Coming off protein

I broke my protein fast at 6 p.m. with a chopped salad at The Cheesecake Factory. Damn, it was good. But I ate maybe a half cup before I had to stop. Okay, maybe more than that. Although when I was done, you could hardly tell there was a dent in the pile!

Earlier today, I nearly gave birth to an alien through abdominal explosion. I think it was the protein shake I drank at 10:30. I wonder if all the milk in the protein shakes is getting to me. I haven't had this much milk since very early post-op. Eight gas relief tablets and 4 hours later, I could stand up straight. I finally downed some lactose pill and that's probably what finally did the trick.

Anyway.

I'm weighing in tomorrow. I'm thinking I should show at least a 2 pound loss. Hopefully 4. And wouldn't it be fabu if that weight STAYED off? Fingers crossed. Will report in the a.m.

UPDATE

Down 5 pounds. Fantasy or fact? We'll see...next week. Right now, this is the lowest I've been in about 8 months.

I'm easing back into food. Non-milk based protein shake for breakfast. Salad for lunch. Dinner, we'll see. I have a training session at 4:30 and a meeting at 6:30. It might be another protein shake with an apple. I'm trying to approach this like I did after surgery when I got used to eating real food again. And crackers? HELL NO!

Pouch detox

Day 3. I have been living on protein shakes as my main source of nutrition since Friday morning. Not one cracker has passed my lips. Nary a chip. Bread--nada. I think I have entered a phase of pouch detox similar to pressing that reset button back when I first had surgery.

With no scale in sight, I base my success on looser pants, more energy and lack of hunger. I realize that I was likely eating mostly out of habit and not out of need. I have feel very in tune with my body today. In fact, on my morning walk through Decatur, I stopped at Kroger an bought an apple. A very wise health choice. I ate about half of it, enjoying the sweet juiciness and hard crunch. And then, I realized that I was FULL. My body told me to stop. I listened.

So how does that apple fit into the weekend protein binge? Very well, thank you. The only carbs I've been taking in have been from milk. 22 carbs a day is too little for my activity level. And the apple was my breakfast. Followed, of course, by my Iced Quad Espresso with four packs of splenda and splash of half & half.

I'm turning a new corner. If I can last this weekend without my usual temptations, I think I can forge ahead. I just might knock off a few more pounds before my 2-year anniversary. I would LOVE to weigh in at 158.5...exactly half of my body weight pre-op. I can do it. I can.

The Hot Fat Has Landed

I arrived safe and sound in ATL last night, grabbed my rental car and made my way to Decatur. WW was already home and looking mighty fine for having had her innards reworked 55 hours earlier. She's up and about, has great color and is sipping slowly on her liquids.

I had decided to join her in her protein feast while I'm down here, to I told her not to stock up on any food for me. She didn't. Let me tell you, it's weird to be in a home of a newly post-op gastric bypass patient. It's a buffet of beverages...but not one morsel of solid food in sight. By 9 p.m. last night I was digging for one of the Oh Yeah protein wafers I brought with me just so I had a reason to move my jaw. I think the weekend is going to be harder for me than her!

But. There's the promise of a few pounds of weight loss. I have been holding steady around 169-171 for so long. I would really like to get to 165 and stay there. I bottomed out at 162 once...but I swear that was just a figment of my imagination. It must have lasted all of one day.

With my workouts, I've just started a phase of muscle building. So that means I should be packing on the lean muscle mass and a few pounds there. Now would be the opportune time to shed those last fat pounds. Fat be gone!!!

Every day I think more and more about plastic surgery. As my muscles become more defined, it's easier to see my true body. When I get on my hands and knees and let the skin swing freely below me, I get great definition along my back and sides. I can even see my true abdominal wall. But there's that frickin' skin that looks like I've got some Discovery channel tumor hanging off the front of my body.

Whew. This post went a few places I never imagined. Well, that's what the blog's for.

As soon as the electrician leaves this morning, I'm walking to the Starbucks in downtown Decatur. It's supposed to be 96 degrees today. Beat the heat is my goal. Maybe I'll find crunchy protein along the way!

She's Done

WW made it through surgery with flying colors. Whew. I'm calling later today to speak with the post-op princess herself. That is, if she's not cruising the hospital ward on one of those mandatory strolls.

Thanks for the posts about your post-op experiences. That did jog my memory about my feelings of tiredness. My body felt great...it just didn't have as much energy for as good as it felt. As I sat trying to recall my other immediate post-op reactions, I remember watching HOURS of television on the Food Network. How stupid was that? Or maybe not. I did very well on my strict pre and post-op liquid phases. Maybe it helped the protein go down a little more smoothly knowing that SOME DAY I could eat again.

I have to pack tonight for my trip. I also picked up another Nectar flavor to take along for WW to try. If anyone knows of GREAT protein sources in the Atlanta/Decatur areas (other than Vitamin Shoppe and GNC) please let me know. I'll have a car and a GPS to get around.

WLS--Let's start at the very beginning

I remember a time when I thought I could never forget what it was like those first few weeks after my RNY gastric bypass surgery. But it's been almost two years now and a whole lifetime since then.

My friend heads to the OR tomorrow morning for her RNY. I'll meet up with her Thursday when she gets out and then spend those first few days of her recuperation with her. I want to be the best support for her and give her the benefit of my experience.

I remember what I ate and how I ate. I remember measuring, monitoring and drugging. But I don't remember how I felt. I think there was frustration. Remorse? I don't remember that. Anxiety? Maybe. Cranky--of course! We're talking about me,after all.

