Intuition Juice

A friend of mine was looking for a forum to discuss a particular topic she wanted some advise about and could not find a forum for it anywhere. Instead of creating a website just for that topic she decided to broaden it to include all dreams after WLS. It is brand new and was just launched last week but what a great way to share dreams, goals and ideas.   Post WLS Dreams

As mentioned before, I read on Melting Mama’s blog about these Luna Peppermint Stick Bars and I bought one to try because her review sounded so good I wanted one immediately! I took it with me to my first day of classes (I know I should have eaten before I left for school but I was nervous and my belly doesn’t like to have food when it is nervous!) so I would have some snacks with me. I also brought a bottle of Fruit2O water and some Jack Links Tender Strips beef jerky with me. After waiting in line forever at the bookstore with my financial aid voucher to buy over $400 worth of textbooks for three classes, I had some time before class started so I sat down in the café and busted out with my laptop and my Luna bar.

Oh . My. God. It was delicious! It was every bit as good as MM described it. Now the carb count is a little high for everyday eating but I think it is a great “purse/backpack snack”. Even with 28 grams of carbs it is better than most anything that would come out of a college vending machine! Plus it has 8 grams of protein and every little bit helps! It looks like a cereal bar with a peppermint white chocolate coating on the bottom but it tastes like a cross between a candy bar and a cookie. I normal hate sweets (even before surgery I hated sweets) but I am addicted to these Luna Peppermint Stick bars after just having one. I immediately went to Amazon.com (my favorite store ever, plus with Amazon Prime everything I order ships for free which is super convenient with as much as I order!) and saw the had a case of 15 bars for $20. On the side bar it said “sign up for subscribe and save and get this item for only $17!” I forget how much I paid at Walmart for the one bar I got but I think it was $2.09. When I was at Fresh Market I saw they had them for $1.59. So I can order them from Amazon at $1.13 a bar AND they will automatically send me a case once a month?! Of course I ordered them immediately! I ordered them yesterday morning and they got to my house tonight!
So as I mentioned, I order a lot of stuff from Amazon. This is not a shameless ad telling you to buy from Amazon- I have legitimately ordered from there very regularly for the past several years! This week alone the UPS man has been to my house 3 times already. We’ve had 10 “dates” this year so far you would think we would be on a first name basis by now! Then again he only ever sees me in my pajamas and sometimes they are the same pajamas from the day before, but still! I’m just kidding about having an affair with the UPS man, but I have seen him at least ten times this month so far! I ordered a Tag Jr Reading System and a Tag book for my niece for her second birthday next month, so the Reading System came yesterday and the Tag Book (Panda Bear, Panda Bear) came today with my Luna bars.

I’ve had problems with protein supplements since surgery.  Basically- they make me puke.  The ones that don’t make me puke make me feel so sick to my stomach I WANT to puke!  So I am on this quest to find a protein supplement that tastes great, doesn’t have a million carbs in it, and doesn’t make me sick.

While at Walmart one day picking up a Luna Peppermint Stick bar (Melting Mama did a review of it a while ago that made it sound so delicious I wanted one immediately! ) I decided to grab a 6 pack of the Body Fortress Super Whey protein shots with 26 grams of protein.  I know, I know!  It is an inferior protein source compared to whey isolate but some protein is better than none at this point!  I will write a review a little bit later (probably tomorrow), but I will say as long as I held my nose I was able to get it down and keep it down.

I have a stack of protein bars to try (the previously mentioned Luna bar, an Oh Yeah! Bar, and some others) as well.  Plus I have 8 powder samples and 3 different kinds of protein shots I just ordered from Vitalady today coming in the mail.  Haven’t heard of Vitalady?  Check her out; lots of vitamin and protein options plus some WLS food options as well.  I should do a more detailed review of her site but I am a little worn out after my Wii Fit yoga session this morning and need a nap before the kids get home!

