Okay, this is getting real!

And I am so excited!  I have survived over 30 hours without food!  And so far, so good.  I got stomach growling hungry on the way home from work after 6 pm, but it passed after a few swigs of peach tea.  Aside from that, I've been really pleased at how well it has gone.  I mean, I have barely scratched the surface and I have to keep going until Sunday night.  At least I'm off to a good start.

I got my shipment of stuff from Bariatric Advantage on Friday of last week.  Vitamins, calcium, some Click (espresso protein drink) and Nectar (fuzzy navel flavored protein drink, which my pal Micheala pronounces as NecTAAAAR!).  Saturday morning, while still legally able to eat, I went and grocery shopped.  I got a ton more Crystal Light (dear Lord it was on sale buy one get one freeeee!), sugar free popsicles, jello and pudding, broth and containers that were on clearance and luckily the half cup size, which I needed.

I spent most of the day Saturday cleaning, scrubbing cabinets and the floors.  Not that it did any good because of rain later that night and 16 paws that tromped through the mud outside and sullied my clean floors.  

I also cooked a lean pot roast, which I blended with cream of mushroom soup and froze in 1/2 cup portions.  I cooked several chicken breasts which I shredded finely and froze in 4 oz portions. And I made a pot of chili with very lean ground beef and lots of beans, which I blended and froze.  It was my traditional yummy chili, and when blended it tasted like beef and bean burrito filling!  OMG, YUM! And I don't have to think when I get to pureed foods, as I'll have stuff in the freezer ready to go.

Saturday night I went out with my dog show gals to what was the Umpteenth Irregular Meeting of the Bitch and Dine Society.  We went to Longhorn out at Rivergate.  Somehow, I got confused and got directions to the one in Gallatin (Gallatin versus Gallatin ROAD).  I ended up driving off the grid of my GPS!  I'm zipping along the highway, waiting for the exit, when all the roads disappeared off the GPS and just a big orange U turn sign showed up!  It took awhile, but I finally got to the restaurant and enjoyed an amazing steak and baked sweet potato.  Drooool.

It was a good meal to wrap things up with and yet something I can eat after.  Well, like in late May.  And in greatly reduced portions.  Lean protein and a healthy complex carb.  Love me some baked sweet potatoes.  They don't even need butter. 

Today I was at work all day and I was expecting the liquid diet to be more challenging.  I know it will, but I'll get through it.  I'm choosing the attitude to use this as a time to break the hold I give food over me.  I got the idea from a woman named Lynnette, whom I affectionately refer to as Touch My Port Lady.  It was the outlook she used to get through it and she said it wasn't difficult at all.  In general, I think that most people have a lot of trouble.  Not that it was funny-funny, but Micheala only had two days of liquid diet and her blogs about the emotional trauma of it were quite entertaining.  

In the long run, I am counting on mind over matter and in understanding that this is a.) something that will end in a finite amount of time and b.) required in order to get to the OR, I think I will do well.  Three days from now, I need to come back to this blog and re-read this to remind myself!

I have a few sips of my last Carnation Instant Breakfast of the day and then I'm done.  I spent the first 2 hours after work cleaning out the fridge and getting rid of all the crap that was left.  Now my shelves are sparkling clean and I feel such a sense of calm relief.  Ahhhh, no fridge clutter to stress me out or tempt me.

Of course I could be wrong and come 4 am on Thursday, I could be drinking mesquite barbecue sauce straight from the bottle.  Barbecue sauce is a liquid, right?  Liquid diet--it's all good!

Nifty measure-y gadget!

So being an Amazon junkie, I was quite excited to get home last night to find a box on my porch.  Mostly it was Carnation Instant Breakfast (No sugar added) cans.  But I also got this nifty device to measure myself with.  

I've been meaning to do this for ages.  Like in October when I first really got rolling on this journey.  October, March.  Whatever.  

