Weigh in

Last week: 96.4kg
This week: 95.1kg
Loss: 1.3kg (total 15kg)

More than happy with that. I got a bit slack towards the end of the week with my exercise and water, so am going to make sure I keep this up for this week.

Eating more variety still.
I have a lemon and herb piece of crumbed fish last night with potato/brocolli balls (home made) and a salad with lots of coriander (yum) and it was delicious.
I have really missed having my salad's and made one up on Saturday with everything I love in it and have had two goes at it and there is still 2/3 of it left and I made sure I only made a small one up,......hahahaha.

I am still dishing myself up too much. It is definately WAY less than I use to but I find I am putting too much on my plate and either the kids or my husband end up eating my leftovers.....hahaha (all healthy stuff of course).
Last night I put 1 small piece of fish on my plate, 2 brocolli balls and a small 'tong' full of salad and apart from the salad, I only ate half the fish and 1 brocolli ball AND the kids told me how little my meal looked to start with....LOL.

My eldest boy (8 years) keeps telling me how 'lovely' I look now I am eating healthy which always brings a tear to my eye. I never REALLY realised how much all my dieting etc affected them and how much they noticed things before I had my op. All the kids know is that Mum had to have something in her tummy fixed and now she can only eat little bits of healthy food. I am really suprised that they are eating pretty much what I am now. I always just assumed they wouldn't eat this and that but they actually are enjoying my new healthy menu.

HRV
Well the 3 hrv boys turned up at 8.30am on Friday morning and were gone again by 10.15am with it all installed. I am sitting here now looking out my windows at the front of my house (I have big sliding doors/windows) and they are CLEAR. I am looking at 3 houses across the road which all have fogged up windows but not us...yay!
The house is definatley more 'even' if that makes sense. We definately had rooms which were freezing and rooms which were OK with temperatures but now they all seem similar (which has pleased my hubby as he is superstitious and was sure there were ghosts in the house......hahahaha). They reckon by next year we should see the benefits as far as the house being completely dried out but I am happy so far.

Off to the treadmill I go............

Bits and Bobs

HRV SYSTEMShit Tracey - don't tell me the HRV systems are crap after I just paid them over $3,500 and they are due at 8.30am to install it.
SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME POSITIVE FEEDBACK ABOUT HRV............PLEASE.

Anne - food in a minute - smoked Fish Pie Recipe:

1 small onion
535g Watties Very Special Creamy Corn Soup
1/2 cup frozen pea
1/4 cup parsley
zest of 1 lemon (this added a really nice taste)
400g tin smoked fish
450g pkt Wattie's frozen Homestyle Mashed potato

Fry onion until clear, pour in corn soup, peas, lemon zest, stir over heat for 2 minutes. Stil in smoked fish (break it up) and parsley.
Pour into a medium oven-proof dish and place mashed potato patties onto top, overlapping.
Place in oven (preheated 180oC) for 25 - 30 minutes. Done.

Janine - Vodka over wine
Interesting that you say that 1 glass of wine knocks you over but your fine with vodka. I was also (pre-op) the same with bourbon. David (surgeon) told me I could still drink my bourbon and coke but I wasn't to drink the pre-mixes and had to mix my own with bourbon and either diet coke or coke zero.
As we are going to a winery for my birthday (there's heaps up here in the Hawkes Bay but I have chosen Crab Farm) I guess it will have to be wine.

I think that's it?
Oh yeah the WLS get together.............can't remember who asked me about this but I haven't decided yet. I have a girlfriend up here who has also had the surgery (4 years ago) and she is keen to come but I'm not 100% sure yet.

Right, that's me............night.

Drinkies are good to go!

Well I spoke to Zola yesterday and asked her what can I be eating now that I'm going into my 5th week post op and she said, apart from bread, rice and pasta.....everything! I can try everything now but just be careful.

I also asked her about having a wine on my birthday (another 2 weeks away) and she said "yep but maybe just have the one" which suits me fine. I haven't had a drink for so long that one is proberly all I'm going to need....hahaha. Plus I still have to go to work that night (bummer eh?) so won't be able to go overboard.

