ObesityHelp

My last post about weight celebrated the fact that I reached my goal of 240 lbs. Since that time, I've continued to eat DS appropriately and now weigh 233 lbs. This seems to be my magic weight however, I am holding constant here, not dropping below. That's ok, 233 looks pretty good on me.

Now I am planning to have some plastic surgery procedures to uncover the body I've been working so hard to develop. I will be having a total body lift in two different procedures.

First is the lower body lift, which consists of a thigh lift, mons lift, butt lift with augmentation and anchor cut  abdominoplasty. I will be having this surgery in September of 2009.

The second stage is an upper body lift which includes an arm lift, breast augmentation using my own tissue and upper back lift to eliminate excess back skin. This procedure I plan to have in the March/April 2010 timeframe.

I am really looking forward to having my outsides match my insides. It's going to be great to be able to see the results of all my hard work!!

Jillian

I just finished a 9 week workout session of twice a week classes of exercises focused on the abs and booty, hence the name.

Before the session started, we had our body fat percentage calculated, we were measured around the bust, waist, hips and butt, we weighed ourselves and did some fitness testing that consisted of doing timed planks, pilates sit-ups and one-legged balancing exercises. At the end of the session, we repeated all these tests in order to see our results.

My results have completely blown me away, here is the email I received from my instructor:

Hi Jillian, here are your final results from the Ab & Booty camp measurements.
 
You have been making some huge changes on the inside (at the cellular level)! While the scale says you lost 6 lbs. of body weight, your assessment shows us even more detail. You reduced your body fat percentage--get this--from 35% down to 28%. Boy oh boy, that's a HUGE change. This puts you right in the acceptable female body fat range of 25 - 31%. Surely your eating style and continued fitness journey are working for you. Even more telling is your distribution of body weight: you started with 158 lean pounds and upped that to 171 lean pounds, gaining 13 lbs. of muscle! That took your fatty tissue pounds down from 84 to 66 lbs. You lost 18 lbs. of fat! Which explains why your measurements went down in your lower body by 3.5"... That's where you were carrying a good amount of the extra fatty stuff, which is now replaced by much firmer tighter muscle. Obviously, your clothes fit different now...
 
Your fitness level rose, too. Your core strength is now ranked at excellent on the fitness scale; average-to-strong on the military scale. (Your arm injury makes the plank test a tough one to base stuff on completely. That's why I was inspired to seek another ranking system which includes form and body weight for core strength. So thank you for that wake up call at the start of this camp experience.) You already had a great with your balance/glute test but now you have even more control and stability.
 
In other words, it was a successful winter, fitness- and health-wise. You look terrific we all can see the difference in your shape. What we can't fully see is the internal health benefits in that redution of body fat percentage, which really matters most to me. I think you should make your successes known and inspire people out there in your online communities. It's amazing what the human body and mind can do when they work together. Woo hoo! 

I am so excited to be in the "acceptable" body fat percentage range! I wouldn't have imagined I would find myself here. I am very proud of myself and looking forward to continuing my fitness journey and see where it takes me.

Jillian
 

I get asked for my recipe for beef enchiladas since I make them all the time. I thought I would post it here instead of typing it over and over!

1 lb of ground sirloin
1 lb of mexican blend cheese
1 taco seasoning packet
6 low carb flour tortillas (I buy Mission brand - low carb)
1 can spicy enchilada sauce

Brown the ground sirloin and then add the taco seasoning packet and prepare per the instructions.

Set the oven to 350

Cover the bottom of a baking dish with enchilada sauce, I use an oblong corning ware dish, fit's 6 tortillas perfectly!

Spread enchilada sauce on the inside of one tortilla (I use a pastry brush) and then add taco meat, some cheese and roll up and place in a baking dish. Then cover the outside of the tortilla with more enchilada sauce using the pastry brush until it is completely covered.

Repeat process until all six tortillas are rolled up and in the baking dish. Pour as much of the rest of the enchilada sauce over top of the enchiladas and then top with the remainder of the cheese.

Baked at 350 for 30 minutes. I then let it cool and transfer it to a tupperware container and place in the refrigerator. I eat one at a time until gone. I did the math and came up with 14 grams protein and 9 grams of carbs per enchilada.

I reheat and serve with sour cream on top.

When making the enchiladas, you can add other things to the insides if you want, like green onion or tomato, but then you are really making burritos, not enchiladas! Just modify based on your preferences!

Enjoy!

Jillian

 

I weighed myself today for the first time since going to Michigan for the holidays last Tuesday. I ate plenty of simple carbs and goodies while I was away and wondered what the impact would be on the scale. Well, today I learned that I lost my last pound in order to reach my goal weight! Yea!!!!!

I now weigh 240 lbs, which is the lowest weight I remember being since having my DS eight years ago. I feel really good and think I look pretty darn good, too! 

