cyberdonna

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I'm still here. I haven't had much time to visit OH since my car died 2+ years ago. I'm close to getting another car. I'm still maintaining my weight loss and at last check my vitamin levels were all normal. I had vitamin D deficiency for 3+ yrs but it slowly got better and now is normal. Yay!

Every day is still a struggle with food, and always will be. Some days are easier than others. It's easiest when I'm busy. Best prevention is always don't buy what you shouldn't be eating. Don't do what others do, just to go along with the group. Don't let others coerce you into eating what you shouldn't be. It's amazing to me how other people try to sabotage you. They mean well. They think it's okay to have cheesecake, just this one time. It's also okay to turn it down. You have to be your own best weight advocate.

I gained 5 lbs and went up to 150 lbs. some months ago when I was trying migraine medication that made me so drowsy & drugged up that I couldn't exercise. I haven't lost that, but I find it hard to be motivated to go on a really strict diet when I'm still a perfectly normal weight. Maybe some day I'll get motivated to lose it. My weight can vary from day to day but that is normal.

A lot of people at my job are going on diets, including the "pregnancy hormone" diet. I try to encourage other people's dieting efforts. I don't approve of this 500 calorie diet (with pregnancy hormone injections!!!), but I just keep my opinion to myself. And ultimately I applaud people's desire to do what they can about their weight.

What I've found works for me (besides a gastric bypass) is that the weight loss diet needs to be a modified version of what you will eat for maintenance. Everyone knows that if you lose weight and go back to eating what you did before you went on a diet, you will gain it back. So if your diet is not a reflection of what you will eat for maintenance (Think Beverly Hills Diet or the fruit juice diet), then there is something wrong.

A program I have used when I've gone off track and need to lose a few pounds that I gained is Fatsecret.com. You can use it by their website or download it on your iphone. It allows you to track calories eaten (it has a database of a whole lot of foods & their calorie count). Plus it tracks calories burned from activities. When I gain a few pounds, I track everything I eat with this program. I always find that I was eating more calories than I thought I was, and tracking my food helps me to cut down. I lose the pounds every single time I do that.

I also weight myself every single day, and always will. The fact is no one eats perfectly, and the scale is the best indicator if you've gone off track (and didn't get away with it).

That's it for now. I hope to visit again soon. Take care.

Ah, yup. Haven't been here in a while. I would love to say time flies when your having fun, but time flies when you're not having so much fun too.

- The economy still sucks.
- I still work the same job.
- Still have no car (but I'm getting closer!).
- It still sucks to ride the bus, even more so now that there seem to be more smelly homeless people riding. Don't get me wrong! I have all the sympathy in the world for homeless and mentally ill people, I just don't want to smell like one because I sat in the wrong seat.

Weight
I'm down to 145 and I have decided to give up on going down to 137. I have maintained this weight for about 6 months, and I believe it is the perfect weight for me. The fact is, I'm not overweight; all my obesity-related problems are gone, and I don't really have a good reason to lose more weight other than just wanting to be thinner. I now weight less than what my driver's license says. I usually weight more. LOL!

Labs
At my last labs, everything was good, except my vitamin D was still low; however, it was nearly twice as high as before. My doctor prescribed 50,000 IU for a month. I'm totally psyched that the rest of my labs are good. My doctor said I have "the blood pressure of an 18-year-old"  and my "cholesterol is beautiful!". Hahaha!

Social
My job has been placing more responsibility on me. It's very clearcut that they respect me more now that I am no longer overweight. Yes, I could get angry about this and other evidence of discrimination against obese people, but I don't want to spend my time angry. Life is just too short. The lesson for me in this is to strive never to be an accomplice to this discrimination.

Bad
Lately my job has been stressing me out. Sometimes I don't have a lot of work to do, but when I do, they really pile it on. It makes me very stressed out, and stress = migraines = depression. So that is not good. The good thing is I make more money when I have more work, but there is a limit to how much stress I can handle before it starts affecting my mental health. To offset this stress, I started on a cleaning binge about a week ago. It's actually very liberating to clear out space in a junky apartment. Because I have so little spare time, it will take me a while to finish cleaning, but I look forward to getting rid of stuff I haven't used in years.

Good Stuff
There have been a couple times when I ordered something to drink and the waitress suggests "artificial sweetener" or "diet coke". What this tells me is I am officially a member of the thin women's club! Woohoo! When you're fat, no one suggests "diet coke" even though that's what I drank exclusively as a fat person.  In other words, now a woman takes one look at me and she knows a thin woman like me wants the low cal version of whatever. hehehe! It's nice to be a member of the "thin women's club." It's really nice to walk into a place and not worry if people are staring at you because you're fat. Little do they know, I'm only thin on the outside. I'll always be a secret member of the "big girls club" on the inside. And I wouldn't want it any other way.