So total I have lost 64 pounds already!  I feel great!  I have gone down 8 sizes in jeans already in 2 months!   I do get tired pretty easily and have some exhaustion issues but I bet when I do my labs next month it has to do with iron levels.  Other than that it has been an awesome journey post-surgery.  Still have to get used to drinking at least 80 ounces of water a day and taking in all my vitamins but I have been able to get 80-100 plus grams of protein in a day just from eating food and some protein bars on some days.  Protein shakes make me ill and vomit.  I’m still trying them out to try to find one that works!  I have lots of vitamin and protein reviews to get done, as well as some recipes.  One of my resolutions is to update my blogs at least 4 times a week but I am hoping for 7 days a week.  We will see how well that goes!  Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years!

Tonight’s dinner was yummy!  We used boneless chicken thighs and cooked them with onion, garlic, shallots, and red bell pepper and served it with a variation of tabbouleh. We didn’t have bulghur wheat so we used brown rice.  We also added some zucchini and roasted eggplant as well.  I used this Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa on Food Network) recipe for the inspiration!

Tabbouleh

Copyright, 2001, Barefoot Contessa Parties!, All rights reserved

Show: Barefoot ContessaEpisode: The Mediterranean Feast

• Level:

Easy

• Yield:

8 servings

Times:

Prep 30 min

Inactive Prep 1 min

Cook –

Total: 31 min

Bottom of Form

Ingredients

• 1 cup bulghur wheat
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 cup minced scallions, white and green parts (1 bunch)
• 1 cup chopped fresh mint leaves (1 bunch)
• 1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (1 bunch)
• 1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place the bulghur in a large bowl, pour in the boiling water, and add the lemon juice, olive oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Stir, then allow to stand at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Add the scallions, mint, parsley, cucumber, tomatoes, 2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper; mix well. Season, to taste, and serve or cover and refrigerate. The flavor will improve if the tabbouleh sits for a few hours.

As I have mentioned before, with the type of weight loss surgery that I have had (a DS- duodenal switch) I have malabsorption.  I have tried pretty hard to journal my food (write down everything I have eat or drank during a day) so I know how many calories, fats, and carbs I am putting in my mouth but I wonder how many of those calories to I actually absorb?  One of the main reasons I journal is to keep track of my protein intake as well.  Now there is a DS calculator already out there called DS Math.  The problem for me is that it runs in Java, the user interface is not really appealing to me, and you have to add all of your own food entries into the program (so you have to add the food, serving size, calories, fat, etc yourself).

Granted I do have a degree in computer programming (and I am sure I will be helping him with the project) but Scott is going to help me create an online version of a DS Nutritional Calculator!  It will be all online so you won’t have to install anything to your computer, you will just log in with a user name and password.  Plus we will be installing a database already into the website so you will be able to search for a food and just add it to your daily food log.  Of course there will be the option of adding custom foods as well.  You will be able to adjust the malabsorption rates in the settings as well and it will reflect your actual calorie/fat/protein intake!

I am very excited about working on this project!

Before I had my duodenal switch I did not really enjoy spicy food.  Sometimes even Taco Bell was just too spicy for me!  After surgery I just can’t seem to get enough of the spicy stuff.  I have been putting red pepper flakes on practically everything!  I also seem to be able to just taste better in general since surgery.  I never realized mushrooms tastes earthy, that cranberries were so tart, or that tomatoes were actually sweet.  When I ate food it always tasted like I was eating, take lasagna for example.  If I ate lasagna it tasted like lasagna- I couldn’t pick out the different elements in the meal such as the flavor of the ricotta, the sauce, the parmesan, the mozzarella, or the Italian seasonings it just tasted like lasagna to me.  Now when I eat something I can taste all the different flavors separately as well as together!  I made some turkey chili a few days ago (speaking of my current red pepper flake obsession, I added too much red pepper flake to the chili and accidentally made it too spicy for the kids to eat!) and I could taste the onions, garlic, tomatoes, beans, turkey, cumin, chili powder and red pepper flakes all separately!  Things taste so much different now!  I probably also taste more things because I chew so a longer period then I ever have before and eat slower.  I have a whole list of foods I want to try!  I keep seeing Middle Eastern food on Food Network and really want to try it so I am going to make some tabouleh and spiced meat for dinner next week.  If it is good I will share (though I am guessing it is delicious since I got the recipe from the spice man himself- Bobby Flay).

