Travel & Eating

Hi there! Thought I'd write a quick post on what I ate today while traveling/vacationing. Yesterday I noticed that I didn't quite keep up with eating throughout the day and was having some real "cravings" for food that night. I opted for a cheese plate from the dessert menu, which was fine and fit with my food for the day, but I was battling wanting things that I wouldn't normally crave (ice cream, bread, etc.). A reminder not to let it go too long without eating. So, today, I refocused and was back on track. Thought I'd share what it looked like.

Today was a travel day from Sao Paulo to Iguazu Falls. Not a long flight, but it involved me getting up at 4:30 AM to make the trip. Here's a breakdown of what happened food-wise.

4:30 AM: Woke up and took pills/vitamins with water (normally a protein shake)
5:00 - 5:45 AM: Cab ride, drank about 8 oz of water
6:45 AM: Ate half a protein bar waiting for the flight (Power Crunch French Vanilla - yum!)
7:30 - 9:00 AM: Flight, drank another 12 oz of water
10:00: Arrived at hotel, checked in, and made a protein shake with Syntrax Kiwi Strawberry (8 oz of water)
11:00 - 12:00: Drive from Brazil to Argentina to see the falls, drank 8 oz of water
12:00 - 1:00: About 1/8 cup of pistachios I'd brought and half a stick of beef jerky while walking around
1:00 - 4:00: Water, water, water. Think I drank another 20 oz or so.
4:00: "Just the Cheese" snacks that I'm traveling with
6:00: Took a dip by the pool and decided to eat dinner there. Wanted everything on the menu, but ultimately went with ceviche as a healthy choice
7:00 - 8:00: 8 oz of water
8:00: Protein shake (Isopure Zero Carb Vanilla) made with 8 oz of water

So, what did this require? PLANNING. I didn't need to plan out all the meals, but I needed to have food and water with me. If I hadn't, it's likely I could have tracked down water, but my meal options would have been empanadas at the market at the falls, and I would have gone most of the day without eating. Wouldn't have been pretty, particularly on a day where it was hot and I was doing a LOT of walking. I was conscious of having things in my bag, even far from home, and noshing every few hours. If I can do this, I clearly have no excuse for a crappy eating day due to unpreparedness at home. Enjoy the ceviche below!

14 Week Update

Hello from Sao Paulo with my 14 week update! As you'll hear in the video, I'm going by the hotel scale so who knows what my weight really is. But at least I've got a scale for this week so I can see if the scale is going up for any reason! Alright, let's get to it:

Surgery day: 250.4

One month 226.1

Two month: 211.8

Three month: 201.3

Week 13: 198

Week 14: 195.4

1 week weight loss: 2.6 lbs

Total weight loss: 55 lbs

Really happy. Weight loss is right on track. I've said a number of times that I was really aiming for 10lbs a month and I'm so excited to say that 14 weeks out I'm right on track; a little ahead but not by so much that I feel like I'm losing too fast. It is worth nothing the month to month progression. 25 first month, 15 second, and about 10 the third. Will be interested to see if I stayed on track with a 10 lb loss when I get to month four. If i don't it will be time to kick up the exercise. I've been letting myself completely slack.

I'm almost afraid to write it...but I'm also quite pleased that I haven't hit a stall yet, and no hair loss. I frankly expect both to rear their ugly WLS heads, but I'll take the avoidance of both as nice for now! Enjoy the video...I'm trying to keep them shorter in length (5 mins or so) so we'll see how long that lasts!

Answering reader questions

Hey there! I got the following questions from a blog reader and made a video to respond. Hope this helps, Ashley - best of luck with your surgery with Dr. Aceves! Can't want to hear how it turns out.

1. In regard to medications... Do they all have to be of a chewable or liquid nature? Can you not take any tiny liquigels? Also, what about OTC pain relievers...do you crush them up or do you take the children's liquid kind? 
2. Were you fearful about a US surgeon refusing you if a complication were to arise down the road? I have a friend who is a general surgeon and, in my best interest, was explaining to me that there is a culture among surgeons where they want you to always go back to your bariatric surgeon if any surgery was needed....that they never want to touch a bariatric patient. I've seen on other blogs/forums, however, that there are SOME surgeons who would take a bariatric patient on if their surgeon was overseas, etc. I was just curious of your thoughts on this.
3. What size bougie did Dr. Aceves use on you? I couldn't remember the bougie size when I did the video but Dr. Aceves uses a 36 bougie and then sutures over the staple line making the sleeve smaller. You can read about the details on bougie size on the Surgeon Questions page on this site.
4. Even after all of the literature I've come across and was sent to me, I'm still unsure of portion size. As in, when you say that you drink a protein shake each day (especially in those first few weeks), how much do you think you drink in one sitting? And how does the quantity in those first few weeks compare to how much you are able to drink now?