Tuesday, oh my

Good morning everyone.  I have not started a thread for a few days.  I need some encouragement to shake up my world.  Anyone else need to change things up a little?

What you say?  Yes indeed, let's change up what we are doing that is not working.  I try my best to follow the plan set out my my MD.  Getting in the fluids is pretty easy.  But I hear the carb monster rearing it's ugly head, nibble this, a bite of that.  Didn't dump from an ice cream bar.  Spring commercials for the DQ are all the time.  Gave in, went to DQ with Dennis.  The ice cream tasted so good going down, then we got home, sat on the sofa to watch a little TV and I wanted to die.  My stomach was turning in circles, nausea, lousy feeling.  Felt like I has swallowed the whole ice cream truck, engine and all.  I went to get my ice cream bucket, (yup an empty one) just in case I did throw up.  Hugged my bucket and rocked myself on the sofa for a few minutes.  Felt miserable, wondering what and why had I done that.

The phone rang and my friend Patrece had called to chatter about something.  Thank you Patrece for getting my mind off my misery for the moment.  We did have a good laugh about something else.  Laughter helps, even though the act of laughing at the moment made my gut ache worse.  My dumping episode feeling lasted for about 90 minutes and then I felt sooooo much better.  It is nice to know that I do dump, just now if my head remembers the pain and stops the rest of me from doing a repeat performance.  I never did throw up, although that may have felt better.  I do not throw up easily, even before surgery.

What have you done that was not smart?  We are all human and have our moments.

I had a working holiday weekend.  Felt like 3 usual Sunday days in a row.  Streets a little quieter when I got off work and when walking the dogs.  I did see some little ones all decked out in their Easter best.  Love the cute spring clothes for them.  Friday evening, there was a large fire on the other side of town, no one hurt, but 1 house, 2 garages and a storage shed completely burned and at least 3 additional garages with fire damage.  The fire was 2 miles away, I didn't know about it until someone at work shared that they saw the flames when they arrived to town.  Thank goodness for the crews that dealt with the issues that night.  Dennis and I drove by the neighborhood Saturday afternoon.  Still one truck at the scene just in case.  The full sized tree in the back yard was charred to the upper branches.  According to the paper, started in the garage, melted a gas meter and it took a bit to get the gas shut off before they could deal with the original fire, kept it from spreading any farther.  The neighboring garages with vinyl siding looked like someone had draped light colored fabric on the side of the garage, the siding had melted and draped down between the nails securing it to the wall.  Erie looking. 

Sunday afternoon, Easter, I took the dogs for a long walk, we went 5.5 miles.   The dogs flirted with some folks at a playground and did tricks for the neighbor.  They still had energy to burn when we got home.  I had had enough.  I expected my legs to ache more than they did.  The long walks feel good, we get some speed and really cruise along when it is just myself and the dogs.  Monday we went 3.5 miles in the lovely sunshine of early morning.  Good thing too, during our usual walk time of the afternoon, it was drippy and raining.  Lucky me, no dealing with wet dog smell.  We had already done our long walk.  Monday evening good chat with those that were in the chat room.  That brings us to today. 

Home from work, writing a note here, answered some other treads and off to dreamland for me.  The plan is to get the dogs out after I am rested.  Right now, they look like they would like to take a nap with me.  Probably will too.

Last night at work, the Easter candy was put up on top of the fridge (by me) to get it out of my sight.  I snacked on a couple of beef sticks and a greek yogurt flavored with crystal light powder and had about 24 ounces of crystal light with my fiber.  Much better choice than the candy that appears every time one turns around.  I kept busy, didn't have a lot of time to dream of or want other treats.  I had some ham and cheese when I got home, topped off with 2 sugar free popsicles.  Morning meds and nap time is next.

Share what your struggles were over the weekend, last week.  We can learn from each other.  I will be having suppers alone this week.  Dennis goes to 3-11 shift starting today.  I can do healthy for one this way.  I went to the store for milk and lunch items for Dennis yesterday, stayed away from the center isles.  Came home with Dennis lunch supplies, oranges, onions, grapes and skim milk.  I consider this a very successful shopping trip.  Skipped the bakery and frozen treat areas.  Fresh fruit/veg and dairy section were the main stops.  Picked up a couple small bags of sugar free hard candies to take to work to suck on during sweet attacks.  Just forgot to leave them in my locker and they came home in my tote bag again.  I will just have to leave them there and try to leave them at work again tonight.

