Fat Frog Diary

I don't know about you, but most Jell-o Jiggler and Knox Blox recipes want you to use 4 boxes of Jell-o, and the Knox Blox formula looks like a chemist's list of ingredients. But what if you want enough for one person? What if you only have one box of three different flavors? Now what? Break out the calculator and guess? NOPE! Here's your simple formula. You can commit this to memory. For every one box of Jell-o, use one cup of hot water. Now here's the rest of the tricks: 1. Use a spray like Pam to lubricate the inside of your mold. Wipe most of the foam away with a paper towel, leaving just a slick surface. 2. When mixing the gelatin and hot water, stir with the whisk for two minutes. Yes, set a timer. There's one on your phone, microwave, and probably your stove. Use your Echo device. Use a timer. Seriously. Stir for the whole two minutes and pay attention. Create as few bubbles as possible. Stir, don't whisk. Bubbles leave unsightly pock marks on...

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According to my bathroom scale this morning, my weight has now dropped to 242, down from my official start of 286. That's 44 pounds, gone forever. More significantly, my BMI has now dropped below 40, and I'm no longer considered "morbidly obese" and am now merely (!) "obese." BMI charts seem to differ, but I wanted to be sure that, by all their numbers, I'm now simply "obese." Uhhh...thanks? In some ways, it's significant that I'm merely on the chart at all! Some BMI charts don't even go as high as 250 lbs, as if such a weight does not bear noticing. It should be noticed. In fact, moreso than the weights closer to the ideal, IMHO! Those who are morbidly obese need MORE help, not less! Am I saying they (formerly, "we") need sympathy? Not necessarily. However, because there are issues --health and social are the two main ones-- the morbidly obese need to be on the charts and in the sights of the medical community. Not to men...

(Reprise from a post on LapBandTalk.com in one of the forums) I knew it was coming. I knew I hadn’t lost any weight, or not nearly enough to be pleasing to myself. Sure enough, I’d lost a mere 5 pounds in the past six weeks. Despite the reassurances of the nurse taking my weight that almost everyone had the same difficulties due to the weather being so cold, I knew I could do better. My appetite had been on the increase, and consequently, my caloric intake on my FitDay.com report showed a gradual increase. So, I went in today for my visit, determined to have maybe a couple of cc’s just to nip that trend toward weight gain in the bud. Nope! Once these pounds come off, they are not going back on by golly! See ya! Buh-bye! I’d only lost 5 pounds, but about 4.9 of those pounds was pure fat! Now, that’s a reason to celebrate. I might have lost more, but Dr. Baptista’s nifty machine said I had water weight issues. Yes, I did, mostly in a swollen left ankle from doing too much this past weeke...

Okay, I admit it. I've been anal. No surprise there, right? I've been stepping on the bathroom scale every morning and sometimes at night. Is it any wonder that I'm not seeing much in the way of results anymore? I keep expecting the same phenomenal weight loss I had when on liquids only, and that's not reasonable. Two pounds a week is reasonable. Ten is not. I also know better than to think I won't step on that scale every morning. I'm paranoid about gaining even one pound now that I can eat solid foods again. The terror strikes every time I put a morsel of food in my mouth. So, I'm changing my subject lines. Instead of counting the days since surgery --which I was losing track of anyways-- I'll note what I weighed that morning. Since I don't blog every day, I'll see the steady downward turn of the pounds. Hopefully, that will stop this unreasoning and needless fear.

I'm already tired of soft foods, but like it or not, I'm stuck with this diet for awhile. After another lesson in paying attention to what I put in my mouth last night, I'm determined to behave. Today, I mixed up this tuna salad: 2 oz tuna 1 T olive oil mayonnaise 2 T lime juice 1/4 tsp minced garlic (I buy those jars in the produce section) black pepper to taste Oh, it was marvelous! Thank goodness for a new taste!

Yesterday, I went to see Dr. Baptista for a surgical follow-up visit. My first fill isn't until Feb 5. I'd been soldiering on despite the growing feeling of true hunger, and I'd begun to wonder if I'd make it until Saturday morning when I'd be allowed to eat soft foods according to the schedule provided by the doctor when I was released from the hospital after surgery. Dr. Baptista gave me a proverbial pat on the head, very pleased I'd actually lost body fat as opposed to pure water. He also let me know my internal swelling was going down so quickly, he'd understand if I started to feel real hunger and started soft foods very carefully. Okay, I admit it. I was starving to the point of desperation, so last night I had 1/2 cup of ricotta creme. I followed all the recommended procedures. Within an hour, at last, my hunger was down to a mere whimper instead of a roaring monster. I've got to be very, very careful. I almost ate too much at lunch, and it's ...