Day 27 (12th day of liquid diet)

OMGTWOMORE DAYS!!!!  I cannot wait to have real food in my mouth.  Even if it is pureed.  I'm already salivating just thinking about the egg salad, tuna salad, pudding, peanut butter, creamy soup, etc.  Although I'm a little nervous about getting it down, I can't wait to try.

I made an adjustment on my protein shakes.  I had gotten some protein mix from Complete Nutrition called Annex.  The only flavor I thought I could stand was Chocolate Malt.  Turns out, it was NOT good.  And I bought a HUGE tub of it.  So I was gonna gulp that crap down until it was gone.  But my friend Tricia reminded me of the peanut butter powder (PB2 - amazing!), so I started adding that in.  It made it taste SO much better.  So I realized that with the protein powder (22g), Mootopia milk (12g) and PB2 (5g), I was getting 36g of protein in each drink.  And I remembered the nutritionist saying your body could only absorb 20g of protein at one time.  So I was wasting 16g each time!!  I decided to only do 1/2 scoop of powder, 1 tbsp of PB2 and 1 cup of Mootopia, bringing it to 25.5g each drink.  It also cut back on calories a bit, so that helped.  I also cut out the cream of mushroom soup, sadly, because it had way too many carbs.  I'm going to miss it.  Which is sad, right?  I also realized how many carbs are in the NSA popsicles.  But that's on my eating plan, so I assume it's ok right now.  I was reading Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies last night and it said I should keep my carbs to 20-30 net grams per day.  But surely they mean after I start eating real food.  That's what I'm going with anyway.

7/23/13 Data:

Weight:  267.8
Exercise:  Walk with the boys.  Probably 10 minutes.
Food Diary:

Day 26 (11th day of liquid diet)

Monday here....back at work.  And I feel better than I have since the surgery.  I know they say it gets better every day, but it does, it really does.  I can't wait until I feel like myself again and I can do all my old stuff, like cleaning the house, doing the dishes, doing the laundry.....wait.  WHY exactly am I waiting for this?  Maybe I'll just take it easy for another week.  Or two.

The week before surgery, I went out to Steinmart and got myself a super-cute thermal cup for the tons and tons of water I'd be drinking, like this:

Super cute, right?  I wanted this because I hate when my drinks "sweat" and get water all over me when I drink it.  Well, when I got it home I realized you can't wash it in the dishwasher.  Seriously??  Who hand washes things nowadays?  Well, not me, that's for sure.  So I was really bummed.  Until.  

I got to the hospital and they gave me this pitcher: 

NOT very cute, right?  But it turns out, it works just as well.  Actually, probably better.  AND the best part?  You guessed it.  Dishwasher safe.  Heaven.

7/22/2013 Data:

Weight:  268.6 (22 pounds)
Exercise:  I'm going to try walking with Hunter tonight and see how it goes.  Although, just walking to and from my office from the parking garage takes at least 5 minutes each way.  And I did it round trip twice.  Plus I walked around Target for almost an hour.
Food Diary:

Day 25 - Things I haven't done.....(10th day of liquid diet)

As I laid in bed Sunday morning, I started thinking about all the things I haven't done in the past month or so....good and bad:

I haven't:

- had soda (diet or otherwise)
- had coffee (that was a BIG one)
- had sugar (I know I'm addicted to sugar, so this was huge, too)
- had starches (white rice, pasta, bread)
- had milk (if you knew how much I love cold, white milk, you'd be more impressed)
- had headaches (since the surgery...which is awesome!  used to have them every day)
- had foot/joint pain (just a few pounds can really make a difference)
- had hunger pains (this really shocked me)

I'm sure there's more and I'll add to this list as I think of them.

We went to the grocery store today and I actually drove for the first time since the day before surgery.  I did just fine, although I was exhausted after shopping with my children.  But that's an all-the-time thing.  I promptly went home and crawled into bed.  I did manage to oversee some room cleaning, dishwasher emptying and laundry washing.  My boys are really going to appreciate me more when this is all over.

7/21/2013 Data:

Weight:  270
Exercise:  Walking the grocery store for almost an hour.  That counts!
Food Diary:

Day 24 (9th day of liquid diet)

Had to take my puppy to the vet today for her shots. Tricia scheduled her dogs at the same time so we went together.  For some reason, just sitting in the exam room hurt so bad. I just couldn't get comfortable. Felt like my stitches were pulling no matter what. I'm really ready for that to be completely healed. Spent the rest of the day in bed. And for some reason all I can think about is food. I want to eat food SO bad. I'm not hungry so I know it's all in my head. And sometimes, for just a minute, I wish I could eat whatever I want.  And I think "why did I do this??". But then I remember that eating whatever I want is what got me to almost 300 pounds. And I don't ever want to go back to that. I did try something new today. I blended up some Progresso Tomato Basil soup. OMG it was so good. Maybe just because it was something new, I think. I must have drank it a little too fast because I got really full really quickly.  Lesson learned. I can't wait until Friday. I need to plan what I'll eat first. :)
7/20/13 Data:
Weight:  269.6 (21 pounds!!  Yay!!)
Exercise:  walked to the mailbox and Tricia's house
Food Diary:

First Vet Visit!!  Bella on the left, my Dixie on the right.

Day 23 - One week post-op (8th day of liquid diet)

Ugh.  That's about all I'm in the mood to say.  Just....ugh.  Second day back at work.  Just as tough as the first one.  I'm so, so, so tired I can barely stand it.  I'm about to prop my eyelids open with a toothpick.  I had read about how tired people were for awhile after surgery and, of course, I thought 'pish-posh, that won't happen to me'.  Well, folks, I was dead wrong!  I am exhausted and don't want to do anything but sleep.  Took another nap on the floor.  I would rather sleep than EAT and that's never happened before.  Also today....I hit the "I don't want to see another protein shake in my LIFE" point.  And that sucks because I have at least another week on liquids.  I'm going to lay down now.  Please don't wake me until tomorrow.  Late, preferably.  Ugh.

7/19/2013 Data:

Weight:  271.2 - I don't even have the energy to care that it's up from yesterday.
Exercise:  Yeah, right.
Diary:

Day 22 - First day back at work & 7th day of liquid diet

All I can say is, thank goodness I work with wonderful people.  Today was a little rough.  It hurts more than I thought to sit upright in a chair all day.  And I didn't realize that because I've been laying in bed every day for a week.  Everyone was really happy to see me, though, which was nice.  And I didn't have much going on today.  So I've had my heating pad across my belly for the majority of the day.  And at lunch time, I went into an empty office and took a nap.  ON THE FLOOR!!  And I didn't even care, I was so tired.  Now I'm just waiting on my husband to get here.....I just want to go home and go to bed.  The boys are staying at the grandparents tonight.  The A/C is still out and it's just easier to have them there.  I can't take another night with my youngest in the bed with us.

TGIF tomorrow!!!

7/18/13 Data:

Weight:  270.4 - down 20 pounds in 20 days!  awesome.
Exercise:  Not much today
Food Diary:

Day 21 (6th day of liquid diet)

Today was fairly uneventful. Just hot because the a/c is still not fixed. And depressing because I have to go back to work tomorrow. I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Still tired and pain in my belly when I do too much. I'm going to ride with my friend Lisa in the morning so I don't have to walk so far. I'm taking my heating pad and my pain meds because I suspect I'll need them both. At least they have working a/c!

7/17/13 Data:

Weight: 272
Exercise: meh
Diary: