The Beginning of This Journey

There are 15 days until my life will change forever!  On July 18th, 2011, I am having gastric bypass surgery. 

My goal with this blog is to document this journey for myself, my kids, and the rest of my family and friends who are interested.  I can't promise that my english and grammar will always be perfect (sorry mom!), and I can't promise that it will always be happy and upbeat, but I do promise to be truthful and completely honest about what I am going through. 

I started my 2 weeks of Optifast today.  That means that I can only consume 800 calories a day until surgery.  The purpose of this "fast" is to shrink my liver as much as possible and to lose as much belly fat as possible, so that the surgery is easier for the doctors.  Optifast has shake mixes, soups, and bars that will act as my meals and snacks for the next 2 weeks.  I can also drink as much water and any other sugar-free, non-carbonated liquid I would like, and if I'm feeling really weak, or light-headed I am allowed to have a bouillon cube in some boiling water.  Sounds fun, huh? 

It is 7:11 pm and I have had a chocolate shake, berry crunch bar, strawberry shake, chocolate/peanut butter crunch bar and 3 different 8 oz cups of water with chicken bouillon cubes.  Oh, yes, and I have had what feels like 2 gallons of Crystal Light lemonade.  I am still allowed one more meal shake or bar, but am trying to hold off as long as possible.  Geoff is downstairs cooking hot dogs and french fries for the girls and himself, and I just couldn't stay down there, which he completely understands.  So, I thought I would take this opportunity to post my first blog entry. 

I don't know that I will post every day, but I will try at least once a week.  After the surgery, I would like to post new pictures for every 20 lbs I lose.  I will post the first one the night before the surgery and let you know how much I weigh. 

Until the next time.........