ObesityHelp

 

BEFORE WLS I had three awesome small dogs that I loved with all my heart ... two came to term of life and my beautiful yorkie got stolen a year prior to my RNY surgery ... it was a traumatic experience and I shied away from ever having another dog...

Some things never change though ... like my before and my awesome 3 doggies....

... Me before RNY with my Chihuahua Pancho (RIP)

me before RNY WLS with my sweet Pomeranian we nicknamed PomPom (RIP)

me BEFORE WLS with my awesome yorkie SweetPea .. stolen the year prior to WLS and still missed by the whole family..

Yesterday I was known to be morbid obese ... today I am thin and of normal body weight and fat percentage ... and STILL today 6 years 3 months post WLS my FULL CIRCLE of life includes three awesome small dogs....

My fat BEFORE hugged and loved three awesome dogs just as my slender NOW does...

My arms after toning and body sculpting with my awesome DD as instructor... I have guns!!! Okay, I did not have those before LOL..

Cause life is a full circle ... I love them all... they do keep me going... even at times like this when I could use a miracle for my loved on at Paitilla Hospital ED in Panamá after having a cardiac event this morning and is currently in CICU...

Off to the House of Praise ... help us pray for our miracle or just simply wish life and wellness for our loved one... Off to thank in advance for a MIRACLE...

Yesterday is gone ... but never forgetting how far I have come ... I refuse to lose me ... Thanks for allowing me to share SNIPPETS of my journey...

HMMMM the tiniest one gotz the ballz or so he thought ... you have got to be kiddin' me ... what a rude awakening ... he certainly found out that 'bully needs not be the last man standing'....

Here are my dogs picking bones .... they ALL got the SAME treat ... Pierretta and Chip hid theirs ... and the most gentlest one of them is just lying there about to enjoy his treat....

Lil Pierre ... Pierry as we call him... gingerly takes his bone and sets it down .. the other two are MIA with theirs

ahhhhhhh just as he finds the spot to enjoy his treat ...there is trouble in the horizon...

Pierry grabs his bone but not fast enough ... 

Trouble ensues... Chip has ballz and Pierre doesn't ... my poor lil' eunuch.. he tries to hold on

but the 'lil one has cojones ... and pulls and pulls... tug of war going on .... but then...

Pierretta walks in... hmmmm biatch walks away with the bone LOL

MORAL OF THE STORY: BULLY NEEDS NOT BE THE LAST MAN STANDING!!!!

  

This story played itself out yesterday as I sat down after a long day to enjoy quality time with my awesome toy poodles ...three bundles of joy....   Just yesterday I was soooooooooo happy to have made it to hump day ... went to work with a smile and thankful for a new day...

 I am still wearing the sun in my head ... nice spring day yesterday but still a bit cool... 

so today I decided to wear cool along with the sun and dunned my AK 2 piece in light blue and have an AWESOME FRIDAY ... prelude to a great weekend ... of family, housework, and more....   My empowerment collage looks like this today ... before and TODAY ... 6 years 3 months post Gastric Bypass Surgery ... living and loving life in a smaller and healthy body ... 

gonna be digging my stash of awesome hair pieces and accessories from my veddy own shop to find some curlz and waves in sun colors like the one I did on my dolly to rock over the weekend on mi cabeza loca ...

HAVE A HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!! AND A GLORIOUS WEEKEND ... thanks for allowing me to share snippets of my journey...

WHAT GIVES!!! oh hellz no  IT IS FREEZING IN MAY ... IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COLD IT IS NOT EVEN FUNNY... WHAT GIVES WITH THE WEATHER ... I WANT THE SUN TO STAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO I am gonna be wearing the sun on my head!!!

and I am not forgetting my dolly either ...

(that doll was a special gift from my dufus dearest son ... he saw her in a showcase and her long dark hair reminded him of me and how I wear my hair in long dark extensions or lace fronts sometimes ... he was with a group of friends and went into the store and bought the doll amid mocking and fun jeering by his friends ... brought the doll all across town and on the bus to his mom YOURS TRULY... my adult son did this ... so my dolly is forever special ... I CRIED when my dog Chip knocked her over the other day and broke a finger ... I have a hand on order for her and if it does not fit I will otherwise make and bake my own ceramic hand for her)....

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR freezing my butt off in MAY ... and it is COLDDDDDDDDER in here ... please turn the AC or the vent or whatever is blowing COLD air on my back DOWN PLEASE workplace building people ... my fingers are FREEZING...

This is my empowerment collage today .... maintaining for 6 years and 3 months post RNY ... 5 co-morbidities in remission... limited mobility resolved ... CPAP bit the dust as well as hypertension, diabetes, sleep apnea, gerd, hyperlipidemia ... I ran 6.5 miles this morning ... in the crisp cold morning air .... and today I AM WEARING THE SUN IN MY HAIR .... courtesy of my awesome collection from my very own shop and my very own hair closet LOL...  

My empowerment collage ... BEFORE and TODAY .... wearing an awesome EXPRESS piece non-stretch in a size 1/2... to think a size 4-5X was fitting a bit snug over 6 years ago...

Thanks for allowing me to share another goofy thread ... thanks OH for allowing the space for me to empower myself ... and for allowing me to share SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY.... 

 

Just when I think DH could care less or really does not pay attention to certain details I am in for a big surprise... my romantic dufus does pay attention it seems LOL ... I was in shock when he said NO ... not this gown....

Just as I was about to re-clycle ... well not really but to loan my gown that I wore to my vows re-affirmation ceremony in 2008 18 months post WLS.  I shared on here how I procrastinated and sewed my gown and made my flowers the night before and I got to re-affirm my love and commitment as a slender bride having done so as a fat bride years prior ...

My friend's DD is going to be having a very small fiesta quinceañera that I am hosting as a family dinner due to her financial constraints at the moment.. I will make the 15 dolls plus the cake and the dinner and host it at my home .. The young lady fell in love with my gown that I wore at my reaffirmation and she loves the color and the style and the fit on her ... she asked could she wear it and I saw no problem with that ... I am always giving away my stuff or loaning it out I don't care however DH said NO! not that gown ... you made that for our special day PLEASE do not give it away.... I told him to chill I was just loaning it and he said NO ... that gown is special and he is looking forward to me wearing it again to a special occasion with him some other day? SERIOUSLY??? LOL I don't even like the gown all that much and I do not get attached to clothes but it made me feel good that he noticed ...

I also made a powder blue gown for myself on a special occasion over a year ago... my friend's DD likes this one also but the waistline is too narrow for her and there is no room to let it out as I made it form fitting for me... so I PROMISED to SEW A GOWN FOR HER ... YIKES .... her b-day is the first week of JUNE ... and I am making 15 quinceañera dolls ... hope to find the time ... which I will ....

So today once again I put on the very same gown that I wore back in 2008 18 months post op at my lowest weight for a perfect fit 6 years and 3 months after ... and was about to recycle and pass it on for someone else to wear when DH said NO! that IS our special gown..

So instead I offered up this powder blue gown that I made over a year ago ... I switched my hair to straight and put it on this morning too ... perfect fit still today...

and I got to pick my gown that I will be wearing later to an event with DH and friends... I don't need to worry about wrinkles in this one should it rain again later ... so green it will be ... the gown I started to make the other day was fodder for my doggies the brats...

I loved love loved trying on my gowns ... the first two I made with my very own sewing machines and serger and to be able to fit them today just as I did at my lowest weight post WLS .... 

This is what makes that 1st gown special for DH and it was the best Mother's Day present to know that he noticed ... that and my bfast in bed and a rose and an awesome card and an awesomest gift...

Our before and after bridal collage ... I got to be a fat bride and a thin one on the re-affirmation ... he got to have an Afro...then a Fro.. and now that he is bald he has an "O" .

2008

TODAY ... YUP AL IS RIGHT ... I AM KEEPING MY SPECIAL GOWN ... OUR SPECIAL GOWN...

This is my 7th Mother's Day Celebration since having RNY WLS on 2/5/07.  I am enjoying my journey for life embracing JOY and making it happen to me ... it works too .... 

Thanks for allowing me to share Snippets of my journey....

Yup, just like that ... SOAP, WATER, AND ELBOW GREASE ... that was the ONLY thing on the budget when we moved into our NEW old as all getup home just for the four of us ... it is AWESOME and I love it ... it is like discovery zone still ... spacious with awesome mint condition hardwood floors and French doors ... from the basement to the third floor I love it! I needed this project at a time when major changes were taking place....

While this NEW for us old house is located here in the US it somehow brings back sooooooooooooo many memories of back home in Panama and growing up in the large Victorian house with the huge balcony that my grandpa built for the whole family back in Panama.  I love this house so much more than the more contemporary home that we moved out of ... it was just a thought while we contemplated a permanent move to my country of origin but IT IS A KEEPER ... and will keep... a total WIN ... and has an ingrown feeling of HOME ... it is warm, cozy and welcoming just like that.

At first I was skeptical ... but somehow the house grew on all of us FAST ... we had the best Christmas ever this past Christmas having moved into this awesome sturdy OLD house closer to the water than we were before ...a total bargain...  it was the AWESOME-est find... 2 days before Christmas we moved and were only barely settled on the first floor with two other floors and an awesome basement to discover ... I have since painted and shared murals that I did in the sprawling unfinished but not for too long basement with awesome storage compartments that saved the cost of storage elsewhere .... then the first floor, then the second floor then the full third floor that utilities run along with the second floor.... space for ALL ... enough space for my arts, crafts, ideas and hideouts...

The budget: soap, water and elbow grease ... a family united ... trying to do it together and get the best WIN.WIN situation all around ... so far so good ... 

Two weeks ago we made a second move ... moving us up to the 2nd and 3rd floor and having an awesome tenant on the 1st floor ... A TOTAL WIN .... My guys under my direction and with the help of an awesome friend in the moving industry completed the entire move while I was gone for an extended visit to home... I came back and only had to putz around with the details because since moving in ALMOST.EVERY.DAY ... I HAVE BEEN ON THIS EXERCISE ROUTINE ... OF SOAP, WATER AND ELBOW GREASE ... oh and hanging curtains ... oh and trying to bring stuff up to the 3rd floor to make a cozy 3rd floor apartment for my DD who keeps running back downstairs to mommy's house LOL ...

I cleaned EVERYTHING ... from the awesome hardwood floors in perfect wood to the pine plank floor on the third floor and I clean and I clean ... this weekend I am embarking on using twine to fill in certain areas in the plank floor on the 3rd floor - wish me luck... I added vinegar to the water and the did the windows and all the awesome French doors ... and while I love love love my walls white the previous owner had painted the walls on the second floor in some sort of deep reddish color with tans and beiges in other rooms ... not my choice of colors BUT it was a recent paint job and not an immediate need to change and what a coincidence the color of one of my living room sets.... so ... sticking to my budget of: soap, water an elbow grease.... and DO IT YOURSELF I am plowing on ... one day at a time ...

I am STILL working on our home ... we all are .. most things I do myself less my all thumbs guys screw it up ... some things the guys can only do... please I am sick and tired of banging my own fingers with a hammer that is so NOT my tool ... so all that is left is YARD WORK (not up my alley ... I am counting on DH and his friends)... AND my DISMAL FRONT STAIRS UP TO THE SECOND FLOOR ... MY NEW FLOOR NOW ... that got so totally scratched up with the move of my furniture ....  BUT I DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE ITS PERSONALITY NOR TONE NOR COLORS ... I love it the way it is ... wondering if a good scrapping and shellacking will do ... ... AND DS promised to replace/scrape and paint the 2nd floor deck and balcony..

This is a photobucket picture story of what I have done so far on the 2nd and 3rd floor move ... there prior stories in there to include the 1st floor and basement so far... hey it is an old house by I LOVE IT ... there is something about it that is so warm and cozy no matter how many rooms or how many floors .... my co-workers were over and they just LOVE the house and the land ... 

MI CASA ES TU CASA and I keep it humble ... work still underway on the 3rd floor, backyard, basement and front stairs ... the budget: SOAP, WATER and ELBOW GREASE...

link to what we have done so far since a week ago: http://s259.photobucket.com/user/martitalinda/story/21187

Yup... soap, water and elbow grease.... the workout that works!!! if it is raining... if you just do not want to hit the gym ... if you are feeling blah ... a good ole routing of switch housecleaning can do that job ... at least it does for me....

I am no longer sitting on 327 pounds ...

I can sit on my narrower arse weighing 203 pounds less than that today 6 years and 3 months post RNY gastric bypass... enjoying my fruit of the day today...

after and awesome routing with SOAP, WATER, AND ELBOW GREASE last night TRYING to do something with my DISMAL front stairwell.. I came to work saying YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY it is FRIDAY with a BOUNCE in my STEPS...

I was equally happy yesterday .... my routine included an early 6 mile run ,,, a nice 1.5 hours swim in the evening ,,, awesome time with family, pets, and friends .... and I went to work ushered off by three happy toy poodles my awesome furry babies...

I made my collage for my empowerment journal A PICTURE A DAY KEEPS THE POUNDS AND THE INCHES AWAY...

