Mandy

Protein, protein, and more protein

Happy Monday to all of my readers! I went on a beautiful train ride this weekend and attached is one of the pics I took.

I thought I would send a brief message about protein today. It really changed things for my health when I started eating more protein and less carbs. This was pre-surgery as well. Again, it is not a Keto diet, just lower carbs and more protein. You should always check in with your doctor, nurse, dietitian, or healthcare expert about what is right for you. Some people cannot eat high protein or low carb due to certain disorders. My daily goal right now per my dietitian is 80 grams of protein and less than 80 grams of carbs. I am to focus on protein first and then what is left can have carbs.

I am not meeting that goal very often so yesterday I set out on a quest to work on this again. Before surgery I did great because food tasted great. After surgery, I am finding it much harder to find foods that sit well with me. This does get easier and now that it is, I need to increase protein. I am still losing weight when I eat higher carb although I have lost some lean muscle mass so protein is essential. Finding the right proteins for you is half the battle.

Before surgery I loved chicken and eggs. I am adverse to both of them right now. I can eat chicken if it is soft cooked, but only in small amounts. I will try eggs again, but so far they have not gone well. If you love eggs, chicken, and turkey, increasing your protein should be easier. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, checking in with a dietitian would be my suggestion. I am not well versed on either. I am not a big meat eater, but I do eat some meat.

I went on a quest this weekend at the store to find newer foods or foods I have forgotten about. I was getting in a rut, eating the same foods over and over. Part of this is just being human and the other is surviving post surgery. It is important though for me to adhere to my protein, so I’m really going to try.

Here is what I picked up at the store and what I’m trying: Special K cereal is high in protein and served with some fat free milk provides about 15g. Of course it does have some carbs so I will only choose this once a day. I picked up some snack packs that contain cheese and nuts. It is already portioned out so it takes the guess and temptation out of eating too much. Tuna is another favorite and has quite a bit of protein. I just add a small bit of mayo and eat it plain. I got used to not eating bread and pasta before surgery, but now they make me nauseated so I avoid them. I also love white fish and eat that when I get a chance, broiled is best. I picked up some chicken broth that has 9gm of protein and can be consumed right from the package. I got cottage cheese and some laughing cow spreadable cheese. I picked up a few cans of soup that I can strain the pasta from, but have vegetables, chicken and good broth. I also can eat eggs when added to a recipe, so I am going to try some new recipes. Like I love egg flower soup and may try to make this at home.

Dinner is always much easier because I do make hearty soups loaded with beans, meat, and vegetables. I often add a sprinkle of cheese to add more protein and flavor. I do eat carbs, but am now trying to save them for the end of the day. If I can get closer to my goal that will be great. I am at about 45-50 right now and need to get closer to 80. My surgeon prefers I eat my protein rather than drink the shakes, but I can if I need it. I also have some protein bars if I need them.

I will keep you updated. I was pleasantly surprised though how well my blood sugars and weight did when I ate less carbs. I felt like my inflammation was down overall and I felt better. Good luck to you and send me a comment if you’ve tried something new that is loaded with protein. Until next time,

Mandy

Taco Soup

Last night I made a large yummy pot of Taco soup and ate it while watching a fun Halloween movie. I got this recipe years ago in a Weight Watcher’s meeting and it is still a family favorite. Someone I work with got the recipe from me and made it for a potluck. People love the flavor and it’s low fat and full of nutrition. You can also add variations to this such as using Chicken or Stead instead of ground beef. You can add more or less beans and corn or add a whole new vegetable. You can use flavored canned tomatoes or regular or you can use fresh ingredients instead of canned. I serve this with tortilla chips, sour cream, and shredded cheese. My husband even used some Cheese Whiz we had leftover and added a dollop to his soup! Enjoy.

