Oh boy...

Back to blogging about my everyday habits. Not one of my favorite things in the world to do, but the more i write about it, the more "real" it is.

Promise #1: I will be real. I will hold nothing back. (Both in terms of this blogging thing and in terms of diving head first into my new life)

So around November 2015, I began my journey towards weight loss surgery; more specifically: the Gastric Sleeve. I definitely qualify for the surgery. Usually you have to be a 35 BMI for basic qualifications, I'm around 40.

Here, before I get any further, my stats:

5'3"

256 lbs as of February 13, 2016

Yes, I know I'm posting all this late. Whatever.

So in order for insurance to pay for my surgery, i have to successfully complete:

• 6 months on a diet supervised by a nutritionist.
• Attend classes pertaining to diet, exercise, and what to expect from the surgery
• Attend support groups for those having the surgery
• Visit a therapist and have them clear me. that i'm emotionally stable and in a good place mentally to do this.

When I first went to the doctor, it was shortly after attending a mandatory information meeting, and he basically looked me over and reviewed all the hoops i have to jump through and sent me on my way. He said that the hospital would call me to schedule the next step (nutritionist).

As I'm waiting for this phone call to come along, Christmas rolls through and I'm talking with a friend at church, we both do sound mixing, and after denying a cookie, he tells me about this amazing diet that he and his wife did. Besides the fact that he lost 40 pounds, his digestion problems were gone. I congratulated him and stored this info in the back of my head.

Along comes February, when my life got flipped turned upside down. You see, in November and December, my family (my parents and my nana) were selling our home of 18 years.

Nana, really, had only lived with us since September 2015, because her health said she couldn't live alone anymore. She is still a VERY capable 74 year old woman, but when she gets sick, she needs constant care. This happening after grandma, who had lived with us nearly all my life, had to be put in a nursing home.

We lost the home as a result of the scams and "accounting mishaps" from Countrywide. In order to avoid our house being sold out from under us in an auction or short sale, we filed for bankruptcy.

While that in selling an in escrow, 2 of my friends, who are both in my small group at church and I've known one for 8 years and the other for 11, asked if I wanted to move out with them.

Then, more recently, as in 2 weeks ago, I'm out of a job and struggling to find a new one.

Plus I'm finding out there's a list of foods i can't have. And I'm not talking about "can't" as in "the diet says I can't". No, I'm talking about "my body physically can't tolerate it and i get sick if i have it".

So, it's not just that my life was flipped. I mean, starting with grandma going to the nursing home, my life has been halted, flipped, rearranged, and as far as I know, it has been put through a cleansing fire.

February 13 was when I moved into the apartment with Jamie and Natalie. Now, I can really call myself an independent adult. So I started to get my life together: scheduling everything and writing everything down so i don't forget. And I finally called back that doctor, because the hospital NEVER CALLED ME BACK!! Surprise? Not really.

“Oh my goodness! I don’t know how that happened! Here why don’t you call to find out what happened,” the secretary said, “I know I sent your papers over. So it *must* be a problem on their end.”

“No, we never received anything,” the second secretary replied, “Can you call them back and ask them to send them again?”

“No!” I really don’t like phone calls. So having a stranger tell me over the phone to make another phone call, a call which she should do as her job… “Can you call that doctor’s office and request her to re-fax my paperwork?”

A day later, she called me back with an appt ready with my nutritionist.

Ready and raring to go, I called that friend who lost the 40 pounds with his wife to ask what the program was called. It’s called The Virgin Diet. I’m gonna stop you right there, it has nothing to do with sexuality or some raw diet or anything. Her last name is VIrgin… But I had been noticing that something that my family refers to as “The Macias Curse” was “extra curse-y” I know I’ve been stressed for the past year. But I can’t control my environment or the situations around me. They say, “reduce stress”. HOW?!?!?! You can’t just stop living. Not everyone can afford a vacation whenever they feel like it. But… I can control what goes into my body. And if certain foods are affecting how my body handles stress… I mean it all added up to me. I knew it wasn’t just going to be portion control. It’s about what is going in, too. So I downloaded the audiobook, since at the time I had a 1 hour commute each way, but wasn’t really able to start listening to it until Tuesday the 22nd.

March 21. I go in to see my nutritionist. Now I weight about 250! Wow! Already 6 pounds gone in 5 weeks from doing nothing! Ok, well, I was lifting boxes and furniture and barely had time to eat. And I wasn’t eating out of boredom. But I knew as soon as things settled with unpacking, I would gain it back.

My friend, Veronica, was visiting when I went to the nutritionist, so I invited her along as my “support team”. I’m not quite lying. This is my only close friend who has been where I’m at now and who knows what it’s like to struggle to lose weight. 2 years ago, I think she lost 40 pounds? I’m not quite sure. But of all people, my parents included, this was the one person I would’ve wanted at this meeting.

The woman took the foods I already eat and helped direct me toward what I can and can’t eat from her perspective. In a meal: ½ must be vegetables, ¼ must be protein, and ¼ must be starchy/carby, with only 1 tbsp of fat. That includes the fats i cook with. So i gotta make sure to use the non-stick pan or else I’m using fats just to keep it from sticking and burning!

I informed her of the program I would be adding to hers. She gave me the a-ok and now I was on my own… I check in with her once a month, and I write a daily journal that includes what time I ate, what I ate, how I feel (emotionally and physically) and why I ate (both whys on what, and when)

I started listening to the audiobook the next day and a basic sum up… eliminate 7 things:

• Gluten
• Dairy
• Eggs
• Soy
• Peanuts
• Sugars and artificial sweeteners
• Corn

Plus eliminate

• MSG
• Other super processed foods

I’ll get more into detail with all this in future posts. If I come to find out that I’m breaking some copyright by talking about the Virgin Diet or advice from my doctors, just let me know and I’ll take it down.