I have been dying for a salad so that's the first thing I'm going to make today. Haven't decided what protein I'll have with it but I'm off to the supermarket so I'll have a look there. I'm really loving fish (seafood in general) at the moment but I did try a chicken thigh yesterday for lunch (with steamed veges) and it went down OK but it did feel uncomfortable for about half an hour which I didn't like but Zola reckons the more I eat it the less uncomfortable it will be.

I am sitting here in a huge jacket with my heater on,,,,,,,,,,,, this house is sooooooo cold but tomorrow morning I am getting a HRV installed and can't wait.

I did get a DVS when I was in Wellington and it was brilliant but we rang them about 2.5 weeks ago (same time as HRV) about someone coming out to give us a quote and never heard back from them (I hate bad customer service) so HRV it is.

I'm rambling now, so I'll jump in the car and go and get some shopping.

Fish Pie again for Tea

I just love fish pie but I'm sure my family is getting sick of it....TOO BAD FOR THEM...LOL.

I am trying the 'food in a minute' one I seen off the TV, looks yum so I will have to wait and see tonight.

All food has been good this week. I had a poached egg for breakfast this morning and my husband had a huge big breakfast (2 x eggs, 3 x bacon, 2 x sausages, 2 x hash browns and 2 x toast) and his plate was overflowing. I looked at him and said "remember when I use to eat more than you and look at our plates now", we both had a giggle at the differences now.

My 2 oldest sisters sent me up some clothes (they are both smaller than me - I am the youngest but was ALWAYS the fattest). Anyway I reckon half of them were still a bit small (size 16 & 18) but the other half were either too big or fit.....brilliant!

I really don't think I am going to need to buy any clothes for quite a few months which is great. I am looking at all the winter fashion now and thinking that it will have to wait until next year.

So I have a huge 'fat' pile of clothes already and the most suprising thing is that I have grown out of 3 or 4 of my bra's.....hahaha. My cup size is still the same but the 'back' measurements have come down so that size is shrinking. Luckily when I last lost lots of weight (lowest 84.3kg ?? I think) I went out and bought lots of 'pretty' bra's and I have managed to get 1 or 2 out. It feels so nice to put on something pretty rather than just plain white or black.

I am still madly cooking up a storm and have just remembered that I marinated some chicken thighs with garlic, ginger, lemon juice and chilli for tea tonight.....oops hopefully everyone is hungry - chicken and fish pie....hahaha.

Getting to 'like' my treadmill more and more everyday.
A goal I have set myself is that I will be running on it before the end of August.

Weigh in

Last week - 97.6kg
This week - 96.4kg
Loss this week - 1.2kg (total 13.7kg)

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY this week.

Had another night of food not staying down - indian curry chicken drumstick.
We did the drumsticks in the crockpot so they were nice and tender and then added an indian sauce we have used for years (and love). It was high in fat but I made sure I didn't have any of the sauce, only what was on the drumstick but within a few minutes I was off to the loo.........bugger.

Did 4 days on the treadmill which is also suprising as well as walking the kids (and dog) to school which is only a 20 minutes walk both way but better than nothing.

I have tried a few more meals that HAVE stayed down, including last nights dinner which was a beef casserole with mashed spuds. I have also changed 'cruskit' to sakata crackers with different toppings as it seems I'm having more......hahaha.
I made pumpkin, celery and kumera soup yesterday for lunch and that was devine.

I must admit though, I am still having to remind myself to eat as I'm not getting hungry which is the weirdest feeling.

It was another wet days yesterday so the kids and I made the soup and then double chocolate chip muffins with chocolate icing and sprinklings.

So 4 weeks down (going into week 5) and I'm starting to feel more 'normal' as I'm starting to have more variety in my meals.

2 more weeks and I can have a drink.......hahaha, I'd love a glass of wine.

Right I've just got off the treadmill and now need to have breakfast (weetbix with yoghurt and protein powder).

