There have been lots of changes taking place in this journey for me.  I have lost a total of 108lbs and 40+ inches! I feel fabulous too! I have had no major problems since surgery. I threw up twice, but it was my fault due to eating too fast and a little too much. I very rarely eat starches unless it is in fruits or veggies. Occasionally, I have a couple of whole wheat crackers with cheese or tuna salad.  I mainly eat meat, eggs, cheese, veggies, and fruits.  Breakfast is now my favorite meal of the day. It feels so good to get up every morning and have the energy to prepare breakfast for my family! My favorite breakfast is half of a fried egg and two pieces of bacon. I drink decaf coffee or decaf tea sweetened with sweet-n-low. My night-time snack usually consists of an orange. For the most part, I do not eat the orange, but I suck the juice out of it. I have rarely been eating out, but when I do I usually eat off of other family members plates. If I do not do that, I order from the children's menu when possible. One of my major gripes, however, is that children's menus have way to many items with starch! The only thing I miss from my old eating days is Diet Coke. "Hello, my name is Penny and I am a Diet Coke addict."  I feel like an alcoholic looking at a beer when I see a bottle at the check out when buying groceries.  I have not had a drink of it in over 7 months! I know I must treat it like an addiction, and never drink even a sip ever again!  It is a choice, and I choose not to give my body that again.  I find myself not swallowing some foods.  I will chew up food, and if it does not chew up well, I spit it out. I am sure this is psychological, but I do not feel it is a bad thing. 

I now wear a size 16-18 in pants/shorts!! I also wear a size 2x in shirts, and that is because my biceps still need to be shrunk! They were and still are my trouble area. I have lost 5 inches there, but now it is loose skin and fat "arrrrghhh".  So, my shirts still look loose on me even wearing a smaller size because I have lost 10 inches in my chest!! 

The best part of this whole thing, other than looking better, is feeling better!! I can now walk, clean my house, mow my yard, and not break a sweat!! It feels so awesome! Before my surgery, I could not walk from my bed to the bathroom without being out of breath.  The next step in this journey for me is training for a 5k. There is an awesome site called Couch to 5K.  I look forward to accomplishing this goal!

I have 7lbs to lose and I am under 200lbs! Wow, this last few pounds to get under that 200 mark are going wayyyy too slow for me. 

I went to my post op nutrition class, and was told I could go home and eat an egg!!! Yayyyy! It was better than a steak people! I savored every tiny bite, and chewed, chewed, chewed.  This morning I had some V8 juice, and wow. I feel normal now! This is exactly what I needed variety. I'm happy :)