Day Two on the Bariatric Road

Sept. 10, 2008 -- The meeting of the pre-surgery diet group yesterday was a good orientation. I must lose six pounds by next Tuesday, Sept. 16. That should be a piece of cake. Except I can't eat cake.
I am starting out with the Optifast diet. This means drinking five of the Optifast shakes a day and eating one small meal -- a diet of about 1,500 calories a day. I may switch to drinking Muscle Milk Light because it is a little cheaper at $1.25 a serving while Optifast costs $3.50 a serving if I buy it already mixed. Mixing it myself reduces the cost a little. I think these kind of diets are not very successful over the long run because I have always gained back most of what I lost when I stopped the diet. But I will only be on it for four weeks and then -- on to the surgery.
I start the day with a drink, followed by another every three hours until dinner time around 6 p.m. or so when I can have four ounces of protein and some veggies. I finish the day with a final drink about 9 p.m. I must drink lots of water, which is easy because the Optifast seems to make me thirsty.

An Assist from the Wife

Sylvia is helping me in the diet phase. She joined Bariatic Solutions' non-surgical weight loss program. That is true togetherness!
This will work better for me if I don't look ahead toward how much total weight I have to lose in these four weeks but rather focus on how much I should weigh at my next diet class. That makes the "bites" smaller and easier to digest if I look forward to next Tuesday rather than to Oct. 4.
So far I notice little change in how I feel. Except I seem hungry a lot. Water helps ease that. I find I look at my watch a lot, trying to speed up the clock to the next drink.

A New Me

My daughter said she didn't like the picture I posted on Monday. I picked it to show how bad I look but here is another one. The dog is Grace, our new Corgi mix, who pals around with Buddy, another Corgi mix. Both are rescue dogs.
Lacey at Bariatric Solutions asked if they can put a link to this blog on their web page, so welcome to anyone who wandered in from over there.

Weird News

Back in the days when I slogged around the world as a foreign correspondent I was always on the outlook for the foibles and humor in life. Now I use the Internet instead. Here is a story from Britain about a young lady who found a bat in the bra she was wearing. And my contribution to political commentary can be summed up by "all things Sarah" by the BBC.