Taste Buds Are a Changin'

Sorry it's been so long since my last blog. I've been trying to think of new topics. If you have any questions for me or ideas for me...please email me kehill24@gmail.com

Have you ever craved something, I mean thought about what it tastes like in your mouth, what you feel like after you eat it, how good it tastes? Well, that used to happen to me all the time. This used to make me run out and go get it and it would taste just like I had imagined. This is no longer the case...now when I crave something it is a little different, both the anticipation and the actual taste. I no longer have random cravings. My cravings if any are usually a result of something I see on TV or something that someone is eating in the lunchroom that makes me remember what I used to like. When I do try to satisfy the cravings, it no longer tastes as good as it did before the surgery. As Mike would say, "That's a good thing." I know it's a good thing but it's kind of weird because I want to sit and "chow down" on some pieces of chicken or macaroni and cheese but I can't physically (I'm working on the psychological part of fixing this issue).  I really have to turn to something other than food for satisfaction because it is not the same.

1 Month post-surgery

A friend asked me "What do you do when you are stressed?" What I used to do was drive to the nearest fast food restaurant with the highest fat content food and eat until I was no longer stressed. Now, I start cleaning my house and working on household chores. My housekeeper needs to give me a discount because the house is much cleaner post surgery. I'm still working on exercise as a stress reliever but it's still a PIA to get on that elliptical. I did get on it once last week which was much easier than it was before (30 pounds less), the 30 minutes went by so fast. As someone once told me,"the hardest part is tying your shoe laces." So true!

Taking the Easy Way Out

I had originally started thinking about getting bariatric surgery in 2001. I went to see a doctor, did the psych evaluation, sleep study and everything else required for gastric-bypass surgery. At the time my insurance did not approve me for the procedure so I kind of forgot about the idea until this year. I figured that maybe because I was not "big enough" or "unhealthy enough" for the surgery and that maybe I was "taking the easy way out." Since 2001 before I let everyone know that I was contemplating surgery, I had heard a family member mention that the surgery is an easy way out. A friend of mine who had bariatric surgery herself mentioned that she had thought that she had taken "the easy way out." Well, let me just tell everyone, especially anyone who is contemplating having surgery or who has had surgery that this surgery is in no way an easy way out, just ask my family, friends, and even my co-workers. I was on a liquid diet for 4 weeks straight (2 weeks before surgery and 2 weeks after)-it was the hardest month of my life. Everything that I had learned about eating had to be thrown out of the window and a new way of eating had to be learned. I have to eat much slower than I have ever eaten-eating too fast has caused me to be sick on a couple of occasions. Obviously I have to eat less-learning to eat less has also caused me to be sick more than once.
Not only has the surgery affected my eating but also my way of life. This past weekend was jam-packed with activities during the day and partying at night. This took a huge toll on my quality of life this week. I did too much too fast!! Yesterday, I reverted back to a self-imposed liquid diet to help my body get back to a normal state. Mike has once again stepped up to take care of Finn while I went to bed early (7pm) yesterday and will probably go to bed early again tonight.
This new life is a better life in terms of my health but is in now way an easier way of life.