I'm always glad when I come here and read what's going on with the newbies and old-timers (like me), and today is no exception. Yes, I wish I had done it sooner, but such is life. I got lots more cleaning to do. Ta ta for now. Take care and be good to yourself!

6/22/08

Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to post to my blog on a regular basis due to my lack of car, which requires me to spend 4 hours a day on the bus traveling to and from work. I also have to spend a good chunk of the weekend on the bus to go shopping.

 The good news is I'm closer to having a down payment for another car, so there's still hope on the car front.

Has life changed much in the 10 months since my gastric bypass?

Go to http://www.cyberdonna.com to find out.

Also check out my new 10 month out pictures.

Hi everyone! I'm Donna.

I had surgery August 16th, 2007, so I'm still kind of a postop newbie. I have lost relatively slowly, 69.5 lbs. in about 7 months, but I'm happy with my weight loss. I just hit Onederland this week and have passed my halfway mark. Woohoo! 

I've been overweight since 8 years old and had a very painful childhood and teenager years as an obese child. Yes, lots of teasing.

I am a computer trainer, but I have mostly done training over the phone for the past 5 years. Recently I trained clients on site for about a week, and I felt very comfortable about my appearance while training people in person. I still have a good 60 pounds until goal but I feel so much more confident already. I don't feel like people are staring at me because of my size anymore. 

When I sit next to people on the bus, I don't feel embarrassed because I take up too much space in the seat, like I used to. Sure, losing weight doesn't solve all your problems, but I can't complain about my progress so far. 

It's good to be here! 

 

When it comes to weight loss surgery, I’m not pro-surgery, I’m pro-choice. WLS (weight loss surgery) is not the right solution for everyone, but the fact is, it saves lives and gives people their life back. Sometimes it gives life to people who have only been living a shadow of a life because they have been obese all their lives.

For the rest of this article, please visit:

http://cyberdonna.com/anti-wls/big-medicine-is-a-big-ad-for-wls/

11/26/07

Despite all the talk I see about mourning the holidays after RNY, I can't agree. I totally enjoyed my Thanksgiving dinner.

Let's see, I ate:

- A chicken drumstick with skin (I thought it was dark meat turkey, but later found it was chicken. It looked better than the white meat and was delicious! Didn't miss turkey at all.)
- Stuffing
- Yams
- Corn
- Stuffed mushroom
- Macaroni & Cheese

Mind you, I had small portions, but yum yum! I put 2 pieces of chicken on my plate but had to put one back in the end. My eyes were bigger than my stomach..... hehe! Did I feel deprived? No, heck, I wish I could eat like that every day. Yes, I only lost half a pound this week but how many people 
can say they lost weight Thanksgiving week? Not many! I don't think I've
ever lost weight Thanksgiving week.

11/13/07

I had my 3-month check-up today. My bloody blood tests did not get faxed to the surgeon so he had no lab results. Ay-yay-yay!

He did not seem concerned about my low vitamin D and said to take a total of 800 to 1000 units of vitamin d.
That is about twice the US RDA. I bought Bariatric Advantage dry Vitamin D, but he said it is too high with 5000 IU. I'm sure as heck not wasting these bad boys, so I will take about a 1/5th per day.

Other than that, my visit was routine. I lost nothing this week. But I'm 1/3 of the way to the surgeon's goal, so I guess I can't complain.

The waiting room in the surgeon's office was full today. I was the only one with a gastric bypass. Everyone else had the Lap-Band. And of course the two women I spoke to have lost more in 2 months with the Lap-Band than I have in 3 months. Pitooey!

One woman mentioned that her boss had had a gastric bypass and looked horrible and was hunched over with osteoporosis. She mentioned that someone hugged her and had broken her rib. Lovely! I just love being surrounded by Lap-Banders. It was just like being in the preop class all over again.

One woman said, "I like it because it's reversible!" I wanted to say, "well, Yeah, until it erodes
into your stomach causing permanent damage," but, nope, I was the polite little RNYer. Wow! I can't believe how easy it is to get caught up in the stupid "my surgery is better than yours" War. Thank goodness the battle was only in my head today. Heck, we're all soldiers in the fight against obesity.

