Lisa's Weight Loss Surgery Journal

December 1, 2000
Hi! :) Here it is December... and for the first time in years, I have *most* of my Chrismtas shopping done! How's that for efficient?!! I'm pretty proud of myself.

I've been soooo bad lately, food-wise. Or at least I feel that I have. I have had this MAJOR craving for pizza, pasta - anything with tomato sauce on it. I am craving the sauce! I talked to the dieticians at the bariatric center, and they seemed to think that maybe I might have an iron deficiency. So, I've given up the Flintstones chewables and "graduated" to one-a-day plus extra iron. I broke the big horse pill in half this morning and took it, but it gave me heartburn. I think I'll just swallow it whole tomorrow and see what happens.

I still haven't had Lacy take new pictures, but I will do so this weekend. I'm putting together Christmas Cards for the surgeons at St. V.'s... we are having our support group's holiday party this coming Tuesday, and everyone is writing a Thank You letter to his/her surgeon. I'm going to print them out, including before/after pics, and we'll give them to the doctors at the party.

Not much else going on... Bob's Mom is going for her third round of chemo today. She seems to be handling it pretty well! She hasn't really gotten sick from it, and she still has her hair, so that's good.

I will try to get those pictures posted soon! :)

December 11, 2000
Still no pictures! Geez. I just can't find anything that I think really shows off my loss. Or, I'm just being lazy. Maybe both! :)

GOOD NEWS... I have met my goal of losing 100# by Christmas! As a matter of fact, I've lost 102# - and Christmas is still two weeks away! My next goal is to get under 200#... only 9 more pounds til that happens! THEN I will really feel like I've accomplished something, because I don't remember the last time I weighed under 200#. I think it was before I was pregnant with my daughter!

This was quite a busy weekend. We went to the music store on Saturday and I bought a guitar - my interim gift to myself for losing 100#, until I get the money together for my tattoo... then Lacy was babysitting, so Bob and I rented "The Perfect Storm" and watched it.

Sunday, I changed the furniture around in the computer room again. I'm one of those people who has to change the furniture around all the time. I'm just weird that way.

Well... I guess I'd better get back to work. I just had to get on here and rejoice about the 100#! :)

December 18, 2000
One more week til Christmas! This is going to be a wonderful Christmas. Life is good!

We already have about 8 inches of snow on the ground, with 1-3 more expected tonight. Except for the bitter cold and pain in the butt driving conditions, it really puts you in the mood for the holidays! I miss our fireplace right now, though. But we got the tree put up and it looks lovely... lots of presents under the tree, etc. etc.

I weighed in at Mom and Dad's this weekend, and I weighed 208# (-103#!). I feel great! :) I made a banana bread this weekend, using Splenda instead of sugar. I accidentally put in a whole stick of butter instead of a half stick, but it came out REALLY GOOD! I'm going to make some for our Christmas celebration at my parents' house. If anyone wants the recipe, email me at Mamafeathers@yahoo.com and I'll send it your way!

Yesterday, I went to church with my Mom and Dad. I don't think I've been since LAST Christmas! Several people didn't recognize me. One young man that I graduated from high school with asked my Dad who I was! I thought it was great fun. It felt good to hear all the compliments. :) The outfit I wore was really pretty - a wine-colored top and matching long skirt, with a slit in the side. It's getting kind of too big on me! My 20's are fitting looser and looser each time I try them on. I'm loving it!

Other than that - not much news. Thanks for reading! Can you believe this year is almost over? Where did it go?? :)

December 20, 2000
Hi there!
Not much new to report, really, but I feel the need to ramble here in my journal a bit.

I seem to be back on a losing kick. I've lost a few more pounds this week, and I'm getting closer and closer to being under 200#! I am loving it!

Yesterday, I had another job interview at United. I interviewed a few months ago for an Administrative Assistant position, but I didn't get the job. THIS time, I interviewed for a Technical Assistant position, which is a little bit more money (though I don't know exactly how much). I think it's salaried, rather than hourly, because they haven't mentioned an hourly wage. I would really LOVE to get this job! SO keep your fingers crossed for me, if you would!

