Today marks 7 weeks since I had my surgery. I did not weigh today because I have an appointment on Wednesday and will wait until then. I am still feeling great and have no complications to report.

The first thing I want to make note of is post-exercise restriction. I have noticed that after exercise, it seems as if the sleeve constricts, as it is hard to even get a decent amount a water down within the 45 minutes (or so) following exercise. My concern is that water is so important before, during and after exercise and this issue temporarily hinders my ability to get in fluids when I need it most.

I've noticed this over the past two weeks so I decided to wait until Wednesday to speak with my surgeon about it. In the meantime, the workaround that I use is to consume a sugar free Popsicle after working out simply for the sake of getting in some form of hydration until I can really drink water like I need to. I do not know why this happens to me but I can only guess that the muscle contractions that take place during and after exercise contribute to it. I do not do concentrated abdominal work but I do do work that use core muscles.

I'll use that to segue into my next topic. I do not have a gym membership. I'm a very busy person and I hate traffic so at the end of the work day, I know that I will not go. I also refuse to wake up before the sun shines through my windows to work out so the gym is not an option for me. What has helped me more than anything is body weight exercises (squats, lunges, push-ups, etc), running and HIIT training. I also like using DVD's.

For those of you who are like me (gym-avoidant), I thought I'd give a list of the DVD's I am currently using and that I like. They are:

Lean Hot Body (Patrick Goudeau)- about an hour long and combines cardio and strength

Peak 10 Cardio Strength (Michelle Dozois)- similar to Lean Hot Body but has levels that build into higher intensities

Peak 10 Cardio Interval Burn (Michelle Dozois)- pure cardio

Cross Fire (Cathe Friedrich)- HIIT that also uses weights

Chiseled (Toby Massenburg)- strength training combined with high intensity cardio that involves a step bench

I don't do these everyday. I like to mix it up, lest I get bored. However, I would highly recommend these videos because they are straightforward and non-cheesy.

The next development is my use of almond milk. Let me just say that the transition to skim milk was very hard for me. I just don't believe in see-through milk. Further, the carb count of skim milk is not something that I am willing to acquiesce to at this point. This weekend, I started to miss my cappuccino so I had to try to come up with something that would do. At Whole Foods, I found some espresso and as I perused the diary section and could not find the low-carb milk I was used to so I took a chance and picked up some almond milk.

I purchased the unsweetened vanilla variety that only has 40 calories for 8oz. and 2 grams of carbohydrates. Both of these figures have skim milk beat. I made a cappuccino with this milk and I must say, it was quite satisfactory. Almond milk smells wonderful and it's not see-through either. If you are lactose intolerant, this may be a viable option for you. I also used this milk when I made myself a hot chocolate using Ghirardelli's unsweetened cocoa powder (15 calories and 3 grams of carbs per serving). I know we are always told not to drink calories but the 55 calories in that cup of hot chocolate was so worth it.

For the potato chip lovers, I also discovered that Whole Foods sells "chips" made only out of parmesan cheese. They come in 1 serving containers in the hot soup area. They are crispy like chips but only made out of parmesan cheese (I guess they bake them because they aren't oily). They are delicious and I ate them with my soup. Although they are only 1oz. servings, it took me a couple of days to eat them all.

Anyway, that's all for now. Happy losing!