I am feeling great!! Here are the stats:

25 since the start of my pre-op! 46 over all from my highest! WHOOP WHOOP! I can’t believe I am a scant 3 lbs away from my 240s… which I haven’t seen since 2005!! Then when I reach 230-235, I am going to try on my wedding dress from my second wedding – I am greedily hoping that day will be June 19 – the same day I take my Motorcycle drivers test. Two victories in one day will be quite fitting I think! 17 lbs in 26 days? It’s possible… but the journey is amazing.

My clothes are fitting better, I see a difference in my face and I can feel the difference in my tummy – and my incisions are ITCHY!!! (Which means they are healing nicely!)

The first week of clear liquids got to me a little bit… I was missing the comfort feeling of food, although I must say I wasn’t feeling hungry in the traditional sense. I have read that quite a few people have had trouble getting their protein in, so I am glad that I tried a few products before surgery, because the one I have, Alpine Punch by Isopure, is super easy to get in and digest. It mixes just like Crystal Light, and the consistency is nice and thin. I also opted for G2 Gatorade over the last two weeks instead of water, to ensure my electrolytes stay exactly where they need to be. I have been taking a chewable multivitamin, B12 and Caltrate every day 2x, along with finishing my prescriptions. I am down to one left (my acid blocker), twice a day for 45 more days… so that will just be daily routine with vitamins for some time to come.

Needless to say by the time day 8 came, I could not wait to eat some low fat cottage cheese and thicker soups!! I made two recipes that are absolutely delicious!! Celery Root soup, and Curried Sweet Potato. On their own they do not offer much in the way of protein but they have proven to be great low cal, healthy tummy trainers and have helped me experiment with how fast or slow and how much to eat. I’ll post the recipes below. I have also had a zero fat yogurt here and there, and decaf coffee with cream from Tim Hortons. That’s pretty exciting stuff, although I have noticed that the added fat in the cream tends to travel at the speed of light (sorry TMI) however, at this point I am using that as a tool!

Monday starts the mushy foods “Things I could eat if I had no teeth” phase and I am pretty darn excited about that! Mmmmm…. Baked fish, Scrambled eggs, hummus! I can’t wait!!

I don’t think there is much more to say at this point. Doing really well, feeling great. Oh, and last week I contacted my surgeon; Dr. Rodriguez via email because I had a question and he responded within 30 minutes. I will never be able to express how amazing he and his surgical team are.

Highly recommended!!

Celery Root Soup

Ingredients:

• Small Chopped Onion
  
• 1 tbsp of butter / margarine
  
• 4 cups of chicken broth (low sodium is best)
  
• 2 tsp of thyme
  
• 1 large celery root
  

Preparation:

• Peel and chop celery root into small cubes, set aside
  
• Place onion and butter over medium heat in a pot and simmer until onion is soft
  
• Pour chicken broth into pot with onions/butter and add in chopped up celery root (there should be enough broth to cover all vegetable)
  
• Add thyme
  
• Add broth and bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until celery root is tender.
  
• With immersion blender or in blender, puree soup.
  

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes (2-1/4 lb)
  
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 tbsp minced gingerroot, (or 1 tsp/5 mL ground ginger)
  
• 2 tsp mild curry paste (or curry powder with a touch of water to make a paste)
  
• 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
  

Preparation

• Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 1/2-inch (1 cm) cubes; set aside.
  
• In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; cook onion, garlic, gingerroot and curry paste, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes or until softened.
  
• Add sweet potatoes; stir for 1 minute or until coated.
  
• Add broth and bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
  
• With immersion blender or in blender, puree soup.
  

CHEERS!