The Countdown to 30

Another birthday just flew by. Geordie and I spent our birthday weekend (our birthdays are 5 days apart) in Las Vegas, which also happened to include Halloween. Now I’m a sucker for Las Vegas. In my younger, more judgmental days I used to scoff at the idea of Las Vegas. I though only trashy brides-to-be and their skanky bridal parties and seniors who liked buffets and RVing made trips to Vegas. I can now say with 100% confidence that now, after my 6th (and certainly not my last) trip to Sin City that this is completely inaccurate. Continue reading

Revitalizing My Inner Foodie

One of the hardest parts of this whole lifestyle change has been changing my cooking and baking habits. I’m a girl that loves being in the kitchen. Especially when it comes to baking. Being limited in the amount of calories, and knowing that I need to have 70+ grams a protein a day makes me conscious of every little thing that goes in my mouth, and chances are if it’s not a high protein food I skip it. Which means that for the most part, eating the tasty cookies and cupcakes I’ve been baking has been out of the question.

So recently I’ve been playing around with baking with protein powders. Of course these are not “diet” foods. But when I feel like indulging in something sweet, I can feel a little less guilty knowing that they’re packed with protein.

Which brings me to these yummy cookies. They are soooooo good, they are soft, chewy, not too terrible in the carb aspect and have 8 grams of protein each.

photo Continue reading

Slimies, the Horror, the Horror.

It’s been an interesting few weeks. Ups and downs in all aspects of my life. My work life has been unsatisfying and stressful and I’m starting to look at different avenues. Weight is still coming off. And my love life is as boring as ever. I’ve decided that this shirt perfectly explains my current situation (minus the Oreos, you could replace that with protein shakes).

 

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And then, it happened. I’ve heard, and been terrified of the “slimies” or “slime”. For anyone with a weak stomach I suggest you stop reading here.

Post-Vsg some people experience slimies or foamies. When you overeat or eat too quickly you get a really tight feeling in your chest. It’s almost like a brick. This is then followed by a feeling like you’re going to burp or vomit. When you do, instead of your typical bile-type vomit, a large mucus/spit/slime wad comes up with whatever you’ve eaten.

This happened to me. Twice. Both from eating too fast. The first time was a handful of almonds. I ate fast and all of a sudden I needed to get it out, but when I did… SLIME! I was horrified. The second time was last night. I had a movie night with my friend Breanne and I had drank and eaten way too close together, and as soon as she was out the door I was in the washroom sliming away.

Have I learned my lesson? Yes. Chew, chew, chew, slowly. Take my time. Quite frankly I’m not enjoying eating anyways so the best thing to do is behave myself and not try to do too much to fast. Part of my problem is that I’m trying to eat solid foods like my doctor wants me to, but everyone is different, and at this point I’m much more comfortable drinking my nutrition. I know this isn’t a solution long term but I’m not getting in the nutrients I need from just eating and sliming up the solids I eat.

Head Hunger vs. Real Hunger

I am two weeks and two days post op. Full liquids. I’ve been to two BBQ’s and one huge family dinner. I survived and lived to tell the tale of head hunger.

I’ve heard people refer to it often, but I don’t think I really understood the concept until now. Since surgery I haven’t felt real hunger. No tummy grumbling, no real weakness or low blood sugar. None of the things that make me feel famished. But being around amazing smelling Filipino food constantly has triggered this feeling in me. I caught myself dipping my finger in the different sauces just to taste the taste. Although I’ve broken free from carbs, seeing a nice slab of my cousin’s 18th birthday cake had me drooling. But I knew I wasn’t hungry. It was all in my head, and it’s still all in my head. I find myself having pep talks in my head. I have to tell myself to take time to listen to my stomach. It’s full and there isn’t any room for more. I let it sink in and I move on.

I know that despite having had my VSG that I will always have to battle with food. But taking time to stop and listen to my new stomach is the key for me. I need to listen to what it’s saying.

Aside from that I’m in Winnipeg, my hometown for a little vacation. My cousin is graduating from high school and I promised I’d be here for her commencement. I’m here for a total of two weeks and I don’t have a reliable scale so I haven’t been able to keep up with my scale Nazi tendencies. Which I think is for the best because I was weighing myself twice a day. For now my success is measured in the amount of sag I’m now sporting in my tights. It looks like I took a dump in my pants, no lie. But I’ll take it as a victory!