So help me out. Tell me about your immediate post-op experiences--RNY, LAP or DS. I'm curious to know our similarities and differences. And any tips that I can pass along.

Missing in action

I'm still feeling quite a bit under the weather. My voice is starting to sound better, but my body feels like it's been put through the ringer. I should count my lucky stars...I've not had this kind of cough/chest/head thingy for more than a year--not even a winter cold.

Post-op, I've had a hard time finding pain relief meds
that work for me and that aren't aspirin/ibuprofen based. Yesterday I tried Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom SEVERE with drugs for every possible affliction, except runny nose. Thankfully, that hasn't happened...yet.

So far, so good. I just have to be diligent about taking it on schedule or I fade quickly. Highly recommended for post-op patients!

I'm hoping to be up to par by next week Wednesday, just in time for a flight to Atlanta on Thursday. That would suck.

I sound like Lauren Bacall

I have a wretched sore throat and have been croaking since Friday. Today, sound at least comes out. But I am not looking forward to my hour-long teleconference call this morning.

I bought a new scale Sunday, thanks to a great sale at Kohl's and a bonus 30% discount. It measures body fat and water weight. Interesting. It tells me I have 35% body fat...which seems really high to me. My water weight is 47%. I don't really know what it means, but it sounds cool.

Unfortunately, the new scale weighs me a pound higher than the old. I'm just going to suck it up and deal with it. Actually, I'm not so fixated on thos minor flucuations. When it's four pounds, then I'll worry.

A warm welcome from the scale

I'm back in Milwaukee, as of 4 p.m. CST Wednesday. And according to my scale at 5:05 a.m. CST today, I am down 3 pounds. It must have been all that walking!

I wish I had a pedometer with me the last few days in NYC. Between museum strolls (that's me in front of the Met), jaunts up and down Broadway, a walk to the NBC studios and exploring the upper east side, I swear I walked 20 miles. Okay, maybe not 20 miles...but I could have if I wanted to!

My greatest motivation for walking? Starbucks on every flippin' corner! My friend Steven, with whom I stayed for the last days of my trip, lived around the corner from this SBUX on York between 80th and 81st. I enjoyed a few mornings listening to the locals live their lives...on their cell phones. I have a great photo of one woman and a snarky comment to go with it, but I'm afraid I'd really screw up my karma if I posted it.

Anyway, I'm home. I have some things to write about. But not this morning. I had a marvelous time, but it's good to be home again.

Times Square, 12 a.m.

Went to dinner at Bolo last night, a Bobby Flay restaurant. Oh. My. God.

I ordered tapas for dinner, including Sauteed Squid & Bacon with Garlic Oil, Artichoke Heart with Quail Egg & Salmon Caviar, Piquillo Pepper Stuffed with Raw Tuna Salad, and Pork, Potato & Goat Cheese Skewer with Smoked Paprika. As an appetizer, we also shared Baked Manchego Cheese with Toasted Almonds, Yellow Pepper Romesco Sauce & Baby Arugula. In addition, I enjoyed a white wine sangria with hints of grapefruit and blood oranges. Those moaning sounds you heard last night weren't on HBO, they were me quivering from the delicious, satisfying tastes.

We got back to the hotel around 10:30, but I wasn't ready to call it a night, so I changed clothes and walked through the Times Square. And this night, what I noticed most, was how easy it was for me to be lost in the crowd.

When you're a super fat person, masses of people part for you out of fear or huddling closer to keep you at bay, a steely fortress of disgust. When I was a super fat person, I often felt like I lived in a bubble. I was an untouchable.

Last night, I walked alongside, behind, through and around crowds of people who didn't really care that I was there--or cared enough to give me a glance that was not loaded with contempt for my size. I was incognito. An interloper of sorts, knowing that once I lived on the other side of an invisible line. Now I had crossed over.

If I want to, I could keep walking away from that line and never look back. Some people who've been through WLS or great weight loss do. I don't know if I will or not. I like looking back every now and then as a reminder of where I came from. Not to rub my own nose or others in it, but rather as a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Crossing an intersection last night, I felt like I was leaving part of me on the other side of the street. If you took my picture with a stop-action camera and caught each second of every step, you might have seen me shedding skin, shrinking even. Each step was not only a step away, but a step to. Looking forward and looking back at the same time, I was stunned by the bright lights of possibility. This IS my life.

Smaller girl in a bigger city

Thank god I lost all that weight and now don't have to lug a fat ass around the big city.

Last night we walked many blocks--first to AJ Maxwell's for seafood, then back over to the Al Hirschfield Theatre for a performance of Curtains starring David Hyde Pierce. A so-so meal of salmon with a very mild horseradish sauce. A delightful, entertaining performance.

Today, over to the convention center for BEA. It was exciting to see the booth displaying both The Taste of Home Cookbook and The Taste of Home Baking Book. And people knowing who we are.

I did a lot more walking in the under-air-conditioned building, picking up a million pounds of books, standing in lines for autographs, and eating this incredible cheesecake. The slice was larger than the 6" plate it was served on. And it was at least 2" thick. How much did I eat? Too much...and not nearlya s much as I wanted to. Less than a quarter. But it was the first food I ate for the day (at 11 a.m.) All I wanted to do was puke. I felt drunk from the sugar rush.

After calming down and guzzling some water, I walked the floor, looking for books that I might be able to review in this blog. Found some good ones.

Tonight we're off for dinner. I might do more walking afterward. I'm on the corner of Broadway and 48th, so there's lots to see. And my skinny ass can zip through the crowds like I never imagined.