Monday, June 18, 2012

So sick of the hot flashes

If the hot flashes must come can't the other part just leave? I am entering menopause or some stage or form of it. Each month a few days before my week of 'bliss' begins, I have severe hot flashes. The kind that lasts non stop and soaks me completely. Then as soon as I start, the hot flashes dissipate but are replaced by Earth shattering cramps. I mean labor-pain like cramps. That lasts a few days then over the next few days it all tapers off. To top it off I not only bloat I float the whole boat. Then if that wasn't bad enough my band is that much tighter, so the past few days has been nearly impossible to eat. Plain old applesauce gets stuck. Not the chunky applesauce either.

Every day something if not most things I eat end up coming back up because of sliming due to the excess tightness from my blissful week. This morning I ate soft scrambled egg with a wedge of laughing cow. I went to work and all along felt it just sitting there in my chest but didn't have sliming. I went to a meeting and came back to my desk and then it hit me. The sliming started and I got up to go down to the other end of the building almost to the bathroom. I barely made it in the stall before I lost it. It was over 2 hrs after I ate that it came back up.

One thing you should know is that I continue to try and eat when that happens. I don't want to be malnourished. Lunch time came around and I took the advice of another WLS blogger and went to Chick fil a and got a kids meal. The grilled chicken nugget meal with applesauce and chocolate milk. The nuggets were more like a thin grilled chicken breast that was ripped apart into 'nuggets'. I ate three of them with a little chick fil a sauce. I saved the applesauce and milk. Advice, go through the drive thru since then they don't look at you funny when you order a kids meal and you don't have a kid with you. Most places don't honor the lapband card to get a smaller portion or kids meal.

Dinner was a cup of meat chili with cheese and sour cream. I ate 3/4 of that and it was touch and go there for a while. I finally ate the applesauce and drank the milk.

That is the extent of my eating today. All in all it was a good day as I kept the majority of it down.

As I have said before, the app, calorie counter by fatsecret for Android, is AWESOME!! I keep track of my food effortlessly. Scanning the barcode is so convenient. The recipes are great. I am making Tandoori chicken this week. I really like the High Protein recipe collection. It gives me lots of ideas. It also has some protein shake recipes. Can't ask for more than that? I highly recommend it. To be able to enter my food online or on my phone and they sync up with each other is great. Coming from a person that gives up tracking food usually after a few days and now I have been tracking for nearly two weeks, it says something.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Same old, same old

My fill was last Thursday. A week later?? I have lost 5.5lbs. Yes I am happy about that but still cautious because it always starts out good and then fizzles out and the small weight loss comes back. Restriction? Yep it is still there for the most part. Oh there are some days that it seems a little more loose than others but for the most part it is holding its own. I am still rushing my food. I tend to bite off more than I can chew, literally.

I am limited on what I can eat right now. I have been eating the same foods I know I can eat but sometimes even those cause a problem. I have learned or actually realized because learned would mean I actually don't make that mistake any longer. I realized that if I wait until I am super hungry with hunger pangs and try to eat I do two things. I take too big of a bite and I barely chew. Food comes back up. Oh when will I learn?

My favorite that is so good is my roast beef roll ups. Private Selection Super thin deli roast beef (3), squirt a line of real mayo (.5 tsp) top with a super thin slice of boars head horseradish cheddar. Roll it up. YUM! I eat it with a knife and fork cutting tiny bites.

I don't eat many vegetables and when I get a recent fill I don't have room for anything other than the protein so I am now incorporating grated cauliflower in my ground beef. It literally disappears so it gives me a little veggie. Not much but a tid bit.

The app I downloaded for my android phone, Calorie Counter by Fatsecret, is awesome! It keeps track of my foods and weight and charts it. It has a really nice recipe section that has TONS of recipes including high protein recipes even categories based on certain diets. It is synced to the website so you can access it online or by your phone. I can track my weight and look back and see what I was eating when I lost weight versus what I was eating when I gained.

Found a BAD BAD treat that is really good. I debate telling you because you want to avoid it but it is soooo good. Do you like girl scout cookies? Well, Nestle Crunch has girl scout bars. Yep. They have peanut butter, chocolate mint and caramel & coconut. Yes they taste exactly like their counterparts. They have the limited time GS on them. There are two little bars in there so I have one and share the other or save it for another day.

What I need to work on for this week? Still need to work on pre-planning and portioning out my foods. I need to clean out my fridge and start cooking for the week for my meals that way when I cook the family's meals I can just pull out mine and heat it up. Easier said than done.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Day 2 post fill

Well, for some reason I thought I would wake up this morning and the restriction would be gone. You know, you get a fill and there is some swelling around the band and the next day the swelling goes down and voila you are no longer restricted. Not so today. So here is to day 2.

