As of Monday this week, I hit 51 pounds!! I'm keeping my calories between 600-800 calories a day. And I'm exercising 5 or 6 days a week.Doing Zumba cardio and Zumba sculpt and tone and riding my stationary bike for an hour!
My class reunion is in October and I hope to have lost at least 100-120 pounds by then!!
I definitely have a love-hate relationship with protein shakes!! No matter how good they are, they're always grainy-ish and I can't seem to choke down the last couple of ounces!! If I drink one too fast, I feel nauseated!! That's definitely the hate part. Now the love part! I am supposed to be getting a minimum of 60 gms of protein per day!! That's not as easy as it sounds when you can't hold very much in your tummy at one time!! But, I can usually get at least 30 gms of protein from one! That still doesn't make it easy to get it down!
However, I saw a smoothie recipe yesterday that mentioned putting protein powder in!! I've had suggestions of ways to make my shakes better but for some reason a light bulb went off in my head yesterday! So this morning I made up my own protein smoothie!! And it's divine!!
Tropical Smoothie
1/4 cup Jumex coconut pineapple nectar
1/2 container Dannon Fit and Light Greek Toasted Coconut Vanilla
1 scoop Isopure Creamy Vanilla protein powder
1/4 cup frozen sweet cherries
1/4 cup frozen pineapple chunks
I also added a splash of coconut extract
Put in a blender and mix all together. Next time I will probably put in some ice cubes!
Calories - 248
Protein 32 gms
I made an entry on My Fitness Pal with the recipe and all the nutritional facts! It's called Lose This Tropical Protein Shake
So, my plan right now is to maybe try playing around with shake recipes!! It's very possible, maybe even likely that mine won't be original. But I'm going to make some anyway!! So stay tuned for more recipes!! And some more on my weight loss journey!!
Keep On Losin'!!
Shama D
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
I'm No Expert
Let me start off by saying I've lost 35.2 pounds at this point!! I'm feeling encouraged!! My brother has lost over 50 pounds...But I'm going to keep persevering!
As the title suggests I certainly do NOT know much about this VSG weight loss thing!! I'm educating myself every day and learning more and more!! I have found some things that are definitely helping me and things that I think are helping!!
1. My Fitness Pal - It's an app on my phone. But I also use it on my laptop and tablet. You don't have to have a smart phone to use this!! It has lots and lots of food and drinks in its data base. Or you can add your own. In addition to calories it keeps track of sugar, sodium, and most importantly for us, protein!! You can also keep track of your exercise and how many calories you burn depending on what exercise you do and how long you exercise. I think this is helping me more than anything else.
2. Protein - I'm focusing on protein right now. I need to get more fruits and vegetables but that will come in time. I start off almost every day with a protein shake. I get mine from GNC. It's called GNC Pro Performance. It comes in bags. I get the unflavored kind. I mix one scoop of protein powder with 8 oz of milk, a heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder, a packet of Truvia, and a splash of sugar free Torani syrup. I got my Torani in the coffee aisle at Walmart. I only found 2 or 3 sugar free flavors at mine. I got the french vanilla. It's really good! I want to find the peppermint flavored one. The protein powder has 25 gms of protein and the milk adds 8 more grams. I get over half my minimum at one meal.
I'm also eating Oscar Mayer P3. It's a small package found near the Lunchables. It has 3 little compartments in a package - one for cubed meat, one for nuts, and one for cheese cubes. Each package has about 180 calories and 14 grams of protein! They are filling and delicious!
I've found that I can't really tolerate chicken. It is like lead sitting in my stomach! So, I saw Leah (Leah's VSG Journey on YouTube) talking about pork. She said it has more protein than chicken. She buys pork loins and fixes them in the crockpot. I bought a two-pack at Costco the other day and fixed one in the crockpot. Here's the recipe:
Crock Pot Pork Loin
I only eat an ounce or two at a meal. Two oz is really too much. I also have some edamame or 1/4 cup of some sort of quinoa.
As I'm going along this weigh loss journey, I'm finding more and more things all the time. I'll update from time to time!
