Ian's 1 Month Progress

Yesterday (July 3rd) was my husband's 1 month "surgaversary" :) We took his new photos and measurements as well. He has lost 26 pounds in his first month! He also lost a total of 22 3/4" off his body!! This was impressive. Almost as many inches and I lost in my first month even though he didn't lose as much weight... so it's quite obvious his body is changing! With his permission I am sharing the progress pics. :)

Similar to me, he did one set in a shirt he wore frequently at his starting weight and another set in a shirt that was way too tight on him at the time and is now fitting much better.

I found it interesting that he lost most of his inches in the chest/waist area just like me, and very little below the waist, just like me. Huh. I guess that is just where it comes off first!

Great progress for the 1st month. I can't even imagine where both of us will be in a year.

Additionally, we had a couple pictures taken of us last night at a BBQ. The last time we had a closeup shot taken of us before surgery was at his grandpa's 80th birthday party. You can see a HUGE difference in both of us I think.

More Things I've Been Eating

I've still been eating a lot of the same things featured in previous "Things I've Been Eating" posts, but I've tried a lot of new things as well.

Hormel White Chicken Chili

This stuff is seriously, SERIOUSLY yummy. Seriously. So tasty. Ian loves it too. Try it. So good! I eat about 2oz with about 1oz shredded cheese.

Wheat Thins Flatbread Crackers

Ignore the tuna salad in this pic - it was horrible and super fattening/oily - yuck yuck yuck. I bought it because the chicken salad was good and reasonable, but this was awful. However the Wheat Thins flatbread crackers are AWESOME. Very thin, and one cracker is enough for my meal with chicken or tuna salad on it (which I am now making at home!) I really love these crackers. I have usually one each day.

Archer Farms Shrimp Skewers

These come frozen, already seasoned and already on a skewer. You just toss them on the grill (in our case the George Forman) for a few minutes until cooked. We have had these garlic ones a couple of times now - really delicious. I do add a little garlic pepper.

They also come in other flavors. We purchased this teriyaki one but haven't tried it yet:

Here is a time when I cooked one skewer, with a small chicken tenderloin on the grill:

It was awesome! I purchased these chicken tenderloins in a big bag. They are frozen and they are small pieces which is perfect for us. I was also happy that when cooked on the george forman grill it stayed moist and tender (a must for WLS patients!)

Kraft 100 Calorie Cheese Bites

These are really handy for grabbing something quick for on-the-go, and for tossing into Ian's lunch box for work. They come in 2 flavor varieties - the 3rd one which I didn't buy is mozzarella with herbs.

Speaking of Ian's lunches, I have been packing his lunch box most days. I usually have to pack 4 meals for him for his 9 hour day at work. This is usually about how it looks:

Small containers of food and an ice pack. Anything that doesn't need to be cold gets put in the separate compartment on top of his lunch box. Another good thing for the lunch box that is very convenient is...

Planters Go-Paks

Ian really likes these and they make a great snack. Also a great grab-and-go.

Peppridge Farm Mini-Bagels

Even with as small as these are, we can only eat half of one, either with some cream cheese or peanut butter on it. Not the most high protein meal, but sometimes you just need something different, and we don't have them every day.

Homemade Flatbread Pepperoni Pizza

This is the very first one we made :) We use the flat-out fold-it breads that I have mentioned in a previous post. This one had Archer Farms marinara pizza sauce but I didn't really like it that much. We used a finely shredded cheese mix (later on started using 2% to cut down on the fat) and Hormel turkey pepperoni, which is actually really yummy. Here's that:

Hormel Turkey Pepperoni

Besides using this on pizza as pictured above (they are under the cheese of the pizza), we also eat them plain along with a string cheese or something. They are pretty low cal and low fat, high proten, so they make a good snack or meal.

Roasted Soy Nuts

These have been a good stand by for me. Higher in protein and lower in fat & cals than a lot of other nuts. They taste good and are nice and crunchy.

