Fills and spills

I had a wary amount of saline in put in my band yesterday.  2ml.  So far so… not nauseous.  Touch wood, fingers crossed.  Ravenous, yes, but not (as yet) sick.  I think the next three days on liquids will pass very, very slowly.

Anyway, time for a status report from the beginning:

• In the pre-op diet (3 weeks) I lost 12lbs
• In the two weeks after the op I lost 13lbs (but then bounced up)
• In the last month I’ve lost about half a stone
• And from my WI this morning I lost 2 ½ lbs this week.
• So total since the very start, including the pre-op diet (beginning of June) is two stones (once you have a bit of bouncing about)

The surgeon said that for the first three months post-op, I was likely to lose a stone a month.  Well, he doesn’t know how pathetic my metabolism is - actually it’s been 1st 3lbs in a month and a half, so I’m not on track to do that (unless I drop 11lbs in the next fortnight, which seems … unimaginably ambitious).  And of course, the couple of weeks after the op has skewed my overall loss to an extent which I’m unlikely to ever experience again (and tbh, given that it was from being so ill, I’d rather not repeat).

My next fill would coincide with the start of my holiday.  They don’t recommend you fly within two weeks of a fill as the air pressure can cause your band to temporarily tighten.  If I’d pushed it, she would have done it, but given that she’s the pro, I’m sticking with her advice.  So no fill now until the second week of October.  I will have to rely on my famously shaky willpower, aided by MFP. 

My birthday is at the end of August and I’m planning on allowing myself some treats that weekend.  And a holiday in the US and Canada can mean some very unhealthy choices and considerably larger portions than I’m used to.  The wild card of course, is what impact this fill will have.  I’m assuming very little or none at all as it’s very rare to get the band to the right degree of restriction in a few months, let alone in the first instance.  A year – even two – is more likely.  But even if I won’t be calorie counting then, I want to relax but not go crazy.  Moderation is always a difficult thing for me to do, both mentally and physically. 

And the sad thing is that a frugal picnic whacked me up by a couple of pounds, so even being careful and sensible, I’m still going to come back home to Blighty considerably fatter.  I’m trying not to worry too much about it and adopt Lesley’s (sensible) advised philosophy that says that friends and food can be just as important as numbers on the scale.  And Seren’s advice about making the experience the central thing and food as incidental (I can try, at least!  Although I can’t quite get my head around that!).  Other than my birthday there is little in the diary between now and the holiday to impact on my losses.  Who knows where I’ll be by then.  Hopefully down a bit on today, even with a weekend off.  Crossing fingers again…