The funniest feeling came over me yesterday... after the initial interview, I was taken out into the department to sit with the person whose job I would be taking. I felt SO at home and comfortable with the people in that department. They were all very personable and not the least bit intimidating. It didn't really sink in until someone offered me a piece of fudge - NONE of these people knew me when I was fat! And there I was, cutting up and socializing with them just like a "normal" person! And they liked me! LOL! Something about it just hit me.

How cool to be "normal".

Yesterday at work, they held a holiday dinner for all of the employees. I enjoyed it... I had a few small bites of a vegetable lasagna, some cooked carrots and pea pods (about 2 pieces of each), a tiny bit of salad with French dressing and shredded carrot, a few bites of a roll, and a tiny little bit of dessert. I wasn't overly stuffed - and I wasn't still hungry. I felt like I had enjoyed a nice holiday meal! It was great!

I have felt kind of strange about the amounts of food I've been eating lately. I rarely eat breakfast, I don't snack every day (not even the "allowed" snacks on my food plan, given to me by the dieticians), and more often than not, I only really eat one meal per day. I substitute protein shakes and protein bars for meals a lot of times (which probably isn't the best thing to do). But some days, I just don't feel like eating! Don't get me wrong... other days, I feel that I eat too much! Usually I eat more when it's "that time of the month". Hmmm... I'm not sure if it's weird, or if it's normal! But, the weight is still coming off and I couldn't be happier - and I doubt I could feel much better! I've been feeling great lately. Lots of energy, etc. - and I'm really looking forward to the holidays for a change!

December 26, 2000
Wow, was this ever a great holiday! :) I remember LAST year, thinking how THIS year was going to be so different because I'd have had surgery by then, etc. - and it was! It was wonderful!

Officially, I've lost about 105# - and it's getting to be the time of the month when I tend to eat a little more and lose slower. Which is nice to know, so that I can try to really pay attention and eat WELL! Protein, protein, protein,... water, water, water!

Christmas was an amazing experience. Here is a picture I had taken on Christmas day... it is a picture of me wearing a pair of my husband's jeans that were TOO SMALL for me last year. They are so big on me NOW, that I can fit into one leg of them!



I've had a few people write to ask what sort of things I was able to eat for Christmas dinner. Well - I'm able to eat just about anything! On Christmas Eve, we went to Bob's family's place, and I ate some deli turkey, a dill pickle spear, a few potato chips, a couple of olives, and a small chocolate chip cookie. Also - they didn't have any diet soda, and their water wasn't very good, so I drank a little bit of a regular coke for the first time since surgery. It didn't make me sick - it was OK, I could handle it just fine, I didn't dump, and it didn't make me want to drink more and more and more. So, I feel like a "normal" person! It's nice to know that I can have a small glass of real coke occasionally and it won't kill me! But I'll stick to water for everyday, thank you! LOL! Coke won't do me any favors. I absolutely love having control over it!

For Christmas dinner, I was able to comfortably eat a couple of slices of turkey, a slice of jellied cranberry sauce, a spoonful of dressing, a spoonful of mashed potatoes, a hot roll with butter, some jello salad, and a few bites of my husband's pumpkin pie. I was really full after all that! But again - I felt like a normal person, and didn't deny myself anything.

It's funy - people still think that I "can't" eat certain things, like sugar, bread, etc. - when in reality I "can", but I "shouldn't"! That's the beauty of what this surgery does. It gives you the tool to eat more like a NORMAL PERSON. And NORMAL PEOPLE do eat cookies and drink cokes occasionally - just not every day, and not large quantities!

Now, many surgery patients can not tolerate the sugar like I can - especially at first - and they would have dumped on the amount of sugar I ate. But I try to keep my sugar consumption to 12 grams at a time. I can eat a couple of christmas cookies or a piece of fudge and have no problem. But I don't do it every day! And YES - I really and truly am able to stop at one.

I hope this helps those of you who are worried that your life will never be the same again. In some ways it's true... but it's true in a GOOD way! I'm absolutely THRILLED that I don't have the capacity to eat like I used to. It feels wonderful to be developing healthier eating habits. Life is good!