Sorry MIA Again

Slacker is what you can call me.  At least for blogging lately. 

Everything has been going well, except for the losses.  Up until this morning I had been going up and down the same 2-3 pounds for the last 4 weeks.  I finally broke the stall this morning.  I am now 64 pounds down from surgery and 86 pounds down in all.  I LOVE that I am so close to the century mark. 

Today, I had a really nice moment.  I saw a retired administrator this afternoon, one I have not seen in almost a year.  She didn't speak to me at first and then realized who I am. She looked at me and said, "There is something different about you.  What is it?"  I looked at her and said, "About 86 pounds."  She was astounded!  She actually confessed not recognizing me when she came in the room. 

Water aerobics is going very well.  I absolutely love it! 

Support group was great this month.  We had a guest speaker.  She is a personal trainer.  Her talk was not about things we should be doing or "moves" or what not.  She mainly spoke about fitness myths, why we should do it, motivators, the difference between exercising and being physically active, etc.  It was a very interesting talk. 

I also borrowed a book from my bariatric coordinator, The Emotional First Aid Kit: A practical Guide to Life After Bariatric Surgery.  It has been quite and interesting read.  It was written by a psychologist, so many of the topics and suggestions are things she does with and for her patients.  It has an abundance of self talk guidelines and many individual stories of success and failure. 

During my last appointment with Dr. Macik, he and his nurse both encouraged me to make sure I am drinking 4 cups of milk a day.  Now, take in mind, I am trying to keep my calories around 1,000 a day (here lately I have been exceeding that number).  Milk has 9 grams of protein and 12 grams of sugar.  Now most of us are told to drink our milk for the calcium and vitamin D.  With my new designer gastric system, I am unable to digest calcium from the milk.  So why should I waste 360 calories on milk?  I posted this question on Obesity Help.  One answer actually blew me away today. Here it is, copied directly from the message board:

Post Date: 4/28/10 1:28 am
Not to get into a major science discussion but if you’ve had RNY, milk has nothing to offer except 12 grams of sugar and all of the wasted calories that go along with it. About 80% of the protein in milk is in the form of casein, the remaining 20% is whey. Whey protein is fast absorbing (40 minutes to 1 hour) and casein is slow absorbing (up to 7 hours). Nutritionists encourage people to drink milk because casein provides a full feeling for longer; the protein is slowly released into the system through the filtration process. Unfortunately that process is dependent upon casein forming a gel in the gut when it combines with the acidic environment in the stomach and slowly working its way through the digestive process. Trouble is that we no longer have our pyloric sphincter; it has been bypassed and is no longer available to contain the milk in our stomachs. Combine the loss of sphincter function with the less acidic environment in our resized stomach and you no longer have a welcoming environment for this long acting form of protein. If it can’t form the gel, it defeats the purpose. For me, I consider milk to be more than a waste; it’s counterproductive to what I had surgery for. Truthfully, I don’t personally know any long term post-ops (5+ years) who drink milk that haven’t had a bad regain issue. I do know lots of post-ops that drink milk and get in the revision line. That’s a pretty dangerous thing to do! I know it’s not popular to come out against milk, but the science is there. Just my 2 cents.

Science. I am not sure how accurate it is, but ya gotta love it!

My Huge WOW for the Week!

So I started back with water aerobics Tuesday.  I have been taking water aerobics during summer months for several years now.  For the past few summers I have been attending classes at the West Gwinnett Aquatic Center about 5 minutes from our home.  Because the class is a deep water class, we are required to wear floatation belts, seen here.  The belts only come in 2 sizes: S/M and L/XL.  Of course I have been squeezing my belly into the L/XL, with the straps pulled out as far as they can go.

Yesterday, I put the belt on and without thinking about it, I have about 12 extra inches on the straps!!!  WOW!!!  This WOW was so much different.  I knew going into this journey that my clothes would eventually get too big.  I knew I would eventually have more stamina to accomplish things in life.  It never occurred to me that I could fit securely into my swim belt!  It was not something that was even close in my mind.  That is what makes this WOW experience one of the best ones so far! 

17 Weeks 3 Days

It looks as if I will continue to use Livestrong/Daily Plate for my food journal.  I do not like Fit Day and Obesity Help does not offer it publicly, except to members. 

I am back to work this week.  It truly helps being on a schedule.  Ian and I traveled to see my mama last week for a few days.  It was very difficult to keep track of how much protein and fluids I consumed.  Being back on our routine will help. 

I am now down 83 pounds.  The last few pounds have been slow to come off.  I have been flirting with 274 for several days now.  Well, actually, it has been close to a week, and I spent a week at 275.  The week before that was 276.  I need to get back to journaling, exercising, and counting protein and fluids.  I know I have not been 100% compliant the last month.  I now hate holidays that have candy.  Especially small candy bites that I can actually eat.  Tootsie Rolls.  Ugh! 

As for exercise, I start back at water aerobics tomorrow!  Yippee!  It is my all-time favorite thing to do!

15 Weeks Plus

Friday was my 5th wedding anniversary!  We celebrated with dinner at Outback.  That was where we had our first date, and we try to go there for our anniversary each year.  I ordered the smallest steak I could get, the 6oz. Outback Special, with garlic mashed potatoes, and seasoned steamed broccoli.  I also added a crab stuffed shrimp just in case I couldn't handle the steak.  It went marvelously!  I ordered the steak medium, but it came out medium rare.  It did not matter. I like a medium rare steak as well.  I cut it up into very small pieces and chewed, chewed, chewed!  It was the best steak I have ever had!  And I had enough leftovers for three more meals (actually more, but by then it wasn't all that great).

I am currently checking out different websites that have food diaries.  It seems that Livestrong does not have the most accurate calorie counts out there.  I am currently checking out Fitday, but may end up just using the one on ObesityHelp. 

Easter candy is the root of all evil.  They come in bite size pieces that are easy to chew and swallow.  I will say no more about that. 

I have been getting more exercise now that the weather is fantastic!  The little one and I have been walking, and I have started taking over the yard work.  Mark gets allergies really bad when he is out there for too long, so we did have someone coming out to cut the grass and trim the bushes.  I am now saving that money (or helping to make a car payment with it), and I am going to do the outdoor work.  I reserve the right to change my mind once the dog days of summer hit. 

Now that it is getting warm, I will be heading back to water aerobics.  The aquatic center down the road has classes Monday through Thursday each evening.  I can't wait!