I have been confused recently about caloric intake with the band. My literature from the surgeon says that I’m not supposed to go over 1500 calories. When I went for my 2 week check up, I told them that I was routinely eating anywhere from 800-1000 calories a day. I was assured that this was good for women especially and that I was doing perfectly. The scale hasn’t been moving lately…well, okay, it has…but I’ve gained and lost the same 2 lbs over and over. I could not figure out what was going on since I know darn well that the scale should be reflecting SOMETHING.

So, I set off on a search for answers. One thing that I kept running into on the message boards were that women are not supposed to go below 1200 calories a day. I believe those are federal health guidelines unless you’re on some special physician supervised diet; and even then, it’s not meant to be a long term thing. Your body will go into starvation mode and your metabolism will slow way down when you remain on an extremely low calorie diet. This took me back to my WW days and how I used to alternate low calorie and high calorie days to “fool” my body into keeping my metabolism up. The long and the short of it is that I started to do that, but with healthy food choices and my diminished stomach capacity, it’s kind of hard to get your caloric intake up too much. I also started worrying about going against what my surgeon said. Cripes! I’m so confused!

K came to the rescue as usual and gave me some food for thought after listening to me pour out my frustrations and confusion. He told me that perhaps that’s why the surgeon stresses exercise so much- to offset the effects of an extremely low calorie diet. When you exercise, you rev up your metabolism. Hmmmm….I don’t know, but it sounds good to me.

This brings me to today. I decided that I seriously needed to get busy moving. I have a bad back that troubles me when I do a lot of walking over uneven terrain. Actually, it troubles me when I walk for too long on the sidewalk as well. However, I remember doing quite well with Leslie Sansone and her “Walk…” series. Not to mention that it’s much nicer to follow that DVD in air conditioned comfort rather than in the hot Texas sun. My only problem was that I couldn’t find my DVD. ARGH!

I wound up buying a new one. It’s called “Walk Away Your Waistline”. It comes with this belt that has resistance bands attached. WHEW! Let’s just say that I didn’t make it through all 3 miles…in fact, I didn’t even make it to 2 miles. I’m sooooo out of shape. I was happy to log in on thedailyplate.com and see how many calories I burned. Yea, me! I also took the kiddies swimming tonight and did my water aerobic moves. My arms are like limp noodles with both of those exercises today.

I’ll let you know how it turns out. We’ll see if K’s theory is right. I hope and pray that the scale starts moving again…down!

YUM! I have found a great dinner idea!

As some of you know, we’ve been having dinner issues at the house. Finding something to eat that meets all of our dietary needs/desires is not easy. However, these yummy things are delicious! I know they have been out for a while. Why haven’t I tried these before?!?!?! Anyway, tonight dinner consisted of half a whole wheat pita, stuffed with Fage 0% yogurt, cilantro, tomatoes, & half of a black bean burger. I’m so excited that I have an easy go-to option for dinner now! These are delicious…truly…and I’m pretty picky. These were so much better than I thought they’d be.

I also love sugar-free Werther’s for a decadent-feeling snack when I’m wanting something rich and sweet. I wanted to try them after reading Lise’s post on them. She was definitely right, they’re super yummy!

On a different note, I went for my 2 week post-op appointment today (even though I’m really 3 weeks out). I got a great report…thankfully. I was a little worried since I’m able to eat more food than I thought I should be able to. However, I’m losing 2-3 lbs a week on average and she said I’m right where I should be and that despite being able to eat more, I’m right on track. I’ll be getting my first fill on the 28th. 

I’m off of work today and am thoroughly enjoying being lazy today. It’s been very busy at work lately. I suppose all this rain might have something to do with it.

I’ve lost another couple of pounds, which now brings me to 31 pounds lost. That makes me very excited! The only bad thing is that I know it will slow down eventually. I’m definitely not looking forward to that. I’m staying between 800 and 1000 calories a day. That seems to work pretty well for me since I’m still losing at a decent pace.

