Anyone starting their journey in San Diego Kaiser?

[plussizecrossfitter 9]

Thank you!! Yup, that helps a lot!

[The Candidate 3,215]

Kristina, thanks so much! That is extremely helpful. We really really appreciate you taking the time to type that out. I've thought of another couple of questions, if you don't mind? How much of the class time was devoted to exercise? Were you required to turn in food and exercise logs each week? Did they discuss how much weight you were or weren't losing as far as meeting the 10 percent? is there a lot of class participation or is it mostly lecture? Thanks again for your help!

Jen, can't wait to hear how your class went tonight and how much if any it differs from mine. I hope you find it enjoyable and informative. I'm interested in how big your class size is as well. I'm guessing there will be a lot of juggling for surgery slots if both our classes (and probably the other place where classes are being held) will all be graduating at the same time.

@Lidawtee, hope your surgery went well yesterday and you're doing well.

Debbie

[plussizecrossfitter 9]

=) Debbie, I totally agree with you on the juggling for spots! I really want to lose the 10% so that I'm one of the first in line for my class! Fingers crossed that all goes well for us!

Ugh I hate weighing in at night... It fluctuates sooo much in the evening! What time is you class? Mine's at 7pm.

Jen

[The Candidate 3,215]

I just hope I'm awake enough to get on the scale. I get up at 3am to be at work by 6am, so it's going to be a very long day. But since I get off at 2:45pm I plan to workout for an hour or two before class, so maybe that will help the numbers! My classes start at 7pm too. Sounds like they've got this whole program coordinated to run on a precisely timed schedule.

[Photo925 100]

I'm so happy that I can help and share my experience so I'm beyond happy to answer any questions!!! The amount of time spent on exercise in class depends on the teacher. My teacher spent tons of time, but there were classes that did none and some that just walked the building (after classes are complete, you have an appt to walk around the building four times to prove that you are at least healthy enough to do that because walking laps in the hospital is super important). So the amount of time depends on the teacher. My class did not have to turn in weekly logs, but there were classes that did and honestly it's a good habit to start developing.... I log everything since surgery and it's a great help to see trends!!

Everyone is different, so discussions about personal weight loss were difficult. There were times where we went around the class to talk about how we were doing, but only the teacher saw your weigh ins to see how you were doing....I found that when I did badly (cause my class took place through the holidays too!!) it was cathartic to just confess that you had done badly to help move in a positive way.

There is tons of class participation, but I suppose that this could be different based on the teacher also.

You guys are mostly right about the classes getting out at the same time. My class way actually told how lucky we were that no classes let out at the same time as ours. It still goes quickly though. Since all the after class appts are relatively short, they fit you in quickly and by the time you get to the surgeons, there are three of them to choose from and they do multiple surgeries most days.

Now, when I say it goes quick, it does, but that waiting for the different offices to call is the worst....it feels like forever!!! Plus if your class is close like mine was, you'll know when others start getting called and you'll stare at your phone just willing it to ring!!! But just be as patient as you can...once you get your date, everything flies by!!!

Kristina

[plussizecrossfitter 9]

Thank you Kristina! I will definitely try to be patient! It hasn't been easy... That's for sure!

Had my first class! It is full--21 people! Seems like a good class though. I like the teacher so far. We will definitely be doing exercise... (I'm good with that of course) And unfortunately... food logs. Definitely not my favorite thing but I'll live. My issue and frustration with food logs is how the heck do I write up eating at a restaurant that doesn't post their calories? Or thanksgiving? I've had issues with that for weight watchers but they usually have similar items you can gauge from!

They pushed Optifast high Protein a bit... Which I would like to avoid... I tried Optifast years ago and that was a disaster for me. Kristina, you mentioned Premier from Costco--did you like the taste?

First class was kind of formal. Overview of the program and signing some forms. We all introduced ourselves toward the end. Was happy because I only gained a pound between meeting with dr ray and today so that felt like a victory since I've been in food funeral mode, which happily, feels like it has ended =)

I finally feel like things are moving! I'm on my way! Hope your class goes well tomorrow Debbie! Let us know how it goes! (And oh my god, how far do you have to go to get to work if you have to get up at 3am??)

Have a great night all!

Jen

Edited November 13, 2014 by plussizecrossfitter

[The Candidate 3,215]

Thanks Kristina for answering my questions! Your first hand knowledge is invaluable. Jen, I'm so happy to know that your first class went so well. How nice it must be, psychologically, to cross that first mark off the 24 tally. I will let you know how my first class went tonight as well.

I actually don't have far to commute, I just need a little extra time to myself in the morning. Getting up earlier allows me to get a few extra things done. Plus I'm a morning person. Today's my trial by fire: office Thanksgiving luncheon with all the trimmings, but I'm resolved to stay strong! Wish me luck. Talk to you soon.

Debbie

[Photo925 100]

food logs are a necessary evil, but I think that you will find when you use one of the online options (Lose It or My Fitness Pal) they have a lot of restaurants listed in their database. If it isn't listed I always just do my best to guess. I find it harder when you eat at a friends house or somthing because you have no idea what they put in that food to make it!! So you have to just guess and not worry to much about complete accuracy. Exercise is the same way, different people burn calories at different rates, so when the treadmill tells you what you have burned, its just an average.

