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One month post-surgery update
It's been a month since I had gastric bypass surgery and things are going pretty well! I'm eating more "normal" foods, including steak, salads, and other non-soft-foods (Dustin is jealous, because at one-month out he couldn't eat any of the things I can!). I can't have extremely fatty or sugary foods, of course, but it's nice to be eating something other than mashed potatoes. :-) As long as I remember to eat slowly and chew thoroughly, then I don't have any problems. I still don't have any feeling of hunger or satiated, so it's hard to remember to eat 5 - 6 small meals a day. I'm up to about 4 meals a day, but even that's hard to accomplish sometimes.
Through this whole ordeal, I've been trying to be very conscious of my body and follow my body's cues. The bariatric program gives you guidelines on what you should be eating at each post-op stage, how much you should be eating, etc. While I'm not eating more than the full cup of food per meal, sometimes I eat only half a cup of food. I certainly haven't stuck to the soft-foods diet they recommend, either. It's been difficult, more psychologically than physically, to not be able to understand what my body is telling me. Is that pang in my side because I need to eat, or is it because I ate raw carrots three hours ago? Am I nauseous because I'm full or because I ate the wrong thing? All of those cues that I once knew are foreign to me. It's a bit stressful.
I've lost 34 pounds, which is right on track for what they want you to lose in the first month. It's funny - I thought I would be weighing myself every day, but I really don't think about it that often, only about twice a week. I'm not as concerned with the number on the scale as much as I am about being healthy. It's the right attitude, but it's a lot different than my weigh-himself-twice-a-day husband. :-) My clothes are looser, though I haven't dropped down a size yet (I probably can, but it's habit to just pull out the same clothes every day at 6:30 a.m.). I'm feeling better, too - although I still don't have my normal energy (or more!), I'm not as exhausted as I was a couple of weeks ago. Between having major surgery and my body adjusting to starving itself (I'm only taking in about 500 calories a day), I was getting pretty fatigued.
It was nice to ease back into work. Since we had so much snow last week, I had to work from home, which made it easier to transition back to work (I could take micronaps if needed, I didn't have to worry about the two-hour commute, etc). I'm SO glad to be back at work, though - after three weeks of a vacation and another week of being home-bound due to the snow, I was going stir crazy. I missed my coworkers! I missed being a productive member of society! I missed being BUSY!
I also missed my raccoons - even though I hardly interact with them now, it was hard for me not to check on them in the weeks after surgery. I didn't want to risk it, though - with five little (bullet-hole sized) incision sites on my stomach, the last thing I needed was to be mobbed by raccoons with sharp claws who want to play with me.
I've got my one-month post-op appointment with the surgeon scheduled for next week, at which point I'll (hopefully) be cleared to lift more than 10 pounds (I've been cheating occasionally) and resume normal activity and start exercising. I'm looking forward to it!
Through this whole ordeal, I've been trying to be very conscious of my body and follow my body's cues. The bariatric program gives you guidelines on what you should be eating at each post-op stage, how much you should be eating, etc. While I'm not eating more than the full cup of food per meal, sometimes I eat only half a cup of food. I certainly haven't stuck to the soft-foods diet they recommend, either. It's been difficult, more psychologically than physically, to not be able to understand what my body is telling me. Is that pang in my side because I need to eat, or is it because I ate raw carrots three hours ago? Am I nauseous because I'm full or because I ate the wrong thing? All of those cues that I once knew are foreign to me. It's a bit stressful.
I've lost 34 pounds, which is right on track for what they want you to lose in the first month. It's funny - I thought I would be weighing myself every day, but I really don't think about it that often, only about twice a week. I'm not as concerned with the number on the scale as much as I am about being healthy. It's the right attitude, but it's a lot different than my weigh-himself-twice-a-day husband. :-) My clothes are looser, though I haven't dropped down a size yet (I probably can, but it's habit to just pull out the same clothes every day at 6:30 a.m.). I'm feeling better, too - although I still don't have my normal energy (or more!), I'm not as exhausted as I was a couple of weeks ago. Between having major surgery and my body adjusting to starving itself (I'm only taking in about 500 calories a day), I was getting pretty fatigued.
It was nice to ease back into work. Since we had so much snow last week, I had to work from home, which made it easier to transition back to work (I could take micronaps if needed, I didn't have to worry about the two-hour commute, etc). I'm SO glad to be back at work, though - after three weeks of a vacation and another week of being home-bound due to the snow, I was going stir crazy. I missed my coworkers! I missed being a productive member of society! I missed being BUSY!
I also missed my raccoons - even though I hardly interact with them now, it was hard for me not to check on them in the weeks after surgery. I didn't want to risk it, though - with five little (bullet-hole sized) incision sites on my stomach, the last thing I needed was to be mobbed by raccoons with sharp claws who want to play with me.
I've got my one-month post-op appointment with the surgeon scheduled for next week, at which point I'll (hopefully) be cleared to lift more than 10 pounds (I've been cheating occasionally) and resume normal activity and start exercising. I'm looking forward to it!
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The emotional side of weightloss is so complicated.
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Yes, the emotional side is extremely complicated. I've been so used to being "the fat girl" that it's hard for me to understand that might change (and I am SO afraid of getting my hopes up, so I use words like "might" a lot). I'm used to listening to my body, but that's no longer possible. It's very hard. It doesn't help that I'm TRYING to eat food, so I make foods that I enjoy (like tacos or spaghetti), but when it's time to eat, I'm not hungry at all so I only eat a little bit. The idea of eating anything is just so unappealing right now.
The stigma associated with weight loss surgery is hard, too - a lot of people think it's the "easy way out" and it's just a way that I can "continue to be lazy" and crap like that. It's hard, but I've learned to ignore the haters.
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But yeah, I hear you about going stir-crazy. Glad you are back out there, being awesome. Wish you a speedy continued recovery and the all-clear from your doctor. :)
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I don't know how you northerners do it. Do you just have lots of inside activities? Do you go outside anyway? I was about to get all "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" on people.
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Yes. My neighbor and I are going out shopping and to a bar tonight. It's 2 degrees, wind chill close to 20 below. :)
I felt so badly for you guys with all your snow and ice! It's terrible to want to go places but not be able to.
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Tell me about this 'so much snow' you've had. ;)
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Hey now, when you have 10 snow plows and 8 salt trucks in a metropolis area with a population of nearly 6 million people.... you do the math. ;-) Our six inches doesn't have anything on your snow, but we don't have the infrastructure to deal with it!
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Personally, I don't need a photobooth anymore (because my wedding is over).
I was just trying to spread the info on a cool discount.
Thanks for keeping an eye on the community, though!
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