Happy Scales to You. Until We Meet Again!

I weighed in this morning. 

I couldn't believe the scale read

236.6

I pulled out old We!ght W@tchers books and did some comparisons. It would take me SO long to get the weight off.

I am in no way dissing WW. 

If fact, it taught me a lot of the principles I will use for the Lapband.  It also taught me that I could be a healthy foodie and not be so heavy handed with sauces, etc..

But after looking at the booklets, it read something like this: 

Down: 0.8
Down: 1.1
Down: 0.9
Down: 1.0
Down: 2.0
Gain: 1.6
Down: 0.8

And I was REALLY working the plan and exercising.  I worked WW several times.  The first and biggest was 271.

I honestly can't remember being that heavy but apparently I was.  I lost about 40+ pounds and gave up and gained half back.

Then I rejoined when I was back at 254. I went down 34 pounds with the 2/10th of a pound a week loss.  It took MONTHS. Then I gave up when a holiday hit and I went buck wild and super fatso-Italiana.

So utterlyly frustrating.

Last night I logged on to Weight Watchers to cyber stalk some of my old forum buddies. They are still there with the same big weight numbers. Most of them are on the same major struggle as before. There are a few that are in maintenance but they were in maintenance then so they made it work for them.  

They are SO anti banding and anti WLS in general there so I won't tell them I am.  I have moved on from them anyhow. There was some support but it was also a b!tchy clique and new people were shunned if they asked the wrong thing.  If someone asked about a weight loss gimmick, they would get chastised and beat with a wet noodle.  This was in the 100 pounds to lose forum.  I wouldn't join in but I didn't rock the boat. It was like there were the fatty leaders and everyone kissed their chunky butts. 

Anyways - if anyone mentioned the band,  they would break out these dumb fabricated stories on how their mom's 2nd cousins co-worker died from the Lapband.   Uggg. Give me a break. 

A lot of fat fear going on.

So back to this morning I woke up and it read 236.6. 

Such a head start that normally would have taken me MONTHS to get to.  Instead I am down 19.8 pounds in 3 weeks. 

Unheard of. 

This is Mojo the poodle. He isn't my poodle but since I am a poodleuberfanatic, I wanted to show you what 19 pounds looks like. I lost my Mojo!  ;)  

Does this poodle make my ass look big?

I know it's because I am on liquids, I am not stupid.  But it sure is flipping MOTIVATING and the push I need to get my head screwed on right.

Happy Saturday! 

May you all have happy scale days

10 Things Thursday!

Better late than never...  ;)

1) I can't believe tomorrow is my one week Post Op already. I was sitting here last week at this time with my mom thinking about what was coming in the AM. I had a nervous stomach and was trying to talk myself off the ledge.

2) Each day is getting better and better pain wise. I am still port sore but it's so much easier than 2 days ago.

3) I am getting beyond stir crazy in this house. I haven't left since surgery and I am about to go postal. I hope this weekend bring some fun.

4) I just booked our big condo for the 4th of July.  I will be at the beach with my family for the week. Then soon after, I have my 20th High School Reunion at the beach as well.  This reallllly motivates me since a lot of bathing suit time will be involved.

5) Hunger is still rearing it's ugly head. I feel like a weirdo that I was banded a week ago and I could eat a horse. I thought the swelling would keep me from wanting food for quite a while.

6) Gas. Yes I said it. Gas.  In the almost 7 yrs I have been with Zack, I have NEVER passed gas in front of him. In fact, I have NEVER in front of any guy I have been with.  Well my body sounds like the horn section of the Philharmonic Orchestra. Uggg. I keep pretending it isn't what it really is.
Like earlier this evening, I squeaked a nearby dog toy so he thought it was that.

7) I have been a bitchy cranky pants today. Florida has a jacked up winter season and has been in the 70's & 80's the past 2 months. I already have tons of yellow pollen all over my car. I woke up with the worst sinus headache today and it won't go away.

8) I peeked at the scale today and it's teetering at 240. I am SO hoping that for my one week bandiversary, it will show a "3" in the middle number. 

9) I am a self confessed foodie. I am also really into cooking shows. I noticed as I was watching 2 back to back DVR'd Top Chef episodes tonight it probably wasn't the best thing to be watching while I am starving. LOL

10) I have a close friends Wedding Shower on Feb 25th. I will be on mushy foods by then and I wondering if I should bring my own food and how that will be. I haven't told everyone yet of my surgery so I don't want to bring a lot of attention to myself.  Anyone have any advice?

