I've done just about everything now that I could do: several restaurant meals, a trip to Florida, wedding reception, birthdays and ethnic foods.
I've tolerated very small amounts of cakes of all kinds, pasta and rice. But I've taken to heart the warning to put good stuff in my pouch first, and foremost.
The protein drink saga continues, but since I can tolerate slightly more food, I'm hoping that two drinks a day will suffice. Cause really: that's all I can get in.
The directive to not drink for 30 mins before/after meals is just not realistic for me. That's 3 hours. I need those hours to get the liquids in, which is kind of important. I'm not an office worker, who can sip constantly. My drinks are kept in a lunch cooler in a hot car, and they need to stay relatively cool for my whole day. I'm already limited by having to see clients for one or two hours at a time, and trying to eat/drink between visits.
I've learned why you need to take your time: if you eat too quickly, it WILL come back up. It's not horrible, it's kind of like having something stuck in your throat or swallowing air and belching. It's not exactly socially acceptable behavior, though, and it should be avoided, which you can do if you eat slowly and chew thoroughly and STOP when your pouch says to.
And I've seen all kinds of verboten behavior by other people who've had GB. The scariest is alcohol overconsumption, and I don't mean just one drink. I mean entire bottles of wine, or several beers or mixed drinks. I haven't tried coffee again yet, and that's another of those dubious liquids. The only way I can rationalize it is to mix it with protein powder and put it over ice. I'm not sure I could tolerate it. And it's not good for hydration, or for your pouch. OTOH, it does help with constipation. As vices go, the coffee vice isn't near as bad IMHO as the alcohol one, or the return to over-eating carbs one.
In general, be mindful of the size of your new stomach and take it slow, but live a social and active life and don't think you can't enjoy hanging out and eating (in a controlled, slow, savoring fashion).
I thought about posting weights, but I kind of go back to an earlier post about it: I had an operation. If I DON'T lose weight, that's remarkable. The expectation is that I will lose a lot of weight, and so far, I have. I am down 2 pants sizes, and I'm visibly smaller. And my advice on that is shop at thrift stores! And only get 2 pairs of pants at a time. Tops last even longer, but try not to look like you're wearing a tent before you get some new ones.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Saturday, April 6, 2013
About my trip to see Roz
For some reason, I thought I posted this already. But I didn't.
I drove down to Seal Beach near LA to see Roz a week ago, and stayed for 3 days. It was very nice. We watched "Lincoln" and "Big Love" and visited on Easter with Morgan and Siobhann. During my stay, Roz convinced me to try egg white protein mix, and I tolerated that much better. With half a banana, it was delicious. We went out shopping on Saturday to a cute little Japanese store that was like a 99cent store, then to the Japanese market next door, where I found rice bran for pickling!
I talked in detail to Roz about all sorts of yucky stuff, and it was very wonderful to be able to do that and not feel like a whiner or like I was being disgusting. Roz talked to me about some of HER yucky stuff, too, and that was actually pleasant. I think it made us feel like we were both on the same team of "people whose insides are now modified".
I got to know Roz's dog, Flori, who is just adorable and recovering well from her own leg surgery.
A very helpful and healing little mini-vacation, for once NOT SCA-related except in a peripheral way.
I drove down to Seal Beach near LA to see Roz a week ago, and stayed for 3 days. It was very nice. We watched "Lincoln" and "Big Love" and visited on Easter with Morgan and Siobhann. During my stay, Roz convinced me to try egg white protein mix, and I tolerated that much better. With half a banana, it was delicious. We went out shopping on Saturday to a cute little Japanese store that was like a 99cent store, then to the Japanese market next door, where I found rice bran for pickling!
I talked in detail to Roz about all sorts of yucky stuff, and it was very wonderful to be able to do that and not feel like a whiner or like I was being disgusting. Roz talked to me about some of HER yucky stuff, too, and that was actually pleasant. I think it made us feel like we were both on the same team of "people whose insides are now modified".
I got to know Roz's dog, Flori, who is just adorable and recovering well from her own leg surgery.
A very helpful and healing little mini-vacation, for once NOT SCA-related except in a peripheral way.
