Good things and the Dentist

Steve and I had so much fun after I posted the doc appt post. I had gotten home from work a little early since I had the doc appt (around 5 as opposed to the usual 6), so we had a few hours of daylight left. Instead of going to the gym, we went for a walk around the neighborhood and then jumped in the community pool! It was so much fun. I hadn't swam in so long and after all this time of being focused on my weight, it felt good to feel weightless. We also had a ton of fun just being with each other. Walking home with the sun going down was so, so nice. It was a great time.

In news completely opposite of "great": I had to go to the dentist today because I've been having such a hard time with one of my teeth. The gum has been sore and it's been very sensitive. Come to find out my gum has receded and the root is exposed. There is nothing that can be done about it. I just have to brush with a prescription toothpaste for the next 3-6 months until the sensitivity is lessened. The dentist said over time I won't be able to feel it anymore. Bummer. I wish there was an instant fix because I'm tired of chewing on one side of my mouth. And weight loss surgery patients have to have good dentition to chew the million times that are necessary so food doesn't get "stuck". Boo.

Ok, back to good news. I found an amazing protein bar. "Impossible," you say? Nope - it is the Pure Protein bar in Chocolate Deluxe. Yummmm... It does have quite a bit of carbs (13 g), but my nutritionist said that was ok because they are good, vegetable carbs and I only eat one a couple times a week. And it has 20 g of protein.

Here is the website. You can't buy them on this website, but they have a "where to buy" section. I picked mine up at Walmart (rarely do I go to Walmart, but I need a cheap in-between-sizes bathing suit!) and have also bought them from Publix. I also tried the Blueberry Crumb Cake flavor which was also amazing. They are chewy and not rock-hard like other protein bars I've tried. And yes, those are real (fake) chocolate chips you see! I say it again - yummmmm. And yes, the protein bars and my dental problems are completely unrelated!

Doc Appt

Steve and I met with Dr. Koppman today for my 6 month check-up. It was nice to have Steve's support and for him to see first-hand the kinds of things the doctor is keeping up with. I had labs done and most everything looked great. He said my HDL (good) cholesterol isn't exactly where he likes to see it and my triglycerides were a little high. But these things will continue to improve as I lose weight so he's not concerned. My iron was normal, but at the low end of normal, so I have to be more diligent about taking my iron. The only bad thing was my folic acid - this was low. The normal range is 2.7-17 and mine was 4. So it wasn't the worst, but it was pretty bad, especially if I want to conceive in 6 months. Which by the way, he said we could plan for!! He wants me back in October - October 12 is my appt - for a year follow-up and wrote me a script for labs to get before that appt. If my labs look good then he said he would have no problem advising pregnancy!! OMG - I am so excited. And we talked about my goal weight - which is much higher than what I thought I saw on their computer. He has it at 174. I may choose to go under that, but that is when he would consider me successful. That is a total of a 150 lbs loss - and I've already lost 104! I can SO do the last 46 lbs. That's NOTHING!!

Overall, I am very happy and the doctor is very happy with my progress. And Steve is happy too!

Wow!

I lost 4 lbs this week! (Well, 8 days). It's about time the scale moved more than 1 lb a week! It has to be because I switched back to Crystal Light and exercised twice last week. I'll be keeping it up. This large loss couldn't have come at a better time. I was so frustrated last night after reading on OH's "Pregnancy After WLS" board. Most women on there were saying their doctors made them be at a stable weight for 6 months before encouraging a pregnancy. Since I still have a ways to go it, the slower I lose, the longer we have to wait.

Steve is going with me to the surgeon this afternoon for my 6 month checkup. I'll ask him what his criteria are and we need to settle on a goal weight. I peeked at their computer one time and saw their goal for me at 135, which I think is just crazy. I weighed more than that in high school. I would be happy at 160 or 165. So we'll see what happens. I'll write a follow-up to that appt.

