Plateau has been broken

Friday, June 7...exactly one month from surgery.  I went to my one month post-op appointment.

My weight - Like I reported in my last blog - had plateaued.  On their scales I weigh in at 19 pounds lost since surgery.

I expressed my frustration because I had lost all of that 4 days after I had last seen them, 3 weeks ago.

They informed me that I should not be worried, I was right on track for weight loss at one month.  THAT made me feel much better.

Evidently I read something back in October that said 6 pounds a week after surgery.

They assured me that I had NOT heard that from them.  That is unrealistic.  That realistic weight loss expectation would be about 10 pounds a month....which is still accelerated weight loss from "normal".

So I see them again in 2 months and they said the goal would be 20 more pounds by that point.

So...my weight loss has started up again.  I owe it to two factors.

1)  I am eating "normal" food again.  A friend who did this surgery last July was reminding me how in the past when we would try to diet and starve ourselves, etc...our bodies don't lose the weight, they hold onto it because you go into starvation mode.  She said her advice was to add some food.  (i was still on liquids)  So I started my pureed diet a few days before going to my 1 month appointment.

For my first "meal" I had a scrambled egg.  That was the most delicious scrambled egg I have ever had!

So, I was diving into my pureed diet.  However, I "cheated" because there was simply no way in heck I was going to puree my meat.  NO WAY.  And I don't like cooked veggies much at all, and the idea of pureeing them - no way would I eat them.

So, I picked the softest meat I could think of and that was flaky fish.  And soft cooked carrots.  Again...delicious.

I am on day 7 today of eating food.  And according to my scale, I have lost 6 pounds.  So I think it is working.

2)  At my 1 month appointment I was declared "water proof"!  In other words, I was cleared for swimming.

That night I started going to the pool during adult swim time and started swimming laps.

I made a delightful discovery.  When I entered my swimming into myfitnesspal.com  I found out (should really probably have known this...but ) anyway, I found out that 30 minutes of swimming laps burns FOUR times the calories of waking for 30 minutes at the speed I am currently walking that causes me to sweat and be out of breath.

So - hmmm - swim and burn tons of calories or walk and huff and puff and sweat for 1/4 the calroies burned?

I'll swim, thank you.

And I have continued to swim each day.  Some days I am unable to go during the "adult swim" time.  So I go during normal swimming time.  Today I was there at the height of the day.  It was actually a lot of fun because everyone there (practically) were students of mine.  So I was throwing kids, racing kids, running away from kids...having fun.  Mind you, this was after my 30 minutes of laps!

Whatever the cause of my weight loss starting again, I am thrilled.  I am getting to eat food and enjoying it thoroughly!

But it's very different than eating before surgery.  My meal consists of, first and foremost, protein.  Then some carbs and some veggies.

My new daily allotment is:  5 servings of protein (7 gms a serving), 2 servings of carbs (15 gms each), 2 servings of non-starchy veggies, 1 serving of fruit, 3 cups of milk, 1 serving of fats (5 gms), and 6-8 cups of water.

So a meal for supper?!  2 ounces of protein (fish right now), 1 serving of carbs (homemade baked fries), and  some veggies.

The dietitian says I can have fruit for my fruit and my 2 servings of carbs if I want.  So if I don't feel like bread, potatoes, etc - I can have some fruit.

So, the other night I had on my plate:
2 ounces of fish, 1/2 cup of baked fries and 1/4 cup of cooked carrots.

What was left on my plate when I was completely full??  1/2 ounce of fish, and half of the fries and half of the carrots.

And I was completely satisfied and full.  What a wonderful feeling.  There is NO MORE clean plate club in my world.  When you begin to feel full - you are DONE eating.  And the full feeling lasts quite awhile for me.  It is wonderful.

So eating real food, swimming everyday - these are my current answers.

On the very good side of everything...I am 5 weeks out as of today and other than the small blip with the double milk problems in week 2...I have had no problems.  I have had no vomiting , nothing!  So life is grand.

Clothing - this is starting to prove interesting.  Last week I took two big boxes of clothes to a consignment store in Coralville.  I had to do pants, they were falling off.  But 2 Sundays ago when I was getting dressed for church Mike told me I looked like a little girl dressing up in her mom's clothes.  So it was time to take a bunch of shirts/blouses out of the closet as well.

I did buy ONE new pair of capris.  They are a little large, but the next size smaller was too small.  A couple of days ago I went on-line and ordered 3 new pair of capris in the next size smaller and 5 shirts.  I need some clothes that actually fit me.

This has become a slight issue as tomorrow I have a job interview.  I have NO blouses, dress pants or skirts that fit me well.  They are all too big.  So today I tried on a dress I have that would be interview appropriate and went to Mike's office for the approval that I wasn't playing dress-up again.  He confirmed it worked.  So, I have something to wear for the interview - whew.

Now I just have to knock em dead so I get the job.  I love teaching and I really want to be working come fall!