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OMG! I think I just had a little panic attack. I was reading this thread:

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/vsg/4349895/when-you-were-fully-healed-how-many-ounces-could

and the reality of the surgery hit me like a ton of bricks. It's for real.
I will likely never eat over 6 oz of food at one time for the rest of my life.

Holy shit!

The easy way out? Really?

I think I knew to expect this, it just caught me off guard.

I think I'm ok.

So I started soft foods a little early but not really. Okay, 4 days. I made some Ricotta Bake and it was soooooo good. I can say that I definitely feel restriction now. I think the first time I had it, I probably ate about 3 oz. Big mistake. I was so full I couldn't get my protein shake in. The second time, I had about 2 oz and that was just about right. I'm still trying to learn how to slow down. It is imperative that I get that through my thick brain.

I went to lunch with ma today and we went to the Ale House. She ordered fish & chips and we subbed mashed potatoes. I had about 2 T of potatoes (if that) and about 2 oz of tilapia (fried/bad). Definitely too much food again. On top of that, I got a little nauseated. I think it was from the greasy tilapia but it passed about 1/2 hour later. It's really hard to look at that amount of food as filling you up. Pretty wild. Thankfully, I haven't had any real nausea or vomiting.

I did get up in the middle of the night a couple of days ago thinking I would chug some milk. REALLY bad idea! It got about mid chest and came right back up. It wasn't like vomiting, it just kinda burped back up. Note that this was the same night I had the 3 oz of ricotta bake. Hmmmm....I think I'm onto something here. Girl genious!

Overall, things are well. My drain incision is officially closed so I don't dress it anymore. I've bought a couple of adorable aniticipation sundresses. I think dresses are easier esp while losing weight. I can't wait to model them.

If I recall correctly, Dr. Aceves told us not to fight the sleeve because the sleeve will always win!

I owe a video soon too. Just ordered a new camera so I should get that up in a couple of days.

Before 185:                                                                                                  Now 172:

I drank 2 glasses of white wine today. :-(

SHAME on me!

Today was my FIL's birthday and the family met at Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner. My thought was that I would just have some soup. It turns out, they don't have soup!  I eneded up getting mashed potatoes and ate a couple of tsps, maybe. It was a little odd as, although I've done lunch out with my husband and then again with my daughter, this was a whole other ballgame.

My in-laws know that I had the surgery but my SIL/BIL don't, might, probably know. I wonder if they do. I'm not sure if MIL said anything. I didn't ask her not too, but, it doesn't really matter. I feel like f they didn't know, there would have been more comment on my choice.

I wish I would have had more of a "plan" other than to have soup. Everyone ordered dinner plates which, when they came, seemed HUGE to me. Of course, it wasn't any more than I've ever eaten at any given time, but this time was different. The servings just seemed ginormous.

My BIL asked me if I was dieting and I said yes, as always, but there was not really any more comment made on my dinner choice other than the waitress who said, "that's all you want, mashed potatoes"? I took it really slow but again, forgot about not drinking while eating. Since my plan was to  order soup, I had asked for water (which I brought crystal light for) and sipped on it while eating the MP. It took me just as long to get through those couple of bites as it did for everyone else to finish. I think using the tiny forks/spoons at home has really helped slow me down. They were certainly one ofthe best tools I have bought.

I felt a little silly just ordering the MP while everyone was ordering normal, so I thought, next time, I might order a regular plate and just push the food around a bit to blend in more. Then I thought, man, that's just kinda stupid. If I would have had a better plan, I would have thought to ask for a bowl of hot water and I could have mixed the single serving packet of Unjury Chicken Soup that I had in my purse and would have been perfectly fine. Then if anyone asked, I could just say that I am doing a liquid protein diet. DUH! NOTED!

Another thing I notied was that closer to the end of the meal, I got slightly nauseated from the smells. It was just a little  overwhelming. I wonder if I had skipped the water if it would have bothered me.

So, there's my first moment out in the real world and I certainly learned a few lessons. We are now back home and I am trying to fulfill my daily protein req with having that Unjury soup. I had 2 protein shakes today so I'm getting my usual 75 gms in. YAY me!

Mammogram update. I went in for the second round of pics today for the "dense" areas that were revealed on the first mammo on Monday. It turns out there are 2 "nodules" on my right breast so they did an ultrasound. The techs are not allowed to tell you anything, so I'm assuming I'll get a call early next week for a biopsy. The U/S tech spent about 15 minutes taking measurements of the "nodules" which seemed incredibly thorough to me. Just waiting out the weekend. Gonna try to keep myself busy and not think about it.

Loving my Unjury Chicken Soup. I've heard it's better mixed with broth, so I'll def be trying that tomorrow. Not much going on today. Still have lots of energy. Loving my B12 Complex by Nature's Made as well. Had lunch with an old gf today. It seems I think I'm ready to start living a little again. It seems that for the last year I've just sat on the couch wallowing in pity. I'm done with that! It's time to reconnect and get out there. I even pulled out my Specialized road bike yesterday and took her in for a tune up. I think I've got Spring Fevah! Putting some new pedals on her and get her shined up good as new!

I also went to the tanning salon today and got a spray tan (my first time). Tanning always makes me feel good. On another note, I got a call back on my mammogram today and they said there are a few "dense" areas they want to compress out and take some more pics of so I'm going back in the morning. She said to expect an ultrasound to follow up as well. Pray that all goes well. I'm a little concerned, but trying not to think about it.

I got in trouble today with Dr. Aceves. Kinda. Okay, I'm exaggerating just a little.

