Intuition Juice

I *hate* wearing jewelry.  I don’t even wear earrings on a regular basis.  And rings, bracelets, or watches- no thank you!  I had a sleep study (again- the third one) before I have my WLS and THIS time it came back negative for narcolepsy (the first one said yes you have narcolepsy let’s drug you up (and it WORKED!), the second one said oh maybe you have narcolepsy but you are fat so lose some weight and come back (F@$% YOU!)) so now I have to wear this actigraphy watch for TWO WEEKS.  What the hell is an actigraphy watch right?

From the Wiki’s:

Actigraphy is a relatively non-invasive method of monitoring human rest/activity cycles. A small actigraph unit, also called an actimetry sensor, is worn by a patient to measure gross motor activity. Motor activity often under test is that of the wrist, measured by an actigraph in a wrist-watch-like package. The unit continually records the movements it undergoes. The data is later read to a computer where it can be analyzed.  The unit itself is an electronic device which generally consists of

• a piezoelectric accelerometer,
• a low-pass filter which filters out everything except the 2-3 Hz band, thereby ensuring external vibrations are ignored,
• a timer to start/stop the actigraph at specific times, and to accumulate values for a specific time frame,
• a memory to store the resulting values, and
• an interface, usually USB or serial, to program the timer and download the data from memory.

It looks like this:

It is annoying as hell.  I can’t take it off.  It’s waterproof so I can go swimming and shower with it on even.  Hopefully this will give the doctor something to work with so I can finally get my sleep issues dealt with again.  When I was being treated for narcolepsy I was sleeping so well and I had more energy and was happy and less sick.  Oh what is narcolepsy?  It’s a fun little disease let me tell you!

Again from the Wiki’s:

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder, or dyssomnia. The condition is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in which a person experiences extreme fatigue and possibly falls asleep at inappropriate times, such as while at work or at school. A narcoleptic will most likely experience disturbed nocturnal sleep and also abnormal daytime sleep pattern, which is often confused with insomnia. When a person with narcolepsy falls asleep they will generally experience the REM stage of sleep within 10 minutes; whereas most people do not experience REM sleep until after 30 minutes.

I have all the symptoms of narcolepsy and narcolepsy medications treats my issues but now this sleep doctor is telling me all the other doctors are wrong and I have other sleep disorder I have never heard of (and can’t remember the name nor find any info about it online!) where the brain doesn’t produce enough of the sleep chemicals in the brain and it is treated with stimulants like Ritalin.  So a stimulant is supposed to help me sleep better at night?!  According to all the research and information I have gathered with my kids being on stimulants for ADHD it is often associated with difficulty sleeping!

*Sigh* We will just have to see how this turns out.  The one thing that has been consistent is I DO NOT have sleep apnea (not ALL fat people have it thank you very much stuck up doctor in Seattle!) and I DO NOT snore (not ALL fat people snore!).

I can’t think of a flavor combo better than raspberries and chocolate.  It is definitely one of my favorite flavors.  I am also hopelessly addicted to Luna bars.  They are super yummy and easy to eat when I am away from home and need to eat something.  This morning I bought some Chocolate Raspberry Luna bars to try and WOW are they good!  As soon as you open the package you smell the raspberry (which I happen to think is extremely yummy).  It’s not too crunchy and not too chewy- it has just the right consistency.  It tastes just like it should- chocolaty and like raspberries.  Again these are Luna bars so they do not have the greatest numbers as far as carbs go.  This particular bar has 21 net carbs and 13 grams of sugar, but it is really yummy!  The 8 grams of protein is certainly on the low end of what I would want from a protein source but they are really yummy!  I had a duodenal switch (DS) so I don’t have to worry about dumping (but if you do then be careful with the sugar content in these) and I hardly absorb any of the 5 grams of fat they have so for me it is not such a terrible choice.  The carbs aren’t stellar but I usually eat them in the morning so I think that helps (as opposed to loading up on carbs at night right before bedtime).  Plus I will take a few more carbs to have a protein bar that actually TASTES good!

Product: Chocolate Raspberry Luna Bar

Price: $0.98 at Walmart; priced on average $1.00 – $1.50 per bar

The good: It is YUMMY; has 8 grams of protein

The bad: 21 net carbs (almost half of what I like to eat in a day!)

The ugly: if you have an issue with dumping, the 13 grams of sugar may not be very nice to you

TIP:  I have actually heard of people freezing the Luna bars and then eating them (especially the chocolate kinds) and they say it is a very yummy treat.  I think I am going to freeze the other one I bought and update on how it is!

Coming soon: I have also tried/have to try these flavors of Luna bars: Peanut Butter Cookies, Lemon Zest, Chia Tea, Carmel Nut Brownie, and White Chocolate Macadamia.  For protein powders I have Biggest Loser singles, Body Fortress (the cheap stuff from Walmart!) in a few different flavors, 4EverFit, protein shots (liquid protein bullets), and a whole box of samples for Vitalady!  Expect more frequent postings!  I also bought a Blender Bottle!

I always get an “Elvis” protein shake when I go to support group meetings and I figured out a simpler way to make them at home (and just as yummy)!

1-2 scoops of vanilla protein powder
8 oz water
ice
1/2 cup frozen banana
1 heaping tablespoon of peanut butter

Blend it like crazy and it is a yummy frozen shake!

I use water to minimize the carbs I eat in a day but you can replace the water with milk easily.

I am still making my way through my stack of protein that I have bought and have decided maybe it is time to get one of those protein shaker cup things.  I know what they do and what they look like but the few stores I have remembered to look for one at did not have any!  Where the heck do you get these things?!  And is one kind better than the other?  I see some with strainer lids, some with wire coils at the bottoms and some with wire balls inside (like the  picture above).  How do you know which one to get?

I finally have healed from my lower back injury and have the go-ahead to start going to the gym.  I got a trial membership and went to an hour of Zumba followed by an hour of pilates.  I was sore for a couple of days but I was proud of myself for making it through it!  Then Nick got sick and I haven’t been able to go back.  Tomorrow I am going to my first spin class though!  My butt will probably hurt extremely bad and I have heard that spin  classes kick your butt!  I’ll let you know how that goes!  I am also joining up in their Biggest Loser contest for some extra motivation.  I asked if it was ok since I had weight loss surgery and they said it was because they go by percentage of the weight loss not who loses the most pounds.  If I am not too sore I will post again tomorrow!  I have some more protein and product reviews and lots of recipes to share!

Better a little late than never!  I took my 3 month progress pictures last night.  I am down 90 pounds so far!  I feel amazing!  I also started going to the gym last week.  On my first day I did an hour of Zumba and an hour of pilates- I don’t know what I was thinking but man was I sore!  I had a lot of fun though and I can’t wait to go back!

I have 5 months before I have my first big event to attend post surgery. My best friend ever is getting married! I am so happy so her! So I am flying to Vermont for her wedding in July but what the hell am I going to wear?! It is going to be a pretty laid-back affair but even so I need to dress nicely for it. Luckily it should be pretty easy to deal with my surgery/food needs since she and her Mom have also had the same surgery. It’s always easier to deal with people when they actually know about what is going on! Maybe I will actually fit into an airplane seat without a seatbelt extender! I certainly don’t want to get kicked off an airplane for being too fat like what happened with Kevin Smith!

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!