120 Days

I'm not gonna lie...this last month has been rough! I've had THE hardest time getting weight to come off and I've been totally craving carbs. I have been going to the gym but not every day like I should. I've lost 8 pounds in 4 weeks which I guess isn't that bad. I'm down a total of 68 pounds. I wish you could see it better than you can in these pictures. I think the choice of outfit for my "progress" photos isn't the best.

Anyway...I know I need to change some things...like eating more protein, getting more water in and exercising every single day. That's my goal. 2 more pounds until I'm down 70! I will go to my 2nd daughter's college graduation (and my son in law's as well) on April 20. I want to be down another 10 pounds for a total of 80. I CAN do it!

This is a picture of me from about 2 weeks ago when I got dressed to go to church. Maybe you can see the weight loss better in this photo?

The next picture was taken March 2011. I'm thinking I'm looking a lot better than I did last year at this time. What do you think?

Finally....60 POUNDS!!!

About 3 days ago or so I finally reached the 60 pound milestone! I am a happy woman. Today I'm down 61. Plateau's stink and make me depressed. I try to remember that it's just part of the journey.

A friend posted this in an online weight loss group I belong to. I'll spare you the google image of what I've lost!

90 Days Post op

I wish I could say that I'm down another 10 pounds to make it an even 60 but I'm down a total of 58.2 pounds. I am praying that I can be down the other 1.8 by tomorrow...a follow up appointment with my doctor.

I've been at a little plateau for about a week...the week of my birthday AND Valentine's Day. Maybe there is a coincidence? Although I have to say that after almost a week there is still cake left on the dish and it's probably time to throw it out. 

Some things about the last 3 weeks:

I'm wishing I could actually get sick when eating carbs but unfortunately that is not a problem for me. I haven't really had any negative side effects from this surgery. No hair loss, no nausea and vomiting, no aversion to foods. I have thrown up (TMI-sorry) once after eating and it was after I ate a totally protein packed lunch. Not sure why I threw up because it wasn't a virus or anything and I felt fine once I had vomited. It's weird...but then again so is my body soooo.

I can still only eat small portions which is great and I find that when I am really hungry I can hurt myself by eating too fast. I am still a carbohydrate addict. I really would prefer carbs to protein any day and have to make a conscious effort to eat more protein.

The first pic the before (pre-op) and today and the other one is pre-op, 1 month, 2 months and today. It might be hard to tell the difference but I feel so much better.

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.

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!

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.

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!