While walking yesterday with Dennis and the dogs, we strolled around one of the local small lakes.  Saw a purse sitting in an area that locals fish from, no one there fishing though.  We hadn't gone more than a couple hundred feet when we spotted a young couple just getting their rods set up to start fishing from the shore.  Asked the young lady if she had brought a purse, she looked up and had panic on her face.  Shared that we saw one back at the fishing spot.  You should have seen her racing back to get her things.  Felt good to do a good deed.  Also noticed families out with their kids flying kites in the breeze.  They looked to be having so much fun.  I recall doing that at their ages with dad.  Perfect wind for kites yesterday.

Well, buddies, I think I got diarrhea of the fingers today.  Time to sign off and let everyone else have a say.  Night till later on.  I will check the board after sleeping to see what everyone else is up to.

Patrece and Candy, be kind to the little kitten, thanks for adopting such a youngster.  Colleen, keep up on the "win" attitude.  Linda, you are a loser, sip, sip.  Be kind to yourself everyone.  Be kind to a stranger, smiles are contagious.  Puppy love goes a long way.  Let's each invite one new person to join bariatric buddy group and see what fun we can have sharing and caring.  I care for each of you and look forward to reading and sharing your adventures with you.  Hugs, spread them around, Kathy

Hi Kathy. I had a bit of a struggle over Easter weekend too. To make a long story short, I went overboard on the lamb, dipped in the chocolate, peanuts were my downfall, and things came back up a couple of times. Calories were more than I had planned on and all in all I feel that the weekend was a total disaster. I was relieved to see that my scale did not change much, but I now realize that I can eat a whole lot more than I thought. It's back to the drawing board for me today and I just hope I can go back to last weeks habits 'cause I now understand how people can gain weight even after WLS.

Hi Amalia, yes, I see how easy it could be to regain the weight.  WLS is not the easy way out.  I find myself thinking "do I really need/want this" when faced with a food decision.  If we do make an unhealthy decision, we have have a fresh opportunity to make a wiser choice with the next bite.

So time to choose the right bite and get on with the healthy life.  We can do this together.

This may not be a downfall but sometimes i think it is, because i depend on it.  I am very weird.   Last night i went to a sleep study after losing 80 pounds since last March.  I have been on a c-pap machine for the past 3 years.  Had to have the study because i wasn't feeling rested in the mornings and was staying kind of tired most of the day.
 I ended with my setting on my c pap  being lowered from 8 to 7, they added the chin strap.  Don't know whow that is going to work out here at home.  I was half asleep when he put it on me about 2 Am this morning.  As soon as i was able to get dressed and waiting on doctor to come in  I walked ever hall that was down there.   I love walking outside, but the pollin is so bad and my have COPD and it don't work to well with the pollin.  I have been walking outside the past few weeks, but now am going to have to fine a place to walk inside.
Kathy I know how easy it is to take a bite here and there.  What has really helped me is instand of snacking on candy or chips  I just take a bite of a pure protein bar.  It seems to satify my cravings.
I went to Ryan's and ate with the senior group that i am a member of.  Believe it or not when we all go out to eat most of them watch how much they eat.  It makes me very proud that they are taking better care of themself and we have a treadmill at the center too.  What is funny a lot of them started using it too. So people are watching me and that makes me watch myself.
So that is my soap box.
Another thing I love is buttermilk and some cornbread made mostly with flour and a little of corn meal.  When i eat that i only use 1 cup of buttermilk and a little piece of cornbread.
  Look forward to seeing what others post.   Love this group. Hugs to all

Thanks Annielou,  great to yak at you during chat.  Hope all goes well for you with your new chin strap for your CPAP.  Find somewhere indoors to get in your walking, even at a local mall, if you can resist window shopping along the way.  I used to walk the perimeter of the larger department stores too to add more steps.

Love hearing the sounds of the spring birds as I walk home from work in the mornings.  They all sound so happy and cheerful.

Last night snacked on a beef stick, string cheese and a protein bar instead of junk type things.  Yeayyy me.

