Summertime

So I think we can tell that I'm really not the best at this Blog thing..
When it comes to things like this, I'm anal. I like to sit down and take the time to write out a good entry with pictures and info, and lately I just don't seem to have the allotment. There's always something else to do in the summer!!!

Speaking of summer.. IT'S SUMMER!!!! This summer has been such an amazing one for weather. Everyday is hot (albeit humid....) and gorgeous. This year I even ventured into the uncharted territory of vegetable growing- which seems to be going okay, kinda. I don't think my thumbs are super green.. Not only is the weather amazing, but Mitch and I had the amazing opportunity to go on our first ever couples vacation to England to visit my family. Needless to say we had an amazing time!

As far as the weight loss goes? It's pretty good!! I updated all of my weights on the left, so you'll see how I'm doing. May 16th was a big day for me, as I crept under the 200lb mark and hit 199.4! Celebrate! Once I hit that, I had my focus on 188 which would be my official "100lbs lost" goal, which I reached on June 30th. WOOH! Two big goals in a month and a bit. Ballin'!
Now that I'm sitting pretty at 184, I have my sights on my first goal which is 165. I picked 165 because originally when I typed my height and weight into a BMI calculator, 165 was within "Normal" range for someone who is 5'9".. Well it turns out I'm not actually 5'9.. I'm more like JUST ABOUT 5'8 (I swear you lose foot fat!) so for someone who is 5'8", 160 is within "normal".. But fuck it, I'm going to keep 165 for now, and then go from there once I get there. So only 19lbs to go until the goal, which in the grand scheme of things sounds like peanuts! I can't wait to bottom out my weight, so that I can start looking forward to getting down and dirty with plastics!! These boobs and tummy need a serious overhaul...

Along with the healthy eating, I've been busting my ass at the gym 4 days a week with a personal trainer. I was apprehensive to go back, but I KNEW I'd have to do it to get the results I want.. So far I'm building little muscles, and you can actually see them this time! Unlike last time when all the muscles hid underneath 290lbs. I'm enjoying it more then I ever have, mainly because I'm not as exhausted as I once felt. When you're THAT BIG, and doing that kind of intensive work out, it really isn't fun at all. Most of the times I left feeling defeated or beat down, and the majority of the time I didn't want to go back!! I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. This time I feel like it's working. Like all the hard work is finally paying off. Thank fuck for that.

As for food, I'm still able to eat everything. I find I'm eating less in the summer because I really just don't feel like it. When you're sweaty, and tired feeling, food is just the last thing I think of.

Although- I found this new product called "Daryl's All Natural HI-N-R-G Bars"
I'm always on the look out for protein bars that taste amazing, and aren't full of crap.. These are all natural, and one bar has 22g protein. I also bought their protein granola cereal which has 21g protein! Booya. Amazing. If I've learned anything about GBS, it's that you have to keep your eyes peeled for products all the time, and buy in bulk when you find things you love!

Am I happy that I had surgery? Yes!
Do I feel better about myself? Absolutey.. More then I ever thought I could.
People ask these kinds of questions to GB patients all of the time, but I don't think I truly knew the answers until now. Even now I have trouble grasping the idea that all of this is happening, but as the days go by and I get more and more used to my smaller body, I really do find a lot of things to be thankful for.
My biggest thing? I don't feel self-conscious anymore. Any bigger person knows the feeling of walking through a shopping mall or restaurant- feeling like the biggest person there, and wishing you had worn a different outfit that doesn't make you look fat..
It's a huge sigh of relief to NEVER have to think about that again.

Okay, so maybe I think about it a little when I'm trying on bathingsuits... but hey, I'm 95% there :)

Alright, alright.. I haven’t posted in forever, and I can hear a few of you shouting at me. I’m sorry! I’ll try to do better.

Quite a bit of time has gone by, so what’s new? A lot of things I suppose!!! First off, SUMMER IS COMING!!!!!!!! Phew, now I feel better.. I just have to scream how freaking excited I am for warmer weather and lovely tans. I’m fairly sure (not really) that I have a mild case of SAD, as I can not stand the winter… All bleak and white and life-less. Boo on you, winter. Don’t show your face for exactly 6 months, if not more, or ELSE…
Mitch and I also moved back to my home town to live rent-free (thanks parents!!) before college in the fall. The transition was easy, and we’ve been loving the company! Mitch is back working, and I’m playing domestic goddess until I find work somewhere. I’m actually sort of loving my alone days at home doing household chores and cooking all the time.