Weigh in

Last week: 98.9kg
This week: 97.6kg
Loss: 1.3kg (total loss: 12.5kg)

Someone asked me how much this op cost.
$18,500.00 and I reckon it is worth every penny.
I had 2 other procedures done but this was just for the bypass.
I am with Southern Cross Health insurance so I get an ex-gratia payment of $5,000 which helps (my bank manager agreed).

Even though there are certain 'rules' to this operation, I no longer feel I'm on a diet. For the 1st time in about 25 years, I'm not on some sort of a diet and it feels liberating.

I had a lovely meal with my family last night and felt like a 'normal' person with what I was eating. I am really enjoying trying new foods and not feeling like I'm missing out with anything.
Example: Yesterday was a horrible cold, rainy day so the kids and I stayed indoors and baked. We made a chocolate cake and chocolate chip muffins and I didn't feel like I had to lick the bowl out.....LOL

LIBERATING................

1st reaction

SEAFOOD CHOWDER

I am so peeved that I had a reaction to the seafood chowder I made last night, I was SO looking forward to it.
I made it with the seafood, cooked it in the fish stock and then added the lite coconut milk and thickened with cornflour. Tasted fantastic (while eating it), everyone raved about how lite and tasty it was but unfortunately within 5 minutes of eating it I was in the loo. I then got very, very hot and had to get changed into a summer top (I had thermals and 3 other layers on before that as I was cold).
So I'm guessing that I won't try that for another couple of months and then maybe it may agree with me a bit more.

But I won't give up, tonight I'm thinking of making a nice hoki fillet steamed in foil with corriander, lime and chilli with either brocolli balls (potato and brocolli mash with mozzarella cheese in the middle, rolled into a ball and rolled in breadcrumbs then baked in the oven) or a vegetable bake of some sort.

Anyway I'm off to drink more water and then jump on my treadmill.

Food glorious food.........and exercise!

I am sitting here with my trusty cruskit with a big piece of ham on it and a slice of edam cheese.............yummo and no problems going down.
Everything I have tried I have been very careful with and so far there hasn't been one problem. I haven't had any bad effects from anything I've tried and am really enjoying now making myself special tasty meals.

Being 'week 3' I have I am only going the the loo (#2's) once a week now which Zola reckons is OK but it feels really weird to me as I have ALWAYS been a very regular once a day girl.

I have also been drinking my water which has gotten easier as I now have a 'mizone' bottle which has a brilliant spout on it.

EXERCISE!
This is a word that has ALWAYS scared me. I hate, hate, hate exercise but know it is essential and has to be done. A couple of years ago I bought a treadmill which I used regularly for about 2 or 3 months and it has been an oversized coat hanger ever since....BUT on Thursday I was watching THE BIGGEST LOSER on TV and the girl who won it last session (Michelle - I loved her) said something about having balance and you just HAVE to have time for exercise or you are just going to go back to the way you were. One of the contestants had a gastric bypass years ago and was huge again which also scared me so I instantly got off that bloody couch and dusted off the treadmill and jumped on. There is NO WAY I am ever going back to what I was and getting this op is a 'tool' only and if I don't change my ways (food & exercise) I will put weight back on and there ain't no way I am going back there SISTER!!!!! (stepping off soap box).
So I managed 15 minutes both Thursday and Friday and have yet to jump on today as we have just gotten back from rugby (my son scored 6 tries out of the 11 their team made - very proud mum) and have been cleaning the house as we have guests tonight - BUT I WILL GET ON IT TODAY. Plus I always feel better once I step off knowing I have done something for myself and it didn't kill me after all.

I am starting to get a 'too big' pile in my wardrobe now. 1 or 2 items that I put away basically as soon as I got home from hospital but now a few more after a couple of people at work told me that what I was wearing was baggy.....hehehe baggy, love it.

I haven't gotten around to making that seafood chowder yet BUT tonight is the night as we are having guests and they love seafood. It has been quite cold here the last week or so, so I reckon the fire blazing, a hot bowl of chowder while watching the rugby is going to be a perfect night.

Right I'd better get back to my cleaning............*sigh* a women's work is never done.

