Good Days and Bad Days, today is a bad one!

23 days of liquid diet and mushy food have finally come to an end and I can eat some solid food.

I am not even excited :-( I am sitting here with my coffee... no, actually it is a cappuccino, because my coffee maker broke a couple of hours ago and ruined my Its-a-new-day-lets-make-it-a-happy-day-mood.

Yesterday I started to get some pain on top of the scar by the belly button. I assume my pants agitated the area through friction. It worried me and I put some Neosporin on it and do not think that it is an infection or anything. It is already getting better today and will not call my surgeon because I will see him on Tuesday anyway. The other incisions are completely healed, they look like normal little scars and so does the bigger one by the belly button except of that little sensitive spot. I should not worry about it... I am positive that it is nothing serious.

My scale is still not on my side.. it did not move in over a week even though I have not eaten more than 1000 calories and walked up some hills for at least 20 minutes on the Elliptical trainer on a daily basis. I cut back on the exercise because I felt that I overdid it the first couple of days and got so weak that I needed afternoon-naps afterward. It defeats the purpose. That's why I will work up my exercising regiment slowly... next week I will do 30 minutes, the week after 40 minutes and so on. Once I can handle an hour without exhausting attacks I will hire a personal trainer to bring it to the next level.

So what am I going to eat today? I have no idea... I am not hungry and I have no appetite..

I thought that a new pair of shoes would cheer me up, so I went to Nordstrom.com and ordered the pair of shoes that I have been eyeballing for the last week but unfortunately it did not make a difference in my mood. I already own the same pair in different colors and materials but the glossy one is by far my favorite... so I needed to have it. (Geox Euro 26)

I have no idea why I am feeling so down today... I am sitting in my office...staring out of the window, listen to Mary J. Blige, told everyone here that I do not want to be disturbed and feel that I should just call my girl friends, invite them for lunch, drive to the beach, sit outdoors, watch people, talk about anything and call it the weekend. Yes, I think beach would make me happy... but I do not know about lunch... I have not had any solid foods yet... and nobody knows about my surgery... I am worried that Your Highness will cause me problems and embarrasses me publicly.

Mushy, liquid-ish foods do not cause any problems but once I eat something that is on the dryer side I feel restrictions... Maybe I just order soup? Baeh... but I am so sick of soups?  But I guess I have no choice... beach and soup... or staring out of the window for the rest of the day?

I am off to the beach... hopefully it will turn my mood around.... Will check in with you later :-X

My first Mushy-Food-Day!

I read on Lapbandtalk.com that many people gain weight in the mushy food phase so I tried to find a balance between foods I like, that are rich in protein, low in carbs and do not make me my gain the 16.5 lbs back that I have lost on the liquid diet *knockonwood3times*

Breakfast

1 cup Greek Style low-fat yoghurt

1/2 peach

(pureed in the blender)

194 calories / 25 g protein / 18 g carbs (16.1 net carbs) / 3 g fat

Lunch

1 boiled egg

1 can White Albacore Tuna in Water

1/2 Avocado

Juice from 1/2 lemon

spices and herbs to my liking

(mixed and mashed everything with a fork)

373 calories / 40 g protein / 18 g carbs (1.5 g net carbs) / 21 g fat

Dinner

2 scrambled eggs

1/4 cup of part-skim mozzarella cheese

275 calories / 20 g protein / 3 g carbs (3 g net carbs) / 19 g fat

Total Intake: 842 calories / 85 g protein / 28 g carbs (20.6 net carbs) / 43 g fat

Exercise:

30 minutes on the Elliptical Trainer (634 calories)

30 minutes swimming (423 calories)

15 minutes Aqua-Gymnastics (130 calories)

20 minutes sun-tanning = priceless!

Intake: 842 calories

Burned: 1187 calories

The food was delicious...I put all the spices and herbs in it that I like and tried to turn it into something delicious. I started eating with little spoons and forks but ate Dinner with a regular fork and knife. I did not feel any restrictions, ate slowly and chewed everything. Breakfast was more liquid than mushy but delicious and so much better than protein shakes.

