Stress and the Lapband

I had a terrible time with being hungry this past Friday. I was getting hungry 1.5 to 2 hours after eating, and not just a little bit hungry.. ravenously so.

Then I found this article at cnn (well, I didn't find it, it was posted on a yahoo group called smarterbandsters) about why we eat to much.

Go ahead and read it, I'll wait.

Turns out there are 2 main stressors that cause us to overeat. 1) lack of sleep, and 2) stress. I suffered from both of those last week. Thursday night I only got 2 hours of sleep due to the stress. DUH.. no wonder I was extremely hungry.

Then.. one of the ways to combat the overeating.. is exercise. It's been raining almost everyday here.. and plus our new neighbor is ugly about one of our dogs. So the exercise I prefer, walking my dogs, has been practically non-existent.

Things have settled down some, my sleeping hours are still very odd, but I am getting at least 5 hours (I know I need more.. it will happen) and the cause of the stress is being addressed. Now if it will only stop raining.....

Loss Equivalents

Your weight loss =

1 pound = a Guinea Pig
1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts
2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs
3 pounds = an average human brain
4 pounds = an ostrich egg
5 pounds = a Chihuahua
6 pounds = a human’s skin
7.5 pounds = an average newborn
8 pounds = a human head
10 pounds= chemical additives an American consumes each year
11 pounds = an average housecat
12 pounds = a Bald Eagle
15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs
16 pounds = a sperm whale’s brain
20 pounds = an automobile tire
23 pounds = amount of pizza an average American eats in a year
24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream
25 pounds = an average 2 year old
30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats in a year
33 pounds = a cinder block
36 pounds = a mid-size microwave
40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or an average human leg
44 pounds = an elephant’s heart
50 pounds = a small bale of hay
55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner
60 pounds = an elephant’s penis (yep, weights more than his heart!)
66 pounds = fats and oils an average American eats in a year
70 pounds = an Irish Setter
77 pounds = a gold brick
80 pounds = the World’s Largest Ball of Tape
90 pounds = a newborn calf
100 pounds = a 2 month old horse
111 pounds = red meat an average American eats in a year
117 pounds = an average fashion model (and she’s 5’11”)
118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica
120 pounds = amount of trash you throw away in a month
130 pounds = a newborn giraffe
138 pounds = potatoes an average American eats in a year
140 pounds = refined sugar an average American eats in a year
144 pounds = an average adult woman (and she’s 5’4”)
150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary
187 pounds = an average adult man
200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds
235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger
300 pounds = an average football lineman
400 pounds = a Welsh pony

I'm somewhere between the worlds largest ball of tape and a newborn calf.

Ideally, I'd like to lose Arnold Schwarzenegger, but will settle for losing 2 bloodhounds.

ROFL!!

Third Fill

I went for my 3rd fill today. Got a very small one, only .25cc added.. but that's because I am losing still at a good rate, but am still having hunger issues 2 hours after eating a meal.

So I didn't need much added.. just a little fine tuning. And I'm glad only .25 was added.. I'm just a tiny bit sore on the inside.

I'll update this tomorrow.. I'm really tired and going to go lie down now.

Ok.. I'm finally rested up and here's the update......

As of July 1, 2009.. I've lost 56 lbs!!! That's about 14 lbs a month, or approx. 1/2 lb a day for the past 4 months.

Last appt was June 2nd.. between June 2nd and July 1 .. I lost 8lbs. And I didn't try all that hard.. just stayed with my 3 (sometimes 4) ounces of meat and 1/2 cup of veggies.

I am hoping to really WOW my oncologist when I go back in August.  I will
actually be able to be weighed on their scales!!  She wasn't all that supportive
of me getting a band when I asked if I was healed enough to get one.  She said
"if that's what you want to do to yourself".  I'm thinking that maybe she was
confused and thinking I meant a different surgery.. but she's a normal weight,
so she's probably not well informed on this aspect of medicine.

Isn't the band amazing?  I lost 8lbs and wasn't even trying all that hard.  Even
fell off the "band-wagon" one night and ate about half a bag of flat-earth
chips.  At least they were baked.  I try not to keep such things in the house,
but we were having taco salad, and I really miss having SOMETHING crunchy/salty
to eat with that.

I'm not beating myself up over it.. but I keep thinking.. what would've the
numbers have been if I hadn't indulged in the chips.  hmmm.. what a great
motivator for me.

