A very bad day with a better finish

Today started off with an emergency visit to the Vet.  Our cat that had been missing was found but sadly had been hit by a car.  We are very glad he was found and able to spend a night with us eating and being loved but ultimately we had to put him down.

I did not eat well today.

I had no breakfast.  I went into work briefly but could not focus so left after making sure payroll was all set. I had a quick shake toward lunch time.  Then, in the afternoon I had an ice cream with Jas.  Yes, I guess I have some comfort issues with food.  Oh well. It was a bad day.

I laid down and tried to rest. Didn't get much sleep last night.

BUT! Tonight I had decided to go to my first support group. I promised to blog about it... And really, what better time, right?  My son went with me.  It was protein night.  There were a lot of people there! Not an empty seat and only 3 people including Jordan came for support.  ( I know it's kind of sad we need support to go to a support group but that's how we roll.)  :)

We got to try all kinds of proteins.  It was nice to meet some other people who are going through the same stuff.

So rule #1 of Protein - don't smell it.  That's what she said.  It has a strong scent and won't taste good if you smell it first.  The idea is to shoot for products that have at least 20 + grams of protein and 200 or less calories.  If you skew that ratio it's not a good thing.  She told us that after surgery our taste and smell will change dramatically.  Most of the protein products now mix really well.  You can mix them with water, skim to 1.5% milk or almond or soy milk.    She gave us samples of different products and many ideas of how to add flavor to mix things up.  Torani syrups, baker's cocoa, instant decaffeinated coffee... you notice that says decaffeinated.  We learned tonight that anyone having the sleeve or bypass can not have caffeine for at least 3 month after surgery.  Say what???

No wine and now no caffeine??  Jay will be working extra hours for sure. ;)

We also learned that since our capacity will be much smaller, if we are tempted to double up the amount of protein power in the same amount of drink we will regret it.  Our little pouches can only handle so much and the rest the body is going to try and get rid of. Quickly.  By whatever is the quickest exit out of our body.  YUCK!
Also don't try to get a jump on things and make up a bunch of shakes.  Protein products that you mix up are only good for 24 hours.  After that they grow some funky bacteria that will make you sick.  UGH.

Also, you can not use boiling water to make a hot product with the protein powders.  Add a bit of warm water first to make a paste and then you can add the rest of the water a bit warmer.  If you try to use boiling water I guess it makes a solid lumpy mess.  Good to know.
You can take instant sugar free pudding mix, add your powder to it, mix it really well and then add the milk to make a really good protein pudding.  It has to be instant, not the kind you cook. They also make unflavored protein powder and she encouraged us to experiment with that.  You can add it to cottage cheese, chili, or mashed potatoes to increase their protein amount. You can buy a lot of the "New Directions Products" right from them at the bariatric center. And you can order some of the "Nectar" products.  They buy them online and don't charge you for the shipping.

It was a great group of people. Everyone seemed to get involved and speak and ask questions and be in a good space. Even Jordan said it was kind of fun, although he might have just been trying to cheer me up. It was a good pick me up.  When I got home Jordan went on my walk with me.  We talked some so it probably took closer to 15 minutes tonight but it was a good walk.  It helped my mood a lot.

I am still sad and I realize I only got in about half my water today so I need to get working on that.  I hope you had a better day.  Other than the small ice cream I didn't slide into a face full of McDonald's like I would have liked so I guess there is improvement.  I definitely use food for comfort but my family stepped up and made sure I didn't need it today.  Thanks everyone for all your love and support.

I think I might go to next week's support group.  It's for patients only.  I assume that means we're gonna do some deeper discussions.  I think I'd like that.

Thanks for staying with me guys, especially today.  < 3

~Mikki