I am between mushies and solids today. I have Boars Head prosciutto panino (prosciutto rolled in mozzarella) and cut three slices for my meal. Yes really, that is all I can eat and that takes me about an hour. It has 7g of protein per slice so that is 21g in three little slices. I take a few bites then rest. I am focusing on going slow, slow, slower.

I also ate some chili last night and did well with it. Again a bite or two then rested till it went completely 'down'. Today I got skyline chili, no pasta. Taking my time and it is soupy but thickens up as it cools and the meat is so small that I don't get stuck yet it is filling.

Have you ever noticed how pre-band when you were full it felt like a rock was in the bottom of your stomach weighing it down but after the band, fullness feels like a rock sitting on the top part of your stomach and back filling into your throat. I literally can 'see'/feel where the stoma is just by the fullness feeling.

I spent yesterday getting reacquainted with my band because I kept trying to eat too fast, too big of a bite, big gulps of drink. All big no, no's. Today it is much slower. I am trying to think how I will incorporate that into my lunches during the work week. I only have an hour and if I go home that gives me less time to eat because of the driving time. If I stay at work and eat then I can't relax and people are there talking to me. I am still trying to figure out that one.

Now I have spent some time reading other's blogs and they are getting me back in the right frame of mind. Found some great recipes for cauliflower, thanks http://www.worldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/!
I also found some good apps on my android phone to track my foods. My favorite right now is Calorie Counter by fatsecret. I can track my food, exercise, weight and it includes recipes. I found some more great ones for cauliflower. For instance, did you know that you can grate cauliflower and it is similar to rice? My favorite foods include cabbage rolls but they are made with rice which gives me trouble. I found a recipe that uses grated cauli instead of the rice in the meat mixture. I am super excited to try this one.

Ok here is a dilemma. Tomorrow is yard sale day for the neighborhood. I have lots of big clothes. Do I put them in the yard sale? I actually feel embarrassed that I was that big and I don't want my neighbors to see exactly what sizes I wore, yeah I know they saw me big but it is different when they know your clothing size. At least it is in my mind. I am still debating this one. I mean what are the odds that someone that large will come to my yard sale? I have clothes from sizes 24-32 in pants and 2xl - 5xl in shirts. I even have a winter coat that is a 5x.

Well, tomorrow I am grilling rosemary ranch chicken kabobs for dinner. I may make a cauliflower dish too. I need to have backups in case the main dish is too much for my stoma to handle right now.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Time has not changed anything

And obviously a fill doesn't either. My last fill didn't do much of anything. I have lost 3 lbs since my last visit but that isn't much. I have spent more time trying to not gain weight or when I gain weight I spend my efforts trying to get off the few pounds I manage to put on. It is an up and down affair.

I went in today for a fill. I knew it was time. For the past few weeks I have been able to eat soft breads and buns. I am eating more than usual or actually more than I should. My food choices have been crap. I have been eating cheetos like mad.  My favorite food is the brisket burger from Famous Dave's. I was able to eat half of the patty if I was lucky but now I am able to eat the whole thing. I can go to Smashburger and get a cheeseburger and fried pickles and eat it all. I knew it was time. I still get stuck from time to time. The reason is stress or just eating or should I say scarfing down my food. I take huge bites and I don't chew them very much. BAD HABIT.  They put in a small amount in my band but I had to promise to eat small bites. I am supposed to eat mushies today. I am adhering to that. I drank some water and cappuccino without problem. No gurgling. So on to the food...

I stopped and got some chili and some potato soup from Backyard Burger. Yeah I know eating out again but this is low fat chili and easy to eat due to my fill today. I ate about 1/2 cup of the chili and that was pushing it. They usually tell me that I won't feel restriction for a few days possibly up to a week after. Nope, feeling it just fine right now. The question remains, will this restriction last and for how long??

So I need to make some drastic changes in my eating habits. I have lost sight of where I was. I am putting everything I worked for in jeopardy if I continue on this path. I cannot and will not eat out lunch any longer. I am done with it. I don't have a choice if I want to succeed. It may cost me a friendship but even riding with her is too much of a temptation for me. I would rather go home at lunch, even with my kids at home, rather than risk failing.

Some things I need to do are:
1. plan ahead
2. portion out my food
3. protein protein protein
4. avoid temptation
5. eat slowly and eat small bites

I think I want a bento box. It is portion control in a box. I really need help but it is pricey.

I have been reading a blog by a fellow WLS person who has fabulous ideas and great advice. I am reading up on everything that I have been missing. She is awesome!! Visit her site and follow her. http://www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/