Mini Oreos

This is another thing I don't have very often... but when I crave chocolate or am feeling that sweet tooth, I grab just one (and they are really small!) It does wonders. I've had these at least a week and I've maybe had 3 tiny oreos... just knowing they are there makes me need them less, if that makes sense.

First Eating Out Experiences

Now for some eating out!! When we went to Steamboat Springs weekend before last, we tried some new things out for the first time. The very first thing was a stop at Subway on our way up there.

Firstly - they have flatbread now. Score! So we ordered a 6" meatball sub on flatbread. It had provolone cheese as well. It was strange to say no to chips, drinks, and cookies. Not to mention to be splitting a 6" (I remember eating footlongs by myself at one point, although not in the last couple years.)

We opened it up planning to eat 2 meatballs each and when we saw how small they were, we didn't think it would be enough. But it WAS. We each at the two cheesy meatballs and just the tiniest bit of the flatbread.

Also on that trip we tried Wendy's. We split a 5 piece nugget and had 2 1/2 each. We also bought jr size frostys but couldn't eat them because the nuggets made us too full! So we took the frostys back to our condo and had them at a later time.

The jr frosty is small, no doubt. But I can't express to you how BIG they look to me now!! I have to eat it in 2 sittings.

Speaking of the jr frosty, we have pretty much decided that is our ice cream choice for whenever we are out and about and really craving ice cream. It has the lowest cals and fat of any ice cream stuff available fast-food wise.


JR FROSTY NUTRITION INFO
Chocolate - Calories: 150 // Fat: 4g // Carbs: 26 // Protein: 4g
Vanilla - Calories: 160 // Fat: 4g // Carbs: 26 // Protein: 4g

Now with those carbs, I can't have them all the time. But as far as ice cream goes, that is really reasonable. Plus it's available basically everywhere when we get that ice cream craving. So far we have had these twice.

Can I also mention how CHEAP this stuff is?!?! A 5 piece nugget is 99 cents and that was a meal for two. A jr frosty is 49 cents so we can each get one for under a dollar.

Now onto a different kind of eating out - a BBQ at my parents house! Going to BBQ's and summer parties is something we all do. I wasn't sure how it would be. But Ian and I each ate 1/2 a bratwurst with no bun.

For size reference, here it is next to my thumb:

Pretty small - but big satisfaction :) I wanted to have fruit - they had cantaloupe, pineapple, and watermelon.. all of my faves!! All I managed was a tiny 1/2 cube of fresh pineapple and I was done. This sure is different. In the past I would have eaten 2 whole bratwurst with buns (or 1 bratwurst and 1 burger), corn on the cob, chips, fruit, and dessert.

That's it for this edition of Things I've Been Eating :) I have another pizza to share but I will do a whole post on it since I took pics of making it and I guess you could call it a recipe!

Hiking Fish Creek Falls

Continuing with our weekend in Steamboat Springs... on Saturday after the car show and a short nap, we decided to go hiking to Fish Creek Falls! Our friends told us it was a pretty easy hike and really awesome, so off we went.

We first went up on the Overlook Trail (green line) so we could look at the falls from up above. On the way back down we cut through on the Picnic Trail (dark blue) to meet up with the National Recreation Trail (pink) which then took us over to the falls. This was really such a fun and beautiful hike! Firstly here are some photos from the top.

We asked another couple to take our picture.... and hoped for the best. As we feared - waterfall in the head. Everyone who ever takes our photo has something coming out of one of our heads... or they miss the background entirely lol. Oh well at least we have some photos together :) This did prompt Ian to buy a bigger gorilla pod though so that we can hopefully set up some shots where we take our own photos together... as long as there is something around to set it on or attach it to! The couple did take a shot of us with the waterfall to the side, but the shadow on me (from Ian) was even worse and I couldn't edit it very well.

We took some of our own shots of each other and together up close :)

We continued our hike down to the base of the falls, enjoying beautiful scenery along the way. When we made it there, the view was just spectacular!!

We hung around the falls for quite a long time, taking tons of photos of the falls and of each other :) It was so cool and refreshing near the water too. Such a pleasant place to spend time.

