Hi! Well...here I am...on Weight Loss Lane. AGAIN. What is different this time? Picture a path in the woods. You know how you can go in so far and still see where you started from? Well, I've turned the corner. I can't see my food past any more. I still have a ways to go before I see my through the woods, but I have so many awesome path markers....my beautiful daughter Emily who is on the journey too, my spitfire Abbey-Jeanne with whom I cannot wait to keep up, friends near and far, a great surgical team, and most of all a great inner motivation to be healthy and live a long happy life.

I'm on Day 5 of strict 30 carbs/day....I'm not going to lie....it is TOUGH. The first few days I felt sluggish, draggy, tired, cranky, irritable, anxious, etc. Not to mention incredibly stupid. Its like someone turned my brain on low. Last night I had enough energy to play with Abbey-Jeanne (5 1/2) for a little while, and I woke up well this morning. I will say that I am not feeling deprived of food. Why would I? I LOVE MEAT! High protein, low carb is good for carnivores! lol. The only thing I did that kinda sucked was using regular sugar in my coffee, but now I'm using Splenda so I can use my carbs on more fun things like broccoli. LOL. BUT. The whole point of this is two-fold- during the surgery itself, the surgeon has to manipulate the liver, which is brittle and full of blood- if I can shrink it enough it will lessen the chance of nicking it during surgery. Also, the more weight I lose before hand, the easier the surgery will be and the shorter the recovery time. I'm already facing potential complications from a hernia and old operations, so I have to give my surgeon *something*, right?

I've already been to the Seminar, the Nutrition Counseling, and the Psych Eval. On 5/31 I get to go to my first of 6 Physician Supervised Weight Loss sessions. After that, I will have a meeting with the surgeon, then all the paperwork will be submitted to Aetna and then the surgery will be scheduled. And then? The *real* journey will begin...a new way of life. The surgery will help me control my portion sizes, while this summer of low carb eating will get me in the habit of healthy eating.

Not looking forward so much to the liquids only portion of the regime, but its just a rock to climb over on the path, right? I can do it!!