Friday, August 30th 2013 - 11 days Post-Op

Well, I had my Lap-Band surgery on Monday, August 19th. Heather, my sister, was able to take me to the hospital and Mary Ellen, my mother-in-law, took care of the kids. I was pretty nervous about being under General Anesthesia because I never have before, but it wasn't bad at all. I went back to surgery around 1:00 and was out before they even put me on the surgery table. All of my nurses were male nurses, which was a first for me, but they all were pretty nice. When I woke up from anesthesia, I wasn't aware that I had had surgery and my eyes were closed and I had oxygen on  my face and felt a stabbing pain in my shoulder and abdomen, so in my mind someone was attacking me in my sleep, so I woke up swinging. I tried my hardest to punch all three nurses in the face and they told me to behave. The doctor then came and told me that he found a Haital Hernia in my abdomen that had to be fixed before he could perform the Lap Band Surgery. He speculated that the hernia had been caused by my pregnancy with my twins because of my short torso and lack of space that I had for 2 full-term babies, so my abs split and a hernia (part of my intestine) was pushed up into my diaphragm. As I was coming out of anesthesia, I guess I did some pretty silly things, like calling all of my nurses "Dude", asking Heather what to do with my bra, and telling Heather that her fingers were fat because she didn't practice the piano enough. I also kept trying to leave the hospital because I thought that if I left the pain would go away. I couldn't really feel my surgery in my stomach, although it looked liked I had been kicked in the stomach by a horse, but the pain in my shoulder caused by the C02 that they put in my system to help perform my surgery was INTENSE!!! The pain remained INTENSE, like a 7 or 8 out of 10, for an entire week. Now, 11 days post-op my pain remains around a 3, but if I go too hard it shoots back up to about a 6. The diet really hasn't been hard for me, the hardest thing is trying to get enough water (120 oz) and eat dry meals. Every now and then I have cravings, like when I saw Tacos on the Café Rio commercial or Chicken Pot Pie on the Marie Calendar's commercial, one of these days though, I will get to eat real food. I believe, I am weighing in now at 245 - five pounds down from my surgery day. I think I will start to shed more weight as I increase my activity level and the swelling from my operation goes down.

The Day Before Surgery

Today, I weighed in at 250 lbs., which is 11 lbs. in two weeks, I am just hoping it is enough for the doctor to perform the surgery. If my scale is the same as the doctor's office, I have lost 18 lbs. since May 1st. We shall see! At the beginning of the week I was doing really well on my diet, it didn't seem to bother me to be eating very little fat/sugar/carbs, but towards the end of this week, I was having a lot of cravings. I was craving Pizza, Muffins, Popcorn, Cheese, Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Chips. I have figured how to make my protein smoothies pretty tasty. I am trying to drink lots of water, but can't consume anything past midnight tonight. I am a little anxious about the surgery. I just hope everything goes well and that there are no complications. I am going to get a priesthood blessing tonight and hope all goes well. Mary Ellen, my mother in law, will be watching the kids tomorrow and Heather will be taking me to and from the surgery. Heather will be helping me out on Tuesday and Darin will take off Wednesday to help at home.

Craving

Some things  I am craving today:

Ice Cream
Popcorn
Cheddar Cheese

I am trying not to think about it. That is all.