AND NOW I AM ABOUT TO TROTTLE MY CHOCOLATE POODLE CHIP (not really) OMG ... he got on the doggie ladder...KNOCKED over my duct tape body form WITH MY BASTED GOWN ON IT ... and PULLED THE FILLING OUT OF THE FORM .... now that was the clue for his sister Pierretta and brother Pierre to DRAG my basted gown INTO their sleep basket and lay and sleep on it until mommy came home to the disaster .... OH VEY ......... gotta love 'em .... all this while DH watched TV .... the dogs had the run of the house.... shoot me somebody LOL....

My good deed of the day is under my desk until picked up today... someone asked for hair pieces and if I had any extras for a friend of theirs in need and making such request due to radiation hair loss... right up my alley.... I love hair, wigs, extensions and pieces even when sporting my very own awesome cropped mane ... there is no shame to my game ... I.LOVE.HAIR and I am co-owner of three AWESOME braiding/weaving and hair supply shops all while having an awesome full time job for over 15 years ... they saw me fat and they see me thin and I have the loving support of family, friends and peers ALWAYS ... paying it forward WORKS ... after all we are helpers one of another....

Here is my bag of goodies for a friend helping out another friend ... paying it forward with HAIR.... several pieces in the bag...

Thanks for allowing me to share my goofy thread ... and snippets of my journey.... going home to find a gown or to make another for a function tomorrow.... IDEAS FOR FRONT STAIRS OR ANY IDEAS ARE WELCOME!!!!

 

My daughter just sent me this link .. she is particularly hating her wide plank floor on the third floor of mom's house where she will now reside LOL no longer on the same floor with mom although in the same house right above mom's head.. hmmm where mom lets her have a COMPLETE furnished SPACIOUS apartment  for $200/month utils included ... the nerves??? LOL .... but I love that floor ... so she suggested this ... problem is there are barely any gaps if any she just does not understand the filling between the planks ... she almost ruined my pine plank floor trying to dig the filling in between the plank out what gives?

So in case there is a space or two or a gap or two I am going to attempt this .. has anyone tried this? or heard of it? pay me no mind I am just keeping an ongoing journal here as I share snippets of my journey .... just in case in my winter years I forget and have an awesome kid read about the off beat karayzy panamanian lady they once met LOL...

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0%2c%2c1631562%2c00.html Yup for mother's day I will have some twine or is it rope? attempting this ... if I find the gaps she talks about... I just see an awesome old plank wook floor that I love though SIGH

 

I do have the favorite-est tools ever on my journey ... some are so totally useful and some are so totally empiric and some are so totally goofy but I am odd like that ... and the best thing of all is that before and NOW some have ALWAYS been my FAVORITE-EST (psssssst I KNOW that is not a word) tools....

BEFORE and AFTER I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT MY SEWING MACHINE .... I sew for me and for others ... I hoard fabrics ... I LOVE LOVE LOVE TO SEW ... FAT, THIN OR IN BETWEEN FOR ME OR FOR YOU GIMME A SEWING MACHINE lol...

I love sewing THINGS too ... coverlets, curtains, bedspreads, blankets, bassinet covers you name it ... I'll sew it... BEFORE AND NOW... I love making diaper cakes too ... for my friends baby showers they are awesome gifts...

Because I sew ... and I love making things ... this little joker here is a MUST HAVE

.... a measuring tape ... I CANNOT.LIVE.WITHOUT IT.... It was/is THE BEST TOOL YET on my journey ... when I stalled I did not spazzzz because my tape measure marked the inches lost when the pounds did not budge ... I love love love taking my body measurements to make sure that the inches lost stay right there ...GONE ...although with age they do shift ... and how... ask my tatas YIKES...

I am totally disproportionate ... a royal mess ... I have the shape of a farking bumble bee ... disproportionately tiny waist and a big bertha and thighs however small I am ... yet my measurements rock for body fat percentage ... they tell me the proportion of body fat I have is normal ... of course I have to enter more than just my waist measurement to come up with an accurate number cause my waistline only will throw it off ... I have to enter hips, neck, wrist and forearm too...

I woke up wayyyyyyyyyyy too early this morning as I went to bed too early ... so instead of counting sheep I whipped out my measuring tape because I am going somewhere over the weekend and I am MAKING myself a gown ... NO PATTERNS INVOLVED.... I took my picture in my jammies loving the saying on my shirt "don't let go of your dreams" 

and before snapping the above picture with my measuring tape I measured my bust line at 30" inches

And my waistline at 23.5" inches

and my hips at 34.5" inches .... totally disproportionate...

but I am making me a gown and I am going to rock it too!!!! WOOT....

I farted around with fabric and scissors and my home made duct tape body form and my gown is all cut and basted.  

I then hopped on the scale ... another awesome tool along the way ... it is my accountability tool ... I love it ... 

I then went out on a morning run along the beach with friends from my running group...

I then coiffed and groomed me and my dolly and took pictures for my empowerment journal ... A Picture a Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away ...

This was my yesterday....

This is me TODAY... this morning dressed for work... taking in the morning sun on my balcony...

Both Before and After and remain who I am in a smaller frame ... I love loud beautiful colorful clothes ... I love somber ones too ... I love to rock a piece of fabric ... big, small or in between I don't care ... we are all beautifully made...

I have awesome tools at my disposition .... some so totally useful and others so totally goofy ... like when I got into my suitcase for a perfect fit when I was about to pack some duds to head out to the OH Conference in 2011... LOL 

YUP GOOFY TOOLS ... I fit in this suitcase a year before this ... I fit in it then and I can fit it in now too ...

GOOFY is GOOD TOO!!! I am having FUN doing me ...

I am paying forward SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY ... life is not all about fun and laughter and my how do I know it ... but I am embracing JOY over misery ... and I am making it happen to me ... thank you MARY for pointing this out to me....

THANKS FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE ... SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY!!!! THANK YOU OH FOR ALLOWING ME TO EMPOWER MYSELF BY KEEPING ME IN REMEMBRANCE BEFORE AND NOW AS I WALK AWAY FROM MORBID OBESITY ONE DAY AT A TIME ... ONE CHOICE AT A TIME ...

 

Sitting at my desk about to have an orange as my fruit of the day today ... ignore my teary eyes ... I have been crying since losing my beautiful ferret Slinky found dead in the pen last Thursday at the term of his life ... these babies have such a short life span but I still can't get used to it ... I ran across a picture and was crying when my co-worker snapped my picture...

for my pets are ANOTHER AWESOME TOOL ON MY JOURNEY ... BEFORE and AFTER...

AGAIN, Thanks for allowing me to share...

 

It is a daily celebration of life ... with all its ups and downs and turnarounds.  It is more than a tool ... it is a lifetime partnership ... a relationship ... a 2-way street .. a commitment for life ...

Those words were used to describe my WLS on the day of my psych eval when I filled out what seemed to be tomes of papers with questions and more questions ... after filling out the questions there was this interview and discussion of some of my answers and in the process a rapport was developed with the awesome gentleman who I was referred to by my surgeon's office ... I was comfortable and truthful and was very relaxed speaking to him ... it was then he reached behind his credenza and pulled this picture of a morbidly obese man ... morbidly obese like I was sitting in the chair in his office ... he told me that man was he ...the only resemblance was the face ... he too had had RNY gastric bypasss surgery 10 years prior to the date of my interview ... he was so athletic looking he told me he was a cyclist and a gymnast and a runner having had a high weight exceeding 400 pounds prior to his surgery.  I WAS IN AWE ... I WANTED THAT FOR ME ... that is when he uttered the words I typed in bold above ... I took those words and I committed them to heart ...

6 years and 3 months ago on yesterday it was the monthly anniversary of one of the major decisions I made in my life for ME. Tired of 5 co-morbidities, limited mobility and sleeping with a C-pap. I took those words and decided to apply them to my life THEN AND THERE ... even before going under the knife the seed was planted and had started to grow.... I WANTED THIS! health and mobility more than anything else....

I LOVE MY TOOL ... I am in a lifetime partnership with it ... a commitment to myself and my life and I am working it ... ANY REGRETS? YES ... I wish I had done it sooner .... ANY OTHER REGRETS ... I wish there had been more than just 2 options available to me then on there on that date when I went to my first seminar in December of 2006 ... DO I LOVE MY RNY TOOL? YES! YES! YES!!!!!! .... IS IT WORKING FOR ME? YES!!! .... If I started my journey on this day in 2013 would I choose the SAME tool? I think not, despite how much I love my tool there is ONE other better option available to ME today ... If I needed RESTRICTION ONLY I would have opted for the VSG an options which we are considering for my daughter BUT I need malabsortion for my metabolic issues and for that I would opt for the DS.  HOWEVER ... I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my RNY ... I AM WORKING MY TOOL in partnership mode ... AS A LIFETIME COMMITMENT ... TO ME an my wellness and happiness ... I am where I want to be and my desire is to stay there .... unless there are any events out of my control I will continue to work my RNY and have it work for me ... should the need arise I would not hesitate to revise to a duodenal switch FOR ME... MY PERSON... MY NEEDS...

I embarked on this journey at a high weight of 327 pounds on the date I went to my cardiologist to get fitted for a Holter Monitor...

Yesterday, I celebrated my MONTHLY SURGIVERSARY ... a goofy yet awesome word I get reading on this site when I first joined in 2007 ... I was determined to see and track my journey and I have done just that by using a goofy tool that I made up that is called "A Picture A day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away" ... it is working .... for ME....

Yesterday I sat on my deck enjoying the sun weighing 207 pounds less ... YUP I lost 4 more pounds from my 203 pounds total loss .... and my husband snapped a picture for my journal in the morning...

and in the afternoon too...

This morning before going to work I sat on my deck and enjoyed the awesome morning breeze and thanked God for an AWESOME new day....

I snapped a picture for my journal too ...

then I donned an AWESOME sparkly jacket in a SIZE 2 over my tiny jumpsuit to make it appropriate for work....

I merged my pictures in a collage ... this is my empowerment collage this day ... My BEFORE and MY TODAY ... I do not want to forget! I DO NOT WANT TO GO BACK... I CAN SEE IT ... I OWN IT ... AND I AM DETERMINED TO STAY ON TRACK ... if I veer .. I have options ... I have a tool ... and I have awesome groups on here like Getting Back on Track Together or another awesome group another member on here is starting up....

I benefit DAILY from soooooooooooooooo many awesome people sharing their experiences ... before... after..and during ... I remember how much the MOVE TO LOSE thread that was posted here daily at the start of my journey helped me ... I took and take advantage of it all ... THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY .... and I make it work for me....

Oftentimes I post but more than posting I read ... sometimes I have time to reply to other posters ... other times I don't but all in all I am so totally grateful for OH and the wonderful opportunity it gives to allow us to post and benefit from each other one way or another....

THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY ... YIKES!!! there is a poodle in my pocketbook LOL ... my awesome poodle CHIP (this was on Saturday) ... he is brown ALL OVER ... including lips, nose, and I ... he IS my CHOCOLATE CHIP ... the best treat for me today...

WISHING ALL AN AWESOME AND VERY BEST DAY!!!! Wherever we are at on our journey ...let's own it and WORK IT! one day at a time ... one choice at a time ... I tell myself  I CAN DO THIS!!!

 

I had an awesome extended weekend visit in the sun...I tried to fit 1 year into 4 days .. I had an awesome time with my family and taking care of a million and one other things ... BUT BUT BUT ... what I liked best was the AWESOME SUN ... even when it got a bit cloudy the weather held ...the clouds passed and there was the awesome tropical sun again....

I came home in the wee hours of the morning this morning totally EXHAUSTED ... I should have taken another day off from work for REST ONLY but I am frugal with my PTO of which I have a lot ... some I cash in and most I save for use as I will be traveling back and forth to round my family throughout the year ...

I came in to work and the morning chill totally waked me up ... YIKES ... WHERE IS THE SUN? I am already missing the tropical sun...

My entry in my digital empowerment journal "A Picture a Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away" is brief and as usual goofy today ...  YIKES I am down 4 pounds ... melted in the tropical heat ... 

6 years and 3 months post RNY I AM IN MAINTENANCE SEAMLESSLY AND LOVING IT... and 4 pounds down I guess the increased activity ... the hustle and bustle and running around and sweating like a mule in the tropical heat did that ...

This is my empowerment collage today .... my BEFORE and my NOW ... as in TODAY...

I am missing the sun ... so I am wearing BIG FLOWERS and flowing in today chilliness ... I hope it warms up a bit...

my furry babies certainly missed me ...

they even followed me up to my third floor sitting room ... so much for quiet space LOL

and NOW IT IS WORKDAY WEDNESDAY ... break over ... I am going to PRESS HARD .... and dream about getting awesome restful sleep tonight ... it is much needed ...after and awesome bitter sweet and sun filled weekend...

HAVE A HAPPY DAY EVERY ONE!!! Thanks for allowing me to share SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY ..... 

There is joy and there is misery in equal measures in this world... I am embracing JOY and MAKING IT HAPPEN to ME!!! of course misery is right there but I am certainly NOT LETTING IT IN!!! Thank you Mary for these awesome words of wisdom that I have committed to heart....

Were you ever asked to walk with a book on your head???? and heard this litany before?????