The other thing that's helping is exercise. I'm trying to exercise no less than 45 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I'm doing Zumba at home with DVDs. The ones I'm doing right now last about 45 minutes each. I've also used my stationary bike! I enjoy that and can stay on for a long time. I usually knit and watch podcasts while I ride. Again, as I continue, I'll let you know what exercises I'm doing.
That's all for today!! Talk to y'all soon!!
Keep on losin'!!
Shama D
As the title suggests I certainly do NOT know much about this VSG weight loss thing!! I'm educating myself every day and learning more and more!! I have found some things that are definitely helping me and things that I think are helping!!
1. My Fitness Pal - It's an app on my phone. But I also use it on my laptop and tablet. You don't have to have a smart phone to use this!! It has lots and lots of food and drinks in its data base. Or you can add your own. In addition to calories it keeps track of sugar, sodium, and most importantly for us, protein!! You can also keep track of your exercise and how many calories you burn depending on what exercise you do and how long you exercise. I think this is helping me more than anything else.
2. Protein - I'm focusing on protein right now. I need to get more fruits and vegetables but that will come in time. I start off almost every day with a protein shake. I get mine from GNC. It's called GNC Pro Performance. It comes in bags. I get the unflavored kind. I mix one scoop of protein powder with 8 oz of milk, a heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder, a packet of Truvia, and a splash of sugar free Torani syrup. I got my Torani in the coffee aisle at Walmart. I only found 2 or 3 sugar free flavors at mine. I got the french vanilla. It's really good! I want to find the peppermint flavored one. The protein powder has 25 gms of protein and the milk adds 8 more grams. I get over half my minimum at one meal.
I'm also eating Oscar Mayer P3. It's a small package found near the Lunchables. It has 3 little compartments in a package - one for cubed meat, one for nuts, and one for cheese cubes. Each package has about 180 calories and 14 grams of protein! They are filling and delicious!
I've found that I can't really tolerate chicken. It is like lead sitting in my stomach! So, I saw Leah (Leah's VSG Journey on YouTube) talking about pork. She said it has more protein than chicken. She buys pork loins and fixes them in the crockpot. I bought a two-pack at Costco the other day and fixed one in the crockpot. Here's the recipe:
Crock Pot Pork Loin
I only eat an ounce or two at a meal. Two oz is really too much. I also have some edamame or 1/4 cup of some sort of quinoa.
As I'm going along this weigh loss journey, I'm finding more and more things all the time. I'll update from time to time!
The other thing that's helping is exercise. I'm trying to exercise no less than 45 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I'm doing Zumba at home with DVDs. The ones I'm doing right now last about 45 minutes each. I've also used my stationary bike! I enjoy that and can stay on for a long time. I usually knit and watch podcasts while I ride. Again, as I continue, I'll let you know what exercises I'm doing.
That's all for today!! Talk to y'all soon!!
Keep on losin'!!
Shama D
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Just the Facts, Ma'am!! (or Sir)
Yesterday, was 5 weeks since our surgery!! I've currently lost 31.2 pounds!!
OK, This is going to be a somewhat short post. It's going to be a bit TMI. So, unless you want to know certain details about me that I wouldn't normally talk about, or post about, turn away now!!
Leah, of Leah's VSG Journey on YouTube, is very open about the good, the bad, and the ugly. There won't be any pictures of me in anything but full clothing!! No one will ever see me in anything that shows skin. Or see how my skin looks as I continue to lose. That's not me! But some other things she talks about is what the change in lifestyle does to your body. So, here goes....
Three days before surgery we were required to take a laxative. I've never taken one before. That, along with 3 days of an all-liquid diet made my digestive system go a little nuts!! It wasn't pleasant!! Nothing but diarrhea until the morning of surgery. Then it started again two days after surgery it started again. It was so bad that I could barely leave my room one day. It actually continued for two or three weeks after surgery. However, the last week I've started having the opposite problem. I'm now constipated!! This is a first in my life! A friend of mine that's about to have the surgery said her surgeon told her this would happen because you're on the verge of dehydration all the time! And I know that if I could get in more water every day that would definitely help. But I'm lucky to get in 4 or 5 glasses a day!