I had sushi this week. It was delish. I could only eat 4 small pieces, but I was happy that I could tolerate it at all, considering the horror stories I've heard about people eating rice.

At my 8-year anniversary at work, I was given a 8 GB Ipod Nano. Woohoo! That's the best gift I've ever received. Now I got more music to shake my booty to. I was planning on buying myself the 4 GB one for Christmas. No need now!

10/29/07

I am due for my 3-month follow-up with Dr. Khalili November 12th. I had my bloodwork last week. I got my results from my PCP's nurse today. She said everything was good except my vitamin D was low. Aaaaaah! How can it be? A vitamin deficiency only 2 months after surgery? Geez!

I'm in shock.

I have been taking my 2 Centrum chewables daily, plus calcium and B12, religiously.

One thing I noticed maybe a month ago, however, is that Centrum chewables have the wrong kind of vitamin D. They have ergocalciferol (vitamin D2), when we get the best absorption from cholecalciferol (vitamin D3). Finding this out made me a little nervous, but I didn't worry too much because the calcium supplement I take has 400 mg of vitamin D, and it is D3.

Another thing I must mention is I did screw up with my calcium early on. On 9/23/07, slightly more than a month after surgery, I realized I had misread my calcium bottle and was only taking 1 wafer (250 mg) when I should have been taking 4 wafers (1000 mg). Yikes!  So for a month I was not taking enough calcium or vitamin D. Plus, I did not find out about the vitamin D in Centrum being the wrong kind until some point after that. At that point, I upped my calcium to
1250 mg per day. 

If there's a lesson to be learned here, it is: Make sure you read the dosage correctly!

It appears that both of these issues contributed to my low vitamin D.

The nurse did not suggest I do anything about it. I assume they want me to discuss it with the surgeon.

In the meantime, however, I am glad I ordered Bariatric Advantage multivitamins and calcium 2 weeks ago. I started taking the Bariatric Advantage calcium 2 days ago, and I just ran out of the Centrum chewables today, so I will start on the BA multivitamin tomorrow.

I'm relieved that I'm not anemic though. That was one of my biggest fears since I've had anemia 
at least twice in the past due to stupid diets.

However, vitamin D deficiency is no joke. It can lead to osteomalacia (softening of the bones which causes easy fractures). Plus vitamin D helps calcium absorption, and I already know I screwed up my calcium intake for a month. I am going to discuss upping my calcium to 1500 mg per day with my surgeon. Vitamin D and calcium go hand in 
hand, so now I am really scared about my calcium intake, as well.

In a way, I'm glad I've had this slap in the face early on. Now I know little slip-ups, and even the fact that the surgeon's office says Centrum Chewables are okay (when in fact its' vitamin D is useless) can cause deficiencies. I will stick with vitamins for bariatric patients from now on.

I do have to warn people. What vitamin deficiencies people end up with is very individual. This doesn't guarantee anyone else will have the same or any deficiencies.
Taking megadoses of everything is NOT the solution! There are certain vitamins, such as fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, & K), iron and calcium that can actually be very harmful in large doses, so I will be working with the surgeon about upping my dosages, and not trying to diagnose and treat myself.

Oh yeah, and I didn't lose a single freakin' pound this week. Boo hoo! I'm not going to go whining on the forum, though. Nope, not gonna do it. I'm not like those other newbies...LOL!

Ok, ok...I'll admit it. I already did the whining on the forum thing a couple weeks ago...hehe!

10/21/07

Well, I am back to normal energy-wise. I have walked for 45 minutes and could have walked longer, but my lunch was over..hehe.

I have now lost 33 lbs. I realize I do not lose as fast as others, and I have accepted that. There are benefits to not having weight drop off you quickly, such as not having a lot of sagging skin. Even though 30 lbs. is not a lot, I CAN see the difference. Woohoo!

I am not hungry and am happy with small portions. I buy diet foods such as Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, etc. but I stick to the ones with meat and veggies. I am satisfied with my meal about halfway through. I force myself to eat veggies because it helps keep me regular. I do enjoy my food though, just in smaller quantities.

I have eaten small pieces of cake a few times (not often), but I have also walked by cake without a single regret. In case you don't know, cake is my favorite food, so this is a huge victory for me.

Despite the fact that I haven't lost a ton of weight, I feel more confident and am doing more socializing. I feel healthier already. I haven't had acid reflux since surgery. I don't feel my knees hurting or back aching while walking anymore.

I am down 6 BMI points. I no longer qualify for surgery! Woohoo!

