5 Weeks Post Op

We are now 5 weeks post op! As of the scale I borrowed at my kids docs office yesterday I am down 35 lbs since I started the pre op liquid diet and 48 lbs total from the first time I stepped in my surgeons office last May.

I’m also down:
6.5” off my hips since May and 2.5” in the last 7 weeks.
5.25” off my waist since May and 2.25” in the last 7 weeks.
4.25” off my thigh (just one not both) since May, 2.75 of those in the last 7 weeks.
7” off my upper stomach since May, 4.5” of that in the last 7 weeks.
4.5” off my chest total, 1.5” in the last 7
2” off my upper arm, both in the last 7 weeks (stupid stubborn fat!)
4” off my calf, 1.25” in the last 7 weeks

It is amazing to me how different my shape looks in the mirror. That upper belly fat is amazingly stubborn and that’s what’s melting fastest at the moment and I could not be more thrilled.

Diet wise I am starting Week 2 of “Soft Chopped Solids” which is really extremely livable but man I really miss apples and crunchy veggies. One more week and I can have crunchy things and I am so excited about it. My proportions are still tiny. And proportion control is king bc it I eat even one bite too many I’m going to be very, very sorry. I still haven’t puked even if I’ve wished I could more than once. It’s good for my hernia repair that I haven’t though. I do NOT want to tear that up!

Mostly I’m learning what foods my body likes and what foods are not okay. It was my birthday a few days back and while my birthday cake tasted every bit as amazing as ever, it makes me feel like crap for a good 2 hours after eating it. I’m finding that’s pretty common. If I probably shouldn’t eat it, it’s going to make me feel like mud even if I eat it slow and not too much. And I pay attention to that feeling bc it helps reinforce that this is something that isn’t worth it if it’s gonna make me miserable! They said I could have some taste bud change too and so far I hadn’t seen much of that with savory foods but I’m noticing it now mostly with sweets. Some things just don’t taste right or they’re way, way too sweet and they make me feel like crud so I’m just passing on them instead of sneaking a bite or two.

I can drink carbonation!!! Some people can and some just never can again post surgery. Given my love affair with Diet Coke which I was really missing, I was afraid. But with my dieticians permission, I tried it and carbonation has always settled my stomach when I was sick and that apparently hasn’t changed. And sipping a caffeine free Diet Pepsi (when it’s too late for caffeine) or a Diet Coke is incredibly gratifying and it doesn’t cost me any calories at all and it doesn’t hurt my stomach so I am a very happy camper. I’m still only having a single glass a couple times a week but it’s lovely.

My weight loss is slowing down some so I’ve started trying to increase my exercise and activity levels to try to get it back up where I want it! Have to wait another week to see if it’s working. I knew my body would start to fight back but I really hoped it would wait a while longer but oh well.

I’ve lost enough weight I’m having to use belts to keep my pants from falling off and having to shop my closet for smaller clothes. So this week I made a purchase of an item I haven’t wanted in my living space since high school. That’s right, I purchased and installed a full length mirror bc I need one to check the fit on things when I pull them out of the depths of my closet. I spent years avoiding mirrors bc they were very bad for my mental health so this is kinda big.

3 More Days of Purees

Hi Guys!

Sorry I dropped off the face of the planet there for a bit! Life was interfering but hopefully I’m getting back in the swing of things! So some updates:

I cannot tell you how grateful I was to start purées. I went to one of my favorite Mediterranean places and got a large order of my favorite hummus and their amazing baba ghanoush (sp??) and I had leftovers from that for the next week plus! Scrambled eggs have never been so exciting.

There have been some rough spots. I had to learn what full feels like again. Over eating is dramatically unpleasant and uncomfortable for hours afterwards so I am very careful about my portion sizes now and I’ve got a decent eye for how much I can eat. And I serve myself in my tiny bowls and leave the rest behind in the kitchen so I am not tempted to take even a single bite more than I should bc it’s not worth the pain. Think ONE egg scrambled with like a tsp of cheese and I’m completely full for the next several hours. 1/4-1/2 cup is about the limit.

Absolutely no beverages allowed 15 mins before to 30 mins after eating. That’s been a toughie. I used to drink a ton while I ate but it does not make my stomach feel nice if I do it so I leave my water glass in the kitchen too now so I don’t forget and reflex drink.

The other hard thing has been the swelling from my very large hiatus hernia repair has made the passage of food from my esophagus to my stomach very slow and difficult. I’m told this will improve over the next month or two as the swelling continues to go down. But if I do not take tiny bites and space them out very far apart then I wind up with the food stuck in my throat and it’s very painful and I have to just sit there and wait for it to slowwwwwly go down. It’s not pleasant. I now eat with my kids baby spoons so I don’t take bites that are too big for me.

I am 11 days into purées and today I’m officially sick of this crap and I want new food. I’ve done a good job getting really creative w seasoning and cheese combos to try to make my scrambled eggs different every day. And different soups and different hummus flavors etc. but I’m done with it now. I want crunchy veggies badly. Lol Next week I get to move to soft chopped solids which sounds amazing. Slowly, slowly I get closer to eating real food.

According to my doc my priorities right now are 1. get enough water (60+oz a day), 2. get enough protein (40+g a day) and then get all my supplements in. I think I’m doing okay on the first two but finding room in my tiny stomach for all those pills is proving difficult. I’m improving but I’m not where I should be yet.

Oh and I finally had my post op follow up w the doc. In roughly the last month I’m down 27.6 lbs and my capris are in dire need of a belt. So progress!

Also on the list of foods that don’t suck: Jello Sugar Free Pudding cups in Dark Chocolate and Chocolate Vanilla Swirl are my friends. And they’re totally legal on the diet. So there.