Worried I'm not doing well enough already

I'm two months out now.  I'm down 50 lbs from my pre-op weight.  I try to exercise most days but already I skip a day here and there.  I get busy and don't write down what I'm eating so I'm not sure if I'm getting in enough protein or not and if I'm taking in too many calories.  I will sit at the same weight for days at a time and then go up or down 2 lbs in the meantime.  I'm getting in the water ok.  I guess I'm worried that I'm so disorganized that I will sabotage myself.  I've been really stressed at work.  We are being sold again, state is due in any day for our annual survey, and to top it all off, our Executive director, DON,  ADON, and clinical educator have all resigned to go to work at another local nursing home.  I have really been struggling with stress grazing.  I am not hungry.  I haven't been hungry  since the surgery.  I would kick myself in the butt if I could reach it.  O.k., I guess I'm just feeling sorry for myself.  I think I'll go for a walk to the park.

I'm sorry your worried.  We ALL worry about success/failure at some point or other. 

I have some suggestions that I hope will help. 

1) As far as being too busy to write town what you eat.  I buy those tiny $.86 notebooks from Wal-Mart and carry one around in my purse.  As soon as I finish eating (sometimes WHILE I eat) I write down what I am having.  This takes literally about 10 seconds so NOONE is too busy to do it.  At night, I log everything in to my food journal BEFORE I eat supper so I know if I am short and need something (more fat, more carbs, more protein, etc).  This takes about 5 minutes (tops) and is something that I have decided is just part of my post-op life.  I don't even think about doing it anymore.  It's like going to sleep - something that is going to happen everyday whether I have time for it or not.  (I notice you don't mention measuring.  It is SOOO important to measure, by volume, the food you are consuming.  This is VITAL to long-term success.  It is much easier to get in too many calories if you aren't measuring everything you eat by volume. 

2) If we're being honest, exercise is something EVERYONE can make time for too.  You can walk in place while you brush your teeth or blow dry your hair.  You can do leg lifts repeatedly under your desk while you are on the phone.  Whenever you get up to go to the bathroom you can take the long way there.  You can park at the farthest space from the store wherever you go. 

It doesn't really matter how MUCH weight you have lost at this point.  It doesn't matter how FAST you lose the weight.  What matters is that you are getting in your fluids and protein (so you don't get sick and so they weight you DO lose will be FAT instead of MUSCLE). 

The biggest part of this journey is MAKING YOURSELF MAKE THE TIME FOR YOU.  The TIME (journaling your food, exercising, making sure you're getting in enough of this and that, etc) is part of YOU time.  It is time well invested because it will GIVE you time back (in the form of years added to your life).  This is time you MUST begin taking for yourself, come hell or high water.  Trust me... the world will keep spinning without you for those few minutes a day it takes to complete these things. 

Good luck!

Wen

Thanks for the advice.  I do measure my food.  I never eat more than 1/2 cup total at a meal.  I have a food journal I've just been hit and miss at it the past week.  I look up the calories and protein in what I've been eating but that's about as far as I've gotten.  Not really sure what I should track.  I stay away from fatty foods and anything with more carbs than protein in a serving.  I'm not sure if that's exactly right or not.  I also stay completely away from anything with more than 3gms of sugar or alcohol sugars per serving.  I guess I need to call the nutritionist and ask what all I need to track.  I'm still on soft foods.  I'm supposed to be eating high protein, low carb. right now.  I am just tired of eating almost all protein.  I miss my veggies but I'm supposed to be low fiber right now too until I hit the 3 month mark.  I am doing better with the exercise using the Wii fit.  I have been only working out for 30 minutes at a time.  I increased it to 45 min. today and about an hour later felt every muscle in my old body hurting, lol.  Even at 30 minutes I think I've been getting some benefit because I have sore muscles.  I mostly do the yoga and aerobic steps.  I have set a goal to write down everything that goes into my mouth after each meal.  Do you know of a place where I could enter a recipe and it break it down as far as calories, fat, carbs, protein, etc.  That would make things a lot easier.  Thanks again.

I personally track calories, fat grams, total carbs, protein, fluid ounces and % calories from fat. 

There are definately websites that can break recipes down for you.  I don't use any of them, but I am sure someone will chime in who does because a LOT of people use them. 

Are you still supposed to be on soft foods at 2 months out or is that a choice you have made due to wanting to avoid food intolerances? 

I would definately email/call your NUT/surgeon's office and ask for a specific guideline. 

Good luck! 

Wen

We are supposed to stay on a soft diet until our 3 month visit along with the low fiber, low fat, low carb., high protein.  In fact, when I was in for my 6 wk visit, the nut was surprised I was counting calories along with the protein.  She said that at this point I just needed to be sure I was getting in the right amount of protein.  I did think that was a bit strange, especially when a few minutes later she said we should keep our calories around 800/day. 

I tried to post this once already but either OH is off or my PC is.  So if this comes through twice... sorry! 

I personally track calories, fat grams, total carbs, protein, fluid ounces and % calories from fat. 

There are definately websites out there that can break down recipes and where you can just put in what you ate, etc.  I don't personally use them to recommend one, but I know MANY people use them.  I look up some of my stuff on www.calorieking.com and www.calorie-count.com and www.thedailyplate.com which I think are all good.  I know many people use www.fitday.com too - but I don't use any of them for tracking purposes personally so I can't recommend one as better than the other.  I'm sure someone who uses them will chime in though. 

Good luck! 

Wen

I would say at 50lbs in two months you are doing it very right!!!!!!!!!!

AB

We all worry about these things. I agree with AB...50 pounds is pretty darn good! I didn't lose a thing for a couple of weeks around month 2. I knew that was it...no more weight loss. Thank the lord I was wrong! The scale is still moving right along! I don't find it necessary to log every. single. day. I log a day randomly (especially ones that I think are "bad" to keep me in check) to make sure I am within my limits. Anne has told me that as long as we are making the right food choices (lean proteins FIRST in the right portions) everything else should fall in line. I still have to check every now and then to make sure, but she's always right! It's when I stray from the eating guidelines that things get out of whack! As for grazing, at one point I felt the same way so I started planning a snack. Then I couldn't justify a little here or there and I didn't feel deprived.