To resolve the problem I've done a little research online. I want to do this as naturally as possible. However, the natural remedies call for adding extra calories into my day. So, I had some Milk of Magnesia last night and I took two, instead of one, magnesium this morning. It has helped today. I'm going to provide the link to the all-natural home remedies for y'all. But, if you have any non-calorie remedies, please let me know!!
All-natural home remedies for constipation
Keep on Losin'!
Shama D
Update: I spoke to a friend of mine last night after I posted this. She had VSG a few years ago. She said not going every day is the way it is after the surgery. And because we're not eating nearly as much, it's just the way it will be!
OK, This is going to be a somewhat short post. It's going to be a bit TMI. So, unless you want to know certain details about me that I wouldn't normally talk about, or post about, turn away now!!
Leah, of Leah's VSG Journey on YouTube, is very open about the good, the bad, and the ugly. There won't be any pictures of me in anything but full clothing!! No one will ever see me in anything that shows skin. Or see how my skin looks as I continue to lose. That's not me! But some other things she talks about is what the change in lifestyle does to your body. So, here goes....
Three days before surgery we were required to take a laxative. I've never taken one before. That, along with 3 days of an all-liquid diet made my digestive system go a little nuts!! It wasn't pleasant!! Nothing but diarrhea until the morning of surgery. Then it started again two days after surgery it started again. It was so bad that I could barely leave my room one day. It actually continued for two or three weeks after surgery. However, the last week I've started having the opposite problem. I'm now constipated!! This is a first in my life! A friend of mine that's about to have the surgery said her surgeon told her this would happen because you're on the verge of dehydration all the time! And I know that if I could get in more water every day that would definitely help. But I'm lucky to get in 4 or 5 glasses a day!
To resolve the problem I've done a little research online. I want to do this as naturally as possible. However, the natural remedies call for adding extra calories into my day. So, I had some Milk of Magnesia last night and I took two, instead of one, magnesium this morning. It has helped today. I'm going to provide the link to the all-natural home remedies for y'all. But, if you have any non-calorie remedies, please let me know!!
All-natural home remedies for constipation
Keep on Losin'!
Shama D
Update: I spoke to a friend of mine last night after I posted this. She had VSG a few years ago. She said not going every day is the way it is after the surgery. And because we're not eating nearly as much, it's just the way it will be!
Monday, March 17, 2014
My Surgery Experience
Several years ago I decided I wanted to have gastric bypass surgery. I made an appointment with a doctor. At that time my insurance rejected my request. I believe it was a blessing in disguise because I don't believe that gastric bypass would have been the best option for me. I just let it drop and went about my life. I enjoyed the time with my boys. I was homeschooling both boys at the time. I can't remember what year that was but I know that my older son was high school age. I went on HCG (as I mentioned in my first post) in August of 2009 and stayed on in until about April 2010. Then in the spring on 2012 I went on Weight Watchers. It took me three weeks to lose my first pound. And I was doing Zumba 4 or 5 days a week!! Losing weight was getting harder and harder for me!! I was beginning to give up on being able to ever lose. Several months ago my parents told me they wanted to pay for me to have the surgery. I found out that having it done in Houston would be about $25,000. My brother told me about a doctor in Tyler that was really good who would be less than half the price. I made an appointment with them and went for a group consultation. I even had my surgery date set. My brother was also planning to have the surgery. He had heard about someone who had had it done in Mexico. He got in touch with one woman and she gave him great recommendations! This was on Saturday, January 11 by late in the day Monday, January 13, we had spoken with someone with Mexico Bariatric Center. She got all the paperwork to us, we got it filled out and were approved with the date set by Monday or Tuesday. We decided to go to Puerto Vallarta for ours. The cost for both of us to have surgery plus 2 round-trip tickets was about the same as one of us to have surgery in Tyler!!