So looking back on the past entries, not a lot has changed. I’m still able to eat pretty much whatever I want. No more vomiting for me! Woo! It’s exciting times. I would say the only slight difference from before is that I’m being quite a bit more precise about the things I eat. Would I eat a salami wrap again? No, probably never. I think my entire outlook on food has changed. I’ve started eating what I know is good for me, because it’s good for me, and finding ways to make it taste amazing at the same time. There ARE ways to have awesome food without the fat and calories (salami be damned!!!)
I am now more versed on lentils, quinoa, beans (not in sauce! Just beans,) yogourt, greek yogourt, lean proteins, and am a master at weighing food and calorie counting. It sounds anal, yes -and it is- but it’s just what I have to do! I don’t know about anyone else, but I suffer from MAJOR food guilt. “Did I eat too much? Did I eat the right things? I shouldn’t have had that… Oh god, the scales going to hate me.. Why can’t I lose weight?“
I’ve found the only way to completely battle that is to know EVERYTHING I put in my mouth. I keep a detailed food log, and read every label of everything I eat..

One of the things I’ve learned about WLS is that you have to cook everything from scratch, with some rare exceptions. Not only that, but you have to find ways of mixing up the things you do eat, so that you don’t tire of them. Ever loved a food so much that you ate it ALL THE TIME, until one day you couldn’t even stand the sight of it?! That happens all the time.. There’s only so much salmon, tuna, chicken, ground turkey, bean salad that I can eat before I never want to eat it again.

Lately I love these Tuna Cakes



Laura's Spicy Tuna Cakes
Yeild: 1 item

1/2 tin chunk light tuna packed in water, flaked
1 tbsp light cream cheese
1 green onion, diced
1 tbsp egg white
1 tsp red pepper jelly
1 tbsp plain no-fat yogourt
1 tbsp bread crumbs
1 small pile flat leaf parsley (I would hazard a guess at a tablespoons worth, chopped)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, and stir til' mushy and incorporated. If it's too wet, add a tiny bit more bread crumbs, if it's too dry, add a tiny bit more yogourt. You want it to hold together, not flood your pan.



Form into burger-style patties, and fry in a non-stick pan with a big spray of Pam (or any spray coating) on medium heat until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes a side. I am a big fan of the flip-without-using-yourhands method, because I find it very difficult to get them turned in one piece (this will take practice! Eat a few of these and you'll be a pro.)



Once cooked on the outside, spray an oven proof pan with non-stick spray, and transfer your tuna cakes to it. Cook in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes until they have firmed up a bit and cooked on the inside. Serve with a small green salad, or like I did, green beans. It's up to you!!
I had a few tablespoons of curry left-over from last nights dinner, so I warmed it up, added a few scoops of yogourt, and used it as a sauce. Totally optional.

Nutritional info for one tuna cake
145 cal*
18.5g protein

I make a million different variations of this.
You can sub tinned salmon, for the tuna. You can sub flavoured tuna's, for plain (although this will drastically change your calorie amounts.. One tin of flavoured tuna is anywhere from 100cals-140cals per mini-tin, versus 60cals per half tin of regular tuna) You can add parsley, basil, chives, dill, or any type of herb you like. You could even add curry powder, and make a curry tuna cake. You can add more vegetable- red onion, white onion, green/red pepper, etc. You could also make a vareity of yogourt dressings to go on top, like a salmon cake with lemon-dill yogourt dressing. Get carried away!!
One of my favourite creations was using spicy peanut satay tuna, and added a teaspoon of peanut butter and all the usual ingredients. So good.

*I count calories using food labels, and www.calorieking.com, so my calculations are approximate. If a dish uses a small amount of green onion, white onion, or herbs, I do not count those towards the calories as there are so few.


Also, here is my newest "Before & After" photo in my FIRST EVER DRESS!
I am down 84lbs, and currently weigh 204lbs.

A Day In The Life

So after being bombarded with a million people saying "OMG! Gastric Bypass surgery? You eat practically nothing, right??" I've decided to do a "day in the life" of my pouch.. The idea is pretty much stolen from , who often does a "Day In My Pouch" for her readers..

Breakfast: Nutty Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal - This oatmeal is made completely with milk- I don't do the water thing anymore as I find this tastes so much better! I added homemade chunky applesauce, and some walnuts and raisins. I sweeten mine up with a little bit of Torani SF Vanilla Syrup, and some splenda. Throw in some cinnamon, and you're good to go!



Lunch: Whole Wheat Protein Wrap - Since bread is a no-no and wrap breads are tolerated, I usually have a 6" wrap everyday.
Today I topped mine with 4 slices salami (bad choice, high in fat!), lettuce, onions, a teeny bit of LF mayo, and lots of mustard. Veggies and tzatziki dip (15 calories in one tablespoon! Good choice!) on the side.



Dinner: Turkey Sausage with Quinoa Salad - Don't be fooled by the word "Sausage." My turkey sausage has 130calories, 5gFat, and 18g or protein! A regular sausage can have 270 calories and 24GRAMS OF FAT. Phew, turkey it is!! They are definitely still tasty.

