10 weeks post op

Weight: 263
Average calorie intake: Still not keeping track
Average exercise: using the treadmill from 15 to 30 minutes a day (3 to 3.5mph and 2 to 7% incline)
Weight loss in last 2 weeks: 7lbs
Total weight loss: 57lbs in 10 weeks

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. I had family in town and my present to them was 4 days of the best food I could prepare. Rack of lamb, a shrimp boil, duck, a chicken wrapped pork wellington and even biscuits and gravy.

Through all of it I was able to have my couple of bites and stop. I did finally reach the point of disappointment though, having all that great food on the table and totally unable to enjoy more made me just a little envious but knowing I was half way to my goal made things a LOT easier.

I don’t feel that sick to my stomach feeling as much these days and I have really learned to just have a couple of bites of something and not always try to eat my 4 ounces. I found that stringy meats are not good to eat, I made a beef brisket that just did not feel good after eating it but the rack of lamb was easy to eat. It helps to take small bites of medium rare meat and chew well.

I have also noticed that ice cream and sorbet goes down well. I made a cinnamon pumpkin pie ice cream to go with an apple crisp and it was a great treat. Fruit smoothies are easy to eat as well and God knows I can use the fiber. I also found that I can eat FiberPlus cereal for breakfast every day to get more fiber and even having milk with it does not hurt my stomach.

I have stepped up the exercise and started using the treadmill every day now and I can really feel the difference the weight loss has made. I am doing 15 to 30 minutes a day and even did some jogging. I usually do about 3.5mph and 3% incline but I get up to 7% and even make 5mph in a fast jog. I am confident that continued use will help get over these no loss days I tend to hit.

I also can see some of the saggy skin that I have been hoping would not show up. Under my arms, and around my chest and even my legs seem to be the worst places. I have bumped up my protein intake (I have been slacking there) and I hope it will help. Otherwise I may have to consider a frickin body lift after I lose another 50lbs.

To people considering the surgery, I can tell you that it is a great tool for me. I made the decision prior to my surgery that I would no longer live to eat and that food would just be something I USED to enjoy. I am very fortunate that I enjoy cooking for other reasons than eating. This is a life changing event: one that tests your patients as well as your will power. It often makes me feel like shit but I know I am headed in the right direction. The choice to have it done is your own and don’t do it for anyone else but yourself.

I hope to see everyone on the other side of 60lbs next week.

2 Months post-op

Weight 270
Average daily calorie intake: still no idea but not much
Average exercise: occasional walking and 4hrs of kitchen duty a day
Weight loss in last week: 5lbs
Total weight loss: 50lbs in 8 weeks

This has been an interesting week (and not in a good way). Last Saturday I spent the day with some type of intestinal bug that dehydrated me badly. Then over the first part of the week I hit a plateau and then dropped a little more yesterday but over all I am down 5 from last Friday and have reached the big 50# mark.

I don’t think I have seen this weight in 20 years and at this weight there are a few other things I have not seen in 20 years……. No, my feet get your mind out of the gutter! But you know things
always grow better when they are not kept in the shade.

Today also happens to be my LAST day at Le Cordon Bleu. I have finished my classes and now just have to do a 12 week externship (work and get graded for it) before they will have me a diploma. I have gotten the bar I used to work at to allow me to do it there. They are accommodating when it comes to working around my other full time work so this should work out at least for the next 12 weeks. I start Sunday morning back to making biscuits
and gravy for all my stripper friends.

I am looking forward to having some free time to be able to start some type of workout plan. I am starting to see a lot of areas that need toning to minimize the need for removing excess skin.
You know they always end up using cadaver skin for burn victims. Why don’t they work out something to use our (recent weight loss patients) skin instead? Just pay for the procedure and I will give you mine! I can see it now, “The National Bank of Excess Skin” I am not just
the president but I am a member too……

I still can’t eat anything without feeling like puking, small price to pay I guess. I just had a beer battered Tilapia and after 3 bites just could not handle any more. The best way to eat seems to be
ask a friend to lunch (Dave) by telling they you will buy them lunch if you can eat off their plate. At least I got value out of that meal. Ninety percent of the fish I just paid $10 for got trashed afterward.

Next week most of my family is headed to my place for Christmas. So far I am planning dinners like duck a l’orange and rack of lamb and I will eat my fill with a taste of this and a taste of that making sure everything is done just right. It sucks to be related to me. We never eat
anything good.