Taco Soup Ingredients:

1 pound of lean ground beef
1 Yellow onion
2 tbsp cooking oil
2 cans of corn, whole kernel
4 cans of tomatoes (14 1/2 oz) or 2 large cans
2 cans of dark red kidney beans
2 cans of white beans or great northern beans
1 package of Taco seasoning
beef broth to your preferred consistency (we use 4 cups)

Instructions: Saute onions in a few tablespoons of cooking oil, add ground beef and cook well, drain excess fat if needed. Use some salt, pepper, garlic salt, or other favorite seasonings on meat and onions. Add corn, drained of liquid, add tomatoes with liquids, then add beans (drained). Stir together and then add one package of taco seasoning and the beef broth to desired consistency. Bring to a low boil and then simmer 20-30 minutes on low. Serve with your favorite toppings. You can also make this in a slow cooker on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4. This is also a great leftover treat! Enjoy.

Bariatric Surgery & Recovery Part 1

Happy Thursday. I am enjoying a nice Fall day with the sun shining, leaves crunching underneath my feet, and pumpkins on porches. I still mourn the loss of summer although I do love Fall. I am taking a train ride this weekend and am looking forward to the Fall colors as we ride country side.

I shared in my last post that I would talk more about recovery from Bariatric Surgery. I remember at my most desperate point in early 2017 when I started thinking about bariatric surgery and I thought about how it would be easy. It would force me to eat right and small amounts and then I would be forced to lose the weight.

I quickly realized though as I started the process, this is no easy journey. Bariatric surgery is meant to be a tool, not an easy fix all. In previous posts I have mentioned some of the requirements before surgery and soon I can share more about this. I will also share more about the surgery itself and my decision to have a gastric bypass vs. the gastric sleeve procedure which is newer with less complications.

Today though we will talk about recovery. I had my surgery on May 30, 2019 at 8:30am. I really struggled to wake up from anesthesia. I now remember fondly a nurse yelling at me in recovery to breathe as she grabbed my shoulders to wake me up. I vaguely remember going to my room although later learned it was in a whole other hospital building! My husband and son were waiting for me. I also remember thinking how grateful I was to be alive. I later though saw the picture my husband texted family members of my attempt to wake up! Not flattering at all…..

The pain was not terrible and the nurses and CNA’s were amazing at making sure I was comfortable. I had quite a bit of nausea and that is completely normal. The medications are very helpful as well as getting up and walking which I did on my first day. I was done with surgery and ready to get on with my new life.

My first sip of water and sugar free lemonade was the best thing ever. The goal after surgery is to just get enough water in not to get dehydrated. They have you drink about 2 tbsp. at a time for the first few days and you write down everything you drink. The second day I started my protein drinks. The water great, protein drinks not so great. They made me so nauseated at first. My dietician and surgeon though told me to at least get water in and everything else would come later.

The goal to recovery is to be patient. My pain went away quickly and I was up moving around in just a day or two. The nausea is a different story. At least it was for me. The good news is I did not feel hunger or even a desire to eat for a few days. The first few weeks is really a liquid diet that is very limited. Everything tastes different after surgery and the chicken broth that tasted good one day was terrible the next day. The struggle is real to get all of your fluid in and at least half of your protein drinks.

After a few days, I started surviving on strained soups and Top Ramen broth. I also could have yogurt without fruit. I was still not feeling hunger at all, however head hunger. My head was telling me to eat and I would crave all kinds of foods at different times. I remember the first few days of the broth, all I could think about was Rice Krispies. I would get tired of a particular broth too after a few days and switch to something else.

At one point maybe about day eight, I started realizing I was going to starve to death. Not really, however that is how I felt. That head feeling that I was going to go mad from not eating anything but strained broth and yogurt. Sugar free pudding made me nauseated, so I was really limited. I had my first real melt down in tears, yelling and shouting that I was going to starve to death while my family watched. Yes, it was quite dramatic! The struggle was real though to me. Again, no physical hunger at all, just the head hunger and feeling like I should eat.

My husband and son came home after shopping with every kind of yogurt and soup you could imagine. They tried so hard to take good care of me. I felt so bad because I ate the yogurt for a day, then it made me sick and I avoided it. That is what recovery is like. One day is better than the next, sometimes moment to moment or encounter to encounter. I was not required to track calories at this time although I did using my app. My goal was about 800 calories per day during those first weeks of recovery. On average though I was only able to do about 200-300 for several days.