Hunger rears it's ugly head

Well - my stomach officially woke up. I actually was woken up from the loud rumbling last night.  Living on about 100 calories was not cutting it.

I am however feeling much better. Still some port pain but so much better than day 2 & 3.  I feel excited now as I am able to do more things each day within reason.

So - for those of you who have been reading awhile - you may remember when I decided to break the rules in pre-op diet of chemical shakes the surgeons office prescribed me.  I blogged about it HERE

Well - I received quite a few private notes, emails and more from people who thought being on clear liquids for two weeks was a bit extreme.

Then I noticed something interesting.  When I left the hospital, they gave me a book from Allergan, the makers of the LapBand.  It had a full diet in there of what I should be doing. On top of the booklet was a stapled paper that said DIET CHANGE. It basically states to not do what Allergan states but instead do two weeks liquid because I will loose more weight.  Yah, I am sure I would lose a ton but I am also starving, having the shakes and getting dizzy.

Then I went back to the online powerpoint presentation that the 2nd surgeon in the practice has on her site.

Her diet states:

Clear Liquids - For Day 1
Post Op - Full Liquids for days 2-13
Soft Foods - Days 14-29
Post Op Diet - Regular - Day 30

So I made another executive decision. I had a small protein shake, very thin with half almond milk and half water. Barely any carbs or sugars.  It finally took the edge off, my dizziness went away and it kept me full for over 5 hours.

I supplemented with a lot of Propel Zero and Water.

For dinner, I am having a small amount of creamy soup and I can't wait!  Finally some warm flavor.

I am down almost 17 pounds since my Pre-Op.  I think that is fabulous but I want to do it healthy. I need a bit of energy to start walking and not feel dizzy when I stand up.

So all in all - I am a band rebel. But I promise to not push anything else. I will do this for 2 weeks and not push any more limits.

Break On Thru To The Other Side...

Sorry it's taken me a few days to report back.

 I am officially banded as of Friday, February the 3rd.

I assumed I would be up and shopping by day two and all would be hunky dory.

Negatory!

This was a bigger doosey than I expected.

I arrived at the hospital at 7am with my mom.

They promptly checked me in and took me to the back. I changed into a gown made for a 700 pound man and I looked like a 5 year old in it.
I then met one of my nurses.

She has a lot of experience with IVs I assume because if you look at my arm, I look like a hooker on heroine with track marks all over. A human pin cushion.

After three times of unsuccessfully stabbing the IV needle in me and me begging her for mercy, she finally called another nurse over who was fast and efficient. Oh and the 2nd nurse actually knew how to use the freeze lidacaine spray. 

After that I waited a bit and then they allowed my mom to come back.

From there, about 10am, I was taken to the surgical team and my mom had to go to the family waiting area.

The surgical team was absolutely amazing.

Every single nurse, the anesthesiologist, and down to the guy that was wheeling me around, were hands on incredible and nice to me.  They all kept asking me if I was ready to start my new life. I thought that was profound from these healthy and athletic looking Dr's and nurses.

My surgeon was running a bit late from another surgery in front of me. I was supposed to go in at 10 but it was closer to 11.

When he was finally ready, I was wheeled in to the surgical area and met even more people in there.

My surgeon wasn't in there yet but I went over more items with the anesthesiologist one last time before things started getting hazy.

Then I was out.

About 1:30 pm I woke up in major pain in recovery and there was a new nurse with me. I woke up begging for pain meds and he had to give me a few squirts of something. It was pretty intense.

By 2 pm I was taken to my room which everyone called the Beyonce suite. I had a private room with a futon, a desk and recliner chairs. It was wonderful to have so much space for my mom and Zack.

I met my new nurses and was given more drugs which helped me. A few hours later, I got up to walk the halls and try and move some gas around.

The only bad events at the hospital were each time they gave me my pain meds there, I would get a massive wave of nausea. I got up at one point to walk and I felt like the world was spinning and I went from white to shades of grey and green. I was so paranoid to vomit with the new port so I asked for cold wet wash cloths immediately to cover myself in and it was better. I felt like I was going to hit the floor and throw up at the same time.

Very weird feeling.

So Saturday morning I was discharged and the nurse from the surgeons office came by. She said they don't prescribe pain meds to go home and use Tylenol.

Hmm ok.

By the time I got home on day 2 I thought I was doing good. My dad and Nana came to see me and even laid out in the sun which felt fabulous. Then by night time I felt like I was in a massive car accident.

