Two Month Surgeversary!

Time is flying! Somehow, almost 9 weeks – two months – have passed since my Roux en Y surgery. It’s been quite a month of progress for me, and I’m excited with how far I’ve come since last month!

The Facts at two Months

First and foremost, it’s important to get the facts out of the way. I’ve officially lost a total of 55.6 pounds over the last two months (45.6 since surgery, but I believe that the pre-surgery diet counts).

Here is the my total breakdown:

• Starting Weight: 302
• Surgery Weight: 292
• Post-Surgery 1 Month Weight: 266.6
• Post-Surgery 2 Month Weight: 246.4

Exercise

I’ve started exercising. I haven’t been super consistent over the last two months, but it’s something. My husband and I have a beachbody.com membership, and I’ve done some of the Country Heat workouts. I find them entertaining, and it’s good to get moving.

I also started a regimen of arm exercises. My arms have always been a tough area for me, because I have always had big arms, even if at one point they were much more muscular than they are now. Now, I’m battling bingo flaps. Therefore, I’ve started a set of exercises that I found on Pinterest. Here’s what I’ve been doing:

• Bicep Curls
• Upright Rows
• Hammer Curls
• Scarecrow Extensions (these are tough!)
• Overhead Presses
• Side Hammer Curls
• Triceps Kickbacks (I added these in)

I do three sets of 12 reps each, with some squats added in. I have been much more consistent doing these exercises than I have with the Country Heat Exercises. With losing over 50 pounds in the last two months, and more weight to go, I want to try to get a head start on working on these problem areas!

Food, Food, Glorious Food

Let’s get down to it. At one point, I lived to eat. Now, I’m finding that I eat to live. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t eat delicious foods.

Over the last two months, I’ve had to change my cooking style and food choices, and even now in this second month, it’s a lot different than the first month after surgery. But I feel like I’ve been excelling in my choices. Here are some of the foods I’ve been enjoying!

• Breakfast
  • Half English Muffin, Avocado, Poached/Hard Boiled Egg (9g Protein)
  • Half English Muffin, Reduced Fat Cheddar, Poached/HB Egg (9g Protein)
  • Half English Muffin, 1 wedge Light Laughing Cow Spread, Poached/HB Egg (11 g Protein)
  • Oatmeal with 1% Milk, Protein Powder, Unsweetened Applesauce (22 g Protein)
  • 2/3 Cup Kellogg’s All Bran Cereal, 1/2 cup 1% Milk, 1/4 cup Blueberries (9g Protein)
• Lunch
  • Low Sodium Ham Rollups, Mozzrella Pearls, Tomato/Cucumber (15g Protein)
  • Chipolte Chicken with Fajita Vegetables (36g Protein)
  • Chicken Salad with veggies (25g Protein)
  • Mozzarella Bean Salad (14g Protein) — I will be sharing this recipe soon!
  • Dinner Leftovers
• Dinner
  • Eggplant Parmesan with High Protein Pasta (20g Protein) — I will be sharing this recipe soon!
  • Chili with Vegetables (22g Protein)
  • Meatballs with High Protein Pasta and Vegetables (20g Protein)
  • Low Carb Chicken Enchilada Casserole with Avocado and Greek Yogurt on the side (23+g Protein)
  • Chicken Burgers with veggies (25g Protein)
  • Salmon with veggies (23g Protein)
  • Meatloaf with mashed potato and veggies (25g Protein)

Variety is the Spice of Life

The hardest thing for me is variety. It’s so easy to get into the habit of eating the same thing every day, and I make a conscious effort to change things up daily. It’s hard because if my husband and kids don’t love what I make, I end up with lots of leftovers.

My ultimate goal is to eat 90g of Protein – but that is just not practical right now. My right-now goal is to eat 60g of Protein. Here is my progress over the last month:

Two Months of Life Changes

Like anything, life after bariatric surgery is just plain different. It’s been tough for me to “eat out” (we haven’t been to a restaurant since February due to COIVD-19, but even getting delivery has been really hard for me). Not many foods that I’ve ordered from a restaurant have agreed with my tummy. And very often, my husband and children want something that is very far from healthy and it doesn’t leave many choices, if any, for me. I try to remind my husband that he needs to pick a restaurant that would have food that I can eat from, but he often is only thinking of his own stomach. Maybe in the future I need to choose the restaurant and let him choose what he wants to eat instead.

My BMI has gone down from an astounding 51.8 to 42.3. That alone, is huge progress.

Life has been good to me over the last two months. It hasn’t been easy, but no one ever said it would be.

I still maintain that this has been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my adult life. I’m excited to see what the third month will bring me!