So until next week, here’s watching you eat.

Seven weeks Post Op

Weight 275
Average daily calorie intake: still no idea but not much
Average exercise: occasional walking and 4hrs of kitchen duty a day
Weight loss in last week: 3.6lbs
Total weight loss: 45lbs in 7 weeks

Well this week started out flat. I was not losing anything in
fact I gained a couple of pounds but by the end of the week I was back to
loosing.

I would have posted yesterday but I picked up some type of
intestinal bug that really laid me out for the day. I missed work and class but
today (Saturday) I am feeling much better.

This morning I tried something new for breakfast. In the past I had eaten Fiber Plus cereal to up my daily fiber intake but after the operation I was reluctant to try it because of the milk added to it but I had a half of a cup of cereal with milk and had no problems. This is great because that is the one thing you just don’t get is fiber.

My problem with over eating seem to be fading, I simply don’t eat more than a couple of bites of something. I also don’t seem to have the issues related to carbonated drinks as bad as I was told to expect. Root beer seems to be the worst one to drink. Ginger Ale, 7-up and even sparkling wine
seem to be ok in moderation.

Not much more to report this week. Finals for Le Cordon Bleu are next week and then I will be working at the old bar I used to work “The Hammer” on occasion for my externship. This should really free me up to start my exercising.

Have a good week

Six weeks Post Op

Weight 279.4
Average daily calorie intake: still no idea but not much
Average exercise: occasional walking and 4hrs of kitchen duty a day
Weight loss in last 2 weeks: 6.6lbs (out of town last week)
Total weight loss: 40.4lbs in 6 weeks

I managed to make it through thanksgiving without over eating. In fact I had two bites of
turkey, one bite of sweet potato and one green bean and I am NOT exaggerating.

I had my five week doctors follow up this week and he said things were looking good. I asked
about the nausea I seem to feel these days when it comes time to eat and he said it was not unusual and that patients who felt this usually got over the feeling in the first 4 to 5 months after surgery. He also said that the 2 or 3 ounces of food capacity I have will likely expand to 5 or so ounces in the future, He also said that my weight progress was good.

The best part is that I stopped taking my blood pressure meds a couple of weeks ago and when checked at the doctors I was 135/63, yippee!

The last couple of days I really have been feeling nauseous though. It is a pretty crappy feeling. It is kind of like being on the edge of being sick without really being sick; we’ll call it pre-puke sick….. and it just stays there on the edge. I say get sick or get over it damn it!

Interestingly, I do not feel a lack of energy. I am not getting tired at work (bored maybe) and I breeze right through class at night (2 more weeks of culinary classes people!). I have decided that because I will have a significant bock of time become free in two weeks I will start a daily regimen of exercise which will include 6 days of tread mill and 3 days in the apartment workout room. I am starting to see the excess skin and need to really concentrate on firming up. This should also
help drop a few more pounds the right way.

Have a good
week everyone.

1 Month Post Op

Weight 286 (as of last Friday)
Average daily calorie intake: no idea
Average exercise: Still waiting tables and walking at lunch
Weight loss this week: 6.4lbs
Total weight loss: 34lbs in 1 month

End of my first month…. I am feeling good about the weight loss. I am down 34lbs and I can really feel if just walking around and I lovethe way my clothes are starting to really get loose. I apologize for the late posting. Last Friday was a little hectic and I fly out tonight for Thanksgiving
weekend.

My only issues have been the feeling I get when I eat. It has become something I just don’t like to do really. The feeling many times is a little nausea at the thought of eating. I will get a few bits down and just can’t bring myself to eat more. I am trying to keep the protein up but I have been out and about all week as my company decided (for monetary reasons) to have everyone take the week off (unpaid). I am not sure what if anything I have accomplished during the last 2 days off but it has been a nice break.

I did go by the bar I used to work at and they said I could do my externship there for Le Cordon Bleu so I will be putting in a few hours a week there starting mid-December. My morning coffee still seems to be the one thing I really enjoy, although I have found that I can drink sparkling wine (slowly) without issue.

The holidays will be filled with cooking I am sure but I have no reason to think I will do much over eating. I’ll tell you what; this surgery is one hell of a tool for weight loss. I can deal with the side effects. I really don’t have much to add for the week.

I hope everyone has a great holiday.

