Food – Damn Hell Blog

Over the past year or so, I have been dealing with the prospects of weight loss surgery. I have been jumping through numerous insurance hoops, scheduling twice monthly appointments with the nutritionist and monthly check-in appointments with my primary care provider. I have seen an Internist, I have had bloodwork done, I have started taking vitamin supplements (I was Vitamin D and B-12 deficient). I had a barium swallow done that showed I have a hiatal hernia, which apparently isn’t a big deal, and also that I do not have acid reflux. I have met with the surgeon and discussed procedure options that will be determined by my upcoming endoscopy. All these things in addition to dealing with typical day to day life and trying to not eat like it’s my last meal before I’m put to death. To date I’ve lost about 13 pounds, and have around 12 more to go before I’ll be given the green light for surgery. I’m excited, but I’m also nervous as hell! A few years ago I had a bilateral pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lungs) and could have easily dropped dead from them, which I obviously didn’t. Since we have no idea where the clots came from and they don’t appear to be hereditary, I have to take blood thinners for the unforeseeable future. People who undergo surgery are at an increased risk of clotting and as being someone who is already prone to them, it freaks me out! The surgeon assured me that they have successfully done this surgery on people with the same risk factors as me and have had no more complications that anyone else. That put me at ease a little bit, but until it’s all said and done I’ll still be nervous about it.

Anyhow, my point is…I’m fat, I’m trying to lose weight and I’m hoping to have weight loss surgery to help get me to where I need to be. I have some pretty bad osteoarthritis in my hips and knees, to the point where another surgeon told me that I need hip replacement but he would never operate on me at my current weight. That was definitely a catalyst to push me in the right direction since my quality of life has drastically decreased since being diagnosed with OA. Stairs are a bitch to climb, walking sucks 80% of the time, I’m in constant pain and can only take Tylenol for pain since NSAIDs are out of the question while taking blood thinners.

I have been making more conscious choices when it comes to buying and eating food. Choosing fresh vegetables, meats and proteins as my main nutrition and steering away from carb loaded foods like breads and pastas. I’ve found that having a protein shake in the morning serves me pretty well until around 12:30 when I’ll have a prepackaged frozen lunch or a low carb meal that I make myself. Pretty much any of the single serving frozen meals, such as: Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, Healthy Choice, have around 250-310 calories. I might eat one of those and a handful of fresh vegetables, or a side salad and I’m good to go until 4pm or so. At that point I might eat some more vegetables, a piece of fruit, string cheese, or drink of cup of coffee. Then plan to make a carb conscious dinner that is full of protein and vegetables, and I try my best to choose healthy snacks for after dinner time. I’m not saying I never mess up, or say screw it and eat some chocolate, but I am aware of what I am putting in my body, because I keep track. I have gotten better about knowing the approximate nutritional value of the foods I eat most of, and make sure to avoid those if I’ve already gotten myself off track for the day. I’ve been making sure to drink lots and lots of water throughout the day and have started seriously altering any of my Starbucks orders. lol I started following this guy on Instagram, who not only works at Starbucks, but started creating recipes for himself and has been kind enough to share it for others who struggle to keep the calories down when it comes to coffee. The main difference is not ordering a latte and instead getting cold brew with light cream. Now, I’ll be the first to say that sugar free syrups taste kind of gnarly, but even if you add 2 pumps of regular syrup along with the SF, you will significantly cut down your calories! Give his page a look if you’re a coffee lover, you just might find a new favorite!

Here are a couple of our recent dinners, and some of my lunch options. I’ve been trying to take more pictures of the food we eat because it inspires me to remember to choose healthy, bright colors when I go grocery shopping!

Cajun seasoning for our turkey sausage, vegetable and shrimp dinner!
Turkey sausage, vegetable and shrimp (added later) dinner before it went in the oven.