I went to my 3 month post-op visit this week and got great news! Since my operation I have lost 40 pounds, which is 46% of my excess weight on the day of surgery. 70 pounds since the beginning of my blog. The doctor was thrilled and called me a "model patient". I felt like my teacher just gave me a big gold star, and couldn't stop smiling all day - even when my labs where being drawn. I also enjoyed wearing my new size 12 shorts that day.
I got a Fitbit this month, kind of a pedometer on steroids. It not only tracks steps taken and distance traveled, but flights of stairs climbed, calories burned based on your profile, and has a motivating graphic of a flower that grows taller the more active you have been in the past 3 hours. I have been LOVING my Fitbit, and the fact that it downloads the info wirelessly to the website, which then communicates my exercise information to www.myfitnesspal.com (where I log my food) automatically - which really simplifies my activity logging. I've also found that it motivates me to push myself farther - so I can reach the 10 flights of stairs, or so I can hit a new "record" for steps taken in a day, etc.
I clip my Fitbit on every morning, and the morning I had my follow-up appointment was no different. What was different was that by the time I was at my surgeon's office I realized it wasn't clipped on any longer. I lost my Fitbit. I back-tracked my errands that morning and have been unable to find it, so I contacted support@fitbit.com and asked them if I could purchase another unit but without the charging base (and therefore hopefully cutting down the replacement cost). To my surprise, after giving them the information about where I purchased it, on what date, and what email address it was registered under, they offered to send me a new one FOR FREE! Are you kidding me? I can't say enough about their customer service. Their product didn't break - this was all on me and they are sending me a new one.
So I'm sending a shout-out to the folks at Fitbit today, and it's just part of the reason I'm smiling so much this week.
Here's another. I've lost two pounds in the last two days. Huh? Yeah, we all know that our weight fluctuates daily. So a one day one pound difference is normal, and I tend to lose 1-2 pounds a week right now. The weird part is, I was already down 1.5 pounds for this week - and now I lost another 2. So I found myself grinning as I walked around the neighborhood with my dog this morning. It's important not to become dependent on seeing weight loss on the scale all the time - I have gone for 5 days or so without seeing a drop, and those are the days that I have to remind myself that my body will go at it's own pace but continue to get healthier as long as I follow the program. I remind myself that I will have plateaus in the future - real ones that last weeks, not days. But to not do anything different and lose 3.5 pounds this week instead of 1-2... yeah, baby!
After my appointment, I had another class with the nutritionist. I explained that I was concerned about trying bread and pasta - both because they could be triggers, and because I was worried about dumping. She encouraged me to try some small low carb options. I tried making cheese pizza on Flatout Lite Italian and could only eat about 2/3 of it. It didn't make me sick, but the bread felt like a rock in my pouch - not really painful but uncomfortable. I have no interest in trying it again any time soon - no trigger there. Then last night I tried eating half a small pita bread as a cheese sandwich with provolone, lettuce, and avocado. It tasted great, but I got that same pouch-full-of-setting-cement feeling after a couple bites. So I know I CAN eat these grains in moderation without dumping, or having them get stuck. But I don't WANT to. Avocado, on the other hand, I think I could eat daily (yum!) if only it was a protein source ;)
I'm really proud of myself and feel certain that I will get to my personal goal (140-150 pounds). The surgeon expects that I might be around 150 at my 6 month follow-up!
I'm preparing for the end of the school year. I will enjoy spending more time with my sons (most of the time, anyway) and not going to work. However, I will be losing the paychecks and guaranteed extra 5000-7000 steps M-F that I have been getting as a school monitor. So, I'm preparing to start Couch to 5K training with my boys. My goal is for all three of us to be able to jog one as a team by the end of the summer. I've never liked running, and don't have the best knees in the world, but after hearing about the successes of other WLS patients with this program, I'm really excited to try. That, walking the dog, and swimming will be my exercise staples over break, supplemented by the elliptical on bad weather days. We are also planning for our upcoming trip to Williamsburg and some weddings of friends.