My mom sang that to us growing up like a litany and my nanas (both of them) drilled it in .... HEAD UP ... SHOULDERS BACK.... CHEST OUT ... AND EYES LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD ....  she made us practice with a book and that made it so much easier growing up on the farm when we went down to the river on wash day with basins perfectly perched on our heads, washboard in our hands and home made lye soap in our pocket .... those were awesome times growing up .... While the grownups washed and chatted along the river bank we would climb the rocks and dive into the waters below on the other side .... when the wash was done here we go again under the hot sun and the tropical wind back up the hill and into the huge patio where the clothes lines were set up .... with clothespins we would hang the whites on one set of lines and the colors on another set ... then we would hoist the lines up with heavy tall bamboo sticks and watch the awesome lily white sheets flap in the breeze and under the sun ... so white it would hurt your eyes and sparkle.... and mom and nana would smile and say that is good.... awesome memories of growing up .... but back to the topic I started...

HEAD UP... SHOULDERS BACK ... CHEST OUT... AND EYES LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD... it did not ONLY come from mom and both nanas heck when we got to school here were the nuns at the parochial school we attended drilling the same chant ... they too had the book ... an Encyclopedia that they placed on our head as we walked following a straight line drawn in chalk on the floor .... WORK FOR A PERFECT POSTURE THEY SAID ... it makes you healthy and well....

Before you know it here I am singing the same chant to my grown arsed children... I started when they were young enough to understand too ...  ... HEAD UP...SHOULDERS BACK...CHEST OUT and EYES LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD .... my daughter finally got it ... she used to slouch a bit because she is over 6' tall and I had to tell her to be proud of herself ... who she is height included ... here I am breaking my neck on heels cause I would love to be 6' tall too ... and my son who is almost 6'4" who tends to slouch to mask his height ..what gives? and then he complains of back pain .... and here I go ... with the litany again HEAD UP...Shoulders back.... chest out ... and eyes looking straight ahead...

Practicing good posture DOES help ... and mom was right ... I even went delving into cyberspace Google-ing mom and posture and found some IMO awesome tips on keeping good posture that I am copying and pasting here .... 

I grew up practicing good posture and then I let it all go just to embrace it fervently again .... I have had not one complaint of back pain since my weight loss and I REFUSE TO SLOUCH or not to sit or stand or practice good posture ... because IT FEELS AWESOMELY GOOD ... it keeps my body aligned ... and it keeps my mind and body healthy ... so when I am standing or sitting and even laying down in perfect alignment I am not posturing but practicing good posture ... it works....

Tips found on the web:

 

Sitting Posture

1. 1 Sit up straight! How often did your mother tell you that? For many people, this suggestion got filed right next to "eat your peas," or "your eyes will stick that way." Mom was right, though–—at least about your posture. Now, especially, when so many of us sit at a desk all day, it's important to follow these basic guidelines, both for your posture and for your health.
   • If you work long hours at a desk and have the option, use a chair that's ergonomically designed for proper support and designed for your height and weight. If this is not an option, try using a small pillow for lumbar support.  
   • Align your back with the back of the office chair. This will help you avoid slouching or leaning forward, which you may find yourself doing after sitting too long at your desk.  
   • As with standing posture, keep your shoulders straight and squared, your head is upright, and your neck, back, and heels are all aligned.  
   • Keep both feet on the ground or footrest (if your legs don't reach all the way to the ground).  
   • Adjust your chair and your position so that your arms are flexed, not straight out. Aim for roughly a 75- to 90-degree angle at the elbows. If they are too straight, you're too far back, and if they are more than 90 degrees, you're either sitting too close, or you're slouching.  
2. 2 Take standing breaks. Even if you're using perfect posture while sitting in the best chair in the world (and it's debatable whether there is such a thing^[1]), you need to stand up and stretch, walk around, do a little exercise, or just stand there for a few minutes. Your body was not designed to sit all day, and recent studies from the University of Sydney have found that "[p]rolonged sitting is a risk factor for all-cause mortality, independent of physical activity." Keep moving!  

 

Driving Posture

1. 1 Start with good sitting posture. Not only is good posture recommended simply for good posture's sake, it's also important for more practical safety concerns. Your car's seating and protective systems were designed for people sitting in the seat properly, and can actually have an impact on safety in the event of a collision.
   • Keep your back against the seat and head rest.  
   • Adjust your seat to maintain a proper distance from the pedals and steering wheel. If you're leaning forward, pointing your toes, or reaching for the wheel, you're too far away. If you are bunched up with your chin on top of the steering wheel, you're too close.  
2. 2 Adjust the head rest. The head rest should be adjusted so that the middle of your head rests against it. Tilt the head rest as needed, to maintain a distance of no more than four inches (10cm) between the back of your head and the head rest.  

Carry That Weight

1. 1 Avoid unintentional back injury. Lifting and carrying presents extra loads and balance problems that are not part of your normal, everyday physical structure. Lifting or carrying objects without regard to your physiology can cause discomfort, pain, or in some cases, real injury. Here are some guidelines for proper load-bearing posture:
   • When you're lifting something off the ground any heavier than your cat, always bend at the knees, not the waist. Your back muscles are not designed for taking the weight, but your large leg and stomach muscles are. Use them well.  
   • If you do a lot of heavy lifting, either as part of weight training or as part of your job, consider wearing a supportive belt. This can help you maintain good posture while lifting.  
   • Keep it tight. The closer you keep large or heavy objects to your chest, the less you use your lower back when carrying them. Instead, the work is done with your arms, chest, and upper back.
     • Try holding a five pound (2.26kg) sack of flour, and hold it far out in front of you. Now, slowly pull it closer and closer to your chest and feel the different muscle groups come into play as you do this.  
   • Balance your load to prevent stress and fatigue. If you're carrying a heavy suitcase, for example, change arms frequently. You'll know when.  

Sleeping

1. 1 Sleep soundly. While you will not be able to consciously maintain a particular posture while sleeping, how you sleep can have an effect on your waking posture.
   • Using a firmer mattress will help by maintaining proper back support.  
   • Sleeping on your back will help keep your shoulders straight, and it is usually more comfortable for the back than sleeping on the stomach.  
   • If you prefer sleeping on your side, try slipping a small, flat pillow between your knees to help keep your spine aligned and straight.  
   • Use a pillow to provide proper support and alignment for the head and shoulders. Don't overdo the pillows—–too many, and your head can be bent in an unnatural position; this will hurt your posture and you'll wake up feeling stiff, sore, and groggy.  

Train Your Core Muscles

1. 1 Stay in shape. To keep your entire musculoskeletal system in tune to support your posture, it's important to keep yourself in shape. Try these tips:
   • Lie on your back, with your legs bent to about 90 degrees at the knee, and your feet on the floor.  
   • Pull your belly-button towards your spine and holding it at the end. This is a different type of contraction than crunches (crunches feel like they are more at the front of your stomach, while this feels like it is more inwards and towards your back).  
   • Hold for ten seconds, repeat eight times. Repeat it daily.  
   • Maintain the proper posture even if you are getting tired and are not using other muscles like your back or butt muscles.  
   • Breathe normally during this exercise, as you are training your core to be able to maintain this position during normal activities in daily life.  

Other Helpful Ways to Improve Posture

1. 1 Think string. Always imagine that a string coming from the top of your head is pulling you gently up towards the ceiling. Visualization techniques like this one can guide your sense of proper position and height effectively.  
2. 2 Have someone tape a giant X on your back from one shoulder to the opposite hip. Then put a straight line of tape across your shoulders closing the top of the X. Wear this during the day, to help retrain your back. This works really well if you hold shoulders back before taping, use wide non stretch tape and ideally change tape each day.  
3. 3 Avoid the slouch when walking. Be sure to try to walk as if you had a book balancing on your head.  
4. 4 Use color. If you need help remembering to keep your posture, think of a unique object or color. Every time you think of that object, check your posture.  
5. 5 Focus on your calves. Let your posture and balance rely more on your calves. Try to feel an at ease attitude, and put a bounce in your step. You'll find that it will free up the rest of your upper body to relax and assume a more upright posture that takes pressure from your back, shoulders and neck, and works on your ab muscles. This is awesome, since strong calves and abs rock!    

 

I had an awesome time this morning walking my dogs...

and I donned a 2 piece suit I wore over 4.5 years ago when I was recovering from my panniculectomy and had the everlasting drains in for weeks at a time...

Photo taken post panniculectomy in 2008 ... I made myself awesome drain covers with bits of leather ...

This is me today wearing the same outfit 4/24/2013 ... it fits even better and not it is OLD LOL

this is my empowerment collage on yesterday .... as entered in my digital empowerment journal "A Picture a Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away" a goofy tool that I made up and that works for ME and my journey as it relates to ME...

Thanks for allowing me to share ...  SNIPPETS of my JOURNEY....

 

Yup ... I was sitting on 327 pounds ... my highest recorded weight at the cardiologist's office ... when I was being fitted for a Holter Monitor ,,,  ... that was 6 years and almost 3 months ago ... 

This is my empowerment collage this day ... as I entered it into my digital empowerment journal "A Picture A Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away" a goofy tool that I made up that is working for me ...

Sitting at the desk at 327 pounds YESTERDAY (over 6 years ago) versus TODAY (this day)....

my week ending in pictures and my today ... comparison collage...

of course I groomed me and my dolly... an awesome gift from my son ... he saw her months ago... her hairstyle then (which I have since changed over and over) reminded him of me ... he did not mind being poked and made fun of jokingly by his friends as he trekked across the city with the doll that he bought for his mom .... and just for that she is special .... and as I groom me I groom my special dolly ... because my son gave her to me ... I AM GOOFY LIKE THAT ...lol... I have to put her back up on her bench ... my dogs keep pulling her hair off ... I was afraid of them jumping up on the bench and dragging her down and she would  fall and break ... no thanks to Chip she already has a broken finger which I will be replacing it myself ...

my doggies were also in my morning pic ... and my husband my photographer...

I swam all weekend long ... and slept ... and played with my doggies and my ferrets... I spent awesome quality time with my family ... friends visited ... I held all those I love close and I let them know it ... I prayed for Boston ...for the victims ...for the families ... as I swam I cried and I cried and I tried so hard to let go of my sister and I can't .... I am missing her horribly today too ... it has been two months since her death ... and I miss her.... she was always there and I will keep her close in my heart for-ever...

Thanks for allowing me to share ... SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY...

 

YUP ... OFF TO THE POOL TO SWIM LAPS!!! I could swim for HOURS at a time ... ohhhhh I so love to swim ... my favorite exercise of all .... I remember participating in so many swimming matches back in Panama in school ... swimming was second nature to us .....

This is my status as I head out of here and to the pool ... 

OFF TO THE POOL TO SWIM LAPS ... my favorite exercise and de-stressor of all ... ohhh I could swim for hours at end ... at 6 years 3 months post RNY and keeping a total weight loss of 203 pounds off I am thankful for second chances ... this is my empowerment collage this day as I share snippets of my journey post weight loss surgery .... Over my mid fifties I got my life back with health and mobility on my battle against morbid obesity and its related diseases (5 of which are in remission) one day at a time ... one choice at a time... I pay it forward in my digital empowerment journal 'A Picture A Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away'....

WOOT! I am over the midline of my 50s and swimming like a Dolphin...

and wearing the SAME swimsuit I wore on my OH photo posted June 30, 2009 ....

healthy and fit and THIS NANI IS ROCKING IT AND LOVING IT!!! 

Will be taking a brief hiatus in a week as I travel to home and back....

 

First I must say that I went to bed last night with prayers in my heart and woke up in the wee hours of the morning to go on my morning run 6 miles total with a prayer in my heart ... sending heartfelt prayers and healing light to all affected directly or indirectly by the horror that unfolded in Boston yesterday .... I for one believe in the continuation of life and in the inherent good of people ... because in this awesome world that humanity in all its diversity fills there are hundreds of good people for every bad one or group that there is .... I believe in goodness and I am rooting for the helpers!!! ....

These are Snippets of my journey ...  my entry in my digital empowerment journal today .... 

Wearing old Are my clothes old now??? YIKES ... I am wearing my old clothes

YIKES ... are these old clothes now??? my oh my how fast time flies .... 6 years and almost 3 months out can I call these that were 'my new tiny clothes' OLD CLOTHES NOW???? I mean ... I posted this picture back in May of 2010 ... I was 3 years and 3 months post op them .... I made my awesome suit from scratch in one of my favorite colors ... I cut it and fit it to a duct tape body form that I made myself ... and I took a comparison picture for my empowerment journal and I posted it in my photo area on OH too ... it is still there ... AN OLD OH PHOTO ... 3 years and 3 months out that is .... oh hell no it is not old ... my journey will be new for-ever ... I love it that way ....

and now TODAY  I AM WEARING OLD CLOTHES AGAIN ...6 YEARS AND ALMOST 3 MONTHS OUT .... DOUBLE THAT TIME ... I am wearing these very same clothes THAT I MADE MYSELF... for the same or better fit even,,, today as I slipped into them ... SHOULD I CALL THEM OLD CLOTHES???? now??? YIKES I thought the old clothes were the 4-5X and size 32s and then 28s and then 26s and then 24s and then 18s and then jump to 14s and then 12s and then 9s and then 6s and then some 4s that I have given away except a piece or two for comparison were my old clothes .... I am so NOT ready to call these old yet and I am rocking them to work today .... too bad I could not find the shoes in my shoe closet and goodness knows where in my array of hairpieces that piece is or whether it has been long given away...

Me at work today ... same out fit that I wore 3 years and 3 months post op at 6 years and almost 3 months post op...

