Tonight I saw other post-ops, standing along side me sharing their photos and stories.  I listened to one lady Who had already had the RNY procedure done TWICE but was still extremely overweight.  The discussion turned to how those that succeed in weight loss and keep it off are usually the ones that keep up with the support groups.  Right now the support groups associated are going through an overhaul and I am excited to be a part of that.  I am happy that the support groups are going to be more “supportive”.  I don’t think I could have gotten to where I am without support.  The support of my boyfriend, my children, my Mom, and my bariatric family.  The people from the support groups have really become like family.  Some more than others of course but I feel a kinship with many of the people I have encountered along the way.  I am hopeful that I can provide that positive influence in others through this support group.

So what are some of the hardest obstacles you have faced?  Motivation seems to be a common obstacle and I am working on some ideas for that.  I have so many ideas that I want to implement!  I am very excited to be moving forward with this but nervous, too.  I always have the fear I am going to just screw up big time so I do not try to tackle anything that I am not 200% sure of.  I am going to just take a deep breath and try my best!

So it has been 7 months since I had my DS and I am down 150 pounds!  OMG!  Here is my 7 month progress picture:

BTW, this is the dress I bought to go to my best friends wedding in July.  It is a size LARGE and I bought it at Kohl’s.  In the Juniors department!

Today, I bought a new shirt at a regular clothing store.  It was a size SMALL.  A SMALL?!  WOW!  I am still in shock.  Here is a pic:

How AMAZING is that?!  I am so happy with my surgery and progress right now.  I am THIS close to being under 200 pounds and I am trying so hard to get there!

More updates soon!

We all paid $395 for a program that was suppose to include support groups that
are supportive, nutrition info that was accurate and relevant, a fitness
consultation, and classes.. for life. I will say that even though I haven’t had
the chance to check out your support groups because the distance and time you
meet, I think it sounds like a great environment. I don’t think just getting
together to, pardon my bluntness, have a bitch-fest where you go around the room
and talk about yourself (not to mention some people can go on and on for 10
minutes and get WAY off topic) and people just complain about what they have
going wrong- weight regain, food intolerance, etc and there isn’t much
discussion along the lines of- OK so what can we all do to either avoid or fix
these things? I like that you guys have discussions and guest speakers! I
think it would be way more beneficial if the support groups were smaller (40+
people in one support group?!), there were more groups for specific surgeries in
a wider area, particularly the DS (1 meeting in Peoria so early in the evening
just isn’t going to accommodate all the people it needs to), and were more
structured and covered topics relevant to post-WLS life or even to help prep
pre-ops. Just something other than people complaining or making fun of each
other- which I have heard in more than one of the general support meetings on
Monday nights at 7pm. I am irritated that the information about the DS in
particular is inaccurate and I am not pleased with the “nutrition” portion of
the program to say the least. DSers have a VERY different diet requirement and
copying the RNY diet and giving it the title of DS Nutrition doesn’t cut it.
Our malabsorption needs should be address more. Did you know that if you don’t
get enough fat in your diet it can cause you to have a heart attack?! Did you
know that if you had a DS you only absorb about 20% of that fat you intake? Did you
know that by restricting your fat to the levels suggested by the doctors combined with
your malabsorption can cause you to have a heart attack? I learned that in my
FIRST nutrition class in school so I am wondering how the heck they can even put
that down in their paperwork. I am appalled by the lack of information
available about the DS. especially when it comes to some of the support group
leaders. I got insulted at a support group meeting because I was trying to
correct some peoples misinformation about diabetes and the RNY and the DS and
they YELLED at me. And I was 100% right! I think we should be focusing on
teaching people to eat properly. I think we should teach people to properly
read nutrition labels. I think we should teach people how to properly eat out
again. I am often shocked by the number of people who have no idea how to cook
and don’t even have basic cooking supplies like measuring cups and spoons in
their homes! I think we should teach people how to cook properly. Restricting
your diet to only certain food groups is not healthy- you need a balance diet
with all the food groups to maintain proper nutrition. I don’t know about
anyone else but I ended up never having my fitness instruction meeting because
no one would call me back to schedule! I know many people who fill out those
pink forms requesting visits in the hospital don’t get visited! I think they
should cover what to bring to the hospital and what to have at home for the
first few weeks better. I think there should be sample meal plans, recipes, and
shopping lists. I think the support group leaders should be educated on all the
surgeries to properly give support and they should be unbiased about peoples
surgery choices. This RNY-elitist attitude has to stop! I think there should
be lists of resources available for information, vitamins, protein supplements,
recipes, etc included in those packets.

Basically THIS is what I have decided to do in my life for a career. I have
gone back to school so that I can do this. I am passionate about it and I am
going to do it with out without their help. This country needs help. Have any
of you seen Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution? Or watched the documentaries Food
Inc or SuperSize Me? Our country needs to re-learn how to eat properly and
healthy if we are going to make any progress in this fight against obesity. It
is now affecting the kids! Kids should not be developing type 2 diabetes at the
age of 12! And sometimes younger.

OK I will step off my soap box now!

If you don’t know what it is basically KFC has taken two original style fried chicken pieces (without bones of course), two strips of bacon, and Taco Bell’s fiesta sauce and made it into a sandwich so you have fried chicken in place of bread.