I plan to continue to workout like I have been since I enjoy it so much and I will continue with my "back to basics" DS eating and see where it takes me. I am thinking about setting a new goal for myself, but not sure what it will be yet. 

Life is good and the DS is the best WLS there is in my opinion!!

 

I had my DS eight years ago. At the time, not as much information about the DS post-op life was available, as there is today. It wasn't uncommon to hear people say that they can eat everything they want without consequences. That may be true for some, but not all. The DS isn't a free ride for everyone and weight regain is possible. This is my story of how I regained weight and what I've done about it.

I started at 406 lbs. At the time I had my DS, there weren't many surgeons performing it, so I had to travel out of state to get it done. The instruction I was given after surgery was simple, eat at least 80 grams of protein a day and make sure to eat it first. Anything else afterwards that fits in your stomach is ok. The assumption being that after protein, you wouldn't have much room for other foods.

I became very active once I started to lose weight. I always enjoyed being active when I was younger and started to run and lift weights five times a week. I think that really helped with my weight loss. I got down to the 240s at my lowest, which might seem high, but I actually looked really good at that weight. I am 5'10 and have very dense bones and a lot of muscle mass - from working out.

A few years later I had some plastic surgery procedures and loss a lot of blood and became anemic. It took six months of trial and error and going to a hemotologist before I got a series of iron infusions. During this six months, I got very tired. I stopped working out and was so out of it that I would fall asleep at my desk. I basically worked and slept and that was it. I eventually gained 20 lbs back. I should have contacted my surgeon's office or asked for advise on the DS board, but I didn't. That probably would have resulted in my getting the iron infusions a lot quicker. Lesson learned!

At another point during the last eight years, I developed a bad case of IBS due to some external stressers in my life. I was in a lot of pain and discomfort all the time. I went to a specialist and had a colonoscopy and was told that it was IBS and was given a diet to follow to stop irritating my digestive system. I was so miserable that I would have done anything to feel better. So I followed the diet that was very anti protein and pro carbs. If you google recommended diets for IBS, you will see what I mean. I gained back more weight from the diet and from lack of exercise due to being in pain. Once I eliminated the external stressers and followed the diet for a while, I eventually got better and the IBS went away completely. I think the fact that I entered into therapy helped a great deal, as well.

Last winter, I suffered a fall down some concrete steps. I slipped on some ice I didn't see and landed on the bottom step on my arm and shoulder. I ended up shattering my right humerous from shoulder to half way to my elbow and was immobilized for three months and then in intensive physical therapy for six months. During this time, I couldn't do anything for myself. I sat at home and my friends and family brought me food and goodies, which I ate. I also gained more weight.

So, over the course of 8 years and the three incidents I mentioned above, I gained 50 lbs. I got way off track from how I should be eating and was just really disconnected from my body and all things DS. I knew I needed to make some changes to turn things around.

So, I got back on the DS Forum and started asking questions. I found out how well informed everyone is about the DS now and got myself back on track.

I started by tracking my daily food intake in fitday.com. Boy, was that eye opening! I realized and saw for myself just how upside down my protein and carb intake were. I didn't change my eating habits right away, I kept tracking in fitday.com and started to read the daily food & fitness threads on the DS Forum to get an idea of how others were eating and to get food suggestions. After a couple of weeks, I started to cut way back on the carbs and add more protein into my daily diet. I started this process mid May 2008 and by June, I had made major shifts in how I was eating.

I should also mention that I had been exercising regularly all along when I could. I started with solitary exercises like running on a treadmill and lifting weights. Later I found a Pilates instructor and started taking equipment and mat classes. Pilates is something that I've come to love and started doing 4-5 times a week. I then added Zumba into the mix and got to the point where I was working out 8-9 hours per week and loving every minute of it. I think finding something that you love and that doesn't feel like work is the key. I've enjoyed getting more in tune with my body and spending time with the women in my classes.

So, the result of the changes to my eating habits and the increased exercise has been that I have now lost 51 lbs. I am back in my skinny jeans and having to buy new clothes. I indulge occasionally and find that as long as I don't indulge more often than I don't, I am ok. Moderation is key. I still enjoy chocolate and goodies when craving them, but they aren't daily staples anymore.

In the course of the past six to seven months, I have gotten back to basics with my eating, but I don't feel deprived. I've increased my exercise, which I enjoy and have lost all but 2 lbs of my original goal. Life is good!! The DS is fantastic!! It's still working for me after all these years!

Here are the DS basics as prescribed to me by the members of the DS Forum and what I've been following:

I eat 80-100 grams of protein per day
I keep carbs at 50 grams or less per day
I try to keep the carbs I do eat complex and only rarely eat simple carbs
I drink at least 64 oz of water or SF liquids every day
I don't worry about fat or number of calories
I track my food in fitday.com every day

I hope this can be of help to you and thank you for reading my story!

Jillian