Week 6 of 52 – Frankfurt and Berlin – Nov 26, 2011 – 182 lbs

The first stop on our month long trip through Europe was to Krankenhaus Sachsenhausen
for my 4 week check up.  The check up consisted of a meeting with the nutritionist.  I’m not having many issues however when I told her I was constipated she immediately asked if I was drinking enough water…..so I was busted on that account and so one more reason to drink, drink, drink.  So tough though.  I then had an ultrasound to check for gall stones, kidney stones and to be sure the stomach was in good shape…..and I got a clean bill of health and was told I could go off of my cholesterol medication!  In fact, they said I could now eat anything I wanted…...(hah!).  They should have said, anything my new tummy approves of…..

 

My first attempt at this plan did not work very well.  Hoo boy, we were invited to a friend’s house for dinner and they went to so much effort to prepare a traditional German meal for us – and I could eat none of it!  I felt so bad.  They started out with a bottle of champagne, and I accepted a glass and sipped tiny sips.  Then dinner was served with a starter spinach salad…..and I haven’t tried to eat any salad yet.  I took three little leaves and some bacon bits….and tried to eat some of it, but could not.  I finally told them I was having stomach trouble and to please forgive me.  These are not close friends; they are relatives of friends so telling them about my surgery was not an option as I didn’t want it to get back to our friends.  (Plus, we hadn’t told them we were in Frankfurt a month earlier!).  They then brought out these huge portions of wrapped beef, potatoes and cabbage.  I ended up only eating part of potato; and of course no desert.  At least my husband ate a lot and they seem genuinely concerned about my ‘health.’  As you can see from the table they set, they really worked hard on having us over……I am so happy we are not planning on many of these dinners in the next month.

 

The next day we were off to Berlin where we have been in a hotel for the last 5 days.  Lots of options for breakfast; eggs, yogurt, cheese, bacon, sausages.  But I have found my tummy is quite happy with just yogurt with some protein powder and maybe some cereal sprinkled on top. Weird to be sitting in the breakfast room watching everyone heap food on their plates….I used to one of them!

Lunch has been tough….we are out and about and one day I resorted to scraping the top off of a slice of cheese pizza.

 

Dinner hasn’t been much better; but tonight I had a lovely soup and I was happy with that.  Eating is a bit of a wild card; sometimes it goes down well, other times I feel like I have a golf ball in my throat.  (BTW, for any pre-op people reading this, don’t be put off…..you aren’t hungry).

 

Here’s the biggest AHA of this week.  I have felt very weak and tired.  We’re walking a lot but not enough to make me exhausted.  It has to be because I am not doing what we are all supposed to do:  eating enough, getting enough protein, drinking enough water, or taking all my supplements.  But this week was an eye opener for me about how important that is so here is what I’ve done:

 

• I’m rarely hungry, so I figured right now, since I don’t care that much about eating, I am just going to do yogurt with unflavored protein powder for breakfast.  Maybe sprinkle some granola on top for texture. With the powder I get 15 grams of Protein.
• I’ll do whatever we can do for lunch since we are traveling, but I know it won’t be significant in terms of calories or protein, so I’ll probably nibble on what my husband is having.  But I will also have a drinkable yogurt with protein powder that I will carry with me and drink until it’s gone.  15 grams of Protein for a total of 30.
• I found these protein bars that have 16 and 17 grams of protein per bar!  They taste good and are easy to go down.  I’ll have one of those for a snack.  16 grams of Protein for a total of 46.
• Dinner I will try to eat some fish or chicken or something with some protein to get another 5 or 10 grams in.

It isn’t the 60 that they want you to get, but it’s better than what I have been getting and I doubt I was getting that much before surgery.

 

I also bought some iron supplements (yeah!  they’re small pills!) and I am going to force myself to take my supplements every day.  I was always good at taking vitamins, but it’s hard to get them down right now.

 

Water is a big challenge for me.  But I am trying to drink more…….I’m almost out of Crystal Lite and I cannot find it here in Europe, so I’m using something called Bolero….not nearly as good but better than plain water.

 

As you can see from the title I have no idea how much I have lost this week!  No scale around…..

But I did have a fun adventure…..I went to a Turkish Hamam where I basically had to get naked and for 3 hours – I had a body scrub, a soapy body wash, and a full massage.  I felt a lot more comfortable with my body than I would have a couple of months ago…..and it felt wonderful!

 

We are having dinner out with some friends tomorrow night; so I’ll hope for the best…..if you are in the comfort of your own home, then you have a lot more control in this stage of your weight loss.  But I can’t complain; I’m losing weight and having a once in a lifetime adventure; we are on Week 43 of a year long trip, so I’ll figure the protein/vitamins/water thing out!

Thanks for listening….

Queen of Crop