BBQ

I went to the athletic banquet last night and I tried BBQ for the first time. I did not eat much of it, but I was happily suprised that it went down really well. I had to chew it lots. I worry about "string" foods like that. I had to endure the constant "is that all you are going to eat" from about 10 people. I am getting use to it now. I also ate a little bit of pizza yesterday.
My Revival soy package came in the mail too. I ordered a sample pack of soy nuts and soy chips. They are delicious! Caleb likes the nuts too and Kallie likes the chips. Andy does not like any of it. Oh well, more for me! I doubt very seriously that I will be ordering much of that. It is way too expensive. 15 of the small bags of chips (which are about the size of what you would get at Subway) cost $18 + shipping. Amber just raved about how healthy they are, but I just can't justify the price. It is nice to have something crunchy plus they have lots of protein. I am still trying to polish off those Lean Body shakes that I got from GNC. I am going to Janie and Rob's this weekend for a Preakness party and they got me some of those Muscle Milk Lite shakes. They taste much better. Weight loss is hovering about the same. 37-38 lbs loss. Clothes are fitting dramatically better. I am still trying to get more exercise.

Official Exercise Program Begins Today

Today is picture day-(heck if I know what was going on with my hair???)! I am 5 weeks post surgery and I am feeling better every day. Kallie and I began our walking program today. We walked the fence around the farm..up and down the hills. I found that I did not get winded at all, just tired. My muscles just seem to give out on me. I have very little stamina. I am sure that the exercise is good for me. Especially after sitting in court all day...I am getting to dread court days. I hate being tied down all day. I guess that is just part of the job...you can't love every aspect of every job. I had some wonderful tasting Pollock from Brown's Restaurant today. Along with a few baked apples. I ate slowly and it went down really well. Along with some unsweet tea. I have adjusted to it. I think sweet tea would be too sweet now. Andy made us some great pintos for supper. It is nice to be able to eat "regular" food again.

I did it again!

Another rainy day at work had me feeling blah and weary, and Andy had his trip to the VA today, so that meant no one at home to watch The Price Is Right during lunch. Shane and Staci had brought their lunch, so I thought...what the heck...I will get some Chinese takeout. I went to the local eatery and ordered a very small box of shrimp lo mein. I got two small bites down and I was sick as a dog! I have no idea why, because I ate the very same thing about 2 weeks ago at PF Chang. Unless, they fix it differently I have no idea. But I was sooooo sick. It came back up and kept coming until there was nothing but the dry heaves. It gave me a killer headache. I ended up going to mom's house and taking a short nap. It just wipes me out to get sick like that.
Later, for supper, I was able to eat a small bit of chicken casserole and some baked peaches and raspberries. It went down well. I am also enjoying the change of eating protein bars instead of shakes or yougart with protein added. I was given a sample of a new type of soy chip from Revival Soy. I loved it! I have so been wanting something crunchy. I ordered some today along with some yogurt covered soy nuts. I will see how that works out. Boy, is it expensive! I hope it will be worth it! I am at 37.5 lbs of weight loss 5 weeks out. Best of all, my clothes are very loose.

Dry Chicken is a No No

I have recently learned of the "revenge of the dry chicken". Me and dry chicken don't get along very well. It likes to try to crawl back up on me. Fish goes down the best of anything. I ate 1/2/ of a chicken finger last night and I was sick again. I did not hurl, but it was unpleasant. I am trying to drink those nasty protein shakes-yuck! I am listening to the Dr. and Amber. I did order some samples of a new type of shake called "Nectar " from vitalady.com. I thought I would try them out before committing to a huge thing of it and then not liking it. Good ol' vitalady will send you some samples. Dr. Jeff told me about her.
We went to Wendy's today on our way back with the new horse, and I amazed my Dad at how little I eat. I got a jr. cheezeburger - plain, took it off the bun and ate less than 1/2 of it. I got him turned on to unsweet tea today. That was worth the trip, cause good ole poppy needs to drop a few lbs too! He could not believe how good it was with sweet and low. It tastes like real sweet tea! Nothing other to report than that right now. Energy still low...trying to get more exercise. I might ride the new horse today or tomorrow. Dr. said I could.

