A Case of the Mondays

I don’t really have a case of the Mondays, but I just liked giving my blog that title!
My weekend was quite lazy and boring, but I think I’ve needed one of those weekends for quite some time.
I hopped on my best friend and worst enemy - the scale! - this morning, and I was at 216.6. So it budged a little! Just 7 more pounds and I’ll be at 100 pounds lost! Then, my next goal will to be in the 100’s!! Wow, I haven’t seen the 100’s since my very early 20s..
Has anyone started losing their hair yet? Mine is coming out like crazy! I can’t tell when I look in the mirror yet, but OH MY, I sure can tell when I shower, or look at my clothes. I have a pet lint brush at work to get all the hair off my clothes. I ran my fingers through my hair, and probably 20 strands came out! I’m ready for this part to end.. QUICKLY! I have thin/fine hair as it is, so this scares me!
If I ever remember, I’ll post some before/so far pictures. They can’t be called before/after just yet!
Hope everyone is having a great day!

To Kim Hawkins

I can’t even comment on your blogs while at work anymore because the image verification is blocked… GRR!!I wish you luck on your interview and hope you are feeling better!

Momentary Lapse of Reason?

As in a previous post, I’ve noted that I’ve been weird lately.. Well, I’ve always been weird, but extra weird I guess.. haha I realized this morning that I didn’t weigh myself at all yesterday. And today, I didn’t weigh first thing after I woke up like I usually do.. I realized that I didn’t weigh myself after I was clothed, so I went ahead and weighed with my clothes.. Maybe I’ve finally unclenched and am loosening up a little bit? Hmm.. I highly doubt that. I guess this little funk I’m in just has me caring about nothing. It may be a good thing for me actually. Losing a little bit of my obsessiveness can be a good thing.My blogging friends haven’t been blogging as much lately.. What’s going on everyone?If I care enough this weekend to put some makeup on, maybe I’ll post some recent pics!Ok… I’ll touch base soon.. xoxox to all!

Ugh!

I’ve been weird the past few days. I have absolutely NO interest in food, people are getting on my nerves easily, and I’m just over all grumpy. No, it’s not PMS. Has anyone else gone through this?
I’m forcing myself to eat just b/c I know I need to get my protein in… But if I didn’t need that, I probably wouldn’t have had anything in the past 2 days. I hate getting irritable.. I’m usually such a happy person.. Maybe I just need to take more naps! haha

Hoppy Easter

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! I had a very lazy day yesterday… it was actually quite nice! :) My sister and her family came into town this weekend too, so it was really nice to see them.
T-Minus 9 pounds to the 100 pound mark! I am so excited!
Rosanne and I went to visit Jil on Friday - we went for a walk and chatted for a bit.. It was great to see her and I’m so glad that she’s doing well and in good spirits!
Sorry for the short blog for now - I’ll try to blog some more later. Hope everyone is doing well!

Belated Accountability Day

Yesterday I took the day off. I’ve been divorced for over a year and a half, and I FINALLY got my last name back yesterday. I got my social security, drivers license, bank, and all my credit cards switched over finally. It’s quite freeing!
I did weigh in yesterday (multiple times as usual!), and my weight was at 219.4! So, I have surpassed the 90 pound mark! WOO HOO! Just 10 more to go and I will be thrilled! I go in for my lab work in a week or two, and then visit Dr. Weinstein again a week or two after that. Hopefully I will hit the 100 lbs by then.. That would be wonderful!
Yes - I need to do my measurements again.. I’ll post those as soon as I do them.. It’s been a crazy week! Am I the only one working on Good Friday?
I am going to get a massage at noon though.. That’s how I reward myself.. I don’t want to buy more clothes just yet.
Hope you all have a happy Easter and great weekend

Update on Jil

Hello, readers! :) Jil had her surgery yesterday and came through just fine. I’m going to visit her today at the hospital so I’ll have more news then. Rosanne visited her yesterday but I wasn’t able to, unfortunately.
I’ll post again tonight after giving her a visit.

It Broke!

Finally… the plateau has busted… hopefully it will stay that way.. I’m now at 222.2.. in 2.2 more pounds, I will be at 90! and 12.2… ONE HUNDRED pounds lost! I would love to lose 12 lbs before my next appointment with Weinstein.. that would rock!
I went to the gym yesterday and I am hurting today.. Even my armpits are sore! I did 3 reps of 12 on several different arm and leg machines.. and that damn stomach crunchy thing..
Word to the wise.. don’t take a gulp of water and proceed to do stomach crunches.. I almost lost my cookies!! Had to sit up a few minutes and just close my eyes for the nauseated feeling to pass.
Hope you all had a great weekend!