I'm going to try and figure out how to get my walking ticker posted on here.. I'm trying to walk at least 20 min/day.. the past two days I've walked an hour each day, but that was shopping. I don't think the budget can stand me to shop daily.. lol.

It's so hot here.. heat index for the next two days is going to be from 105 to 109.. so exercise has become difficult if not impossible during the day. 3am walks.. here I come.

When I forget to time my walks.. I go by steps. Past two days I've done 4000 and 4500 steps. woohoo!! I'm on my way to another 8 (+ ??? I hope) lbs gone.

Second Fill

Went back to the Doc today for a consult and hopefully a second fill.

I have had a little trouble over the weekend with sliming (food getting stuck and then you produce massive amounts of saliva) due to eating too fast due to stress (from having a 20 y/o son who does boneheaded things from time to time). So I had to really talk alot to convince the nurse to give me a 1/2 cc fill.

I'm on full liquids till thursday then can eat what I want. I asked if I should do soft foods for a bit before moving back to hard solids, but she said it was up to me. hmmm I think I'll do at least 1 meal of soft foods...

The good news is I'm down 48 lbs since surgery. 48 Wow.. I can hardly believe it. But yet I can cause I'm already wearing smaller clothes. Things I couldn't wear last summer (like non stretch pants) I can wear now. AAMOF, things I bought last week are starting to be too big. yippee!!!

Life is good.

Dig Deep

Got the plumbers out yesterday.. turns out that the drain wasn't clogged.. the whole pipe near the cleanout near the house was BROKEN. From the riding mower going over it. sheesh. Time to make those lazy kids use a weed eater instead. The plumbers had to dig enough that it looks like I had a flower bed dug.. LOL

Maybe my son will listen now when I tell him not to drive his car over the field lines.

At least now I can wash clothes w/o worry about flooding the laundry room.

I'm getting so very tired of a full liquid diet.

Although this morning I made something very good. I took some fresh strawberries.. maybe 1/2 to 3/4 cup.. I didn't measure, I just used the ones that hadn't gone bad in the pint box and threw the rest in the trash.. lol. Dumped "some" (again didn't measure) plain non fat yogurt on top. Threw in a tablespoon of Flax Seeds and a dollop of 2% milk (to thin it down a bit) and 1 package of unjury strawberry sorbet flavor (for extra protein) and blended all of this together. Oh.. and 1 package of Stevia sweetening (because I thought it needed it.. ymmv). WOW.. is this stuff tasty.

I'm trying to keep my meals small and frequent right now as that seems to agree with my tummy the most, but this is so good I want more than the 2 oz I just ate. I'll give myself 20 minutes or so and if I'm still hungry and desiring more, I'll get some more.

I tried weighing again last night.. don't think I've lost any more, but don't think I've gained either, so this is a good thing. I have trouble with my scales.. I can't maintain my balance perfectly still long enough for it to register all the time. But the numbers that I did see come up didn't go above the last good reading (where I WAS able to remain still long enough).. so I'm hopeful.

Protein

Got my samples of Unjury protein powder today.

I ordered the Strawberry Sorbet, Chocolate (gotta have chocolate!!) and the chicken soup flavor to try out. Everyone says the chicken soup is really good.. so I decided to mix it in with the remains of my cream of brocoli soup. Wow.. was that good.

The chicken flavor was a little intense, so maybe next time I'll mix it with a whole can of soup instead of half a can, but otherwise it was really good.

I've been missing crackers with my soup, but lately that has dyed down a little. I did give in a few days ago and put 4 goldfish in my cream of tomato soup and let them get really soggy and then mush them up to babyfood consistency in my mouth.

I also did the same with a bite of steak this past weekend. DH was having steak and he gave me what he considered two small bites. I cut one small bite off of one of the pieces and gave the rest back to him. I chewed all the juice out of the meat.. and masticated it till it was a paste in my mouth and swallowed. No repercussions from it, but won't push my luck.

I want my band to heal well. Healing is what the 2 weeks of full liquids is all about.

I'm down to using the Darvocet (glorified tylenol) only about every 8 to 12 hours now. I do wish the doc's office had given me something stronger and will complain about it when I go back next Monday. NEVER again will I submit to elective surgery with only Darvocet as post op pain coverage. Be better to just hit myself with a stick on the head. The pain from the stick will take my mind off the surgical pain better than the Darvocet would.