3 months til launch

Today I am officially 3 months away from my Sleeve surgery. I've been setting all of these little goals before I get there like doing serious house cleaning and getting the cabinets and closets and bookshelves all in order. It's sort of a process to get me into a more organized way of living so I can hopefully stay on track. I've also been cleaning out the fridge and freezer of foods that I won't be eating anymore. Some of it I'm eating myself, some I give away, some I toss, and some I cook up for the dog.

Sure it's 3 months and people ask me why I'm starting this now but I feel like if I don't start now I will just wait til the last minute and then be whirling around and either A. exhaust myself or B. not get it done. I don't want to come home from surgery and be confronted with having food not organized and ready and everything a mess.

Along on this organizational path I'm working on formulating food I will be eating. Testing out shakes, protein drinks, popcicles, and various recipes from eggface's blog and around the internet. I'm making a list of the ones I like and don't like and plan that 3 weeks before surgery I will start filling the freezer with various stages of the diet in already pre-weighed portions so I don't have to work on figuring out what to eat for the first month or so. I am planning on stocking a variety so if I hate something there will be another thing to choose from. Again I feel like I need to do this in order to start off strong. I know that after surgery I will not want to deal with trying to figure out what I can make and what I want and what I think will be ok. So having a large assortment already made up and frozen, or ready to toss in my Magic Bullet will make it easy on me when I get home.

Of course there are other details I'm working on like people to help care for my pets while I'm away and transportation to and from the airport but since my dad is going to fly out here and go with me to Mexico I think I will be ok and 1 sister is coming to stay with the animals for a week and then the other sister is coming out to stay with me for a week in case I do need help. I live alone so I was concerned that I might need assistance since there is a no lifting restriction and generally I just do everything myself.

So I'm feeling pretty confident even if a little nervous. I've never had surgery before at all and so I'm not sure what to expect. Thankfully my family is being supportive and my neighbors are as well. I only told them because I was hoping to have them be able to take my dog to the dogpark for me if I am unable to drive right away. They even offered to take him for me while I am away and recovering in case he gets too rambunctious so it's nice knowing I have options.


I haven't shared my decision with everyone but I don't feel I need to. If later people ask I will be honest but I'm just not ready to face the negativity if there is any. It's bad enough being a fat person that is ridiculed by those who have no idea what it is like to be me. While walking home from the bus stop last week some people yelled at me about being a fat slob and hurled animal crackers at me while making comments about feeding the whale.  Thankfully it was only animal crackers. In the past it's been eggs, mud, and other unmentionables. What is it about a fat person walking that makes others want to throw things at them?  I hope it makes them feel better when they sleep at night.

There's just me living on my  own so if I need to carry that 50lb bag of dog food in there is only me to do it. And when the rabbit and tortoises need hay I get to haul in that 100lb bale of hay from the feed store from the car to the shed. I can still put my shoes and socks on standing up if I have to and I mow my own yard and do my own housework. Nope I don't need to be skinny to do all those things but it would make things easier. So I'm sticking to my plan, preparing, and hopefully making it easier to succeed. I'm sure there will be deviations from the path but as long as I'm somewhat prepared I feel better about it. Not to mention stocking up on dog food and hay so I don't have to carry anything until I am healed. :-)

My only one road bump has been finding a therapist.  I've seen a few but we didn't click and one lady told me I would fail straight out. Sad but true. But I will keep looking, I still have three months, but really I can blink and 3 months could be gone.

So I've got my foods, vitamins, liquids, new smaller portion dishes and spoons, blender, and a plan. I feel like I'm getting ready for the apocalypse or going into space some days lol.

It's really refreshing to see a pre-op who is taking the process seriously, and putting together a plan for what you are going to do post-op. Ive seen way toooo many people lay down on the OR table and have no idea what they are going to do next. Great job!!

Thanks. I just really want to make this work and I figure that like any other endeavor in my life that I can make this happen if I just stay on target and have a plan.  I've got my foodscale and my weigh in scale too but the weigh in scale is still in the box. LOL The food scale calculates calories and nutritional info on foods based on a list of programmed and pre-programmed foods so I've been playing with that a lot. It's shocking and yet fun to see how much nutrition or calories something has.

I've been exploring protein powders and how to make them taste less gross. Like the unjury chicken broth stuff I didn't really like much but I played with it and now have something I hope I like after surgery.

I bought a case of that New Whey protein drink and made popcicles out of them. Tasty.

I'm not approaching this as a diet, I'm approaching it as a life change because that's what I want to do. I want to change my life and make it better. Not that my life sucks now it's just not entirely where I want to be. So I see this as an opportunity to work on a little bit of everything.

 Sounds like you are doing a fantastic job preparing!!!  I also started making changes months before surgery. I did not drink with meals anymore and I also had meals (using that term loosely) prepared.  My Mom came and stayed with me for a week and that helped.  My husband was home, but working.  It really sounds as if  you have a great plan.   I am sorry for the recent experience you had with asshats while you were walking home.  While the your outside is going to change the mental scars are going to take a while to fade, if they really ever do.  Good luck on finding a therapist.  3 months isnt a long time.  :-)

Kat