Guilty as charged!

This post is a little late (considering the incident happened on the 17th!), but better late than never!  Let me start off by saying that this journey through weight loss surgery has been rough at times.  By rough, I don't mean the, this "diet" is too hard so I will cheat a day type of rough.  I mean, changing your entire life, the way you think about food, and getting something literally stuck and having to puke rough. 

Yes, I did say puke!  Because that is what happened to me on the 17th!  You are told straight up that it can and will happen.  Then you go about your daily life thinking, "Not me.  I'm going to be so good and follow the rules so well that I will be fine." (Insert hockey goal horn here) WRONG! Friday morning a friend had surgery and I was trying to get her prescription filled quickly so I could get it back to her.  I decided to get something to eat because I was starving.  Well, I wasn't paying a bit of attention and started eating like I would have before my surgery.  It wasn't until about the 4th bite that I started to notice a horrific pain in my chest.  Then I noticed that I could literally feel the food in my throat.  It took about 5 minutes for me to get it all back up and, let me tell you, it was the most horrible experience I have EVER had.  I've never had a heart attack, but that is what I equated the pain to.  Needless to say, I have learned my lesson.  Since then I have slowed down and really tried to watch what I eat. 

As a result of that and Support group the other night, I have decided to challenge myself to keep up with the 60g of protein requirement this week.  In order to do that, starting yesterday I have been taking pictures of breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the calories and protein content and posting them to facebook.  It is a bit of an interactive food journal for me.  Yesterday it kept me honest and I didn't try to cheat by not eating as much protein.  It's kind of one of those things of "I told my friends I am having this, so I have to!".  Plus, I think it is neat to show people what I am eating and how much is an actual serving for me. 

Also, as of last week, I am down 22 pound!  I have also finished week 3 of the Couch to 5K!  excited about that!  Hopefully it will stop raining today so I can start on week 4!  I am thinking about registering for a 5K on August 13th, but I'm not sure yet.  I was going to wait until after this week to see how it goes.  If I have to repeat too many weeks, I won't be ready for it.  We will see.  Here are a few pics that I have posted of the food!

Turkey sausage and 2 scrambled eggs 300c/25P

Pita with turkey, roast beef, and Colby jack cheese slice, light mayo, and mustard. With ranch cucumbers. 196.2c/21.17p made it past 60g of protein for the day!!!!

Things I've noticed and other news...

It has been almost 5 weeks since my surgery.  Over that time, there are things that I have started to notice.  Some of them bother me and some of them I am alright with.  These things are:

- I have not bitten my fingernails once since my surgery date.  They are actually growing!

- Some friends do not understand why I had my surgery and it appears that a few of them could care less to try to understand.  Thank you to those of you who are trying to understand.

- The food police are everywhere!

- I feel better, healthier.

- I am still obsessed with stepping on the scale every day!

- My life still revolves around food, but in a much better way.

- I feel like I am actually accomplishing something with my new running/walking program.

- A lot of family and friends have told me that they notice my 20 pound weight loss (19 according to my Dr's scale. I like my scale better!) just by looking at me, but I can't see it yet.

- This process is even harder than I thought it was going to be.  I mean, I knew it was going to be hard, but I think it's harder.

Now, on to other news.  Monday I got my first fill in my band.  By special request, I am going to explain that.  It seems that I haven't been as good at that as I had thought!  You see, when the band was first put in, it wasn't filled at all.  If you want to know what the band looks like, go here.  They do this because of the swelling that happens from the initial placement of the band around the stomach.  Typically you go to the dr 4-6 weeks after your surgery for your first fill.  A fill means that the dr will take a needle and stick it into the port, which is just under the skin (mine is just above my belly button), and will fill the band with a small amount of saline solution.  This is what helps you to feel full quicker and for a longer period of time.  Depending on the person, you can have between 4-6 fills before you are at the point that works best for you.  I have also been told that a lot of people can't tell that big of a difference with their first fill.  Which, so far, has been my case.  We will see as I start progressing to ground beef and chicken.  That is this coming week!  Yay!  next fill is July 25th! 

Oh!  I finally got my salad and it was great!!!!  Yum!  I also made it through week one of the C25K program!  Week 2 started Monday.  Let me tell you, this fat soon to be skinny girl can barely run for 90 seconds at a time!  That is pitiful!  But, I am pushing through it.  We will see what tomorrow brings with day 2 of week 2. 

Week Three and a new start

So, I am three weeks (almost 4) post surgery and I feel good.  I am starting to eat real food again (Fish, seafood, pitas, low carb wraps, thinly shaved lunch meat, etc..) and it is going well.  I get my first fill in a few weeks and I have to tell you that I can't wait!  I am excited about seeing how it changes my weight, how I feel about myself, and my ability to exercise even more.  I am also a bit worried about whether it will change the things that I have already gotten to start eating again.  I know that I still have a lot to work on with the chewing food up and not drinking while eating.  (or for an hour after!)  That, I have to say, is the hardest part.  I honestly don't miss soda that much, but getting used to not drinking while eating is hard!  Very hard.  I catch myself reaching for my water all of the time when I am eating. 

By week 6 I will get to start incorporating ground beef again.  I can't tell you how happy about this I will be.  I want a burger SO bad it's not even funny. There is only one thing I want more than that.  A good salad!  I have no idea when I can start having that.  I think week 5, but I will check with the nutritionist.  I know, who wants a salad over a burger?!  hehe  I am so weird.

I am supposed to workout for 30 minutes at least 4 times a week.  I have not been able to do this previously, but I started getting into it today.  My little Mouse started preschool this morning. :( *tears* She is going two days a week so I thought that this would be the perfect time to start something new.  So, I started the Couch to 5K running program this morning.  I made it through without stopping, but I wanted to so bad!  I know that this week is only 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes, but for me, that is VERY tough!  And I am very slow with the running.  The C25K site calls me a penguin because of my waddle/run! hehe  Though, I made it through 1.2 miles of running/walking today.  I never thought that I could do that before.  So, in celebration, I added two new tickers!  Yay!  I am down 18 pounds!  SO excited.  We will see what the next few weeks bring with this new exercise stuff.