Week 2 - All going well

Last Week: 101.3kg
This week: 98.9kg
Loss: 2.4kg (week 2)

Still can't believe that. Its actually coming off!! I will NEVER be over 100kgs again..................NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have put on 400g in the last 5 days as I'm not 'going' to the loo again. I'll have to get that benefibre into me again.

I'm quite excited about this week as I'm allowed to start eating more 'normal' food. Its called the 'soft solids' week and basically its trial and error with overcooked vege's and soft meat.....mmmmmmm sounds yummy hahaha.

I made a fish pie last night which I'm going to try today and I also have a fabulous seafood chowder recipe (thanks Cara) which I am definately having in a few days.
I just intent to eat with my family this week (rather than my own seperate little meal) and just have the mashed potato, vege's and whatever meat they are having.
I have gotten lots of fish and chicken thighs as these seem to be the theme with new post op'ers.

My usual daily food so far has been:

Breakfast: 1 weetbix, 4 tsp plain yoghurt, 2 tsp strawberry protein powder.
I usually get through about 2/3 of it which is about 4 or 5 teaspoons.

Lunch: 1 Lite cruskit with different toppings, like, vegemite and cream cheese or tuna and cottage cheese or garlic roasted hummus and grated edam cheese....yum.

Dinner: 2 - 3 'ice cubes' of either lamb or chicken with vegetables (I made these up pre-op with a pot of vegetables with either chicken or lamb added, mixed up to mush and then frozen into ice cubes).
Last night I had 2 lamb ice cubes with 2 tsp of mashed potato and 1 tsp of mustard sauce (family had corned silverside with mustard sauce) and it went down beautifully but again I was only able to eat about 2/3 of it.

I don't snack at all (one of the rules - 3 meals a day only) and I have gone from about 8 cups of coffee a day with 1 sugar to 2 or 3 half cups of coffee with 2 sugar tablets and trim milk of course.

I am having a REALLY COOL dilema with my clothes this week as they are looking too big for me and a bit 'daggy' but my next size down are still a wee bit snug.
I have also realised that when I got down to my lowest a couple of years ago (84.3kg) it was summer which means I have HEAPS of smaller summer clothes but bugger all winter clothes.
I am currently FREEZING all of the time, even with the fire and everyother heater in the house going and have been out and got myself another pair of long casual pants and thermals but I'm still cold.
Not that I'm complaining (much) as I realise the layers are now (and forever) coming off and I LOVE THAT feeling, so I'll just live with it.
I keep imagining myself in a pretty summer dress which has always been a dream of mine, to wear a pretty summer dress. As I am so short (5f2") I have never been able to wear a dress especially with my weight as I looked ridiculous and shorter than I actually was. But BRING IT ON sister, I WILL be in a dress by Christmas.

Right I'm off to have my weetbix for breakfast (practically the only cereal I can have that falls within the sugar/fat guidelines). I have found a new variety "Wild Berry Bites" which I'm trying this morning. It have mixed berrys which will be a nice change from the plain weetbix.

Back at work

Well it was my first night back at work last night and it was like I'd never been away (don't ya hate that!).

They had got me a beautiful plant (lilly) and a gorgeous scented candle on a class plate which was lovely.

Had a call from the surgeons office yesterday checking on my progress.
All is still well and I have been told the uncomfortable feeling I'm getting when I drink my water is likely from it being so cold (straight from the fridge), so I am now drinking it at room temperature and it seems fine.
One thing I didn't mention (which I didn't think of at the time) is that when I eat, I have no trouble getting the food down but usually when I've had enough, I get these sharp pains in my left shoulder blade..............weird eh? They go after a few minutes but I must remember to ask about them next time.

Weight is still declining which is fabulous, I'll only put a weekly amount in though on a Monday.

Queens Birthday weekend coming up which means Monday off......yay!
We aren't going away anywhere but have several visitors over the course of the weekend which is always great.

Right best I get organised for the day..............chow

1 week post op

100kgs exactly.................gobsmacked!!

Tomorrow I'll be back in double digits, AWESOME!

STILL feeling amazing, not tired, food going down beautifully, not feeling like I'm "missing out" at all.

Wounds are healing really well, clothes are getting smaller.

Short, Sweet, Positive...........I like it.