We flew out on Friday, February 14. We were met at the airport by a doctor who took us to our hotel (at the resort on the beach) for the night. We were picked up Saturday morning by another doctor and taken to a great hospital nearby!! We were treated very very well!! We were put in private rooms. They were large rooms with a couch and a TV. Everything was neat and clean. We were able to put our things away in our rooms before we were taken to surgery! They did an EKG and some blood work and we were good to go. I told Joel that he could go first. I was as calm as I've ever been in my life!! I couldn't believe that I wasn't feeling any nervousness!! I sat in my room knitting and watching podcasts until they took me back! My biggest fear was nausea. Nausea is a very common problem after this surgery. When they took us back to our rooms they told us we needed to walk around for 10-15 minutes every hour. This was to keep from getting blood clots in our legs and because your abdominal cavity is filled with gas for the surgery and you have to start getting it out. I didn't want to get in the bed because my nausea gets worse when I lie down. So I sat on the couch and dozed off a lot. However, I only felt nausea a couple of times and for just a couple of minutes (or less) each time! Finally, about 12 hours after surgery I felt like I could get in the bed and rest! And I did!! On Sunday they checked (with x-ray) ours stomachs to make sure there were no leaks. That was really cool to see!! Then we were taken back to the hotel to stay until we were picked back up on Wednesday to be taken back to the airport and fly back home! One of the doctors even came and took out our drains on Monday!! So we were able to walk around, go to the beach, and rest and relax for a few days!! It was truly a wonderful experience!!
I'm so very very happy that I had the surgery and I'm also very very happy that I had it in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!! I would recommend it to anyone!!
Shama D
We flew out on Friday, February 14. We were met at the airport by a doctor who took us to our hotel (at the resort on the beach) for the night. We were picked up Saturday morning by another doctor and taken to a great hospital nearby!! We were treated very very well!! We were put in private rooms. They were large rooms with a couch and a TV. Everything was neat and clean. We were able to put our things away in our rooms before we were taken to surgery! They did an EKG and some blood work and we were good to go. I told Joel that he could go first. I was as calm as I've ever been in my life!! I couldn't believe that I wasn't feeling any nervousness!! I sat in my room knitting and watching podcasts until they took me back! My biggest fear was nausea. Nausea is a very common problem after this surgery. When they took us back to our rooms they told us we needed to walk around for 10-15 minutes every hour. This was to keep from getting blood clots in our legs and because your abdominal cavity is filled with gas for the surgery and you have to start getting it out. I didn't want to get in the bed because my nausea gets worse when I lie down. So I sat on the couch and dozed off a lot. However, I only felt nausea a couple of times and for just a couple of minutes (or less) each time! Finally, about 12 hours after surgery I felt like I could get in the bed and rest! And I did!! On Sunday they checked (with x-ray) ours stomachs to make sure there were no leaks. That was really cool to see!! Then we were taken back to the hotel to stay until we were picked back up on Wednesday to be taken back to the airport and fly back home! One of the doctors even came and took out our drains on Monday!! So we were able to walk around, go to the beach, and rest and relax for a few days!! It was truly a wonderful experience!!
I'm so very very happy that I had the surgery and I'm also very very happy that I had it in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!! I would recommend it to anyone!!
Shama D
Friday, March 14, 2014
Weight Loss Fears
Don't get me wrong...This surgery is one of the greatest things I've ever done for myself!!! I feel so exhilarated and excited about so much every day!! I KNOW I can do this!! I don't feel deprived. I can't eat much and I'm really not craving anything!! I am in the process of trying to figure out how/what to eat to try to get in all my protein everyday. As of today I've signed up for MyFitnessPal.com. I'm going to keep track of my food/calories/protein and water consumption as well as my exercise. This is going to be quite a journey and I hope to help anyone I can as I feel my way along. Another tool is YouTube. There are lots of people on there that are sharing their journey with others. Right now I'm in the process of watching Leah's VSG Journey's videos!! She's got me so excited and motivated!! She smiles and she's upbeat but she definitely shares her negatives!! They're things everyone goes through and the things she's brought up so far have been concerns of mine. I want to share a few of them with you right now.
1. My hair. In 2004 I found out I had a growth on my thyroid and after a summer of testing they removed half of it. I knew I had thyroid problems for a few years before but no one would listen to me. One of the things that indicated a problem was thinning hair. My hair is still thin and fragile. I use henna to color it. I treat it with coconut oil. (I need to do that more often) and I rarely blow dry it. If I'm not going out that day, I don't even use the curling iron on it. Well, with this surgery hair loss is a common problem. I'm scared to death to lose even more of my thin hair!! I'm going to up my dose of Biotin and add an Essential fatty acids in as well.
