03/03: Week 20

I was busy so I was not able to post anything on Sunday so here it goes.

I saw my doctor on Friday and am official down to 211 lbs.  I am no longer taking any diabetic pills and the nutritionist said I no longer have any dietary restrictions (unless its unhealthy food).

I am doing well but my back hurts more due to the fact that it is harder to sleep certain ways and I keep falling asleep on the couch.  I cannot sleep on my stomach because I lost a lot of weight and the bone on my middle chest is sticking out.  Before the surgery, they said I should expect that to happen and my bones will resettle with time.    Hopefully this will happen.

I am also experiencing stomach pain.  There is no blockage in my system according to my doctor.  He said a pain that comes and goes is probably a cramp and I should avoid any dairy.  I am going to test that out but I also noticed it occurs after I take medicine capsules that are not chewable.  I will also try to eliminate that as a cause next week.

Overall I feel healthy, have more energy, and am able to walk a block without being out of breathe.

The one issue I am having is that I am now less resilient to cold thanks to not having as much excess fat and of coarse the loose skin which anyone with significant weight loss expects.

2/20: Week 18

I was on vacation for 2 weeks and thus have not updated my blog in 4 weeks.  

My weight is currently 212 lbs.  I was stuck at 230 for a while but have been able to work my way down to 212.  I am still 20-30 lbs away from my target weight which my doctor says I should achieve 6 months from surgery.

My nutritionist who is not very helpful sent me a mail that I should be on a normal "healthy" diet now.  Even though I can eat most foods I still have to chew very well and eat slowly or I get sick. 

I got sick on the plane ride back because my seatbelt was constricting my stomache after eating a snack. 

My diet is still pretty consistent except I am excercising more and eating a little bit more (since I was on vacation).

1/22: Week 14

I am down to 230 lbs.  My doctor said you are suppose to lose between 100-120 lbs after 6 months.   My doctor said my goal is to lose 40 lbs for the next 3 months.  I hope I can reach that goal but it will be harder than earlier.  I guess you should try to lose as much weight as possible in the beginning as it takes longer over time.

Though weight loss is slower and harder now I am more energetic which is great.  The good / bad news is that with so much weight loss and my daily exercise my blood  sugar has gotten so low I get to cut my meds in 1/2.  I also had low blood pressure so no need to take lipitor anymore.

I am also able to eat more things but am still keeping my diet.

1/8: Week 12 - Start of 2012

This week I was hovering around 232-235 all week, but though I did not lose any weight as I finished the week at 235, I was able to go to the next stage of eating.

My stomache seems to have healed enough so that I can eat more types of food.  This is a good and bad thing as your weight is determined mostly by what you eat not exercise.   It was easier to not eat much when you could not eat as much because you would feel sick.  Now I feel I can eat more things I just need to make sure I do not go back to my old habits.

I need to keep walking 1-2 hours a day or better yet do more strenuous exercise and continue eating only 800-900 calories a day.   It is amazing how many calories just one little meal can have if you eat out.  Good thing that even though I can eat more things, I can only eat small portions.

My blood sugar is lower than it has been in years which is also great.

1/1: Week 11 (HAPPY NEW YEAR!)

So I have not lost as much as my doctor hoped.  I am currently at 235 lbs.  I need to lose a lot more than that to hit his target of losing 45 lbs in 6 weeks.  Everyone loses weight at different rates.  I guess mine is not super aggressive as my doctor hoped.  He even said it was an aggressive target but it was achievable.  As I wrote before, I have had lot of days where I just don't lose any weight. 

To help kick start my weight loss, I try to eat different things and do other types of exercise.  I normally just walk for 1 hr and some times lift weights and do stretching exercises.  I lost the most weight over a 3 day period when I ate stuff I was not suppose to but in very small bits.  I think I took a bit of one chocolate, one piece of french fries, and other random things.  I ended up feeling sick the next day but for some reason i lost a lot of weight. 

I still cannot eat things that are fried and dry or anything that is burn.  The dry food makes me feel very sick.  I can eat some things like chicken, fish, etc...  The main thing I need to remember is I need to take very small bites and take my time eating.  Before the surgery, I normally ate full meals in 10 minutes.  I need to eat over 30-1 hr and take smaller bites.  When I do that I do not feel bad eating drier foods.  Most foods do not seem to be an issue.  I even ate some teriyaki beef and onions just fine.

I feel the healthiest I have been in years.  My waist size was a 46 before, but now i can weir my old pants from before I moved here which is a size 44.  The size 44 pants are actually too large, but I do not want to buy new pants until I hit a more permanent plateau.

New Years Resolution is to keep at it. 

• Weight Before Graves Disease diagnosed (280 lbs) - 3 years ago
• Weight at Peak after Thyroid Removed (330 lbs) - 1/2 years ago
• Weight after eating habits and Thyroid under control (320 lbs) - this year
• Weight after pre-op diet (294 lbs) - October 10th 2011
• Weight today (235 lbs) January 1st 2012!
• 60 lbs in 3 months is pretty good and 95 lbs over 1 year is good.

12/18: Week 9

Its been 2 weeks since my last post and that is because I am struggling to lose weight right now while trying to eat more food.

Based on my experiments, I can eat the following:

• Any Soup (no Noodles)
• Chicken if its very very moist (ie 3 peices and no things like chicken tenders)
• Fish NOT GRILLED (the grilled texture makes me feel super sick)
• Jello, Pudding, and Other Soft Food

I am suppose to eat Pork but I have not been able to try yet.

It has been raining and cold so I have not been able to be as active as I want to and work has gotten supper busy.  Because of work, I have not been sleeping much which is probably contributing to the fact that I have not loss weight.  I have been flat for 2 weeks!  2 WEEKS!

If I don't lose weight soon I'll go ask my doctor and the patient advocate at the hospital for advice.  Do you have any have any advice?

12/04: Week 7

Saw the doctor for my 6 week follow-up.  I learned something super interesting. 

• First, I SHOULD be losing weight every few days.  If my weight does not drop in a couple days, I am suppose to eat 200 more calories a day.  So, this week I was stuck at 255.  I ate 200 more calories a day and was not able to exercise because of the rain.  But I  lost 5 lbs! in 2 days.  I'm currently at 250.  Last night I lost 2 lbs...  I guess your body does adapt.   
• Second, the 3 month aggressive goal of gastric bypass surgery is 90 lbs.  I'm short 35 lbs so I have 6 weeks to lose 35 lbs.  I've lost 5 lbs and now just need to lose 30 lb in 5 and a 1/2 weeks.  Hopefully, I'll make my weight goals!  He said it was aggressive but I should have been closer to that mark if my weight wasn't stuck at 270 for 1 1/2 weeks and 255 for 1 week.
• If you are doing a normal low calorie diet, you should apply this method.  Whenever you plateau eat 200 more calories a day for 3-4 days until your weight loss continues then drop back down to what you were eating before.  Right now I am eating 800 calories or less a day.  This consist of the following:
• 1 Protien Milk Shake for Breakfast (w/ bariatric advantage protien powder) 340 calories and 54 grams of protien
• 1 Cup of soup (90-140 calories) for lunch and 1 for dinner
• 1 Nectar protein drink 100 calories and 24 grams of protien
• 2 bottles of water

Hopefully, I can make it down to 200 lbs.  I am at 250 right now down from 312 when I first saw my surgeon.  I was at 330 the prior year.