Weight Loss Diary--Entry # 1

Well! I'm really gonna do it. My surgery date is coming up fast--it's a week from tomorrow. The people who know about it keep asking 'so, are you nervous yet?' and every time I hear that question I want to punch someone. :-) Truth be told, I'm not nervous--yet. I have spent a year researching this surgery up, down and sideways and so I'm past the anxiety about what a 'serious' surgery this is. 

Of course, come next Tuesday morning when I haven't had a bite of food in 4 days, and I'm sitting in a hospital bed, in a hospital gown, waiting for the anesthesiologist to put me under--I'm going to be nervous as all get out.  But what's the point of being nervous now? I have a week to go! I'm as prepared as I could possibly be, and the rest is in the hands of God and Dr. Valerie Halpin!

But just because nerves aren't playing a big part in my life yet, doesn't mean things are calm. Things are crazy! Let me catch you up on who I am, and what life looks like for me right now.

My name is Dayna Park, and I'm 23. I've been married to the most incredible man on earth (sorry ladies) for just over 2 years. His name is Ben, and he's a civil/structural engineer, a graduate of Oregon State University (Go Beavers!). No kiddies yet, but hopefully with the weight loss, we'll be welcoming some into the world within a few years. 

I graduated last year with a B.S. in Communications. Since graduation, I've worked at three  different companies. I'm sure my resume is a nightmare. Most of it was entry-level customer service work, paying WAY below where a new graduate should be paid. Looking back, I think I was just... scared. Scared that if I applied for real Communications jobs, I wouldn't be able to hack it. Afraid that people would take one look at me and say 'no way is that girl representing our company'. So I've been playing it safe. As a receptionist or a call center rep, I can be a big fish in a small pond (no fat joke intended. *wink*). I can excel. 

Of course, excelling at a $10 an hour job is not all that fulfilling, when you have 4 years of schooling that's not being put to use and $50,000 in school loans to repay.

So just a few weeks ago, I took the plunge. I interviewed--and got--a grown up communications job. Along with it, a 15k a year jump in pay and a terrifying jump in responsibility and accountability. I'm not going to be an over-qualified receptionist anymore. I don't get to sit back and coast by on my high-school job skills.  I'm going to have to grow up, get organized, and crack open the old textbooks. 

The timing couldn't be better--or worse! I gave notice at my current job a week ago, so this Friday will be my last day. Surgery will be the following Tuesday, and after a quick 3 weeks of recovery time, I'll start at my new job on June 15th.

So it’s the beginning of a new life--all around. Can't beat the symbolic value, but gosh I've got my hands full. 

This week, I'm just taking it one step at a time. On the WLS (weight loss surgery) side of things I'm doing my best to stick to the pre-op diet my surgeon put me on. She said its standard procedure, dieting for the month before surgery to decrease the size and fat content in the liver--which they have to push out of the way for the entirety of the surgery. Basically, it's a high protein low calorie diet. The recommended foods?

• Non-Fat Cottage Cheese
• Non-Fat, Sugar Free Yogurt
• Non Starchy Vegetables
• Fruit
• Boneless, skinless turkey or chicken 

Oh, and 3 protein shakes a day to help me get to the minimum 110 grams. 

For about the first week I stuck to the diet perfectly, eating nothing but those foods, and only 3 times a day. But as I found myself getting discouraged and irritable in the second week, I called the surgeon and asked if there were some other foods that fit within the program. She told me it was fine to eat anything high in protein and low in fat and calories. So I've branched out into some whole grain sandwiches, fish, and other things to help shake things up. 

I'm actually doing pretty well, I think. The hard thing is that I can't really know for sure. I weigh quite a bit more than the average person, so there's not a bathroom scale in sight that will tell me if I'm making any progress, and I'm big enough that I can't SEE a few pounds of loss.  I got so curious that I even snuck onto one of those scales at the movie theatre to see if it would work--the kind you put a quarter into--but it said I weighed about 50 pounds less than I did at my last appointment, so somehow I doubt it's accuracy. :-) 

But I'll just keep trucking along, and hope that when I show up for my final pre-op consultation tomorrow, I've lost a few pounds.

I'm signing off for now, I've used most of my lunch break, which keeps me from over-eating, but I better save a little time to have--yet more--lean turkey breast. 

Adios!