Hoping all my readers have one of these can't-stop-smiling days soon. Happy Friday!
I got a Fitbit this month, kind of a pedometer on steroids. It not only tracks steps taken and distance traveled, but flights of stairs climbed, calories burned based on your profile, and has a motivating graphic of a flower that grows taller the more active you have been in the past 3 hours. I have been LOVING my Fitbit, and the fact that it downloads the info wirelessly to the website, which then communicates my exercise information to www.myfitnesspal.com (where I log my food) automatically - which really simplifies my activity logging. I've also found that it motivates me to push myself farther - so I can reach the 10 flights of stairs, or so I can hit a new "record" for steps taken in a day, etc.
I clip my Fitbit on every morning, and the morning I had my follow-up appointment was no different. What was different was that by the time I was at my surgeon's office I realized it wasn't clipped on any longer. I lost my Fitbit. I back-tracked my errands that morning and have been unable to find it, so I contacted support@fitbit.com and asked them if I could purchase another unit but without the charging base (and therefore hopefully cutting down the replacement cost). To my surprise, after giving them the information about where I purchased it, on what date, and what email address it was registered under, they offered to send me a new one FOR FREE! Are you kidding me? I can't say enough about their customer service. Their product didn't break - this was all on me and they are sending me a new one.
So I'm sending a shout-out to the folks at Fitbit today, and it's just part of the reason I'm smiling so much this week.
Here's another. I've lost two pounds in the last two days. Huh? Yeah, we all know that our weight fluctuates daily. So a one day one pound difference is normal, and I tend to lose 1-2 pounds a week right now. The weird part is, I was already down 1.5 pounds for this week - and now I lost another 2. So I found myself grinning as I walked around the neighborhood with my dog this morning. It's important not to become dependent on seeing weight loss on the scale all the time - I have gone for 5 days or so without seeing a drop, and those are the days that I have to remind myself that my body will go at it's own pace but continue to get healthier as long as I follow the program. I remind myself that I will have plateaus in the future - real ones that last weeks, not days. But to not do anything different and lose 3.5 pounds this week instead of 1-2... yeah, baby!
After my appointment, I had another class with the nutritionist. I explained that I was concerned about trying bread and pasta - both because they could be triggers, and because I was worried about dumping. She encouraged me to try some small low carb options. I tried making cheese pizza on Flatout Lite Italian and could only eat about 2/3 of it. It didn't make me sick, but the bread felt like a rock in my pouch - not really painful but uncomfortable. I have no interest in trying it again any time soon - no trigger there. Then last night I tried eating half a small pita bread as a cheese sandwich with provolone, lettuce, and avocado. It tasted great, but I got that same pouch-full-of-setting-cement feeling after a couple bites. So I know I CAN eat these grains in moderation without dumping, or having them get stuck. But I don't WANT to. Avocado, on the other hand, I think I could eat daily (yum!) if only it was a protein source ;)
I'm really proud of myself and feel certain that I will get to my personal goal (140-150 pounds). The surgeon expects that I might be around 150 at my 6 month follow-up!
I'm preparing for the end of the school year. I will enjoy spending more time with my sons (most of the time, anyway) and not going to work. However, I will be losing the paychecks and guaranteed extra 5000-7000 steps M-F that I have been getting as a school monitor. So, I'm preparing to start Couch to 5K training with my boys. My goal is for all three of us to be able to jog one as a team by the end of the summer. I've never liked running, and don't have the best knees in the world, but after hearing about the successes of other WLS patients with this program, I'm really excited to try. That, walking the dog, and swimming will be my exercise staples over break, supplemented by the elliptical on bad weather days. We are also planning for our upcoming trip to Williamsburg and some weddings of friends.
Hoping all my readers have one of these can't-stop-smiling days soon. Happy Friday!
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