Tuesday, January 24, 2012

50 Pounds!

Drum roll please....

As of Saturday, January 21, I am officially down 50 pounds! I had a hard time finding a picture of 50 pounds of fat so this is actually a picture of 100 pounds of fat. But look at half that fat! That's a lot of fat! That's a lot of weight!

I feel great. I'm continuing to go to the gym. I wish I could say that I have no cravings. I am a carb addict. I would eat carbs over protein at any time so I have to push myself to make sure I am eating protein and not consuming an over abundance of carbs. Some days it's really hard to do and some days I have no problem and don't even think about it.

I have to reiterate this...the surgery is NOT a magic bullet. It's a tool to help in the journey. I wish that the surgery had changed my palate but it didn't. I wish the surgery would have changed my brain and the way I think about food but it didn't. The surgery changed my stomach physically but didn't change anything mental. It's a good thing for ME to be able to only eat to a certain point.

Since the surgery we've been out to dinner a few times. It AMAZES me the quantity of food that people consume when they dine. And I used to be one of those people. I could drink 4 glasses of coke at one meal, share an appetizer, have the entree and then eat dessert. That sounds normal right?

Let me tell you what I ate on Friday night at Texas Roadhouse. I ordered a 6 oz sirloin with a loaded baked potato and steamed broccoli and carrots.They have rolls there too. REALLY yummy rolls. They also have peanuts on the table. I love peanuts. I love the salty, crunchy, chewing of the peanuts. But I also know what too many peanuts will do to me.So here's what I actually ate:

3 peanuts
1/2 roll
1/3 of the sirloin
about 1/4 of the potato...probably a little less
3 small pieces of broccoli
3 baby carrots
about 1/3 cup of water

After dinner I was FULL! Now...I probably could have done without the roll. There are a lot of sleevers out there who don't touch carbs at all. I try not to do it too much and I feel like if I have 1/2 a roll I'm doin' alright.

So...look down there at the picture. See half of that fat? That's what's gone off my body! Amazing.


Monday, January 16, 2012

2 Month Surgiversary



So today is my 2 month surgiversary. I am posting the pictures although I don't think they really show the weight loss because my shirt is baggy. (The gray shirt is in the wash so I grabbed the white one.)

I have been going to the gym since joining last Tuesday. I've been 3 times and my goal is to go every day this next week, excluding Sunday. I'm getting a little faster on the treadmill and am burning about 300 calories and walking 2.25 miles each time. Afterwards I do some weight training for my upper body. My legs and hips are losing more weight and inches than my abdomen which is where I need it the most. Today I started working on the abdominal muscles on the Nautilus equipment.

Here's to another successful month!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

OH MY GoodNESS!





Ok...so I've measured my body twice since beginning this journey. I was astonished at how large my body was. I mean to see the numbers...WHEW! What an eye opener.

The last time I measured I had lost a total of 14+ inches. I finally measured again today. OH WOW!!!

I have lost a total of....(drum roll please) 26.5 inches from my body.

Here's the breakdown:
neck: -1 inch
arm: -.25 inch
chest: -4 inches
waist: -4.75 inches
hips: -9 inches!!!!!!
thighs: -7.5 inches!!! 

What the heck? I can't believe that my hips and thighs were so much bigger than they are now. No wonder I can move better!

It was an eye opener that I need to do more for my upper body to lose inches.

Non scale victory- Today I went to the gym and walked 1.6 miles in 30 minutes.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Yippie!!!!

A great few days weight wise!



On Friday I had to go shopping again for some more clothes. I went to Avenue because I saw that they were having a sale of 60-70% off on some of their clearance merchandise. I tried on several pairs of jeans and found one that fit perfectly.

Guess what size it is? It's a size 16!!!! AND they fit!!! AND I bought them! I got some tops that were on sale for $7 too. My daughter and I went back on Saturday and I purchased a top in a size 14/16! A. MAY. ZING! It's a great feeling to be buying smaller sizes.

I've had some non-scale victories as well. Yesterday I had to clean up my son's room. He loves Star Wars stuff and had a little play area set up with rocks and figures and ships and animals...it could have been a movie set. I really needed to vacuum in there but couldn't do it around all the stuff so I had to sit on the floor and put things away in bins and pull things out from under the bed...you know how it is...especially if you have boys.

