Thursday, January 22, 2015

2 weeks today

So I'm one week into the pre-op diet set by the surgeon and dietician.
It's a very strict diet and consists of 3 optifast shakes, bars or desserts, at least two cups of non-starchy veggies and a small serve of fruit.
It is REALLY hard, especially those first few days. The thing that has pushed me is the importance of making sure that my liver is in the best condition possible, to help with the surgery and also with the recovery.

I've lost 7.1kg in the past week. Woo hoo! That feels great.
I'm guessing a lot of that is water weight, as I've noticed swelling I've had in my legs and ankles for a long time is finally going away. Another plus! So that's 11.1kg lost in total since I first went to the surgeon in August (I had lost about 10kg up until Christmas when we slipped back into old habits again).

I did plan on sticking to the pre-op diet 100% but I have to admit, cravings overcame me yesterday and I ended up caving a little. I made sure I still stuck in my strict calorie limit, but I had a chicken sandwich and both bread and meat are not on my pre-op diet.
Oh well, I pulled it back and got back on track straightaway, so I'm proud of that. In the past I might have been tempted to say "Well, that's it, I've blown it." and throw it all in. It will be 'baby' steps in this. I know I will mess up every once in a while. You don't get to be my size without having serious issues with food that also need to be worked on. I'm just taking it one day at a time.

I still have two weeks to go on this diet. 14 days. I can do it.
It's only the start of my journey and it will be a long one, I know that. I've just got to find ways to keep the motivation up.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

1 month to go!

It's officially 1 month until my surgery! 30 days. So this time next month, I will probably be out of recovery. The nerves are definitely starting but I'm also very excited!

In preparation for starting the pre-op diet I have to do (3 weeks of Optifast), I have started replacing a couple of meals each day with the low calorie shakes I will be taking during the diet, just to try and work my way up to the full-blown diet I'll have to follow for a few weeks.
Starting a diet after New Year seems so cliché, but I'm thinking that's maybe a good thing for me. That way if someone asks at work, I can just say that my resolution this year is to get healthier. I have told a couple of my work friends that I am getting a Lap Band, but I don't want everyone to know. At least not until I've dropped a lot of this weight. I'm a bit worried that having everyone know will be a little too much pressure.

Ok, will write more soon...