What's new with the bear... - ThinnerTimes

bigbearjeff · 11-06-2007, 10:04 AM

I thought I would plop down and share a little about what's new. Feel free to hit the BACK button if you are bored. I know I get a little long winded on here, but well.. that's just me.

I have been thinking about my experience so far. Isn't it funny the things people ask you? Here are the more common ones:

How much have you lost? (35+ lbs)
Does it still hurt a lot? (No, it never really did)
What do you eat? (soup and protien drinks)
How do you feel? (Great)
You got the reversable kind of surgery right? (nope)
Are you hungry all the time (No, not really ever)

They are the typical things I get asked. I am sure you all hear similar things. I have been thinking up some new answers to these questions just to mess with the multitudes.

How much have you lost? (About $25,000. Can I get a loan?)
Does it still hurt a lot? (Yeah it hurts. You never call, or write!)
What do you eat? (small children mostly (How crude!))
How do you feel? (Feelings are for weak people!)
You got the reversable kind of surgery right? (Hey! I saw TransAmerica!)
Are you hungry all the time (Only when the kids are in school...)

Food and life after GB

I heard many of you speak about "head hunger" and real hunger. I have noticed the head hunger a little, but honestly you start to tell the difference early on. I will say that I crave flavor more than hunger. Now don't ask me why because I do not know, but I had been craving Curry Chicken like there is no tomorrow. Now those of you that have a love for Indian Food know where I am coming from, and those of you that aren't into it will just have to flow along with me here.

I told Dave, "I am craving Curry Chicken bad!" He looked at me and said, "I thought you were not hungry?" I told him I really wasn't but I wanted the flavor. I know that sounds nuts, but it was true. So Dave whips up curry chicken. It smelled OH MY GOD good. Keep in mind, the pouch is my friend, and I did not want to make him my enemy. Dave put the chicken in the food processor, and then added the liquid to make me a Curry Chicken Soup. (Isn't he great!) He put 3/4 a cup in a coffee cup for me. Let's just say... I had a multiple right there. It was OH MY GOD delicious. Now I know some of you have some foods that don't agree. This was spicey, flavorful, and well.. let's just say it is on my favorites list.

This past weekend it was my weekend with the kids. Now my ex-wife and I are pretty close, so that means I can get the kids whenever I want. The oldest drives so they come over more than every weekend which is fine. They are a joy to be around. Plus, he is so nervous I am going to get skinny enough to dunk the basketball on him.. Oh and trust me.. the bear will DUNK again. Mwahahaha! I may be a little "light on my toes", but I own the court in basketball. But back to the weekend...

So I decided that just because my diet is a bit restricted, I was going to make them a nice meal (Dave included). So I made my famous homemade Spaghetti Sauce from scratch. Needless to say, their was an endless parade of people drifting through the kitchen all afternoon oohing and awwing. (I am happy to share my recipe sometime if anyone would like). Dave made some meatballs, and well let's say it was a huge hit. Here is the good part. I had two meatballs with my sauce on them. Keep in mind they were small meatballs, but OH MY GOD! Delish!

Now those examples are a bit extreme, but again it was nice to taste the things I used to love and know I still love them. I wanted to share some of the things I am eating and things I have done to chase away the blah taste of protien.

I have a protien soup everyday for lunch. It is a clear chicken broth soup made by Unjury. It has 21 grams of protien. It is actually pretty good, but trust me after a while you know it is loaded with protien. Enter my new best friend.. CHEESE! yay!

So now when I have this soup I sprinkle Shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Can you say "Mock French onion Soup"? I knew you could! It is delish friends. Really just try it with plain chicken broth if you like. The cheese does what cheese should.. it melts and well.. It's not a multiple, but man.. definitely brings lots of joy to a boring soup.

I also have been sprinkling this same shredded Monterey Jack into my morning Soft boiled egg. Once again nice to have a little different flavor.

(Just a note for those of you having a hard time with eggs. I have to be honest scrambled, and omelletes.. just don't cut it with me anymore, but soft boiled.. is very agreeable. Maybe it is the chew factor.. I dunno).

Okay, so most of you have tried the sugar free jellos. I have been eating those for years, but here's a new spin assuming milk products are not bothering you. Plop one of those small jellos in a coffee cup and pour about 1/8 of a cup of fat free or 1% milk over it. Then chop up the Jello. Yes, yes.. I know this sounds wierd. Just do it. The milk takes on the flavor of the Jello, and it makes for a nice tasty spin.

Now I am sure I have bored some of you to tears with my documentary on food, but hey.. at least you know how I feel about Curry Chicken now.

Let's move on to how I feel. This is all about me.. right? *grin*

I don't know how it was for a lot of you out of the starting gates. I am surely losing weight fast, but OH MY GOD the inches I have lost is insane. To the point where I am stressing about clothes. I used to wear a 3x before surgery, I put on an extra large this week. It was Dave's. I just had to do it to mess with him. He said, "Hey, isn't that my shirt?" I said, "Yeah, don't you think it looks a lot better on me?" haha!