My World

My work installed some web blocking service…. No longer do I have access to a lot of my favorite sites… Meebo… Ebay… *sobs uncontrollably* Those that message me on meebo during the day - sorry, I can’t access it anymore… I’ll be on it when I’m home on evenings and weekends though.
Oh, how I miss ebay.. On a brighter note, maybe my paychecks will last me a little longer..
Till Next time… maybe I’ll be blogging 1400 times a day now… hehe

Accountability Day

Since one of the main reasons for me to create this blog was to hold myself accountable for my actions, I’ve decided to declare Thursday my Accountability Day! It will be like a holiday.. especially if it’s a good weigh in! I’ll update later with my measurements since I’m at work right now, but my weigh in this morning was… drum roll…. 224.4! I’ve been teetering back between 224 and 227 so I’m not too excited yet. If 224 sticks, my total weight loss in 5 months is 85.6 pounds.I feel like the biggest tool for not taking my measurements pre-op. Pre-op I weighed 310 pounds, wore size 28 or 30.Currently, in tops I wear a 16 or 18, and size 18 or 20 in jeans. My feet have gone from size 8 1/2 to size 8.

My Vitamin Intake

Lacy asked that I blog about the vitamins I take. From right after surgery to last week, I was taking Flintstones 2X a day, Twinlabs Calcium Carbonate, and Biotion, and a monthly Vitamin D supplement. My 3 month labs showed that I was very low in Vitamin D so my doctor got a custom supplement made from a compounding pharmacy.. I had never heard of that before!
So here’s my breakdown1X a month (around the 15th, but that doesn’t matter! hehe) - 50,000IU of Vitamin D.. I open the capsule and drop in a teaspoon of applesauce. Thank the lord it’s just once a month!Morning and Evening - Bariatric Advantage Multi Vitamin in Passion Fruit - 1 in the AM and 1 in the PM
10AM ish, Noonish, and 2PMish - Bariatric Advantage Calcium Citrate Cinnamon Lozenges - 1 at each time.
Daily - 1000mcg of Biotin - Nature’s Way sublingual. This doesn’t taste too bad, but not too good either.. very tolerable! I take this for hair and nails. My hair is very fine and I am definitely going through the hairloss portion of the journey. It scares me to bits! So, anything I can do to help that, I will do.
One thing I need to start taking is an Iron supplement. The Flintstones had plenty of iron in them, but the Bariatric Advantage multi-vitamins do not. I will be ordering those from BA very soon.
My doctor told me that people who take the BA vitamins generally have excellent labwork. That’s what I want to hear! :)
Now, if they’ll just put protein in those yummy cinnamon lozenges!

Guess what time it is? REVIEW TIME! Calcium Citrate

Ok boys and girls… today’s little review will be about our vitamin friend, Calcium Citrate. We know we need it, and they’re generally available as horse pills only. For gastric bypass patients, that’s just not an option. I’ve been on a journey to find the perfect (for me) calcium citrate supplement, and by George, I think I’ve found it! First, though, I will tell you about the ones that did not make the list for me.
First, on the recommendation of my surgeon, were the Citracal Creamy Bites. I got some samples in the hospital, and wow, they were really tasty. They came in chocolate and caramel, and were like eating Valentine’s chocolates. Good news, right? Yes! But, they were hard to find, and now discontinued. I did buy 2 boxes though. The thing is, your tastebuds change with gastric bypass. Once a delicious treat, I eventually had to start choking these things down. The three that we were supposed to take again also added over 100 calories to my daily diet, filled my pouch when I was trying so desperately to get my water in, and were just too sweet after all! Next!
I went to the Vitamin Shoppe to see which supplement would be my next victim… wait, I think I’m the victim here! I found Twinlab’s Citracal Calcium Citrate Chewables. They were the only chewable ones, so I bought them for about $11.00. I should have read better… I had to eat 4 of these in a day - they’re the size of a quarter and 4x the thickness. They were very sweet too, but not nearly as bad as the Citracal chews. I went through 2 of these bottles before deciding that it was time to move on again…. NEXT!!
Lo and behold, I think I have it! My dear friend was placing an order at Bariatric Advantage, so I figured I would try their calcium citrate. They have several flavors, and I decided to try the cinammon. WOW! These actually are really good! They have a light cinnamon flavor and do not taste vitaminey (new word I made up!) at all. I actually caught myself having an extra one or two yesterday because they were so good. I will definitely be ordering these again. They also have other flavors - I know of chocolate, but not sure what the others are.
There you have it.. as you may find yourself, it’s just a bunch of trial and error. What tastes good to me may be disgusting to you, or vice versa.. but this is my blog! haha

