Bet you thought I forgot huh! Not this time! Here we go into week 25!

Pounds lost: 43.6

% to super goal: 34.6%

Doing the damn thing!

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This week has been a roller coaster!

As you may know, I have been struggling with some unexplained chest pain, nausea, and assorted other mysterious maladies since June. I have had an endoscopy, diabetes test, full gamut of labs tests, and finally, an ultrasound. Which found…gallstones. 

Yes. Gallstones. 

Did you know that losing weight can kickstart your body into functioning a little differently and can lead to gallstones? I just found that out too. According to my super-scientific reading (and from my doctor), when someone with a lot of cholesterol in their system loses a lot of weight quickly, it can lead to the formation of gallstones.

If I look at my initial weight loss, that may be the culprit – I lost 14 lbs in May, 9 lbs in June, and 8 lbs in July. In August and September it slowed down, losing 4.5 lbs each month. While I didn’t consider my diet to be particularly low-calorie, it’s possible the change in eating habits may have caused some inactive gallstones to become active or something like that.

It’s also likely that my weight before I started losing was making me more susceptible. Then, when I started losing, my liver overreacted and caused an imbalance between the amount of stuff (bile, cholesterol, and lecithin) in my body, which can lead to the formation of gallstones. At any rate, when the gallstones make it out into your system, it can cause all sorts of weird things, like chest pain, shoulder pain, abdominal pain and upset in your guts. 

I am SO relieved to have a mundane-ish diagnosis to explain what’s going on. Turns out I have “a ton” (yes, that’s the official diagnosis) of really small gallstones, too many to remove. So, as a result, I have a surgery scheduled for 11/6 to get my gallbladder taken out. And in addition to learning more about the function of the gallbladder than I ever thought I would ever need to know, in the meantime…

I’m on a no-fat diet. 

I’ll say it again. 

No. Fat. 

Seriously, this SUCKS. 

As part of the Noom program, I’ve been trying to stay conscious of my fat intake, without completely avoiding any types of food. So I still have butter, and chips, and fried foods, sometimes, and within reason. 

But now until 11/6…I’m supposed to be completely no fat. 

The surgeon says that nothing terrible will happen if I have fat, just that the surgery will go more smoothly and I will recover more easily if I avoid it. Plus I won’t have as many “attacks” – where I have chest or abdominal pain, nausea, etc. So while I haven’t been completely no fat this week, I’ve come close.

I even got a handy pamphlet with a list of “good” and “bad” foods. Turns out that if gallstones is something you’re worried about, you can better your chances of avoiding gallstones by losing weight and eating as little of the “bad” foods as possible (though we know it’s not sustainable to cut them out completely).

To give an example, here’s some of the food on the “bad” list:

• Bacon
• Butter
• Any milk other than nonfat
• Red meat
• Pork
• Creamy soups
• Lunch meat
• Cheese
• Fried eggs
• Pizza
• Pickles (!)
• COFFEE CREAMER

Like, only all of my most favorite foods. 

This is making BandGeek and I have to get super creative with our meals. Sugar free for him, and fat free for me. Because we just love to support each other, what that actually means is that all our meals are BOTH fat free AND sugar free, which makes for some pretty boring food. 

However: we are soldiers together in this war and we will soldier on. For at least another month. 

Next week I’ll share some recipes that are both sugar-free and low (if not no) fat, that I’ve found to be acceptable alternatives to all my favorites. I’m planning to make good use of my air fryer, and also plan to stock up on non-fat Greek yogurt. Looks like I can still have stuff like chicken, pasta, bread, broth-based chicken soup, fruit, and pudding! Made with non-fat milk, of course. My doctor and the surgeon both say that after my surgery I’ll be able to reintroduce fat into my diet gradually.

Wish me luck.

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