Just a quick note: I have changed my weekly blog update to Sunday instead of Wednesday. We also do our weekly update on our ‘year of travel’ newsletter on Sundays so I thought it would be easiest to do the updates on the same day.
Our last week in Amsterdam has been a good one although as you can see I only lost one lb. But I’ve lost 18 lbs since being sleeved on October 25, so who am I to complain! Remember to look at the big picture.
We have been in Amsterdam for 4 months living in 3 different furnished apartments, and it has been a life-changing event for both my husband and me. The city is unbelievably picturesque with all the canals, amazing architecture, world-class museums and cultural venues, and as I have mentioned, the most naturally gorgeous fit people we have ever seen. It’s also a city with a lot of sexual energy that just seamlessly fits into everyday life. People here are healthy and happy.
I wanted to be one of the happy, healthy, fit, beautiful people. But instead, I was 203 lbs, my feet hurt, my hip hurt, and then my knee went out (oh, and I got a disgusting cold sore on my lip). So, it was here in Amsterdam that we made the decision to get me back on the road to good health; that was late September.
Fast forward and I am now almost 4 weeks post-op. The last month has been a very exciting time as my body changes and my mind adapts. My mobility issues are gone; tonight, our last night here, after dinner with a friend, we walked almost 3 miles through the city to get back to our apartment. It felt great!
My check up is in Frankfurt on Tuesday. They wanted me to start eating real food a few days before I get there, so that’s what I’ve done. Here is my report on real food for the last couple of days:
Thursday night we went out to a Greek restaurant with friends. One immediately commented on how good I looked and that she could tell I lost weight… sweet! We ordered an appetizer plate and I had half a piece of bread and tried several of the sauces with it and ate two kalamata olives. I then took about 1/4 of the moussaka my husband ordered and ate most but not all of it. It all tasted fantastic and went down without any problems… YEA!!!! No one said anything about me eating so little, and in fact, I doubt they noticed.
Friday night we had a dinner party, and again I don’t think anyone had any idea that I didn’t eat much. I served some appetizers ahead of time but being the hostess I was up and about. I poured me some wine and toasted with our friends but then babied it the whole night. (I know you’re not supposed to drink, but seriously, I probably had 3 teeny sips… and sadly it doesn’t taste good right now… I sure hope that changes!) I made salmon, butternut squash and tortellini for dinner. I ate some salmon, all of the squash and 1/2 of one tortellini. Unfortunately, I had to excuse myself shortly after dinner and I did a little slime throw up. But I figured out why!!!!!
IMPORTANT!!! Maybe most of you know this already, but I had to figure it out by myself. I have been taking my antacid pill AFTER dinner instead of in the afternoon before dinner. The night we went out to Greek, I did take it before we left and I think that’s why dinner went down so well. At least that’s what I’m thinking.
ALSO IMPORTANT!!! I entertain a lot. In the past, I would spend most of my time on the meal preparation and then I would think… oh! I have to get dressed and then I would panic wondering what I was going to wear… this time, I spent time on the meal, but I also spent time on me getting ready because I’m feeling so much better about myself and my appearance.
My typical lunch of smoked salmon, cottage cheese and saltine crackers.
My breakfasts are pretty much always drinkable yogurt with unflavored protein powder, and my lunch has usually been cottage cheese with some blue cheese cubes, some salmon or tuna, and 2 saltine crackers. I’ve lost my taste for bread (even toast) right now but I LOVE my saltine crackers.
We leave tomorrow for a month on our Eurail Pass. I really am not sure how or what I will eat for the coming month since we will be in hotels and eating out every meal, so stay tuned. I can tell you this: I gave away TWO HUGE bags of clothes to a friend here. I needed to travel light for this next part of the trip and most of the things were summer clothes or things that were already too big for me.
In general, I feel great. I can’t say I’m enjoying food as much as I used to, but I don’t miss it either and it feels very free to feel satisfied with so little food.
Thanks for coming along for the ride… hope all of you are feeling well, strong and healthy in body and mind.
Until next week,
Queen of Crop
What do you think?