So today is officially 5 months since my surgery day.  I have really started to slow down on my weight loss, but I knew that was coming.  When I weighed in today, I have lost 103 lbs so far.  I couldn't believe it. I almost cried.  However, I was slightly disappointed because I only lost 9 lbs in 20 days.  I guess that isn't too bad.  I just remember my honeymoon period when I dropped weight like crazy.  I've been having a hard time trying to find the time to exercise.  It isn't that I don't want to, but I work full time and I go to school full time, so there always seems to be not enough hours in the day to get exercise in.  Since the weather is starting to cool off, I am going to go back to walking my dogs every night.  I need to get myself to the gym! 

Lately I've been reading a lot of the posts about food, because I've questioned some of the decisions I've made.  I maintain a well balanced diet that is high in protein, low in fat, and low in sugar.  The only thing I have experienced dumping syndrome over is a banana, which I ate two weeks after surgery.  But I do try a lot of new foods.  For example, I made tacos this past week and used 97% lean beef. After I cooked the meat, I washed it throughly and added water and taco seasoning so there was not any grease.  I loved it!  But I thought, maybe tacos aren't such a good idea.  So I searched the obesityhelp site and read some posts about tacos. People were talking about how you'll go back to your original eating habits and no wonder why you don't lose weight if you eat those.  But I think in moderation, we can truly have anything.  Of course, I wouldn't dare have tried eating a taco any sooner than 4 months out, but I am going to try all different types of things.  I make my food healthy, so I'm really not that worried about it. Plus, its not like I can eat much of it anyway!

Anyhow, I went to Cato (a clothing store) on Thursday evening because I needed jeans to wear to work on Friday.  Before my surgery, I wore size 28 jeans, but most of mine didn't fit and I did own some 30s.  Anyway, when I was in Cato, I picked up a 24 hoping that it would fit, but found out it was too big!! So I left the store with size 22 jeans. I can't hardly remember the last time I was in a 22.  Its still a large pair, but I'm excited.  Well, I'm going to stop blabbing along.  Have a great day everyone!! 

So I've been waiting and waiting and I am so glad to say that I am finally below 275. I weighed in this morning at 271 and have officially lost 92 lbs.  I have found a new weight tracker that I thought was really neat.  It is posted below.  I've been having issues overeating.  I don't know why I do it, but I just haven't been measuring like I need to.  Then I eat just a little too much (and I'm talking maybe an additional two teaspoons or tablespoons), but then I am miserable.  I started going back to measuring everything today and I feel so much better.  I just have to continue to measure because I do not want to mess up such a great thing.  I am enjoying my new life and I feel so great when people can see a difference in me.  I love the way I feel and how well I fit in my clothes.  Its really nice to fit in my car well too!  Anyhow, I'm off to bed, just wanted to share the news with the OH world.  Good luck to all of you out there.

Apparently my ticker won't show up. I'll try again later!

So I am currently on vacation in Illinois and my goal was to have lost over 75lbs before I came.  Tomorrow is 4 months since my surgery and as of today, I have lost 88 lbs.  I'm hoping I stay lucky and keep losing weight. I'm so afraid to eat too much and gain anything back.  Right now I am down to 275 which seems so crazy to me.  I haven't weighed that in years.  My next goal is to lose 100 lbs, which is only 12 lbs away.  Then after that, I'm shooting to be down below 250.  Its been such an amazing journey.  Everyone is really shocked when they see how restricted the diet is, but it really doesn't phase me. I'm so used to eating without fatty and sugary foods, that I don't think any different.  However, ever since I've been at my mom & dad's, I have something sweet at night.  Sugar free sweet of course.  But the last three days, I have had an ice cream cone and I don't need it.  I'm hoping the next 88lbs are easy too.  Even 88lbs more will put me at 187.  To get to my all time goal, I still need to lose 125 lbs, but I think I can do it.  I visit this page all the time, I'm just terrible about posting blogs.  However, when I read back on my previous ones, it makes me realize why I did this and how far I have come.  I know that there is no way I can go back to what I was before.  I am happier and healthier, but I know I will be in an even better place once I get down below 200.  I can't wait.

So I can't believe its been 2 months already.  I have been exploring new foods every week to see what I can handle.  Today I tried scallops and potatoes for dinner.  It was a great meal and I haven't had any trouble with it.  I'm enjoying eating healthier and it seems that my husband wants to eat healthier too, which makes me really happy.  So far I've lost 52 lbs and I have only 161lbs to go till I reach my goal.  Had I done this on my own, there is no way I would have already been down 52 lbs.  Funny thing is though, I've lost that amount of weight and I'm still fitting into my clothes that I wore before surgery.  Sure, some of them are loose on me, but nothing under a size 28 fits yet, so I guess I'll stay there until I lose a little more.  I can't really see a difference in myself yet, but everyone around me keeps telling me that they can tell.  I'm going on vacation the first week of August and I'd really like to have lost over 75lbs by that time.  That gives me over a month and a half to lose 23 lbs, so I'm sure I can do that.  What really makes me happy is knowing that I am only 12 lbs away from being outside the 300lb mark.  I can't remember the last time I weighed in the 200s.  

I scared myself a little bit yesterday. I was online reading another OH member's profile and she had gastric bypass surgery years ago.  After her surgery, she lost 87 lbs but started eating too quickly and eventually stretched out her pouch.  Now she is back at 220 (which I think she was much smaller than me to begin with) and her goal is 120.  I have always been a pretty slow eater, but that was usually because I had so much food or I took a long time to chew my meat.  Now, I find it really difficult to spread my meal time out to 30 minutes, but try my best.  I just don't want to get into any bad habits.  I've been drinking a lot of 100% juice, but I learned that doing that does not account for my daily liquid intake and can put me way over my calorie limits.  So, I stopped drinking juice on Wednesday (three days ago) and I've lost 3 lbs since then.  I just want to make sure that I make the right choice every time.  I never want to be where I started at.  I stay completely away from sugar and do not even think about eating foods that contain sugar.  I do have a sweet tooth, so I've been eating sugar free popsicles pretty much every day after dinner.  I love dessert, so this has really been a lifesaver for me. Speaking of lifesavers, some of my sugar free popsicles are lifesaver brand! :-)  Anyhow, I'm off to bed now.  I just wanted to post a message for those that might be out there looking around, and for myself to look back on in the future.

Good night!

So today is my one month surgiversary!!  I've been doing very well and haven't had any trouble with dumping syndrome or anything like that.  I can say that I am tired of drinking protein shakes, but I do my best to drink both of them each day.  As of today, I have lost 33 lbs and I am so excited.  Everyone says that they can tell in my face, but I really don't see the difference yet.  Well, off to do my homework.