This gadget, called the MyoTape, is a measuring tape with a handle and a hook.  It allows you to easily measure your bits relatively accurately all by yourself. No fumbling, no small village required to assist. And it was less than seven bucks.  Oh, JOY!

It isn't quite perfect, as the slot that holds the hook-y part isn't very secure.  So it comes apart sometimes.  I solved that with a piece of scotch tape. (I am such the techno-fix-it wizard!) And I was able to measure every measurable part of me in about 5 minutes.  Now I have something to compare to down the pike as I continue to lose weight. This will help out immensely when I hit my first, inevitable stall. The scale may not be obeying, but things are changing.

Ode to Carnation Instant Breakfast

Oh my sweet, sweet Carnation Instant Breakfast! How I love you. Okay, love is pushing it a bit. But by the end of next week, I might be there.

Liquid diet starts in a matter of days and today I brought my canister of Instant B'fast to work. Monday I'll lug in a half gallon of milk and my blender bottle.  It's purple!

On one hand I am looking forward to the liquid diet because it means the time is coming rapidly to get banded.  On the other hand, I'm sure I will be a tad irritable.  Like right now, someone is mixing a solution on the lab bench in the nearby hallway.  There is an incessant clanking sound of a stir-bar against the wall of the beaker as the solution mixes.  It's crap like that that's gonna get someone killed next week when I'm hungry and grouchy.  Sounds make me especially crabby.  Don't know why, but I can't tune out obnoxious sounds.  I obsess over them, instead.  Nice.

Usually I am relatively tolerant of the Czech doctor who shares an office wall with me.  He's a loud talker and a frequent talker.  And sometimes he makes crazy noises (usually when on the phone with his kids, not his patients.  I hope.).  I usually sit in here and mutter, "Shut up, Peter!"  But next week I might actually yell it.  OMG!  A different doctor is standing right outside my office door munching potato chips! Next week is gonna be a challenge.

Perhaps I should just get up and take walks when the testiness sets in. Yeah, sideways crabby walks, that is!

Less than two weeks to go

And I'm getting excited!

Today I stopped by Target and bought a bottle of antibiotic body wash.  For the last few days before surgery, I'm supposed to shower at least twice a day with an antibiotic soap.  I guess this means I should change my sheets so I'm not rolling around in my own filth, huh? ; )

I also got a 10 cup (MONSTER SIZED) Brita water pitcher for my office.  Next week my liquid diet begins and I have to consume nothing but a ton of liquids. I have a mini-fridge in my office, and having a water pitcher right there is easiest. I can always have water to whip up my Crystal Light in an instant. Making things convenient and easy is half the battle.

At this point, I am almost looking forward to the liquid diet and being off food altogether for a few weeks.  I'm so over it!  Ya know?  I'm just ready for the next phase and am looking forward to the surgery.  Of course about the 2nd day into the liquid diet, I'll probably be having a royal case of the screaming meemies!  Waaannnnaa CHEW!

I think I'll do okay.  I'm just gonna keep telling myself that.

Two weeks from today...

Talk about hurry up and wait!  Now that I am only two weeks out, things are starting to go very quickly!  (Yaay!  I just realized I have an extra weekend I didn't think I had.  Whew. I can actually work on cleaning house.)

I am down to 19 meals and rather disappointed.  Not that my supply of favorite meals is dwindling, but that the stuff I'm eating really isn't all that good.  I had my minute steaks but they were not seasoned quite right.  Ehh.  I had a NY strip last night off the grill, but it was more medium than medium rare.  Ehh.  I got a piece of chocolate cake at O'Charleys.  Ehh.

I think my head is starting to disengage from this whole eating thing.  After 41 years of eating for reasons other than hunger, my brain is finally coming to its senses.  Ehh, it's just food.

Now that I have so many things going on in my life, and more friends than I have had in ages, food is not nearly as high on the totem pole.  And that's a great thing!

