Feeling Fat Again

I'm almost two months out now.  As I mentioned before, my stall has broken, but now the scale is moving at a snail's pace.  I guess I need to stop weighing every day, but I can't help it!  I don't think the hydration sensor on my new scale is very accurate.  I went several days getting adequate fluids, and it still reads between 33-35%.  

I have lost a total of 56 pounds now.  That's 28 pre-op and 28 post-op.  The other day, something happened that made me feel like I never lost those 56 pounds, but in fact gained 56 pounds.  My husband and I took our kids out to dinner.  When we were done eating, went out to get in the van.  Although we looked before crossing the parking lot, out of nowhere a Ford Explorer sped through the parking lot and almost hit two of our three children.  I got the kids safely in the car and my husband confronted the driver, an early twenty something woman.  She got very hateful with him and said loud enough for our children to hear, "If I had seen them, I would have run them the f___ over."  I was just shocked that somebody could say that!  It really scared my kids (not to mention us!)  We ended up getting the police involved and she has been in trouble for quite a bit before.  Anyway, when she made the comment about running them over, my jaw hit the floor and I commented on how that was uncalled for.  She told me, "Shut up, you fat b***h!"  I was already incredibly upset that our children were almost hit, so that hit me like a ton of bricks.  We were shaken up for the rest of the night, we'd had plans to go shopping but decided to go home.  I don't want it to seem like I wasn't concerned for the kids, or that what follows is more important, but this blog is about weight loss, not my children, so I'm blogging about how her comment made me feel.  For the last few days, I've stewed over that.  All this work that I've put into losing weight and she took all of my success away in those five little words.  I feel horrible, sad, defeated.  I know that I shouldn't let her have that power over me, but I can't help it.  It gets to me. 

So, anyway... I haven't lost much in the past month.  I'm worried that when I go back to see my surgeon next month that he won't be happy with my progress.  I've been working out a lot, getting my protein and fluids in and my calories range from 600-800 a day.  I really limit my carbs and rarely have anything with sugar.  I bought these little Mio bottles.  They are amazing, they taste great!  I just add a couple squirts to a bottle of water.  It's great flavor, no calories, no sugar, no carbs.  Just flavor, plain and simple.  They have fruit punch, strawberry watermelon, sweet tea, peach tea, berry pomegranate and mango peach.  This is my order of preference.  My kids love it, too.  So much, in fact, that I'm already going to have to buy some more of the Fruit Punch and I've had it less than a week.  But, I'd rather they drink this than a sugary drink.

Shirataki and New Scale

I saw Shirataki noodles on Dr. Oz a few months ago and have read posts about them on weight loss surgery forums, but had never been able to find them until recently.  I picked them up from the Neighborhood Co-op at less than $2/package.  I bought one package of spaghetti and one package of fettuccine.  A lot of people have complained about them having a fishy smell and a weird texture.  I read up on them before I prepared them.  First, I cut the package open (found in refrigerated section with tofu) and drained it into a colander.  Next, I rinsed the heck out of them with cold water. 

When I thought it was probably enough rinsing, I rinsed twice as long.  Then, I put them into a small sauce pan, covered with water and boiled them for about 5 minutes.  There was absolutely no fishy taste.  They were a little rubbery, but it was fine.  I topped them with some ground beef and Ragu Roasted Red Pepper & Onion spaghetti sauce.  Oh, don't forget the parmesan!  It was absolutely delicious.  I ate maybe 1/4 cup all together.  The shirataki noodles are made of tofu and yam flour.  They have a whopping 20 calories, 3g carbs, 2g fiber and 1g protein for a 4oz serving (which most weight loss surgery patients wouldn't come close to eating.) 

I liked them so much, and there were so many leftovers, that I but them in small containers and refrigerated them overnight.  I ate another serving for lunch today, and they were still fabulous.  In fact, they may have been better because they had all night to soak up the delicious flavor of the spaghetti sauce.  Will I use shirataki again?  Most definitely!  In fact, I already have plans for the fettuccine one, some grilled chicken and alfredo sauce.  I might throw some peas, carrots and mushrooms in for good measure.  I'd also like to try Dreamfields pasta.  They have an elbow macaroni that I know I could do wonders with! 

Today, I bought a brand new scale.  I had been wanting a new one, so when I saw this at Walmart, I had to have it.  Not only does it measure your weight and body fat, it measure hydration - a must for any weight loss surgery patient!  It's by Health o Meter and it cost about $30.  Maybe a little pricey for a scale, but I think the hydration reading will pay off.  I already saw that I wasn't as hydrated as I should be.  It read 35%, when I should be 50%.  Looks like it's time to drink some more water! 

If you're looking for a scale, definitely check this one out, especially if you're having issues staying hydrated.  It will store information for two users.  You can use the scale without the body fat and hydration reading as well.  This scale is not for people who have pacemakers, as it uses an electrical signal through the body to give the readings.  Happy Weighing!

Great Week

I have had a great week!  I finished one full week (3 workouts) at Curves.  By my third workout, I felt so energized.  It gave me the push to do other things, so I even went walking later that day!  I love being more active, I certainly couldn't have done this 50 lbs ago, at least not in the shape I was in. 

I ordered a Fitbit earlier this week and it came in today.  So far, I love it.  I can put it in my pocket and it tracks my movements.  It has the same sort of technology as a Wii.  It will track steps, distance, exercise intensity and even sleep.  Out of the box, it took about 15 minutes to get a full charge and it says that it can go 3-5 days before it needs another charge.  So far it seems to be pretty accurate and I love that it can not only track my steps, but also distance and most of all intensity!  I'm going to wear it to bed tonight (it comes with a wristband) to see how well I sleep.  If you look on the right column of this blog, you'll find a link to my Fitbit profile.  You can see my activity level for the day and even what food I am eating.  I have to manually list the food, but it even tells me how many calories I've burned.  Very nice! 

I have no real update weight wise.  I've lost a little bit, but I'm waiting until Monday to get an official unofficial weight check.  I'll also do measurements at that time as well.  Oh, one thing I have noticed, it seems like the swelling is going down in my stomach because I've been able to eat a bit more.  Not a lot, just a couple more bites.  Protein shakes are also going down much easier now.  I've also been adding some lemon to my water and it's a great change.  I've found that I don't want a lot of sweet stuff now, so I don't even add sugar to it... it's like lemonade without the sweet.