Gastric Bypass Part Three
This might be my last gastric bypass post for awhile. I'm due to go back to work on Tuesday, two days from now. I feel pretty good. I still get tired if I'm doing a lot, and have to rest frequently, but I am able to carry on a fairly normal life.
At my surgeon visit this past week, she was pleased with my weight loss of around 16 pounds in 4 weeks. I was moved to the "Phase 3" diet, which is pretty much everything but take it slow, chew really well, and keep it to 4 tablespoons -- and no raw veggies yet. For the past 2 days, I've been eating normal food in very small amounts. I went to Marie Callendar's with my daughter and we split an entree, and I only ate about 1/8th of my half, if that. I became FULL on that amount. Later in the day, I made a chicken enchilada casserole for Mike and another one for our neighbors (she broke her leg). I had 4 tablespoons of it, and it was tasty and good. This morning I had 1/4th of a banger sausage and 1 egg, and at lunch I had 4 tablespoons of hamburger slow-cooked in fresh marinara sauce, with a dollop of ricotta.
I'm still having trouble with the protein shakes. The egg white protein gets too fluffy in my blender, which adds both volume and air and makes it harder to drink in an hour. The unjury blends well into V8 juice, so that's a winner, at least. I can get two shakes down a day, and I'm hoping the mini meals will provide the additional protein.
The pulling sensation in my epigastric region, which was never truly bothersome, has disappeared.
I'm making an effort to keep low carb, but I seem to tolerate butter and yogurt and cheese and I am not avoiding those, in small amounts. I've never avoided them in the past when keeping low carb, as I follow an Atkins-type regimen and have found it to work best and be very tolerable.
I WILL find a tolerable chewable Iron formula, but I'm not going to force myself to gag down Geritol. I may try the children's chewables again, now that my stomach isn't so touchy and my mouth isn't so dry. I also started B12 sublingual tabs at the direction of my surgeon, and those are not at all unpleasant.
My surgeon is satisfied that I am on track and if I continue to lose even 3 pounds a week, I'll be healthier and hopefully my joints will be less painful. If I hit any rough patches, or develop any complications, I'll be sure to update this. But at this point, everything seems to have worked out and it's just a matter of eating much, much less -- which seems normal to me now. I can't believe how much I used to eat, and the sizes of restaurant meals now.
At my surgeon visit this past week, she was pleased with my weight loss of around 16 pounds in 4 weeks. I was moved to the "Phase 3" diet, which is pretty much everything but take it slow, chew really well, and keep it to 4 tablespoons -- and no raw veggies yet. For the past 2 days, I've been eating normal food in very small amounts. I went to Marie Callendar's with my daughter and we split an entree, and I only ate about 1/8th of my half, if that. I became FULL on that amount. Later in the day, I made a chicken enchilada casserole for Mike and another one for our neighbors (she broke her leg). I had 4 tablespoons of it, and it was tasty and good. This morning I had 1/4th of a banger sausage and 1 egg, and at lunch I had 4 tablespoons of hamburger slow-cooked in fresh marinara sauce, with a dollop of ricotta.
I'm still having trouble with the protein shakes. The egg white protein gets too fluffy in my blender, which adds both volume and air and makes it harder to drink in an hour. The unjury blends well into V8 juice, so that's a winner, at least. I can get two shakes down a day, and I'm hoping the mini meals will provide the additional protein.
The pulling sensation in my epigastric region, which was never truly bothersome, has disappeared.
I'm making an effort to keep low carb, but I seem to tolerate butter and yogurt and cheese and I am not avoiding those, in small amounts. I've never avoided them in the past when keeping low carb, as I follow an Atkins-type regimen and have found it to work best and be very tolerable.
I WILL find a tolerable chewable Iron formula, but I'm not going to force myself to gag down Geritol. I may try the children's chewables again, now that my stomach isn't so touchy and my mouth isn't so dry. I also started B12 sublingual tabs at the direction of my surgeon, and those are not at all unpleasant.
My surgeon is satisfied that I am on track and if I continue to lose even 3 pounds a week, I'll be healthier and hopefully my joints will be less painful. If I hit any rough patches, or develop any complications, I'll be sure to update this. But at this point, everything seems to have worked out and it's just a matter of eating much, much less -- which seems normal to me now. I can't believe how much I used to eat, and the sizes of restaurant meals now.
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