One thing that has come up is that I will soon be planning for a wedding. K and I decided to do two ceremonies…both a Christian and a Hindu. So, I’m a little lost as far as plans. I know I should probably have an inkling of what I want, but I really don’t. I don’t think I’ve ever seriously sat down and thought about it. Basically, I want something simple. Still, what kind of dress do I want at the Christian wedding? What size will I be? What colors should I use? Should the ceremonies be on the same day or different? Are we going to do the henna? Where am I going to get a sari? What’s the theme? Should we have a theme? Will all of our family be able to travel to our wedding? ARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!! I’m already stressed and we haven’t even set the date yet.

Also, I have another minor stressor these days when planning our family meals. You see, I do not eat beef (thanks to that Humane Society hidden video) and I have to eat a LOT of protein during the day because of my Lap Band surgery. My younger son has decided that he will only eat fish & veggies…no meat of any other kind. Okay, so I support that obviously. My daughter is the easiest one because she eats anything. However, not being a huge seafood fan myself…well, let’s just say that we struggle to find something we can all eat. Dinner has become a challenge to plan for and prepare. If anyone has any suggestions, please, please don’t hesitate to leave them…goodness knows we need them.

Here’s me 2 weeks post op. I’m feeling terrific and am about to start eating solid foods. I know some people who had their surgery at the same time I did are still on full liquids. My doctor advances the diet a little quicker than most. I’ve been doing great with the diet stages.

On the other hand, I’m at a stand still as far as my weight loss is concerned. In fact, I gained 3 lbs overnight. I’m sure it’s water weight, but it’s very frustrating. I’ve been trying every trick that I know of to lost those pounds. I’m faithfully logging my calories at The Daily Plate. I average anywhere from 700-1000 calories a day. Typically, I tend to stay around 800 calories. I’ve upped my protein and decreased my carbs (even the good ones). I’m also staying under 30g of fat. The only thing I can think of that may be preventing me from losing is that I’m due to start my TOM this week.

Here’s what I had yesterday:

B: 1/4 c. egg white, 1 slice of turkey lunch meat, sprinkle of cheese (all scrambled together and topped with salsa)

L: tuna salad made with a boiled egg and light Miracle Whip and mustard. I can eat about 2 ozs.

Snack: 1 slice of turkey lunch meat, 1 slice light Farmer’s cheese

D: 2/3 grilled lime chicken breast (had to cut up in tiny pieces and chew, chew, CHEW), a couple of spoons of charro beans

Overall, it’s a vast improvement from right after surgery. I have now lost a total of 2 inches off my waist, 1/2 inch off my bicep, and an 1 1/2 off my bust. I feel great and have energy. I’m now going to try to start walking at least 30 minutes 3x a week. I hate to exercise and especially sweating, but I really need to do some sort of exercise.

Here’s a picture of the type of band I have. Mine is a 10cc, AP Lap Band.

Things are going well in bandland these days. I’m feeling so much better. No more shoulder pain. No more gas pains. I’m able to eat about a half cup of food and I’m getting my fluids all in most days.

I had to up my calories and protein after getting sick on my second day back at work. The next day, I wound up eating most of an egg and some cottage cheese for breakfast. I then had a New Whey Protein (well, half) bullet in between breakfast and lunch. I wouldn’t call it a snack since I can barely get the stuff down and didn’t enjoy it. I had tuna salad for lunch. I wound up eating about half of a 3 oz. can. I think that’s where the trouble started. I wound up eating too much I think and paid for it for a couple of hours. I was still a little sore later that night. However, I wound up taking it easy and eating soup for dinner. All I can say is that it’s amazing what a little more food can do for you. I think my body had actually gone into rebellion…or rather starvation. It even helped me start losing again. I’m now down a total of 28 lbs.

Today was a day of rest after 3 hectic days at the hospital. The old wives tale about women going into labor when it rains is really true. It’s also true that more women go into labor during a full moon. We had to contend with both of those I’m told. I’m  not sure since I haven’t watched news or paid any attention to anything beyond daily living until I felt better, but I do know that it was BUSY!

Tomorrow the kids and I plan to go see Get Smart and have some fun. I’m going to enjoy the days off that I have. I’ll try to take some pictures and post them.

Today was my first day back at work. I did pretty well actually. I did get very sleepy right after lunch because I’ve been napping during the day. Overall, I do think that it went rather well.

