Never ever have I.

Been in the hospital overnight for myself.
Had surgery.
Lost 16 pounds in 12 days.

So on day 9 of the liquid diet adventure I am asking you for advice.

I will be in the hospital for a couple nights what do I need to bring?

Feeling a bit soupy

And here we are the end of day 6. Tomorrow is the halfway point.

The last few days have definitely had their challenges. No hunger pains but, I can tell that I need to be drinking more shakes and working toward better intake. It's hard because you try to go

about life as normal except it's not.  It's like at times I feel like a stranger in this world. My clarity has been really off. So, today I found a few things that gave me joy from my old life with a new twist. 

• At Sonic you can get a Route 44 water with lemon for .44 cents. I have really enjoyed lemon water this summer. 
  
  
• I also am discovering if you order right then you are not stuck with nothing. I even learned about a few Starbucks drinks..  It does require checking the nutrition facts-but, I need to be checking it anyhow! So, should you!
  
• Family time. I love seeing my girls happy and full of smiles.. 

I got out of the house and spent time with a fellow surgery friend. Weight Loss Surgery Winners are full of knowledge. Each person's journey is different. Every experience is different. Every doctor has their own method.. Therapists say “strong relationships grow under stress, weak relationships grow apart or fail". 

Cream of Tomato Soup

I am thankful for my dear husband, family, friends, staff and peers who love me for being fat. I don't feel much judgement. Actually, I always say I lived the happiest fat life. Lots of my friends can't say that. My surgery is not about what's on the inside- Inside I am happy but, my body needs to last a while and I want to continue to do great things- and so I need to lose weight so I feel better. My body is tired of carrying around this extra weight. 

This weekend John is cooking up different soups. He started with a Chicken Stock by scratch. He made it overnight in the crockpot. It was heavenly. Then with the stock he made cream of tomato soup. Now he is working on French Onion Soup. Tomorrow we are going to finish the evening with Broccoli cheese soup. Mostly low calorie, low carb and low fat and best of all freezable.

We are crossing our fingers that Lauren gets to go to Camp Aldersgate again the week of my surgery. It's a long shot but, we are hoping it all works out. We won't know till the last minute- So, say a prayer that would really help us. 

till tomorrow...

The ups and downs of this journey..

Sigh..

Here is the deal. Evenings overall is super challenging for me during this phase. I am tired, my body is in shock and my brain is dead. I am nauseated a lot right now. I carry a pepto bottle with me (and 2 whole wheat reduce fat crackers <cheating) and I had to adjust my acid reflux medication. By night time, I hate shakes and just want to crawl into bed. Several friends suggest PB2. I ordered it last night. Powdered Peanut Butter sounds yuck but, I trust my friends.. 

Also, traveling is really hard. Even to my own families house. And I didn't have a bad time- it's just easier being home. Exercise is challenging- It drains me completely. Must figure out how to balance it. Drained Rhonda can created snappy-mean Rhonda or crying Rhonda. 

But, then I wake up in the mornings and I remember the goal and the reward. The reward of LIFE! I feel renewed and refreshed. Today's inspiration from Jesus Calling is spot on again. "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him" Psalms 34:8

Numbers...  
Weight lost since June 20th  13.6 lbs   (WHAT! This is crazy!)
Calorie intake 1000-1200  (No wonder body is in shock!!!)

Lots are asking how you can help... That post is coming soon. My sweet husband is going to cook me some soup from scratch this weekend. I am getting together with my friend A who had weight loss surgery years ago (our surgery dates will be the same). To those who did this with  out support. You are much stronger than me. 

I can't thank you for your continued support and prayer enough.

Let's do it!  

Pre op Day 2.. We did it!

I am sipping on my shake.. Realizing that I probably should blog early today because I am too tired at night!I had a 2 hour nap today.  

Today was more challenging. Not sure why.. Harder to drink and easy to fill up..  It's so weird how your body reacts to all this. I am sure I was tired from the lack of food.. They warn you about this. Maybe walking will help tonight! 

I am peeing a lot. I had to stop between home and Conway today. They had a subway in the gas station.. ahh the bread smelled so good. :) 

I went to smoothie king to talk with them about a protein powder they sell called Gladiator. They made me 2 shakes to try.. One was coffee. Um yeah, I will be making that every morning! Gladiator is low carb and high protein . (this is challenging to find!) It has 22 grams per scoop (and you can make a shake with 2 scoops). But, your body can only handle 20 grams of protein an hour they say. (I need to find the research on this) So, I bought the vanilla kind in hopes to use flavoring agents to make my own.. I will post recipes.. 

Emotionally I feel very vulnerable. I am not a sort of person who feels this way often. Anyways, the support from friends means a lot. I hope you guys all now that. Even typing Dora's "We did it" makes me miss Lauren and be sad for a short minute. Lauren is having more fun than anyone. :) 

My friend Sarah shared with me about "Jesus Calling". Today's verse is so important for me today. I hope it helps you too.. 

