Well, I'm officially one week out.  I feel really great!  I went to the doc two days ago, and weighed in at 12 lbs. less than I had 12 days earlier, at my appointment one week pre op.  I'm thrilled with that!  I don't expect to continue at this pace - that'd be unreasonable.  But I'm on a roll!  It's amazing how much easier it is to keep going than it is to start.  Once you see results, you're inspired to keep at it.  Pretty soon it's gonna start showing.  I really do feel like my pants are already fitting better.

I charged up the Fit Bit and am getting used to wearing that again.  I'll be honest and say that I haven't been getting many steps in, but it's a mindset thing.  I've updated all my stats in my Fitbit profile so it's accurate.  This morning I weighed myself and put that figure in.  Doc wants me to weigh myself once a week now and keep track.

My achy shoulders have completely subsided, and my bloating is much more under control.  I'm having regular bowel movements again (which is what I'm sure the problem was) after surgery.  That always takes me a few days after surgery to get over, and I always feel better after that.  My wounds are closed completely and the bruising around them is actually more evident than the actual wounds at this point.  Another week and that'll be all gone, too.  They're purple, red, yellow and brown now, vs. the blue and they were before.

Doc says that in another month, he'll tighten (fill) the band - that right now, my body is still healing and it's too early with swelling to do that.  Right now, he's not concerned about weight loss so much as he is with me getting used to my new band.  He wants me to start getting used to how quickly I should eat, to following the rules for food he's set out for me, and just generally healing.  So my next appt. is Dec. 13th to get a tightening.  Now I've graduated from liquids back to solids - completely and suddenly.  It's been no problem.

Here are the 5 main rules the doc laid out for me:

1. No consumption of any liquid calories.  I can have liquids all I want - as long as they're calorie-free.  Water, powdered calorie-free drinks like Crystal Light, iced tea with Splenda, or Diet Snapple.  All fine.  No milk, juices, etc.  At.All.  It won't make me feel full, and it's just empty calories.
2. Only eat when hungry.  EVER.  He said not to get caught up in thinking that you need to consume to lose, or that your metabolism is going to slow down, etc.  The less calories you eat, the more you lose.  So don't eat unless your body is telling you that you need to.  And then, ONLY.SOLIDS.  They take up room and make you feel full.  Don't eat anything that melts when eating it - like iced cream, frosties, popsicles.  They're all going to turn into liquids and you'll still feel empty but you've just consumed a lot of calories unnecessarily and it will hamper the weight loss.
3. Diet should consist of low/no carbs.  Eat foods high in protein first - followed by veggies.  No breads, rice, rice cakes, potatoes or other starchy vegetables (sweet potatoes, corn).  Meat, fish, shellfish and other unprocessed meats is great - lean versions.  Grill or steam.  Followed by some steamed veggies.  Other allowable foods are beans, low-fat cheeses, eggs, and nuts.  Says nuts should be in small quantities, though - get some you need to crack while you're eating or you'll overeat.
4. Don't drink while eating.  You can go out to dinner and celebrate with family and live like normal.  You can have 16 glasses of water or Spenda-sweetened iced tea prior to your food arriving.  But as soon as that food arrives, have them take your water away.  NO drinking while eating - it pushes your food down past the band and makes the band pointless.  You eat the protein first, followed by the veggies - until you're full - about 6 minutes of normal speed eating.  Then STOP.  After I have my band tightened, I need to ask myself at that point if I'm still hungry.  If not, then stop eating.  If so, then have a bit more - but then call the doctor for another band tightening.  Apparently over time, the bands will need to be re-filled.  I guess the tightening lasts longer and longer each time you do it. Maybe in the beginning, a tightening will only last a week - 10 days.  Then a few weeks.  Eventually, they'll last for a few months at at time.
5. I can't remember rule #5.  Lol.  But I will add that after eating, I shouldn't drink for another 60-90 minutes.  This gives the food time to sit in my pouch and digest slowly.  Drink all I want after that, and in-between meals.  I may feel uncomfortable after eating - like I'm hiccuping (I've already experienced this) or feeling like my food is stuck.  That means my pouch is full, or I'm eating too fast.  Slow down.  Chew more.  But do NOT do what comes natural and take a big swig of something to alleviate the symptoms - that just pushes the food down and turns what's left in the stomach into mush - which goes down much more quickly than solids.  Learn over time what this discomfort is telling you on how slowly or how much you can eat.

I'm still hungry.  I'm eating meals the size that I should be, but it's definitely not enough.  And I can eat way more than that (although I've been cutting myself off) because I don't want to get sick, and I do want to lose weight.  A little hunger never hurt anyone, right?  But I am looking forward to getting my band tightened in a month.  Because I think then it'll just be that much easier to eat those small amounts and feel satisfied.  Right now my biggest challenge is late evening - when I would normally have been shacking on trash.  Now I try to eat something filling and good for me - like cottage cheese and some cut fruit (mangos are the BEST, as are berries).  Or I have a few pieces of low-fat string cheese (I just eat them in chunks).  Seems to be working so far.  I'm having a really difficult time resisting my hot tea that I've had at bedtime nearly every night of my adult life - heavily sweetened.  I'm going to have to see if I can have artificial sweetener with that and make it tolerable.  I'm thinking not, but we shall see.

Otherwise, so far, so good!  I really did think this surgery would be pretty easy, and it was WAY easier than I thought it would be.  I'm hoping this is the tool I needed to get started and stay on track.  I'm counting on it.