MKCMom

I've seen people on this board talk about Quest protein bars and how good they are. I've even seen a few people say that, for them, these bars are a trigger food and that they couldn't keep them in the house; but I could never understand it. To me, protein bars are the kind of food that you tolerate or choke down, but never one that you crave. Until this weekend, when I had my first Quest bar and now I get it. Those things are delicious and I could totally see myself over-eating them!

Yes! 5 to 6 days a week. I walk 3 or 4 days a week and work out with a trainer two days a week. I few weeks ago, I pulled a muscle and had to take 10 days off and I felt sluggish and tired by the end of it. I used to roll my eyes at those people that always said that exercising gave them energy, and now I am one of them!

I started to feel hunger at about 5 weeks out. I deal with it by drinking liquid first. I feel more hungry on days when I am not getting enough Water. Then, if I still feel hungry 30 minutes later, I go ahead and eat something. I try to go three hours between meals/snacks. As for going back to work, I used to snack all day at my desk. I never really noticed how much I was eating because I was doing it while I worked, and because I was eating healthy foods-- just too much of it. So, I don't keep Snacks in my office anymore. I have Protein shakes and that's it. My lunch goes in the fridge in the kitchen. If I've eaten my lunch and feel hungry, I can have a Protein shake or take a walk to go buy food. If I am hungry enough to drink a protein shake, then it's probably legitimate hunger. If all I want is a brownie, then I'm going to have to leave my office and walk three blocks to get one. I don't usually have time for that!

I work out with other people that will give me a hard time if I try to bail! I walk three mornings a week with a few friends and I work out with a trainer two mornings a week. I run with my daughter on Sundays. All of those people have permission to harass me if I try to cancel, and they do! That worked to get me started. Now I look forward to it and feel icky on the days I skip my workout.

I had a cheeseburger from McDonalds last weekend. We were out running errands and I forgot to grab my bag with my healthy Snacks, I was starving and I am allergic to chicken, so cheeseburger it was. I ate about 1/2 and I have to say, it was not that great. Not nearly as delicious as I used to think.

I took a week off. The first few days back, I was really tired and wishing I had more time off, but still did OK. I was pretty much back in full swing by the following week.

Be sure and let your surgeon know that you've been taking megadoses of vitamin C. Some studies have shown that acts as a blood thinner. Other studies have shown that it interferes with certain anti-clotting drugs.

I am two months post-op and 4 of my 5 scars are faded enough that they don't look new. They are still visible, but don't jump out at you. I do have one that took longer to heal and it is still fairly visible and red. I think there is no way to predict how they will heal. How exciting to meet a great guy! If the relationship progresses, you will need to tell him at some point, but I don't know that he needs to know right now. I also kept my surgery private; only my husband knows.

I work in an office that definitely likes its alcohol. We even have a conference room with a liquor cabinet. But, I decided that I would avoid alcohol until I get to goal. In addition to the calories in the alcohol, after a drink or two, I like to eat junk-- more calories. I don't miss the drinking nearly as much as I thought I would. When people ask what I am doing to lose weight (I kept my surgery private), I tell them that cutting out alcohol is part of my program. Nobody has batted an eye. My surgeon said no alcohol for 3 months post-op, and I do plan to starting drinking once in a while after I get to goal. I'll figure out my 'rules' for that when I get there.

Day 4 was the hardest for me. By then, I was hungry and getting cravings and 10 more days felt like forever! (My pre -op was 14 days). But, I had done a six week liquid diet about 4 years ago (attempt #47 to lose the weight ) so I knew I could get through it and I knew that day 4 was the toughest for me. Once I survived that, the rest wasn't too bad. I was still hungry a lot, and I did end up cheating one day (invited to lunch with the CEO and some other bigwigs and didn't want to miss that lunch or talk about my liquid diet, so I just ate a little bit and pushed food around on my plate...). You can do this. It's harder mentally than physically but you can totally do liquid for 7 days!

I was NPO for about 36 hours and I was really worried about how I would survive it, but it was not nearly as bad as I expected. I woke up from surgery nauseated, but once that calmed down I was fine until after my leak test.

I mixed PB2 into some of my shakes during my pre-op.

I have been using chewable and gummies and it's been fine. It's like my "candy" throughout the day.

I've lost 34 lbs and very few people have commented. In fact, someone recently asked me if my husband had lost weight because he was looking thinner. (He hasn't). I think some people are clueless. I was ~ 80 lbs over weight and when I told one of my friends that I was hoping to lose that much, she was shocked and had pegged me at about 10 lbs overweight. Other people may notice but just not say anything.

I am 6 weeks out and just started working out every day in the last two weeks. I work out in the morning before work because I know I won't want to in the evening. And, I work out with other people which makes it harder for me to flake. I walk with two friends on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. On Tuesday and Thursday, I do strength training with a personal trainer. Then on the weekends. I try to do something with the kids-- bike ride, hike, basketball, etc. I don't worry as much about getting a "real" workout on the weekend if I've made it to all 5 of my weekday workouts. So far, it's working well for me, though I will admit that I am a bit hungrier and I am ready for bed by about 8:30 pm!