5th and 6th Weeks!

Ok guys, it has been a busy, but fun!, two weeks.  During my 5th week post-op I spent time with my sister and her family in Virginia and then went down to Wilmington, my hometown, to celebrate my nephew's third birthday.  It was lots of fun!  I will be honest, I did not post last Saturday 1) because we traveled back to Greensboro that day and I was exhausted, but mostly 2) because I had actually gained weight and was a little disappointed in that.  However, I know that transitioning to eating solid food can cause that as well as retaining some water.  Even though it wasn't rational, I didn't want to talk about it just yet last week.  By Monday I had every intention of writing my blog, but teacher workdays started then and life got pretty darn crazy! This is my picture from last week.

So I kept at it this week, didn't change anything.  I still had my 4-5 meals a day and drank my needed water.  I went from having a bare classroom to a classroom ready to go for my new second grade kiddos on Monday.  I have planned, worked, had lots of meetings, cleaned, etc.  Each night I had no problem falling asleep.  I will say though, I have more energy than I used to have.  I am tired when I get home, but I can still do things.  Before, I would come home each day so exhausted I was virtually worthless.  Non-scale victory! WooHoo!!

On to the scale victory though! Are you ready?? I lost TEN AND A HALF POUNDS this week!! :-) That is the most I have lost in one week!  That totally made up for the 2.9 pounds I had gained the week before.  So my new total is 46.6 pounds lost total, 31.6 post surgery (July 12th).  I am feeling great and not looking back!  The teachers at work have been very supportive and encouraging as well.  People have commented on how they can tell a difference and how proud they are of me.  I can't tell you all again how much that means to me.  There are so many people out there who do not get the kind of support and encouragement as I have been receiving, so I just wanted to say again Thank you and I love you all. This week's picture:

I had surgery 4 weeks ago today!

Well this week I lost a total of six pounds.  That is 24 pounds since surgery exactly 4 weeks ago and 39 pounds total!! I am so excited!! This week I have started to notice things are fitting differently and can tell a difference some in my face.

I went to my 4 week post-op nutritionist meeting and that went very well.  I actually was able to tell her about a blog she didn't know about! She had never heard of The World According to Eggface.  For those of you that do not know, Michelle is the author and had gastric bypass (same as me) eight years ago and has had excellent success.  She has always loved to cook and posts all of her food and recipes on her blog.  She is very detailed- down to the brand of ingredient at times.  Naturally I love that!  I love knowing what other people are using.  The nutritionist was excited to see this blog and wrote down some of the recipes to try herself!  She said she would be mentioning it to others patients as well.

New foods I have been able to eat this week: thinly sliced deli turkey, low fat cheese, grilled tilapia, turkey hot dogs (I did have to cut the skin off because it wouldn't digest as easily).  I am looking forward to making lentils tomorrow for our Sunday dinner.  Tomorrow night will be the first night in a while I have been eating the same thing everyone else in my house will be eating.  Exciting!! I will be on this stage of eating for another month or so.  My stomach and body still need time to heal.  Basically though, I can eat lean meats, cooked veggies, greek yogurt: high protein, low fat foods.  When I start cooking more I will be posting some of the things and recipes I find.  There is a yummy spaghetti squash turkey bacon breakfast casserole I am wanting to try for easy school breakfasts. Yes....I said school....I start teacher workdays on Monday the 18th and kids come Monday the 25th.

So what do you think? Can you tell a difference?  Is there anything you are wanting to know that I am not writing about?  Let me know so I can make sure to include it in my weekly posts.  :-)

Again, thanks for all the encouragement and support from everyone.  I am feeling great!

Week Three and Things are Well

So in the third week post op things have been going well.  I have continued walking this week and have made it up to 55 minutes in a workout.  The cool air has been a blessing as well. :-)

Wednesday I had my 2 week check-in with my doctor and everything is going well.  My incisions are all healed up.  It is crazy how I can't even tell where some of them were!  They are so small and healing so well.  I am very pleased.  I don't need to go back to the doctor until I am three months out- so in October.  Everyone in the office of Bariatric Specialists of NC in Alamance was so pleased and excited about my results.  Wednesday I had lost 1.2 pounds since Saturday for a total of 17.4 pounds since July 12th!

I was also able to go ahead and get my vitamins to start taking (for the rest of my life).  I have a multivitamin for bariatric patients. The ones I have seen before you have to take multiple in a day, however, this brand is newer I believe and you only need to take one.  Bonus!: It tastes similar to fruity pebbles or Flinstone's vitamins, and definitely not chalky like others I have had. I have to take Vitamin D once a week, it is a prescription strength because I had low Vitamin D before surgery.  I also take a B-Complex vitamin which is a chewable, and a B-12 sublingual vitamin which dissolves under the tongue.  Two hours after taking my multivitamin I can take my calcium I need.  These calcium chews are sugar-free (of course) and taste just like a caramel chew. Today was the first day I was able to take them all, and they were all quite pleasant and I know I will be able to keep up this regimen.

So, as of today I had lost another 0.6 pounds.  So, total this week I lost 1.8 pounds.  Not exactly what I was expecting, but I know this comes and goes.  I am following guidelines and rules precisely- making sure I am getting in my fluids and my protein.  I am working out, and trying to stay active without pushing it too much.  Hopefully next week will be a better week.  However, I am telling my self that as long as that number keeps going down, or staying the same, all is well.  That number will not go up!  Plus, 33 pounds since the end of the school year is nothing to be upset about!

Today I was able to start on soft foods.  Can we say HOORAY?!!! For breakfast I had a soft scrambled egg and some string cheese.  For lunch, I had turkey roll ups. It is crazy how long it takes me to eat! I have to make sure I chew everything up very well because it doesn't get broken up like it used to before surgery.  Also, I need to make sure I am not eating too fast because that can cause dumping syndrome as well.  Dumping Syndrome is where my food dumps too quickly into my lower intestines and causes flu like symptoms.  This is something I most definitely want to avoid.

I am starting to tell a difference in my clothing some. The jean capris I have been wearing in the pictures I post I can tell are baggy in some areas, and I have having to adjust my shirts a lot more than I used to because they are falling around. I still can not SEE it yet, but I am hoping this upcoming week I will be able to see the difference.  People around me have mentioned how they can tell looking at this area, or that.  So, fingers crossed! Here is my latest picture. What do you all think? Can you tell a difference compared to my first picture?