Liver Shrinking Diet Days 3-7

I feel like my body is starting to get used to the low carb-ness of this diet. I still have cravings, but they aren't as strong as the first few days. On Thursday, Abigail and I went to Chilis and they had a light menu, of which I ordered a 6 oz. steak with steamed broccoli and an extra side of steamed broccoli. I ate half of the 6 oz. steak (which is one serving of protein for me) and saved it for my lunch the next day. Friday, I weighed myself and had only lost a pound and got very discouraged because it is the story of my life. I am following all of the rules, I haven't cheated once, and the weight is coming off VERY slowly. I am supposed to loose 12-20 lbs on this liver shrinking diet, which means by day 4, I should have lost at least 3 pounds. I still need to improve on my water drinking and exercise, but this is a lot to think about. On Saturday, I went to the Chubbuck Days Festival, I drank my super healthy protein smoothie before and packed my lunch. It was so HOT, that I didn't want to eat anything though and I just kept guzzling water. By the end of the Festival, I had a terrible heat headache and felt totally sick. I cam home, drank more water, took some excederine, and laid down. After about 30 minutes, I decided that I had to eat something because it was 4:30 and all I had had was water and my protein shake that day, so I forced myself to eat cottage cheese and celery for lunch and called it good. The headache finally went away, and all was well again. I kind of feel bad for my family though, cause I did not cook one single meal for them. I am just not motivated to cook things that I can't eat. Sundays are always busy for me. I had to make sure to get to church on time because I was being released from my calling and getting a new one. My mind was so pre-occupied, that I totally forgot to make my smoothie. When I got home from church, I realized that I hadn't eaten anything, so I ate a cheese stick and 17 grapes, I was full again, so I busied myself with some lesson planning for the upcoming preschool and music lesson season. Maybe my body is getting used to functioning on less food. I made the girls Ramen Noodles for dinner at their request and I had a big salad with canned chicken, taco seasoning, tomatoes, onion, salsa, and FF Italian dressing. It was very yummy. Poor Darin was on his own. I bet he is going to get tired of me not cooking soon. I will try to plan some meals this week that the entire family can participate in. Well, it was crunch time. Time to weigh myself because it has been a week since I have put down a recorded weight.

Today my weight is:
256 lbs (I lost 5 lbs! I am convinced, I sweated it off at the Chubbuck Days Festival)
*I just hope my efforts are enough so that my surgery won't get postponed.
BMI - 45.3

Day 2 & 3 of Liver Shrinking Diet

So, I found something better for my protein shakes. It works for now, but I am not sure I want to drink a protein shake for breakfast EVERYDAY for the rest of my life. That's a long time cause I plan on living for a REALLY LONG TIME. That is why I am doing this, because I want a LONG, HEALTHY LIFE. Anyway for the past couple of mornings I did the following for breakfast:

1 cup. ice
1 cup milk
2 scoops protein supplement
1 fruit serving
*Because my protein supplement is chocolate flavored I have used raspberries and bananas as my fruit and it has been pretty tasty. This makes a HUGE Smoothie, so it usually takes me a couple of hours to finish it.

Day 2 Lunch
3 oz. chicken
2 c. mashed cauliflower

Day 3 Lunch
2 hard boiled eggs
2 cups of Iceberg Lettuce with FF Italian Dressing
*I have been taking my liquid mulit-vitamin and 4 tablets of chewable calcium. I am going to try to find a different multi-vitamin because I literally GAG the stuff down.

Day 2 Dinner
3 /4 cup cottage cheese
2 cups raw mixed veggies: tomatoes, celery, carrots with FF Italian

Day 3 Dinner
3 oz lean taco meat
2 cups of salad with tomatoes, onions, green leaf lettuce
*This was my favorite dinner so far - I will definitely be doing this again.


*I have noticed that my hungriest times are at 4:00 and at 10:00 in the evening. I try to drink to satisfy my hunger, but when I couldn't be satisfied, I just went to bed. I better be loosing weight cause this is not easy. I still am struggling with drinking enough water and I definitely need to start going to the gym.  I have been so busy with preparing for preschool, that I hardly can breath. ONE STEP AT A TIME. I was however very proud of myself on my second day of the liver shrinking diet, I had to stop to get the kids some McDonalds and I was VERY Hungry, the smells of the fast food, were almost more than I could bare, but I drove back home, got my food, and then went on to a cousin's birthday party where I age my veggies and cottage cheese and everyone else ate cupcakes and ice cream. THAT WAS HARD. I have noticed though that eating a lot of RAW VEGGIES kind of upsets my tummy and makes me feel hungry at the same time, so I am going to try to cook a bunch and have them on hand to quickly heat up.

Day 1 of Liver Shrinking Diet

So this is what I ate today on my first day of my liver shrinking diet

Breakfast 

2 scrambled eggs

1 cup raspberries

I was supposed to eat 6 oz Greek lite yogurt, but I was too full so I saved my yogurt for lunch. My girls ate the same breakfast as me, which was good so I didn't have to prepare a different meal for them. 