So, now I’m feeling human again and eating some food with some substance. Well, a little substance anyway. I’ve moved to soft foods. I can have cream of wheat, cottage cheese, refried beans, tuna salad, and other soft foods. This makes me happy. There’s so much more you can do with soft foods than liquids. I’m still having problems getting in all of my water though and I think I’m getting dehydrated. I’ve been pushing fluids today to combat that problem and am feeling a little more energetic as the evening wears on. I hope to continue increasing my fluids tomorrow and will hopefully feel even better. I desperately want to be back at 100%.

I’ve heard tales of people who have this surgery on a Thursday or Friday and then go back to work the next week. I thought I’d be one of those people. Obviously I wasn’t. Anyway, my hat off to anyone who bounces back that quickly. 

I haven’t written for a bit simply because I have not been feeling well and my attitude has been less than positive. I’m now 5 days post-op, K has gone back to work, and I’m left fending for myself and the kids. Sounds pretty pathetic, eh?

Seriously, I am doing better. I actually woke this morning feeling very good…so good that I decided to have a cup of coffee to kind of loosen up the band. There are some people who say that when you feel really tight in the morning, have some warm liquid to help loosen the band up. Well, I tried it. I was feeling pretty good for a while, then I had a scrambled egg with a spoon of cottage cheese. I’m not sure what happened, but I started feeling VERY sick later in the middle of the grocery store. What makes it worse is that I’ve been told that my job for the next 2 weeks is NOT vomiting. Let’s just say that I did make it, but had a miserable ride home and had to go lay down on my heating pad.

I’m still having shoulder pain from the gas or irritation or whatever. It is getting better each day I think. I’ve actually figured out my soft stop sign to signal when I shouldn’t eat anymore. Lucky me, mine is burping. Today I managed to get 5 tiny bites of egg before I burped. I’m too scared to push past that because I’m afraid of the pain that overeating might bring.

I’ve also had to deal with some emotional issues related to food. Yesterday, K and the kids got Subway. It smelled sooooooooo good. I actually cried a little bit because I couldn’t have any. I have also been mourning that I can’t have a muffaletta from Jason’s Deli. The commercials that are on during the day don’t help matters at all. Sheesh…who knew there were that many pizza commercials on during the day?!?!

Okay, so now that I’ve gotten all of that out of my system, let me just say that I don’t regret my decision. Oh, I did a couple of days ago. I was wondering what in the hell I’d done to myself and was ready to go back and have it taken out. However, I’m assured that those feelings are entirely normal. The good news is that I’m down 27 lbs since the last week of May. Someone I knew actually commented that she could already tell a difference when I saw her in the store. I can’t wait to see what the coming weeks bring.

I don’t mind telling you, last night was sheer hell to get through. I’ve been told that around your 3rd day out is the worst and I’m praying that is true. I think that some of the problem stems from the gas pain and irritation of the diaphram. I’m told that those nerves in the diaphram also ennervate the shoulder, neck, and back area. When the diaphram is irritated, you get referred pain in your shoulder. Whatever it is or however it works, I have it.

Things started to go downhill when I was eating some broth. I was still very bloated and gassy from the stuff they used to pump into the abdominal cavity. It seemed that the broth did not agree with me and increased the gas factor. So, I took some Phazyme instead of the Gas X. I was told that Phazyme works much better. Anyway, I do think that the medication went to work. I felt like I had an alien inside of my intestines and stomach…they were moving around so much. I don’t mind telling you that it hurt a lot. Anyway, I did manage to burp a lot of it out, but there was still a lot of trapped gas with nowhere to go. I wound up getting up about 3am and sat on the couch for a while in the dark, then I went and stood under a hot shower for almost an hour. That seemed to help a bit. I then came back and lay down in bed…very carefully, because I was convinced I was going to be sick. I eventually went to sleep at some point.

I will say that whatever hell that was, it’s better today…somewhat. I still have the horrid shoulder pain when I sit up or walk or take deep breaths. I’ve spent the majority of the day in the bed, resting my shoulder against the heating pad. I woke up from a long nap feeling quite good, but that shoulder pain keeps sneaking up on me at times.