As my stomach started to heal and the liquid phase was coming to a close, I went back to see my surgeon and learned about the soft food phase which starts at around week 3-4 post op. I was ready to try something more solid after those first two weeks. It really was a day by day process though because you never know what is going to go well and what will be absolutely terrible. Next post I will share more about the soft food phase and the regular food phase.

I am now almost five months post op and my food choices are so much broader. It gets easier and easier every day. I will never regret this surgery because I needed it greatly and it has already saved my life. That is the way I look at it. The prep work to get to surgery though did prepare me for the post op days. I really want people to know though it is not easy, but it is possible especially with good supports in place. I used books, games, talking with family, and funny TV shows to self soothe those first few weeks.

Until next time, I wish you all wellness and happiness. For those that have signed up through e-mail, my first newsletter should be coming out on Monday. The newsletter will have some tips and tricks I’ve learned for Holidays and gatherings as well as some recipes for Fall. Take care.

Mandy

Move more and getting active

Happy Sunday! So far it has been a pretty good weekend. I spent some time with my family yesterday which I always treasure. Then, my husband and I got to have some alone time and did some shopping together. I took my son to the community pool today. That is three Sunday’s in a row and I’m putting this in my going well column.

I did have one small almost embarrassing moment today in the locker room. After swimming and coming back to the locker room, I could not get my gym locker off. I tried over and over and it still would not open. I kept thinking about how embarrassing it would be to trudge out to the front desk and ask to use the phone to call for help. I’m not sure what kind of help that would have been….Never the less, I took a deep breath tried again and poof, it opened. I was so thankful. This then required a stop on the way home from my favorite coffee house for a drink.

I am glad to be getting more activity though. I’ve been sharing with you about my Charcot foot and how this has limited my mobility. I used to walk and sometimes jog a bit almost every day. I am allowed to use my steps to continue working at my job. Any extra walking is frowned upon. The reason for this is because of the shape my foot is in now and it’s at risk for fracture or ulcers in this weakened state. My foot doctor agrees I need more physical activity. I am allowed to swim as much as I like and use my recumbent bike. My sister bought me a chair exercise DVD as well. I also purchased myself a very low impact dance DVD that puts very little strain on my feet.

When I committed to bariatric surgery I knew that exercise is a big part of getting the weight off as well as making me healthier. I had my surgery on May 30, 2019. I could use my steps to do some walking right after because I was not working. I took small walks every day and this was a huge part in my healing from surgery. When I went back to work though I was fairly tired for a month or so just trying to get back in the groove and still recovering. I lost a lot of weight really quickly the first two months. Sometime around the middle or end of the third month, I stalled. This is completely normal. To pull myself out of this, I vowed to get more activity.

I’m still not where I want to be in terms of activity on a consistent basis. That said though I am happy that I’m swimming 1-2 times per week and then in between one other form of my allowed exercise. I also walk my little Yorkie around my yard when we have nice weather. It’s raining here now, but a week or so ago, it was nice out. We had perfect Fall days. I took Penny outside and we crunched through the leaves together.

When I had a plateau with my weight for about four weeks. I just stuck it out, increased my protein and activity and then it took off again.

Some days I really struggle because I want to walk and walk like I used to. At least knowing I can swim though and do chair exercise, I can at least move my body. I have so much more energy now that I’ve lost some extra weight and to be able to put that to good use makes me happy.

I’m taking the frame of mind it’s okay to go slow, move when I can, and be happy with small achievements. I read a book once about a woman who woke up one day and decided she had to lose weight. She used to walk just one block at a time until she could do more. She lost most of her weight from simply watching her total fat intake. I have done this in the past as well with good success.

In the coming weeks, I will post more about what some people have shared with me in terms of barriers to getting more activity. I will also share more about my surgery experience and what recovery from bariatric surgery is like. I plan to share some of the other programs I’ve used in the past to lose weight.