Anyway...at one point I noticed how easy it was to reach and move to get what I wanted and I had the realization that as I've lost weight my body has really changed. I used to get so sweaty and exhausted when I did tasks like that but yesterday I could move without feeling like I was exerting myself. As I drove to the doctor's office I thought about how it felt the "day I woke up fat". I remember sitting on the floor with my 5 month old baby wearing a pair of jeans that were probably two sizes too small. I remember the feeling in my legs and feeling like my legs were stuffed into my skin. The reality was that my fat was making my skin stretch in my legs. I hated the feeling. Unfortunately I got used to it and packed on even more weight over the years.

But yesterday I had the opposite sensation. It was a small epiphany for me.

I did go to my 6 week weight check and nutrition class yesterday. It was really the beginning of the 8th week for me because I am a little behind my meetings due to the holidays.

I always dress "light" on the days I have to weigh in. Had it not been so cold outside I would have worn Capri pants and a light blouse. Instead, I chose my light weight khaki pants and a new cotton top. I always step on the scale with great trepidation, even when I expect to see a loss. "Will it be enough? Do I only think I've lost and I've really gained?"

So I stepped on the scale and the nurse said, "Oh WOW! You're doing REALLY good." Then she wrote down the number, did a short calculation and announced that I've lost a total of 47 pounds! I was ecstatic!

The nutrition class was great. I am allowed to eat any foods that agree with me including raw vegetables so that means I can now have salad. I've been craving salad!

The next part of this process is to join the gym. I need to tone up and firm up some of these muscles so that I can get rid of my "front butt". I've said before to some people that I have two butts. One regular butt and one butt in the front where I used to have a stomach! I need to get that firmed up. It will NEVER be what it was without surgery. TOO many babies and WAY TOO much weight have stretched that skin out to the point that it will never go back to being smooth. It will always be flabby and saggy. However, it can be smaller. I need a smaller "front butt". I have a friend, Sharon, who has a blog called My Other Butt (you can click on that and see her blog). I was introduced to her blog by another mutual friend and was intrigued right away because I KNEW she knew what I was experiencing. Her "other butt" is almost gone! She had a lap band procedure and has done GREAT!

So I'm feeling really good about my decision to have the surgery! It has been a tremendous tool for me! I can sense my thoughts about food changing as well. I finally threw out cookies and goodies that we made over Christmas. I don't think that would have ever happened before...mostly because I would have felt the need to eat anything that was in my house.

I'm now in the next lowest 10's for weight. I have not seen these numbers since the birth of my 2nd daughter almost 24 years ago!

I haven't decided when I will tell what my starting weight was. Yesterday I saw the picture of me that they took on my initial consultation with the doctor in June. I didn't even recognize the girl in the photo. It kind of gave me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that I did that all to myself. I can't dwell on the reasons why. I just have to keep moving forward and let go of all that.

Here's to another great week!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Do These Genes Make Me Look Fat

Got this pic from here: http://www.losinghalfmyweight.com/

Update...I'm now down a total of 44 pounds since June and 28 pounds since my surgery 6 weeks ago. I am feeling pretty normal and am eating regular food. I'm not making perfect choices with food but it was Christmas and we baked too much. I'm not gorging myself though. I have had more baked goods than I should have. 

I was down to only 1 pair of pants fitting me and lots of tops are looking WAY too big and baggy on me. I had to go get a new pair of jeans. I didn't want to get too many because I know in another 4 weeks I will need a smaller size.

I went to try jeans on the other day at a couple of places. I grabbed a couple of different sizes, 18's and 20's and by accident grabbed a size 16. The first pair I tried on and got zipped and they looked awful and my fat rolls were totally obvious because it popped out the top! Talk about a muffin top! It was more like an inner tube over flowing my pants BUT not only did they go up my thighs but they actually fit over my hips AND zipped up!!! When I looked at the size it was a 16! I did a little happy dance in the dressing room knowing that in about 20 more pounds I will fit into it for real!

It took several places of trying on jeans...mostly because I can't see spending more than $20 on a pair of pants right now. I finally purchased one pair and came home a happy girl. I have some shirts that I need to get rid of as well as some other pants. I'll purge my closet tomorrow. It's almost time for a new black skirt because in another couple of weeks I won't have anything to wear to church. I'm solidly in a size 18/20 top but it has to be a women's size. They are cut fuller than a junior size 18.

Another 2.6 pounds and I'll be in the next lowest 10's for my weight. Again...some day I will confess my highest weight but I'm not ready to do that now.

Things I need to work on:
  • Eating more protein.
  • Writing down everything I eat during the day.
  • Drinking more water.
  • Taking my vitamins every day.
People who haven't seen me for a while are noticing how much I've lost and it feels great! Here's to a better week! Happy New Year...Happy New ME!