I think if things keep going the way they have been, that by the time my liquid diet starts on Sunday, I'll be welcoming it.  A palate cleansing phase, if you will, defining the span between my old life and my new, exciting life where food is not the sun around which I focus, but friends and relationships are.  That and shopping.  ; )

Man! I wasted a meal!!!

Technically I have 26 meals left until I start my liquid diet.  Between now and then I am going to indulge in some of my favorite foods, especially things I know I will not be having for a long, long time (if ever).  

Thinking about it in those terms makes me realize I don't want to waste any calories on crappy food.  Well, crappy tasting food.  

Every Friday we go out to lunch.  Today there's a bit of a time crunch so we went someplace close and fast.  A bagel joint.  I usually get a roast beef sandwich on a small, square bagel-thing.  It comes with a creamy horseradish sauce.  I got my regular today, but they changed the sauce.  It was PURE HORSERADISH!  Gag.  I ended up barely picking at it, eating the cheese, half the meat and barely any bread.  

Dang it!  Now I'm down to 26 meals and #27 was a wash.  Next time I will think more carefully about what I want.  Don't want to waste it on something that is too hideous to eat.  Much less paying for something that was nasty.  

Maybe I'll swing by Publix and buy some cubed steak on the way home. YUM!  Then I will be a mere 25 meals away from escaping the tyranny of food.  Yippeee!

Finally getting excited

Only 17 days until my lap band surgery!  Woo hooo!

This week has been quite busy in getting the pre-operative ball rolling.  I had my surgeon's consult, my pre-op work up and a visit with my dietician.  All went well, but it has been such a busy week running around I'm not quite sure what day it is.  And I should remember to show up at the dog show tomorrow, since I paid $45 in entry fees.  

Today is Friday.  Today is Friday.

Anyway, I met with Dr. Williams and Dr. Carpenter, the main guy and the assistant guy (resident).  I like them both a lot and am confident in them.  I found out that Vanderbilt has switched back to the Lap-Band from Allergan from the Realize Band from Ethicon.  Dr. Williams said they have had a slight rise (albeit minimal) in complications from the Realize band, so they're going back to the Lap-Band.  They'll determine in the OR whether I'll get the small one or the large one.  

One of the differences between the two brands is the way the ports are "installed."  Realize has clamps that clip to your abdominal wall muscles.  The Lap Band is sutured in place.  Williams said that they're using a new technique where the port is attached to a small piece of mesh (screen door??) and that is attached to the abdominal wall.  As you heal, your tissues grow into the mesh, keeping said port firmly in place.  It's a technique that has been done with great success and requires less dissection (doctor effort) to install and decreases the likelihood of the port flipping or doing something it shouldn't.  I'm all for it.

I had a great time at Pre-op at VPEC.  In spite of my health issues, the nurse proclaimed I was one of the healthiest patients she'd seen all day.  When she asked if I had all my teeth, I was promoted to The Healthiest Patient of the day.  Wow.  Who'd have thought having all my teeth would win me such accolades?

Is it wrong that I have so much fun chatting people up at my doctors' appointments?

Yesterday was my meeting with Jessica.  She didn't have much to say aside from 6 packs of Carnation Instant Breakfast with skim milk daily, plus broth (for sodium) and lots of calorie free beverages.  She seems confident I will do well and I'll just assume she's right.  I know I'll get a huge finger waggling/scolding session should I prove her wrong.  Don't want that!

So now the real countdown begins.  I need to find time to go out to eat with Mom one more time before surgery.  And I'm planning some of my favorite meals to whip up over the next week.  My restaurant dining career will go on hiatus after I eat with my pals Christopher and his dad Chaalie on the 29th.  Then it's a yummy course of instant breakfast.

Actually I'm kind of looking forward to that and I'm more in the mood to be home and cleaning out the pantry than anything else.  Time to start shedding the old me to discover the real me.

Yeah.  I should read over this about 3 days into the liquid diet when I'm ready to kill someone.  Ha!