6 months, 100 lbs - pictures

I didn't take a picture prior to the pre-op diet. Before the pre-op diet, I weighed 324 lbs. I lost 11 lbs. during pre-op so these before pictures are at 313 lbs.

Before:

After: 224 lbs (100 lbs lost)
Before:After: 224 lbs (100 lbs lost)

Before:After: 224 lbs (100 lbs lost)
What a difference!

6 months

In some ways, I can't believe today marks 6 months since my surgery. In other ways, I feel like the time is dragging! Today was a big milestone - not only has it been 6 months since my surgery, but I've also hit the 100 lbs loss mark with a total loss of 100.3 lbs! I'll take it! I am very proud of my loss but I still have at least 60 lbs to go. I have to keep my eye on the prize and lately, I've been losing very slowly. (TMI alert) I actually got a period on my own, which is a huge deal for me! 4/5-4/11, which means I probably didn't lose weight that week. But I wouldn't know because I was too scared to weigh! Anyway, I've only been losing about 1 lb/week which is in the right direction but not as quickly as I'd like. At that pace, it would take me over a year longer to lose the rest of the weight - and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to maintain that because gradually I'll be able to eat a little more and take in more calories. The "honeymoon" period is already over and it only gets harder from here! This is when it kicks in that the surgery is only a tool. It enables me to make healthier choices and also got me to a size that is comfortable so I can exercise.

Part of the reason I think my weight loss has slowed is because of LIQUID CALORIES. BOOOO. See, I gave up artificial sweeteners but couldn't do plain water without getting nauseous. So I started flavoring my water with 100% fruit juice. Slowly, I went from 1/4 juice in my drink to 1/2 juice in my drink. Then, my hubs bought me a fantastic new tumbler - which I love - and it has encouraged me to drink more. Which is usually great! But, I'm just drinking more juice. About 1/2 a bottle a day. I calculated it today and it's 480 calories a day just in juice. That is ridiculous. Especially since most wls patients only take in 600-700 calories a day in the weight loss phase (as opposed to the maintenance phase). Sooooo...what's a girl to do? I hate to do this, but I think I'm going back to Crystal Light for now. I actually didn't notice a difference when I stopped using artificial sweeteners - no boost of energy or anything like that. Psychologically, I'm much happier not using them. But I can't sabotage my weight loss like this. There is a new Crystal Light called Pro Fitness or something like that and it uses real sugar to sweeten it - just a little. Unfortunately, it only comes in three flavors and they are very tart. I can't stand drinking tart things all day - it's like only drinking lemonade - it gets old very fast. So we'll see. I just know that I need to cut down on juice.

Tonight, Steve and I went to the gym at my work for the first time! I went 30 minutes on the treadmill at 3.0 speed. I'll work my way up, but I was maintaining a "weight loss" heart rate the majority of the time (except for warm-up and cool down). It feels great working out - I only hope I keep it up. I always go through these phases in life. I used to go through diet phases - I would have never kept up 6 months of healthy eating if it wasn't for the sleeve. If only there was a surgery that forced me to exercise!

I had my annual exam with my gynecologist last week. In addition to the usual unpleasantness, I spoke to him about my weight loss, PCOS bloodwork (need to get that done), and TTC. He said that he'll be curious to see how my body cycles once I'm under a BMI of 30 (I'm at 36.2 now). Me too! My next appointment with the bariatric surgeon is 4/27. I'm going to ask him about when he'll clear me for TTC - before surgery he said 12-18 months. I'd like to know when he'll give me to ok - do I have to be at a certain weight for a certain period of time? Anyway, Steve is going to come with me so I have his support too. I'm soooo eager to start trying - Steve too. We can't wait to have a little munchkin. We've been picking out names to keep us patient. It helps us to feel like we are still moving towards that point. We've also begun thinking about nursery plans. It's somewhat embarrassing to admit these things, but it does help us during this waiting period. 6 months down and at least 6 months to go!