I really think I overdid it today. I've made it a point to get up with Sandra and the kids even though I don't necessarily have to, because I can take the kids to school with her and make sure I get some walking in. We've also needed to make runs to the grocery store too, and today's trip in took a lot longer than expected. I think being on my feet and walking so much was pretty tough and I felt a little more tired today than I have so far.

I pretty much ate nothing but Jello today. Realizing it has only been four days on the first phase of the liquid diet, I am really looking forward to Sunday so I get more food choices. In the second part of the liquid phase, i can add skim milk, certain types of yogurt as long as they don't contain little bits of fruit or anything and I can have pudding! I'm really looking forward to the pudding. I also read somewhere that I can have runny mashed potatoes. The best part will be just getting more flavor options. I found a recipe sift for banded people at www.bandfriendlyrecipes.com and they suggests mixing up orange jello and then before putting it in the fridge you mix in vanilla pudding mix and whip cream. Of course it is all sugar free, but it will taste awesome!

I am actually losing weight pretty quickly, and I've been a little worried about the protein issues. This afternoon I noticed I'm getting a little light headed and I don't know if that's from lack of calories, lack of protein or that my blood pressure medicine needs adjustment. Just in case, I drank some protein with my jello at dinner. Even though it's allowed, I don't think I'm ready for it. My stomach felt like a rock for a couple hours afterwards. We'll see how tomorrow goes and I think I'll start posting my weight loss on Fridays. Thanks for listening to my journey! Talk to you soon.

Protein & Paperwork

I find it pretty interesting the paperwork you have to sign before you can have surgery. I'm fully aware that there are plenty of possible complications and that I might die as a result of the procedure. There's just something different about signing your name to a piece of paper that spells that out. Of course I signed though because I don't get to have surgery unless I sign. We did a little talking about what to expect at the hospital and it turns out I'm the only one having bariatric surgery Monday. I'm ok with being the focus though.

The biggest focus of today was protein. Protein is super important after a weight loss procedure because if you don't get adequate protein, you will lose muscle mass and sometimes your hair falls out. There are other issues, but those are the only ones I'm concerned with . To prevent this, I now have to start investing in protein drinks. In theory, once I'm able to start eating regular food, I don't need the supplements, but for people I've talked to who had the Lap Band or the Bypass, they all still use them. Just another small thing I have to learn to focus on. Today I bought two different kinds. The first is called Any Whey and it is supposed to be a tasteless protein so I can add it to hot or cold drinks, and it can even be baked into food. I'm thinking that in a couple months, I might really want so

me pancakes or something with the kids. Pop a little of this powder into it and use sugar free syrup and I'm rolling!

The other one I bought was called Nectar and the flavor is Fuzzy Navel.

I bought this for the obvious reasons...I like fuzzy navels. They told me that it actually tastes like Tang which is totally cool in my book. I loved to drink Tang when I was a kid and if it's good enough for an astronaut, it's good enough for me.

I plan to post a couple profile pictures of myself on the blog...probably this weekend so you can see the starting point. My plan is to take a daily picture of myself after surgery but I doubt I'll post them every single day. I might make them available if someone wants to see them at some point. For now, the daily stuff is going to be mine alone.