I did manage to get some Stage 1 baby food bananas down today. I didn’t finish the whole 2.5oz jar, but I ate the remainder for lunch with some apple sauce. Now I’m in the process of figuring out what I’d like to eat for dinner. I think I might try cream of chicken and pray it doesn’t wreak havoc on my system.

I’m now 2 days post-op and am doing okay. My incisions are still pretty sore, but nothing that Tylenol and a heating pad won’t help. The worst thing has been the gas pains. They apparently fill your abdomen with some kind of gas so that the surgeon can see what they’re doing inside with the camera and other instruments. My surgeon’s assistant told me that they’d kept the trocars in for a few minutes and tried to squeeze some of the gas out so that I wouldn’t really have bad gas pains. Well, I know they tried, but it still hurts. Kumar has had to burp me like a baby sometimes by rubbing my back in a circular motion. It’s not fun, but it does work. Ahhhhh…I bet he never dreamed of something as romantic as that.

Last night was the worst I think…I hope. We had gotten out and about a couple of times yesterday so that I could walk to help with the gas and prevent blood clots. I think I might have overdone it a little bit. I also made some very runny potato soup with those dried potato flakes. It was delish, but I’m not sure my system was quite ready for it yet. I did suffer the consequences of both of those things last night. I wound up having to walk around the house to relieve some of the gas pain several times last night. I’m not sleeping all that well either simply because it’s painful to turn over or even really move. I have been getting a nap or two during the day though. I’m also still trying to get my water in, but it’s hard because I have to sip and I can only take in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of anything at one time.

I do feel a bit more human today after taking a shower. I was supposed to wait until this evening, but decided that I couldn’t. It’s amazing how much a shower can refresh you. Hopefully, today will be the turning point where I start to feel better and better with every day that passes.

I arrived back home from the hospital a little after 9pm last night.

K took me to the hospital yesterday and we arrived a little before noon. They took me quickly to the pre-op area and made me put on one of those lovely gowns. After about 30 minutes the nurse came in and took my vitals and also informed us that they were running a little bit behind schedule. She said that I could probably expect to go back at 3:45 instead of my scheduled 2pm. K and I wound up watching a lot television. We watched TLC A Baby Story a couple of times and CNN the rest of the time. Eventually, the anesthesiologist and my surgeon and his assistance came in to see us. They apologized for running behind, but they assured me that they’d get to me.

So, about 5:15, they came and got me and sent K to wait in the waiting room. I don’t remember much except scooting over to the operating table and them strapping some boots to my legs that started squeezing them. After that, I woke up in the recovery room where they told me that I’d gotten a little nauseous. Everything was still very blurry…literally…at that point, but I did start coming out of the anesthesia quite nicely after I got some morphine. I think I wasn’t expecting quite that much pain at first. Things started moving pretty quickly after they gave me some sips of water. I got sent down for an upper GI series of X-rays to make sure that everything was in working order. I stayed down there about 30 minutes drinking some nasty chalky stuff and getting my “picture” taken every 10 minutes or so. Then, they took me back to the recovery room where I got dressed and went to the restroom for the nurse. My X-ray results were read and came back fine so they called K and asked him to pull the car around front. The next thing I know, I was in the car and headed home. We arrived here about 9:15ish.

I immediately came and lay down on the bed with a heating pad against my biggest and most sore incision where the port is located. I also managed to sip a few teaspoons of broth and a get down a few sips of watered down Gatorade. Everything is tasting too sweet or salty. I was up and down about every hour last night taking a sip of water, walking around, and going to the restroom. I still am very bloated from the surgical gas that they pumped me full of and K has been super sweet about rubbing my back to help me burp it out.

We’re going to get out today to go pick up some protein bullets at GNC and run a few other errands. I think the walking will help me a lot. It feels much better laying down on my side or back or up walking than it does in any other position. I’m still feeling like I did about 1,000 sit ups and am very sore. My throat is still a little scratchy from the tube as well, but overall I’m recovering nicely. I’m not filling my pain medication prescription, just making due with liquid Tylenol and Gas X.