HEy there. I'm excited to see you kickin' booty over there. 30 minutes twice per day...I need to get it in gear!

I can't believe you're already back at work. I'm hoping to go back on Monday but I've had some good complications and haven't been cleared as of yet.

"Good complications?" I'm sure you're scratching your head on this one...LOL!

With my weight loss, I was feeling cold and sluggish all of the time. It turns out that one of my BP meds was a beta blocker and was slowing my heart rate down to the low 40 and high 30s...pretty dangerous to say the least. So the good news is my weight loss has allowed me to get off some of my meds.

I'm loving it and shooting get get off all of these pills!!!

Keep doing what you're doing...I'm proud of you!!!

Charles

And I am up walking now. Nurse Debbie said get up every two hours. I might have cheated a little on that one. 4 hours of sleep in a row was heaven. but I am walking walking walking.

I think he was thinking about keeping me. He gave the order for full liquids late. But I just needed to go home. I needed some rest and there is no sleeping in the hospital.

I will just follow the rules. Today will be 1 more day of clear liquids. Then tomorrow starts full liquids and vitamins and 30 minutes of walking outside. Just getting up the 2 flights of stairs to my place was challenging. I think getting down them will be more difficult, but I will. Slowed and steady wins the race, fast and hurried fall on face. I came up with that when I was on crutches for 9 months. I had a diabetic ulster that would not heal on the bottom of my foot. So I would chant that while scooting up the stairs backwards on my butt.

When I get to the soft pureed food stage, I am going to go back and look at you Chicken recipe. Thanks again, coach.

How about I sent this to myself??? LOL!!!

Can you hear me cheering down here in SW Atl.??? I'm so happy for ya!!!

The things that helped me with the gas (other than walking) were the heating pads and that spirometer thing.

The pads, I actually taped them to my chest as I walked and laid around. The spirometer, while I watched TV I would just sit there inhaling on that thing.

I turned it into a game trying to get the plunger up the 3,500 level but doing it really slow so the ball stayed in the good area. That deep breathing helps to get that gas into your lungs so you can exhale it. It seems like a silly, almost toy-ish little gadget but that thing was my friend for sure.

I was hoping you might stay an extra night. That really helped my transition. BUT then my insides were a mess from my previous hernia surgeries. You'll be fine. Just don't stop moving and take it slow...really slow.

Hey, Charles. I did exactly what you said to do after surgery yesterday and jumped right out of bed, put on my own PJs and walked. The nurses were amazed. They called em their little triathelete. I don't know your last name, but I gave you full credit. I was good until about 3:00 am when the gas hit hard and I had not gotten any sleep. I let them give me some pain meds to knock me out. I felt so much better after sleeping for 3 hours.

But the gas pain thing is unreal. I heard everyone talk about it, but you can't imagine it until you go through it yourself. It is everywhere and it hurts so much. I spent all day on my feet working through that. My friend took me home about 3:00. I had not tested the liquid pain meds today at the hospital, so I took a tiny sip. My body instantly rejected it. So, over the counter Tylenol. My incisions don't really hurt unless I am getting up or laying down. But the gas is crazy.

I am so much happier at home. I just took a nap and now I am walking. THANK YOU, COACH! I think you saved my butt.

Just thinking about you. I'm sure all went well with Dr. Macik. I'm so proud of ya!!!

Part III

Look, what I want you to know is that you can absolutely do this. You can do anything. I'm losing and feeling as good as I did in my early 30s.I just keep visualizing myself as the weight I was in my 20s while I'm laying in the bed. I know I'll get there and you can get down to whatever weight you've picked out for yourself as well.

One thing I've really had to work on is getting my mind right for all of this. Our mind and our related self image is where we often need to do more work than we'll ever have to do with exercise and eating. I say this because if you're looking at yourself the right way, the exercise and eating will follow right in line.

I guess I've said enough this morning.

Have a great day...

Charles

Part II

You really made me smile when you mentioned being inspired to cook. That's awesome. There's nothing to be afraid of with it. I mean the more you try and experiment the better it will turn out.

Start out with recipes and as you get more comfortable you'll find yourself breaking free and trying your own spin on things.

I'm more of a dump cook. I don't usually measure anything out. I just try not to ever add too much of anything but I am known as a seasoner too.

I like my food to be flavorful but not to overwhelm the natural taste of the ingredients. What I mean is I like to taste the chicken and have the sauce add a hint of flavor versus the sauce being the only thing you taste and you only get the texture of the chicken. I call this clean cooking.

Now check this out...I just did a quick search. I wanted to see if my term "clean cooking" meant anything to the rest of the world. Turns out there's a magazine on that very topic.

Clean Eating Magazine

I may have to subscribe to get some tips.

Okay, a three parter...

Hey there.

All is going well. I just need to slow down while eating. There have been times when I've done exactly what they advise that we not do...be engaged in conversation while watching TV and I've taken bigger bites than I should have. I've yet to throw up or anything but that can be mighty painful. I think yesterday was my last day for that though.

No to the cabin fever. My parents are here and I've been getting out quite a bit. I'm just very mindful of what I do...no major bending or lifting.

Don't worry about the chips. I mean it's good that you felt bad about it but that means you will probably stay away seeing as you felt to guilty. That's a great thing.

I also received your other message last night about the EVOO. That stands for Extra Virgin Olive Oil. LOL I don't like her shows too much but I think that Rachel Ray is one hot mama!!! I picked that up from watching her show. (Stop laughing...LOL)

I wrote too long so this is a two parter...LOL

You are really inspiring me to try new things. I am really not much of a cook now. I do not own a blender or a food processor, much less a Green Egg. I have read all these great recipes for soups with cauliflower and chicken stock as the 'cream' base.

I do have 1 question. You referred to EVOL or something like that in your recipe. What exactly is that?

How's it going?

Hey there. I'm back at the house. Macik is incredible. Everything other than the gas pain went smoothly...you will be fine.

Make sure you're all over your protein diet.

Now. about this gas pain...I've seen postings where people are saying GasX or something of the sort will help. Nothing doing.

The gas that is painful is in your body cavity and it will make you feel like you're about to have a heart attack. To get rid of it...walk, walk and walk some more. As soon as they took me to my room, they expected me to want to lay down and rest. Because I had heard about the gas pains I had one of the nurses to give me some support and I walked. It's so important because without getting yourself moving, the pain of that gas can really be, well, painful.

That all said, today, I feel awesome. I'm on clears of course. I have my chicken broth that I've added a little seasoning to that I'm going to eat, plus plenty of my sugar-free popsicles and crystal light. Tomorrow I'll be able to go on to full liquids which I'm really looking forward to because I love my protein shakes.

I'm so looking forward to getting my sexy back!!!

Let me know if you have any specific questions. If I have an answer know that it's yours.

Take care...

Charles