2. Relationships. More than once in my life I've heard of people losing a lot of weight and their personal relationships being affected negatively. I saw a girl on a talk show a few years ago who was losing a LOT of weight. She had given her Mom some clothes and he family and friends accused her of thinking she was better than them!! She was really hurt!!
Then Leah (from above) is talking about her relationship with her boyfriend coming to an end. He expected her to do what he wanted to do instead of working out! When we have this surgery it's a commitment that we need to keep!! We have a responsibility to do the best we can with it!! My family will always be my priority! But now I have to exercise most days and eat a certain way!!
I would not be at all OK if the people closest to me decided that our relationship was over or that I thought I was better than them! I'm always going to be me and my family and friends will always mean as much to me!! None of that will ever change!! I will be devastated if that happens!
And there's the flip side...People who have never had anything to do with me before or have even been hateful or mean. I could never be friends with them!! I could never trust them!!
I just wanted to share with y'all! What do you think? Am I nuts or is this as common as it seems?
Shama D
1. My hair. In 2004 I found out I had a growth on my thyroid and after a summer of testing they removed half of it. I knew I had thyroid problems for a few years before but no one would listen to me. One of the things that indicated a problem was thinning hair. My hair is still thin and fragile. I use henna to color it. I treat it with coconut oil. (I need to do that more often) and I rarely blow dry it. If I'm not going out that day, I don't even use the curling iron on it. Well, with this surgery hair loss is a common problem. I'm scared to death to lose even more of my thin hair!! I'm going to up my dose of Biotin and add an Essential fatty acids in as well.
2. Relationships. More than once in my life I've heard of people losing a lot of weight and their personal relationships being affected negatively. I saw a girl on a talk show a few years ago who was losing a LOT of weight. She had given her Mom some clothes and he family and friends accused her of thinking she was better than them!! She was really hurt!!
Then Leah (from above) is talking about her relationship with her boyfriend coming to an end. He expected her to do what he wanted to do instead of working out! When we have this surgery it's a commitment that we need to keep!! We have a responsibility to do the best we can with it!! My family will always be my priority! But now I have to exercise most days and eat a certain way!!
I would not be at all OK if the people closest to me decided that our relationship was over or that I thought I was better than them! I'm always going to be me and my family and friends will always mean as much to me!! None of that will ever change!! I will be devastated if that happens!
And there's the flip side...People who have never had anything to do with me before or have even been hateful or mean. I could never be friends with them!! I could never trust them!!
I just wanted to share with y'all! What do you think? Am I nuts or is this as common as it seems?
Shama D
My New Life
Tomorrow will be the one month anniversary of my VSG (vertical gastric gastrectomy). I'm out of town so I won't weigh again until I get back home. I did weigh earlier this week and I was down 26 pounds!! My goal is to lose between 153 and 163 pounds. I'll see how I look and feel as the pounds drop.
Here's my story. I've struggled with my weight since high school. I gained 60-something pounds with my first son. I lost some of that but gained even more with my second son. I've gained and lost so much weight over the years. When the boys were little I made a serious effort to lose. I can't remember how much I lost but it was over 50 pounds. However, my husband broke his wrist between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am an emotional eater, plus it was the holidays so I started eating again. The week that my husband finally was able to work again my older son got sick and for the next 6 weeks one or both of my boys was sick!! There was no break in it. That pretty much sealed the deal.
Then, in 2001 my brother got married and I was in the wedding. I went on Weight Watchers and started exercising. I lost 50 pounds for the wedding. But I started a part time job a month later (in addition to homeschooling) and I let my eating slip and I gained it all back. Then again in 2009 I tried HCG drops. I lost about 70 pounds during that time. However, I was constantly hungry, weak and exhausted!! I slept so much. As soon I gave it up, the weight started coming back on.
The last time I tried to lose weight was about 2 years ago. I went back on Weight Watchers and I was working hard and it was a few weeks before I lost a pound!
I had given up hope of ever losing.
I used to be outgoing and a social butterfly but as the pounds piled on I began to retreat. I sit in the back and stay on the sides. I want to feel better about myself and I want to be healthy and I want to make my family proud!!
And, honestly, I want to be able to shop and buy cute clothes and shoes!!! :D Here we go!!!
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