It's just five days away and then i'll be waking up out of surgery right now. That's a weird notion. My life will never be the same after that. That's a good thing, a choice i made and one i'm happy with. In a sense my life has already changed since i'm on a high-proteïn-close-to-zero-fat-and-close-to-zero-carbs diet. The only thing that will change then is the quantities will be a lot smaller and most importantly i wont be hungry anymore! I'm normally a fairly versatile muncher... so i'm bored silly with this diet. Who wants a shake in the morning, a shake in the afternoon, and grilled chicken and veg every day? I'm fed up already. Oh well.. 5 more days.. and then i'll be glad to get water in.
I have to say i'm getting the foul taste in my mouth due to ketogenesis. Soon i'll be smelling too!! Yuk!! So i guess i'll stack up on SF mints. Even Optimel and Teisseire doesn't taste good with the bitter/acid flavour in the back of my throat. I'll be glad to see that gone, but i guess it's for a good cause.
I'm also very busy getting prepared. My darling dogs have been spending afternoons with their respective host adresses so they can get used to things there. Netis (my Black German Shepherd) had a rash going from swimming so took her to the vets yesterday and she's now on antibiotics. This morning i washed the both of them so they are clean, will give them a good brush and then they'll be set to go. Won't part with them till mondaymorning though! Will need to go and get them some food to bring also.
I'm washing everything i'm bringing along to hospital, since there's nothing like the smell of your own fabric softener right? I'm not normally this "structured" so this is new to me. I've got everything under controll though.
I've decided i won't risk going to crowded public places since we've got the regular and the mexican flue running around town. I was supposed to go to the national ADHD convention in the Rotterdam ZOO on saturday but i guess i won't risk catching anything right now. Pity, i'd have loved to see the Asian Lion Cub that was born on the magical date of 09-09-09!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS111C1W2VU Guess I'll be going after my surgery!
My posts are pretty lame now since i can't right about my cooking or my wanderings. It'll change... i know it will.. but it's boring so i've been less then faithful blogging here. Soon i'll be talking about all the changes 'n stuff.
you all have a great day now!!
Love,
Karianne.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Love & Hate, Lost & Please Don't Find!!!
I have a love/hate relationship with my scale. I love the fact that it's always honest, will never not tell the truth and it's always cheerful in the morning. It'll tell me Hello, and I'm ready when i turn on the machine. I am of course never happy when it tells me i've gained weight, though recently it's been very good to me. I hate her telling me I weigh one-hundred-and-seventy-seven-point-eight-kilogrammes! Goodbye!
This morning it was particularly good to me. I can't imagine how (apart from being on a very strict pré surgery diet) but i seem to have misplaced about 2 kilogrammes/4,5 pounds in ONE day???
WARNING DANGEROUS!: If anyone runs across them: Ignore them, don't talk to them, don't ask them questions, don't pet them, don't feed them, don't even look at them!! I know my pounds, all they need is a finger and they'll occupy your whole hand!! Any kindness to them will be translated into your loving them and before you'll know it they'll have moved in permanently!! Believe me it took me years to get rid of these suckers. They're like flees, very uncomfortable and they suck all the energy out of you! So read my lips: telling them how to come home is not an option. I'll get you into court so fast your head will spin!! Besides, they're grown pounds right now... they need to start a life of their own.. be selfsufficient.. and stuff!!!
Have a great day!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Hurray for Optimel!!
I sometimes get a little jealous when reading the American and British Blogs. They speak of ingredients i would soooo like to have.. but can't be obtained here. Torani's SF syrup, Max Protein and all those other yummies..
But we have Optimel! And Optimel is saving my life right now. The proteindiet i have isn't bad, but isn't particularly yummy. So i mix it with Optimel drink instead of milk. I'ts like a yoghurt drink with flavours, no sugar, no fat, only 30 calories per 100 gr. making it a good substitute for skimmed yoghurt and mixes well with protein powder. Because they come in a large variety of flavours you get a different flavour every time! And when i'm hungry i take a little fatfree no sugar Optimel Custard (we call that Vla!) which is yummy and filling. I'm surviving on the stuff right now! Only 9 more days of pré op, 10 days from now i'll be coming out of surgery right about now!
