| And the Weight is coming off!!!! |
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| Here I am down my first 18.5 pounds on December 24. I can't wait until regular shoes are comfortable again and I can lose those darned socks!! |
| What has surprised me most about my surgery is how easily I seem to be healing. My pain has been minimal and I feel able to be more active than I am allowed to be right now. I still have my tired moments each day, but all in all my progress is amazing to me. I credit part of my current success to the fact that I was careful to heed advice from many who have made this journey ahead of me and I did what is called protein loading. I had at least two protein shakes (65 gm of protein) a day to help prepare my body for the healing that would be required post-surgery. Since surgery I have been able to follow the directions from my surgical team and I am also able to surpass the minimum requirements for fluid and protein. I was instructed to get in at least 64 ounces of fluid and 65 gm of protein daily. I am able to do 85+ ounces of fluid and 100+ gm of protein each day by persistently keeping at it. My only job right now is to do all that I can to help my body heal and to encourage my body to lose weight. My biggest problem has had nothing directly to do with my surgery, but on night eight I did not sleep well in the recliner and ended up pinching a nerve in my low back or hip. That has been painful and has interferred with my walking. I am now back in my regular bed as apposed to the recliner and I believe that it is beginning to recover. I am also able to sleep without my binder as that was creating low back pain which was complicating any recovery. I want to be able to take advantage of this time and walk, walk, walk. It is part of the program to encourage my body to part with as many pounds as quickly as possible. I am beginning to expect my first plateau. I have no idea how soon I will reach it, but it is a normal occurence for someone who loses weight. I have heard that at about three weeks I should experience that delightful little stoppage in weight loss. |
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| These are Burrowing Owls and these are two different nesting areas. I believe the two in the photo above are tending a nest with eggs in it because the owl closest to us took up the protective posture and flew around trying to distract us. A zoom lense is nice to keep from over-stressing them. To the left is a bunny - one of many that we see on our walk. Below is a delightful little hummingbird. |
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| ~~ February 1, 2004 ~~ We have a Riparian Preserve about 4 miles from our home and it is a great place to go for a peaceful walk with nature. At this time I am doing a walk of 3/4 miles and enjoying the various sights along the way. My weight is now down 33.5 pounds to 256.5, I never thought I would see myself in the 250s again. I am beginning to feel the changes positively in my knees and feet. I can walk without as much pain. In fact, I have put my handicap placard in the side pocket on the truck door to use only if I am having a bad pain day. We ALL know walking is good for us so I am now back to parking further out and getting in those extra steps wherever I can. The pants that I have on have been in my closet for years waiting for me to be able to wear them again. I kept them because they were new with tags still on them. They are one of only a handful of smaller items that I kept in my closet. The last two weeks were particularly difficult for me because I had difficulty getting off a blood pressure medication that I had been put on to prepare for the surgery. I have now gone through the withdrawal from that particular drug and have it on my list of "to be avoided" medications for future reference. At the same time, I was experiencing some dizziness issues that I attributed to the medication and now feel was probably my electrolytes getting out of balance a bit. I introduced sugar free Propel sports drink into my daily fluid intake and feel 100% better. I feel like I have passed over a difficult hump and now feel much more energetic than I have in some time. I began exercising last week and feel even more like doing it this week so that is a good sign. It will definitely aid in my losing weight and in my becoming a much more fit person in the future. I am now able to eat anything I want as long as it is well chewed, has good moisture content so that it does not get stuck, and meets my dietary needs. I still do my Protein drinks three times a day to make sure that I get in my needed protein. I especially like Champion Pure Whey Stack in chocolate. I notice that I have NO cravings for anything chocolate or sweet by using the protein drinks. Since that was my problem pre-surgery, I am most grateful. Below are some photos from the Riparian Preserve. It is a delightful find in the middle of a busy metropolitan area. |
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