Please feel free to leave me a comment or message me on Facebook. I would love to hear your favorite activities too and the progress you have made. We can all learn from each other and support one another in our journey to be healthier. Wishing you all peace and health.

Mandy

Charcot Part 2

Happy Friday! I am currently enjoying some quiet time. I took today off of work. In later posts I will share more about myself. I am a full time Manager working in the healthcare industry. I love my job and I look forward to quiet moments like this. I ran some errands this morning just taking my time instead of rushing around like most days. We all need that quiet time now and then. Hope you can all enjoy a day like this now and again too.

I am mostly a joyous and positive person. I feel fortunate to have been blessed with this personality. As I shared though in my last post, I went through significant depression during my active Charcot foot phase.

The first phase of this for me was purely about disbelief. I had been through a lot of health issues already. I had type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, and I had fertility issues. I didn’t believe that one more thing could happen to me. I was an active woman with a full time management job, a young son, and I loved my evening walks. Now I was on bedrest, off of work, using a knee scooter, and everything had changed. My foot doctor was good to encourage me just to get through one day at a time, but I knew my life was changing forever.

I can look back now and smile about some of the things I went through. I can only do this now though because I’ve had two years to put that phase behind me.

After I was diagnosed, my doctor gave me the choice of knee scooter or wheelchair. I ordered a knee scooter online and when it was delivered I had a hard time putting it together. My husband quickly offered to help and so he and my son assembled it. I had been on it for no more than two minutes when I turned in my kitchen and fell to the floor, scooter on top of me, legs underneath me. I just sat there and cried! I must have been there at least 5 to 10 minutes just crying. I needed to do that because I had not cried yet. Turns out the scooter was assembled backwards and the anti-tip handlebars were on wrong. Lesson learned….

We had just brought home a 2 pound teacup Yorkie who needed my love and attention. Figuring out how to take her outside was challenging. We had an older dog that was already trained so she was easy. I do credit my dogs though for helping my sad times.

Every day I had at least one crying outburst about the change in my life. My foot was only mildly painful so I was not dealing with that. It was the sadness about not knowing about the future and walking again. I called my sister several times a week in tears. I had gone from a strong confident woman to a puddle of tears. I was short with my husband and son at times from frustration with everything. It was a hot summer and I could not take my boot off except for a few minutes each day. I longed for a swim or stroll in the summer breeze.

I had so much help though and for that I am truly grateful. My son started doing his own laundry, my husband helped as much as he could, my sister came on weekends and cooked for me. She and her kids entertained me on weekends with fun games. They took my son to movies. We hired a housekeeper once to twice a month. I started ordering groceries on line for delivery. My co-workers and staff brought me a basket of goodies and made me dinners! After a few months I was allowed to go out with my knee scooter and occasionally got out of the house for a dinner or two. These moments kept me going.

I was so sad though, I even stopped caring about myself after a while. I remember one moment at my lowest point. I was playing video games, had not showered in several days, I had greasy hair, smelled like cheese and butter, and then my door bell rang. Two visitors wanted to know if I knew Jesus. I am sure they went home and prayed for me after seeing me.

In those moments I had a hard time imagining finding an new life with this diagnosis. My family including my sister, husband, and extended family all hung in there with me and kept encouraging me. It was my sister and husband who told me I had to figure this out and get back to me. I admit it took me a long time, but slowly I made baby steps to getting a life back. I admit I had grown a little selfish.

After I could put a little weight on my foot and go back to work with my knee scooter, I got a lot of confidence back. I started going to the movies again, to the mall, getting out and about. I still had to be a mom to my young son and figure out how to do things with him. A year after I started walking again I went to Disneyland with my family and rented an electric scooter. I rode all of the rides over and over. I realized I could live like this. It’s not easy, but I longed for life again.

I encourage anyone going through something similar to hold onto hopes and dreams. Please talk to someone about your feelings and get help if you need it. My depression was temporary, but it taught me what other people feel on a regular basis. I also found a quote from Stephen Hawking, “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet”. I realized it was okay to feel sad about what I was going through and at the same time realize I was not alone. Many people were also going through far worse. I had significant compassion for them in those moments.

