Stall is broken!

Stall is broken. Woke up this morning, lost a pound! I LOVE MY SLEEVE!

3 Week Stall

Dear God - I am in the 3 Week Stall. I went down a pound, I went up a half, I went down a half, and then up a half. Today I am going to do only protein and exercise my buns off to try to break out of the stall. I hate this. But at the same time my clothes are getting looser. Woohoo!

3 Week Stall

Well, I am in the 3 week stall. Have only lost 1 pound this week. But, to put it in perspective, before I would be miserable all week long and expect to only lose one pound. So - it's not so bad. I am going to do only protein and exercise today and this weekend to try to break the plateau.

I love The World According to Eggface

Here is an Eggface recipe that

I am going to try since I am on puree:

Shelly's Baked Ricotta

8 oz of Ricotta Cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1 large Egg, beaten

1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup Marinara Sauce

1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Mix ricotta cheese, parmesan, beaten egg, seasonings together and place in a oven proof dish. Pour marinara on top and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake it in the oven @ 450 for about 20-25 minutes (best) or nuke it till hot and bubbly. I usually made it first in the oven and heated the leftovers in the microwave.

Still Losing

Well, I lost 3.5 pounds this week. I can't believe it. It feels so great. And next week I get to start more strenuous exercise! That is very exciting to me. In fact, I believe the reason I got to 213 rather than 250 or more is that I am a regular exerciser. I have missed it for the stress relief.

Yesterday was a better day at work. The difficult colleague left early to go to the doctor and try to get some things figured out. I am glad this person decided to do this. I feel at a loss about trying to help.

The Are you a crazy person Test

Whoa. Yesterday was a tough day at work with a very tough person. This person talks about suicide, cries, talks about being hospitalized, rages, becomes depressed, becomes happy all in the space of an 8 hour day. There is something really, really wrong. It makes for a very stressful work environment. Plus, this person really doesn't have any idea that the roller coaster of emotions affects the people all around the area. Eeeesh. Came home stressed out and very tired BUT - DID NOT BINGE AT ALL!!!!

YAY!! I navigated through a lunch out and a dinner out doing a cup of soup each time, and while the scales didn't go down, they certainly didn't go up! Presurgery, I would have come home and eaten a cheesecake or something just to calm myself down. What a relief to be in control!

A Bad Day

A very bad day. Had heartburn all day long so started the Prilosec. That time of the month, actually somewhat improved from presurgery, but still had cramps, felt weird and achy etc. Made a HUGE food error - sipped chocolate milk today. It just seemed so soothing, creamy, chocolatey and delicious. Bad news - heartburn is worse than ever. I guess it's an improvement over presurgery when I might have eaten you know, a large Dairy Queen and 2 dozen cookies plus a few chocolate bars, but, darn it, I wish I hadn't drunk it! Oh well. Start anew tomorrow.

Blah BLues

What do you know. Today, for the first time since my sleeve, I have kind of the blah blues. I don't know why. The good news is that I am not hungry and have no urge to eat or binge, which would have been the first thing I'd done pre-sleeve. I'm not resentful over food (or lack thereof). It's just a little day of the blah blues.

The bad news is I don't have a blah blues strategy. Time to learn. What will I do to comfort myself today?

Half Pound Down and Puree Today!

Yay! Down another half pound and puree today! Having read tons about this, I have promised myself to do it right. I WILL NOT head right for the mashed potato or make a loaded baked potato and puree it. I am going to do tuna and other fish, all the light proteins that I can hopefully morph into salad like purees with a little fat free mayo and my new Oster hand held blenderizer. It worked great on the tuna, but the way. I am also going to start the sleeve eating routine today of three meals with two protein drinks in between.

6:29AM - GO TUNA!!!!

Purees Tomorrow

Am due to start purees tomorrow right on the heels of foaming and kakking tonight. I am worried. After this kakking incident with pudding and protein drink I am going to be very careful. My husband bought me the Oster hand blender with chopper and cup so I can make sure to puree everything into a smooth, pudding like consistency. I am going with tuna salad puree tomorrow. Tuna is light, filled with protein, has no fat, and I like it. I am measuring portions and starting the suggested food plan. Here's how it goes:

Breakfast: 1/4 c (2 ounces) tuna salad puree

Snack: Protein Drink which I will need to sip on all morning to get down.

Lunch: 1/4 c tuna salad puree

Snack: Protein Drink, again with the sipping through the afternoon

Dinner: 1/4 c some kind of protein puree, I will decided this after experiencing the tuna. I might need to go back to sugar free pudding if my tum thinks it's best.

That should give me all the protein I need for the day and get me started on the idea of meal, drink, meal, drink, meal. I've read a lot about the puree stage and it seems you can't treat purees like the full liquids. Full liquids you can kind of sip all day. Purees are actually meals that need to get on the sleeve schedule or you can end up eating way too much.

Foamed and Kakked Today

I am sad to say that on the heels of my luncheon victory I must report a terrible failure. Through thoughtless, speedy eating of sugar free pudding and thoughtless gulping (if you could call it gulps) of cranberry protein drink, I first foamed and then heaved. I mean I bent over and kakked a big splat right onto the carpet.