I sat at my desk on break and as I meditated and wondered whether to write in my journal or not I decided that life will go on ... and I will continue to believe in the goodness of men ... that goodness and light will overcome evil and darkness ALWAYS ... I will seek goodness in the midst of tragedy and I will root for the helpers and be a helper myself in any measure that I can...

I enjoyed an awesome apple on break ... 

and I meditated ... I remember my 'A picture a Day Keeps the Pounds and Inches Away' taken on yesterday .... it froze on my screen as I stared in disbelieve and horror at the news flash ... I could not post ... my mind wracked with worry and filled with prayer as I tried to console a co-worker who had friends running in that race ... thank goodness they are all well ...

I have since purposed myself to enjoy and cherish every little bit of life in me and around me .... because my mom once said 'on our wellest day we are fit enough to die' ,,, my heart bleeds for all those innocent people celebrating a Patriots day experiencing the horror of an evil act...

Today is a new day .... yesterday is gone ... and while it should never be forgotten let the healing begin and let the meditation of our hearts produce a message of love and peace!

My yesterday ... gone but not forgotten...

and me today ... 6 years 3 months post op ... 

I AM GRATEFUL ... "There is JOY and there is EVIL in equal measures in this world ... I am embracing JOY and making it happen to me..." thank you Mary for sharing those awesome words with me years ago....

For lunch I will partake of an awesome Nova Scotia lox with cream cheese, red onions and tomatoes on a half of toasted whole wheat bread for lunch ... courtesy of my DH ... because again I ran out of the house forgetting my lunch behind ... he brought it to me ... I LOVE THAT MAN!

Thanks for allowing me to share MY THOUGHTS ... and SNIPPETS of my journey....

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers - so many caring people in this world.” — Mister Rogers

 

YIKES .... it is MONDAY .... ALREADY .... why must the weekend speed on by???? it seems like just yesterday morning I was squatting in my basement trying to keep my doggies away from the ferret's vites .... LOL ... they hate their vites but they LOVE the ferret's vites ... what gives????

I had an awesome time with my DD instructing at Wright Movez ... an awesome taster of Bokwa followed by Zumba .... I came home totally energized and had the urge to go to the house of praise and I am glad I did ... 

I pulled out my outfit that may have seemed totally inappropriate for church but hey ... He said 'come as you are' and I am doing just that ... so judge me not is my MO... and of course I took a picture of my labels ... because a weight loss of 203 pounds maintained at 6 years 2 months out is a daily celebration for me at least...  I took my XS jumpsuit and topped it with a suede Size 0 Ann Taylors jacket and made it totally 'churchy' in my book LOL ... and I wore my big heels and I danced and shouted and praised like I was wearing slippers on my feet .... these bad boys were COMFY!!!

I remember going to church before my WLS on 2/5/07 and receiving an awesome 'thank you for your generosity' plaque that was a total surprise ... and someone had taken my picture .... I am so glad for that picture of me then that I compare with me today in a collage .... BEFORE AND NOW...

I had such an awesome fun time in the house of praise ... a place that would always welcome me unconditionally ... when I got home I was soooooooooooooo blissfully exhausted I had no appetite for dinner ... but the body needs nourishment so I sat on my bed and enjoyed an awesome mug of steel oats with raisins and apples and added protein that my DH made ... I ate close to half of it and was totally satisfied and ready to relax the rest of the evening .... before I knew it I was out like a light the TV program that I decided to watch wound up watching me instead LOL...

and in the blink of an eye from Friday to YIKES ... HERE IT IS MONDAY AGAIN!!!!! why must you rush on in MONDAY??? you are shortening my weekend .... so I am off to work ... and writing another GOOFY thread ... in my digital empowerment journal 'A Picture a Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away' a fun an goofy tool that I made up and it is working for me .... I have tracked it all ... my life that is ... pre.. post... during and now .... because I love pictures and pictures are awesome memories as well as a powerful empowerment tool that is working for ME... on MY JOURNEY....

BEFORE AND AFTER ... I AM ME .... FAT AND SLIM .... I will never forget ... we walk hands in hands .... her deliverance is my release and my release is her deliverance ... this is MY WALK away from morbid obesity ... one day at a time .. one choice at a time ... I am rocking it and having fun with it ... with health and mobility I have the quality of life that obesity related disease all in remission now tried to restrain....

Thanks for allowing me to share ... SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY...... "there is joy and there is misery in equal measures in this world ... I am embracing JOY and making it happen to me ... of course misery is there ... but I am NOT letting it in...."

 

WOOT! the week just sped on by ... and here I was busy as all getup working on that coffin-looking structure that was discovered in the basement of our new over 100 years old homestead .... 

I am soooooo ready for Friday ... with health, energy, mobility and drive to spare I am tackling a million and one chores and other activities over the awesome weather weekend coming up and I plan to enjoy them all .... but today... today is FRIDAY!!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYY.....

I can't wait to get home to finish working on this awesome old as heck cistern that scared the daylights out of me when we uncovered it in our huge unfinished basement in our 3 stories homestead close to the water just for the 4 of us .... I am loving it ... that we are doing-it-ourselves ... mostly that is .... and before the drop ceiling and the flooring is placed I am just changing around the look of that which I want to keep .... 

Ye old cistern .....errrrrrr "concrete coffin looking thing" according to my description ... looked like this ... I had to ask my friends WTH is this thing??? an old cistern turned out to be ....  so I decided to change the look of it ... the bricks behind it are next in line....

and I am just getting started ... with my roughest draft looking like this and I am keeping my blue hues and hummingbirds theme down there .... when I am done I am taking wicker furniture that I have and painting it blue from white and making light blue cushions for them with embroidered hummingbirds that I will sew on my awesome project runway brother sewing machine... and my machine will do the embroidery too ... and what is much more fun yet I can download the picture I want to embroider and just program my machine to do it ... I don't even have to use a foot pedal ... with just the press of a button this baby SEWS!!! I love it...

I love love love changing looks ... I am going to paint the base in a wicker pattern in blue ... I am rolling the idea given to me by my friend Mary in my head .... I just have to get it out the way I see it from had to paint brush.... 

This is my totally unfinished no longer 'coffin-looking' cistern .... when I am done I am going to make a lamp like base with an led bulb and shade to put over that pipe sticking out of it where it served as an old water reservoir over 100 years ago ...

and I am going to paint my wicker white furniture that I bought from my old patio from where we moved and paint it like this picture I found on google...

So today I am so feeling YAY FOR FRIDAY!!!!! my fingers are itching to get started .... then I will be finishing up the curtains and spreads I am sewing for the third floor where my daughter will be residing .... I will also finish up the master bedroom on the second floor where I will be moving up to ... and ... and... and...there is sooooooooooooo much to do .... I NEED MORE THAN 24 HOURS ..... Monday comes wayyyyyyyyyyyy tooo soon!!!

I am rocking my workday Friday with awesome plans to work on my projects .... Having lost and kept off 203 pounds have afforded me energy... mobility and health .... ohhhhhhhhh my I can just keep going and going....

This is my Friday ... today... 6 years and 2 months post RNY ... maintaining happily for life...

an awesome morning coffee .... YUM

it really hit the spot...

Yesterday I sipped an awesome few ounces of Soy milk on break...  ...

and the day before break time found me enjoying awesome Wasabi Peas YUM YUM YUM....

Life is awesome in moderation .... and I am rocking my journey .... Yesterday and Today and I am making it last For-EVER!

I love my journey and I am enjoying every bit of it .... I am taking the good the bad and the ugly and making an awesome collage of experiences to live/learn from .... I cherish my happy memories ... and I am making lemonade and virgin margaritas with the odd lemons life occasionally throws my way .... I have captured it all in my empowerment journal 'A Picture A Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away' .... I am embracing JOY and making it happen to me EVERY DAY .... my circumstances with not dictate my destiny ... 

Thanks for allowing me to share SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY ... on my walk away from morbid obesity one day at a time.. one choice at a time....

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY IT'S FRIDAY .... HAVE A HAPPY DAY EVERYONE!!!! WHEREVER I AM IN LIFE OR ON THE JOURNEY I AM JUST GOING TO ROCK IT! MY FIRST MIRACLE HAPPENED TODAY ... I AM ALIVE!!!! AND WELL... FOR THAT ALONE I AM HAPPY!

 

I need some color right about now .... I am sooooo tired of having frozen toes and fingers and going outside in dark clothes ... it is SPRING and I want some color NOW!!!!!! SO TODAY I AM BRINGING IT IN!!!

I got up early this morning and looked for brightness in the SPRING section of my closet .... woooooo hooooooo am I bright or what LOL errrrrrrrr make that loud! LOL

This is my entry in my digital empowerment journal this morning 'A Picture A Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away' I can see it ... I can feel it ... 

and me and my dolly .... this awesome doll that my son saw in a store at the time she had long tresses that matched the extensions I had in my hair ... so my son thought that the doll reminded him of me and while hanging with his friends he was not embarrassed to pick up this doll and bring her across town and on the bus to home even as he was playfully jived and teased by his friends .... I make dolls and I collect dolls but this is my special dolly and it is about time I make her some clothes...

So fully dressed and all kissed up and hugged up by my ferrets and my puppies I am off to work .... the loudest dressed in the joint ... WOOT and all my peers and co-workers who are my awesome friends and who have supported me throughout my entire journey and workplace life LOVE IT ....

I can't wait to put on these bad boys ... hey... I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE MY HEELS ... I WORE THEM BEFORE AND I WEAR THEM NOW .... I tried them on with my suit yesterday and loved them ... but they are too tall for work so I will rock 'em over the weekend....

I am rocking these bad boys on my feet over the weekend too even if it is to sit in my dining room sipping an Expresso ...yeah Click Expresso Protein Coffee that I sooooooooo enjoy thanks to samples given to me at OH Conference in Atlanta.... AND I THINK I WILL CHECK WITH MY FRIEND MARCIA TO SEE IF WE CAN BOTH MEET UP IN OH CALI CONF THIS YEAR ....

This is just another goofy thread .... as I enjoy my journey in full maintenance and full of life, love and blessings from family and true friends ... for LIFE ... it is my journey and I am rocking it ... one day at a time... one choice at a time ... I record it all in my empowerment journal because my goofy tool 'A Picture A Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches AWAY ... I CAN SEE IT! I CAN FEEL IT!" is FUN and it works for me!!! cause I love love love taking pictures... and painting.... and sewing... and making dolls ....

Thanks for allowing me to share ... SNIPPETS OF MY LIFE.... pre and post Weight Loss Surgery....

...There is joy and misery in equal measures in this world ... I am embracing joy and making it happen to me!!!! ... thank you Mary for the words of encouragement and support .... 

 

I got up this morning after an awesome night sleep ... I spent the part of the day yesterday in my basement trying to make pretty this very ugly yet sturdy and handy worktable that was left behind by the previous owners which I can find great use for .... BUT ... I have to make that corner look a little bit like me first PLUS I had the itch to paint ... I had morning glories and hummingbirds on my mind ... can't wait for REAL spring to get here ... so I got to work.... and took a rough draft of my handiwork STILL UNFINISHED before retiring last night...

I got up this morning totally rested and totally grateful for a new Day ... a new EASTER ... my 7th Easter Post-OP ... and 6 years 2 months post RNY....

This is my morning in order...

#1.  I thanked the Lord for my first miracle of the day ... I woke up in health and of sound mind ... THANK YOU LORD!!!!

#2.  I hopped in the shower and took a pic of my ooooogly morning mug ... no makeup ... YIKES...

#3 Mad dash to warpaint corner ... nothing like MAC, Mascara, a couple liner pencils, my peepers and a makeup brush and I am good to go after opening up my drawer filled of big badarse earrings to select a pair....

#4. ahhhhhhhhh I am loving MAC .... nothing but MAC goes on my mug for years.....

 

#5 short hair badarse earrings for moi...

#6 It is still early I relax some more while I type a goofy thread in my empowerment journal and I share on here...

#7 Got dressed ....

#8 Farted around with my doll...

and I am 203 pounds away from my BEFORE....

AND THEN COMES THE BEST PART ... 

#9 Calorie FREE chocolate KISSES from my awesome chocolate poodle CHIP .. how sweeeeeeeettttttt!!!!

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!!! Thanks for allowing me to share another goofy thread.....

 

When slumber is soooooooooooo sweet and one sleeps sooooooooo deep that YIKES!!!!!... IT IS LATE!!!! I NEED TO GET TO WORK IN LESS THAN  AN HOUR .... OH ME OH MY!!! .....

That was me this morning .... slept sooooooooo deeply after an awesome workout last night .. BOKWA and ZUMBA followed by PILATES that I woke up late ... dashed into the shower even as I had showered before bed I need my morning shower ... pulled myself together super quickly and RAN!!!! ..... no time for picture a day in my new favorite corner .... quick kisses .. feed and water to poodles and ferrets and AWAY I GO!!!

YIKES!!! forgot the lunch bag prepped the night before .... I am ALMOST there with 5 minutes to spare ... no turning back .... here it is I am at work .... no meals ... did not go to the ATM ... and I KNOW I must eat something before lightheadedness sets in.... what to do ... what to do .... I must have something in my locker .... and I do.... I have whey protein powder ... Vanilla Flavor .... a co-worker spotted me a serving pack of raisin bran cereal ... and I found peanut butter ... WOOT.... my creative instincts are in place....

