Sunday, October 31, 2010

DAY 7:the diet

Today is Day 7 and as of this morning I've lost 8.1lbs!!!!  I needed to loose 14.8lbs so I still have 6.72lbs to go...!!!!

I have my upper GI tomorrow at 8am.
So what is an upper GI?
Upper gastrointestinal tract radiography, also called an upper GI, is an x-ray examination of the pharynx, esophagus, stomach and first part of the small intestine (also known as the duodenum) that uses a special form of x-ray called fluoroscopy and an orally ingested contrast material called barium.
An x-ray (radiograph) is a noninvasive medical test that helps physicians diagnose and treat medical conditions. Imaging with x-rays involves exposing a part of the body to a small dose of ionizing radiation to produce pictures of the inside of the body. X-rays are the oldest and most frequently used form of medical imaging.
Fluoroscopy makes it possible to see internal organs in motion. When the upper GI tract is coated with barium, the radiologist is able to view and assess the anatomy and function of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum.
An x-ray examination that evaluates only the pharynx and esophagus is called a barium swallow.
In addition to drinking barium, some patients are also given baking-soda crystals (similar to Alka-Seltzer) to further improve the images. This procedure is called an air-contrast or double-contrast upper GI.
Reference website

So I don't get to eat after 7pm except only clear fluids (I'll eat dinner early tonight) and no fluids 3 hours before the surgery...which means I don't get to drink till after the "pictures" are taken.

My friend Kim is coming over today to do my before pictures and measurements these will not be shared unless I want to later, they are kinda scary. 

So lots of people are asking me if I'm excited, I am.  I'm more scared too.  I mean I've been waiting to do this for four years and I am kinda scared that it's here.  I'm planning a wedding and trying to really change my way of thinking and life in general! 

I went grocery shopping last night and picked up a couple of things for the week after surgery.  Some chicken stock, some jello mixes, pudding mixes and even Almond milk to give a try.  I'm drinking about 120oz of water a day which is AMAZING for me.  I have not had any type of caffeine in a week and I'm doing GREAT!  Sean (the Fiance) is a big help and he supports my choices and is pushing to change the whole families lives.  I'm trying to ensure that my kids eat good and stay healthy for as long as possible.  As for my room mate, I can't control that.  It will be up to her to make that choice.  I hope that she chooses to join in and become healthy too.  Maybe seeing me become healthy she will.

Alright guys...I'm off to drink water and clean house!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Day 4:The Diet

So I am on day 4 of the diet and I can say I feel much better!  Day two and three were a little hard, but today is different.  I still haven't had any caffeine since Saturday afternoon when I had my last Mt. Dew. 
Monday at work I had a head ache and I kept taking meds to keep it away and to just keep it to a small one.  Add in the fact that I'm a woman and mother nature has a sick since of humor of timing!  I think it didn't go to badly.  Tuesday was a little better then Monday but I was just TIRED!  I started to fall asleep at my desk and I even got sick to my stomach and ate some crackers.  I felt better once there was something in my stomach and I went on with the diet.  Today is a horse of a different color.  The sky is nice, the weather is great and I feel GOOD!   I woke up and didn't want to get out of bed, but I did and I did it faster then normal.  I then just felt good and was ready to go.  So there was a change!!!  I also weighed my self!!!!!!!  Well it's not much but as of this morning I was down 5.2lbs from Sunday morning.  That's a lot for me and I'm very excited!!! **insert crazy happy dance here!**

Alrigtht, so now what am I doing?
I'm drinking a carnation sugar free instant breakfast in the morning.  It's kinda like chocolate milk in the morning so it's good.  I'm thinking of trying it warm and see if it taste like hot coca.(I'll let you know)
For my snacks I've been eating the special K double chocolate bars.  They are GREAT!  Taste like a candy bar!
For my shakes I've been doing the Slim Fast strawberry ICE COLD.  It's like a strawberry shake.
For dinner so far here are my 3 meals:
Sunday: 5oz chicken breast baked 1cup steamed carrots 1 cup steamed broccoli (NO FATS!)
Monday had the same thing, it was good!
Tuesday: 5oz boneless pork loin chop 11/2 cups steam green beans and carrots mixed.  I was out of veggies so I just didnt' feel like running to the store.

So for dinner tonight I plan on doing some more pork left over from last night...and some veggies too... I'm not that inventive...so what works works!
I'll keep you all updated!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

The Diet

So today is the first day of the diet.  If you don't know what the diet is let me help you out. 

1200Calories aday, but it has to be done with some guidelines.
5 "meal replacement" drinks or bars a day.  I found that the "slim fast" high protein is the best for me.  They have 180 calories, 10grams of protein and 23 carbs.  The dietitian didn't tell me anything about carbs but everyone else who has undergone the surgery say to keep them low. The bars are more fun, there is a large choice of flavors, textures and styles.  I picked mine to be low calorie and high protein.  I got some that are150 calories with 10grams of protein. 