For those that don't know what Quinoa is, it's the highest protein grain that you can buy, and it's also a "complete protein" which means it has an almost ideal balance of amino acids. It's pretty new to me, but basically you boil it like a rice, and can mix it with a bit of lemon juice, herbs, and veggies, or add a little bit of your favourite salad dressing..

My apologies for an UGLY picture. I guess this is where being cheffy would come in handy. Attractive food is a skill I do not posses.




Snack: Kozy Shack Rice Pudding and Strawberries - Kozy Shack has a No Sugar Added rice pudding that has only 70 calories, so every once and a while I go for one. It's no british homeland rice pud, but it'll do!!



So, that's my food for the day, not "nothing", right?! It's pretty substantial! Along with lots and lots of decaf tea and water.

2010

So, how is your 2010 shaping up so far?
No different than last year? Yeah.. Me neither.

So my weight is still stalling a bit which I'm hoping is just some sort of body-equalizing type of thing, but either way I decided to step up the exercise today. Jillian Michaels (The Biggest Loser) has a few exercise DVD's which I nabbed off the internet (sorry!) and figured, hey, free working out? I'll give it a shot.

Well fuck, I forgot how much WORK working out really is. At first I thought, Hey! This DVD doesn't look that hard! Those ladies aren't even sweating! Well those ladies are buff 100lb beauties, and that sure ain't me. She has this whole "30 minutes of intensity", no breaks, no stops, no catch your breath mentality, and fuck me I was a bit shocked at how hard it turned out to be. Of course I had sent Mitch out to get a hair cut which was my ploy to do all of this without an audience, and I was pretty happy I did. By the end of it I was huffing and puffing flat out on my Yoga mat, cursing the day Jillian ever got into fitness, but we all know what this boils down to- I'm out of shape (duh?) So, hopefully after work tomorrow I can banish Mitch to the bedroom with his book and do it all again. 30 minutes of hell..

Ah well, it beats walking out in the cold and snow!
Although actually, it's +4 today and I'm pretty happy about that.

My flabs hurt.

I'm going to attach my first set of before and after photos, taken for a very persistant girlfriend! Love ya :)

Todays weight- 236.2 (ugh..)

The End Of A Season

Well Christmas is over, and HELLO 2010! This year was a quiet holiday, spent at home in Orono with Mum, and Dad. Mitch had flu-type symptoms and spent the entire Christmas day in bed. wooooohhh.... I did have a great time with Mum and Dad, but it just seemed like we were lacking other family members!!! With Neil off in B.C., Phil working nights, and Nana and Grandad not present, it felt very... Quiet I guess. But none the less it was a great holiday filled with great company and a few good pressies!

I always feel a wave of sadness when the Holiday season comes to an end. The pretty lights get packed up, the tree gets dragged outside to be carted off in a truck, and the Ho-Ho-Happiness seems to fade as we all get back to our daily lives. There's something about the holiday season that just makes things feel better... Sigh

The last post stated I had an appointment with a nutritionist, which was actually kind of dissapointing. You count on your Nut to put you in line and give you tips and ideas about what to eat and what to do- or atleast that was my expectation of her- and she didn't. I left feeling equally as un-easy as I did when I entered. But either way, I walked across to the hospital and had a good 10+ vials of blood taken. I was pretty sure that all of these tests would come back with alarm bells and such because I had been throwing up a lot and living off of cheese, crackers, and peanut butter. Well the results came back and they were completely normal. I had a low B1, and a low Vitamin D, so two tiny pills and aparently I'll be good as new. It's surprising how your body can cope when you deprive it of so many things.

I also had my first dilatation on Dec. 11th. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, I'll explain! Aparently post-op Gastric Bypass patients can be prone to get these things known as "strictures", which is a narrowing of the esophogus. So basically, your throat gets tight, and food can't pass down into your stomach. You can also get a stricture at the base of your stomach (which is what I had) which means food can go in, but can't pass into your intestines to be digested, which means a lot of vomiting. So they lay you on your side, knock you out with Propophol, and put a camera down your throat (gastroscopy) to see if you do indeed have a stricture. If you do, they position a balloon and blow it up to stretch out the area that has consctricted. Easy peasy. Literally the simplest and painless procedure I've ever had, and within days I was eating all of those things I hadn't been able to eat. It was great!

But..

I have another gastroscopy/dilatation booked for tomorrow. Over the holiday I had 3 or 4 really bad days of eating, so I called and unfortunately the only date available (because Fridays fell on Christmas and New Years Day this year) was January the 8th. Eating has been better since the holidays, with one or two days here and there that have been bad. I'm wondering if I should cancel it, because things seem to be going much better, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to go just so he can have a look down there! The best thing he can say is that I'm fine, and to just watch what foods I'm eating.

