Well folks, the inevitable has happened. I have hit a plateau. Weigh-in for the past two weeks has been 195. I knew it was going to happen; it happens to everyone. I'm not mad or frustrated (yet) or anything really....I'm just fine. I am so glad that it happened AFTER I hit ONEderland as that was my first goal. Now, here's the weird thing. The scale has not budged at all BUT the clothes are getting bigger, especially my pants in the gut and thigh area (no complaints here!!!). Almost three weeks ago I set aside a pair of work pants that I had bought as they were too tight in the gut and thigh area. It was bad. I'd bend over or sit down and the pants would slide down below the crack of my bum and my thighs looked like plump sausages. I slipped those pants on last week and......(drum roll)......they fit. THEY FIT!!! No sliding down or legs that look like sausages, actually, they are a tad loose! Can you believe it?! Amazing. So really, I can't be all that mad can I? The numbers may not be going down, but the clothes sure as hell are. I think in several more weeks I may be bagging up all of the work clothes I bought the end of September/early October and donating them. I have non work pants that are getting so big, I just can't wear them anymore. They're either falling down or so huge I am floating in them. Value Village must love me. I am the poster child for recycling. I buy clothes from them, I donate back to them then buy more clothes from them and the cycle repeats, lol. 
More good news. The pre-made protein drinks that I was testing have proved fruitful. Yayyyyyy!!!! I am so freaking excited! I have absolutely fallen in love with a delicious chocolate protein drink made by VPX called "Chocolate Dream" and let me tell you, it IS a dream. I swear it tastes like chocolate milk, I initially felt guilty drinking it. I had to check the nutrition content several times to make sure it really was "just" a protein drink. I also tried the Vanilla flavor but it was just "ok", do-able, but no where near as good as the chocolate. Mind you, I am a chocolate person. Anyway, it has a smooth velvety texture (no chunkies!!!!) and it packs a whoping 40 grams of high grade protein, only 1 gram of sugar, 6 grams of fiber (this will help if you're constipated), 6 grams of fat and 260 calories in 500 mls (2 cups). I like how the containers have a re-sealable cap and I can simply re-cap the container and put it in the fridge for next time. I don't have to worry about bringing a shaker to work (which doesn't work anyway) to mix my protein, I just grab one of these containers and away I go. I use one container as two servings, drinking half after breakfast and then the other half after lunch and then another half after dinner. Doing this has now bumped my protein intake to 85 to 100 grams per day depending on what else I eat.  |
| Chicken breast, spaghetti sauce & parmesan cheese |
In my previous post I talked about hair loss. I want to make it clear that it is really not all that obvious (except to me since I tend to obsess over things) and hubby didn't even notice it. I am hoping that since my protein intake has gone up quite a bit it will help with the hair loss/thinning and encourage hair growth again. I have also totally vamped up my vitamin/supplement intake to help with this among health in general. Initially I was just taking 2 chewable multivitamins as I was having a hard time with pills. Now that I'm almost 5 months out and sleevie is able to handle pills, I have added a number of things. I am now taking liquid iron (easier for the body to break down & digest), vitamin C (to assist with the absorption of the iron and helps combat the free radicals that iron stimulates), folic acid (promotes red blood cell formation & helps the body use vit b12), zinc (helps with hair growth among other things), calcium, vitamin D (helps with calcium absorption) and biotin (helps with hair growth). My vitamins are broken down as such:
Breakfast:
Liquid Iron - 10 ml
Vit C - 1000 mg
Multivitamin - 2 chewables
Calcium - 350 mg
Vit D - 1000 mg
Zinc - 50 mg
Biotin - 1000 mg
Folic Acid - 1 mg
Super:
Calcium - 350 mg
Vit D - 1000 mg
Liquid Iron - 10 ml
Vit C - 1000 mg
Vit B12 injections every 2 weeks.
Cravings......I am still not having cravings (yayyyyyy!), I know what full feels like (woooo-hooooo) AND hunger is sometimes there, but I'm not really sure if it is true hunger or not. I can't figure out if it's just my brain predicting my eating schedule or if it is sleevie sending messages. If you do not know what I mean by sending messages, let me explain. Stomachs have a part of them, grehlin, that send out hunger hormones to your brain (hey, feed me!). When a person undergoes this surgery, that part of the stomach is removed. Anyways, rarely sleevie feels as what I can only describe as "twitchy" and I think it must need food or water. It is a very distinct feeling. When I check the time I then realize it is time to eat or drink, but that doesn't happen very often as I have become a clock watcher in order to get the protein in. If I don't stay on top of it, I can easily have a 200 calorie day, no problem and that is not a good thing. Water is still a huge problem for me. After eating and drinking the protein I am FULL. By the time I feel empty again, it is time to eat or drink the protein. It's hard. I feel like my choice is to either drink the water or drink the protein. Right now, I'm going for the protein.
Looking at my body.....As I have said before, I look in the mirror and I still just see fat....literally - cellulite. I have always been highly criticial of my body, seeing only imperfections - we are our own worst enemy. My thighs have always been large and I've always had a pesky lower "pouch". When I did manage to get down to 160 pounds before, I had a small pouch but my thighs always seemed large and out of proportion to me. I guess that is how I am going to be until I really start to lean out and/or get plastic surgery. I think it would be distorted to think of myself as "slender" right now, even though I feel at times to be tiny - does that make sense? The last time I was at this weight, I was in a larger size pant, 1 XL, this time I'm fitting baggy in an XL. So, at times, I do feel smaller than 195 pounds. Although I have lost 65 pounds and gone from a BMI of "morbidly obese" at 261 pounds down to 195 pounds, I am still considered "obese".
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