Trying not to get discouraged

Ok, so I knew I would stall. Anyone who posts on the Obesity Help VSG forum talks about these stalls. Most likely, it has to do with our limited intake periodically putting our body into starvation mode which makes us plateau for awhile.

When I last went into the hospital, you might remember I was at 396. I bid adieu to the 400's forever and then promptly landed myself in the hospital with severe dehydration. After two days in the hospital and really nothing by mouth (a few sips of broth at each "meal," maybe a few bites of jello) I came home hydrated and weighing 402 lbs. I really didn't care about the "gain" because I was feeling much better and figured I'd rather be 402 lbs and able to walk and talk normally than 396 and near death. Since I came home from the hospital, I have bounced around between 400 and 404 and today I jumped on the scale (it being a full month since my surgery, I felt it was necessary) and I was at 405!!! I definitely don't like seeing the scale KEEP going up when I haven't broken 1000 calories since the surgery. If you are curious to see what I've been eating, you can do so here.

I know I can't REALLY be gaining fat, but I haven't been working out (that starts up this week) so I know it isn't muscle. As a matter of fact, I've been sleeping a bunch. People tend to go into hibernation phase after the surgery as your body tries to adjust to the limited intake and I think that is it partially. Often, I'm just so darn BORED, I lay down to read a bit and end up falling asleep.

So, I go to see my surgeon tomorrow (well really his physician assistant) and I made an appointment with my nut (nutritionist) as well. I've printed off a few weeks of my meal plans from sparkpeople and hope she can help me sort it out. THEY really want me to be doing two shakes a day and a small meal, NO snacks so I'm anticipating that she will talk about the fact that I've basically been eating small meals and occasionally snacks. I only started doing that because I thought I needed to try to get in more protein and up my calories a bit to break the plateau...that obviously isn't working though. I have a hard time getting the shakes down, but have ordered another kind and hope they will make it easier (they only require 4-6 oz of fluid so the volume is less). Maybe my carbs are too high? I'm basically trying to eat low carb, but I have been eating things (tomato based products like chili and spaghetti sauce) that I normally wouldn't be eating on my typical low carb diet.

Anyway, this past week I've also been on my period (the first in MONTHS!). I'm attributing this to the weight I have lost. With my PCOS, my periods get very unpredictable, especially when I'm gaining or maintaining a high weight. As my weight goes down, they start to become more regular. This is probably the most normal period I've had in at least a year, so that is good. My period may also be contributing to some of the gain I'm seeing, but I'm almost done now so stepping on the scale and seeing it go up another pound is alarming.

So, to sum it up...some of the things I think are contributing to the stall/gain include:

1. I'm very lucky to get in 40-50 oz of fluid (usually G2 Gatorade since plain water at any temp seems to upset my stomach) a day. I'm usually sipping on something all day (when I'm awake), but I can only sip so much at a time and filling my stomach with too much liquid still makes me a bit queasy so I have to be careful. I'm going to have to make a more concerted effort to get in at least 64 oz a day.

2. I've been completely sedentary! Since I got home from the hospital, I've been so worried about staying hydrated that I didn't really want to work out (even a quick walk on the treadmill) until I was sure I was doing well enough to keep myself out of the hospital. I think I'm fairly comfortable that I'm accomplishing that so today I am going back to the pool and may even start walking at night on the treadmill or with tanner outside.

3. Diet: I'm going to talk to my nut tomorrow and see what she thinks. If she tells me to get back on the two shakes a day and small meal with no snacks, I'll do that and see where it gets me. I'm not really "hungry" since the surgery, so it won't be hard to get back on their plan really....as long as I can find some protein shakes that don't make me want to hurl! Otherwise, I really don't know what more I can do besides stop eating altogether lol.

Finally, I have taken some pictures over the last month and hope to post them later today or tomorrow. Don't get too excited lol, I can't really see much of a difference since the surgery, but I can tell it in my body and my clothes...just not the pictures really.