I am very grateful and feel very lucky that I've had surgery. I feel very bad for people who have to fight for it, especially when they have a higher BMI then mine was, and I keep them in my thoughts and prayers all the time.

One unfortunate thing I've noticed is in the past 6 months, the level of cruelty and meanness on this site. I think it has died down a little, but I still see it rearing it's ugly head. I see the same people posting mean comments over and over again, and I have started blocking those people. I'm not here to read hateful garbage, and there is healing power in the Block button. Amen!

9/29/07

I'm now on my 7th week of my diet and I can try anything, except lettuce. I can try lettuce this coming Friday. After that, I'm off the graduated food diet. I'm really off it now, since I don't exactly miss lettuce. I can't have bread, rice or pasta for 6 months, but so far I can live with that.

Why am I not happy? Limited calories and sloooooooow weight loss. After upping my calories a little after my last post, I lost 4 lbs. that week. Woohoo! That victory was short-lived, however, because the next week, I gained 1/2 a pound. This past week, I lost 1.5 lbs (2 lbs. if you count the 1/2 a pound I gained and then lost again). Geez! I can't get over the fact that I've lost more on my previous diet while eating more calories than this. I just don't get it! How can I be a slow loser when I've never been a slow loser before? Arrgh!!!

Well, my only comfort was at my 1 month follow-up, the nurse told me that I am pretty close to where they expected me to be - 20% weight loss after a month. Mine was 17%, close enough for their approval (but not mine). Dr. Khalili repeated what the nurse said, that as long as you lose 75% of your excess weight in the first year, you're considered a success. When I look at it that way, I feel a little better.

Plus the nurse told me menstruating women's bodies try to hold onto their fat. She said I will see the biggest difference at my 3 month follow-up. Okay, I'll have to take her word for it and be patient.

What issues have I had? Well, since I was given license to eat meat a couple weeks ago, I have also had more food issues. The first time I ate steak tips was horrible, and had me wishing I had a DS. I had a stuck feeling, with vomiting which produced mostly foamies for about 1 hour 15 minutes.

However, determined not to let steak tips kick my butt, I had steak tips again two more days in a row. I cut them up to about half an inch and spent more time chewing, and, Voila! No problems this time!

I started eating bran crackers for regularity. While these are for a good cause, I've found that the usual junk food (crackers and chip-type foods) goes down smooth as liquid. I have to be careful about those because they also taste hella good. By the way, I am allowed to have crackers in limited quantities, so this is not cheating.

I got into an interesting debate with some long-term RNYers on a Yahoo group who are militant advocates of protein drinks. They state that not only do they still drink multiple protein drinks a day (with predigested whey) but they say it is necessary for all of us because we malabsorb protein from food and therefore can never get all our protein from food. Well, I bowed down to their experience (and I do have respect for it), but when I asked for scientific data to back up their claims (about requiring protein drinks), they got indignant and said they didn't need any because their claims were based on life experience. Whatever!

Saying you have experience from being around lots of other RNYers and therefore don't need scientific data to prove what you say is a cop-out. The whole reason these surgeries are available to us is because scientific data has shown them to give obese people a much better chance of losing weight and keeping it off than the traditional regimen of diet and exercise alone.

Sure there are doctors and nutritionists who give their patients crappy advice (such as: Don't drink protein drinks. Take TUMs for calcium, and get all your vitamins from food.), and who obviously are not experts in bariatric nutrition, but you don't need to do much research to find out why their advice is wrong and dangerous.

For example, you don't need to search Google for long to find out why you need calcium citrate and not calcium carbonate. So I'm very leery of people who say "I don't need data to back up what I say!" That's B.S.! Bariatric surgery and nutrition is medicine and science; it's not religion.

Research is what caused me to choose this surgery, so I'll be damned if I'm just going to believe whatever someone tells me without any proof whatsoever. Research has also told me that my surgeon's program is good based on their recommendations. That doesn't mean I don't think I need to research anything else. I'm an analytical person and a writer, and I love doing research, especially when it's about something that directly affects me.

The reason I do need protein drinks now is I do have difficulty getting my protein in from food alone. If that's the case for the rest of my life, so be it. I can live with it. But geez this is not about following rules. It is about doing what has been proven to be healthiest for your surgically altered body, and that's where the rules from the best surgeons/nutritionists come from. And if someone is making a health claim that is true, they shouldn't have any difficulty giving some sort of objective data to back up what they say.

Experience is very valuable but it can also be very subjective. Look at how many "diet aids" are sold through testimonials/experience that turn out to be pure useless crap.

Okay, end of rant...