We really enjoyed ourselves and it was nice to get out hiking and really enjoy Steamboat Springs. When we went in 2007 Ian was so busy with his club's registration booth that we didn't get to do very much exploring. Thank you to the Richardsons for telling us about this hike! And speaking of the Richardsons, we hiked again with them the next day! Pictures coming in the next installment!

Before we left, we got treated to a rainbow! Do you see it at the base of the falls? Ahhh... just beautiful.

Here's a video of the falls for you to enjoy. You can pretend you were there with us! :)

You can view the ENTIRE PHOTO ALBUM HERE.

6 Weeks Post Op

Today was my 6-week post op appointment at the surgeon's office. It was with the main nurse again, which is fine.. she actually asked us a lot more questions this time and seemed a lot more interested in how things were going for us. What's funny is after my little freak out on Monday, something must have happened because today I weighed 3 pounds less at the gym. And when I got to the dr... their scale weighed me slightly less, even. So my official 6 week weight is...

Yay for 269! That's more like it! Take THAT 273! Bahahahahaha. OK I'm done now :) I guess my swim monday and walk yesterday (plus getting all my water and protein) got things moving again. In case I haven't already said this, those are not my feet. Mine are way wider. But curiously, the toes on her right foot look exactly like mine as far as the directions they curve in. Ha.

I am happy to say that at six weeks I've now lost 41 lbs!!

I'm happy with this. It feels good to be back in the 260's. A place very familiar to me.  I don't think I ever really came to terms with being 310 pounds. I still kept seeing myself as the 260-270lb version of me. So in a way I feel like being 310 lbs never happened. But it did and I have photographic evidence lol so it's really good to see how far I've come.

I don't want to set too many goals and end up being diappointed like I was on Monday... but I will be going back to the Dr in two weeks for my hubby's 6 week appointment and getting weighed. I would like to have lost 9 more pounds by then to be at 260 - which would be 50 lbs lost total. I think that's doable with the exercise I'm getting so here's hoping :)

As for my hubby, today was 4 weeks for him and he's down 26 pounds. He started at 339 and is now 313. We both thought he'd be around 300 by now, since he was heavier than me, and men lose faster too. But he doesn't watch his sugars and carbs as much as I do and he also doesn't exercise as much as I do, so it makes sense. He is fine with it though and I am too. He is still a few days from his official 1 month (it will be July 3rd) and that's when we will take his 1 month progress photo and measurements. I will definitely post his measurement results - and his photo if he gives me permission but it depends if he feels comfortable or not.

At six weeks I am feeling great. I feel healthier and stronger. I have more energy. I work out and I like it. :) I am LOVING swimming!!! AND WHO WOULDN'T with this pool to go to?

Wading Through My Feelings

Yesterday I was feeling frustrated because my weight hasn't been going down very much lately. I weighed myself at my gym and it gave me the same result I see at home. 273. I am feeling a little stressed because at my 3 week appt I weighed 282 and I have my 6 week appt coming up tomorrow and it will be 9 pounds less in 3 weeks. I guess I feel like with surgery it should be faster than that but I need to let my body do what it needs to do in order to catch up before we keep heading down in #'s again.

I really thought I would be okay with the scale and not care about the weight. I think it's partially other people that play into this because the question you get from everyone every time you see them is "How much have you lost now???"... not "How are you feeling about being more active?" or "Doesn't it feel great to be a size down?" or "That's so wonderful that emotionally you have made so much progress." No, all people want to know is the numbers. I don't blame them - it's the concrete way to judge success in their minds. Although I am measuring my success in many ways, other people don't, and that's ok. But I thought **I** would be able to ignore the numbers... and I haven't been. When I got on that scale at the gym I expected to see 270. Or even 267. I've been working out a LOT and eating well. Isn't it only fair?

I have to take a chill pill, sit back and relax. There is no rush here. I think the problem comes from having lost & gained SO MANY times that I am terrified that is going to happen again. I have lost 30-40 pounds several times and been in this exact place - feeling better, wearing smaller clothes, have a good progress photo comparison. And it has always been fleeting. So I feel like I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop... to start gaining it back even though I'm working hard. That's when I throw in the towel.