Sorry about the crappy pictures- I left my digital camera at home and had to rely on my crappy phone!  I know the WLS world is a-buzz about this sandwich, some for and some against.  I think the biggest debate with this seems to be revolving around the DS surgery (hey- I had that!) so let me break this down for you.  With a DS we don’t absorb 80% of the fat and 40% of the protein we eat (approximately- the DS can be customized with the length of the common channels so this can vary person to person).

Here’s the nutritional info:

Double Down
540 calories
290 calories from fat
32 grams fat
10 grams saturated fat
0.5 grams trans fat
145 cholesterol
1380 sodium
11 carbs
1 fiber
1 sugar
53 protein

On average a DSer only absorbs 223 calories and 6.4 grams of fat.  Most DSers don’t even bother looking at calories or fat and just stick to counting carbs and protein.  I count everything and track my food so I know how many calories and grams of fat I am getting I just don’t really care.  I try to keep my carbs under 50 grams (a common goal for DSers) and my protein intake between 90 to 120 grams.  For a “normal” person or WLS other than a DS the nutritional info might not make you to happy but for a DSer this is the kind of food we look for- high in protein, low in carbs.

So how does it taste?  Well it tasted great!  If you have ever seen So I Married an Axe Murderer (and if you haven’t go watch it immediately- its available for instant streaming on Netflix) then you know that KFC puts an addictive chemical in their chicken that makes you crave for it nightly, which I can totally see happening with these juicy, delicious fried chicken pieces.  I was going to order the grilled version because the breading on things usually gives me a stomach ache (side affect from the DS- flour-y or starchy carbs kills my gut) but I decided I needed to try it how it was suppose to be eaten to give it a fair review.  I personally have a hard time with dense protein so I put sauces on everything and there wasn’t quite enough of the fiesta sauce to help me eat it easily so I followed Scott’s lead and put mashed potatoes and gravy on a bite.  Not only did it taste better in my opinion but it was much easier to get down.

Yum- mashed taters and gravy!  I could only eat 1/3 of it but I am only 5 months out from surgery but I can see how some other WLS peoples can eat the whole thing- my stomach just hasn’t stretched out that much yet.

The Good: Well it tastes good!

The Bad: high calorie and high fat if you haven’t had a DS

The Ugly: could easily be addictive if KFC is your thing

Person number one we will call Bob.  Bob is in his mid-thirties, has an unsatisfying job in customer service and lives at home with his Mom because he can’t hack it in the real world.  He is a total mommy’s boy.  Bob develops a crush on me and it is quite evident.  I politely inform him I am not interested in him in that way and continue to try to help him through his WLS journey by answering questions and trying to be supportive.  Bob thinks that having surgery is going to make him thin and attractive immediately (in his words “maybe not immediately but within a year or so”) which will then allow him to have a girlfriend for the first time in his life and get him the career he so desperately wants.  Apparently no one informed him that the reason he doesn’t have a girlfriend or the career he wants is because of his personality, not his weight so imagine how he felt when I told him the truth!  His response was well my Mom says I have a great personality.   I reduce contact with Bob to a minimum but continue to answer questions he has as a new post-op until he calls me two weeks after surgery asking me if it was a bad idea to eat a sandwich and some ravioli for lunch.  I became very angry at this point and told him to stop calling me because he doesn’t listen to me anyway.

Individual number two I will call John.  John is very young and pretty naive.  John thinks that he can continue to live his life how is does already and just lose weight because he had WLS.  I tell John about Bob and he say “Oh I would never do anything that stupid”.  John also thinks the ladies will come running once he is skinny.  John needs to lose over 400 pounds to even be close to having a “normal” BMI so I am thinking eating whatever you want and not exercising is not going to equal skinny, with or without WLS.  John also thinks he will get his dream job once he is skinny.  He believes because he is so young that his skin will just bounce back after being stretched out to carry almost 700 pounds.  Which it might but I think a snowball has a better chance at surviving in hell (which is just MY opinion on the subject).  Anyway, he is basically Bob all over again but swears he isn’t going to be like Bob post-op.  Guess what?  He is a couple weeks out from surgery and is eating sandwiches and tacos.

Take away lesson:

1)      WLS will not suddenly make the ladies (or guys) come running to you.  The weight loss might make you physically more attractive to some individuals but if you have a shitty personality you still are not going to get anywhere with finding a mate.

2)      WLS will not suddenly make someone offer you the job you have always wanted.  Again if you have a shitty personality and are lazy with a bad work ethic no one is going to hire you anyway even if you do get skinny!

3)      Statistically you will not be as skinny as you want to be.  Sure some people get to their ideal weight but most people will still be overweight or obese after WLS.  I am not telling you that you will fail (unless you are Bob, whom I did tell that to)- I am giving you information backed up by science (statistics), but losing that 100 (or 200 or 300) pounds is going to be better for you then not losing all that weight!  Just be realistic in that your end result might not be what you want it to be!

4)      Do not test the limits of your stomach just after having surgery.  Your stomach is still healing and doesn’t want to have to deal with sandwiches, ravioli and tacos two weeks after having 90% of it removed!  In this case the individuals had a duodenal switch (DS).

5)      Do not call Lisa crying that your stomach hurts because you ate sandwiches and ravioli two weeks after surgery.  She will laugh at how stupid you are and tell you not to call her anymore.