Day 7: When all else fails, take a nap

Napping is officially my new favourite pastime - in fact it's become a necessity.  While I'm eating (and by eating I mean drinking) lots each day and getting some exercise, I need to remember that my body is still healing and getting over surgery and that I shouldn't push myself.  Luckily for me, Cindi reminds me of the fact that I need to rest and she has also joined the napping club.

Today was no exception as my morning involved a lot more exercise that the previous few days.  We took a short drive to the local Medicare office to claim some of the money back on my surgical fees.  Medicare is the national health system in Australia which partly funds medical costs for all citizens (very different to Medicare in the U.S).  By the time we returned it was time for another early afternoon nap.  The evening was spent walking into Newtown (my local area) and even stopping for a quick beer at the local pub which I did not think I would be doing only seven days after surgery.

A friend popped over for dinner in the evening which consisted of take away food from the local Italian restaurant - and I even got my dinner from there as well.  You'd be surprised at what you can blend for dinner and it's been interesting testing out some new recipes, but more on that in a later post.

I'm now 3kg down in weight from the day I went for surgery, so that will be something to watch as the days go by.

Day 5: It's all yellow

Today I've noticed a couple of things:

• I'm becoming very bruised on my arms, neck and chest - a good sign that my body is healing.
• My face is starting to tingle in different places and there is an itch I cannot scratch.
• The shape of my face is changing each day and I wonder what the final result will be.
• I absolutely need a shave although I'm also liking this rugged, manly look on me.

       

I'm getting quite used to this whole liquid diet and the weight is dropping off pretty quickly.  If there is one suggestion I can make to anyone about to go through this surgery, it is to bulk up beforehand.  I purposely put on 5kg (11 pounds), but I'm losing it pretty quickly and feel like I should be writing a Bridget Jones style diary: 

OK, maybe not.

Today I participated in a little outdoor exercise as I felt that the swelling had gone down enough to not make children scream.  And by a little bit of exercise I mean walking to the car and back.  This completely exhausted me.  Although Cindi and I are packing lots of nutrients into my smoothies we realised that I need more protein - cue an online order of 1kg of whey protein isolate.  We are by no means nutritionists - although Cindi does know a lot about health, but packing more protein and fibre into my liquid meals will ensure that I feel satisfied for longer while at the same time giving sustained energy release.  Compare that to sugars and carbohydrates that give a quick burst of energy that then decline rather rapidly.

Anyhow here is an updated photo of how I am looking so far.