My recovery has been fantastic!  I have more energy and I can breathe easier an don’t get short of breath anymore.  As of last week when I started my Wii Fit project (more on that later) I found out I have lost 55 pounds so far!  I started at 340 pounds and am now down to 285 pounds in 5 weeks!  I have learned some things post surgery:

• I can not seem to tolerate protein drinks anymore (makes me really sick to my stomach and puke)
• When you lose weight and it comes off your butt it hurts to sit on your butt for long periods of time
• I have a hard time eating most meats so I have to eat small amounts at a time and east super slow
• I have collar bones and hip bones!
• I go through sizes every week or two right now and I am running out of things to wear!

About the Wii Fit project- wince the weather right now is not exactly comfortable to be taking walks in (but I walk at least 5-7 miles a week anyway) I decided to give the Wii Fit a try.  My goal is to lose 15 pounds a month (at least) so I will track my progress here every two weeks.  And now for the best part- progress pictures!




I am 17 days post surgery and doing really well.   I am still having some pain in my lower left area but the doctor said not to worry it’s normal.  Here is a breakdown of my surgery day, hospital stay, and experiences recovering at home.

SURGERY DAY- 11-4-09

I had to be at the hospital to check in at 9:30am.  My Mom flew in the day before so we got the kids on the bus and left for the hospital.  Once I checked in I had to have some blood drawn to type my blood in case I needed a transfusion while I was at the hospital, as well as a pregnancy test.  Then  I was taken to the pre-surgery area to be weighed (326), asked to strip completely and put on a hospital gown and paper booties on my feet and to have a nurse take my vitals and go over my history with me.  My surgeon had an emergency surgery to perform so I was pushed back about an hour.  Mom was allowed to sit with me until the surgeon was ready for me.  He came and talked to us and answered my Mom’s questions.  Unfortunately when it was time for put in my IV the nurse blew out two of my veins (so much so that I still have huge bruises on my arms) and the anesthesiologist had to come put my IV in.  Once in the operating room (warning: it is freezing in there!) I was out pretty quickly and the next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery area being asked how my pain was.  I was hooked up to a pain pump that dispensed pain medication with a touch of a button and you could hit the button every 15 minutes.   After I was awake they took me to my hospital room and I was lucky enough to have a room to myself.  My Mom was waiting for me in my room by the time I got there.  Once in the room they put pressure stocking on my legs and strapped me into this device that sort of feels like a blood pressure cuff that gently squeezes on the legs to help prevent blood clots.  I also had several shots in my belly to help with the prevention of blood clots as well.   They put the catheter in while I was asleep so I didn’t even notice it.  No food or drink was allowed on the day of surgery but they did bring me some tiny sponges on a stick and a pitcher of ice water to swab my mouth and lips with to keep them from drying out.  I slept a lot on this day.

ONE DAY POST OP – 11-5-09

Today they removed the catheter and the pain pump.  First thing in the morning they had me see if I could stand up and luckily I did it in one try.  The pain was not too terrible but it certainly was uncomfortable.  Later on in the day I was allowed to shower and change into my own pajamas and then walked around the floor.  After I got back from my walk they gave me liquid pain medication and I promptly took a nap!  I was able to eat at this time.  My meals were 1 ounce of chicken broth and 1 ounce of jello. It took me an hour to eat it.  My Mom went home to take care of the kids and my friend Scott came up to the hospital to stay and help me out.

TWO DAYS POST OP – 11-6-09

When the doctor did his rounds in the morning he told me that I was going great and could go home today.   They ended up not getting around to releasing me until late afternoon so the day consisted of taking a shower, walking around the floor three times and eating my chicken broth and jello.  They sent me home with some liquid lortab for the pain.

AT HOME

I have followed my diet plan from my doctor and my nutritionist and have been doing really well.  I did however somehow pull a muscle in my lower back which has made moving around painful.  I am once again on lortab for pain and also a muscle relaxer.  I go back to the doctor this coming Monday to start some physical therapy to help work out the spasms in my back.  I also ended up with a kidney infection and am on antibiotics for that.  So far I have lost 33 pounds since surgery and I am very happy with the pace of the weight loss.  I am sure if I was able to move around more I would lose faster but I am limited to walking right now until the pulled muscle heals.  It does get a little bit better each day though.

I am on my way to the hospital for surgery. I will post about it when I am feeling up to it! Wish me luck! I am so nervous.