When you are a plus size gal, well, probably no matter what size you are, we can all deal with pain of some sort. For me, being very plus size, my major issues are my knees, my back, and currently struggling with my shoulder.
The knees are the worst because that stops me from being able to do any kind of leg day workouts, or so I thought! I am going to be sharing videos and posts about what I struggle with, what I am doing to work past it, and even some tips on natural pain relievers that help!
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June 2021
Again, been a minute! Things have happened lately that have complicated my way of thinking about weight loss and about surgerys. I used to think that people who had the Gastric-bypass were taking the easy way out. Working out and eating clean were the best ways to do this thing....
I was wrong.
See, when you end up having chronic pain that puts you in a place you can not work out like you really want to, when you go to the dr for said chronic pain and all they can see is your weight, things have to change. I opened my mind and my heart and listened. It is time for change!
I did a couple of meetings and heard them out. Boy, I was wrong. Gastric-bypass, at least where I live, is hard hard work! You have to lose a certain amount of weight. Get yourself working out 30 minutes a day, eat a certain amount of food, and put yourself first by taking care of you.
I am three months into my six month wait before I can go in for surgery. I am learning daily what to do and how to do it. There are things I don't agree with, for example, not eating veggies for 6 months after surgery. But, getting myself healthy is going to require some compromise.
So, that is where I am. Here in a few weeks, I will be joining a swim class to do my workouts so that my body can do it and not be in major pain.
So my advice, don't close your mind to new things. Eat SUPER clean foods. Read ingredients. Work out if you can and if you can't, find a way to do it. Find a swim class or do chair exercises. Get moving. And if you have to, be open to a surgery. I will keep you posted!
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1-19-2022
It has taken a long time to get to this place and I am so sorry I have not kept up on this but I truly plan on keeping up. I finally have a surgery date for my sleeve. I have lost a certain amount of weight. I have consistently ate clean foods, smaller portions, and taken vitamins. I have measured my foods. I have separated foods from liquids. I have slowed down how long it takes me to eat a meal. And I am approved and ready to go. I have had to have labs drawn, a sleep study done, EKG, and next week I have my pre op appointment where we do a body composition. Scary! But I am super excited. I will post an update about that!
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2-6-22
I am days away from surgery! I am so excited. I had my labs done. I had the EKG done. I went in and had my body composition done. For those who don't know, you basically step on a special scale barefoot and place your hands and feet on special parts and it reads not only your weight but your bone weight, fat density, etc. A lot of info. They measured my waist. And then I had the run through of what to expect with surgery.
I am on a two week pre op diet. So I am not eating any carbs. Drinking protein drinks (I use Premier Protein) for two meals and light meals with 1 cup veggies 1/4 cup protein. First few days were so hard. I don't eat a lot of carbs because I am gluten free but I missed them. To be honest, the first night I made chicken that I rolled in gluten free flour. I cheated.
But here I am 4 days away from surgery and I am not hungry like I thought I would be. I have lost more weight. I am so excited! I will try to update right after surgery probably a few days after. If all goes as planned and I don't get Covid or the hospital does not get over with Covid nor does the surgeon get Covid, it will be February 10th! WOO WOO
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2-15-22
Well, I had the surgery and it's been a minute. I wanted to jump on here day one and update you but let's be honest, it has been hard. I expected incision pain and that I actually deal with well. I expected it to be hard to drink because my stomach is incredible small now. Well, that is where things changed. I did not realize that when I drink a small sip, my stomach was full of bubbles that move around. It is hard to explain but I will try. And, keep in mind, everyone is different so this may not happen to you.
If you had a small cup with a long straw and you filled it up with bubbles, then you slowly add a tiny bit of water down the straw. What happens? Some of those bubbles come back up the straw. A lot of burping. But here is the problem, at first, I couldn't burp so it was just bubbles moving up and down and causing a lot of pain.
