Still Improving, Seeing Results

January 31, 2010.

Well, I'll never be mistaken for a dedicated blogger of any sort.  My wife tells me that you have to post every to keep any interest  Obviously, I have not done that.  If you have been following this blog (which according to my count meter you have not), then I apologize for such a gap.  I am easily distracted.

Let's start with the "big news" as it were.  A day or two ago I crossed what was, in my mind, a magical thresh hold of sorts:  I am under 300 pounds for the first time in many, many years.  While it seems surreal, that means that I've dropped over 50 pounds since December 28, 2009.   Funny thing is, because the weight loss has been so fast and dramatic, it doesn't seem real.  Yet, it must be.  I went to church today and if it weren't for my belt my pants would have spent the day around my ankles.  My shirt won't tuck in properly anymore because the pants/belt combo are insufficient to keep the shirt tails tuck it, so I look a bit shabby.  Also, the other day I got the urge to go through all my clothes in my closet.  The vast majority now fit me again, or are very close to being my size again.  All of my shorts fit.  All of my jeans fit.  many of the shirts that I had given up on ever wearing again are now in play again.  It was kind of fun, actually.

That's the good side.

On the bad side, I am still on the "soft food" diet, but that hasn't been too bad.  It's a damn sight better than that horrid liquid diet  was on for the first two weeks after.  I do pretty well w/ deli style meats and soft cheeses.  When the soft diet started, I went to a little Japanese grill nearby and got a single meal of grilled steak and scallops, because I am allowed to eat most seafoods now.  Those teriyaki-grilled scallops were quite good.  I am learning, however, that my new stomach comes with a price.  First, I literally have to force myself to eat slowly.  And by slowly, we're talking like making one ounce of food last about 5-10 minutes.  When they sewed me up, the made the entrance to my stomach smaller, thus limiting how much food can be ingested at one time.  To this point, I'd been pretty good about trying to make myself eat slowly, but last night I baked a batch of shrimp and scallops scampi.  It tasted good, but I had skipped lunch that day (I was napping after a scout outing the in mountains where I slept in a snow cave all night) and so I was actually feeling a little hungry and I ate too fast.  I paid the price because a few minutes later I had to throw it back up, which is the first time that has happened since the first day after the surgery.   Strangely enough, throwing up in now a different experience also.  Prior to the surgery, when I vomited, it felt like my whole torso was contorting and being crushed.  Not so much  now, thought I would never call it a positive experience either.  Anyway, afterward, I actually felt pretty good.  I just made sure I took some liquid and didn't try to force any food for the rest of the night.

Another result of the surgery has been that I have bowel movements far less frequently than I ever did before.  And for some reason that has really bothered me.  I don't mean to be graphic, but prior to my surgery I was quite "regular".  Now, it seems that I go 4-5 days with no real need.  It actually kind of worried me (I was afraid I had a blockage or something) so I went and go some milk of magnesia and took a dosage.  Next morning, I guess I was assured that I have no blockage.  By the way, milk of magnesia is, quite possibly the foulest concoction ever devised, and it is only made worse by the addition of strawberry flavoring.  Just thought you ought to know. 

The numbness and tingling in my legs continues to be a problem. I did a little probing on the Internet (because we all self-diagnose these days, I'm sure our doctors love it) and I suspect that it's being caused by a pinched nerve somewhere.  Everything assures me that it should resolve itself and I should not worry about it.  That is, unless it's an early warning sign of MS, in whch case I'll be dying soon.  Guess I'll hope for the pinched nerve.

Suture lines on the stomach are all really good except one, which I think was the main one.  For the most part it's okay, but every once in a while I bend the wrong way and it let's me know it's not amused.  I turned to get out of my car this evening and had to stop and sit for a second.  It didn't like when I reached out to hoist myself out.  I suppose that means I won't be back to the weight room for a week or two yet.  I'd hate to have my guts squirt out of that hole like toothpaste.

Back to the food issue.  I do tend to get indigestion/acid reflux very easily, though it's not severe by any means and I can usually beat it back with fluids.  I'm still trying to decide if food tastes the same to me now as it did a month ago.  I'm certainly still stimulated by the smell of food cooking and advertisements on TV can get my attention, but I just don't feel "hungry" like  did before.  When I eat, I often have to stop for a moment as the stomach will go into momentary spasms that can be uncomfortable.   I hope that stops at some point. 
I eat cheese (including cheddar) and last week I even ate some pork w/ gravy that was actually good.  I do fill up in a hurry, so I don't eat a lot (which is the point, so that had better be the case).  And it's pretty much confirmed that they'd like me to follow an Adkins-type diet for a few months until I hit my goal weight.  In other words, lots of proteins and fat with not much carbs.  Do you know how hard it is to avoid carbs?  The noodles in pasta, the bread in a hamburger bun, potatos, rice, etc.   I guess I can do that, but I think I may keep tortillas in my diet because I ate a part of one yesterday and I tolerated it pretty well.  And let's face it, I am not exactly being tortured by having to eat eggs, meats and cheeses. 

I have noticed that I have a hard time keeping myself properly hydrated.  I was at church today and sipping water from the fountain.  Afterward I told my wife that I miss being able to "chug" a glass a water.  But, that's just not really an option any more.  Now, I sip and sip and sip.  I'm still happy to have the Gatorade, though.

I weighed this morning and I was at 294.9 pounds.  I should probably start to track that better so I can see how much I'm losing on a weekly basis.  I'll get my wife to measure me tonight and I'll post some new measurements tomorrow when I get the chance. 

Lastly, I was unprepared for how my weight loss has played games with my wife's head.  She's not really angry at me, but it is clearly frustrating to her how easily the weight has come off.  She is by no means fat, but she has about 10-20 pounds she has been trying to shed for some time now.  She diets, watches she eats and does a killer workout in the morning (so much so she could hardly walk for about 3 days after starting) but she struggles to get it off.  Thus, while she is clearly relieved to see me losing the weight, it's not exactly happy days for her either.