Updates: One Month Post Surgery

While I am definitely not where I would like to be (in terms of the amount of weight I have lost, or really haven't lost), I am happy to say that I am one month post surgery and doing so much better than I was the first few weeks. Here are some updates:

Pain
I am so happy to say that I am no longer in pain (well at least pain related to my lap band).  My incisions are finally healing, and while they do get itchy from time to time, they no longer hurt, burn, stab, etc. I am back to wearing regular pants (no more sweatpants) and can do up my jeans without them pressing on my large incisions.

Food
I am slowly introducing a number of my favourite foods back into my diet. So far I haven't had many problem foods, but have to constantly remind myself to chew chew chew and eat slowly. I have had a couple of 'stuck' incidents that resulted from me eating too quickly or a too big bite, and they are not fun. I got stuck on a piece of granola bar the other day and didn't make it to the bathroom in time to throw it back up. This concerns me a bit, as I am scared to eat out in public with others should I have to throw my food back up.
I realized in the past couple of days that I wasn't getting enough protein (and possibly eating too many carbs) so I have made a conscious effort to introduce more protein packed foods into my diet. I tried greek yogurt for the first time last week and while I am not loving it, it's okay when paired with blueberries and some protein packed granola. Other protein packed foods I plan to introduce this week are vegetarian burgers, vegetarian ground meat and possibly a homemade protein shake (still unsure what kind of protein powder to use).
I am trying to stay within the 1000 calories per day mark, and so far have no problems with this.

Weight
My weightloss has been absolutely frustrating. In the past two weeks I have gone up and down so many times, I can't even remember the different numbers. Before I had my surgery, my family's main concern was that I wouldn't lose weight. I have never been a really big eater, so it's not like I am cutting down from eating a bag of potato chips and a litre of coke a day. Also, I had tried to lose weight in the past two years (weight watchers, no carb diets, etc.) with no success. The surgeon assured me that if I followed the program I would lose the weight. Well, what now? I am going to call the surgeon's office tomorrow and request a face to face sit down with the dietician as I am not satisfied emailing her or talking over the phone. There has to be some reason I am not losing the weight, and I would like to know why.

Telling Others
This week I helped out at a golf tournament my Dad was running. When it came time for lunch, I had to tell the person in charge that I couldn't eat the food they provided and would have to go home to get my lunch. They looked at me strangely and so I had to explain why. I don't have a real problem telling people about my surgery (hello, I have a blog all about it) but can imagine that in the future I won't want to explain my food choices to every single person I interact with.

A Big Outing
One of the things I was most concerned about after surgery was the Kenny Chesney concert I had tickets for 3 weeks after my surgery. I honestly didn't think I would be able to make the 3 hour drive (there and back), but when the time came, I was feeling okay and managed to make it out. There were a few incidents with stomach aches, but overall I had a really good time. I brought my own food into the concert which definitely helped.

I am slowly learning what to do and what not to do with my lap band, but really hope the weight starts coming off soon.

xx
Alicia