1 month's progress

One month ago today I started this new way of life.  I have since lost 30 pounds!!!!
Here's my photos showing what a month can do:

Gladly seeing less of me more and more!

Ah ha moment!

Last Friday I had an appointment with my surgeon for my 1st post-op.  The nurse weighed me and congratulated me on my (then) 24 pounds lost.  I was thrilled. She then took me into the exam room to wait for the doctor.  As I was waiting there, realizing that her scale matched mine and it wasn't just in my head that I had lost 24 pounds, I got a little teary eyed.  It finally hit me that it WAS going to happen.

I had my AH HA moment.  I was finally going to get rid of the fat Shanny shell.  I'm going to have to work hard and exercise and eat correctly, follow the rules and make lots of compromises, but I can do it now.  I have the tools to finally do it!  I was so happy that the endless tunnel of pudge was finally being diverted.

I've finally learned how to eat in a sensible way.  I've learned how to make better choices and I know the ramifications of my bad choices.  I CAN do it now and I couldn't be happier.

As of yesterday I weigh 28 pounds less than I did one month ago.  I'm seeing the changes in my face, body and mind.  Here's some photos to show the difference in one month.  The first one was taken on January 29th the day I started the liquid diet two weeks prior to the banding.  The second photo was taken yesterday Feburary 26th two weeks and two days after the surgery.

Have a great weekend.... here's to seeing less of me next time!

Twenty Seven & a few recipies

I like to spell it out because it makes it seem sooooo much bigger than just the number 27.

So, I'm down twenty seven pounds now and I'm just so happy.  My clothes are getting baggy and my face has changed so much in the past month.  Hard to believe that I started this weight loss adventure one month ago this coming Friday and I've already lost an average of one pound per day!  That's just CRAZY!  Considering all of the other times I've tried and failed at weight loss I'm so thrilled about the way the scale is looking to me, but I'm also thrilled with my will power.  I'm having to work, exercise, stick strictly to the rules and put forth a lot of effort.  It's hard work but the results are right there in front of me every morning!  YEA!

I've found some new recipes that I'm totally in love with as well.  I thought I'd share with you!  These are in WLS (weight loss surgery) portions, but they are both so filling and tasty, anyone can enjoy them! 

My newest breakfast love is what I call Peanut Butter Cheesefake.

2T Fat Free Ricotta Cheese
2T Smooth peanut butter
1 packet of Splenda

Mix together well.

Totals -
213 calories
16 grams of fat (all peanut butter)
3.5 grams sugar
6.5 grams of protein

Taste like peanut butter cheesecake!  I guess you could spread it on crackers (or a banana!), but I just eat it by it's self and it is super YUMMY!  High protein packed stick-to-your-ribs consistency breakfast.  Seems a little high on the fat and calories, but you could use a lower fat peanut butter to reduce some of this.

My second recipie is one I made up the other night and have eaten it for lunch three days in a row!

I call this one - Turkey meat ball pasta-less lasagna

Meatballs -
1 pound of ground turkey
1/4 large onion 
Italian seasoning (McCormick) to taste
1 tsp Fennel seeds (ground up for WLS folks)
Salt & Pepper

Caramelize the onion in a pan with Pam then set aside.   Mix onion, turkey and herbs together and use a mini scooper to make small 1 inch round balls. Sear on stove top until browned (using Pam) then place in baking dish, cover with foil and bake for 20 min @ 375.

I made my own tomato sauce as well.  Our son is allergic to garlic, so I've had to modify a few recipes.  Feel free to add garlic with the onions if you like it!  We LOVE garlic, but because of my son, we've had to change things up. 

Tomato Sauce -
1/4 large onion
2 large cans of crushed tomatoes
Italian seasoning (McCormick) & extra dried basil
1 T brown sugar

Caramelize the onion in a pan with Pam then add 2 cans crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, basil and sugar.  Simmer on low for a few hours stirring occasionally (this takes the bitterness out of the tomatoes according to our Italian land lady back in the 70's).  About an hour before you are ready to serve add in the meatballs and let them simmer in the sauce for the rest of the cooking time. 

Ok, here's the yummy part.  Microwave 2 T of fat free Ricotta cheese for about 30 seconds, spoon in 2 meatballs and a table spoon of sauce, top with a PINCH of Parmesan cheese or your favorite Italian style cheese.  ENJOY!

I have attempted to break down the calories and such, the closest I could get is this for one serving-
175 calories + Pam (?!?!)
8 grams of fat
4 grams sugar
20 grams of protein!!
It's not exact, I'm not a nutritionist or dietitian, but I think it's pretty close give or take 30 calories.  

