Saturday, October 29, 2011

How's my dumplin'?

Wow, I made chicken n dumplins in the crockpot for a nice hot comfort food dinner on a cold dreary day. The dinner was perfect and delish. Only problem...I can't eat it. Oh I tried and it got ugly fast! Dumplings are not an option anymore. I got stuck and then started having spasms in my band or stomach or something and heaved for an hour. NEVER AGAIN!!

The weather has turned colder so it is time to dust off my soup/chili recipes. I am on the prowl for more higher protein soups/chilis/stews to make is large batches and freeze to grab and go.

I had the best brisket the other day from Famous Daves so I am also on a journey to find an easy yet perfectly tender brisket recipe.

Well to the nitty gritty...I haven't lost any weight since my fill. I started drinking Sobe waters made with Stevia and actually started gaining a little weight. I think it is water weight as the Sobe has sodium in it whereas my Vitamin Water Zero does not. I am backing off the Sobe for a week and going back to my Vitamin Waters to see if that makes a difference. I have also taken to drinking cappucino every day from Thornton's. That may also be the culprit. I am definitely eating less than before my fill but something is causing the weight gain. Granted it is only a few pounds so that leads me to think water retention.

Does anyone have problems with mood swings? I am all over the place lately. Mood swings in the past have led me to eating and now I don't so the mood issues are stronger. Not sure how to deal with it.

I am sitting here enjoying some wings watching the UL football game. GO CARDS!!

If anyone has some good soup/chili/stew recipes please pass them along.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Still not there

Well the fill I got has not made that much of a difference. I can still eat a lot at time and at other times I barely am able to eat at all.  I am getting frustrated with it. I know it is me and not the band. I know I need to get back to basics and start over.

I am back to eating out again for lunch. I get so tired of that. I did however go to Famous Dave's and got a two meat lunch combo. Brisket and wings with bbq beans and jalapeno mac n cheese. (I usually get two meats in case one meat gets stuck, I can try the other)
I had 2 wings and 2 slices of brisket. 1 tbsp of beans and also mac n cheese. That was lunch. Dinner was 2 hard tacos. Late night I ate more brisket. The next day I ate the rest of the wings. So that lunch lasted me a two days. But that isn't always the case.

I sat here last night trying to understand what I have or haven't been doing correctly with my band. I realized I no longer eat my protein first. Solid protein. I am back to plate grazing. A little of this and a little of that. The hardest part for me is focusing on eating and starting with the solid protein. I can say that I do get the full feeling which I haven't felt in many months. That sensation has been absent for quite some time.
I'm a picky eater but I like real food. I am a meat and potato kind of girl, where not potato anymore but basically I like my meat. I don't like fish at all unless it is deep fried and no longer has any fish-like taste. There are some days I don't eat any veggies at all. I miss that.

I have mixed up my waters and that may be a problem. I usually drink Vitamin Water Zero which has no calories, fat or sodium. I have been drinking Sobe with zero calories, fat, but it does has sodium. It is also made with Stevia like the vitamin water zero. The flavors are awesome. I love the macintosh apple cherry. It is like drinking watery apple juice. It's good. I got a few other new flavors to try. Strawberry Apricot. The coconut is good but is sugar laden.

I need to get my head wrapped around getting back on track. I want to continue going forward and not looking back. I have to say I have been lucky. I have no true weight gain in my entire journey. Unfortunately I haven't had any real weigth loss in the past many months. That needs to change.

Once again, I need to focus on bringing lunch to work. I think that is a key factor. I also need to incorporate more veggies in addition to increasing my protein. I have some things to think about since today is grocery day.


Sunday, October 16, 2011

Got my FILL on...

Well, I finally went and did it. I got a fill. It has been a whopping 8 months since I was at the doctor for a fill. This past week and weekend I was able to eat pot roast and then able to eat an entire Western BBQ burger, bun and all from steak n shake. My cue that I need a fill.

I have to say I was not happy getting my fill. The girl that normally does it was there and announced that she will be leaving the practice and this new one will take her spot. The new one has the personality of a rock. She was rude and impersonal. She looked at me like I was lying when I explained why I felt I needed a fill. She said just because I could eat an entire burger does not mean I need a fill. I flat out told her I know my markers and when this can happen I need a fill. She started to argue with me when Laura (my fave that is leaving) spoke up and said look how much weight she has lost, if she says this is her marker then you need to listen to her.

Do you think I was too harsh when I turned to the new one and said: " I am not a band junkie looking to score my next fill. If I was then it wouldn't have been 8 months since my last visit." SERIOUSLY!!!

I also didn't like her giving me the fill. She had to dig around because she kept hitting the edge of the port. I can't imagine why she couldn't get it right considering I can grab my port myself it is that prominent now. Which makes my skin crawl. Well, needless to say, I did get .3cc in my band. I didn't notice any difference at first. I was able to drink normally. I was also eating soft foods for 24hrs and ate those without issue in fact was starving just moments after eating. It wasn't until the next day when I began eating solids again that I noticed the change. We got Qdoba for dinner. I ate 5 bites and was completely full. I ate a little more about 5 hours later. The day after I ate chicken nuggets at home for lunch and only ate 3 and was full. I can definitely see the difference when eating solids. We'll see how long it will last.

They also want me to get an upper GI so they have a standard to go by should my stoma stretch out, they will be able to compare it against the GI. That's Tuesday. I know from prior GI's that I had to drink down barium solution fast. There is NO WAY that will happen this time around. Not looking forward to it.

It never fails, I get a fill and my family doesn't everything within their power to stress me out when I eat. I don't understand that. I keep telling them to stop because I am trying to eat and that just fuels them more and more to keep it up. I swear!!

I haven't lost any real weight in months. Hopefully this will be the push I need to get back on the losing track.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Still hanging on...

Well my new job has been keeping me pretty darn busy and add to that cheer for my daughter and football games for my son and my days are filled up!

We have stopped eating out pretty much. We had been lately eating out most days but lately I have been making sure to cook dinner except football nights. I bring my lunch most days now. I have to keep that up.

Trying to make hearty meals for myself that are high protein. Yesterday I made chili. I have tons of it for the week for myself and family. Too bad it's not going to be cold this week like last week. Still I can eat chili any day of the week.

Thankfully I have not been getting as stuck as usual. It's a nice feeling. Oddly enough, I got stuck eating chicken noodle soup from chik-fil-a. I made apple cinnamon crescents and ate several of those and did not get stuck. Go figure. These are yummy little treats that you can make as you wish with whatever you wish. I will have it in my recipe section. Who doesn't like a cresecent roll?

I have decided to go back for a fill after my work project is done next week so maybe the week after I will get that done. I feel it is time since my weight loss is at a standstill. Not up but not down either.

I need to keep moving forward and not be happy staying the same.