First Post Op Dr. Visit

Andy and I took off this morning for my first visit to Dr. McNatt since my surgery. My weight loss is just a hair over 35lbs in one month...I was excited to be going so he could see how well I have done. Well, low and behold, all I got was fussed at. Protein, protein, protein was all I heard. Amber did most of the fussing at me. I also heard the word "exercise" about 20 times. People...I have had surgery only 4 weeks ago. I am working full time and I am tired! Dr. McNatt said "working does not count". He ought to try living a day in my life! I also heard that the average one month post surgery loss is 25lbs. I am 10 above that. I say "yeah for me", they say that is too rapid. I got a swift and stern lecture about better quality vitamins and Rolaids don't count as calcuim. It has to be "calcium citrate". Amber mentioned such things as heart failure, liver damage and loss of limbs. It was like my own person horror movie! I think they are over-reacting a bit. I feel good...except for tiredness. And, Dr. McNatt says my incisions are looking great! Best of all, he told me I can eat anything I want to eat (within reason). That means salads and fruits are back in my life! I even get to try a little bit of steak! To celebrate, Andy and I went to Chick fil a' and I had one of those wonderful fruit and grilled chicken salads with with berry vinegrette dressing. It will probably take me several days to finish it, but it was great! I also love their diet lemonade.
I took heed of all that was said to me today. I forgot to mention Dr. Jeff...he is the psychologist. You get one of those when you go thru something like this. It is part of the package deal. He talked more to Andy about his food guilt than he did me and that is ok, because poor Andy hates to eat in front of me. I think he helped put it in perspective with him when he told him that while he eats in front of me, it has about the appeal of a cardboard box. That seemed to ease poor Andy's mind.
I also found out that I have HUNDREDS...yes HUNDREDS of staples in me. Dr. McNatt said it is like sewing a shirt up. I thought that was pretty darn cool! I think me and my pouch are doing just great and we are learning to live in peace with one another.

One Month Post Surgery!

Today makes one month since surgery. I think I have done really well! 35lbs loss to date! Even better than that number is the fact that my clothes are fitting loosely now. My underwear is almost to the point of falling off-HOW EXCITING! I know, that might be too much info. But before, they were tight on me and leaving red marks around my waist. I ate some fish Andy fried today and it gave me a little indigestion. I also ate a tiny bit of pizza for lunch. It was great! I am still drinking my water with Crystal Lite. My treats are still sugar free popsicles. I have adopted eating low fat/low cal fruit yogurt with protein powder added for my breakfast. I really despise Carnation sugar free Instant Breakfast. I hate the shakes too, so this is an alternative for me. It takes me about 2-3 hours to get that one little cup of yogurt down. I really miss my salads and fruits that have seeds like strawberries. I hope Dr. McNatt will let me start eating that stuff soon. We will see on Thursday. By the way, I got my EOB's from Baptist Hospital. The total surgery/hosptial stay cost $41,000. Unbelievable! My part was $2,100. I figure my life/health was well worth that amount of $. Some people spend their tax refund on vacations-I opt for surgery...go figure. I am just happy that the Lord blessed me with a job and insurance that allowed me to take this leap. It truly has been a blessing and a faith builder.

Feeling Tired

I did not realize how that trip to Charlotte really took the wind out of me. I have been dragging all day. Work was particularly difficult today with many office visits and a lot going on. I bet I walked up the stairs at least a dozen times today, and my legs felt like they could not go any further. I did get to eat a little bit of home baked pizza that I made for Andy and the kids. It was really good and this was my first attempt at eating a little bread. It went down really good, and it tasted great. I am still doing the Crystal Lite and I added a new flavor today-Raspberry Lemonade. It was good. I am still doing the Trop 50 and of course, the sugar free popsicles. Tomorrow is picture day.