Lunch 

6 oz Greek lite yogurt
6 oz protein shake

1 1/2 cups of carrots with 1 tsp. light vinaigrette & Mrs. Dash
Liquid Mulit-Vitamin
Chewable Calcium

The protein shake was disgusting mixed with water. I have to figure out a way to take protein with out gagging myself. I was totally full at this meal as well, but I am starting to crave carbs. My liquid multi-vitamin is totally gross by itself, in the past I have been mixing it with OJ, but I can't add the extra calories to my diet, so I just had to take the vitamin and I am looking for another alternative to this as well. The calcium tablets just taste like a Tums, so they are tolerable. We went to park lunch today and I just ate when we got home. 

Dinner

3 oz. Chicken with mustard

1/2 cup grilled zucchini
1/2 cup carrots with light vinaigrette
1 cup of mashed cauliflower

I fixed a meal that fit within my liver shrinking diet for my family. I just added rice to their plates. The chicken and mashed cauliflower were okay, but my family HATES zucchini, it doesn't matter how I prepare zucchini, they HATE it.

After dinner was the toughest time for me. I was really craving a mid-night snack loaded full of carbs, bread, cookies, chips, anything. So, I just decided to drink a glass of water and go to bed early. I only managed about 64 oz. of water yesterday, I need to get better at that. It is really hard to manage getting enough water and eating dry meals.

I didn't make it to the gym today. This is going to be a BIG challenge for me. There is just so much for me to do at home. AAHHHHHHHH!

Liver Shrinking Diet

I am up tonight with a little bit of anxiety about my liver shrinking diet, so when I have anxiety, I plan (I also eat, but that IS going to change). I am a planner and somehow my planning helps me feel calm and in control about things. So I am going to plan my first week of the diet right here on my blog. I have to start my liver shrinking diet on August 5th, which is 2 weeks prior to my August 19th surgery. The purpose of this diet is to starve my liver thus shrinking it so that it is not damaged in the surgery, putting the Lap Band in. I thought I would plan my activity as well.

From now on and forever I must.....

1. Take a liquid or chewable  multi-vitamin with 100% daily value's worth of vitamins.

2. Take a chewable calcium supplement with 1000 mg of calcium in it.

3. Take a protein supplement with 20-30 grams of protein per serving and less than 10-15 of carbohydrates.

4. Eat "dry" meals. I have to stop drinking 15-30 minutes before eating and not drink anything for 45 minutes after I eat. 

5. Completly eliminate carbonated beverages from my diet. 

6. Drink 120 oz of non calorie, non-carbonated beverages each day. 

7. Exercise 5 days a week

My feelings: I started the multi-vitamin and calcium supplements about 6 weeks ago and eliminated carbonated beverages. I just need to be more consistent with taking the supplements and get them into my morning routine and add the protein drink into that routine as well. It hasn't been as difficult cutting out soda as I thought it would.  I think the challenge there will be eliminating juice, which doesn't have to be completely eliminated forever, but I am not supposed to drink my calories - so, crystal light it is. I think my biggest challenge will be getting used to eating dry meals. For me, eating and drinking has always gone hand in hand and it will definitely be a challenge to change that 30 year built in habit. I plan on filling up a large jug of water and trying to drink on it at the appropriate time during the day.It is going to be. Another big challenge for me will be getting in the habit of exercising 5 days a week. It isn't that I don't like exercise. I like it okay, it is that I can always think of about 25 other things to be doing at the time and I just simply put it off to do other things. It is time to make my health a priority and I am just going to have to work it into my schedule. 

For the next two weeks

1st Meal - 1 protein, 1 fruit, 1 dairy

2nd Meal - 1 protein, 2 vegetables

3rd meal - 1 protein, 2 vegetables

My feelings: I don't know if it is normal or not to be a little sad that I won't be eating pasta, bread, rice, cookies, chips, crackers, mayonnaise, or ranch dressing,  etc, but I am. In fact I am drinking a glass of milk and eating a chocolate chip cookie as I type this, knowing that at midnight it's over. When I am feeling too restricted or deprived, I am just going to tell my self "being healthy is much better than ... (whatever I am craving)". It's not going to be easy. I CAN DO IT I CAN TRY.