It was a BAD night.

Tylenol was not cutting it.  I asked myself about 4 times what I did to myself and if I made the right decision.
I called the Dr after hours and he called me in liquid hydrocodone which is basically Tylenol III. It takes the edge off but isn't a real narcotic.

It's helped a bit tho.

Day 3 was pretty serious as well. I was pretty miserable and couldn't get comfortable at all. I had severe back and neck pain. I was able to sleep a bit tho which helped.

Day 4 today - I woke up and feel like I've turned the corner and am finally feeling half way human. I still look 7 months pregnant but it's coming down a bit.

I hope it's even better tomorrow.

I have read some people are up and shopping by day 2.

I did not have this experience. I would make sure you have good pain meds as a precautionary.

Lastly - I never saw my surgeon before the surgery nor after.

I found this ODD.

He did call my mom after the surgery to the waiting room and to let her know I did well. But he never even came out to talk to her or to me.  Just seems a bit impersonal.

Anyway - this was tougher than I imagined.

Anyone who says this is the easy way out can kiss my big Sicilian derrière!

It's great to be part of the living once again.

I am now on two weeks of clear liquids.

 I will never want to see chicken broth or jello for the rest of my life after this.

I am SO lucky to have such an incredible and amazing mother. She has stayed with us here to help me. She has been an amazing nurse and has been here since Thursday night. I am finally sending her home today so she can rest. Without her, I am not sure what I would have done. Zack was doing yard work yesterday and ended up having a palm frond slice his cornea. So he had to go to the ER room yesterday. My mom has been taking care of both of us! I joked with him if he was mad that I was getting all the attention and he had to have some too.  My mom really is a rockstar! 

We share the same birthday and are ultra close. This was a pic from our bdays:

LAST BUT NOT LEAST:  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all of you absolutely amazing women for the cheers, support, well wishes, love and prayers sent my way.  This is an amazing network of women who really throw me for a loop daily. We can confess our sins, scream from rooftops or share our progress and never be judged. All of your messages were appreciated and meant more than you will ever know.

Smiles and Reality Setting In!

I just came home from my surgeons office.

Good news all around!

GREEN LIGHT

all around baby!!!

And even better - I am down

 I also got the go ahead to have a healthy "last meal" because my liver is shrunk.

So we are heading out to have a petite filet and sauteed spinach before tomorrow.

I am heading to the hospital at 7:00am and my surgery is scheduled around 9am. 

I did think I would be home tomorrow but my surgeon said I will be spending the night. So I am packing comfy clothes, Ipad, pillow, Pjs, soft socks, robe and chapstick. 

Please send me good vibes, fast healing and prayers!!

See you guys soon on the other side!! 



Veggie Contraption Update..

Some of you had trouble with the pictures so I removed them and then added them again. I hope it works. Please check out the last blog to see them.

For those interested, here is a link to buy one. They are also on Amazon.

http://www.digestivewellness.com/itempage-1585-24-19-1736.html

Fake Carbs O Mighty!

I wanted to post and do a product review of something that is going to be life changing for me.


Yes you read that right, life changing.


If I haven't driven it home quite enough, I am 100% Sicilian. With that, I am 100% addicted to carbs such as pasta. There has been a sad realization that I may never be able to eat pasta again. Some can, many can't. And even if I can, it's not the healthiest option right?


Well say hello to my little friend....

Angel Hair Pasta.... Mmmm.  Wait, no it's not! It's Angel Hair Zucchini.

This super cool contraption made it:

I sorta feel like Dan Aykroyd with the Bass-O-Matic machine in an infomercial. I did work at HSN so maybe it's all coming to fruition now. 
 
http://www.hulu.com/watch/19046/saturday-night-live-bassomatic

But seriously, the dinner was amazing!  I used 2 and a half zucchinis to make this bowl of angel hair. I then put it in boiling water for about 2 minutes and it was perfect. I then drained it. I sprayed olive oil mister on it, chopped basil, tons of fresh chopped garlic, sea salt and then for the non pre-opers eating it, some Parmesan cheese.   Mmm's, Oooh's and Ahh's in abundance.

I bought it off of Amazon for around 30 dollars and I have a feeling I will definitely get my money worth!

You can also make apple chips, sweet potato fries, roasted veggie chips and more.

I also think it would be fantastic with my homemade meat sauce for spaghetti marinara eventually. It beat out Spaghetti Squash hands down and I almost forgot it was a veggie.