The Patty Melt

It's been an interesting few days. Thurday night I went out to dinner with the family after the kid's Christmas program and I was able to eat an entire patty melt and fries. I was excited because this was the first time in many years that I was able to go out to eat and actually enjoy myself. Usually, I am the last person done, and have eaten the least because the food always gets stuck in my band. Not this time! Now, the fact that I chose to have a patty melt with my newly unfilled band was not the best choice, but trust me I've been working hard at the gym to make up for it. I have been logging all my foods, including the patty melt, in my food journal and I'm really getting the hang of deciphering which foods are better choices than others to meet my calorie and protein needs.

I spoke with the surgeon's office and found out that they submit the pre diet BMI, so I can stop worrying about my BMI falling more than two points over this 3 month diet.

So Far, So Good

This is day number 5 of my medically managed diet, and so far, so good.  I've been hungrier than I thought I would be, probably because my band is completely unfilled at this point. I've taken the dog out for a walk for the past three evenings, and I even went to the gym yesterday. Needless to say, I'm very sore. I'm trying to stretch out my calves as much as possible because I get horrible foot and ankle pain when my calves are super tight. I bought the B Complex vitamins today when I was at Trader Joe's, so I've added those in with the multivitamin and vitamin D. I keep forgetting to pick up a calcium supplement though. That's a good goal for Friday's trip to the pharmacy-BUY CALCIUM SUPPLEMENT.

I know how addicted to the scale I can be, and how unhealthy that is, so I vowed not to weigh myself before my matrix appointment on the 21st, but I caved in last night and so far I've lost 8lbs. Of course most of that is water weight, but whatever, the number on the scale is less than it was, and I'll celebrate it.  Part of me is still worried about having a large enough BMI to qualify for surgery. Since I have no co-morbidity, I need a BMI of <40 to qualify. I'm at 42 and will be below 40 after losing 15lbs. What I'm not sure of is whether or not the BMI requirement is before of after the three month medically managed diet. I'm over thinking it, I'm sure, because that's what I do. I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing and ask all of my questions at my next appointment. Oh yea, and try to stay of the scale!

I'm hungry and learning to count

At my doctors visit yesterday I had a complete unfill of my band. I didn't think that it would really change the way I feel, but I am so very hungry all of the time. This completely sucks! I've been working at journalling all of my mini meals and main meals (that's what the doctor calls them), but when the day came to an end and I added up all of my calories, protein, carbs, and fat. Well, I was shocked, to say the least. I had eaten 500 calories too many (total of 1740 instead of 1200-1300), I did get all of the protein in, but I had a total of 162 grams of carbs, which is over my limit of 100g. Ok, so now I know what I need to work on-better meal planning, and perhaps planning for around 1000 calories so I have some room to throw in an extra snack if I'm starving as I was yesterday. In fact, that's what did me in yesterday, it was the lean cuisine that I had after my lunch because I was so hungry.

Anyway, so far, other than being hungry, I feel like I'm doing okay. I can live with the fact that I overate yesterday because I was not binging, but rather just not keeping track of what I ate throughout the day. I have not had any ice cream or soda which are my two main carbohydrate, sugar, and fat sources. I am getting enough water, and even started taking vitamins again. In fact, I was shocked that I could take both a large multivitamin and my medication without them getting stuck. This is totally a bad thing, because now I know that I should be able to eat many of the things that wouldn't go down in the past.

I have promised myself that I will not step on a scale until my next appointment which is December 21st. And I need to find time to exercise. I was hoping to go to a yoga class today, but since my husband had to work I didn't make it. I may try to take a walk tomorrow, or at least get some kind of exercise Monday while the girls are at school.

Starting Over

This is my first post, and I'm new to blogging, so please bear with me. Today I had my first medically managed weight loss appointment. This is the first of four total weight loss appointments that I will attend in the next 3 months in order to submit an authorization request to my insurance for rny surgery. Overall, the appointment went well, and I feel like I walked away with some tools, reinforcing what I already know, and now I'm ready to be on my best eating and exercising behavior for the next three months. The surgeon removed all of the saline in my lap band, and I'm starting to feel really hungry today for the first time in many years. I also was able to take my vitamins without splitting them in half and they didn't get stuck. Hopefully I'll get insurance approval in a few weeks for removal of the band. Of course, I'm getting anxious at the thought of having band removal while ultimately being denied rny surgery. I've taken a seat on the emotional rollercoaster earlier than I thought I would in this process.

Interestingly, today I learned that I'm two inches shorter thank I thought which means that my BMI is higher than I thought at 42. My insurance has a BMI requirement of >35 with comorbidities and >40 without. Since I have no comorbidities, I'm struggling with the idea of doing my best on this 3 month diet, but not going below a BMI of 40 which means I only have a 15lb window of weight that I can lose and still meet the BMI requirement.

I've started my food journey for the day, and I got some exercise by walking to and from the doctor's office this morning. I'm still trying to figure out when is it today and when is it tomorrow in terms of journaling. Since I work the night shift I'm often up at odd hours and I may go as many as 24 hours without sleep, so I'm trying to decide when I should start a new day in my food journal. I suppose that I'll count each new day as beginning once I wake up from whatever sleep I get during a 24 hour period.