Lot's of changes have come into my life since I had WLS. Let's talk a little about things I used to do in comparison to what I do now.
Before surgery I would wake up at 7:30 am, jump in the shower get ready for work and be out the door by 8 am. For breakfast I would hit the drive through of whatever fast food joint sounded the best that morning then head into work. Lunch was hit or miss and a lot of days it was a candy bar and chips from the vending machine. After work as I was headed home, more often than not hit up another fast food establishment.
Now I get up at 6 am and before I do anything else I take a half hour and dump 16 oz of water down my hatch. Most people have their morning coffee...I have my morning water. Then I hop in the shower and get ready for work. I pack my lunch and am out the door by 8 am. I no longer hit the drive through for breakfast or dinner.
I mentioned in my last post that I can't eat and drink at the same time. Before surgery I always had to have a drink of some kind with all my meals. Now I have to stop drinking 30 mins. before I eat and can't drink anything until 30 mins. after I have finished eating. This is because there just isn't room for food and liquid in my tiny little stomach. If you drink while you eat it can also cause dumping syndrome.
My whole life I have eaten because I LOVE food. I love the flavors and textures and combinations of foods. I just enjoy food. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted and how much I wanted. If I wanted to eat chicken and beef I would. I could also put away a TON of food. Often times when I would go to McDonald's I couldn't decide if I wanted nuggets or a cheeseburger. What's a girl to do? Well this girl simply ordered both. It wasn't enough to just order both, I would order, and pack away, a double cheeseburger, a 20 pc. nugget, large fry AND a large coke. Really?? who needs all of that? NO ONE! In all honesty this was not an occasional thing, this was a regular thing. Also I rarely took leftovers home from a restaurant. If it was on my plate I had to finish it, never mind how full I was.
I now eat to survive. I never understood this concept. Now I do. I could never fit that much food into my belly anymore. Now I HAVE to choose what I am going to eat. These decisions are no longer made based on what I feel like eating, they are made on what I need to eat. My mindset is now, "Have I gotten enough protein in today? Have I gotten my fruits and veggies in?"
Slow and steady wins the race. I have to eat a lot slower these days than I ever had to before. I used to scarf down as much food ans I could in as little time as I could. We are all busy and we all do this. Then we get so full and feel an like we will have to rolled out of the room we are in as Violet from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory was when she turned into a human blueberry. There are some very uncomfortable consequences if I eat like that now a days.
I was at work one day and was running out of time on my lunch so I hurriedly ate the rest of my lunch. I didn't think anything of it until 10 mins later when I started to get the sweats and my food ad backed up into my esophagus because it had no where else to go. You know when you don't chew your food thoroughly and it gets stuck and it hurts...imagine your whole esophagus feeling like that and the only way you can get rid of the pain is by puking. I went to the restroom and tried to puke...it didn't work. I didn't know what to do. I ended up leaving work early and going home. I got home and laid down and slept until it passed.
These changes are all changes for the good. I am much healthier having made these changes. Change is definitely a good thing.
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