An example of a Liver Shrinking Day

Breakfast 

2 scrambled eggs

1 cup raspberries

6 oz Greek lite yogurt

Lunch 

6 oz protein shake

1 cup broccoli

1 cup carrots

with 1 tsp. light vinaigrette & Mrs. Dash

Dinner

3 oz. Chicken

2 cups salad with 1tsp light vinaigrette

Feelings: I am a bit nervous that I will not be able to eat meals with my family. There are so many good things associated with family dinner time, it is going to be hard for me to always prepare and eat different things than my family. I am hoping I can incorporate some of my healthy eating into the family meals.

The Journey Begins

August 5th 2013
Weight - 261*
BMI - 46.2

Tomorrow marks the first day of a new life for me. I have been researching the Lap-Band procedure for the past 7 years now and I am ready for a change. I am doing this blog as a way of supporting myself in this journey and for journaling purposes. I am not ready to let anyone read this blog yet, but I might give the blog address out when I am ready. In 2006 I did some research on the Lap Band procedure and decided that I was not ready at the time. I wanted to try a few more weight-loss efforts and I wanted to be done having babies before I had Lap-Band surgery. I really turned up the heat on my preparation for surgery this spring. I did a lot of research, visited Dr. Davis and gave up carbonated drinks for good. I started taking a multi-vitamin and calcium, and drinking greens to amp up my nutrition levels. Tomorrow (August 5th) I will start my 2 WEEK Liver Shrinking Diet in preparation for my Lap Band Surgery on August 19th. There has been a lot of thought that has gone into this and I think I am as ready as I will ever be. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous because I am. I am nervous about the unknown about all of my lifestyle changes and about changing bad habits. Most of my future blog posts will consist of 3 elements. I will talk about Food, Activity, and Feelings. I hope this will help me stay on track and meet my goals.

So why Lap Band?

Well, I know that I need to make a change in my life.  I am Morbidly Obese which puts me into sever risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, and heart disease. I want to live a long, healthy life and I have got to make a change.

I am tired alot and want to be able to do fun, active things with my kids. I want to be able to go hiking, exploring, running, skiing, dancing without being totally wiped out. I want to fit comfortably on an airplane and in amusement park seats. I don't want to be above the weight limit for certain activities like zip lining and riding in a dog sled (those are just 2 things that come to mind that I have not been able to participate in because of my weight). I am tired of my weight inhibiting me and putting limits on what I can and can not do. Thus the title of my blog "Lightning the Load with Lap Band". I want to lighten the emotional and physical limitations that being morbidly obese has put on me in my life.

I am a good mom and I want to be a better mom. I have dedicated the last 10 years of my life to being an awesome wife and mother, but in doing so I have totally neglected myself. I mean, see the picture above. Total mom jeans, old worn out clothes, and my hair is in a "mom" ponytail. It is not that I don't care, I just am not motivated to shop for new clothes or even try to dress cute. It just hasn't been a priority for me. It is time for me to focus a little more on ME. My 9 year-old has started picking out my clothes for me before we go to the store, dance, or her school because I think she has started to be more aware that I am not quite as physically attractive as the other moms. I think she is starting to be embarrassed by my appearance. I want to be cute again!

I want to become stronger and get in better shape and possibly challenge myself to do something new  like do a 5-K race or even wilder a tri-athlon.

*At the beginning of May I decided to totally give up Carbonated Drinks, when I was weighed at the Doctor's office I weighed 268 lbs, so giving up soda helped me loose 7 lbs in 3 months. I used to NEVER drink soda until I met my husband, but some of his eating/drinking habits have rubbed off on me over the past 10 years and becoming a soda drinker is one of the bad things that has rubbed off on me. Luckily, a lot of his good characteristics have rubbed off on me as well.