Another part of my extreme diet survival is Teisseire's Sugar Free Syrup. A really yummy and refreshing syrup you can use in almost anything. And NO calories, NO sugar, NO artificial Colour and preservatives. I particularly like to use the Raspberry/Cranberry one, it's not as sweet as most raspberry syrups and mixes well with sparkling water and i usually add some fresh raspberries to the drink... I've declared it my favorite this summer! Right now i just add it to my bottle of water, makes it tasty so i'll drink more!
But don't worry peeps, I'll live.. i've even found out that the Bento Box can now be obtained in my country, so i'll get one when i'm out of surgery to make all those recipes that are going through my mind right now. Funny how being on a diet makes you even more creative with food! Right now i'd die for a yummy smoked mackerel salad with apple and selery... yummmm..
But I guess i'll have to stick to my shakes for now.. *sighs*
Have a great day!!
But we have Optimel! And Optimel is saving my life right now. The proteindiet i have isn't bad, but isn't particularly yummy. So i mix it with Optimel drink instead of milk. I'ts like a yoghurt drink with flavours, no sugar, no fat, only 30 calories per 100 gr. making it a good substitute for skimmed yoghurt and mixes well with protein powder. Because they come in a large variety of flavours you get a different flavour every time! And when i'm hungry i take a little fatfree no sugar Optimel Custard (we call that Vla!) which is yummy and filling. I'm surviving on the stuff right now! Only 9 more days of pré op, 10 days from now i'll be coming out of surgery right about now! 
Another part of my extreme diet survival is Teisseire's Sugar Free Syrup. A really yummy and refreshing syrup you can use in almost anything. And NO calories, NO sugar, NO artificial Colour and preservatives. I particularly like to use the Raspberry/Cranberry one, it's not as sweet as most raspberry syrups and mixes well with sparkling water and i usually add some fresh raspberries to the drink... I've declared it my favorite this summer! Right now i just add it to my bottle of water, makes it tasty so i'll drink more!
But don't worry peeps, I'll live.. i've even found out that the Bento Box can now be obtained in my country, so i'll get one when i'm out of surgery to make all those recipes that are going through my mind right now. Funny how being on a diet makes you even more creative with food! Right now i'd die for a yummy smoked mackerel salad with apple and selery... yummmm..
But I guess i'll have to stick to my shakes for now.. *sighs*
Have a great day!!
Friday, September 18, 2009
How it al started...
After a very active life as a dogtrainer and never slim to begin with i had to quit my dogtraining business due to burnout. And then.. well i was like a magnet to junkfood, comfort food, stress food, boredom food, any old food really and so logically i became a magnet to extra pounds as well. Summer 2008 I lost a lot of the weight with some Yoga and healthy eating but it turned out not to be too good for my back and then i wasn't able to do the yoga but also not able to walk or do any exercise at all and those 40-something pounds came back and low and behold... they brought their friends to come live with me too!
In the meantime everything i have to do to challenge my burnout was impossible for me. The weight was literally weighing me down and stopping me from getting well again. So i got fed up and decided the time had come to take more drastic measures. Because of a wonderful group of people who created a forum for Weight Loss Surgery Info i was able to get a ton of information quickly and knew very fast which of the surgery's was the one for me. It had to be a Bilio Pancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch. A tricky surgery now only being done in two stages.
The Netherlands isn't very far with Weight Loss Surgery procedures and the operation i wanted isn't done in this country frequently and the few surgeons who do know the procedure well have waiting lists up to a year or a year and a half. And once you've decided the time has come.. the time came yesterday. Waiting a year wasn't for me and someone suggested i go talk to Dr Jacques Himpens in Belgium. He's a very experienced surgeon especially in the Duodenal Switch scene. I was stunned to find i could meet with him within a week and get a first quote. He agreed with my wish to get the DS and told me if the insurance company came through he would be able to operate within four weeks!! Wow.. i was all ears.
