I will <<<>>>.............

I am starting out slow.... here are the first things I need to achieve.....

I will.....

NOT keep spending as if money were no object!
NOT eat fast food
ONLY dine out if it is a social gathering
NOT dine out because I just feel like it
NOT dine out/eat fast food because I don't "feel like" cooking dinner
make sure to keep things to cook for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in stock at home
pack mine and Matt's HEALTHY lunch every evening
NOT drink soda of any kind
exercise at least twice a week for 15 minutes

Those are my short term vices that I desperately need to get past.

Here are some I plan to work on in the future, but I'm starting with baby steps......

I will.....

NOT drink energy drinks (carbonated or otherwise)
Only drink 1 caffeinated beverage per day
use only whole grain breads, pastas, etc.
exercise three times a week for 20 minutes
NOT take a frozen lean cuisine, etc. for lunch more than twice a week
eat fruit and veggies every day
drink 2L of water a day
pick everyones clothes out the night before

This is kindof a 'to be continued' as I'm sure I'll think of more things I want to accomplish.

Manic

I don't think I'm bipolar in the traditional sense, but I do have manic and depressive phases. I'm usually normal, but sometimes I can go either way. Lately I've been manic. I've been tired and going to bed right on time for several weeks... excessively tired, couldn't keep up with housework, didn't feel like doing anything. Now I'm a bit manic. Everything is clean at home (for a change), I'm staying up waaay later than someone who has to get up at 5:30 ever should. But when I get up in the morning, I'm not tired. I feel jittery.

I guess this is my body preparing for surgery.

I closed my etsy shop so I can completely focus on surgery and Kaytlin's birthday party prep. I have so much to do to prepare for both.

Tomorrow I get to redo my psych eval. Yay... not.

I'm going to start vlogging on youtube. I've really enjoyed watching other people's vlogs, they've been super duper helpful. Who knows, maybe my vlogs will be helpful to others in my situation too. It's different than reading what someone has to say. Watching them, seeing and hearing the emotion on their face and in their voice.

I was working on my OH (www.obesityhelp.com) profile and I came to the personal interest section... you pick your interests from a drop down box and write a description in the box next to it. I came to the 'recreation' section... long list. I don't do any of those things, but I'd like to do a lot of them! So... for the first time in this blog, I'm going to use a very tired, worn out phrase... "When I get thin" I'm going to go kayaking (did it when I was in high school once), ice skating (never done), jet skiing (did it in high school), climb stone mountain without stopping, go snow skiing (never have), and water ski or wakeboard behind a boat (I've tried to wakeboard a zillion times in high school but NEVER could get my ass vertical, and I was pretty fit back then!).

Post-op shopping list:
Gasx strips
heating pad
protein powder
sugar free popsicles
baggy clothing
small pillow for desk
food scale
weight scale (because mine sucks!)
Rapid blast tylenol (liquid)
Broth
Calcium citrate petits supplement
High potency multi vitamin
mylanta
little take and toss kiddie cups (4oz)
soup at hand
jello
pudding
yogurt
salt substitute (sea salt?)

I made myself watch a youtube video of someone getting a fill. Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0AY6Ot_pdU&NR=1

I should watch a video of the actual surgery but I don't know if I can handle that.

Until next time blogland....

Adios caffiene!

Today is the day.

I'm quitting caffiene for good. Wow, those are strong words. This isn't to say that on the rare occasion I might have a little.... but for now, it's goodbye.

Goodbye Starbucks....

Goodbye Coca Cola... my biggest addiction...

We didn't even get a proper good-bye. Gone are the days of the $5 AM caffiene fix, the afternoon cup o' joe, and chugging back a frosty can of the bubbly sugar concouction they call Coca Cola.

Adios.... Good riddiance....

Consult

Here's everything I have left to do before surgery: psych eval, dietician appt, Matt and I have to write our 'Letters of Understanding', and then everything has to be sent to insurance for prior authorization.

The consult went well. I didn't really hear anything I didn't already know from either research or the 3 hour class I took last Thursday. He confirmed that yes I do have to stop drinking carbonated beverages (even diet ones), I do need to cut out caffiene, and I will not be able to drink with meals. Those are the three things that will be super hard to change. I'm going to start working on them now, along with a pre-op diet. I'll likely lose 10-20 lbs in the liquid pre op diet phase, so my goal is to lose 20 total pre op, starting now (well, tomorrow, I need groceries first lol).

I don't think it'll take long to get in for my psych eval/dietician appointment. I'll hopefully be able to start my 2 week liquid diet before everything gets sent to insurance, so I'll be able to get my surgery scheduled sooner... but honestly I'm in no rush. I really want to get it done and all, but I'm not in that big of a hurry. What's waiting another week or two going to hurt? I honestly think they probably won't start me on my 2wk pre op diet until after insurance gives approval, and they'll schedule my surgery for 2 weeks after that.

So hypothetically.... if I get my appointments knocked out in the next 2 weeks, I could be having surgery in just over 4 weeks (insurance already said it takes them about 2 business days to approve).

This week's objectives: Get appointments made, letters written, and start diet! I'll be using the sparkpeople.com plan. I've used it before and IMO it's the best. It's super healthy.