I had emailed Gaby (Dr. Aceves follow up coordinator) regarding my 10 day post op update and told on myself.

I had pureed a can of clam chowder and added a touch of cheese to it and was raving about how good it was. DOH!

Gaby said that:

The doctor says this is too dense for the stomach and it has tons of calories...He prefers that even if you stomach can take it well you do not do it again.
He prefers cream soups that are made out of vegetables only and are not too dense.

Of course, then I got worried that I messed something up and she said,

no not at all...do not worry. some patients heal fast, swelling goes down fast and this is great...wonderful, but we still need to take care of your baby healing stomach

No harm has been done...dont worry
The doctor just wants you to take is slowly

some patient start blending meat ( like chicken ) and this  makes their soups so dense it starts giving them problems  ( nausea, vomiting, etc ) that puts their staple line at risk

the doctor just wants the stomach to heal slowly with no risk at all

It's good to know she picked up on that and is looking out for me. Another reason to be impressed with the "A" Team!

I guess that means no refried beans too. Okay. 11 days and 4 baby slips. Note to self....Full liquids does not include refried beans, mashed potatoes, or pureed clam chowder (as she feigns ignorance!). oh yeah, and that damn gum I accidentally swallowed on the flight home! LOL!

Great day today! Had lunch with the youngest daughter and talked about maybe her being interested in getting sleeved one day and long walk to the park with my grandson. Not one snatchy moment today!

Addendum: I got my Unjury chicken soup in today. It really isn't bad at all. No protein taste. I wish I would have had this while I was in the hospital or at least a week ago. It's almost like a thicker broth. Not thick, I don't know how to explain, but very satisfying. I might actually survive the next 10 days.

Just posted my 10 day update to youtube. It was a long one! A few things I forgot to mention...

I went to lunch with my husband today. I was thinking K&W Cafeteria because I thought they would have soup, but, I was wrong. I ended up grabbing some mashed potatoes with gravy. It was heavenly! Being the dork that I am, I actually took a picture of the before and after. I guess I ate about 1/2 of it. Probably about 2 oz. I took it really, really slow and it went down fine. My major issue was that I kept grabbing for my water. I'm going to have to work on that. I OFFICIALLY go on full liquids today!



I had my follow up appt with my PCP today and it went great! He congratulated me on my decision and mentioned that I seemed really upbeat and happy. I was supposed to do fasting labs but he rescheduled for 2 months out considering I have not been taking my pravastatin for cholesterol the last couple of weeks. He said he would schedule my follow up Upper GI as requested by Dr. Aceves at that time.

I see this PCP about every 3 months and I always have some kind of confession. I've either made the executive decision to start something new or I've stopped something I was supposed to be doing. I always try to be honest with him and after my confession, he'll always say something like, that will be 2 hail Marys and ....Since the surgery was such a big one, I thought for sure I'd get the death penalty. I ended up with 3 Hail Marys and my sins were forgiven. He said even murderers don't get more than that.

All is well with the world.

Also, another easy fluids day! Yay!

I guess the one thing I wanted to note for today was that I woke up a RAGING "B"! It passed after a couple of hours, but I don't know what got into me. I have heard that with quick weight loss, a lot of hormones are released from fat cells. I don't know. I do know I haven't had my Wellbutrin for about 3 weeks now and I'm probably PMSing a bit. Poor Capt.!

Fluids are going down much easier today. I'm supposed to start full liuquids tomorrow. Not sure how much of a diff that's going to make in my diet really. Sweet shakes are getting old. I ordered some Unjury Chicken flavor FOREVER ago but it still hasn't come in. I cheated a little today and had about 2 T of refried beans with a touch of cheese melted over it earlier today. I tolerated it fine, but I think I'll stick to the plan from here on out. 10 more days on fluids then soft foods. I have an appt with my PCP tomorrow. I took all of my surgical paperwork in earlier last week to give him time to review. I can't wait to see what he says about this! After that, I've got a mammogram. JOY!

Overall, I feel I'm doing pretty well. Capt (my husband) said he can see some of the loss in my face already. I bought the cutest white (anticipation) sundress at Marshall's yesterday. It fits, but it will actually look decent on my in about 15 more pounds. I had to have it!

I'm still not having any issues getting my protein in. I'm getting a little more than 70 grams. More like 76 gms. 3 shakes mixed with Almond Breeze. I also don't make a big deal out of making my shakes, just use my handy dandy blender bottle and I'm G2G! Easy!

I started my MVI today. I got Centrum Chewables and I have been taking a sublingual B complex since I got home. I think that's helping with the energy. I think I'm going to ask my PCP about starting Actigall to prevent gallstones. I read that tip in Dr. Cirangle's Diet guide. He said that taking this 300mg twice daily for as long as you are losing >8 lbs per month will decrease your likelihood of gallstones from 30 to 2-3%.

I have been a madwoman cleaning and organizing drawers and under the bathroom sinks. It feels good to de-clutter.

Woot! 177!
Everyday gets better. Today I walked about a mile and a half and it wasn't easy, let me tell you. I survived though. My new revelation last night was while cooking dinner for my husband. I never really realized how much I used to pick while I was cooking. I probably took in hundreds of calories before I ever even sat down to eat. It was soooo hard. I kept having to remind  myself that I couldn't touch. I'm still on liquids and will be for quite some time. Small ocnfession here....
I cooked a pizza for him tonight and took the tiniest sliver of cheese and put it in my mouth just to taste and spit it out! LOL! PATHETIC!
I also updated my video blog on you tube. Check it out if you get a chance. I'll probably move to doing most of my updates there from here on out other than weekly pics.