First surgery he'll take out my lapband (i'll tell y'all about that one sometime i'm sure..) and take away the major part of my stomach to make sure my nutrition intake (in volume) will be severely less. After about 12 months my body will have found a way to counter getting little nutrition and so then the second surgery will occur: the intestinal bypass. About 2 inches from the stomach valve (or pylorus) they will cut the duodenum in half and close the bottom part. They will then cut the smaller intestine somewhere and place the lower half up to join the stomach/duodenum. The part with liver and pancreas will be placed about 3,5-4 feet from the lager intestine so there will only be about 3-4 feet of "common limb" where my nutrients will be absorbed. This last part will make it so i'll bypass about 80% of my fats, 50% of my proteins and 20% of my carbs. I will then have to take supplements for the rest of my life, but will have the biggest chance of reaching a weight closest to my perfect (=healthy not supermodelslim!) weight.
Then the tricky part came: my insurance company. They were willing and able to pay for the surgery but only till a certain sum of money and the rest i had to pay myself. My parents were fortunately very good to dig into their life savings to help me have my surgery. I had the ok only 10 days ago and my surgery is planned 10 days from now.
I also started a high protein, low carbs diet mid-august to start losing some weight allready. And i did, lost about 22 pounds! Today i start my pre op diet. I need to do this to get my liver to shrink a little. The heavily obese have a fairly large liver, and since the stomach is near it this might make it harder to reach the stomach properly especially laparoscopically. So now i'm on protein shakes, NO fat allowed, NO sugar, NO carbs. In a few days i can have some grilled "lean" meats like chickenbreast and some grilled vegetables. I don't mind.. it's only 10 days.. (hungry though!!)
In the meantime everything i have to do to challenge my burnout was impossible for me. The weight was literally weighing me down and stopping me from getting well again. So i got fed up and decided the time had come to take more drastic measures. Because of a wonderful group of people who created a forum for Weight Loss Surgery Info i was able to get a ton of information quickly and knew very fast which of the surgery's was the one for me. It had to be a Bilio Pancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch. A tricky surgery now only being done in two stages.
The Netherlands isn't very far with Weight Loss Surgery procedures and the operation i wanted isn't done in this country frequently and the few surgeons who do know the procedure well have waiting lists up to a year or a year and a half. And once you've decided the time has come.. the time came yesterday. Waiting a year wasn't for me and someone suggested i go talk to Dr Jacques Himpens in Belgium. He's a very experienced surgeon especially in the Duodenal Switch scene. I was stunned to find i could meet with him within a week and get a first quote. He agreed with my wish to get the DS and told me if the insurance company came through he would be able to operate within four weeks!! Wow.. i was all ears.
First surgery he'll take out my lapband (i'll tell y'all about that one sometime i'm sure..) and take away the major part of my stomach to make sure my nutrition intake (in volume) will be severely less. After about 12 months my body will have found a way to counter getting little nutrition and so then the second surgery will occur: the intestinal bypass. About 2 inches from the stomach valve (or pylorus) they will cut the duodenum in half and close the bottom part. They will then cut the smaller intestine somewhere and place the lower half up to join the stomach/duodenum. The part with liver and pancreas will be placed about 3,5-4 feet from the lager intestine so there will only be about 3-4 feet of "common limb" where my nutrients will be absorbed. This last part will make it so i'll bypass about 80% of my fats, 50% of my proteins and 20% of my carbs. I will then have to take supplements for the rest of my life, but will have the biggest chance of reaching a weight closest to my perfect (=healthy not supermodelslim!) weight.
Then the tricky part came: my insurance company. They were willing and able to pay for the surgery but only till a certain sum of money and the rest i had to pay myself. My parents were fortunately very good to dig into their life savings to help me have my surgery. I had the ok only 10 days ago and my surgery is planned 10 days from now.
I also started a high protein, low carbs diet mid-august to start losing some weight allready. And i did, lost about 22 pounds! Today i start my pre op diet. I need to do this to get my liver to shrink a little. The heavily obese have a fairly large liver, and since the stomach is near it this might make it harder to reach the stomach properly especially laparoscopically. So now i'm on protein shakes, NO fat allowed, NO sugar, NO carbs. In a few days i can have some grilled "lean" meats like chickenbreast and some grilled vegetables. I don't mind.. it's only 10 days.. (hungry though!!)
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