Excitement!

Today was my first visit back to the doctor's office since my surgery. I met with the dietician, Jodi, and met with the PA as well.

Jodi went over with me that I can start solid foods today, which was a surprise as I thought I was going to mushy food. She told me to eat some soft foods for the first couple of days to be safe, but after that, I'm good to go!

Pretty much, I'm restricted to 30g of carbs a day, and I need to get at least 60g of protein in a day. I don't need to count calories or fat or anything like that, which is a relief. I don't like having to count all of that stuff, and I've always felt it was ridiculous in the first place. I think this kind of restriction will be easier as time progresses and I learn how many carbs each of the things I put in my mouth has. It sucks giving up all the bread I love to eat, but it'll be worth it in the end.

So, today we went out to eat, and I had some grilled salmon and steamed carrots. It was delicious! Now, since we were at Cheddar's, the plates were huge. I was only able to finish about a quarter of my salmon, and four or five baby carrots. I'm not sure if this kind of restriction is due to residual swelling, or if the placement of the band is already curbing my appetite.

Honestly, it's a little strange getting used to. In the past, I would've been able to finish most of my plate and dessert. I felt weird when I looked back down at my plate and it barely looked like I touched it. That is going to take some time getting used to. Also, it's going to take some time getting used to not ordering a drink when I go out to eat! I had a unsweet tea that I sweetened with Sweet N Low with my meal, but I barely touched it.

Now that the dreaded liquid phase is over, though, I think things should go fairly smoothly from now on.

Another thing Jodi brought up to me was that she was getting a team together for the Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon here in San Antonio on November 11th. There is a walking, "wogging" (walking/jogging), and running team. She wanted me to join, and said she thinks I should aim for the wogging team. All it took was her encouragement and BAM, I signed up. She e-mailed me a copy of the training schedule (pretty much my new exercise routine for the next couple of months), and next Saturday is our first meeting as a team. I'm really excited for this, because it's something I've never done before!

A friend of mine also brought up another marathon in December. It's an all girls marathon with mud and obstacles and stuff. Sounds interesting to me, and I believe that if I train for both of these marathons, not only will I be helping my weight loss goals, but I'll be having fun with it as well. I'm super excited.

My first fill is scheduled for July 19th, after I come back from San Diego. I wonder how much I'll even need since I'm experiencing so much restriction already. The hardest part is getting my butt up to go exercise, but I think with this whole new determination to meet my goals for the marathon, I'll be successful.