After that you can have one meal a day.  Mind you the meal is to be weighed and you have to keep it that way.  I'm trying to find things I like (I'm picky) that falls into the guidelines.  So here is a simple break down

5oz of lean meat.
2 cups of non-starchy veggies
1 serving of a fat

Now mind you they give me a list and the measurements of the fats and it's a short list and SMALL amounts. 
I've decided that the "meal" will be dinner some nights and lunch the other days.  This way we can have a better feeling when at work during "lunch".  There are more tempting things at work then there are at home, even though home is where the food all comes from.

Today it is early afternoon and I've had 550 calories and 33 grams of protein!!!  I am going to be adding a tracker to my side bar when I find one so that you guys can cheer me on as you see the tracker move.

Alright I'm off to attempt to drink more water, did I ever say I HATE WATER!

Friday, October 22, 2010

The date is set!

So I got a lot done today.  I wasn't feeling all that good this morning and so I stayed home.  I am kinda glad I did!  I got a call about the insurance company giving my approval today!!!!!  (posted on another post)

So I went to see Dr. Nick Nicholson today (yes that is his name) and got to talk about my surgery.  The nurses are all so nice and they are so excited for you when you get your approval, even though I have not let it settle in they were so excited for me.

So I am set for my surgery on 11-08-10....the time will be discussed later. I start my "liquid" diet on Sunday....Sean*the fiance* and Steven*his little brother*are going to attempt to do it with me.(see the word attempt!)  I know they want to support me, but I also know they may not want to give up food.

So the diet is kinda like this....the slim fast diet!
You can mix the drinks and bars for 5 a day and eat one meal....5oz's of meat, 2cups non starch veg and 1 fat (gave me list of them).
So it's not a whole lot...less then 1200 calories. 
I trying different types of protein drinks and or meal replacement shakes because I have to drink those allot for the two weeks after also.

So am I excited now?  I'm not sure.  I'm trying but mostly I'm trying to get through the next couple days and see how this diet goes!!!!

Approval needed!

Today I got my insurance approval!  I was shocked because last week I talked to the insurance company and they informed me that they needed additional information and that it would be another 15 days from when they get it before I would know.  So I worked hard and fast to get a visit to the dietitian in; get my PCP Dr to fax in additional information about all 6 of my visits and get it to them ASAP!  Well we got the information faxed in on Monday 10/18/10.
I called to make sure they got it on Thursday and they said yes so I made an appointment with DR. Nick Nicholson (my Dr.) to do a consult. 
This morning at 10:33am they called me back, I figured it was to confirm my scheduled appointment, but it wasn't!!!  The insurance called them this morning and said I was approved!!!!!!

So today I will be seeing Dr. Nick for my PRE-OP not just a consult, setting my date and starting my liquid diet for 2 weeks!!! I hope to have the surgery ASAP so I can be somewhat eating food by Thanksgiving!

Cross your fingers, eyes, toes and hearts for me guys!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

I went, I did it!

So I went to the State Fair this weekend (well Monday, but it was a three day weekend!)  I ate food!!!!!  I weighed myself before we left that morning and when I got home...I even lost 2lbs!  I thank the walking for that!

Before we get to the what I ate, let's cover what we did.  First we drove to the park and ride train station at 8AM. Got on the train and was headed out at 8:45am.  We were at the fair gates at 9:40.  I know it sounds like a lot, but with no traffic to fight, no parking spaces to find or loosing our car it was good!

There are lots of acts going on at the fair, free! 

Autumn and me on the train
Autumn on the top of the Jeep climbing wall!
This is (from left to right) Me, Autumn, Zachary and Marie(my friend and room mate!)

Zachary and Autumn in the Green House.  It was so nice inside there and the plants were perfect!
Autumn and Sean on "the cliff hanger"

 
Autumn and Zachary got their faces painted.  Yes Angel wings for the girl and a Dragon for the boy!
The kids with Ronald!

This is the Russian Bar Trio (from Left to right) Marco, Zachary, Christine and Ethan. Zachary got pulled out of the crowd and got to do some dancing and a cartwheel with them!


Now we are off to the food!!!OMG the food was good.  As I've said I never let myself eat the food before so this time I did!  Here are some pictures of what I ate:
This picture is all three of us, we shared!  The Elvis(top) a deep fried Peanut butter and jelly with banana sandwhich.  The bottom Left Deep fried Chocolate.  Bottom Right Deep fried cookie dough.


**This picture is the deep fried frozen Margarita.








I also had 1/2 a corn dog (Zachary didn't want to finish it) and Deep fried Frito Pie (by far the best thing I ate!) 5 Chocolate dipped strawberries (the healthiest thing I ate) I drank lots of water!  I walked all over the place and doubled back on some things so it was a lot of work.

So today was the 15th day for the insurance.  They were suppose to have an anwser for me today, I'll be calling them tomorrow!  Cross fingers, toes, eyes, legs, everything!!!