I did 30 minutes of cardio in the morning on the Elliptical Trainer, even before I had my coffee and breakfast and started swimming in the early afternoon after lunch and after I completed the most important parts of my work. I let the sun dry my body afterward and that was the most beautiful thing of the day.

I truly hope I am not gaining weight, I am very motivated, I feel great and very satisfied.

Good luck to all my followers and readers. The Tuna-Salad was super-delicious and avocado is so much better than mayo, will definitely make it again.

Will read and comment on your blogs tomorrow, want to make a tea for me and my husband now and watch a chick-flick (poor hubby)... Need something easy that takes my mind off work, weight loss, news and politics.

Thank you to all of you! You truly help me with your support, comments and your inspirational success-stories!

I did it :-)

It is 12:30 AM PST and I am officially in the mushy food stage... hold on a second... I need to dance around the computer for a moment... I am soooooo happy :-)

I am happy because I really stuck to the liquid diet for 16 days! I am proud of myself! I had some tough moments, especially when I cooked very delicious dinners for my husband, but I stayed strong and determined and did not even lick my fingers just to proof myself that I can do it. AND I DID IT!... sorry, need to dance around the computer again, brb ;-)

• I lost 16.5 lbs
• My feet and ankles got slimmer
• My face shows lines
• My ring finger got slimmer
• Two weight loss "holes" appeared right below my ribcage
• My teeth are whiter because the liquids gave me a constant urge to brush my theeth
• I am feeling great!!!

I had to share this with you before I go to sleep... and will probably dream of my first mushy meal that I will be having for breakfast :-)

Feeling like nothing ever happened!

9 days since surgery have passed and I am feeling really good, I have no pain, no discomfort, no restrictions.

I can feel my port which is a little weird because I expected it to be located much deeper. I guess I will get used to it and will not feel it after a while. My incisions are healing good. I am not hungry any more and have to force myself to drink enough liquids.

My first post surgery check-up is on Tuesday.

Today I was cleaning the house, I am still re-organizing my closet and I expect it to be completed within a couple of days. I did not even know that I have so many clothes in so many different sizes (1XL to 3XL)... I guess I do not need to buy anything for some time :-)

The most amazing thing that happened today was right after I took my shower... I can see that I am losing weight!!!!! Yes, I can see it!!! *hurrray* *jumparound* *smilefromeartoear*. Okay, I can only see it on my feet and in my face. It is fascinating.... my feet are looking less "heavy" and I can see facial lines (not wrinkles) in my face, that I have not seen in a very long time. It is sooo exciting. These are the little (for me big) things that really motivate me and that is the reason why really have to share it with you.

While cleaning the house I found empty glasses, mugs, cups, etc. all over and put them in the dishwasher. I had to laugh a lot because this dishwasher has never seen so many used drinking containers ever. So I had to take a picture... to remind my self of what a liquid diet looks like ;-)

Update - Houston, we DO NOT have a problem!

Called my surgeon's office and I do not need to worry :-)

I was told that everything should be okay and not to eat any jello until the solid food phase. I also asked about the bad dry heaves I had after surgery and throughout the first night. My stomach was all cramped up and it really wanted to vomit badly, but could not. She said not to worry about it neither, that it was caused by the anesthesia and as long as it disappeared all will be fine.

So I am relaxed now, will turn on some feeling-good-music and re-organize my closet.

Day 7 after Surgery Stats
Pain on a scale from 1 to 10: 1 (no pain at all)
Discomfort on a scale from 1 to 10: 2 (little discomfort in the port area)
Overall Feeling: Very Good and very happy!!!

Houston we have a problem

I was looking through my handwritten notes and found the list with all the things I am allowed to have during the post-op liquid phase. It specifically states that I can have Jello and that it counts as a clear liquid. So I took a raspberry jello (the only ones I like) out of the fridge and ate it very slowly with an espresso spoon.

