Settling Into A Rhythm... Sort Of..

It has been almost 8 months since I had my stomach removed and 5 weeks since I had the stent removed and I seem to have settled into what my adjusted life will be from now on.

Except for one thing.

My nemesis..
A nemesis is described as "the inescapable agent of someone's or something's downfall". Mine is chocolate. I know that now. I always though it would have been Diet Coke or beer, but it's not. It's chocolate in any shape or form. I have decided that since I enjoy chocolate, I am going to eat chocolate. I must have chocolate. Yet, my body has other ideas. So I do my best to just grab a piece here and there. I try to be sneaky about it, but that doesn't work. Then my body starts to retaliate by gurgling and peculating quite a bit. It really does make a pretty loud ruckus. In my mind that just means that it just needs more chocolate and the battle of wills begins. So far I have lost most of these tasty battles, but the campaign is not yet over.  So stay tuned..

Other than chocolate, I can eat what I want and even the portion sizes have started to increase. I still need to work on when to stop eating though. There have been a couple of times, since the stent was removed, where I ended up throwing up because I ate too much. If you remember I don't get hungry and I don't feel full. That is until it's too late. It is all about balance. I Slowly try to increase the amount I am eating in order to gain weight, without eating too much or I throw it all back up.

The other night I had a T-bone steak. First steak since the whole stent episode started and I grilled it to perfection. So I had the smaller tenderloin side and was fine. I thought that I could handle at least some of the porterhouse side. Did I mention that it was cooked to perfection? Well I tried to eat all of it. Wrong decision on my part. Well you live and learn I guess.

My days now consist of a small breakfast. A snack when I get to work. Another snack around 10:00 am or so and then try to pack in 30 grams of protein for lunch. Usually that will hold me until just before I head home, so I have a snack before I leave. Snacks can be applesauce, a protein bar, potato chips, or even sting cheese. It just depends on what I have in my office at that particular time. Once home I eat whatever I can whip up, as often as I can. If I have to work at the liquor store then I take a bevy of snacks with me. Hit the 60-70 gram mark per day and I am good to go.

I now weigh 181 pounds and seem to be holding steady. It can fluctuate a pound or two on a daily basis, but I have been over 180 for the last four or five days so I will take it. It would be a lot easier though if I could eat chocolate,
I'm just sayin..

You can say the human heart is only make-believe
And I am only fighting fire with fire
But you are still a victim of the accidents you leave
As sure as I'm a victim of desire
(Don't Ask Me Why  Billy Joel)

Gaining Weight

It has been just over three weeks since I had the stent removed and I thought I would give you a quick update on how things are going. The good news here is that there is not a lot to update.

I am back on the path of trying to gain weight.
Before the stent was put in I weighted around 186 pounds and for the most part I was comfortable with that weight. Anywhere between 186-190 and I would have been just fine. Then I had the stent put in and my weight crashed. I had the one morning when I hit 169 pounds but I had forgotten to put my wallet and cellphone in my pockets so it didn't count. Now with the stent gone I am gaining weight, not as much or as fast as I would like but it is heading in the right direction. I have flirted with 180 pounds a couple of times, but even with the "extra" things in my pockets I can't seem to get out of the 170's. I am currently stuck right around 178 pounds.
Eating is still an adventure but it has gotten a lot better. I am back to eating what I want (within reason). Still it can change from day to day. For instance one night last week I was craving a burger. So we headed to the River Inn and I had a bacon cheese burger, no veggies on it, but it was complete with the bun. Everything went just fine and I managed to eat about three quarters of it. The next day at lunch I had the exact same thing, just a different restaurant, and I struggled to eat any of it. I can't tell you what the difference was, I just couldn't eat it.

I have officially given up on calorie counting. My doctor keeps pushing me to eat 2,500+ calories per day and I am here to tell you that will not happen. The best I was able to achieve was 2,000 calories in one day. That day it seemed like all I was doing was shoving food into my face and with my life that is just not sustainable. So I am back to focusing on counting proteins and trying to eat at least 60 grams of protein per day. When I hit or exceed 60g, I can gain weight, or at least stay the same. Under 60g and I loose weight.
Oh, and on the day I managed to eat 2,000 calories... I lost a half pound. Proteins are a lot easier to keep track of.

Work has been crazy in a good way and will continue to be so until probably the end of May. There will be lots of long days with team members coming and going. There will be team dinners and gatherings to keep me busy and we threw in a business trip in mid May just to keep things interesting. And you know what? Life without a stomach has not slowed me down one bit. In fact it pretty much mirrors what life was like before any of this started.  It's all good.

And I will go on shining
Shining like brand new
I'll never look behind me
My troubles will be few
(Goodbye Stranger  Supertramp)