With my awesome treasures I set on a 3 minute EMERGENCY WORKDAY BAKE on my break....

My goodies: peanut butter... heaping spoonful of whey vanilla protein powder... raisin bran cereal ....

I open the raisin bran packet and save the top..... pour the protein powder over it and scoop out the peanut butter and mix...

separated mixture in 3 parts and mashed using the cover from the raisin bran cereal packet to pat down my cookies...

end result.... three awesome cold peanut butter raisin bran protein cookies ... NOM NOM NOM ... I just scooped out a heaping spoonful of protein powder from my scoop and poured the rest into my coffee and mixed .... 

I ate my awesome bkfast ... One and a half cookies and having the rest on second break ... soooooooooooo full and satisfied with a quick empiric EMERGENCY WORKDAY BAKE ON BREAK .... WOOT! ... if you care to try it you may like it ... or not ... its all good ... I LOVED IT.... as I ate it and twiddled my toes ... right at my desk ...on break ....

Loving my WLS ... 6 years 2 months post RNY ... it seems like it was just yesterday ... the excitement remains ... I am on it for life .... and I love it! and my goofy made up empiric tool 'A Picture A Day Keeps the Pound and the Inches Away' works for ME ... since I could not do it at home I did it at the next best place ... on break ... this is my today...

Compared to yesterday .... from a highest weight of 327 pounds 6 years and 2 months ago...

I love my before that I can compare to my now ... I am very much the same spirit of my big girl me ...in a smaller frame ... cause I am B.A.D. = Blessed And Delivered .... I keep my previous image in remembrance cause I do not want to ever forget how far I have come ... that woman is still me ... we walk hand and in hand ...her deliverance is my release and my release is her deliverance ... WIN WIN .... I am so grateful for the tool that gave me the jumpstart that I so much needed .... I will stay the course one day at a time ... one choice at a time .... should I fall ..I WILL GET UP! and keep on moving....it is all good...

Thanks for allowing me to share SNIPPETS of my journey.....

 

ENERGIZING WITH NATURE ... what an awesome way to start my day.... 

Feeling that early morning dew and breeze on my skin and sometimes even rain ... running against the wind and warming up with the flow of my own blood I love love love starting my day with an early morning run ... from running along the nature trail behind my previous homestead 4-5 days a week to currently running 5-6-8 miles along the beach four to five early mornings weekly weather permitting (I love love love to run in the rain but ice and snow are so totally off limits LOL) I am rocking nature in my favor ... and it pays off ... for me that is.....

On Saturday morning I decided to get an early start ...and I was not even thinking sleepwear or daywear ... as I donned these garments and snapped and collaged a picture for my empowerment journal.... "A PICTURE A DAY KEEPS THE POUNDS AND THE INCHES AWAY' hmmm Old Navy Intimates in XS were good enough for my agenda ... for guess what .... I started off my morning energizing with nature....

and was SO TOTALLY comfortable running in my jammies on an early Saturday morning run along the beach from one town to the other and back ... when 6 years and 2 months ago before WLS I could barely make it up a flight of stairs .... after my run I was soooooooooooooo totally energized I just wanted to keep on going and going .... 7 miles and with energy to spare...

So again I used my extra energy in my favor .... as I showered and changed and joined my daughter for an awesome Bokwa taster followed by Zumba Fitness and Zumba Sentao ...

After an early Sunday morning run along the beach followed by Church on Sunday DD invited me to brunch after an awesome Bokwa demo at another gym where she teaches at .... WHAT FUN ... I had invited friends and peers too and we had a ball ... by the time Monday morning came around I was ready for hair play .... and came to work looking like this.,.. on yesterday... which was my day of leisure from running and gym .... there is enough with manic Monday at work so there was enough energy expended there LOL

Today is workday Tuesday .... YUP ... I ran at 4:30 a.m. with the members of my running group ... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh I have energy ... more energy than ever after ENERGIZING with nature .... my skin is still tingling and the blood is still flowing... with energy to spare .... I got dressed and came to work ... ready to tackle the day... totally ENERGIZED...

As is habit now I took a picture for my empowerment journal "A Picture a Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away" an empiric and goofy tool that has worked for me along the journey .... and in life in general ... I have captured every moment in a picture ... from childbirth to birthdays to every day .... me, my family, my pets ... I have albums dated from the day I thought I conceived my daughter... I love love love pictures... and I do take a picture of my labels too ... they are a reminder of the days that I squeezed into 4-5X and my size 32 breeches were too tight ... when I had to make sure I had needle and thread in my purse in case of a ripped seam .... okay wait ... I still do that and still get ripped seams today LOL ...

So as I sit at my desk today ... on break writing snippets of my journey ... I feel totally energized with nature ... before I could even think of running I walked at a snails pace .... then I walked a little bit faster.... and faster... and when I hit the trail and felt the ground and the grass and the sand and the sun and the breeze ... I felt soooooooooooo totally energized by nature each time .... so little by little ... day by day ... I built strength and endurance ... and one day at a time ... one choice at a time I completely changed my lifestyle and habits prior to WLS  so today I enjoy the benefit of rocking a seamless journey 6 years and 2 months after ... maintaining a total loss of 203 pounds with no regain ... I am not boastful I am grateful... I wanted this and I went after it and I am determined to keep it NO EXCUSES .... this is just the way I want it ... just the way I was before packing on the pounds ... but a lot older and wiser... I am determined to embrace joy and make it happen to me ... every day ... of course misery is out there but I am certainly not letting it in.... 

Break over!!! back to workday Tuesday ... TOTALLY ENERGIZED WITH NATURE ... it works!!! Thanks for allowing me to share ... another goofy thread...

THANKS FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE!!!

I love love love love a piece of fabric ... whether on my body or on a window or on a table or on a countertop I love the way fabric rocks and feels ... 

I sew... I love love love to sew ... I love buying fabric and have a few favorite fabric haunts Mood Fabrics in NY being one of them ....BUT I ALSO love the next best thing.... shopping designer's at my favorite place in the whole wide world ... the ONLY consignment store I visit... where I can rock mean designer clothing for so much less in cost... as low as a dollar on VIP days .... UNLESS I decide to invest an original expensive piece myself which is an option that I consider very carefully and quite infrequently where clothing is concerned as there are more durable goods I rather invest in... an awesome consignment boutique in Orange, CT a few blocks up from where I live ... I love it ... the gals there know me from the time I was shopping rocking and consigning there at a size 4-5X pant size 32 .... I shopped there in the 90s up to 2007 at my biggest and I am shopping today still from the largest to the smallest size ... I love it ....

It is fun too .... all I need is a nickel, a dime, a bit of creativity and a little bit of time ... and it is pure FUN! for me ... because this is my experience and my journey .... I share my goofy snippets today...

I always loved to dress ... being the daughter of an awesome couturier we learned from very young how to sew ... I love putting things together ... asymmetrically I blend and mix colors and shapes and love the loudness and the clash ... its my style ... has always been ... so when I am acting like the happiest baby in the playpen at my favorite place in the whole wide world ... a consignment store in Orange, CT .... excuse me for a minute... I am having FUN...FUN... FUN... 

After all I got all of this for less than $40 bucks .... and this morning being still in a bit of pain after oral/maxillofacial surgery on Monday I went shopping in my closet .... I pick up anything from a size 0-4 or XS or S that has the original label and marked NEW still on it ... I NEVER try anything on at the store ... I bring them home and whenever I get to them if they fit and I like them I rock them ... if them fit and I don't care for them I give them away ... if they don't fit they are oftentimes too big or too youthful I give them away ...if I see something a friend would like/love I will get it for him/her and give it away... WIN WIN because I am a giver at heart and I love to have something ... anything to pass on no matter who small or how big it is ... it makes me happy,...

Casually decked out in an XS VanHeusen top and a Size 2 AX pants ... I am the same person who rocked at Size 4-5X at my favorite place a month over 6 years ago before my WLS.... I paid $5 for my top and $17 for my slacks with the original tag at $88.00.... awesome find.... I love the look and the fit ... after all I am wearing it...

ANXIOUSLY AWAITING SPRING.... IS IT EVER GOING TO COME???? LOL ...... in the same section of the very same store about a week ago when I also got the outfit above I picked up this awesome powder blue two piece set in a Size 0 from BCBG ... and paid a whooping $10 bucks for it ... but Spring never came ... I decided to put it on this morning with a black blazer over it but nope... snow showers and COLD ... I changed my mind.... but it certainly felt good to be able to wear these tiny garbs after an awesome loss of 203 pounds held in maintenance over 6 years... I love the look and the feel.... just as I loved the look and feel of my awesome ensembles put together at this very same favorite store at my largest size....

As it was cold and snow showering today as I dressed for work I decided to put on the other awesome find I got with that very same trio about a week ago at the very same place ... An AX knit dress and shirt in Size S for a whooping $8 bucks and rocking the original labels that someone did not wear WOOT .... with a total of $40 bucks and I rocking these that I LIKE ...  I dress for me and moi...

I rocked the above outfit  to work today and snapped a pic of my do (hair play) and collaged it with my before WLS pic and entered it in my goofy and fun personal journal and empowerment tool "A Picture A Day Keeps the Pounds and The Inches Away".... an empiric fun tool that is working for me ... cause I love taking pics of just about everything... 

I love before and afters... I love picture AW'ing and I love love love love to share SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY .... pre and post weight loss surgery ... NO REGRETS .... ENJOYING EVERY DAY one day one choice at a time .... I EMBRACE JOY AND JUST MAKE IT HAPPEN TO ME ... despite all life challenges .... for I am so blessed.....

Thanks for allowing me to share ... Snippets Of My Journey.... 

 

Always wondered why since a small child combing/playing in ...changing my hair around always soothed me and calmed me down... when I stress I always head for the hair ...hmmm.. and that is just what I did this entire stressful weekend when we turned out house all three floors and 4 with the basement upside down and downside up looking for our dwarf ferret Chiquitita who managed to escape from her pen and has not been found since ... despite combing the neighborhood to which we are relatively new she has not shown up and we are about to throw in the towel.... I hope a good Samaritan picked her up and that she is not prey to other animals and I pray she does not turn up dead in between a wall or a couch I am beside myself.  The strange thing is there is no signs of her ...not of her being loose and unattended as she would have ransacked the room or would have gone potty in a corner ... and except for the dryer exhaust which would have given her an escape to the outside (the dryer was moved away from the wall as we had workers in the basement on Friday) I can't possible find where she might have gone.  She would respond to her name, we would hear her bells, she would have come out for treats that I left out for her and water ... nada.. gone ... I am beside myself and my son is going nutz ... our pets are well cared for and are family members ... our little escapists has been pulling these tricks for the years we have had her but this is the first time that she has left with no trace ... SIGH ... I am hoping but it is looking bleak...

SO I hair played ... with two small tracks of extensions in the front and spiking my own upward in the back... I saw this link as I set out to investigate why I love to play in hair especially when my spirit is trouble ... I found a link on Combing Therapy ... no idea if it is true or not but I can relate to several of the benefits...

And this is the result of Hair Play today ... it worked better than stuffing my face or biting my nails ... and it relaxed me A LOT ... still missing my dwarf ferret Chiquitita ... praying for her safe return...

http://www.internalartsinternational.com/free/combing-therapy-shu-fa/

Me today after morning hair play.....

I will never forget my before ... it is still me ... still playing in my hair big or smaller ... striving for health and mobility for life...

Me before gastric bypass 6 years and 1.5 months ago ... maintaining for LIFE ... LOVING MY JOURNEY!

Another goofy thread... sharing Snippets of my journey ... on my walk away from morbid obesity one day at a time... one choice at a time....

These are SNIPPETS of MY journey .. what ever works for me I just take it, tweak it, perfect it, ignore it, shake it or break it ... . diversity rocks ... hey some can comb it, others can brush it, others can just shake it out and let it dry ... whatever works .. I am pretty certain that for each on thing that may work for one their is an opposing view on the other hand.... As far as I am concerned I am taking a little bit of this and a little bit of that and choosing joy over misery and let it happen to me ... forever grateful for all life lessons and all who share ...

 

Photobucket has a new awesome tool called 'Your Stories' it is soooooooooooo easy to use as in dragging and dropping your pics into it and creating a story .... I find it awesome ... I used it the other day to show my friends the progress of this old (over 100 years) awesome HUGE house just for us we moved into with 3 floors and my feeble attempts at do-it-yourself home improvement - remake ... I also used it to write a story about my three beautiful toy poodles ... and then this morning I decided heck .. why not? ... I could lump a month or two or even more of my digital empowerment journal in a story and tell a tale in pics WOOT .... so this morning I tried it ... I just randomly grabbed pics taken for March to date and February 2013 and dropped them randomly into the story line ... I did not have time to add titles nor descriptions to the pictures as I did in the home improvement project but these features are just awesome.... once the story is done you save it and have the options of making it private or public or limited to whoever you give the link to ... then you just hit the scrolling arrows < or > on either side to see the storyline...

I made this one in less than 5 minutes .... my journey so far Feb-Mar 2013 from most current date on down ...

http://s259.beta.photobucket.com/user/martitalinda/story/17507#

I made this one the other day of my poodles ... 

http://s259.beta.photobucket.com/user/martitalinda/story/17015

If you have fun with pics or are photo taking lover like me ... HAVE FUN!!! I am so happy my family loves taking pics ... I am currently working up a picture of my sisters and I including my beautiful recently departed (3 weeks) sister Maria Carmela (Mela) .... I am so glad to be able to walk down memory lane and visit with her again and again... I will NEVER forget her...

