Slow Progress is Still Progress

For this last week I have really tried to meet the protein quota, 60-70g of protein a day. It has not been easy. Every morning has been egg beaters with a quarter cup of cheese. I never thought I could tire of eating eggs, but it has definitely happened. When I figured how much protein I was getting from 3 meals, I am still shy of hitting 60g so I thought it would be a good idea to have add a protein bar to my meals, one a day, half in the morning the other half in the evening. I have been eating the Quest Coconut Cashew bars. It has 20 grams of protein which really boost my protein into that 60-70g range per day. Not to mention the protein bar tastes amazing, I really enjoy eating it. So my goal this next week is to find some high protein breakfast options so I am not stuck eating egg beaters everyday.

My week has been uneventful but extremely busy. I spent 2 days sanding and refinishing a used patio set I purchased. The backs of my legs hurt from all the standing and bending over to sand and paint and my right arm hurts from using the spray paint cans. My husband did not have a lot of faith in me to transform what looked like trash into a treasure we could use. I did it, and he was impressed with how well it turned out. I decided after doing that that I would refinish two old patio chairs that we have had a long time. Those chairs turned out equally as well and I am super happy with the results.

It's finally warm enough that we have been able to swim nearly everyday this week, I got to work on my tan while my kids wore themselves out in the pool. My family has been continuing our fitness challenge that I mentioned this week. I am amazed by both my husband and my son, both have set personal records in their one mile runs. My son is running a 7 minute mile, and my husband ran an 8:19 minute mile. My best time is 10:47, and it likened to kill me. My end goal is to run that mile in less than 10 minutes. I am still struggling with sit-ups, but I do what I can in hopes that the next day I can do more. I have been able to do 25 push ups and can hold a plank for 1 minute 30 seconds. I have found that music is really important when I run, I tend to keep pace with whatever I listen to. If you have suggestions for great running or workout songs I would love to hear them.

Doing Everything Right, WRONG.

This week is a mixed bag of emotions for me. I am so happy to have lost the weight I have up to this point, but in the last couple weeks my weightloss can be measured in ounces and not pounds, for that I am frustrated. I feel like I am doing everything right, but something must be off. I went in for my 3 month post-op check up and the Dr. said the calorie intake sweet spot for weightloss is 800-1200 calories. He also said I should not be concerning myself with calories only meeting my protein goals, if I meet the protein goals I should be in the sweet spot calorie range. To refresh my memory about what my diet should be I looked back through my WLS nutritional guideline book. I should be getting about 60-70 grams of protein a day. I have been getting 40-50 grams, so this could be part of my problem. I also have been recording my calorie intake and most days I barely meet the calorie sweet spot. So this next week, I will be taking great effort to increase both my protein and calories to see if that will add some fuel to my metabolism.

This week I found a couple of new super tasty things to add to my menu. Both can be found at Costco and my entire family loves them both. This really says a lot when my red meat and potato lovin' husband says my gluten free healthy food choices are really good. So the first is Andouille Chicken Sausage. Each link contains 5g of fat, 15g of protein, and has 120 calories. One link and I am FULL. What is strange about this for me is that prior to WLS surgery I did not enjoy spicy foods, but these sausages have a little kick and I really like them.

The second item is more of a snack food item, I don't do a lot of snacking but when I do I want it to be good for me. This is a dip. Remember those gluten free Chipins Chips I told you about a couple of weeks ago...this dip is really good with those (both the cheddar and cinnamon flavors). Two tablespoons of this dip contains 3.5 grams of fat, 2g of protein, and has 50 calories. This is a gluten free product that is made with probiotic yogurt, so it promotes healthy digestion (something I need).

So this last week I have cleaned out my closet and only about 1/3 of my clothes still fit, that's great right! Most women have an outfit that they can put on and feel pretty in. Mine was this adorable curve hugging, cleavage revealing, short black dress. I loved the way I looked and felt in it. I was a little saddened when I tried in on during my closet cleaning and it hung on me like a sack. I loved that dress, but now it doesn't fit my new body. At this point I don't have a LBD (little black dress) that gives me that same feeling. In fact when I try on new clothes I am struggling to find things that I think flatter this new body. Enough whining. I am just trying to adjust to the changes and I know I will, it will happen in time. For now I am not looking for a replacement LBD because I know my weight will still do a lot of changing and I want to wait until I stabilize to look.

Also this week my family decided to do a one month fitness challenge. In one month we want to see how we can improve in 4 fitness areas: 1 mile run, 1 minute sit-ups, push ups, and planks. Believe it or not I ran the mile, I am slower that molasses, but I ran it which is a pretty big deal for me. Last night was our third night of the challenge, I opted out of running because my thighs hurt, but I did the other activities. Both my husband and myself are feeling the pain from the push ups and planks, but we don't really notice the pain until we have to use our upper body muscles. The area I am probably the most sore today is my abs. Folks I can barely do a sit-up, I really try hard but it is a struggle. My stomach muscles are so sore it hurts to pee. I am looking for alternative core exercises to avoid the strain sit-ups cause, if you have suggestions please send them to me. Once I build some core strength I hope to do sit-ups with ease.

Florida Vacation

We just got home from a week long vacation in Fort Myers, Florida. It was a great vacation and I am happy to say I did make my first goal of being in "one"derland before we left. I did make a second goal of 190, which I was a couple pounds shy of making. I am okay, because I know if I continue my new lifestyle those pounds will come off. When I sat in my seat on the plane, I noticed right away that I didn't feel squished in my seat as I have in the past. My hips did not touch the arm rests and I could comfortably cross my legs. It was hard to be away from a scale that long, I like to weigh a couple times a week just to check in on my progress. Our hotel, like most, did not have a scale in the room. So you can imagine the first thing I did when I got home was weigh. For several reasons I was not surprised that the scale hadn't moved much for a week. Like many people when I go on vacation my bowels also go on vacation, so I was plagued with constipation. This was exacerbated by Aunt Flo's visit for the month.

I have to say since weight loss surgery Aunt Flo's visits have been very different. Several years ago I had the endometrial ablation procedure. This procedure had been successful, I had not had a period since...until my weight loss surgery. Now I get visited once a month, it comes with all the symptoms of a regular cycle. I am not thrilled about this. I go for my three month post op follow up next week and I will be asking if this is normal.

While on vacation my eating was pretty much as it would be at home with a few exceptions. Splurges I indulged in: Dairy Queen strawberry shortcake blizzard, I had only a few bites, but it was goooood; A chocolate covered strawberry, yum; a desert sampling tray, again only a few bites; and a quarter of a bagel. During the week I thought I was keeping my indulgences in check, but now as I type them for my blog that seems like a lot of indulging and I will be working really hard this next week to make up for it.

I was pretty active on vacation. My husband and I walked 4 miles one morning. I also went paddle boarding with my son. That was a first for me, it was a lot of fun and as difficult as I thought it would be. Paddle boarding is a serious leg workout, my thighs hurt for several days after. I can't wait to go on vacation and try it again. I kicked the soccer ball around with my son and we played paddle ball on the beach. All sports are better and more fun when they are played on the beach.

The last time we had family pictures was about 10 years ago, I was close to the weight back then that I am now. My family was overdue for family pictures so even though I am not the weight I want to be I went ahead and scheduled family pictures on the beach. I haven't got to see them yet, but I think (hope) they will turn out great. I will let you know.