Ok, I have a secret to share with you all.  I'm weird.  Well ok, you have probably figured that out already on your own.  Kathy I know this might sound weird, but I don't think I dump and I wish I did.  I have never really pushed the limits on ice cream or cake or anything like that; bread and white potatoes are what does me in.  I had 1/2 of an Arby's French Dip while we were on the road yesterday and I was sick for the rest of the day.  Wanted to throw up but didnt really get there.  My nutritionist says it's impossible to dump on white breads, potatoes and too much fat, but I'm not convinced.  One of my downfalls is butter.  If I eat too much of it I get sick to my stomach, sweat and shake.

And since I'm doing all this I will tell you all that I need a good swift kick in the butt.  I ordered swallowable bariatric vitamins and I am still not taking them on a regular basis.  I don't know what is wrong with me; it's like I get some sort of weird kick out of sabatoging myself.  I don't want to be this way anymore.  I also haven't had a protein shake in 4 days.  I am on the path to self-destruction and I want to travel a different road.

We had one box of sugar-free chocolates for Easter; my hubby and my mom are both diabetic and that truly helps alot.  The Adderall I take for the ADD pretty much has destroyed my appetite and that's a good thing.  The problem is that by the time I start feeling hungry, I go from zero to starving in nothing flat and end up eating too quickly.  I need to force myself to have a piece of fruit or toast in the morning before I take my meds. 

As was suggested by someone in another group, my hubby bought me a medical ID bracelet.  It's actually pretty cool; it's sterling silver with "mood" beads like the old mood rings from the 70's.  My name is engraved on one side of the plate that has the caduseus (SP?), black and lavender, and the other side is engraved with the surgery, the date of the surgery, no NSAIDS and no NGT.  It also has a butterfly charm on it.  I think I'm going to have to move it to my other hand though; I'm wearing 4 bracelets right now and if there was an emergency, they probably couldn't see it anyway.  Since I have taken some of the weight off I am starting to feel like a "girlie girl" again.  Makeup and jewelry and I've bought a few new items of clothes although they won't be around forever. I have 2 more bags to donate so that's good and it seems like everyday there is something else I'm saying good-bye too.

I'm hoping to get some time in on my tricycle before we get our storms tomorrow.  Love to all of you!

Colleen

Those reactions sound like dumping, even thouth your nut says you can't dump on those things.  We are each a little different.  Learn what causes distress and avoid those things.  Live and learn, what a motto.  I did learn, sort of a slow learner at times though. 

Colleen, you have no corner on the claim of weird.  I have my share of weird moments too.  Especially when I am overly tired.  Which I am close to at the moment.  Nighty nite for now.  Have fun with the trike.

A bite of a pure protein bar spread with a tiny bit of peanut better can be awesome and satisfy those cravings. They are very dense and I can usually only eat 1/2 of a bar at a time, but they help me meet my protein goal with their 20 grams.

My struggle at this early stage is still slowing down and chewing slowly. I'm getting in much more fluid now that the weather here is warm, but not eating too fast is still a battle. It seems so awkward to wait 3-4 minutes between bites when you can't even drink to fill that time up. I usually read, watch TV, get on here, or work thru lunch at my desk so that I slow down. But that goes against every thing I have ever been taught about eating and weight loss - you know, pay attention to your food while you eat, etc. This new way of life is very different and takes a while to get used to. It is getting easier and I know that will continue. Then I'll get to the part where it is TOO easy to eat and my cravings and hunger come back, and I'll be wishing I was back to these early days!LOL. But it is all worth it to get that weight off and feel "normal" and live a longer healthier life.

Thanks for the idea Rhonda.  I keep a small jar of peanut butter in my locker at work.  Have a bit of it with part of an apple from time to time.  I too struggle with eating slowly, bought myself another pack of baby spoons at the dollar store yesterday.  Taking bites with them really does slow you down.  You can not possible pile a big bite on there (I tried and most fell off the spoon on the way up), lol.

I'll have to try the baby spoons and see if that helps. I'd LOVE to have a bit of apple with peanut butter - that is one of my favorite snacks. But my doc says no fresh fruit or veggies til after 6 months. I can't wait to be able to eat a salad again!