3lb Loss in One Day!

We went to our yard sale in Charlotte yesterday treasure hunting. And boy, did it wear me out! We got up at 6AM and headed out, reaching Davis Lake at 7:30. There were probably 70 houses having sales. I ran into all my buddies there so it is a social event also. There was lots of getting in and out of the truck and lots of walking. I will bet that I walked several miles yesterday and it was up and down hills. I got more than my share of exercise. After the sale, we went to PF Changs and I got to eat some of the lettuce wrap (without the lettuce) and some lo mein noodles. It was the best thing I have eaten since my surgery! I was really proud of myself and did not overeat. I felt that point of being full and stopped. They had some of the most wonderful unsweet tea that also. It was flavored with something sugarfree called raspberry sangria. It was worth the trip alone! Afterward, there was more walking because Kallie (being the teenager that she is) had to go to her favorite stops at the mall. You see, yard sales don't do it for her, she has to pay full price for Hollister and Aeropostale. It's her money so what do you do? One day she will learn the value of a value. All in all, an awesome day, finishing it off with an awesome KY Derby. You gotta love a Cinderella story!
Today has been a day of church and rest. The scales showed my hard day yesterday with a 3 lb loss! The Lord is just way too good to me!

Doin' Better

I did not really have that much to write about yesterday and I worked the night shift so I did not have time to post. Today, I ate some new foods and they were great! I got a chicken biscuit from Bojangles and ate about 3 bites of the chicken only. It was fabulous. Tonight I ate 2 shrimp at the Mexican Restaurant and had some of that marvelous unsweet tea with splenda. It was just perfect! It is weird going into a restaurant and not ordering anything. They look at you kinda funny. I emailed Amber today and she gave me permission to have some lo mein at PF Changs. That is my favorite place to eat! I am going to be really careful not to overdo it.
Tomorrow we go to one of my favorite events of the year-the Davis Lake Yard Sale in Charlotte. I get the coolest stuff there. This year will be particluarly exciting because I get to buy clothes for me-smaller ones! Yeah! Those folks sell designer clothes for nothing! My current clothes are getting too big for me -yeah again! I am going to get tons of exercise. I am sure it will totally wear me out. Tomorrow is Derby Day too, so I look forward to coming home with all my treasures and watching the race. My picks are: Win-Pioneer of the Nile Place: I Want Revenge Show: General Quarters. General Quarters could be the Cinderella story and pull of the upset!

Old Habits Die Hard

My addiction sprung it's ugly head up today and I broke 2 cardinal rules:
1. Don't eat more than you can hold.
2. Don't eat too fast
What an idiot I am! I chugged down some rotisserie chicken breast that was too much for me-about the size of my palm or less. Then, in my infinate wisdom, I added a rolaids to top it off. (I eat 3 rolaids/day to get my calcium) It was the worst feeling ever! I almost committed bariatric suicide (I think???). I began having sharp pains in my chest and back, then I got to shaking and got really pale and thought I was going to pass out. Then I started feeling the feel that this chicken is making a return visit. Yep...I barfed 6 times! It was not your normal barf. I compare it to a man passing a kidney stone. You see, the opening to my "pouch" is the size of a dime. NOT GOOD! It was an ugly scene (my poor hostas). I don't know if I will ever be able to eat chicken again! Most of the time when you throw up, once you finally do it, most of the time you feel better. NOT TRUE ANYMORE! I was really sick for about an hour. What a bonehead! Worst of all, when I go back to my first visit to Dr. McNat, post surgery, I will not be able to report that I am still their "poster child", and must tell the truth about my overeating bonehead move! I am so disappointed in myself. It was so uncalled for. I guess the good news is that I lost 1.5lbs today and I wore a shirt that I have not been able to wear for over 2 years! I still give the Lord all the credit for this! He has taken such good care of me...now I need to do the same.