I will share more in my next blog post about what life is like now with Charcot. I still work full time and find activities I can do. For some people with Charcot the road is much longer. I participate in a support group that is fabulous. I saw my foot doctor yesterday, my foot is still stable, and I follow all of his instructions. I was never what you would call a “good patient” before, however now I sure am. I posted a picture here of me on my Knee Scooter Thanksgiving of 2017. Until next time I wish you all well. I share these vulnerable moments with you to encourage you and know you are not alone. Best wishes.

Mandy

Life with Charcot Foot

Hello readers. Thank you for supporting my blog and taking time to read. I hope you are all doing well today and finding some of the information helpful. Please feel free to message me on Facebook or leave a comment here if you have specific questions. I’m happy to help.

As I shared in my post the other night I want to talk more about my Peripheral Neuropathy and Charcot foot. Although I’m a registered nurse by training, I am going to talk about this from my perspective and not a medical lingo perspective.

I will talk more in a later post about my journey with type 2 diabetes. I was diagnosed though in my early 20’s. For many years I did have good control which help prolong any complications. I developed peripheral neuropathy though sometime in my early 30’s. This is a condition in which I have burning, numbness, and less feeling in both of my feet. I got a wound from a bad shoe in my mid 30’s that took almost a year to heal. I went for many years though without further complication. I was about 41 when I developed a bad wound on my big toe on my left foot and almost lost my toe. I credit two doctors at my physician’s office for saving that toe. They worked hard to save that toe. I went for daily dressing changes for a month and then twice weekly for another month and then weekly for months. It finally healed although I had cellulitis in it several times.

In early 2017 I noticed my left toe was shaped funny and my entire foot was swollen, hot, and red. You would think by now I was used to doctors, but I was scared and ignored it for a month or two. In March of 2017 I did go to a physician who sent me to the Emergency Room. I was so nervous and scared that this was my time to lose that toe. I decided I had to address it though and would deal with losing my toe if I needed to. I went in though and they diagnosed me with cellulitis again. Long story short, I was diagnosed with cellulitis a few times with no change in any symptoms. In May of 2017, my regular physician sent me to a Podiatrist who right away told me it was Charcot foot. I was diagnosed on May 12, 2017 and I will never forget that day because it changed my life.

In a nutshell, I had broken my left big toe and because I had less feeling did not have as much pain as a regular person. The other doctors thought it was cellulitis, but it was Charcot Foot. Walking on an injured toe for months caused the Charcot Foot. This is basically when the bones in your foot heat up causing swelling and warmth. Your bones then begin to melt if you will. This is the active phase and in my case treatment was strict non weight bearing until the active phase was over. I was placed on bed rest with a strict order to not put any weight on that left foot. I had a soft boot that I wore 24/7 during that phase. I took three months off of work to heal. I used a knee scooter to get around my house for those first few months.

When the active phase was over and my bones were stable, my foot shape was changed forever. In September of 2017, I was given a CROW boot to wear on my left foot. I was allowed to return to work in late August with my knee scooter. I did not walk again until late December and was very limited at first. In January of 2018 I did get orthotic shoes that I wear every day.

One of my favorite things in life was wearing my sandals and going barefoot. I was no longer allowed to do this. My left foot is called a rocker bottom because when my bones melted and stabilized, the arch of my foot has broken down. My foot bones are now much closer to the bottom of my foot and only have a bit of padding on them. Walking barefoot is actually painful. I have much less balance than I used to as well. I am limited in the number of steps I take per day. When I go long distance like to an amusement park or the Zoo, I use an electric scooter.

I will share more in my next post about this difficult time. I had some very dark times during this period. I will share what I went through and how my family helped me find life and hope again. I will also share how this led me to the decision to have bariatric surgery. With Charcot foot my goal in having bariatric surgery was to improve my diabetic control, maintain my neuropathy and not have it worsen, and get some weight off my feet. I also joined a Facebook support group which helped tremendously. I have moved from the dark back to the light. It was not an easy journey though.