The moment I woke up, I had horrible gas pain from the gas they put in you to do the surgery. That was painful enough but then adding these bubbles that moved around made it worse. Sometimes, big bubbles would come up the throat. When I burped, it helped. Farting or fluffing was a different story. Trying to figure out how to use your toot muscles is very difficult but you will eventually.
I am on day five and I can not say things are easier. I am getting my fluids in. My team recommends 60-90 grams of protein through shakes (Again, I use
Premier Protien.) And then 48 oz of fluid like water, broth, tea, and sugar free popsicles which have been a life saver.
The broth and the popsicles are the only things so far that I can drink without having pain with the gas bubbles.
Day five and I am truly tired of drinking shakes. So, I added a little ice today in one and blended it. That helped. I bought some
bone broth powder and I am going to add that to my chicken broth tonight for protein. I am so looking forward to that. Pretty soon, I will be able to have yogurt and what not.
I was constipated as well which adds to the discomfort. So, 2-14, Valentines Day, my husband gave me an incredibly amazing card. I then asked him for one more gift. A suppository. Yes, a suppository. And the poor man had to insert it as well. It did work and since I have been able to go number two. It is not easy. You have to learn how to push with the muscles. But, you will get there.
This has been so difficult. I have been so down. I am still in a mood of why did I do this? This is not worth it. But, I have such big HOPE that this will be worth it. Just as the pre surgery was not an easy journey, the surgery stage is no walk in the park either.
I truly want to update you along the way and let you know what I like, what I don't like, things to try, how Im feeling, and when I get excited I did this.
But for now, Im just being real. This is hard. I have six incisions on my belly that hurt but I can manage that. I have gas bubbles that are the worst of my pain and problems. Every day is a tiny bit better and that gives me great hope!
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2-19-22
Day 9, I believe, since surgery. Boy, it has been a long past week and very difficult. However, about day seven I started feeling better. I was able to drink without having so many bubbles. I still get them a little but nothing like before.
The last two days I have felt almost normal. I can almost bend over at the stomach without hurting. My wounds are healing nicely.
I have found that I am not really enjoying the protein shakes any longer and my stomach is not either but I am not getting enough protein without supplementing. So, that is my next task.
Kefir. This is another big one for me. I am supposed to drink 2 oz twice a day and I can not stand the stuff so I basically chug it and I think that in and of itself is making me sick. So I am going to figure out a better probiotic that won't cause problems.
Overall, I have lost 11 lbs since surgery day and a total of 47 lbs since I started the bariatric program. I am so happy. It is hard to believe I lost weight when I step on the scale because I feel like I am not doing this whole thing right.
The first week I was not mobile very much at all. I never sat straight up, I was in my recliner. I did walk. my dog in the backyard numerous times a day but that was it. A few days ago I went for a car ride and boy oh boy did I realize I should have been sitting up more because my stomach was not used to that. But today was fine. Sitting and all. I am more active because I feel better too.
I have not been following my meal plan to a tee because I wanted more real food. Not processed shakes or yogurt etc. So I started with an egg and that went really well. Tonight, I had a small piece of super soft chicken thigh and that went really well too. However, I still have to supplement with shakes.
Tomorrow, I am going to try drinking more bone broth to get in extra protein and that also counts as fluids. Two in one!
So, food for thought, make sure you have many protein options. I really like nonfat cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, eggs, protein yogurt, organic chicken bone brother, and really tender and very well chewed chicken thighs.
Signing off for now and also, loving the choice I made. I am so happy! (Side note, I am starting to notice my hair falling out more and I cut it short in hopes to not see that yet. So, I am going to do an all natural hair serum and see how that goes!)
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02-24-22
Things are so much better. I have progressed through my food list quickly. I am supposed to be on only soft soft proteins but I am able to eat chicken and I even had a half of hamburger patty tonight. I wanted to share some foods with you.
Mind you, these pictures may look disgusting but darn do they taste good!
The first is my favorite, chicken, refried beans, and cheddar cheese!
