Real food and hunger

Well, I made it. I'm back on solid food for the most part. Last night I had dinner with my family and it went well. I'm still not eating slowly enough. I know because I was the first one finished with my dinner. Even though I was trying to chew thoroughly and eat slower. Guess that tells you how fast I was eating before! We had tostadas. I had one with a shell and then not being full yet, I ate an additional portion without the shell. Just beans, cheese, sour cream (light), lettuce and tomato. It was good. I'm still getting used to not drinking with meals. You're not supposed to drink with your food because either you can get full on the liquid or else it could help the food go through the stoma (stomach opening where the band has narrowed it) quicker and you won't be full for as long.

When I saw him for my fill, Dr. Melniczek asked about my hunger. I told him I hadn't really been feeling a lot of hunger. He told my regular physician who was there, that during the surgery he pulls part of the stomach up and over the band. That part of the stomach contains hunger sensors, that react to hunger hormones. Okay, I'm probably totally botching this explanation, but basically, he has a style of installing the band that he believes helps to pretty much eradicate the hunger sensation by moving the portion of the stomach. Since then I have been paying attention and I'll be darned if I really am not experiencing what I would call hunger. I find that I get interested in food about the right time during the day when I should be eating, but out and out hunger I am not experiencing. I know that the journey with the band is ever changing and I'm not taking this lack of hunger for granted. I know things can change from day to day, but for now I am so thankful for this respite from the monster of hunger that has plagued me so much of my life. It makes it so much easier to make good decisions about what is going into my mouth.

I've been sick with a sore throat and cold symptoms, and after my worst sick day the scale showed a 34 pound loss, total. I asked my sister if that's sick to enjoy seeing weight loss when you're sick. Her wise response? That's one of the few things to enjoy about sickness, is the accompanying weight loss. So I'm really about 32 pounds down as of yesterday. Adding solid foods back in might slow this weight loss down. Time will tell!

I went walking for 20 minutes this afternoon. That's all I can handle for now. I'm going to go more often. I haven't been doing enough.