Fat Man on a Diet

I think I can honestly say that I’m finally settling into the band properly. I saw the physiotherapist yesterday and she told me pretty much that I should go back to walking gently… for 30 mins a day or so to begin… and then increase both the time I take *and* the pace, also gently! Additionally I was told it’s safe for me to organise time with a personal trainer who will help me regain some strength in my trunk to stabilise my back – but I have to be careful with ’stomach crunches’ for a while in case I damage the site where the fill tube is attached.

Since I can’t do *any* currently and my back problems make it unlikely I will for some considerable time I just smiled.

My weight hasn’t decreased dramatically as might have been expected… tho it’s fluctuated quite a lot through the week. My weight is still 135.5 kilos but again I’m not concerned.

Apart from the obious fact this is lower than my start weight… I can ’see the light’. I’m no longer grazing through the day and feel like moving around more so soon the weight *will* fall off. This time next week I’m confident I’ll be reporting a weight around the 130 kilo mark.

So, no time to sit and type… lots to do! There’s an entire house awaiting my gentle hands to tidy. clean, and redecorate… and of course the garden has also been neglected. Despite the ongoing pains in my lower back, it’s time to *move* myself I think?

No the band isn’t causing me any problems… well none I’m not aware of and prepared for. Nope this time it’s my back – again.

It seems whenever I lose weight. my back starts to hurt. I know I have an underlying problem with my spine which was one of the reasons I knew I needed to lose the weight, howerver the ‘instability’ means that as I lose weight I lose something that keeps the thing in place.

After a few kilos drop off… it starts to hurt – badly.

No doubt it will clear itself up in time but it’s never something I look forward to.

In the past the only way to ‘cure’ it, or at least relieve the pain, has been to put the weight back on… but this time that isn;t an option so I’ll have to persevere until something happens. Exactly what that ’something’ will be is a mystery right now, but I live in hope.

Went back to the clinic today to have the initial fill returned, and boy do I think I needed it!

According to their ‘records’ I only lost 200 grams this week… however I was wearing heavier clothes and had just had soup and coffee for lunch so was actually ‘lighter’ than the scales indicated, or would have been had I not had lunch before I went.

Even so… the positive spin is that my weight has clearly ’stabilised’ and so the reduction in the capacity of the ‘pouch’ almost certainly means I’ll be *forced* to lose weight by the simple mechanical process of not being able to eat anything in quantity.

Actually for the past week life has been ‘interesting’. I’ve not been hungry, though *have* been eating more than I suppose I should have been. Once or twice I managed to eat the wrong foods… or the wrong quantity of food and ended up writhing around in pain. Once was at the bowling alley with the kids when I ate a couple of chicken nuggets without thinking. Boy that hurt!!

Basically it looks as though I need an attitude readjustment again and hopefully this ‘fill’ will help me on the way.

Having said that, when I came home I still had my ‘afternoon snack’ (an hour or so ago) which was a cup of soup… and now I feel totally bloated. I suppose I’m *still* eating too fast.

I’ve paperwork to read through which is supposed to help me along the way, but sadly right now little of it seems to apply to me specifically. Whether this is because I had my ‘initial fill’ removed I don’t know but I *do* know I’ll be cutting back this evening regardless. The kids have made fish cakes for dinner and nice as the mix was (I tried a spoonful) I think a whole one, even with salad on the side, will just be too much for the smaller puch to cope with.

We’ll see… and I’ll learn, however long it takes.

As suggested by both the doctor and dietitian at my last visit, my weight has indeed increased over the past few weeks. In fact it rose from, 134.5 kilos to 137.5 kilos. Perhaps not as large an increase as they suggested, i.e. 4 kilos, but enough just the same.

Their rationale was that I was so badly dehydrated previously that my weight would increase because it was now going to be able to take in sufficient water to rehydrate. Having said that the wife is skeptical to say the least. She feels the weight should have returned to normal in the space of a few hours or days… and not taken 2 – 3 weeks to return to ‘normal. I’m not so sure and will ask when I go next… tomorrow in fact!

Having said that, it’s true I have been eating far more than I expected to be able to. When I drink soups, I’m supposed to sip them gently and allow my stomach to cope, yet with the band loosened to the extent it was, I’m able to drink almost as was normal pre-op which isn;t really a good thing.

Yes I still have problems with ’solid’ food, but as I’m not supposed to be eating that yet it isn’t surprising.

The past week or so on ‘puree’ have been interesting though again I’m not sure that the sort of meals I’ve been eating would fall under the class of ‘puree’ as explained. The maxmimum consistency is supposed to be in the range of tomato sauce… ketchup… and *smooth*. However my meals have rarely been as smooth as suggested, for example the other night I had a plate of chilli con carne and rice. Smaller than pre-op yes… but by no means could I claim to have eaten either the mince mixture or the rice ‘pureed’.

