5 Months Post-Op

I'm five months post-op and I thought I'd share what eating and health look for me at this time.

I feel pretty damn good to be honest.  I've lost a total of about 73 lbs so far.  I eat about 800-900 calories per day--a lot of protein and veggies with some fruit too.  I do have a little bit of healthy carbs thrown in the mix now, like I had a little tiny bit of cornbread crumbled over my chili tonight.  Sometimes I will have a cracker or two with something like a stew.  I usually eat 4 small meals per day--probably about 3/4 cup of food in a sitting.

I really enjoy eating healthy at this point.  That's not to say that I never make choices that are on the less healthy side--my son wanted Five Guys last weekend and it was my first burger in over five months.  I had about half of a little bacon cheeseburger with veggies and I took off the bun.  It was pretty yummy but I don't feel tempted to run out and eat all the burgers.  I also had some ice cream this week for the first time and I felt horribly ill afterwards.  I won't be eating ice cream again for a long time.

I drink a lot of water.  I have to really focus on my water goals because it's hard to fit in all the water when I'm busy and can only drink a little at a time.  I can't down a whole water bottle at one time.  I have to take a few swallows and then wait a few minutes.  So I definitely have to watch the time and be aware of how much water I'm taking in.

I didn't really begin my exercise routine until the New Year.  I was recovering from my complications and then I started work again right after Thanksgiving.  I was pretty exhausted and my surgeon told me to wait until after the holidays.  So I began on Monday, January 4.  I walk every morning before work and I take the weekends off.  I started with 30 minutes per day and bumped that up to 45 minutes on Fridays.  This week I am walking 45 minutes per day with the intention of walking an hour on Friday.

I also started physical therapy for my knees.  I had knee realignment surgery on each knee several years ago and I never built my strength back up.  I wanted to make sure that I take good care of my knees because I never want to have surgery again.  So I need to take good care of my body.  I do about 15 minutes of therapy at home every day and then go in for an hour of PT one or two times per week.  I'm hoping to build up to 30 minutes at home every day, but at the moment I'm happy to get in my 15 minutes.

On top of my physical health, I've been working on self-exploration and affirmation.  I have blogged about it in the past, but I have found journaling to be very helpful.  I start with an affirmation and then list five things I'm thankful for.  I draw an oracle card to meditate or journal on and then I just jot down my random thoughts.  Gratitude is my word for 2016 and I will be reaching out and thanking people around me.  I will be more aware of all the wonderful people and experiences in my life.

One thing that could be better in my life is that my weight loss has totally stalled.  I haven't lost any weight (or gained any weight) since the beginning of December.  It kind of sucks, but I've been pretty patient with it.  I know people stall at different points after bariatric surgery.  Plus, I know I must have lost some muscle mass with all my complications.  I am most likely losing fat but also gaining muscle.  But it's still pretty frustrating.  For now, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and see what happens over the next couple of weeks.

So that's a pretty good summary of myself at five months post-op.  I have my six month post-op appointment coming up in the middle of February (even though I'll only be about 5 1/2 months post-op).  I will try to post some before and after pics soon.