I am waiting for proof that this time is different. What I have to realize is the proof is there. It's my incisions... it's the restriction I feel if I take one extra bite of food past 2.5 ounces. I have had surgery, and that will make this different. As long as I continue to put in my hard work, I WILL be successful.

I realized when I got home from the gym/swimming yesterday I was feeling a little bummed about this. When I got hungry, I went to eat some mac and cheese. Now this in and of itself is okay, I have it from time to time and I eat so little that it's okay and fits into my meal plan. The problem was WHY I wanted to eat it. I wanted to eat something "bad" and "comforting" to make myself feel better. I recognized this in myself and put it down and decided to have some shrimp - high protein and low everything else, one of the best choices I can make. But then I turned back and said "screw it, it's not like I can eat the whole thing of mac and cheese anymore (we are talking the personal portions that come in cups)... so it won't hurt me to have it and I'll feel better." I even opened the cardboard package and took out a cup. Then I said "no - it may not hurt me now, but one day I'll be able to eat more and these kinds of choices will make me gain my weight back. I need to start changing these behaviors NOW." So I put it back down and had the shrimp.

What did I realize? THAT made me feel better. Way more than eating the mac and cheese would have. Because I realized that eating due to being bummed about the scale would only slow things further. If I want the scale to get moving, I have to do the right things and make the right choices. I ended up having a stellar day yesterday - all my protein, all my water, in my calorie range, and even did more exercise. I had already gone swimming but after the Mac n Cheese Epiphany, I asked Ian if we could go walking when he got home from work. So we did :)

These emotional and behavioral issues are the true challenge to this. The surgery, the small portions, the eating, the exercising - they are all doable and not that hard. It's this internal stuff that is the truly difficult part. The true mountain to climb. But I am getting there, one day at a time!

I have my first appointment with my therapist since surgery coming up this afternoon and I'm definitely going to talk to her about all of this!

Manic Monday

I do have a couple photos to share today! Firstly, today was my first day back to my gym in a long time. It was also my first time swimming since surgery. I got to try out their outdoor pool... it was lovely and I had SUCH a good time!

It was prettier once I was in there, but I didn't have my phone (camera) with me anymore when I was about to swim. Took this photo from the parking lot on my way in.

During the day today I mostly did things around home, and watched the first Sex and the City movie.

Tonight when Ian got home we went for a walk as the sun was setting. It was a really nice walk I can feel myself being in better shape already. It was also very scenic as we went around the water.

That's about it for today. Still working on more blog posts :)

Flogg Daily

I have been tracking my food and exercise in this awesome book called "Flogg Daily." I did a lot of research and this is what I liked the best.



Firstly, it looks and feels high quality, like a nice journal. It doesn't scream "I'M A DIET JOURNAL!" to people. It's sleek, hardcover, durable, just NICE overall.

The inside is set up really well. Every day has fitness on one side and food on the other.



What I like about the fitness side - there is room for two cardio sessions, and more than one exercise per session. There is also room for strength training.



What I like about the food side - there's room for 6 meals a day which is what we are typically eating... it also tracks everything I want to track including cals, fat, carbs, protein, water and vitamins.



The back of the book has Progress Pages which I also really like. There's room to record all of my measurements each month.



You can also record how well you do on fitness tests periodically but at least right now that's not something I'm doing.

Overall, I love this book. Ian is using a black one and he is enjoying it too. It has everything I could need. I have yet to find an iPhone app that is as good as this book so for now I'm sticking with the hard copy :)

If you are interested in your own Flogg, you can buy it from Flogg Daily's website. They do have it on Amazon for the same price if you prefer.

Keeping track of everything is really helping me. Some days I only track my protein count, water, and vitamins... but at least 3 days a week I track full nutritional info to see how I'm doing with calorie intake.

Right now I average 500-700 calories a day. On days I work out, I burn 200-400 calories... I try to eat more on those days but the most calories I've ever been able to eat is 1,000 and that wasn't easy. It was a day I burnt 500 cals though so I tried! :)