I haven’t done many updates lately on my blog, as I’ve just mostly been chugging along. I suspect no one really reads my blog any way, which is fine, honestly. I am doing this as much for myself as anything. I hope some day, someone that is considering this surgery stumbles across it and the things I’ve written somehow helps them. But either way, writing is my way of processing, so I figured I’d do a catch all post.
WEIGHT LOSS
I’m still consistently losing weight every week. I’m honestly a bit surprised given some struggles I’ve faced lately (see below) but at least for now I am. I’m really close to two major goals. I’m less than 5 pounds away from losing 200 pounds and I’m less than 20 pounds away from being in the 2xx’s. Both of those are big goals for me. I’m still losing 1 to 2 pounds a week on average. I am really happy with that process!
EXERCISE
I’m not getting in nearly the amount of focused exercise I hoped I’d be at this point. The last couple of months have been really busy and I’ve only been to the gym once in that time. Even on a normal week I only go on Saturdays (very occasionally on Sunday mornings, although I’m not sure why I’m not going more then…lazy much?)
But I am getting more general exercise in. With my weight loss I’ve found I am just generally more active. Our family recently did a little mini vacation and even though it wasn’t the greatest diet weekend, I got in a LOT of extra exercise.
Here’s hoping to getting more in during the summer. Hoping to get some swimming in, which is my favorite summer activity.
NSVs
I’ve had some non-scale victories in recent weeks/months for sure. The amount of walking I did on our recent trip was a big NSV on it’s own! My wardrobe continues to shrink which is a major one for me. I noticed this morning I was down yet another notch in my belt. I have a belt that has holes all the way around. I started at hole 9, currently at hole 24! Added energy and activity are definitely NSVs as well. I’ve been getting a lot more things done around the house.
STRUGGLES
This time hasn’t been without struggles though. Namely I’ve found myself a lot hungrier lately. I know it’s mostly “head hunger” and I’ve not been doing the best with it. Thankfully I simply can’t eat like I would have in the past, but I can still snack and I do it too much. In the past it would have been a bag of chips, maybe a candy bar, and a Coke or Mountain Dew. These days it’s usually a handful of honey roasted peanuts or some beef jerky…but not always. So I’m eating better foods…for the most part.
A lot of people’s tastes and tolerances change after this surgery. I was hoping that like some people I would have an intolerance for junk/sweets…but that hasn’t been the case. I’ve had pizza, ice cream, chocolate, chips, cake, candy, cupcakes, etc., with minimal issues. Again, I can’t eat even close to the quantity I used to, and I still try to maintain good habits as much as possible…but I know these things are going to be a struggle going forward.
On our recent trip I had my first experience with dumping syndrome. We walked around the zoo in the heat and I did carry and drink a lot of water, but by the end I was feeling like my blood sugar was dropping and didn’t bring any health snacks with me. I had some Powerade and a bit of a sugary lemon cake. I felt better and we went off for lunch. We landed in a pizza place and I was eating mostly the toppings (but some bread) from the pizza, when it suddenly hit.
I hadn’t experienced dumping before and I kind of figured it would feel kind of like a sudden bout of nausea and diarrhea. It was way more intense than that. I didn’t get the diarrhea…instead I felt dizzy, very light headed, extremely nauseous, sweaty but cold. I haven’t thrown up in over 30 years (true story) but I thought I was about to throw up. I honestly thought I might be having a heart attack. My wife said I looked terrible. It took about 5 to 10 minutes (and a Zofran) to feel a bit better but I felt it for the next couple of hours. That was NO BUENO at all. We went back to our AirBnB and I took a nap, which is something I NEVER do (like really…never.)
I’ve talked about them a bit before but there have also been, let’s say, bathroom struggles. I used to be a “regular joe” going twice a day, AM and PM. That is no longer. I may go once a day, I may not go for three days. I may go a little in the morning then have to go again suddenly an hour later. Who knows? I know if I don’t keep up with fiber, fruits and Myralax one to two times a week, I’m going to regret it. I had some TERRIBLE (and I mean truly terrible) constipation around months 3-5 and it was awful.
THE BOTTOM LINE
There have been some hard things. There have been some bad things. I still miss eating normally sometimes. Even after 7 months it has still been a major learning process.
But there has been so much good. So much LIFE CHANGING good, that I wouldn’t trade this process, this opportunity, for anything.
Overall this has affected my life so positively in every way. I’m so glad I took this step. I wish I’d done it many years ago, but I’m here now and I’m happy with the process.