Thanks for allowing me to share ... as I sit here about to have an awesome snack of 1/2 this delicious bit of natural 'C'

A PICTURE A DAY KEEPS THE POUNDS AND THE INCHES AWAY.... this is my empowerment collage today ... as I headed out to a service for my sister yesterday evening wearing an awesome find from Consignment Originals in Orange, CT ... got this awesome dud for pennies with the original price tag and never used ... one trip to the drycleaners and voila ... perfect fit in a size XS... I love it ... down from a size 4-5X and maintaining a total loss of 203 pounds for 6 years almost 2 months post WLS...

Check out the story feature in Photobucket ... it is a free program but I pay a minimal fee for Photobucket Pro because I love extra benefits and storage....  I am certain there are tons of other programs online that accommodate this feature also and that there is nothing new under the sun ...  I just love sharing SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY....

Have a great day all ... pardon typos ... typing fast  while on break.... again, thanks for allowing me to share another goofy thread...

 

Having my steal oats for breakfast in a cup and it hit the spot too .... I was running late and brought an awesome portion of what my husband cooked overnight just because I wanted steal cut oats for bfkast.... hmmmmmmmm YUM! ...

I am a happy camper.... so I sat here eating my oats and twiddling my toes.... hmmm they are good ... with just a few raisins and cinnamon in it with stevia and a bit of skim milk added like l like it...

This is a goofy snippet from my journal entry this day ... my morning started with an awesome run at 4:30 am along the beach into the adjacent town and back 5.5 miles run today ... 

I did the same yesterday and had awesome energy left over to come home and enjoy a stroll and brisk walk with my dogs ... who started frantically at an approaching dog .... they barked and growled and pretended to be all that and a bag of chips until the BIG dog approached .... my black poodle Pierreta started screaming so loudly you'd think she was being mauled ... my chocolate poodle Chip decided to lay low just in case ... and my silver poodle lover boy Pierre could not wait to jump and kiss and lick the big dog to his heart content ... LOL ... 

Whoa ... when the big Bernice Mountain dog approach my Pierretta started screaming .... YIKES that dude is way too big LOL...

 it was none other than the friendliest and awesomely gentle dog belonging to my neighbor a Bernice Mountain dog...

but it turned out to be the sweetest and friendliest dog belonging to my neighbor ... how awesome to go running early in the morning and got out to either the gym to swim or to zumba or pilates or sculpting and come back home with awesome energy to walk the dogs and continue working on a million and one home improvement projects...

I am loving the mobility and flexibility losing and keeping off 203 pounds has afforded me .... Health and Mobility and a life without co-morbidities related to morbid obesity is what I longed for and what I have been enjoying six years post gastric bypass .... 

The journey only gets better... with life's challenges and ups and downs I can deal ... I can move ... and I refuse to go back to my previous condition ...

Before and after as is before and now and hereinafter ... I have tracked my weightloss and am tracking my maintenance journey in a digital empowerment album that I call 'a picture a day keeps the pounds and the inches away' ... an empiric tools that is working for me cause I have fun with it .... 

This is my empowerment collage today... from a highest recorded weight of 327 pounds I am 6 years post WLS and in maintenance seamlessly ... no regain... healthy choices that are plentiful in selections and delectable in taste and ingested in the appropriate portions with contentment and satiety ... one day at a time... one choice at a time... NO REGRETS!!! I am so loving this journey ... it is as exciting and fun as day one ... when it seemed like just a dream ....

My empowerment collage yesterday...

Thank you much for allowing me to share..... 

Kisses from my chocolate poodle Chip

thanks for allowing me to take up space and share!!!

 

Yesterday is most definitely gone but in its wake it leaves golden moments, memories and experiences to be held in remembrance.... I will hold on to all those that empower me ... keep me strong and focused and bring me joy.... yesterday is gone but most definitely not forgotten.... 

6 years 1 month post RNY on my monthly surgiversary yesterday ... I am holding it together ... maintaining seamlessly despite life's challenges... 

I will hold yesterday in remembrance ... of my before and my now ... as in TODAY ... because my BEFORE encourages me and empowers me to focus on my NOW and on the future ... I am glad I have picture memories of yesterday that I can compare to today...

and that my yesterday's before pictures encourage me to stay on track .... 203 pounds lost ... and staying off 6 years 1 month after....

I lost my dearest sister on 2/22/2013 going on two weeks on this coming Friday .. a blow much harder to deal with than I could ever imagine... and I am still trying to seek normal ... she was my angel... my support... my cheerleader ... my elder sister that I could ALWAYS run to ... the pillar of strength of our family and I miss her.... I will always remember her words to me "there is better than food for comfort" and I will carry on ... she left AWESOME memories of sooooooooooooo many yesterdays that I will cherish for-ever .... she will never be forgotten .... She would look up my goofy journal entries and my collages of my WLS progress ... as I tracked it all in a digital journal ... A Picture A Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away ... together we would laugh at our goofy style and our habit of putting our hands on our waist LOL ... As I am seeking normal ... this is my journal entry today ... because a picture a day does keep the pounds and the inches away ... I can see it... I can feel it ...

Me yesterday and me today...

I am treasuring all my yesterdays and enjoying and living to the fullest my todays ... because tomorrow is not promised ...

I am soooooooooooo happy for all the picture memories .... just a couple months ago here is my beautiful eldest sister Mela embracing my niece on the day of her pledge of love in matrimony..... I will cherish her smile for-ever ... it is the same smile that graced her face when her heart no longer beat ... RIP my beautiful sister...

I am soooooooooooo glad I have tons of pictures shared throughout the years of my family and friends and pets and events ... because yesterday has treasures that can never be forgotten....

The next picture is my beautiful youngest sister Rosita bringing her daughter, my niece Iriana to the altar to pledge her love in matrimony ... I am so glad Mela had this moment to see our niece on such an awesome and memorable day.... I LOVE LOVE LOVE my youngest sister's red dress... she rocks!

I love sharing and looking at pictures ... Unedited they bring wonderful memories ... of days gone by but not to be forgotten...

This has been a very very difficult time ... it is hard not to be saddened by the permanent departure of someone so dear ... I am trying so hard to respect her wishes of not to cry but to remember her happy ... I AM remembering her HAPPY ... but it is so hard not to cry when she is so terribly missed ... this hits close to home ... this is my sister ... and now that I am the oldest I fall so short from all the things she used to be.... I LOVE YOU MELA!!!! She too was a poodle lover ... there go her poodles being held by my baby sister while she stands beside my youngest niece Ariza....

I am counting my blessings this day ... and will continue to cherish my memories while living today to the fullest.  I started my day with furry love from my ferrets and my poodles .... and once again Chip... my pocketbook poodle tried to come along for the ride in my pocketbook... LOL... I just saw him sitting there as he did earlier this week and that tiny gesture brought a smile to my face and a wonderful memory of my poodle loving sister too...

Of course this is another goofy thread .... but it brought me great happiness to be able to share SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY ...A Picture a Day .... THANKS FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE...

Pictures ... an awesome memory of yesterday and TODAY .... I will never forget where I came from ... of the times I could not climb the stairs ... shortness of breath, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, sleep apnea and GERD ... all in remission... my joints are supple and before coming to work this morning I ran 5 miles and had energy to keep on going ... 

THANKS FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE... I am rocking my extensions/pieces as my sister loved my goofy hair posts ... and I do too ...

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE!!! SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY POST WLS....

Whether I am feeling happy or whether my spirit is troubled "there is better than food for comfort"... indeed..

As I am trying so very hard and failing miserably to honor my dearest recently departed sister's last wishes for us not to cry and not to be sad but to celebrate her life instead, something that she said to me as my angel, cheerleader and major supporter and contributor all the way from my native country miles away resonated with me today.  

I am trying so very hard to honor her last wishes to not be sad and to not cry yet I am finding that particularly hard.  Yesterday I freaked out as it dawned on me that I could not pick up the phone to call her or ever hear her voice again... then I realized that her voice and memories are a part of me and I found strength in remembrance of her, and us and my family.

As I was feeling distraught and sad despite her wishes, I heard her words once spoken to me so clearly as though she was right beside me whispering in my ear "there is better than food for comfort" .... and there is indeed... bringing those words into remembrance inspired me ... I was determined to seek normal as I go through this mourning process and was determined to fill my day with all those things that bring me happiness and comfort that are "better than food for comfort",,.

I love making dolls with doll parts old or new/with real hair extensions wefted by me  and clothes either bought or made by me.  I love giving my dolls away as I NEVER sell my art or any of my crafts that are purely my hobby.  Today I filled part of my day with my favorite hobby that I will donate to the children's hospital because "there is better than food for comfort"....

I made a beautiful doll in red and white symbolizing LOVE...

 

then I made a doll with long dark hair ... which is my favorite style when I extend or weave my hair...

then I made a beautiful doll dressed in white and gold symbolizing peace and prosperity

then I made the most beautiful doll and plan to make several others like her that I will be donating 'in lieu of flowers' along with a love offering to the foundation for children with cancer and leukemia in Panamá..

I named this beautiful doll Mela ... my sister's nickname .. short for Carmela...

I had so much fun making my dolls for which I got 100% approval from my 3 beautiful little poodles that my spirit was lifted ... I found so much peace and happiness making these dolls to donate in her memory that when I was done I realized that there is "better than food for comfort" indeed....

My spirit lifted I snapped a picture with my poodles even...

because there is "better than food for comfort" .. this was fun and relaxing...

I have made dolls before .. during .. and after my WLS and will continue to do so ... 

My life changing experience with WLS has taught me that there is "better than food for comfort" ... when I am feeling sad or a bit down or whether I am feeling happy or whether I want to relax or whether I just want to have fun I will always remember my sister's Mela words "there is better than food for comfort" ... yes there is indeed...

I can paint my murals as I LOVE LOVE LOVE to paint with acrylics on canvas or walls or just 'gimme" a surface... any surface... some gesso and my brushes and my artist acrylic paints...

I would paint a mural in the harvest...

and take a progress picture in front of it...

I can gesso over my wall and paint a mural in the winter..

and track my before and after progress picture in front of it...

and now that I have moved into a rambling awesome big old house with a sprawling basement with concrete and rough walls I can occupy with my palette, artist acrylics paint, gesso and my brushes and paint my heart away of the roughest of surfaces on these raw wooden walls...

there is "better than food for comfort indeed" ... whether I sew or paint or even paint a canvas looking at the avie of my OH Friends like my painted canvas of Kirmy here...

and if all else fails .... I WILL HUG MY AWESOME TOY POODLES .. FOR NOW I HAVE THREE .. OR MY BEAUTIFUL FERRETS...

There IS "BETTER THAN FOOD FOR COMFORT" INDEED... the journey never ends and it is so worth it ... I am not going back to before ... I will use it to empower me today and tomorrow ... thank you María Carmela ... for your awesome words of wisdom ... I found comfort in my hobby and it was BETTER THAN FOOD FOR COMFORT! indeed... indeed... indeed...

Before was yesterday... 203 post lost for-always ... 6 years post RNY WLS on 2-5-07

I am not going back!

there is "better than food for comfort" ... whether I do my hair or paint a mural...

Thank you all for allowing me to share ... and to take up so much space but guess what... I wrote and purged my feelings and that too is better than food for comfort ...indeed!

 

Yesterday morning I set off on a walk with the dogs looking like this.... 

 

Last night I peeped out my front door and it looked like this....

When I thought that was bad enough this early this morning we were looking like this...

When I opened the front downstairs door we were met with this...

the back door on the first floor opened up to this... my poodles were like WHOA!

and here I am thinking ... this is going to be a lazy family day ... languishing in front of the fireplace with a book/my laptop my doggies and my family...

or I may just rock my poodles and my ferrets...

and now the work begins to dig ourselves out from under the blanket of snow .... and wait for the streets and highways to re-open and the snow plows to come ... our streets and highways are closed until further notice still...

I am going out there to help my son shovel ... it will be an awesome exercise routine for the day ... after all six years ago I could not even dream of doing that ... but with 203 pounds lost and kept off ... I am ready ... I think ... the only thing that may stop me is ... BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR IT IS COLD!!!!

STAY SAFE EVERYONE ... THANKS FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE .... SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY.... 

 

 

At 6:00 a.m. in the morning on 2/5/07 I was being admitted for Gastric Bypass Surgery, doctor's first case of the day.  I remember the emotions ranging from butterflies in my stomach ... to anxiety... to panic ... to excitement .. to expectations.. to fear .. REPEAT over and over and over again all night long on the pre-op night.... BUT by morning time something had changed ... determination and longing for a healthier life without co-morbidities and limited mobility set in ... I wanted LIFE with QUALITY and QUANTITY of life combined ... to further enjoy my awesome family and friends and peers and the great host of cyberposters on here .. some that I have met IRL and others that I have maintained close contact with....

Through it all I have tracked my journey in a digital empowerment journal that I named "A picture a day keeps the pounds and the inches away" a goofy tool that works for me .... My comparison collages keep me in remembrance of where I was at and where I am ...I like to see the difference/feel the difference and most of all KEEP the difference.