It re-heats like a charm and gets better after the second day! 

Hope you enjoy the recipes.  I know I've enjoyed making them!

Here's to seeing less of me next time.  Cheers!

The big TWO-FIVE

I'm down twenty five big ole' pounds and quite proud of it! 
Whoooo hooooo!

20 down - New favorite food

As of yesterday I am down 20 pounds!  Whoo hooo!  That's the equivalent of one and a half of our dogs!  (mini dachshunds) I'm tickled.  It is the first of many, MANY goals I have set for myself.  The next goal - 35 lbs.  It will mark a historic wight loss for me.  In all the years, and all the diets I've done, I've never, ever lost more than 30 lbs. Only 15 to go! 

I've found a new favorite food now.  I've always been a huge fan of sweet potatoes, and now since I'm very limited in my menu I'm trying new flavors.  So, tonight I made the family baked sweet potatoes and I took about 1/4 cup of potato, blended it with a tea spoon full of Brummel and Brown yogurt butter, a dash of skim milk a dash of salt and a packet of Spenda.  It was FANTASTIC!  I was in heaven.  I highly recommend it if you are in need a VERY low fat, low cal veggie alternative! 

Here's to seeing less of me next time!

18 pounds gone!

I'm 6 days post-surgery and I'm so excited to say I've lost 18 lbs since I started the liquid diet almost three weeks ago! Keep on coming buddy! I'm tickled about the progress so far. It's hard, and I'm hungry, but my appetite isn't what it used to be. I'm feeling great. We've been trying to walk every day (Mall walking because of the CRAZY amount of snow) and it's going very well. I'm not consuming as much protein as I should, so I'm going to have to up my game on that one. I'm also not getting my fluids in like I should. Definitely need to start drinking more, more, more.

I've been looking at different sources of protein and so far it's not too bad. We bought a Oster hand blender so I can make lots of smoothies and hopefully I'll have a little variety in my protein supplements every day. At this moment I'm drinking a very nice "Creamy Cappuccino" with 12 grams of protein and only 60 calories! Yummy! Looking through the catalog at a local "Protein Store" to see what strikes my fancy. They gave me lots of samples to try and most were good and some were just down right bad! If you have a need for protein here's the website - http://mydietshopz.com I've also heard that http://bariatriceating.com has a great variety as well.

Here's to seeing less of me tomorrow!

More and more liquids

I'm four days post surgery now. Four days of getting used to my new tummy and new way of life. So far, so good.

I was talking to John last night about perspective. Since the surgery most of what I've been eating has been on the sweeter side of foods. Sugar free/fat free pudding, sugar free Jell-o, sugar free/fat free yogurt and sugar free protein drinks. You get the picture. As long as it's sugar free, fat free and is completely smooth I might be able to have it. Last night I wanted something savory. I haven't had salty in a few weeks, so I was searching my brain to find something legal to eat that would satisfy my wants. I'm allowed to have Cream of Wheat, so I thought that grits might also be legal. Just the thought of it made me sooo happy. I ran to the cupboard, found some instant grits, made it nice and thin, added a very small pat of Brummel and Brown yogurt butter and it was fantastic. I was in heaven. I ate the entire package (just one serving) and I was completely content. Here's where the perspective comes in. Before the surgery or even before the 2 week liquid diet, a single pack of grits would have just made me more hungry, but last night it was a feast. It hit the spot and I didn't need or want anything more for quite a while. I almost felt guilty for eating the whole package.... now that's a different perspective on food!

I truly think that not only did the surgery change the way my body physically needs/responds to food, but doing the two week liquid diet changed so much about the way I thought about food. I realize now I do not need much in the way of calories to sustain a healthy life. As long as I am getting the nutrients that I need, the vitamins I need, and enough calories to allow my body to function well - I am fine. I was living off of 960 calories a day during the pre-op liquid diet and I lost 16 pounds doing that. 16 pounds in 12 days!!! It's drastic, yes, but it shows me that obviously I was allowing the "pain" of hunger rule my life. I had always allowed hunger to determine so much of what I did during the day, where I went and what I did. Now I realize that it's OK to feel hungry. I'm not going to fall over dead if I don't satisfy the hunger. I just want to know why did I take 30+ years fo figure that one out???

I will tell you I'm looking forward to being able to eat a more varied diet. I have one more week with the full liquid diet then I can move on to the "MUSHY" phase. Oh, how I am looking forward to that one - hummus, soft beans, eggs, oatmeal, peanut butter, fish, scallops, crab, moist chicken, veggies and fruits! BUT then again there is sacrifice when there is reward. For now I am able to eat any time I'm hungry as long as it's on the approved list. When I start the mushy phase I will only be allowed the three TINY little meals (1/4 c. each) a day with protein supplement drinks. No snacking. Here is where the discipline and the new prospective will hopefully help me win over this battle of my bulges!

