Feeling Better After Changing Diet

I had been so down. I was eating pure protein for the past two weeks. About 100 g of pure protein. Now, keep in mind that I am not like your average Joe. I have diverticulosis, which is potholes in the colon, too much protein can kill me.

Yesterday I added the following to my diet at about 6 pm:

1. some fruit from a can (no syrup)
2. some raisin bran cereal with a little milk (I am dairy sensitive, but decided to chance it).
3. a couple of pork rinds (my first time eating them ever) with some spinach dip.

This morning I had the first natural poo that I have had since my surgery. The first one unassisted by miralax or stool softeners.

I had been so fried for the past week or so. Miserable, tired, cranky and my diverticular pain was back.

Yesterday I swam 30 minutes of hard freestyle laps and burned about 525 cals, but had only taken in 328 cals of pure protein for the day. I felt like I was going to die.

Eating some carbs, even thought they probably were not optimal really helped me. I took in a total of 884 cals and expended 525 on the swim.

And I was down today on the scale.

I decided to skip the morning protein shake and try to see how I do getting my protein from food, which is what my doctor recommended on Monday. She also told me to balance out my eating, but I was too afraid to stray from  the pure protein. She was the one who suggested the raisin bran.

So, this morning, instead of egg beaters (which have so much crap in them) I had Egglands Best Egg Whites with a sprinkle of cheese and some diced ham and about an hour before that, I had a fiber one bar and right now I am having COFFEE. Black coffee.

I decided to skip the morning protein shake and try to see how I do getting my protein from food, which is what my doctor recommended on Monday. She also told me to balance out my eating, but I was too afraid to stray from  the pure protein. She was the one who suggested the raisin bran.

What?

I hear Angels singing.

Scale Obsessed

I have gone into the scale obsessed mode. I have been on the scale so many times in the past two weeks that I can't even count them. Many, many times per day in the morning. If I pee, then I get undressed and get on the scale. Same with other bodily functions.

So I made a little chart to plot my weight on a weekly basis. I took it all the way back to my highest weight and then went forward to my pre-surgery diet and up to today. I made lines to indicate each month and also circled period dates.

It showed me - in a much better way than my phone app could -- the progression that I have gone through since I started thinking about surgery. I feel like I am able to now put the scale aside until each Monday and just let it be.

I am not going to lose 20 pounds in a month. That was a one time thing, I think. It would be nice, but it's not reality. 

I did have a couple marks where I got the whole period thing wrong and had to cross it out. I got confused from my app as to what indicated a period and a little flower icon that I guess indicates ovulation.

I am perimenopausal, so periods are very random. I am also going back to drinking my water with no crystal light in it. I need to get back to plain water. My tastes might not be back to normal, but I need to just get off of the sweet chemicals. I hate eating/drinking things with artificial sweeteners.

On the exercise front, I have gotten to the point where I can pound out a good 2-3 mile walk in a half hour. I am still short of breath on the hills, but I am making them now without stopping, which is nice.

Stupid Scale.

I had to hide my scale. I am 13 days post op and of course I am waiting for the BIG WEIGHT LOSS like it's Christmas and I am six years old.

I know that this takes time. I know that my body is changing in ways that are not reflected on a scale and I know that my period is less than a week away (if it decides to visit this month).

So, I am hanging in there, doing all the good things:

• Drinking my fluids
• Following my doctor's instructions
• Getting some gentle walking in 
• Resting

Still, it's hard to cope with the whole scale thing. 

I am going to try to refocus on my upcoming transition to the stage II diet (currently on all liquids) and think about other things than my number.

It's hard seeing others who have had the same surgery take much bigger jumps down the scale, but I know:

• I started with a relatively low BMI and that causes weight loss to be slower
• I can not compare myself with others. 
• I need to trust the process

So, that's it. I can't expect to see a pound a day loss on the scale and I need to get my head around that and keep going. Otherwise, I will crash and burn.