I love the premier Protein shakes from costco. Most of the people from my class stick to chocolate, but I like the vanilla. The surgeons are also really big on finding a Protein powder that works for you. They like the powders better because you can add more to help you get to the Protein number you have to reach each day. The powders are cool too because you can add stuff like frozen fruit or Peanut Butter to them to mix up the flavors. I personally always have a case of Premier Protein around because they are quick and easy in the morning. Premier is also good because its 30 g of protein and getting the 70-90 grams you need a day is extremely difficult without working in a good shake once a day.

Glad your first class went well!! That's a huge class, mine had maybe 14 by the time we were done, but we lost like 5 people after the first class.

Kristina

[plussizecrossfitter 9]

Hi Kristina,

I started tracking today. Definitely eye opening! I've done variations on weight watchers for 13 years and I'm not used to calories! Especially because WW doesn't count most fruit against you (they count as 0 points) so I eat a lot of fruit! Yeah, will be cutting back on that I see!

I will definitely check out the premier Protein shakes. Now when you say Protein Powder, is it different than a Protein shake powder? That's what I do now. I also have a logistics question... They told us we'll only have a 2 oz stomach... How do you drink a 12 oz shake? Very slowly? I feel kind of silly asking that but I'm very curious about all the logistics of a new tiny stomach!

I wondered if there might be some people that drop after the first class. It would definitely be more comfortable if there were fewer than 21 of us!

Thank you thank you thank you!

jen

[Photo925 100]

Ya..tracking calories is definitely eye opening!! And fruit is a tough one - still haven't even had much since surgery - I've put it in my shakes once or twice, but once you have surgery, your focus totally changes and you really only care about getting Protein in and once you have a small amount of Protein, you are pretty full, so fruit and veggies are very secondary! and fruit just isn't worth all the calories sometimes.

When I say protein powder - I mean the powder you buy vs the ready to drink shakes. The premier Protein Shakes are a ready to drink shake that are super handy to keep at work or for a morning when you are running late.

As for the size of your stomach and drinking - Im not positive about the 2oz thing, I think that its actually closer to 5 oz with the sleeve and 2oz with the bypass. Drinking is really only an issue in the first weeks after surgery. While in the hospital, you only drink out of this tiny little one ounce cup and they tell you to drink one ounce every 15 minutes. You don't start taking protein until after you get home. I would take and make a double Protein Shake in the morning and then just sip from the cup all day long until it was gone (some days I just couldn't finish it, but that was more because of getting sick of the taste rather than the full liquid feeling) Once I graduated to the creamy Protein Shakes, I could only have half of one at a time, so I would have have for Breakfast and half for lunch and then an egg for dinner.

An important thing my surgeon pushed after surgery is that you are only to eat three times a day and only what you can eat in a half hour and that's it. If you get hungry in between meals, you drink more water!! Snacking is a huge no no, which kinda goes against the thought process many people have with regards to eating small meals throughout the day to keep the metabolism up, but its easy to get used to, especially because most of the time you aren't ever hungry. I find that most of the time when I think Im hungry, its just because Im bored!!

Kristina

[The Candidate 3,215]

Hi Kristina and Jen,

Just got home from my first Options class. It was pretty good and we have a very small class. There was supposed to be 11, but only 10 showed up. I like the instructor as well, so I have high hopes.

The best thing was finding out I've lost 8 pounds since my appointment with Dr. Ray on 10/06. I felt like I'd lost some, but wasn't sure because I don't own a scale at home as I know I'll just drive myself crazy weighing myself everyday. I do very well with exercising but I struggle with the food, and I'm always hungry, so if my history of yo-yo dieting comes back to haunt me I don't know if I'll be able to meet the 10 percent goal and then keep it off before surgery. I'm going to try though.

I was stressing a little about the food and exercise logs but our instructor is very informal. She recommended My Fitness Pal but said we could do them on the back of a napkin if we want. She just wants to glance at them. We don't even have to turn them in and actually tallying the calories is optional. I'm planning to do it anyway though as it's something I want to get in the habit of doing after surgery as well.

All in all I liked it. And thanks to this forum and you guys I felt very well prepared. Thanks for everything!

[plussizecrossfitter 9]

Wow Debbie! 8 lbs! That's fantastic!! I wish I had been more like you! I'm glad your class went well and is small! My teacher recommended my fitness pal too which is what I downloaded and started using today. I like it a lot and Kristina, you weren't kidding when you said there was a lot of foods already in the program! I was thrilled when I found a bunch of fresh and easy foods. (I'm single--fresh and easy is awesome =) ) Also, I'm guessing my office is doing my birthday tomorrow and I know they're getting a cake, likely red velvet, from Von's (standard operating procedure) and amazingly myfitnesspal even had nutritional info for that!

My teacher said we could show her our app logs before class if we didn't want to write it down, so that's good.

I hit my 64oz of Water around 9:30am today... Safe to say I drink a lot of Water normally. Pretty impressive for someone who even 3 years ago hated water! It does help when your work has excellent filtered water and target brand and Kirkland bottled water are delicious!

