Another week down

Today was my first day back at parenting and I am exhausted!  For the last week I have had childcare for the boys during the day and Matt has been home in the evenings.  I haven't had to do much during the day other than reading, napping and a lot crafting!  Pretty darn nice- thank you friends who took the boys off of my hands!

I am having to phase out my own napping since I was staying up too late into the night.  Sigh.  Those naps were glorious and energizing.  Each day I am trying to get in a few more calories, but it is tough getting even 500 calories in during the day.  It hasn't helped that I have had three weeks straight of diarrhea (yep, more information than you wanted yet again) that has been so horrible that I haven't wanted to leave my house.  Today though, an eye-opening thought- it might be the protein drinks that I have to drink each day that are causing all my problems.  Today I didn't drink one and I got out of my house!!  So I am going to stop drinking them and work at getting in all of the protein I need each day through my food.  Again, tough since I eat so little.

On the phone with my nutritionist today, I mentioned that I haven't lost any weight in the last week.  She told my that my body is pretty much in shock and is holding on to everything it can for as long as it can!  Come on body- give up that fat!!  Slowly I am moving away from purees and into soft foods.  Today I was able to eat cheese, tuna fish, meatballs and rice.  It felt great to eat food rather than drink it.

I also had my first experience with food tasting different.  I had heard that after weight loss surgery some foods would taste odd.  There was a nice bit of brie cheese in the fridge so I cut myself off a piece.  Well it tasted like Buckley's Cough Syrup!  Horrible!  I was so upset that I nearly cried (yes, I am a bit emotional going through all of this) because I just wanted that brie to taste good after my weeks of fluids and purees.  A friend on facebook looked into it for me and sent me a article that had this to say about it:

Actually, this is a common occurrence for most people after gastric bypass surgery. Even some people who have lost a lot of weight non-surgically over a relatively shorter period of time will experience this phenomenon. This is due to something that is called “ketosis.” Typically, when you are losing weight, your body will start to break down your stored carbohydrates for energy. However, these stores are not that plentiful, especially for those people who have had GBPS. After GBPS, you usually are not eating many carbohydrates. Instead, you are emphasizing your protein intake. Likewise, some of the popular diets that result in rapid weight loss are carbohydrate-restricting. Thus, your body begins to deploy your fat stores for energy and this results in ketosis. As the fatty acids are broken down in the liver, the body forms “ketone bodies.” The ketone bodies are released into the bloodstream to deliver fuel to the body. Excess ketone bodies can turn into a form of acetone. Acetone is eliminated through the breath and the urine. With higher keotone bodies and acetone levels, your taste is altered. This is the reason that foods may not taste the same as before your surgery during your rapid weight loss. Do not despair. Ketosis also induces a state of greater satiety. As your weight loss slows and your body is burning less fat stores for energy, the ketosis reverses. Your sense of taste will be restored to that of presurgical levels. Dr. Kathleen T. Baskett is medical director of the St. Vincent Healthcare Weight Management Clinic and author of “Moving Forward: The Weigh to a Healthier Weight.”  

Hopefully brie will taste better one day, but it will take a long time before I am brave enough to try it again!

Now for pictures from the last week:

The pirates pillaging the neighbourhood.

Enjoying their loot!  We let them eat whatever they wanted that night. After that just a piece each day and Matt has been scarfing the rest! 

Puff ball key chains.

Puff ball hair elastic.

Coyote and moose hide mittens!

Oh these mittens are puffy!

Evenings are now spent in hibernation mode watching Thomas the Train.

This what I get when I ask the boys to stand beside one another for a photo.