My knees no longer hurt and my Achilles are strong enough to hit the pavement in a run or a sprint from a 5 to 10 to 20K you name it I have ran so many road races and will continue to do so that I have lost count ... I can shake my body to the music in intense aerobics ... or strengthen my muscles in weights ... pilates, body sculpting, Bikram, Swimming, Reformer you name it are my friends ...

What a difference in 6 years ... I went from a maximum recorded weight of 327 pounds to a total weight loss of 203 pounds and I have been in steady maintenance for 6 years now.  Diabetes, hyperlipidemia, sleep apnea, hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux and limited mobility are a note from the past as long as I keep on track which I intend to do ... I do not want to go back to twice daily glucovance nor toprol XL nor nexium nor c-pap nor zetia ... 

With a great vitamin regimen and lab monitoring I am healthy and mobile and living my life one day at a time, one choice at a time enjoying every single moment .... I treat each day as a gift and I am determined to make the most of all of it ...

Today on my 6th year surgiversary I made my empowerment collage... YESTERDAY AND NOW - SIX YEARS AFTER....

I went from having limited mobility to being able to run, jump, squat, swim and repeat ...

I even did a SITTING before and after collage this morning... YUP THERE I AM SITTING WITH CHIP ON MY SHOULDER!!!

CHIP is my awesome pocketbook poodle and surgivesary gift... he came home on Friday 2/1/13 in my pocketbook...

and is the cutest 'lil thing along with his brother Pierre and sister Pierretta who are toy poodles...

My awesome dogs are an addition to my life routine and I love them soooooooooo much ... I have always dreamt of having a huge old house with big yards and 4 dogs ... I can't wait to complete my dream before going back to Panamá....

If I were to pick words to describe my feelings post weight lost surgery I would definitely say grateful, healthy, mobile, happier than ever ... no regrets ....

My love life was great before surgery and it is as awesome now as together we grow older and enjoy our children with the expectation of having grandchildren some day ... in the interim we have our beautiful ferrets and our poodles and we are happy .... chasing dogs and ferrets LOL.... My DH is soooooooooo happy ... these dogs have worked wonders with him too ... he was tending to get depressed being disabled and all...

HAPPY SURGIVERSARY TO ME!!! Thank you for allowing me to share.... SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY ... 6 years post-op WOOT!

THANKS OH ... FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE AND TO RECEIVE AWESOME SUPPORT AND INSPIRATION FROM ALL YOUR MEMBERS PAYING IT FORWARD ON HERE ... SHARING EXPERIENCES/INFORMATION AND HELPING EACH OTHER BECAUSE AFTER ALL WE ARE BROTHERS AND SISTERS ON THE JOURNEY IMO...

I AM GRATEFUL!!!

FAUX FUR/REAL FUR!!!!!

I worked for this! 

Who would have imagined me loving a BULKY faux fur coat 6 years ago when my internal furnace was alive and well and keeping me hot all winter long with a jacket or light coat and I was good to go .... today the internal furnace is on the blinks thanks to awesome weight loss surgery and weight lost and maintained over LET'S HEAR IT FOR 6 YEARS next week WOOT!!!!

I am loving my BULKY FAUX Fur Coat todal and my LOVABLE FURRY KRITTERS - THE REAL FUR ... .this old sista is ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh soooooooooooooo happy....with the best decision I have made towards health and mobility .... can you believe I ran 6 miles this morning? I came back into the house after my run and fed/cleaned my ferret pens/cages and open playroom - 9 awesome ferrets in all that I have had for going on 4 years now ... I am going to be sick when I lose any of this guys - they have a short life span and I am taking the best care of them ever to increase that .... I then took my two awesome toy poodles for a walk and for play in the back yard ... I then went into my unfinished basement in my new -old as all get up but beautiful home close to the beach- worked a bit on my murals .... came up for a shower and to feed the pups ... got dressed ... got my camera ... enjoyed furry love from the real fur for hours ... and then I started my day ... for real... like this ... with a PRAYER of thanksgiving and a PRESS! Determined to make this day my BEST DAY yet .... 

I can do this!!!!

I even made a collage ... FAUX FUR/REAL FUR....


I LOVE LOVE LOVE WEARING TINY LABELS ... FROM A SIZE 4-5X TO AN XS -0-2-4 DEPENDING ON THE BRAND I AM GLAD I AM ALMOST BACK TO WHERE I STARTED FROM BEFORE PACKING ON THE WEIGHT...


I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOO LOVING THE REAL FUR TOO ... BOY OH BOY ... my furry kritters keep me on my toe ... what an AWESOME WAY TO MOVE TO LOSE/MAINTAIN LOL .... I am either romping with poodles or chasing ferrets and I LOVE IT ....

Check out my boy CASPAR .... MY BEAUTIFUL ALBINO FERRET... he was my #4 in my awesome FUR CIRCUS...


AND MY ARMFUL OF FURRY FERRETS ... REMEMBER I HAVE A HEALTHY BUNCH OF 9 BANDIDOS THAT HIDE MY SOCKS ALMOST EVERY DAY ... I HAVE SO MANY ODD PAIRS IT IS NOT EVEN FUNNY...

AND ONE CAN'T GO OFF TO WORK WITHOUT OODLES OF POODLE LOVE... 

Or doggie dress-up and ohhhhhhhhhh they LOVE IT! just as much as I do .... 

OR GOING OFF TO WORK TOTALLY READY TO TACKLE THE DAY ... ONE CHOICE AT A TIME... ONE DAY AT A TIME ....

IT IS GOING TO BE 6 YEARS SINCE MY RNY IN JUST A WEEK WOOT! LOVING LIVING HEALTHY... GIMME THIS KIND OF BULK ANY DAY.... IT IS FAUX YET IT KEEPS ME WARM!!!


OKAY... BACK TO WORK!!!! TTYL..... GOOD MORNING OH!!! HAVE FUN AND ENJOY YOUR DAY .. .WHATEVER YOU DO ... MAKE IT THE BEST EVER!!!

AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE SNIPPETS OF MY WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY!!! 

OMG I FORGOT TO SHARE .... the walls and the murals that I have been painting in the HUGE unfinished basement of my new (old) house .... OH MY I love it .... love the house, the barrio, being so much closer to the beach and the rooms and space and more space we can all get lost in here..... but the walls...

SOMEBODY PLEASE STOP ME .... I LOVE TO PAINT ... AND I TRADED MY FORK FOR MY BRUSH AND MY PALETTE .... ANY SURFACE IS MY CANVAS ....

These are my latest scribbling on my unfinished walls WOOT there are sooooooooooooo many of them ... until the basement is finished I am going to be painting and being happy as a lark with my brush/acrylic paints and pallets ... and I have a close relationship with GESSO .... it gives me margin to change them around as much and as often as I want to...

My weekend (2 weekends ago) in pics ... three murals and one more to go ... I took pics this morning on my way to work ...

This is the first wall ... I worked on more definition....

This is the second wall ... parallel to this with HUGE spacing in the middle....


This is the third wall ... on the opposite side of the second wall...


and of course I had to photo whore.... in front of the walls with my babies...

Wall 1


Wall 2


Wall 3


How goofy can one get? LOL //// and there is a 4th WALL OMG ... painting is sooooooooooooo soothing and therapeutic I feel like a PIG in a pen LOL...

I am tickled pink ... I was in shock when I got Tammy's email .... WOOT! I love love love paying it forward ... 

and even my video that I posted on my blog a couple years ago is on there too WOOT WOOT! Thank you OH for the encouragement and support!!!! 

These are the links: 

http://www.obesityhelp.com/articles/featured-blogger-sometimes-i-just-like-to-go-back/

and the video is the same as the header of my blog here ... definitely got to update it ... my journey gets BETTER AND BETTER...

http://www.obesityhelp.com/articles/video-martitas-wls-journey/

 

.... and step into that pair of older pants (1 kept one in each plus size on the way down to goal) and see and feel that after 6 years I can still fit my fully dressed lower body into ONE LEG of my old size 20's pants ... and remember that at the start of my journey my pants sizes were 28-32 no thanks to my big bertha that I still have .... 

Sometimes I just like to go back ... and realize how much it is worth it and I press on and enjoy life to the fullest...

Me yesterday in ONE LEG of my old size 20's slacks...

Sometimes I just like to go back ... and shop in my closet for that dress that I want to wear to an event ... and realize that I can STILL fit in the same clothes that I wore when I was wayyyyyyyyyyyyy below goal at 111 pounds and looking gaunt and that today at my maintenance weight that fluctuates between 123-127 pounds that I have been maintaining for a solid 6 years without going over I can still rock those very same clothes and shop in my closet ... even strutting my mid fifties legs and remnant thunder thighs and big Bertha ... resigned to the dynamics of my genes ... and loving it and being so totally goofy with it ... cause I am silly like that and mean no harm by it!!!

Sometimes I just like to go back .... to selecting different choices in my own closet and not limiting myself to certain stores/selections.... I remember when even getting shoes in the right fit/width was a problem.... so I decided to wear this dress to an event last night...

Sometimes I just like to go back ... and remember how easy it is to cross my legs and hold things on my lap ... even when I remember mom (RIP) always telling me that ladies don't cross their legs... I could never figure that one out ... being a proud tomboy growing up.... 

Sometimes I just like to go back and remind myself that there are awesome support sites for WLS in all its varieties and that OH has provided a space for me to share SNIPPETS of my journey and picture AWing as I encourage myself by not forgetting how far I have come and by maybe encouraging someone else along the way ... we can do this!

So I post my empowerment collage today ... and I share goofy SNIPPETS of my journey ... as I look forward to going back home to our new house with the huge unfinished basement .... and as I miss my wall where I used to paint my murals ... I found a wooden wall temporarily up till the work is underway to finish it up in the new place (an awesome OLD house closer to the beach with French doors and wooden floors that I LOVE)....

I had fun with my pallet and my brushes and my toy poodles as I painted on a raw... rough...wooden wall a mural that is playing out in my head (rough draft right now) and I do not know where it is going to.... I saw online a picture of a poodle chasing a butterfly and I thought how awesome would that be if I could capture it on this wall.... I took a picture of it and me and my poodles on my way to work today...

Sometimes I just like to go back ... and dig in my chest of lace fronts and hair pieces and extensions and....HOLD UP ... THAT  IS ANOTHER STORY LOL.....

Sometimes I just love to go back .... and do a before and after collage... and paint... and make dolls... and play with my ferrets... and cuddle my toy poodles .... I can bend... I can run... I can stoop ... I no longer have 5 co-morbidities nor limited mobility..... the tide has turned and I am rolling with it NEVER FORGETTING EVER where I came from .... my fat before is very much me now ....we walk side by side ... encouraging each other .... one keeps me in remembrance and the other keeps me focused.... I refuse to forget....

SOMETIMES I JUST LOVE TO GO BACK ... AND SEE/FEEL/KNOW THAT IT IS ALL WORTH IT!!!

Thanks for allowing me to share.... SNIPPETS OF MY JOURNEY ...

 

These are snippets of my journey ... pre and post WLS at times ... depends what is on my mind...

Today's thought......

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our Attitudes."
~ Charles Swindoll

My approach to life is totally attitudinal ... only I am in control of my emotions ... accountable for my mistakes and for my reactions ...

It was with ATTITUDE this morning as I sat side by side with my DH ..two rockers... two awesome toy poodles... a herd of ferrets ... two adult children .. and the TWO of us ... we reminisced that it has been 27 years since we met ... for 27 years we have been together and together we have weathered the storms, the rain, the rainbows, and the sunshine ... and as we grow old together we realized that here we were two old farts sitting in a rocker ... OH WAIT!!! HOLD THAT THOUGHT!!! I am soooooooooooo not old even though I am two years older than he ... I am BETTER teeeeeeeeee heeeeeeeeeeeeee .... let me put this second rocker away LOL...

So here we are today .... BEFORE and NOW ... the heart and the mind did not change... we are determined to continue to weather the storms and enjoy and bask the sunshine and the rainbows that comes after....

Together we reminisced about life and how often things and patterns repeat themselves in different ways ... we talked about his family and mine and the post that I shared on blogs regarding me and my family and our everlasting love of Poodles...

DID I TELL YOU? TO MY FERRET CIRCUS I HAVE ADDED TWO AWESOME TOY POODLES PIERRE AND PIERRETTA .... AND PIERRETTA CAME HOME ON THURSDAY 1/3/2012... PIERRE HAS HIS SISTER AND I AM THE HAPPIEST WOMAN ON EARTH WITH MY TWO DOGGIES...

I could not resist ... not coming from a family of poodle lovers ... not having ALWAYS been lap dog lover period....

This is my very own son at age 7 months with my mom (RIP) in Panama with her AWESOME poodle Korky at her side...

 

 

This is my family in Panama with my youngest sister(we are all 2 years apart) holding my eldest sister's awesome poodle ... her best friend and companion as she battles and wins her fight for her life against CA

 

 

This is my niece in Panama holding my dad's poodle ...

 

This is me in 2011 with my friend's full sized poodle ... SAME BREEDER....

 

SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HOW COULD I RESIST? The moment I walked away from that breeder in November 2012 with my baby Pierre I KNEW I wanted two poodles ... both he and his sister... I KNEW IT... those dogs pulled all the fibers of my heart ... and I FOUGHT AND FOUGHT AND FOUGHT THE TEMPTATION TO GO BACK ... I FOUGHT HARD AND FIERCELY but my mind kept wandering back to that nursery where I had left Pierretta behind ...

