3 month surgiversary

Nov 08, 2010

Well, as of last Wednesday, I was 3 months out. I have lost 45 pounds as of today, and am mostly happy. Like many others, I wish I were losing a little faster, but as long as I can get near goal I don't care how long it takes.

I have found that so far each month of my journey has had a theme:

Month 1: Frustration
I had no surgery complications or anything, but that first month really sucked. I had a bad case of buyers remorse while I was in an 18 day stall. I had trouble with all the dairy you end up eating while on full liquids. The puree stage (which I dreamed about when I was on liquids) ended up being WORSE than liquids. All protein supplements tasted like rancid milk. I was exhausted all the time. I think the majority of people here can relate. The first 4 weeks blows.

Month 2: Protein, protein, protein
My life this month revolved around protein. I gave up trying to find a "tasty" supplement and instead tried to get in my 60g+ through food. Kind of hard to do when you can only eat 1-2 oz at a time. I was in a state of mild panic most of this month because I knew I was lacking in protein. I didn't even bother with vitamins at this point, the protein battle so consumed me. I would have massive guilt if anything non-protein passed my lips. At the end of this month, I met with my surgeon and he laid down the law: Get 60g protein per day thru supplements. Any additional protein thru food after that was just bonus. My nut said my meals should be 4 oz with 2 oz being protein and 2 oz being "good" carbs. Needless to say I spent a day or two angry, frustrated and rebellious. I mean, how on earth could I get in that much protein thru supplements when I couldn't stand the taste or smell of them???

Month 3: The battle of Carbs
I quickly resolved my 60g protein thru suppements battle when I found that I could handle protein mixed in my coffee creamer, and that blue raspberry Isopure is my best friend. Now I get 24g per day in my coffee and 40g perday from the Isopure - 64g! I have been averaging 80-100g protein per day! I could have never imagined this in Month 1. Ahhhh, but now that the protein battle has passed, a new one takes it's place: CARBS. I love carbs, they have always been my downfall pre-op. At the beginning of Month 3 I conducted the great ice cream experiement. It was a dangerous experiment - like the WLS version of the Philadelphia Experiment. It could have seriously exploded in my face. BUT - I took the risk and discovered that not just ice cream, but ALL sugary food now leaves a very bad chemical taste in my mouth.

That victory aside, I still am prone to giving into the wiles of crackers, popcorn and potatoes. Plain ol protein day in and day out has been getting very boring. By the end of Month 3, however, I start noticing the tickers of other people here on OH who had their VSG about the same time as me and had similar starting weights. They have lost 60, 70, even 80 pounds already! I had only just broken the 40 pound mark. I am only losing 1-2 pounds a week. What is WRONG with me??? Could it be the carbs? Since I cannot eat eggs and the thought of eating chicken or tuna or whatever for breakfast turns my stomach, I had been eating a protein bar every day. They average about 25g carbs each, but also have lots of undesirable ingredients like sugar alcohols and even HFCS!!! I decided a week ago NO MORE PROTEIN BARS. I made up a batch of low-carb protein mini muffins off the Eggface website instead and have those with my protein coffee instead. As a result - I lost 3 pounds this week. Not the 5 pounds I am hoping to attain, but much better than 1 pound! I am still battling other carbs, though, and it is a daily struggle.

Looking to the future - Month 4: Drink it up and sweat it out!
This next month I want to tackle water and the gym. I am only getting in about 40 ounces of fluids a day, and that's only if you count the 12oz of coffee I'm having. I know I need more. I also want to go back to the gym. I actually exercised MORE pre-op than I do now. I was going 4 days a week. Now I haven't gone to a class in about a month. I am always tired and find a million excuses to not go. I want to change this, just not sure how I will motivate myself. I believe that between these 2 things I could pump up that weekly loss to 4-5 pounds though, that should be motivation enough. Wish me luck!

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