One week away!

At this time next week I will be sleeved.  One week!  I have been so waiting for this day to come ever since my band was removed.  I have prepared myself beyond prepared!  This time, I understand some things more clearly.  Not that I wasn't properly educated before with the band, just probably was lucky that the weight came off quickly, I didn't need a lot of adjustments, I loved to exercise and was basically successful.   So the sad truth was that in hindsight, I probably was not careful about some things that could set me up for trouble in the long run with the sleeve.

I did not pay special attention to nutrition.  That doesn't mean I ate too much, the band made sure that I knew when to stop.  I mean I didn't eat balanced.  I wasn't mindful of Carbs/Sugar/Protein/Fat at all.  I didn't know that dense protein was the keystone of every meal. I ate carbs that were not nourishing my body (processed grains etc. vs. carbs in veggies and fruit).  I also didn't understand that Carbs and Sugar were not mutually exclusive.  I think that some of the problems with hunger that I had with the band, were due to a diet filled with non-satiating foods.  I also never associated "over-loading" my pouch and potentially doing damage to my banded belly.  The PB's and "stuck food" and subsequent vomiting probably didn't have to occur.  It was seldom, but probably avoidable if I had steared clear of certain foods or amounts of food....  Makes me wonder.

This time, with the sleeve, I feel confident that I know now the importance of selection and quantities of food.  I set off the year with eating like a post-op sleever in the losing phase.  Low calorie, high protein, low carb/sugar and lots of water.  Seriously, when I think about it, I don't remember drinking more than a couple cups of water a day in the past year....  I have had more water this past week than I did in all of 2013!  I also NEVER adhered to the rule of no drinking 30 min before or after a meal.  I never actually knew why that was what you were supposed to do.  It makes total sense that if you drink with your meal that you will push it out of your stomach and into your intestine and then you don't know if you are full.  I remember my grandfather used to not let us drink with our meals at his house.  Poppi knew that secret! He was also the one who fed me saltine cracker and butter snacks after school and buckets full of buttered popcorn.  Thanks Poppi...

I have a new appreciation for this "second chance".  I want to be more involved with others like myself who need a little help.  I want to be part of a support group. I want to help others enjoy getting past the weight and enjoy life, be good to themselves, live a joyful life.

I met two wonderful women in my pre-op class with the Nurse Clinician.  I am grateful that they reached out to me, maybe for support, but they may not know that they are helping me as much in return.  We all have issues, whether they are physically because of the weight or mentally because of the way we have grown to feel about ourselves.  Crazy that good people, grow to feel so unconfident, sad and poorly about themselves because of weight.  The truth is that those people that truly love us, love us unconditionally at any weight.  I am just creating a better, happier me for no one else, cuz they love me already.  We are all getting surgery next week.  Can't wait to see them, who knows maybe we will be room-mates at the hospital.