out what I could not eat and have stayed away from those things? I do know that most days I fixate much less on what I will eat now than I did in the beginning. And in spite of what my nurtitionist said at my last visit, I bumped my protein shakes back up to 3 a day instead of just 2. It seems I have finally found my rhythm with eating, and it works nicely for me until I allow my head to get in the way.
So here's how a food day goes for me when I am "eating to live" instead of "living to eat" - which I am desperately trying to learn to do for the rest of my life.
Breakfast: Protein shake (23 g protein / 123 calories)
Mid-morning snack: Protein shake (23 g protein / 123 calories)
Lunch: 1 package (3oz) of StarKist Tuna Salad (13 g protein / 100 calories)
Mid-Afternoon Snack: Protein shake (23 g protein / 123 calories)
Dinner: Usually 3-4 ounces (volume, not weight) smoked, baked, or broiled fish, shrimp, or chicken - can't handle veggies with it.
Evening snack: 1/2 cup sugar free peaches, or pears sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese OR 2 Triscuit crackers with a 1/2 slice of 2% American Sliced Cheese OR 1 cup of skim milk OR very occassionally, a cup of fat free popcorn.
It varies from about 700-800 calories a day. And most days, I find are good days. If my head is messing with me, it will complain that I have had Tuna every day for a week for lunch and I need something else. But the truth is, the prepackaged tuna salad always provides valuable protein as well as fish oils to help me improve my heart health, it always sits well on my pouch, it's never too much volume, and it always leaves me feeling very satisfied until around 4pm. Occassionally I will add a little fat free mayo to it or have it on 4 saltines, but mostly I am trying to stay away from white carbs completely. I find they seem to really slow down my weight loss even at the calorie intake I am at.
The other way my head messes with me is to give me the munchies in the evenings. It doesn't happen a lot any more, but some evenings I just want to keep going back to the pantry or the fridge. Mostly, I find keeping to my water schedule helps with that. My water intake goal is 64 ounces a day. I dissolve calcium crystals in the first and last 16 ounce bottles every day and use crystal light to flavor the others if I need it. So I drink one when I get up in the morning and walk. I drink it while I am walking. It seems to kind of get my pouch ready for intake for the day - it can be a little irritable in the mornings. Then, I try to consume 16 ounces from breakfast to lunch, from lunch to dinner, and from dinner to bedtime. This helps me to keep something at hand if I need that hand to mouth action. And it helps that I really love some of the flavors for the water.
I still cannot tolerate tea - which is a bummer because I love it so, but it hurts my stomach. But mostly, I'm satisfied and cruising. I do not push what my pouch can hold, because I want to keep it as small as possible. Some of the ladies at the support group fuss at me for using my protein shakes so heavily. They are emphatic that I have to "learn to eat again!" But I notice most of them never made it to goal, so I am listening to their advice about things like this with a grain of salt. I figure, once I make it to my goal, I'll have the rest of my life to "learn to eat again". I mean, it's not like I am not eating now. I'm just relying heavily on the protein supplements.
So, it's going well! See ya next month! connie
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About Me
Morganton, NC
Location
28.9
BMI
Surgery
06/25/2009
Surgery Date
May 27, 2009
Member Since