The Dreaded Plateau

I’ve been stuck for about a week and a half.. again.. I’m so ready to get into the teens of the 200s…. it’s a mental thing.. It will be even better to get to the 100’s, but I’m not greedy.. yet! I know everyone goes through plateaus, and they do eventually end.. but I also know how freaking frustrating it is to all who go through them.
Wow, I’m using my blog for venting more than anything! LOL

Stress Eating

Ugh - I hate deadlines! Every month at work, we have a deadline day, which is very stressful. I’m finding myself craving foods I haven’t craved since before surgery.. Chocolate, candy, etc. I haven’t caved into that, but I have caved into eating. I am having some sharp 1.5% cheddar cheese. I hate that I let myself become a victim of stress again, but I am glad that my choices are better. I had been so proud until now that I really had a grip on food. I fear that I may slip into bad habits if I don’t do something about it. It’s really crazy how this surgery makes you plan.. We probably wouldn’t have needed the surgery if we had smart snack choices vs. vending machines and soda machines. Ok, I think I’m done venting for now!

Product Review - Bell Plantation PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter

OMG I love this stuff. Bell Plantation, based out of Georgia, has created a peanut butter that you mix yourself. Yes, it sounds strange, but it is very tasty! All you do is use 2 parts peanut butter powder to 1 part water, mix, and voila! Creamy peanut butter! Why do this? Let’s compare:
PB2 Peanut Butter - 54 calories per serving - Has 1g of sugar, 4.3g of protein, and 2.8g of fat
Jif REDUCED Fat Creamy Peanut Butter - 190 calories per serving - Has 4g of sugar, 8g of protein, and 12g of fat
Jif Peanut Butter - 190 calories per serving - Has 3g of sugar, 8g of protein, and 16g of fat.
Besides making peanut butter to spread on fruit, I add this stuff to my protein shakes - makes them nice and creamy.
Visit Bell Plantation’s Website at http://www.bellplantation.com. There are lots of product ideas, and they do sell more than that. If you do make a purchase, please use me as your referral - laurie9797@yahoo.com.
Hope you enjoy as much as I do!

Protein Powder Review - Optipro M Rich Cocoa

I spent $34.99 at Whole Foods on this protein powder. It’s loaded with whey protein, low in calories, and has added nutrition (Flaxseed Meal, L-Glutamine). But, as all WLSers have to deal with… how does it taste? I’m not impressed. It’s a mix of soy and whey protein, so when you blend it, the little foamies form on top of the shake (the whey is what causes this). That is a huge turnoff for me - I can’t stand to drink that. It is drinkable though. It has 40g of protein in one scoop. I add a tablespoon or two of Bell Plantation’s PB2 to give it a chocolate peanut butter taste. It’s definitely not my favorite protein powder though, and I will not buy again.
I’ll go ahead and review PB2 in the next post - It’s a Godsend for this surgery.

Dating Post Op

I’ve been divorced for a few years, and just recently started dating again.. Let me tell you, it’s interesting to say the least. Do I tell everyone I had gastric bypass surgery? Avoid the subject completely? So far I’ve told everyone. The main reason being that they usually take me out for dinner, and I eat very little still. Then I notice that they just stare, and wonder if that’s ALL I’m going to eat… haha Oh joy!Being in the transition of losing weight doesn’t make it easy to date either. I’m far from goal, and unfortunately this society has always preferred slender women. My fear is that the guys who are interested in me now, may not be later.. or that they just will not be interested at all until I lose weight. I know, it’s a bad mindset, but it’s something I’m battling right now.Any others have any adventures in dating post-op? I’d love to hear some stories and maybe get my mind out of the negative thinking. I’m usually such a positive person, but lately I’m finding negativity lurking… Not fun!Till Next Time!Gastric Girl!

Hello to All

Hello to all!
I got this page about 8 months ago when I was considering getting gastric bypass surgery.
Now, here I am 4.5 months post op, 85 pounds down, and loving life! I have gone from size 28-30 to 18 or 20 currently. My goal is to be 145 pounds, and I’m over halfway to my goal in less than 5 months.
I created this blog to hold myself accountable for my actions, to air my thoughts and frustrations, and hopefully get to know others going through the same thing!
Cheers!Laurie