The next things I LOVE LOVE LOVE is an egg from a dear friend who has been giving me farm fresh organic eggs, cheddar cheese, and avocado (Just a little)
And then today, I found a recipe on Pinterest for a
chicken pizza crust. I made that, with a little spaghetti sauce, mozzarella cheese, and basil seasoning.
So, my take away is this. Just keep going. When you feel sick. When you feel bored of food. When you feel like you can not drink any more protein shakes. Keep going. I am still drinking a shake a day and have found if I add a little almond milk to a cafe protein shake with some cocoa powder, I can tolerate it.
Search for new recipes that are healthy, clean, and follow your bariatric plan on Pinterest or even just google searches. Variety is key. Add seasonings. Add flavors. Just don't give up because you will lose.
Everyone is different! I plan on only updating my loss once a month but I have to say, I have lost 14lbs since my surgery two weeks ago. SO hang in there! It will get better!!
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03-19-2022
It has been a little while since I last updated you all. I have been eating a little more than my bariatric plan laid out but I talked with my nutritionist and she said it was okay. Now, when I say I am eating more, I am eating less than a half of cup each meal. I am hungry constantly. I have become used to just feeling hungry. It is sad.
But, I have researched different blogs, different recipes, and talked with a few people who went through the same plan I went through and have decided to eat a little veggies. This has made me so happy. This only happened yesterday. I get enough protein each day. I highly suggest you follow your plan as best you can. But I am to eat 60-90 grams of protein a day and I am hitting that so I feel like veggies would help with the hunger. Hopefully.
Today, I made scrambled eggs with 2 TBLS of homemade salsa. No extra junk in my salsa, just veggies. It was so good!
Now, all this being said. I am having such a hard time lately. It has been two weeks I have not lost anything. In my research I did find out that this is normal to some people. And obviously, we are all different and lose at different speeds. I have always been a slow loser.
I plan on doing an update on April first or shortly there after and I am praying so hard that there is some big changes between then and February 10th. We shall see!
Regardless of the outcome, I am going to hang in there. Now that I am eating a little bit of veggies, I am going to start eating way more clean! I already have started mostly but this will make it easier.
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3-31-2022
Hey all! Been a while.
I still plan on doing a weight update for you tomorrow but I wanted to stop by and share something great I found. I found an organic protein powder I love! I add it to almond milk, sometimes coffee, and add some things to flavor it up like vanilla extract, cocoa powder, etc. All organic of course.
I got mine off of Amazon and am very happy with it!
Other than that, I have added more veggies to my eating. Still eating just plain proteins mostly. I love that I can eat clean and more organic now since stopping the protein shakes and yogurt stage. I am so not a yogurt fan anyway.
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4-1-2022
I wanted to give you the update for the weight loss. Total since I started this plan is 60lbs. Since my surgery date (2-10-22) I have lost 24lbs. I am losing slower than some people however, I was already eating clean and enjoying good foods, not eating out constantly like some do. I am happy that I am losing and as long as I keep losing, even if it is slow, that is progress! Everyone is different so don't compare yourself with anyone else. You are you!
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08-30-2022
Been a long minute for sure. I am still on this amazing journey. I have lost a total of 98 lbs and 60 since surgery, it may be a bit more but I have not weighed yet for this coming month. I really enjoy having a smaller stomach and not eating as much as I did. I love it actually. I thought I would have a hard time with it but I don't. I love it!
One thing I wanted to bring up that you don't hear a lot about is the feeling of mourning the loss of your old body, your old clothes. Yes, new clothes and being thinner are things we want and desire however, it is amazing how much sorrow I feel about losing some clothes and about how I feel different being smaller. It's more the clothes at this point but I am sure the body loss will happen too. I have days I don't see myself any different and days I see myself smaller. It is strange.
Just know that it is okay to miss your old self, your old clothes, but your new self and your new clothes will be so much better for you. So, don't dwell on it, just mourn, give yourself the ability to be sad about it but then move on.
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