"I am continually at work in your life, even when you can see nothing happening. It’s easy for you to feel stuck in a situation you’d like to change because you can see only the present moment. But I look at the big picture—all the moments of your life—and I am doing more than you can imagine." -Jesus Today by Sarah Young,

Water 32 ounces (see not good)
Oatmeal for breakfast
1/2 cup of decaf tea
1/2 cup of coffee
1 EAS shake 
2 kid size shakes at Smoothie King
1/2 cup of chicken broth 

So, I have some work to do. 

Tomorrow I start pre op testing at the hospital. I start at 8 am meeting with nutrition. Then I have "tests". Then I meet with my Dr. All before noon!!!  

Lessons Learned:
Pack your lunch bag of sweet and non sweet items. 
Carbmaster Yogurts come in Carrot Cake, key lime pie, banana cream pie, Black forest cake

We are also traveling to Mena for my dad's Retirement Reception. 

Seriously your prayers and good thoughts mean a lot.  

Thanks for reading. 

Day One- Pre Op Diet

Ahhh! I made it! We have 13 days to go. Day 1 was what I called a success. And I didn't have to apologize to any of my friends for my unkind words. I had a physical this morning. Just happen to be scheduled. My doctor is Dr. Robertson. She came in and sat down and listened. She is so happy for me. So supportive.. Speaking of support - I had a lot of friends call, text, email, message me... You have no idea how much that means to me. I worked from 11a-530p today. So, I think I did okay. I felt great. My headache started around 7 and I think it's just bed time. No exercise today but, mentally I kicked butt. So, again we will try tomorrow. 

So, here we are by the numbers.
I had 57 grams of Protein
I had 51 ounces of water
I had 930 Calories
I am not a person who shares the numbers of my weight.. But, it's time because we are going to say good bye to each set of the next digits.  When I decided to make a change in my life I weighted 350 pounds. <<<not going back up>>> I have lost 15 pounds since I decided to start this journey. So, yeah, I needed to desperately make a change in my life!  

So not a bad first day. I had 3 protein drinks, bowl of tomato soup and some yummy sugar free jello. 

Best thing I had was: AdvantaEdge Carb Control Strawberry Cream Protien Drink
Worst thing: sugar free Strawberry Shaved Ice (threw it away)
My secret Power: Sugar Free Gum! 

Tomorrow's goal: Drink 70 ounces of water. 60 grams of protein. 30 minutes of walking

We did it friends. We made it through the first day and no one got hurt. Again, love you and thanks for rooting for me! 

And we are finally ready for the next phase.

I totally forgot to publish this yesterday (Sunday)!  

I had a great day with my family. We started off with breakfast at The Diner in Cabot. Then we went to church. 

Then Lauren picked lunch- her favorite Old Chicago Pizza in North Little Rock. Then we took Lauren to Camp Aldersgate. John and I got some stuff done before my mom came down for a visit and we took her to our favorite Asian restaurant Haru in Cabot. I came home cleaned out the freezer and the fridge of crap we didn't need. Let's begin this new way of life.. Ready to leave this fat behind!

Sqeaky wheel...

Thanks for all your support. Nice to feel your support!

I called yesterday and asked the financial lady if there was anything I could do to help speed up the process... I am ready! She says well, I will see what I can do today. By the end of the work day not only was the financial stuff squared away but all my appointments, tests and surgery was scheduled. 

Finally- a plan. 

So we begin the process June 24th and surgery is scheduled on July 8th. Right now, I am preparing recipes. The pre-opt diet is somewhat rigorous. Any input or advice would be appreciated!

My instructions say:

Your will need to drink 3 protein shakes daily, one for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We do not require you to purchase a particular brand of shakes. Some good examples would be Slim Fast Optima Shakes, EAS AdvantEdge Carb Control Shakes, or Adkins Advantage Shakes. You may supplement the 3 main meals with sugar free clear liquids and sugar free full liquids.

Examples of Sugar free Clear Liquids and Full Liquids:

Fat Free broth

Sugar free Jell-O (nothing added)

Coffee or Tea

Unsweetened fruit juices

Sugar free plain popsicles

Sugar free flavored beverages (Crystal Light, Sugar free Kool-aid, Very Fine H2O)

Hot cereals (oatmeal, cream of wheat)

Fat free cream soups (ex. Healthy Choice Cream of Mushroom, Tomato Soup)

Skim Milk or Fat free Milk

V-8 Vegetable Juice

Sugar free pudding

Sugar Free Low Fat yogurt

Liquids sweetened with Sweet-n-low, Equal, or Splenda are OK!!

Any flavor of cream soup is fine as long as it is Fat Free or Very Low Fat (95-99%).

No solid foods and no cheating!

It is extremely important for you to follow this diet prior to your surgery. This diet is designed to help reduce the amount of fat in and around your liver, and to shrink the liver itself. You may also lose a little weight before surgery. If you do not follow the diet plan your surgery could be postponed.

things are coming together!! 23 DAYS!