Again I’ll have to discuss this with the dietitian and it may be I’ll have to return to the *real* puree stage after the first band ‘fill’ which also happens this week.

Clearly removing the initial fill was essential simply because it was killing me. However the swelling etc has resolved itself and now I need the fill reintroduced in order for the reduced stomach size to become effective once more else there will be no point in my having had it done.

More on this later in the week as I write up the short report on the next appointments.

Yes I *do* intend keeping the blog going so if you’ve wondered what happened to last weeks post… I’ll explain.

To start with a did write quite a lot during the preceding week so there was quite a bit of ‘updating’ already carried out. Also I’ve not only had the kids home from school for their three week ‘winter holiday’, but both they and I came down with bad colds which pretty much left me doing next to nothing all week.

Still, even the worst of colds passes eventually and so it has with me. I’m fairly well recovered now and so here I am again.

I’m pleased to say we have accumulated a 300% increase on the number of members of the new Gastric Bandits forum… I’m not sure of the maths but I think that means there are now *three* of us!

Early days yet of course, and I’ve not worked to advertise the place, but it’s nice people have found us already.

I’d just like to say that if you know anyone (or their friends or family) who is considering having a Gastric Band fitted or already has one, then please direct them over to the new site. The url is www.gastricbandits.com simple to remember I think?

I think perhaps that great champion of behavioural psychology, the late, B. F. Skinner, would not have been unduly suprised by the reaction I had to a ‘gastric episode’ I experienced last night.

To recap a little… I’ve been on what is pretty much a liquid diet for the last 6 weeks and to be quite honest it’s getting a little ’stale’… actually it’s been *very* boring!! Just to compund the misery, whilst I’ve been drinking watery soups and thinned yoghurts etc, the rest of the family has discovered the delights and rewards of cooking their own meals and have made themselves some excellant meals.

Naturally, since our living area is one large room, the aromas from food they’ve produced has wafted over to me and at times made me quite ravenous! Can’t complain of course, they need to eat.

Last nights meal was no exception to their new found expertise, and a dish of steamed marinated salmon with fried rice was on the menu. Because this week I should be beginning the ‘puree’ stage of the new diet – and because I have virtually no resistance to temptation with regards food – I felt it was safe to try a ‘well chewed’ teaspoon of the salmon. Just for good measure and for no good sustainable reason, I also added a few tablespoons of the fried rice mixture to my soup – telling myself it was just to add a little bulk. All went well and I had no problems… except for a pleasant feeling of satiety.

Then we went to bed. Well actually *the wife* went to bed and I tidied up a little before leaving. While meandering through the kitchen I noticed they’d left out some of the rice dish so thought I’d quietly scoff a couple of tablespoons before going upstairs. Bad idea.

Within seconds I was getting really *intense* burning pains in my chest giving me a clue perhaps how a heart attack feels. The attack was probably brought on by the peristalic waves in my oesophagus trying to force the food into the tiny space my stomach occupies… and failing.

I spat out the remainder of the food in my mouth and desperately fought the waves of nausea washing over me trying not to be sick knowing what the potential results of *that* exercise might be!

For 10 minutes or so I struggled and strained against the sheer agony whilst I formulated some sort of excuse strategy in case the wife came to find where I was. Luckily she didn’t notice I was delayed so once I’d recovered sufficiently I controlled the external symptoms of my stupidity and slowly climbed the stairs a sadder but wiser individual!

However, over the next few hours as I lay in bed with my stomach twisted and coiling inside me, I reflected on just how effective aversion therapy can be. I can assure you it will be a *long* time before I do something like that again!!

I had quite a good day yesterday overall. Apart from the early morning hiccough with the Optifast all went well. I managed to walk comfortable to the local town centre (some 20 mins) did a few chores and returned in good order… albeit very tired. One point of note was that I felt ’sick’ on almost every 10 20 steps forcing me to sort of ’swallow’ the discomfort. No idea what that was but it wasn’t pleasant

When I got back, I was both hungry and thisty so knocked back 200 ml of drinking yoghurt, 250 ml water and a cup of coffee… again a bit fast but there weren’t the extreme side effects I’ve *been* having.

In the evening over the space of an hour I downed around 200 ml of some ‘Dutch Curry’ soup… followed by 250 ml of water and a cup of coffee. This tells me I’m well over the worst effects of the operation and *well* on the mend. Despite the predictions earlier I might yet be going in for my first fill ‘on time’!

From tomorrow on… or maybe the weekend anyway… I’m going to be starting back on puree’d food and that’s when the real crunch time will begin. I have a couple of weeks of that before I restart real food and am a little concerned but, again, I feel so much better that there should be little to be concerned about.