End of week 3 Post Op

Weight 292.4
Average daily calorie intake: around 650
Average exercise: none (school has me waiting tables 5 hrs a night now no time except weekends)
Weight loss this week: 4.2lbsTotal
Total weight loss: 27.6lbs in 21 days

I am three weeks into my new eating lift style. I have learned that when they tell you NOT to drink ANYTHING 20minutes before eating, NO drinking with meal and NO drinking 30 minutes after meal it is not a joke.

The fluid that would normally go through seems to be stuck with the food and increases the volume exponentially. If I do it correctly, I can eat 1/2 of a fillet o fish sandwich. If I mess up and eat too soon after drinking anything, 2 oz. can top the tank and just want to make you .... well you get the idea.

Last week I had 3 days of no weight loss; followed by a weekend of camping (and drinking) so I was afraid I would have a disappointing week but still managed to hit my 4lbs average. However, I did find that alcohol and it’s befits seem to be totally wasted on my now. The weight loss center warned that alcohol consumption might lead to faster intoxication as well as a stagnation of weight loss. I found neither to be true. In fact, the effects of the alcohol was nearly unnoticeable except for the fact that when I ate food I bloated like an over filled father’s day mylar balloon.

(NOTE TO SELF: self, don’t waste your money buying alcohol anymore).

The holidays are approaching and I feel confident that the will come and go without a mental collapse regarding food. I now seem to be able to eat anything I want as long as I follow the liquid rules and keep my portions to about ½ cup or less at a time and make most everything I eat a protein.

Confession: I had a tablespoon (literally) of ice cream last night, wow what a treat… but I was satisfied.

2 Week check in:

Here are my totals 2 weeks post-op:

Weight 296.6
Average daily calorie intake: around 800
Average exercise: 30 min walking (every couple of days)
Weight loss this week: 4.0lbs
Total weight loss: 23.4lbs in 14 days

Well I have had good days and not so good days trying to find out what constitutes a meal for me. Because I have pushed my rehab I have been eating soft foods for most of the last week and finding that some things a best left alone or at least limited to just a couple of bites.

I had Chinese shrimp dumplings (3 of a typical order of 10)and some broth last Friday night and really got a good lesson in what not to combine. The dumplings began to dissolve and expand in my MUCH smaller stomach due to the amount of broth I had consumed with the dumplings. The outcome was less than stellar. I felt like a diet cock bottle in to which someone had just put a Mentos candy. If you are unfamiliar with the reaction check it out on YouTube. I manage to keep a lid on this reaction (for the most part) but really paid the price.

The second time this happened was eating fish tacos (fish being breaded) and drinking water with it; again, not a good outcome. I also found that my 4oz stomach was quite a bit smaller in volume than expected. I am finding that 2 or 2 ½ oz at a time of solid food seems to do well. It could simply be from residual swelling but the fact remains that I am eating LESS than 4oz at a time. It is also important to note that drinking with or immediately after and meal is bad juju.

I was out of class on Monday, Tuesday the other half of the class did their practical, Wednesday I did my practical and Friday was end of block clean up and written final so I really only had to eat at school for one night. However, that one night I was given a rack of lamb and a cart full of starch and vegies and came up with: a roasted Rack of Lamb split on to 4 identical plates with a country style roasted potatoes, red and yellow bell peppers and mushrooms served with a mint infused apple juice glaze and garnished with a birds nest of fried onions all in an hour…… Damn I am good…..

YES, I ate 3 bites of lamb with sauce, no water and I did fine.

When I got home (an hour later) I even did a little desert which 2oz was orange jello I had made last week using Sunny Delight instead of water then froze into a sorbet because it would not jell well with just OJ.

Overall it has been a good week with a steep learning curve. Coffee and stool softeners are still my good friends and I have high hopes of breaking 290# by thanksgiving.

I am going camping for the weekend, wish me luck…

7 Days Post Op

The week has finally ended and I wanted to bring everyone up to date by adding to where I left off Monday at the creation of this Blog.

Weight 300.6
Average daily calorie intake: around 900
Average excersize: 30 min walking
Total weight loss: 19.4lbs in 7 days

I will spare you the tedious diet and sup it up by saying that I am living off of protien shakes and protien shots. My extravegances are my morning coffee and the occational pusing of the "pureed food" groups while trying to get enough liquids in me to stay off dehydration. I am also taking a multivitimin and a good old stool softener until I can get some fiber into my diet.

I had to make one pork and one beef dish the other night at school using grass feed products and of course I had to see if I could notice the difference in that and corn feed. I am not sure if the difference was the grass fed, the fact that I am a crazy good cook or that I had not had anything substancial for 5 days but damn it was good.

