The Oral Surgery Rite of Passage & Soft Diet + January Progress & Wrap Up

I've been a little quiet because I got all four wisdom teeth pulled on Thursday.  Well, I wasn't exactly quiet on Facebook (sorry, friends!), but I was in no mood to blog anything.

I never had surgery in my life (I know, I'm very lucky), and it was my first time getting anesthesia and nitrous oxide.  I woke up freaking out because I didn't realize that I had even fallen asleep.  I swore that only 2 minutes had passed when it was really a half hour.  And then I started crying my eyes out because I was so freaked out by the loss of time and just what had really happened.  A friend shared a good theory that since one is not quite "asleep" with dental anesthesia, emotional freaking occurs once the body starts realizing the trauma it endured for a half hour.  I think that's a really good possibility for what happened to me because I am such a pain wimp, especially when it comes to anything involving my mouth. (and I had a tongue ring for 7 years!)

The first day was a liquid diet.  I couldn't eat after midnight before the surgery (no problem, it was at 8:45 am), and I finished my huge dinner around 8 pm.  Here's a screen grab of my food tracker for Wednesday: (and before you ask, I hardly make all those choices anymore, I was very stressed cleaning up all my piles at work and just wanted some damn bacon during the day.  I also wanted to fill up my tummy big time for Thursday.  Looks like I succeeded!)

One cool thing about MyFitnessPal is that after you complete your day, it will tell you what you'll weigh in 5 weeks if you eat like that every day.  I was told I'd gain 7 lbs.  Yeah, and this was not too off from what I used to eat for years.  Well, that's eye opening!

On our way to the oral surgeon....

Top left: On our way home and dazed.

Bottom left:  What fresh hell is this?
Right:  Yes, there are English Breakfast teabags in my clotting and sore mouth, f**k off!

Yeah, I was not a happy camper on Thursday and most of Friday.  The liquid diet was crazy to get used to.  By the evening, any little smell or sight of food was setting my tummy into huge growls.  But I didn't feel like eating because it hurt to open my mouth too wide.  The broth and slushy food just felt like a nutritional obligation by that point.

I rather liked the notice I got from MyFitnessPal after I completed the day:

Glad to see they don't encourage anorexic behavior.  (Not like they would, but you know what I mean!)

I woke up on Wednesday mildly hungry even though I hadn't really eaten for over 30 hours by that point.  I knew I couldn't just grab anything since the soft diet was about to take effect.  I didn't eat until around 11 am because I just didn't feel like putting the effort into food, and it was becoming easy to not eat.  That feeling freaked me out.  I got on the scale with clothes on just for the hell of it, and I had dropped 2 pounds.  That freaked me out all the more.  I immediately went to go cook some eggs and ricotta with a side of applesauce.  There was no way in hell I was going to encourage that behavior!

The only side effects besides a sore mouth (hurts to laugh or yell) was on Friday after breakfast...I was doing the salt water rinse and couldn't get the egg out of my bottom wounds.  The doctor's office told me to come in and he demonstrated with a syringe how to clear my mouth out if anything gets caught.  I've been using it faithfully since-  if anybody gets an extraction, make sure you're sent home with one of these!  Otherwise, I was just a lump on the couch for 4 days.  I didn't go to work today because of a never-ending snowstorm in our area, but I appreciate the extra rest.  

I got on the scale today, like I normally do on Monday mornings, and I had dropped 3.4 pounds in a week.  WHAT?  That is crazy considering I was on prednisone, about to start that oh-so-fun time of the month, and eating within my targeted calorie range again.  I don't know what happened, and I don't like the fact that starving for a day helped, but I guess I can consider it a mini-cleanse that broke my plateau.  I don't intend on doing that again unless I have to have surgery (knock wood), so let's just call it a well-timed event.

Normally, I would do the progress post separately, but I think it ties in nicely with the last 4 days, so let's get to it!

January weight loss:  4.4 pounds

Total weight loss:  45 pounds (I rounded up the .2, sue me)

My husband was making me laugh as he took the picture, so at least I don't look cranky this month.

The scale numbers were pretty stubborn this month, but I think I'll have a much more successful February now that I see that burst of progress.  I think this current week long soft diet is helpful because it's making me really think about what I'm eating.  Plus, I think it'll break me of the cookie habit I was forming.  

Lots of NSVs this month...I bought a pair of pants and a dress that were both size 16!  That's most certainly due to the cut and brand of each, but I'd say it's an accomplishment.  I plan on writing about how inconsistent sizing and numbers are in the near future.  I also layered for the first real time and zipped my knee high boots with no problems or squeezing.

My favorite PJ pants are beyond huge...as is this shirt that you can see me wearing tightly while clinging onto James Marsters in my very first post.  These are the pants I can't wear while doing Wii dance games.

Feeling good in my new skirt and haircut and the aforementioned boots, even after eating that huge meal.  Military green chevron pencil skirt?  Yes please.

I am 5 pounds away from my second goal, and I'm really excited and proud!  I know that's what will encourage me to keep going, even during this cold and nasty weather.