The best thing since sliced bread

I recently received an unexpected package in the post. It turned out to be a free sample of a new cookie developed by Weight To Go. 'A diet chocolate cookie', I thought, 'how marvellous!' A day or two later I found myself peckish and remembered the cookie. As I tore off the silver foil wrapping I couldn't help noticing how heavy it felt - dense and solid - not like a normal cookie at all. I glanced at the nutritional information and was horrified to see that this mere cookie would set me back more than 400 calories. Granted, it had a higher proportion of protein and fibre, and less saturated fats than a 'standard' cookie, but at a whopping 400+ calories this was not just going to be a snack, more a meal replacement.

I bit into to it and discovered it had the density of a car tyre, and was as chewy as molten rubber. The taste was a mixture of yoghurty, chocolatey (but only slightly), burnt egg white! Now, I'm willing to eat stuff that tastes and feels really nasty if the nutritional benefits are there, but this thing not only weighs half a tonne, it has more than 400 calories in it! It might have lots of protein and fibre, but surely I'd be better off eating a banana? In fact I'd probably do better, calorie-wise, eating a banana dipped in chocolate sauce to be honest! Sorry, Weight To Go, but this is a case of tear up the recipe and start again.

That said, the Weight To Go shakes are, for me, literally, the best thing since sliced bread. I NEVER start my day without a strawberry shake, and over the past four years they've solved a life-long problem I used to have with eating breakfast - namely - I didn't! They're not cheap, but for anyone with a gastric band who finds it difficult, like me, to eat solid food in the morning, then these shakes provide the perfect protein-rich kickstart to the day (along with a mug of strong black coffee, of course!).

Post-fill impatience

I'm supposed to be on my second day of fluids today but have already lost patience! I stuck to fluids during the day but by the time I got home from work I was impatient to get back to mush. Everything I've consumed today has gone down really well, without any hint of any problems like I had before. This evening my will weakened and I decided to opt for a soft mush meal of mashed potato (ready-made from Tesco!), tinned tomato and scrambled egg. I ate it really slowly and it took about half an hour. I'm delighted to say that it all went down without any problems at all, and has left me feeling very satisfied. I will go back to soup and protein shake tomorrow for breakfast and lunch but will have mush in the evening again.

I am still not entirely sure what the reasoning is behind going on fluids for three days and mush for three days following a fill. I have heard people saying it is to allow the stomach time to settle after being 'disturbed' with the fill. I have also heard about some people who suffer terribly immediately after each fill - with pain, vomiting and indigestion - but this goes away after a few days and often they find they still don't have any restriction. It seems some people have sensitive stomachs and they react to fills. However, my stomach seems perfectly happy at the moment so I doubt it will do any damage going back to mush too soon - especially as I have been very careful about eating slowly and chewing carefully (if 'chewing' is what you do to mashed potato and runny scrambled egg!!!).

Second band fill

I had my second band adjustment (‘fill’) yesterday. As you’ll know, if you’ve been reading my posts, I have been looking forward to it. It went well – the procedure itself was all rather innocuous really. I waited in a very quiet waiting room (it was a Sunday afternoon!) for a few minutes and was then called in to see the bariatric nurse, Claire. It was nice to see her again because I haven’t really spoken to her since a couple of weeks after surgery. First she asked some questions about how I am doing – in terms of eating and exercise. I then got weighed and have lost another seven pounds since I saw the Dr for my first fill four weeks ago. I then had to lie down on the bed. I asked Claire if the port was in the same place for different people. She said that Dr Favretti, who performed my surgery, usually puts the port a little to the right and below the main scar, but other surgeons often put them in slightly different places. I also asked if it was easy for her to find the port. She said that usually it was, but that sometimes it was a bit more tricky – I hoped that mine wouldn’t be!

In fact, she seemed to have no problem finding my port at all. She pressed down on it. I felt this – it wasn’t painful just very slightly uncomfortable. She then put the needle in. I can honestly say that this part is really not painful – it’s much less uncomfortable than when I’ve had to give blood and certainly a lot less painful than getting an injection at the dentist! Anyway, I hardly knew anything had happened when she announced that she’d finished. I have had an additional 1.5ml of saline added to my band making 6.5ml in total now (out of a possible 10ml). Claire said that 1.5ml was about the maximum that she would put in at any one time (apart from the first fill).

I then had to drink a glass of water – which went down very easily – and that was that, I set off home. I now have to eat fluids only for three days followed by pureed foods for three days – then back on solids. I’ve had some soup and a shake so far and not had any problems getting anything down.

Pre-op diet – early progress report

I’m doing OK with my pre-op diet so far – though I haven’t even done a day yet! I’ve had a second shake and two Weight Watchers soups. I’m planning to have some steamed vegetables (I’m a vegetarian anyway so this isn’t too much hardship) and a fruit salad this evening. I’ve been working at home today so it’s all been fairly easy. However, tomorrow I’m back at work and I’ve got to plan out all of my 'food' in advance - which is a bit strange. I’ll have to blend my shakes before I go, and I've had to buy some food storage containers to take them in! I’ll also have to take some soup with me – fortunately we have a microwave available. It's funny that I've always thought that one of my problems is that my mind is always obsessed with food - and here I am, pre-surgery, having to think about it even more!!

I’ve got the shakes….!

My pre-op diet consists of four shakes and two soups per day, plus five portions of fruit and veg. This is all spread out over five ‘meals’ – breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and supper. I’m fortunate that I’ve been drinking black, sugarless tea and coffee for years so I can drink as much as I like of them without putting any calories into my mouth!

I’ve just had my first ‘shake’ – strawberry flavour. Nice, and very filling, I wasn’t expecting that. It was a bit of a palaver making it – I had to first extricate my antique liquidiser from the back of the cupboard, wash it (not easy when it has some pretty dangerous-looking blades at the bottom, then follow the instructions on how to make my first ‘meal. After adding the powder, ice cubes and water as instructed, I started the liquidiser going and immediately smelt burning! I think this is because you are supposed to set it on low speed until the ice breaks up – but ‘high’ is the only speed my contraption has!