Retail therapy at Bunnings

Well all this healthy eating of greens, tomatoes, herbs and the like, as well as watching Better Homes & Gardens last night; inspired me today… After I finished mowing the lawn I went to every man’s favourite retail therapy place - Bunnings…

I thought I’d do a little gardening and build my own herb garden and also plant a few tomatoes… I don’t have any garden beds as such because the backyard is so small, not to mention the dog would probably end up digging them all up to plant his bones, so everything is in pots (which is OK for herbs, and we’ll see about the tomatoes.

I was pottering around looking at stuff for almost 2 hours, picking herbs, tomatoes, potting mix, fertilizer and everything else you need for a good vege & herb patch. As usual you always come away from Bunnings with more than you need and spending a bucket load and today was no exception. But hey I’m not complaining, since I started the diet, my daily lunch spending has reduced to $0 and there no takeaway at night either so it all comes out in the wash and eventually I’ll be in front…

When I got home I started to plant them all… Apart from mowing the lawns and the occasionally trimming of trees, or weeding, I haven’t spent much time in the garden in years… All afternoon, until I ran out of potting mix and had to go and get some more…

While I was out again at Bunnings, I popped into the fisho and got some fish for tomorrow’s family BBQ, and also picked up some more fresh salad veges…

When I got home I finished all the planting (it was dark when I finished), I really felt great. This was something that I enjoyed, required NO BRAIN POWER, and I was able to work up a sweat doing it (and was also burning calories too)

I also cooked up some new flavours for dinner, and it was probably one of the nicest so far… 1/8 Cabbage, ¼ Capsicum, a few slices of onion, 1 chilli (seed’s removed) all sautéed in water with a little oyster sauce… plus my chocky milkshake… I finished the cabbage wanting more as it was so yummy, but I resisted (I could have though as I didn’t have any vege for lunch)…

After dinner and all todays exercise, I’m going to treat myself to a night in front of the TV watching the Rugby…

The countdown is on…

My PreOp consultation went very well this morning… The tests from yesterday were all good, with only concern of note was a fatty liver… But that doesn’t preclude me from having the operation so it’s all systems go…

My surgeon went through all the scans with me and explained bits and pieces about the operation and afterwards… It’s actually very interesting and it’s great that you feel involved in the whole procedure...

I told him about my new found energy since starting Optifast and he explained why it was… Because I’m not eating as much, my body is burning up the excess that I have been storing over the years, and therefore reducing the amount of weight I’m carrying (or something like that)

I’m actually going into the new Norwest Private Hospital which opens in September, which is replacing the old Hills Private Hospital, so it’s going to be closer to home…

After the consultation, I went through all the hospital stuff and booked my first month of post op consultations with the dietician, the physio and the first band fill; with the Patient Liaison; who also advised me about “The Liver Shrink Diet” which I’m supposed to start next Wednesday. To her amazement I told her I was already on it as I was told it was a month prior to the op. This is great because now I can have a real meal on Sunday with my family, albeit fish… But I mustn’t complain because I’m feeling great…


On a sad note today though I must acknowledge the passing of friend and mentor John Leake ACS early this morning after a long illness… He will be sorely missed.

More Tests

After this morning's blog, off I went for the Ultrasound and the Barium swallow... I didn’t think it would take that long to get to Castle Hill as I was going cross country, but it took the best part of 3/4 of an hour to get there... And because I was the first appointment (because of the fasting) I just made it...

First of all was the ultrasound... I've never had one of these before, it was really interesting lying there and seeing representations of your inside while being poked and prodded... That all went well and only took 15 minutes, so then I had to wait for the Barium swallow...

The radiologist that greeted me was really chirpy and said "Mr Pickersgill... Are you ready for your cappuccino?” Yes I’m ready for one, but not one with an Iron base… Once I got onto the machine, they gave me a cup with the Barium meal in it… It looks like that chalky shit your mum used to give you when you were a kid had the runs… Well it wasn’t quite that… It was bloody heavy to start with and I almost dropped it… you needed 2 hands to hold the plastic cup to start so it didn’t collapse in your hands…

“Take a mouthful and hold it in until I tell you to swallow” the doctor said… Well I took a mouthful (a little too much), and swallowed when he told me… “Really good but don’t take as much next time…” It tasted disgusting.

This continued about 10 times, in every which way (standing up lying down, on my side and on my stomach), while the doctor took images of my oesophagus and my stomach with this crap rolling around in it… I could see the screen and see it moving about… it was fascinating… The last test was a gas test, where you take one liquid and swallow and then another which then causes a gas to form in your stomach for contrast… This wasn’t much better and gave you the feeling of a really bad gassy soft drink… Once they checked the films (I was keeping Kodak going today with the amount of images they took) I was free to go… I couldn’t drink enough water to get the bad taste out of my mouth…

Then off to work… another day, another 53 cents… Chatting with my boss who has also had a Barium swallow he said if you thought today was bad, tomorrow’s worse when it comes out… No 2’s are bad enough at the moment while I’m only eating greens without this…

Tomorrow morning I pick up the test results, which I gather were all fine as there were no shocked faces or long silences from the Doctor or radiologists; then it off back to Baulkham Hills for my pre-op consultation…

More tomorrow after I see the Doc…

Positive thinking

For the first time in years, this is something I am doing for me and no one else…

When I was first told by the doctor what was involved in preparation to get the band, I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to do it… But since I have started, not only do I know I will reach operation day without “falling off the wagon” (despite dreams of falling off) I’m feeling so much more positive about my outlook on life and what it will be like in the future.

The last few months I’ve put off doing things when I got home and on the weekends because I was feeling tired and lethargic after a long day at work, but now I’m catching up on stuff and getting things done because I’m feeling good, and more importantly feeling good about myself…

One week down

Well its a week down the track since I began on the Optifast Diet and 3 weeks to go until the operation... I'm feeling good, and already starting to get compliments and people asking me if I'm loosing weight...

5.3kg so far in the first week... The first 3 days it just dropped off, but from now on it won't be as much a day, but its all working towards the final goal...

Tomorrow I go in for my liver ultrasound at 8.30am and then the stomach x-ray with the barium meal (which really sounds tasty - NOT), then Friday morning its off for my Pre-op consultation...

Work's been really busy the last few days which is why no post yesterday... I'll post again tomorrow after the tests, and then again on friday after the consultation, which i when I'll know a lot more...

The hunger is subsiding and the temptations are becoming less…

The first weekend on Optifast is over, and it went OK… I think I might be eating a little more than my 2cups a day of greens, but I’m going to start cutting back on that this week – and doing some daily walks when I need to take a break at work… That said, I have now lost 4.2 kg, and definitely feeling the better for it – including going down a belt notch… One more notch and I’ll need a new belt...

I am so looking forward to being able to get into some of my older clothes (and throwing my big ones out), but eventually I'm sure I'll need a new wardrobe... My first goal is to fit back into my Sydney 2000 7 Crew jacket...

So far so good this weekend... some temptations but not as many as Friday... The only down side so far is I have put 0.2kg on yesterday, but thats because I wasnt very active at all...

Today I'm off shopping and probably mow the lawn this afternoon so that will help with todays exercise... I might even go for a walk with Chief...