My name is Jenn, and I'm a 27 year old married and babied chick. In addition to a husband, a seven year old daughter, and a five year old autistic son, I also have four cats, three hermit crabs, two frogs, a few fish, and one snorty little Pug. I work from home doing a variety of writing and even some web design. I love blogging, digital photography and web design.
Date: April 28, 2010 at 11:33am
Category:
I can’t believe that I’m almost six months post-op. I have definitely learned a lot since having my surgery. I have also come a very long way from the first few weeks after surgery, when I was terrified of eating anything. I still remember being so excited about being able to eat cream of wheat (made with skim milk, of course)! Haha. Good times, good times.
So, some things I have learned about life after gastric bypass:
- Your eyes really can be bigger than your stomach. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve gotten really good at not putting too large of a portion on my plate. For me, a portion is literally 1-3 tablespoons. If it’s something bigger, I just kind of pick and maul at it, and when I’m done it looks like barely anything was touched. Plus it’s wasteful — so I try very hard not to do that!
- Know thy enemies: bread & pasta. Another sneaky enemy: pretzel bread. (Worth noting: I can tolerate very small tidbits of regular bread, and I can eat soft pretzels just fine. But pretzels + bread = DISASTER. We’re talking serious foaming, stomach pouch wrenching, and eventualy vomiting.
- WATCH THE SUGAR, DUMB ASS. 20g in a single sitting is my limit. Any more than that and I will dump. Dumping for me includes: nausea, dizziness, headache, extreme drowsiness, low blood pressure and heart palpitations. Not fun.
- WATCH THE ALCOHOL, DUMB ASS. It takes a half-shot worth of alcohol to get me tipsy. A full shot and I’m drunk. Three shots and I’m definitelyyyyyyyyyyyyyy drunk and looking to pass out haha.
- Meat sucks. I’ve become a sorta-kinda vegetarian because 1) meat is a real bitch to chew up and 2) half the time it doesn’t stay down, anyway.
- Buffets rock. It’s insulting to pay $10 to eat less than a one year old can, but on the plus side it’s nice to grab teaspoons of six or eight different things. Bring on the flavors!
- Don’t bother ordering entrees at restaurants. Simply pick off your husband’s plate or your kids’ plates.
- Instead of explaining to servers why you can’t order a drink with your meal, just order a glass of water. It’s easier, trust me.
- Protein is your friend. I need to work harder at getting enough of it in.
- Vitamins are your friend. Gummy vitamins are the way to go.
Congrats on being 6 months out!! Sounds like you’ve got it down to a science now huh?
How much weight have you lost? What has been the hardest part about having the surgery?
It may have taken gastric bypass for you to get there, but I gotta tell you, I have a lot of respect for you! You’ve learned to have tons of self control over what you eat, and I know that is not easy! Personally, I’ve done really well at exercising regularly lately, but it is just REALLY HARD to modify eating habits. So I am very impressed by your accomplishments!!!
.-= Melinda´s last blog ..playing with the theme =-.