After I had the 5th or 6th spoon of jello I immediately felt that something was not right. I felt pressure in the stomach area and that the jello was blocked from going down. I kind of panicked and decided to drink a hot tea and that it will hopefully turn the jello into liquid again. It took around 30 minutes and the pressure disappeared.

So I looked at the information again that the dietician sent me and it states specifically NO JELLO!!!

What did I do??? What was I thinking??? I am sooo upset.... I cannot believe I could be that stupid... and the Jello was certainly soooo not worth it. I do not even like Jello that much.... grrrrr

No idea how the Jello made it on my handwritten post-op liquid list, I only wrote down information that either the insurance nurse or my Surgeon or his staff gave me. Not blaming anyone but myself. Just hope I did not ruin anything.

Day 6 after Surgery Stats

Pain on a scale from 1 to 10: 1 (no pain at all)

Discomfort on a scale from 1 to 10: 2 (little discomfort in the port area)

Overall Feeling: Very Good (physically) but very upset and depressed because of the Jello!!!

Fighting Hunger

For the last two days I have been extremely hungry, even after the protein shakes and soups. Last night I could not fall asleep until 5 AM and thought a lot about hunger in the world, about wasting food, being considered morbidly obese while fellow human beings do not have anything to eat, starve day in and day out and tens of thousands die on a daily basis because of hunger.

It really saddened me, that while I was getting more and more overweight and eating rarely out of hunger I almost never thought about the human beings that simply do not have any food and are feeling real hunger on a daily basis.

So I came up with a plan.

For every pound I lose I will donate $10 to the World Food Programme.

This way I will feel even better about losing weight and can share my happiness with those that need food more than anything else.

Today I have donated my first $120 for the 12 lbs I have lost so far.

If you would like to join me with a donation >> click here <<

Every $ counts and will make difference in the fight against hunger.

• 1.02 billion people do not have enough to eat - more than the populations of USA, Canada and the European Union;
• The number of undernourished people in the world increased by 75 million in 2007 and 40 million in 2008, largely due to higher food prices;
• 907 million people in developing countries alone are hungry;
• Asia and the Pacific region is home to over half the world’s population and nearly two thirds of the world’s hungry peopl
• More than 60 percent of chronically hungry people are women;
• 65 percent of the world's hungry live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.
• Every six seconds a child dies because of hunger and related causes;
• More than 70 percent of the world's 146 million underweight children under age five years live in just 10 countries, with more than 50 per cent located in South Asia alone;
• 10.9 million children under five die in developing countries each year. Malnutrition and hunger-related diseases cause 60 percent of the deaths;
• The cost of undernutrition to national economic development is estimated at US$20-30 billion per annum
• One out of four children - roughly 146 million - in developing countries are underweight;

Source: http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats

Day 5 after Surgery Stats
Pain on a scale from 1 to 10: 1 (no pain)
Discomfort on a scale from 1 to 10: 4 (little discomfort in the port area, very hungry)
Overall Feeling: Good and happy!!!

I am recovering very well from Lap-Band Surgery.... took the pain medications and nausea medications this morning and have not needed any more since then.

My husband takes me for little walks, I have almost no gas pain and my incisions do not hurt at all. I had a very pleasant night, I was able to sleep on the side (my preferred position) and could get in and out of bed much easier than the nights before.

I had an Atkins Vanilla Shake for Breakfast... drank a cup of tea and followed it up with some Isopure. I do not know about other bandsters, but I have no restrictions at all, I can drink and it goes down easily, I can drink as much as I want and as fast as I want. No pain and no discomfort of any kind. I hope this is not a bad sign because I read on Lapbandtalk.com that most bandsters feel restrictions after surgery and can take in only limited amounts of liquid.

For lunch I had a Tomato Soup and also took my liquid vitamins.

I have no hunger, have to force myself to drink and "eat" but have a strong urge to brush my teeth constantly.

The only thing that worries me a little is the fact that I have not had a bowel movement since 2 days prior to surgery. It would make me feel so much better if I had one because I would know that "everything" is still working.