More2Adore's Updates

10 days into the stall now, and three weeks since surgery. That means for half my post-surgery time I have just been up and down in the same 10-pound range. Funny - I don't remember the 460s being a set point for me on the way up, but it sure seems to be on the way down! My body is FIGHTING to stay there. It's going to lose, though - maybe as soon as tomorrow. I'm back down to 460 today - the lowest I've been - and I'm hoping this means things are going to keep moving down this time, at least for a while. :) I'm doing EVERYTHING right... it has to happen eventually! :) I see my surgeon Friday, and I'm a little concerned I won't have lost as much as he expects me to if I fluctuate back up again. All I can do is keep doing everything right, though!
 
I can't wait until I can figure out what my full signal is. :) Until then I'm sticking with 1/4 c. of food at first. I managed to eat 1/4 c. of canned chili pureed with high-protein shredded cheese (found some of that here recently!) and a tsp. of sour cream and no nausea at all! :)
Chili and hummus are pretty high in carbs though...aren't they? Be sure to read your labels
 
Chili and hummus are pretty high in carbs though...aren't they? Be sure to read your labels
Depends on how much meat is in the chili...and the carbs in it also have fiber.

In our house, we have chili a LOT...but I make my own and then freeze portion sizes for dh. When I am ready for another batch, it is about the time he is running out!
 
Chili was also something that made my reflux flare up, something AWFUL, for a few months at least. If you're struggling with that now, it might make it worse :(
 
Thanks for trying to help troubleshoot, @marissamast. :) Not only do I read labels, I log absolutely everything. :) The chili is actually a no beans kind, so a serving was only 4 carbs. The hummus was even better, with a serving being only 3 carbs. The hummus I picked up because the NUT specifically mentioned it as a "first meal" on pureed - it went over like a lead balloon with my stomach, though, so I haven't eaten it since. I haven't gone over ~35 carbs any day yet. Usually under 30. So I don't *think* carbs are my problem.

Oh, the NUT also listed mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, oatmeal etc. as acceptable foods, but I have zero intention of eating any of those!

Weight back up a little this morning. All I can do is hang in there! I am surprised by the length of this stall so early out, though, especially since a couple other "superheavyweights" I know didn't experience this. Makes me a little paranoid! :)
 
Thanks for trying to help troubleshoot, @marissamast. :) Not only do I read labels, I log absolutely everything. :) The chili is actually a no beans kind, so a serving was only 4 carbs. The hummus was even better, with a serving being only 3 carbs. The hummus I picked up because the NUT specifically mentioned it as a "first meal" on pureed - it went over like a lead balloon with my stomach, though, so I haven't eaten it since. I haven't gone over ~35 carbs any day yet. Usually under 30. So I don't *think* carbs are my problem.

Oh, the NUT also listed mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, oatmeal etc. as acceptable foods, but I have zero intention of eating any of those!

Weight back up a little this morning. All I can do is hang in there! I am surprised by the length of this stall so early out, though, especially since a couple other "superheavyweights" I know didn't experience this. Makes me a little paranoid! :)
AH HAH! That explains a lot. LOL I also tried the bean-less chili early out. And hummus. Neither worked well either. LOL You are a smart cookie. You got this.
 
Wow, I can't believe I made it a whole week without an update. :p Hahaha. I learned that sometimes stalls DO last a few weeks, even this early out, even with heavyweights, and that made me feel a little better and allowed me to stop stressing. Also, @DuodenalSwitchaRoo told me that it was normal to stall at this stage and that it might not end until I was able to eat solid food and get 80+g of protein. I was very close to getting 80+ already (averaging 70ish lately) so I kicked it up just a little bit, and after several days, the weight has started trending down again. Not EVERY day... but that's perfectly okay. I don't care, as long as it's going in the right direction.

I had my follow-up with my surgeon Friday. We drove down Thursday to Melbourne (10+ hour trip). I was a little concerned about what I was going to be able to eat on the road since I'm still on pureed things for another month. I was packing things like canned tuna and canned chicken so I'd have something easy once we got to Melbourne, but both require mixing with mayo and keeping that in the car for 10 hours seemed iffy. We planned to buy mayo once we got to Melbourne, and decided to try to find Subways or similar along the road so I could get tuna or something similar that way. The first stop turned out to be a 7-11 with a cafe in it. I had an egg salad sandwich and just ate the filling out. That was just fine. The second stop, it was late, and there were many fewer options (you wouldn't believe how few "service centres" there are on the road between Melbourne and Sydney. Sometimes you go almost two hours without seeing a single place to eat or get gas.) The only thing they had that looked super soft was a "potato casserole" and obviously I didn't want the carbs! There was also a sausage roll (not really something that exists in the US) but it's pastry wrapped around ground sausage. So I got that and removed the pastry and just ate the ground sausage. But it wasn't as moist as I would have liked. In retrospect I should have said damn the carbs and either had the potato casserole or at least added ketchup to that sausage. But I was trying to do the right thing.

Well, that sausage went down like a lead balloon. I couldn't believe the pressure and discomfort. I was so sweaty and felt awful. I knew I needed to vomit, but I so didn't want to. I held it back, but it only got worse and worse. Finally I couldn't hold it back anymore and vomited for the first time since surgery. NOT something I want to repeat. On the drive BACK from Melbourne yesterday, we stopped and got tuna with mayo at Subway and I just kept it in the trunk (it's winter here) and ate it at both stops of our drive, risk of food poisoning be damned (it was fine, fortunately). You do what you gotta do, I guess. I'm glad for any future visits to Melbs I won't be on pureed foods any longer. It's easier to pack high-protein foods that don't need refrigeration if you don't have to have soft/moist/pureed stuff.