Wish me luck!

Day after surgery!

Because of the blizzard they moved up my surgery to Tuesday. I was thrilled. We got me here and settled in before the snow started.

I'm doing well and the surgery went well. My upper GI this morning looked great and they say I'm medically able to leave BUT the blizzard says otherwise. Unless this snow stops and they plow this evening I'm stuck here.

They have me on a "full liquid diet" meaning clear liquids, milk, jell-o and plain yogurt (bleh!). Fun stuff. They told us about a thing that will happen with gastric banding (LapBand) and the gastric bypass surgeries - the food gets "stuck" if it goes into your egg sized pouch too quickly and it can't pass into the main stomach quick enough. I've already felt this a bit. I am only allowed to sip liquids and I drank some crystal light a bit to quickly and it HURT! The only way to describe it is when you eat pancakes too fast. Know how it hurts right under your sternum? Yep that's it! Ouch!!

When I'm cleared for the next stage of food, in about a week, I will be able to have "mushy" foods. Mushed beans, potatoes, turkey meatballs, unsweetened applesauce and anything that can be chewed into an applesauce constancy. I will do this for about 4 weeks before I can get to a full diet. The biggest issue is to only eat 1/4 cup meals 3X a day. 2T of protein and 2T veggies. I'm also required to eat protein shakes/supplements to consume 50g of protein every day.

So that's it for now. Hope you see less of me soon!
-shan

Surgery Day!

Surgery day was moved up to tomorrow! Prayers and positive thoughts please!

CT scan

Yesterday was a very stressful day. Everything was going very well. I had my last pre-op appointment with my surgeon. I seem to have connected well with him and we were having a nice conversation about the surgery then the dreaded finger point happened. The "one moment" finger. He needed to read something more thoroughly from my test results. There was a little something wrong with my abdominal sonogram. Apparently I have two lesions on the left lobe of my liver. He and I started a mad dash to get me into a radiologist as soon as possible. I spent the rest of the day trying to schedule a CT scan for today. It had to be today, because we are expecting a major snow storm and I knew Monday was going to be a disaster. So, after fighting with the radiology book keepers I finally got it all approved. I went and picked up a LITER of barium and was set for the CT today.

After I finally had a few seconds to sit and relax...it hit me. There might be something wrong with my liver. Wow. It could be one of a hundred things, but then it could be the worst case scenario. What's next? What do I do if there is something wrong? How do we handle this? I mean, I know we handle is one day at a time. But wow. That's a tough one. It's not the first time the "C" word has been a possibility in my life. Back 14 years ago I had a bit of a scare with a benign tumor in one of my breast, but even having gone through that whole experience doesn't make this any easier.

So, today I wake up and start chugging. UGH. I fought constantly to not vomit. I had woken up at 5:30 with reflux again and nothing I did would ease it completely. So I was still fighting a bit of reflux and drinking a liter or barium. Not my best morning. I finally got it all down and left for the radiologist. I made it there and they were able to take me in a bit earlier than I was scheduled (Thank you God!) and I was able to get back home so that John could make it to work.

We are hoping the CT will show it's nothing and the surgery will go on as scheduled, but if it is something I guess we have to figure out what plan "B" is. Boo hisss....to plan "B"!

It started snowing in the middle of my appointment and has come down steadily since then. There is such a relaxing quality to snow. I love watching it fall. I don't like driving in it, but I love to watch it fall.


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Lord, I don't ask much very often, but I do have a small request. Please let this be nothing. Just a little blip, nothing to worry about. Let's get on with the surgery and on with life. Thank you. Love, shan

Dietitian Seminar - 3/4 for a whole day?!?!

Yesterday I spent 1/2 the day at the hospital. I saw the anesthesiologist and went to the dietitian seminar. It was interesting. I learned what to eat, what not to eat, when to eat it and when NOT to eat it. Lots of rules, lots of reasons not to stray from the program. The good news is that about a week after the surgery I will be able to start the "mushy" foods. I'm happy because most of the things I enjoy will be included in this part of the process. That includes peanut butter, beans, eventually meatballs (turkey) and other mushable type foods.

The crazy part of all of this is I will only be consuming 1/4 cup of food at each meal. ONE FOURTH OF A CUP! I keep asking how can I sustain my life on 3/4 cup of food each day, but I guess that is why the supplements and protein shakes are so important!

I'm really looking forward to moving on and starting this journey. I'm ready to loose the shell. Good by Shanny shell... hope to never see you again!