So my butt. Oh yeah the posterior. I remember losing a lot of weight and my but hurt to sit in chairs. Like I was sitting on my bones. If feel it coming back. Everyone says, "Man, look how skinny your legs are". I have to agree. They really are. I have found myself using quite a bit of skin lotion. I heard it said you should always apply lotion after a bath/shower as you lose water then, and honestly being that I have to deal with 64oz of water a day as it is, I want to be able to keep in as much as possible.

Dave made a funny comment. He said to me, "Now Jeff, don't get offended, but I realize now how puffy you were before surgery". Me? offended nahh. I said, "Well duh. I was trying not to explode. Why do you think I had this surgery?" haha

Just a comment on vitamins. I am on vitamins from WLS office. I take 4 in the morning, and an iron pill at lunch for the first week. Next week I do the same, but take 4 more in the evening. Now just a comment. Up to the point BEFORE I was taking the vitamins, I was 100% zapped of energy. I hated it. 8pm and I was crashing hard, but the vitamins made a HUGE difference. I have my energy back and feel much better. So be sure to take them and stick with it.

Let's see what else.. Surely more has happened or ran through this busy mind of mine. I have sent many resumes over the last few days. I have had one response. It said something like, "Jeff, you are still in the running to be America's next top Model. - Love Tyra". Now some of you will get that, and I know are laughing. Those that don't, just smile and pretend.

I want to encourage all of you in your journeys!

All the best,

Jeff

Toony · 11-06-2007, 10:22 AM

awesome post... keep 'em coming!

MiladyB · 11-06-2007, 10:53 AM

*L*

Great information and as always an enjoyable read, Jeff....and YES I did read the entire thing!

You are doing great!! I'm so happy for you.

saraczek · 11-06-2007, 01:17 PM

OMG...I just about p'd my pants on your las line from "Tyra". You are too funny. Glad to hear all is well with you. I'd love you spagetti sauce recipe!
Have a great day!
Amy

Jeri · 11-06-2007, 01:21 PM

Jeff--you're a hoot. Your posts are always informative and entertaining.

I'm glad you're doing so well.

BBella · 11-06-2007, 01:30 PM

Jeff,
Reading about your experiences is very encouraging. It feels impossible that your surgery was only 1 week before mine. I am so disgusted with jello and broths. Chicken curry soup sounds fantastic! My doctor just released me to drink protein shakes today! You have inspired me to look at food more creatively

You're doing great and I love reading your posts!
Best Wishes!
Beth

CanuckDiva · 11-06-2007, 01:48 PM

Jeff,

I love your posts! This one in particular was very entertaining and full of fabulous information. I'm going to try that soup without the curry (sorry, not a big fan of it) but I love french onion soup (or, at least I used to).

, Kimberly

marine · 11-06-2007, 02:40 PM

Thanks for the entertainment Jeff,

It is amazing how you all mention so many foods brands, I do not thing we have these here, is it kind of pre-cooked? Interesting how the habits are different in each country.

Concernign the "bones" discovery, while walking in the hall way without sleepers, I felt the bones of my hill, my foot, and I found it so cool: I lost a lot of weight in the shoes and decreased 1 size in wide !!!
My arms are thinner (not yet wings... but this will be awfull), and my behing almost disappear........ So funny to see myself in the mirror.
HOWEVER, MY BAILEY IS NOT YET FLAT, despite the artificial kind of starvation that WSL did.... do we need 2-3months to "deflate" the bailey? OR actually 1.2 year? I guess it depends on the distributions of the fat.

Funnny enough, I cannot put trousers I used to ware with at least 5 kilos (11 lbs more). Therefore I still believe that my bailey is inflammed from the OP.
Most of the clothes are floating: what do you do? Do you give them away? Sell them in 2nd hand shops? Bying new ones would not be wise. But who said that women are wise when it comes to fashion? Here the costs of shrinking a business suit would correspond to 50% of a new one.. so my choice is clear. Beside by less eating, I save money.
Has anyone calculated the "economies" by not eating all the time? THe food budget decreased ..my hubby worries about the increased potential costs of the clothes.

Good night and cheers

marine · 11-06-2007, 02:44 PM

Jeff a little funny comment on your surname the bear.
My husband used to call me before the OP schmaouzy bear. Meaning in denglish (english-german) the bear who is eating. I then revolted against the name and said if he wanted me thinner, he should start by changing my surname. This will help and potentiate my strong will in becoming... thinner. He then started to call me my "little mouse..."... at the other extreme, and then he continued with the "melting mousy"...... etc, interesting. I feel really microscopic, but wakes up when I see me in a mirror. I am still closer to the bear than the mouse.

I hope no offense..... good sweet nice Jeff

Squishy · 11-06-2007, 05:47 PM

Great post! Definitely not boring at all. I can relate to the boney backside (at least compared to before).

Thanks for the update!
-Mike-