Kristina, thank you for cluing me in on the Protein stuff! I was kind of shocked when Barbara said 2oz... And she said the bypass was only a 1oz stomach. Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll be ready for it when the time comes. Was surprised by the 3 times a day thing too. I had heard that we were supposed to eat every 3 hours with water in between. Another disparity between kaiser and pacific bariatric?

I find myself getting anxious... Like come on come on let's get this party moving!

Good night all!

Jen

[The Candidate 3,215]

Happy birthday, Jen! Hope you have a great one. And congrats on already hitting the 64 oz Water mark. I'm nowhere near that goal and I'm kind of worried about getting there. Unfortunately I'm one of those people who rarely drinks Water. If I can't seem to get it in now with a normal size stomach and digestive system, how am I going to manage it later? I was hoping maybe if I used the smaller size bottles than visually it wouldn't seem as much, but so far it isn't working. Are you using any special method to get it down, like timing your intake?

How is your foot doing? Has your doctor given any indication of when you'll be able to get back to full exercise mode? I know how much you love cross training so it must be so hard being sidelined. I meant to ask if you are using crutches or have a boot of some sort? I'm sure before you know it this injury will just seem like just a bad dream.

Oh btw, on that sheet they handed out showing the timeline for classes, is yours still going to be postponed the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's? Since you meet on Wednesdays, the day before each holiday, I thought maybe there was a chance you might not be affected. I was kind of hoping they might just move the day each of those weeks for us, but no such luck!

I know exactly how you feel with the anxiety, because I feel it too! It does feels great to finally be involved in the process again though, doesn't it, instead of just waiting for the days to pass. I don't think I've ever been more aware of how slowly time passes than I was this past month. It's a relief that part is finally over!

Debbie

[Photo925 100]

Hi,

Just a tip on Water intake. I had a hard time with this in the beginning also and a couple of things helped me.

1. Make a game of it....I used to put four bottles of Water on my desk in the morning and I couldn't go home for the day until I drank them all.

2. Crystal Light - Ya, you don't want to have this all the time, but it can help you get used to having to drink all the time. I like it better so I can mix it up as opposed to having just water.

3. Buy a fun cup - okay, this one sounds silly, but I saw a thing on pinterest where the lady had a water bottle that was 32oz. She marked the sides with times so that she would know if she was behind (she had to get the water level to a certain point my the time marked) she had two of them..one for morning and one for afternoon

I don't think I've mentioned this, but I think the most important thing to do during the time frame of class is to give up anything that you are addicted to and cannot have after surgery during the course of class. I was very addicted to caffeine and drank 3-4 monster energy drinks a day. I weened myself off them slowly, but had I waited until surgery, it would have been rough!! (Plus I'm not positive, but I think you cannot have nicotine in your system for a certain time period before surgery) So if you are addicted to caffeine, liquor or nicotine, I suggest that giving that up be your first step!!

I totally hear you on having to skip classes at the holidays, we had to skip two weeks during my classes, it sucks because you want the process to keep moving, but also because you stop doing classes for a bit during a really easy time to gain weight...we all came back weighing more than before

Have a great day all,

Kristina

[plussizecrossfitter 9]

Thank you for the birthday wishes =) I know my life is going to change big time this year!

I am very sensitive to the taste of Water, so that's why I've had difficulty in the past. I can't stand our tap Water so I definitely went the crystal light route to drink water. I had to when I started weight watchers all those years ago. Loved the lemonade variety the best. They're wonderful because you can get the water bottle packs which are really easy. It slowly has evolved into loving lots of water. It makes me feel soo much better. I have a harder time on the weekend because i have to drink bottled water, but I can see a huge difference in how I feel if I don't get enough. I thought I was going to need a transition drink, like iced tea, after I gave up soda. Nope! I just drink even more water!

My foot is frustrating! It felt like it was doing better until one night this week... I had a dream I was running and I was thinking "you shouldn't be running! Your foot isn't healed yet!" And my foot has been bothering me ever since! I sincerely hope I was not running half naked around my complex at 3am that night! They didn't give me a boot or crutches because honestly I didn't know it was broken for almost 4 months! I been to the doctor multiple times and had x-rays twice but it wasn't until I went to the podiatrist did I find out I broke the silly thing! I'm STILL waiting for kaiser to call and set up that appointment! Supposedly I'm on a priority list but I have been for a month and a half! I just want that part of my life back to normal!

My classes end on May the 4th, which is kind of awesome... (I'm not a Star Wars fanatic but I kinda like that my last class sends me off with May the for(th)ce be with you =) ) Ours does meet on the day before thanksgiving so I'm guessing you'll be a week behind me.

I've pretty much weened myself off caffeine when I gave up soda. I do the occasional cup of caffeinated tea and a 5 hour energy on my cleaning days but that's about it. I used to get a lot of caffeine. Do we get to have caffeine sometime after the surgery?

They told us NO SMOKING. They will not perform the surgery if you do, and that it could cause bad complications if you do after the surgery. I'm sure because it restricts blood flow.

Have a great one!

Jen