Tuff Week!

What a tuff week! Introducing new foods into a very restricted diet is a real challenge. I’ve been trying new things and having some luck, but mostly bad, so I’m pretty much back on chicken with spaghetti sauce and grated parmesan cheese. It seems to be the “good Old Standby” that tastes good and doesn’t bother my pouch. It also doesn’t interfere with my weight loss. This week I’ve not lost anything. My scales say I weight 192 this morning. Up one pound from last week. I credit that to all the new foods I’ve been trying this week.

Speaking of new foods, I’ve discovered that some cheeses do very well, and some don’t. The softer cheeses don’t seem to sit while the harder cheeses do. I think it has something to do with the fat content. My pouch really doesn’t like high fat content anything. That’s why avocados are verboten right now, and celery isn’t. You would think that the celery would be hard to digest with all that fiber, but the fat seems to be harder still. I’ll be very happy when I reach the point where I can enjoy a salad again. My pouch is still so small that I don’t want to waste room on non-protein, but I know that someday I’ll be able to enjoy a salad again, even if it’s a small one.

I did have one “treat” yesterday. I had some Jarlsberg cheese sliced thinly on roasted garlic Triscuits. It was a wonderful treat, and didn’t mess up my pouch at all. I’m hoping the fiber in the Triscuits helps get my elimination moving again. I don’t feel comfortable going a couple days between bowel movements, but that seems to be what’s happening. Yuckky!

At least the roasted garlic flavor was wonderful. I didn’t realize how much I would miss flavors. His diet has been on the very bland side, and that garlic really woke my taste buds up.

Been working hard on the back bedroom of my house. Now that JW has moved out, I’m trying to get things cleaned up and organized because I’m having a house guest for about 10 days. A couple of friends of mine and AVs have come from Germany to spend a month. They have been here since the beginning of Fiesta. (You remember Fiesta, don’t you?) Well, it seems that the lady who rented our friends a room has given them notice that her next renters are coming early and she wants to have the room 10 days sooner than she expected. AV asked if they could stay with me for the last days, and of course I told him yes. So I’ve been making the room that was supposed to be my library into a guest room. One of them is going back to Germany on the 1st, but the other is staying until the 12th or 13th. It will be nice to get to spend some real quality time with him. The room is almost ready for them to move in tomorrow. I can put the finishing touches on it today, and it will be ready.

The remainder of my time off will be spent on my bedroom. I need to go through my closets and clear out the clothing that is already too big for me. I plan to either take them to Goodwill or call Salvation Army to come get the boxes. I have three boxes filled already, and that is with my winter things. I have a metal storage closet in the garage where I store coats, sweaters, and clothing that is too warm for summer. Now I have to go through all my cooler clothing. That will be a bigger challenge, but once I try on an outfit, it will either be OK or too big!. I am looking forward to moving out those things in the later category.

Speaking of clearing out closets, I found some clothing that KJ had given me when she lost so much weight just prior to getting married. I thought I had given away most of those things as they were just too small when she gave them to me. I tried on a shirt that I had liked a lot and low and behold, it fit! I took a picture of it and sent it to KJ asking, do you remember this shirt? Her answer ”I wondered what happened to it.” Seems strange to be wearing hand-me-downs from my daughter.

Another interesting thing along those lines, CH (my next to the youngest sister) came by last week, and we decided to go out for a while. I was going stir crazy. She didn’t have anything to wear with her, except her scrubs, so we went through my new clothes and found her a dress and shoes. Now I gotta tell you it was really strange to see my sister, who has always been much smaller than me wearing a dress that I had worn a couple of days before. First I thought it must have shrunk in the laundry, but then I realized that it was washed in cold water so shrinking wasn’t an issue. Anyway, we had a great time, and I finally got used to seeing her in my clothing. Next time she’s in town she is bringing the dress back, the shoes she keeps as they are now too large for me.

Now for this week, I’m sorry I’m a day late posting this, but I’ve been fighting off what I hope is NOT Swine Flu. So far I have a persistent cough, a sore throat, and no energy. No fever, and no muscle aches, so I’m hopeful it’s only a bad cold.

Next week I go back to work. I have very mixed feelings about that. A part of me really likes staying home (that’s the lazy part). I can stay in bed until I feel like getting up, which is usually around 7:30 a.m. I can take a nap when I want, usually around noon, and I can do housework, or not as I feel like it. Going back to work puts me on someone elses schedule, and that I’m not so crazy about. However, I do love the steady income, and don’t think I could make it without that bi-weekly paycheck. Disability has informed me that my time is up on 5/4 and I must return to work 5/5. Oh well, the days of relaxation are over, or soon will be. I can’t say that I have missed the job, but I do enjoy it when I’m there so returning will be OK I guess. I know I’ve missed the people at work. Last Friday I went down to the office to pick up my paycheck. I saw a couple of the folks I work with and both of them made a big deal out of saying how much weight I’d lost and how much better I look. While that was nice to hear, I realized that I’ve missed those folks a lot more than I had thought.

No pictures this week, and no crowing about pounds gone. But I’m recovering my strength, and that is a plus. Next Thursday 5/8 I have an appointment with the surgeon. My second one post Operative. I’m hoping he has good things to say, but I suspect he won’t. I’m not loosing right now, and that isn’t good. I’ve cut the carbs out again, and we’ll see what kind of change that makes. It is, after all, 9 days away.

Until I have something new to report. Take Care and God Bless.

Kate