Last night I blew it, too - I was 10g of protein short, so I added one serving of some melted high-protein cheese to my 1/4c. of pureed chicken - it apparently bulked it up to more than I could handle and it was so uncomfortable I was actually HOPING to vomit for a while to get rid of the pain and discomfort. I didn't, though. I guess this process is all about learning!

When you guys were on pureed foods, did you do 3 meals per day plus protein shake, or 2 meals plus shake? The latter is what I'm doing now, and I think it would be easier to get in my protein if I did 3 meals plus shake. My only concern is that will easily put me over the 550-700 calories my nut said I should be taking in right now by a couple hundred calories.

I'm hating my WPI right now, btw. The Caramel Toffee Fudge from Optimum Nutrition was tolerable - should have stuck with that! Instead I tried the Rocky Road when it was time to reorder... oh god, it's so sickly sweet it absolutely gags me with every swallow! We also tried some Syntrax Nectar Tropical Cooler and UGH, same thing! GAG! But we can't afford to just toss them out - at $59 for a 2lb container (yes, they're more expensive over here!) they're too pricey to toss! I force them down, but it takes me hours sometimes. My kingdom for some Optimum Nutrition flavor samples, but I have yet to find anywhere that offers them here in Aus! I tried unflavored WPI with food instead - but it bulks the food up too much for my tummy to handle at the moment. I tried it in various liquids, and YUCK. Can't stand the flavor/frothiness. However, I found a local source for Unjury unflavored - hoping that might be more tolerable. My other option is just to melt a serving of some high-protein cheese and eat it by itself as a snack - but my surgeon's NUT is strongly against snacking, so I don't feel I should be doing that.

I think I'm finally understanding where the 30/60/90 rule came from, haha. But I don't want to back off when my weight is finally coming off again. If I have to, I will, but I'm still hoping I'll find a solution that works for me.

Oh! Almost forgot to talk about my actual surgeon appointment. He was very pleased with my weight loss. He could actually weigh me on his office scale (I was too heavy last time). He reassured me that a stall was normal and nothing to worry about. He asked me about my eating, and was so happy with my responses and obvious motivation that he said he trusts me to do exactly what I need to do, and that most of our follow-ups can now be done via phone/Skype! Can't tell you how happy we are with that - all those trips down there were getting expensive! They're going to call me in six weeks to check up on me, and then in three months they want me to send a letter from my GP with an update on how I'm doing.

Also, I have an amazing endocrinologist I adore staying on top of my lab numbers for my vits/minerals. She's really enthusiastic and I can tell she'll do whatever I need re blood tests/injections for vitamins/prescriptions, etc. She always asks about my general health, too, and follows up on everything really well/quickly. I get blood tests done again (many more than I had done last time) in Mid-May, so I should have a good idea of how my supplements are working at that point.

Sorry for the looooooong-ass update :confused:, but thanks for reading it all, if you got this far. :)
 
Actually, think I just solved my protein issue easily/sensibly - switching to full cream ("whole") milk means I get enough extra protein that this daily diet gets me to 80g:

Breakfast:
Optimum Nutrition - Rocky Road (Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein), 60.8 g 226 5 2 47 1 3
Dairy Farmer's - Original Milk, 250 ml 159 12 9 9 0 12

Lunch:
Newman's Own - Ranch Dressing , 7 ml(s) 36 0 4 0 0 0
Ginny's Low Carb California Chicken Salad, 0.25 serving(s) 128 1 8 12 0 0

Dinner:
Ginny's Low Carb California Chicken Salad, 0.25 serving(s) 128 1 8 12 0 0
Newman's Own - Ranch Dressing , 7 ml(s) 36 0 4 0 0 0

Yes, I really like this Low Carb California Chicken Salad recipe I invented. :) With 12g of protein in a pureed 1/4c., it's great - AND it's very tasty! It's even tastier if you don't have to puree it, I'm told. ;) In a few more weeks, I'll find out! Here's the recipe if you want it.
 
Sorry you're having troubles, the best advice I can give for travels, or really for everyday, for that matter, is be prepared! I always have a ton of portioned out snacks in a cooler when I travel, and I do the same when I'm out for work or play each day. I usually even have back-up protein bars just in case I'm out longer than expected and don't want to or can't stop to grab something. I've heard other people mention things like this and I'd caution everyone to never leave the house for a long period of time without prepping!
 
Oh, I usually carry protein bars with me! I just can't eat them yet. :( Literally everything pureed seems to have dairy in it for moisture... cream cheese, mayo, etc. We should have invested in a cooler, but it just didn't occur to us until too late. If there were going to be a next time for a road trip while on pureed foods, we'd definitely do it differently! Fortunately next time I won't be on pureed and I'll have many more options! :)
 
Glad you had such a good visit with your surgeon. That is awesome.

I was gonna suggest a cooler. We have many, one is a very small one for short trips, like we took this week to my mother in law. Mostly just for us to keep extra drinks. And it's not that we don't have a multitude of places to stop, sometimes it's easier to just have familiar stuff.
 
Hooray for Skype visits versus 10 hour drives! Hooray for your fantastic weight loss so far! And Hooray for you! :) Keep up the awesomeness!!!!
 
I've had 2 stalls already at almost 3 months out. They definitely sucked and messed w my head. You're doing awesome!! You're planning and being very diligent. Keep up the great work! Love watching your journey!! Good luck. :)
 

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