7/23/10 ~~ 8 days into the liver shrinking diet....

So I am kinda starting this whole blog thing a little late into the game. Let me give you all a little background info into me, the reason I choose Lap Band surgery and where I am in the process.

My name is Liz and I am a food addict. Actually I am very good at doing anything in excess. I can drink like a fish, smoke like a chimney and eat better than Adam Richmond (google him, great show). These 3 things lead me to where I am now, quite frankly a fat ass. I mean lets call a spade a spade, I am a big girl. I was kinda all right with this, until the birth of my second child and thus my second c-section. After that, I was done! I am sick of being a skinny girl stuck in a fat body, or as defined on Urban Dictionary a Stealth Fox. I am sick of being cumbersome.

So back in November I went to my PCP for some ailment and asked about weight loss surgery (from here on referred to as WLS). She gave me the number to a local surgeon. From there I attended a seminar about the different types of surgery available. I learned that I would have to go through 6 consecutive months of counseling with my PCP, a psych eval. (and yes I passed),nutrition counseling and the biggie QUIT SMOKING.

Fast forward to now. I have completed all the above steps, and yes I even quit smoking! That is huge. I love cigarettes, I think there is nothing more appealing than cracking open a fresh box of Marlboro menthol's and lighting up! Add to that drinking while smoking and even better, but wait! Add an awesome meal, suburbly mixed alcoholic beverages and then stepping outside for a Marlboro and HOT DAMN you got something good. I am smiling as I write that! How sick! that was Heaven on a stick for me! Anyways I digress, we should move on.

I am now in the LIVER SHRINKING DIET phase. Guys this sucks! I am like Tommy Lasorta without all the money. I drink 2 shakes (Carnation instant breakfast, sugar free) a day and a 3 oz portion of low fat chicken with a cup of steamed non-starchy veggies. I can have a Dannon Light and Fit yogurt and a 4oz container of 2% Cottage Cheese. That is about it. It equals less than 800 calories a day. The good part is I have lost 8lbs in 8 days, the bad part is I have on several occasions considered eating one of my children. I mean they are cute and usually sweet too. I have to do this diet until 7/29/10, the day of my Lap Band surgery. This diet is necessary to shrink the liver, since the liver lays over the stomach and esophagus. I am hoping to shrink my liver by 40% and give the surgeons more room to move the laproscopic tools around.

I will say this, I feel like if you have not done this 2 week bootcamp of hell then you should not get the surgery. That might be harsh but, so far it has taught me what REAL HUNGER feels like. Not just being bored so I will eat kinda of thing, I mean true hunger. I often think of the people on the show "Survivor" during this. I have no clue how they do the physical challenges. By the end of the day, before I eat dinner I seriously have trouble going to the Grocery store. It has also got me feeling like food is fuel. I kinda of look at my body as a fuel tank now and food as gas. When the tank is empty I stop and give it a little just to make it to the next filling station (a meal). It really is starting to change the way I feel about food. I am reading every label now and in a strange way enjoying searching for good foods that are good for you in the grocery store. I am also eating A LOT more fresh veggies! This is helpful to because I find the chopping of vegetables cathartic, I love the whole process of washing and chopping.

So from here out I am going to keep this blog. It will hopefully help me stay on track. Eventually I will get up the courage to tell you my starting weight and post some pics. I plan on making lots of short term goals instead of saying "I want to lose xyz amount of weight". I know my first goal, and once I reach it I will tell you, because wow, saying it or writing it for the world to hear is just a little overwhelming. But I do want to be honest, so I will do it once I reach it (I am not too far from reaching it now!).