The weight is now coming off much SLOWER then it was in the beginning.. It's frustrating. I go days and days at the same weight, and that drives me mad! So I've started going to an indoor walking track thats local here in Alliston, and walking 5km a day (when I'm not working), in hopes that that'll help it drop down a bit.

Take care everyone, this is a boring post- my apolagies.

Today's weight- 238.4

I hit the big 5-0!

A New Leaf

Alright, so the last post was a bit of a downer..

I visited the nutritionist on the 9th of December, and told her about the troubles I was having with eating and vomiting. She pretty much called me crazy when she found out I'd been living off of cheese and crackers. She said that if it continued, to call the surgeons office about having a scope due to a possible stricture. I had suspected a stricture for quite some time, but didn't know if it was bad enough to really be considered. I thought I was just "rushing" things.. Pffffft.

I called the surgeons office the next morning (Thursday), and got an appointment for a scope the next day. Holy fast much?
So I started fasting as of midnight, and had to be at the Humber River Regional Hospital Church site at 1:30 the next day.

So we show up, check in, and almost immediately all the fire alarms start going off. Fucking wonderful. I ain't leaving now. We sit pretty for a while reading mags and chatting, and eventually I get called through to the day surgery room. There's people in robes and in beds everywhere- I felt slightly awkward just standing there looking at them all. I get ushered away to put a gown overtop of my clothes (WOOH! No embarassing open back..) and walk right into the procedure room.
I hop up on the table, and they start searching for veins for an IV. I oh-so-cockily announce "I have good veins, I never have problems with IV's!".. Famous last words, I tell you. Next time I'll shut up. They try me once in each hand, and finally settle on the inside of my elbow before it actually works. Not fun.
Next I bit down on a plastic spacer type thing, and in went the propophol. The doctor tells me that if you think about something great, you'll have a great dream, so I started chanting "Christmas, christmas, christmas" in my head before passing out.. I wake up with a nurse saying "Damn I forgot to get you a drool pad", not glamourous.
Basically I woke up feeling drunk, and had no pain at all in my esophogus or stomach..

Dr.Huynh came over and let me know I had "quite a tight stricture" at the base of my stomach, meaning I could get the food in but it couldn't go down, thus the vomiting. He also said I had "visual evidence" of heartburn, and provided a kicker of a heartburn med.

Two days after the dilatation I was eating things I daren't eat at all before. Fruit, ham, shrimp, chicken. You have no idea how much your life can improve when you stop throwing up and can actually eat again. Wooh! I feel like a whole new girl, and hopefully this is the start of a decent life after WLS. For a while there I thought I had made a ridiculous decision.

My weight isn't much different then last time, but I'm okay with that

Weight today- 246.3

1 Month, 5 Days

Part of me doesn't write because I am frustrated, the other part because I am overwhelmed and also lazy.

The last month has got to be one of the toughest food-wise.

After the two weeks of liquid diet, I went on to two weeks of pureed. I will say I definitely cheated, as I didn't puree EVERYTHING! But all in all, the pureed diet went pretty well. Lots of yogourt, lots of soup, lots of eggs and cheese.

So, being the gutsy lady I am I decided to try and dabble in a bit of solids.. I tried out different meats in different ways; chicken was cooked in liquid for hours in the oven until tender, beef was cooked with potatoes until tender, fish was cooked until just done to ensure it wasn't dry or chewy, ham was cut thin, shrimp were barely cooked.. And after all that effort, I'm not sure if I've been able to keep ANY of those down.

Because the connection to from your "pouch" to your intenstine is only the size of a dime, meats have to be finely ground up (by your teeth) to make sure they even pass through that hole.. I'm fairly certain I've chewed and chewed and chewed until I've probably developed TMJ, but none of these meats go down at all. Now if I put some fish on a cracker, ta daa! I can swallow it!!
Saltine crackers are my drug of choice. Most things I put ontop of a saltine cracker tend to end up going down, but there's only so many things you can put ontop of there!

And to be truthful, after a while you get pretty sick of experimenting, and then vomiting away all of your hard work. So for the moment, I've pretty much given up until I see my dietitian. I live off of crackers, cheese, eggs, protein shakes, milk, more cheese... oh, peanut butter, sugar-free jam (both of which just go ontop of crackers), and sometimes bananas..

I am disinterested in food, and completely disinterested in eating.. Which at the moment is bad, because this soon after surgery you are never hungry- meaning if you aren't interested in food, you don't eat, and I can go a very long time without eating!!

Yesterday I ate:

5 saltines with peanut butter at breakfast- 9am

One bite of pickle (which got stuck), and a few spoons of soup -vom'd up because the pickle got stuck- 3pm

one shrimp from a shrimp ring- vom'd -6pm

5 crackers and cheese- 8 pm


This is why I haven't written much. I have nothing nice to say. I have an appointment with the dietitian tomorrow, and hopefully she kicks my ass and tells me to work harder to eat.

Todays weight- 247