I had to think this over to figure out how it all went wrong. First, I had a busy afternoon at work and did not eat or drink anything from luncheon on. By the time I got home at 4 I was terribly thirsty, crabby, and a little bit light-headed. In the old days (pre-sleeve) I would have stood at the kitchen counter and eaten everything in sight, washing it all down with Diet Coke or Dew. I used to called it a "snack," (DENIAL) but it was actually more like a 4th and 5th meal combined into one big gorge. So, I think what happened was, I still had that gorge coping mentality and without even realizing it unleashed it on my sugar free pudding and protein drink, eating incorrectly, hence kakking. It was the strangest kakking. I felt nothing in my stomach at all, it was like it never made it down. First there was a lot of foamy stuff and then WHAMMO I bent over from the waste, opened my outh and KAKK! There is was. It was reflexive, I had no control whatsoever.

I call this both a victory and a failure. The victory is the sugar free pudding and the protein drink, nothing illegal there. The failure is the speed eating and the kakking, both really bad for sleevesters. I think I will need to prepare myself for this time of day. It's a danger time for me and I am going to have to make sure I slow down and pay attention to what I am doing with food. I also need to make sure I sip my protein drink through the afternoon so I am not so empty and thirsty when I walk through the door.

I hope this doesn't turn me off sugar free pudding. It's been very good to me.

Social Eating Success!

Ok here's the bad news first - the luncheon menu today was choice of gourmet deli sandwich on fancy bread plus sides. There was NOTHING absolutely nothing I could eat or drink except bottled water. All the drinks were carbonated. SO - I bravely got out my sugar free pudding and did what I needed to do. The only odd comment I got was from this crabby colleague of mine who always has something negative to say about everything. I felt great about doing the right thing, and I know my new stomach is thanking me for sticking with the full liquid plan. Hooray!

Worried About Social Eating

Well here I am up early again. Since my surgery, I seem to need less sleep? I can't imagine this is a real side effect or benefit, but it seems to be happening. I go to bed at the regular time and wake up about 4:30AM rested and raring to go more often than not. Have no idea why.

Anyway, today is the today of my first real social eating challenge. I am going to a mentor/mentee luncheon. The food is usually catered in and very nice, but none of it is full liquid friendly. I am sure there will be salad, I have never seen or heard about a soup at one of these. The entree is usually very nice pizza or gourmet deli sandwiches, neither of which will work. I am just very nervous about sitting with my mentee and pushing food around on my plate while she eats during the hour long luncheon. I guess I will see how it plays out and do the best I can. I am only 1 day from puree - maybe I could do a lot of salad dressing and chew the heck out of the lettuce, skipping the more fibrous veg in the salad. I don't like the thought of all the fat and calories in the dressing, but I am going to have to problem solve on this one.

Down another pound and a half today. In a new decade!! Woohoo!!!!

July Weight Loss

I keep forgetting to post my weight loss. My ticker is at the bottom of the page, but I know it's hard to see unless you scroll all the way down.

I started my pre-op diet July 1st and had surgery July 20. I lost 22 pounds in July. Just to put that in perspective, here is a picture of a 22 pound fish - I used to carry that fish around with me each day, but now I've lost it!

Facing a Challenge Tomorrow

Tomorrow I have to go to a work luncheon. I am a mentor, and the purpose of this luncheon is to get to know the mentee and basically bond over a nice lunch. There is no way I can skip this. Usually, they serve foods that are not appropriate for a 2 week sleeve. In all the years, I've never seen a soup or anything that could count as a full liquid entree. I don't know how I am going to sit there with my new mentee and watch her eat for an hour while I push food around on my plate and pretend. I am going to have to figure something out by tomorrow. Argh. I feel like this is my first REAL challenge with the social eating thing.

Major Celebration

Last night my brother introduced my husband and me to his new girlfriend. She is a wonderful, sweet, smart, pretty girl and we both just loved her. We took them out to dinner at a great restaurant, one of my favorites. I was very nervous about this because I haven't been out to dinner since getting my sleeve and, being on full liquids, had no idea if there was anything on the menu I could order. I called ahead and found that there was a cheddar broccoli soup, very thin, and a macaroni and cheese in a soup-like creamy sauce, just as much sauce as pasta. I thought, "This is not ideal, CARBS, but I will be able to order it and fake through the meal - nobody in my family knows about my sleeve except my husband and my mom. I didn't want to have to lie to my brother and his girlfriend or get into any discussions if that makes sense.

Here is the FABULOUS news - there is SO MUCH fabulous news that I am going to bullet it:

• I had no hunger feelings at all, no food envy of what other people were eating.
• I had no desire to cheat. If I had been out with just my husband who knows about my sleeve I would have ordered just a cup of the soup and been totally content.
• You know that mouth feel, where your mouth is just watering and wanting that food - GONE.
• You know that head and body feeling where there's like a pulse in your brain going EAT, EAT, EAT - gone.
• Before the sleeve, I would have shared an app, eaten a salad, and ordered an entree, probably eating at leas half to three quarters of it.
• Before the sleeve I would have eaten the leftovers before I went to bed or first thing in the morning for breakfast - not this time!
• Long story short, I ate 3-4 sleeve sized bites of the soup and 1 or 2 sleeve sized bites of the macaroni sauce AND I WAS SET!!

I can't tell you how wonderful this was. For a person who spent a big majority of each day planning food, thinking about food, stressing about food, and finally eating huge amounts of food, the control I felt at last night's dinner felt like a literal gift from God, and I do thank God for Dr. Zapata and my sleeve every single day. It is like being released from some kind of hellish slavery where food calls all the shots. Thank you, thank you, thank you again Dr. Z. and the gastric sleeve.