Slow, but Steady

Well, I saw both the dietician and psychologist finally!
The dietician appointment was mainly to educate and prepare me for the way things will be once the surgery takes place. The first couple of weeks will be the hardest part for sure. For the first day or two after surgery, clear liquids only, followed by one day of any liquids. The three to four weeks after that is pureed food(they suggest using baby food). This is the one that I think will be the hardest part! I am already a picky person, so could be very interesting! Then for the next four weeks would be a "mechanical" soft diet, meaning foods that are very tender, moist and easily chewed. Foods must be mashed or chopped. At this point, I can try ground meat. Then the next four weeks after that is the soft foods diet where things can be chopped or diced, still must be tender, moist and easily chewed. Finally I move to a regular diet and can resume eating most any foods as long as they aren't high in fat or sugar. All of this is in very small quantities and over a period of 3-6 meals a day depending on the stage I am at. They recommend no drinking at the same time as eating to avoid "dumping" syndrome. I have to drink 30 minutes prior to or after meals and then it can only be small sips. I am also supposed to take approximately 30 minutes to eat my meals. They gave me a book of guidelines that also has suggested menus and times of day to eat.
Right now, she suggested I stick to a 1400-1600 calorie/day diet trying to get 60 grams of protein minimum, 30 grams of fiber per day minimum, a maximum of 130 carbs per day and try to stay in the 30-40g range for fat. With the help of a weight program I have, I can monitor these things very easily. I have pretty much been doing this anyway and I have thus far lost 8lbs, but I believe I gained a little muscle as well, so likely I lost a little more than that, but since muscle weighs more than fat, it looks smaller. She also stressed adequate vitamin/mineral supplements, which I told her the program monitors for me as well, so I know I am in good shape. She was also pleased with the amount of activity I am getting. My buddy and I work out at the gym three mornings a week for about an hour and another buddy and I walk daily at lunch for 30 minutes. I also go to water aerobics for an hour every Saturday. Sunday is typically my day "off", though I don't pig out, I do enjoy some of the things I don't eat all week long.
The psychologist appointment kinda does an in general exam of how you feel, what your motivations are, that sort of thing. They also decide whether or not I needed to pursue the LEARN classes. I had taken them once before, but it has been about six years, so they did recommend my repeating the sessions. SO, 12 weeks of that to work on. They overall thought I had a healthy psyche and had no contraindications to having the surgery.
I return to see the endocrinologist on May 3rd. I have more bloodwork at this time as well. He will check over my blood and urine studies, as well as my chest x-ray to make sure nothing was out of sorts in those areas. I then envision him referring me to the surgeon, who ultimately makes the decision if I qualify and am ready to proceed.
So, thus far, things seem to be moving right along. I was trying to speed things up, but it didn't quite work out that way. That is okay though. I have been doing more research about it and talking to some people who have had the surgery already, one is a little over a year past surgery and the other is four years out. A friend of Mark's from work also volunteered to talk to me if I wanted. I have good first hand experience to draw from and believe that although the surgery is a risk and will most definitely change my way of life, I really think its the only way to ultimately lose all the weight I need to lose and maintain a healthy body. The extra weight contributes to my arthritis pain and plantar fascitis. Both things should see great improvement after weight loss occurs. I also have a semi-high cholesterol level, its not in the level to be treated, but he says I should be more proactive at lowering it. The surgery will also change that. The surgery will not hurt my ability to have children, they just suggest waiting at least a year before trying. Not a problem for me at this point since I don't even have any prospects for a husband!
Well, this got to be quite lengthy, so I think I'll sign off for now. I'll plan to update again once I see the endocrinologist.
Thanks for checking in on me!