My goal in this blog is to help others going through similar journeys as well as inform those who might be headed in this direction. Until next time, I wish you all well.

Mandy

Weight loss seminar –

Happy Monday! I must first share my fun weekend. I had the chance to go bowling with some of my family and I got three strikes in one game. It was just about getting some activity, but I must admit it felt great. I love spending time with my family.

On Sunday we took our teenage son to the pumpkin patch. When he was carving his pumpkins I admit I took a small nap on my couch. I was woken up by my son yelling that he cut his hand with the carving knife. I’m assuming he did this because I warned him not to cut himself! I jolted up to find his wrist dripping with red substance and a full on panic began. That’s when he said, “Gotcha”. He had used red food coloring to make his pumpkin look bloody and decided to prank mom by applying it to his wrist. Thanks kid….

Today on my blog I want to talk about the beginning of my journey. Naturally the fist step was deciding I wanted some medical help losing my weight. I have known people who are overweight and have absolutely no health issues. I loved myself the way I was. My weight though and the way I was shaped led to some serious problems for me. When I was diagnosed with Charcot foot though (will talk more in a later blog), I realized it was time to get my weight under control and my diabetes.

I once saw one of those reality TV shows about a man with type 2 diabetes who was really not that overweight, but underwent gastric bypass. He did it to control his diabetes. That is when I started thinking maybe this was right for me. I am one of those people that researches everything to make sure it is right for me. I talked to people in real life who had been through this process. I called my insurance company to find out the steps and financial obligations.

I then signed up for a weight loss seminar geared towards bariatric surgery. This was also a requirement of my insurance. My sister joined me as my support and the facilitator of my weight loss meeting was phenomenal! She talked about a multidisciplinary approach to weight loss whether you choose surgery or non surgical weight loss. Most centers do both.

Your support team includes a dietician, psychologist, surgeon, nurse, and coordinator. I was so impressed with the wrap around services all in one spot.

We got a booklet that showed the types of surgical and non surgical approaches. The facilitator talked about all of the hormones that live in the bottom of your gut that have contributed to your out of control hunger and obesity. She said being overweight is not all my fault. What a relief to hear someone say this after years of feeling like the medical community made me feel like that. I’m not going to say I had nothing to do with my weight, but at the same time I truly felt out of control. I felt supported and non judged. Many overweight people feel judged constantly for their weight and connected health problems.

That very day I filled out the health information sheet and turned it in. I drove four hours away to a place my insurance covered. I was no more than half way home, having lunch with my sister when I got the call already. Of course I was having a nice pasta lunch (I told you I love pasta)! I got all the information for my insurance and within a month I had my first appointment. In my upcoming blog posts I will talk about pre-requisites for surgery. They have changed some, however I will share that my process took seven months before I had surgery.

I hope you will continue to follow my blog even if surgical weight loss is not right for you. I will share more in the future blogs about other programs I’ve been on. I have been successful for short periods of time on other programs. I also used these other programs to keep my weight under better control most of my adult life. Surgery really is only a tool. I still have to make choices everyday to stay on the right path. Some days are much harder than others. I hope to support you all as you journey through this as well. I know it’s not easy and it helps to know you are not alone. Until next time, best wishes.

Mandy

A typical eating day for pre-surgery weight loss

First, let me start with my love of food. Food was my comfort, stress reliever, and source of pure pleasure. Pasta was my favorite…someone please pass the spaghetti and garlic bread! When I met my dietician for the first time last October and she told me about the high protein, low carb diet, I had some initial hesitation. I never really understood why anyone would choose a low carb diet.

I accepted the information and was bound and determined. I had already made the mental decision to go forward with this surgery. I had to do a lot of paperwork for my insurance company to even get my first appointment. The dietician sets your daily protein and carb counts based on your body weight, body type, and they use a fancy machine to take all sorts of measurements. My personal goal was 120 grams of protein per day and less than 110 grams of carbs.