New Things Today!

I had to work court all day today-did not get home until 6PM. I worked my butt off all day! It was a very busy day and I am very tired. I discovered some new things that I liked and could have today. I took my son to the Mexican Restaurant and I was able to eat a small amount of ground beef with some cheese on it! I have been trying to drink that nasty unsweet tea because I am getting tired of the water/crystal lite. I have tried Splenda in the past, and thought it to be disgusting. But I decided to use it today and it was the bomb! I almost tasted like the real thing! It was so much better than that nasty bitter plain tea. I also went to the grocery store to get more of my beloved sugar free popsicles and cruised the OJ asile. To my amazement that have a new product called Trop 50. It is a very unsweetened version of real OJ! OMG-it was like heaven! There was no way to describe how awesome it was! It is very low in sugar (about like my protein shakes) has 50 calories in an 8 oz glass (would take me all day to drink 8 oz), and was very high in posassium (which I have been needing!). The only downfall was the lack of protein. Things are looking up! I was having trouble living with the fact that I could no longer drink my most favorite thing ever-OJ! PRe surgery I would drink about 2 gallons/week. This was always how I explained my good health and lack of colds/flu. OJ-you are back in my life baaaabeeee!
Clothes are still getting looser, but no weight loss to record for today.

Back to Work Full Time

I started back to work FT today. It made me very tired. It will take a while to get back into the swing of things. I have been very tempted today to eat things I know I can't have right now. Specifically a salad. I want one so bad. I munched on a few slices of tomato today. I would just love some sweet tea, but I know that is what helped get me overweight to start with. I got most of my shake down today. Popsicles are still the bomb!
Weight loss is around the same. 30+ lbs. What was great was I saw a bunch of people that I had not seen in a while, when I was waiting in line at the funeral home and they all made comments about how much weight I lost and how I looked good. That felt great! Too bad it had to happen at such a depressing place. Please pray for my friend Jay, who lost his dad. May God Bless!

Starting to Believe

I got so busy planting flowers yesterday, I did not have time to write. I got lots of exercise yesterday and I can tell it today. I am wiped out! We went to church this morning and I got so many comments about how much weight I am loosing. That felt great! After so many years of defeat, it is still hard to get thru my thick skull that this is the real thing! Finally something with some real possibilities vs. empty promises and failure. This will work, if I don't screw it up. I am trying really hard, but I am going to have to eat more than just those sugar free popsicles. I did chew up some hamburger yesterday and it was very filling. I also ate just a couple of bites of cheese and burger off Andy's pizza. That was good too! The only thing that I really want right now that I can't have is sweet tea. I tried unsweet and it just gave me a headache. I will just stick with diluted juice and crystal lite. My clothes are starting to get big on me. That feels awesome! I am over 30lbs. total weight loss in less than 3 weeks. I think that is really cool! I actually have a waist now!Kallie took this pic of me Friday evening.

Feeling Better

What can I say...Colace is my friend...it literally saved my a_ _. Sorry-I had to put that pun in. The Dr. warned me this might be a problem. Likey it is from all the iron I have to take. The last few days have not been fun. I am making it part of my pill regime daily. Hopefully after I get to eat more fiber I can manage without it. I know this is not the most pleasant topic, but the truth is the truth. I know how those poor Baboons feel now.
Enough of that, I got my fiber in and my vitamins. I have really pushed the liquids today. I have been fighting off dry mouth and this helps. I really dread going back to work FT next week. I think it will really wear me out. I am having my friend Lauren over on Sunday and she is going to work my young horses. That takes a big load off my mind. Some people actually told me that I am looking like I am really loosing weight today. That felt great! I spoke with a friend today about my surgery so he can make an informed decision about it. I really think I did the right thing. It gets easier every day! I am quickly approaching 30lbs of weight loss (that is like 6 bags of sugar!!!)