I had a cube of steak (grilled to a perfect medium rear with just salt and pepper) that was about 1/4" and about 5 of the same size bites of pork cutlet (standard breading with panko at the end and sauteed over a mushroom sauce) that was done to perfection. I made sure to chew the food until you could have sucked it through a cocktail straw and only had a little irritation with it. The 1 or 2 minutes after swallowing seem to be the most issue I have with anything and that is more of a discomfort than anything to worry about.

Those of you who already know me also know that I am not one for following recuperative orders very well. I have broken screws in my leg to prove that.

OK, so I am occasionally pushing the bonds of good judgment but I am doing it responsibly and having no problems with loosing (vomiting) my efforts. trying to stay with soups I took a pizza sauce that was made in class and made it into a cream of tomato soup that came out rather good.

I have also picked up a GREAT deal on a top of the line treadmill and walking about :30 a day. No, I did not lift it myself (doctors orders) I used my favorite exterior muscle power Dave and Judd, thanks guys.

I seem to find more and more people know others close to them who have had some type of gastric procedure. It is a wonderful tool that CAN (not will) help force you into a more healthy way of eating. I would say this would be very hard for people who crave certain foods. If you are addicted to daily doses of ice cream, this is going to be VERY hard on you.

Over the last couple of months I really tried to analyze how, what and how much I was eating. The conclusion was that I was eating much more than I really needed or even wanted. I ate it because in was there. Even if I made it myself; the question became; Well when will I have the chance to make this again? The first few bites where great but then I ate it mindlessly. I hope the way I raised my kids will help them; I allow them to eat when they where hungry, I tried to expose them to all types of food, I TRIED to minimize their fast food intake, and I tried to teach them something about cooking. I wish that I had know as much about cooking 15 years ago as I do now so I could have done better at that.

Bottom line for the week..... I am feeling pretty good, very few issues, I get hungry but when a 1/2 cup of jello can actually satisfy those hungers, I am learning my limits. Here is to another week of
soups and jello. This next week is finals week and will only have to cook a rack of lamb with a vegetable and starch in class, lamb is a puree, right?

From now on I will simply give you a week by week Blog entry on Fridays.

Happy Halloween everyone.

4 days post op

I tried to start this blog a couple of days ago with no luck but all you missed was liquid and 13lbs. Yes, since last Thursday I have lost 13 pounds. It feels really good to get into that shirt that has been hanging in the closet for the last 3 years just waiting for a sugnificant weight loss.

Back story:

Thursday, Ocober 20th, 2011 I went in for the Gastric Sleeve proceedure performed by Dr. James Akenson here in Las Vegas at North Vista Hospital. My out of pocket costs with good insurance was $550.00

Day of surgery (10/20/11):
Weight: 320 pounds
Height: 5'11"
BMI: 43


I was pretty drugged up until about 10pm Friday night but by then I was taking water and walking laps around the hosital wing. I did about 30 laps by the time I was checked out around noon on Friday and ended up going to a friends first opening with their food trailer. No, I did not get to eat but I was there for moral support.

Saturday (10/22/11)
Weight: 313 pounds

I kept mostly to liquids like Ensure Protein Shakes and I found ISOPure punch drinks at GNC that had 40g of protein.

I also tried making my Cream of Carrot soup and messed it up by adding Whey Protein while it was still too hot. I looked like scrambled eggs in cheese cauce and did not taste very good.

Sunday (10/23/11)
Weight: 309 pounds
Went to meet friends for breakfast and had a poached egg along with my Ensure. I had a Protein Energy Shot (2.5oz of punch flavored juice and 26g of Protein) for lunch and made Vegitarian French Onion Soup (vegitable broth instead of beef broth) for dinner.

Monday (10/24/11)
Weight: 307 pounds
I started filling out my Calory King program to really track this. By the time I got off from work and headed to my colinary classes I had had the following:
1 Ensure
2 cups of coffee with sweetner and coffeemate
1/2 bottle of ISOPure
1 Protein Shot
and walked for 15 minutes durng lunch time

By 5pm I was at 357 calories, 4.1g of fat, 3.0g of fiber, 424mg of sodium, 38.5g of carbs and 71.6g of protein.

My daily goals are:
90g of carbs, 105g of protein, 1,200 calories, 30g of fiber and 1,500mg of sodium