The best part was she told me I could eat real food and gave me a lot of reference sheets for high protein snacks. Some programs offer meal replacement and I can tell you that was not for me. I ate some of the meal replacements after surgery and for me, no thanks. After surgery I made a lemon pudding meal replacement that tasted like paste with a little lemon juice. I didn’t eat paste as a kid and definitely not now. So, that said many of my support group acquaintances love the meal replacements.

I took the large packet from the dietician home and chose to journal on paper. It was really tough at first and I was shocked at the amount of carbs in food. I read and re-read all of the information over and over. This experience sets you up for success later on after surgery.

I sat down every morning before work and wrote down everything I planned to eat for the day. I used pencil because sometimes (more than sometimes) I changed my mind. Journaling is a big key to success. The key was being honest about what I ate and I practiced this.

My advice if you decide to do a high protein low carb diet is to start with your priorities in the day. My priority will always be popcorn. My grandpa and then my mom passed on to me the love of popcorn. My grandpa even taught me how to make popcorn on the stove top in a big kettle. I did learn to eat it without butter and just use a little oil. Everything after that was mostly protein.

A typical day of food before surgery was scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon bits for breakfast. Lunch was often deli meat, cottage cheese, or peanut butter in some form. I was able to eat a lot of ground beef and chicken too during this time. Chicken and turkey have a ton of protein and are lean. Dinner was also a lean protein, hamburger, steak, cottage cheese, salad, or beans. Snack was popcorn. I also incorporated some veggies into my daily plan. This diet is low carb, but not what I would call Keto.

The Keto diet comes two weeks before surgery and I plan to talk more about that later. In my upcoming posts I will share more about the ups and downs of this process both before and after surgery. I made lots of mistakes and went back to old habits before my surgery.

The one difference this time for me though was a commitment I made to my myself, my family, and going to all of my appointments with the medical team.

If you are looking to make a change, consider starting small. Set a small goal and work towards it. Tackling too much at once can be overwhelming. I knew someone who used to practice a new habit for a while before adding anything new. For example, trying grilled protein instead of fried and only have the fried on a special occasion. Try fruit or veggies in place of dessert once or twice a week.

Next post I will tell you more about the initial conference I was required to attend and the idea that being overweight was not all my fault. Until then, enjoy the weekend.

October 10, 2019 – 70 pounds today

Today is the perfect day to launch my blog! I started this process a week ago when I had lost almost 70 pounds. This is why my blog is called 70 pounds and counting. Today I hit 70 pounds exactly! I will post a snapshot of my weight loss app. It says I’ve lost the weight of a Leopard. I love this weight loss app so much and along the journey it has compared my weight loss to animals.

I still have more of this journey to get through and I imagine it will be lifelong. I’ve made it back into the 100’s. Check out my story by clicking on the sidebar menu that says “Mandy’s Story”. It will give you more information about myself and this surgical weight loss journey I’ve been on.

Over the next several blog posts I will tell you more about my journey over the years and of my recent bariatric surgery. In May of 2019 I did choose to undergo an RNY Gastric Bypass. Today a person has a few choices in weight loss surgery and again surgery is not for everyone. Surgery is not an easy fix, it is a tool. I’ve had many ups and downs on this journey.

The goal of my blog is to get my story out there because in my case with my body shape and my health problems I think I could have had surgery earlier. I want to support other people who want to lose weight both surgical and non surgical. I also want to support others who’ve experienced these health problems I talk about in my story. If you know anyone who needs to know someone has been through what they are going through, send them a link to my Facebook page or my blog.

I am new to blogging and excited to share much more with you in the coming weeks. You can sign up to receive e-mails from me as well. I will be working on my first newsletter in the coming weeks to share with my e-mail subscribers!

I still have more weight to lose although I do not have a magic number in mind. My guess is at least forty more pounds if not a little more. Right now my weight loss has slowed down and I’m taking time to get to know my new body and enjoy my new health. I’m also starting to work out a bit more to get some muscle mass built up.

Thank you for taking time to join me today and I will write again in a day or two. Best wishes to all of you.