 

That was until this past Thursday... when I bought Pierretta home.... and my life will never be the same ... I am ohhhhhhhhhhhh so in love...

 

 

So excuse this bozo here as she scratches her head rearranging her schedule ....

 

I still run every other morning between 4-5 am except when there is ice on the ground ... I do not intend to break any of my old bones... and I am scared of falling on black ice...

 

I have my ferret cleaning routine down pat ... at 3:30 a.m. I am up cleaning the pens every single day faithfully...fresh food and water daily ... playtime before run ... groom/brush and spray ALL 9 FERRETS...

 

4-4:30 ... HIT THE PAVEMENT IN A RUN...

 

5-5:30 AM ... TAKE THE DOGGIES OUT TO POTTIE

 

5:45 AM ... HOP IN THE SHOWER ... DRESS ... PICTURE WHORING... OFF TO WORK

 

6:30 AM ... I AM AT MY DESK....

 

7:00 AM ... CAN I GO BACK HOME PLEAAAAAAAAASEEEEEEEEE??? I MISS MY DOGGIES SOOOOOOOOO BAD I WANNA CRY....

 

So as I sit here rocking my awesome babies ...

 

and I am looking like an old fart in a rocker reminiscing with my DH as we enjoy growing old together...

 

I apologize for this goofy thread .... I just soooooooooooo love my doggies (2) and my ferrets and am so enjoying our bigger (and old as hell) new home closer to the beach with awesome yardage in front and back to accommodate my fur circus .... I DO MISS MY WALL AND MY MURAL ... teeeeeeeee heeeeeeeeeee but I have an unfinished huge basement that we will finish and there are many many walls to have murals on....

 

 

APOLOGIES FOR THE GOOFY .... I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY WITH MY DOGGIES.... PIERRE AND HIS SISTER PIERRETTA...

 

 

OMG ....CHECK OUT THE FACE OF AWESOMENESS ... PIERRE IN SLUMBER...

Thank you for the space and the time to allow me to share SNIPPETS of my journey .... 

I love love love love my life and I am tackling it with ATTITUDE...

I love my journey post WLS ... and I am having fun with it one day at a time with all the ups and downs it is worth it!

after all I WENT FROM THIS ... TO TODAY ... KEEPING 203 POUNDS OFF 6 NEW YEARS DAY CELEBRATION SINCE MY RNY ... LOVING IT!!!

THANKS AGAIN ...back to my furry circus of love ... YIKES! I AM getting OLD LOL

 

Best wishes for love, peace, joy, unity, acceptance of diversity and happiness to all.

Through laughter, tears, sorrow and joy I continue to rock my journey .... forever grateful for weight loss surgery and the mindset to implement changes to patterns of behavior that led me to morbid obesity and five co-morbidities now all in remission.

This is my 6th Christmas post weight loss surgery ... can I call myself a vet now? It feels like surgery was yesterday and I am equally excited about it today ..... I have health ... I have mobility ... I have love ... I have suffered loss three close relatives in a span of a few months and I have been mourning the death of precious little angels and teachers who departed so violently and abruptly in my home State of Connecticut ....

In the midst of it all I choose JOY over Misery ... and I let it happen to me .... the tears will dry up ... the sun will shine again ... the happy moments will continue to happen as well as the challenging ones but above all WE HAVE THIS DAY ... TO LIVE ... TO LOVE AND TO BE HAPPY ....

THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE ....

My Before and After ... Maintaining a total loss of 203 pounds for close to 6 years .... 5 co-morbidities in remission and fully mobile ... I am rocking my tool for life...

Me BEFORE and me NOW with my awesome toy poodle Pierre .. I love him and my 9 ferrets sooooooooooo much....

There is nothing new under the sun ... I danced from big to small ... my before dancing at the outreach center and me at zumba a week ago on my Birthday...

I have tracked my journey in a digital empowerment journal that I labeled "A Picture a Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away" 

Thank you for allowing me to share ... Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Holidays, Happy Solstice ... and best wishes for love, peace, joy and prosperity along with health and determination to press on wherever we are at for the remainder of this year and the coming New Year...

We got this! Thanks for allowing me to share....

Last night with my baby relaxing after a long and busy week and weekend...

....that was my mom's saying .... and I will touch on the subject in my thread...

December came all to quick ... I have a Birthday coming up and Christmas to celebrate ... oooohhhhhhhh shoot! I have been celebrating every.single.day ... life with health and mobility and lacking or wanting for NADA... ohhhhhhhhh I am praising Rophe my healer and Jireh my provider right about now ... with a prayer .. a press... and a praise and sometimes getting totally ignoramus as in 'panamaniac' but knowing I am a blessed mess I am pressing on ..... on my walk away from morbid obesity .... one day at a time ... one choice at a time ... cause I am B.A.D. (BLESSED AND DELIVERED) and I own my past and my present ... I will never forget my former morbid obese self ... her release is my deliverance and my deliverance is her release ...  Almost 6 years post gastric bypass surgery ... keeping all of 203 pounds lost off with no regain and no regrets!!! I CAN DO THIS ... FOR LIFE!!!

Thanking OH for providing the space where I can encourage myself and/or maybe one other person with my goofy empowerment tool that I keep in a digital photo album ...it is my empowerment journal "A PICTURE A DAY KEEPS THE POUNDS AND THE INCHES AWAY" .... it is working for me .... 

These are the faces of my morbid obesity...

AND THIS IS ME TODAY..... posting 2 days before my monthly surgery anniversary 5 years 10 months post WLS ... and I have been on a health and mobility high since .... on the eve of my 54th b-day in two weeks I feel the energy that I did not have at 30 ... and I get all manner of compliments especially from people who don't believe that my adult almost 32 year old daughter and my almost 28 year old some are my children LOL.... I pulled a Tina Turner on my DH just for fun on Saturday ... cause I love to rock my legs in my LEGGs control sheep pantyhoses LOL.... I shared about the total body lift with those awesome garments on here before... the downside up and the upside down hoses...

I enjoy the awesomeness and being able to stoop/kneel/climb without achy/painful joints nor impaired mobility daily... I even crashed on the floor to enjoy a few moments in my family room with Pierre...

Then it was off to work .... started this KRAZY MONDAY morning with an AWESOME cup of Coffee 1/2 decaf 1/2 regular with a scoop of Click Expresso Protein ... it is TO DIE FOR!!!! 

And I made my my EMPOWERMENT COLLAGE FOR THIS DAY ..... THANK YOU OBESITY HELP ... FOR ALLOWING ME THE SPACE TO ENCOURAGE MYSELF THROUGH MY GOOFY POSTS AND PICTURES .... LIFE POST WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY HAS BEEN A BLESSING ... I HAVE 0 REGRETS AND AM TOTALLY GRATEFUL ....

My mom used to say that on our 'wellest' day we are all sick or well enough to die ... such is life ... I lost my otherwise healthy first cousin who grew up with us in Panama as a sister three weeks ago ... she was found dead in her home ... a few weeks after her 50th birthday .... it was a shocker to all .... I AM GOING TO MAKE THIS DAY AND EACH DAY THAT I HAVE A MIRACLE JUST IN CASE IT IS MY 'WELLEST DAY'.....

Thanks for allowing me to share...

 

My empowerment collage this day ... pawfully happy ... OMG I found the true meaning of Dean Koontz' quote “Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one, is a life diminished.” I and going to look up and order his book - A Big Litt

le Life: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog... My little Pierre has bought such joy and happiness to my household in just a few days that I can just imagine and anticipate our awesome joy with this little bundle of joy in the future ... This is my empowerment collage this day ... on my walk away from morbid obesity one day at a time, one choice at a time ... I feel complete now ... there is a dog in my life AGAIN YAY.... sooooooooooooo happy... There is nothing new under the sun ... I ALWAYS loved a lap dog ... Before and TODAY... maintaining for life ... living, loving and having fun ... just like before but in a smaller frame ...       I am loving my purrfect toy poodle Pierre ... an exercise in love and activity .... I am loving my unfinished mural that I am painting too ... the base is totally undone and the baby poodle is not painted yet ...      HOW TRUE IS THIS SAYING!       Today I am feeling complete and pawfully happy with my awesome companion in tow ... my lovable ferrets two of which were rescues and I am loving my life post WLS ... the best thing I have ever done for me ... with 5 co-morbidities in remission ... with health and mobility and the energy of my mid twenties when I am living my mid fifties ... I am loving it! and do not plan on going back ever! These are snippets of my WLS journey and my life ... thank you for allowing me to share.   Yesterday and today .... my BEFORE and NOW ... as I sit at my desk this morning I can't wait to get home to my little Pierre...                       

 

November was a month of loss and blessings ... . of gratitude ...a little bit of pain ... and lots of love and fun and life going on ...

I am almost 6 years post op ... my official 6th year anniversary will be on February 5, 2013.  I have rocked my journey away from morbid obesity one day at a time, one choice at a time.... keeping a total loss of 203 pounds off with no regain ...

I rocked my paintbrushes painting my winter mural ... I GESSO-ed out my autumn wall thinking to re-use the peacock ... but then decided against it... this is the pictorial of my mural that is still unfinished as I am still working it and don't know for sure where I am going with this...

White Gesso on wall thinking I would re-use the peacock I painted on my Autumn Mural..

Decided against the Peacock after starting to paint my vision on the wall so I GESSO'ed it out...

Then the tree and the mountains got on my nerves and they were covered with GESSO and redone as I re-worked my winter mural...

that is looking something like this....

My daughter suggested I add a Poodle to my wall and I am thinking to add a toy poodle too ... an itty bitty doggie like my VERY OWN TOY POODLE PIERRE ... remember in 2007 when I first joined OH I shared that my Yorkie was stolen and I was in the market for another or another lap dog? but then I waited and waited until the time was right or until that dog that instantly bonded with me appeared .... and it did ... my friend's sister is the breeded and it was like this that we bought Pierre home on Friday and we ALL fell in love with him!

I even did my empowerment collage from my journal 'A picture a Day Keeps the Pounds and Inches Away" with Pierre and I this morning... 

I love lap dogs and I waited 8 long years before replacing out Sweet Pea who was stolen with this awesome pure bred toy poodle Pierre...

We are all smitten ... my DH and I...

My dear daughter took him to zumba...

My son lies there and lets him play all over him LOL...

Even my ferrets love Pierre and he loves them right back... Pierre and my ferret Caspar

and me of course I am sooooooooooooooo happy Christmas came in November in the form of a teeny tiny bunch of furry love...

Who dat? oh Hi! My name is Pierre...

and Me? I am loving loving loving living my life post weight loss surgery ... with health and mobility I am loving it!!! Just to think that 5 years and 10 months ago I weighed 327 pounds but that is no longer so .. with 5 co-morbididies in remission and no longer mobility impaired I am loving life one day at a time, one choice at a time...

This was my empowerment collage on Friday ... the day Pierre came home ... when my Autumn mural was still on my wall ... and in my before my awesome lap dogs that I have had in the past .... I love my doggie Pierre and with my dog in arms I bid you all a very happy and blessed day and thank you so much for allowing me to share snippets of my journey...

 

Goofy much? LOL ... teeeeeeeeeee heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ..... my son saw this doll as he was walking around with friends ... ... because according to him he was walking by this store with his friends and saw her in the showcase and said that "doll looks like my mom" ... he brings her home and tells me to put my long hair on that looks like the doll (both he and DH rather long hair on me and DD loves my short)  ... and I am goofy enough to do it .... check us out in the den...

  

 

  

So this morning my collage has my doll in it ... my goofy DS knows I love dolls ... love to make 'em ... love to collect them ... now this is just goofy ... this is me today and me before RNY -  5-years 9 months post -op  and loving it ... I track it all in my empowerment journal A Picture A Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away .... I see it... I feel it and I love health and mobility and 5 co-morbidities in remission WOOT....  

On Friday we had awesome fun at the workplace .. we had a luncheon for our boss on her graduation with honors ... we all made a dish ...  I made the awesomest spicy ground turkey chili bean with whole wheat elbows and 3 cheese casserole ... everybody LOVED IT!!!  

I am also planning a zumba-baby shower for a friend ... I think it is awesome ... we will have it at my friend's Zumba Studio ... I think having a  fun workout incorporated with an awesome baby shower .... I think this is awesome... unique ... and a WIN WIN... I am making an awesome diaper cake too....   Off to break and have my awesome cup of café 3/4 cup decaf .. 1/4 cup regular ... LOVE MY MORNING COFFEE!!!

Thanks for allowing me to share another goofy thread ... this is my life and MY journey ... on my walk away from morbid obesity one day at a time ... one choice at a time ... trying to live my life like its golden ... WE.CAN.DO.THIS!!!!   Thanks for allowing me to share the goofiest thread on a CRAZY MONDAY ... yikes ... what is it about Monday???? break over....

 

... as I sit at my desk having my breakfast on break ... 1/2 wheat thin with roasted turkey breast and slice of low fat provolone cheese .. two slices of apple and one tablespoon of peanut butter ... one think I could manage it all? nooooooooo so I ate what I could ... waiting 15-20 mins and will sip on my café half regular/half decaf ... and I am thinking while I am doing this....

All I need is one YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!! and I know I will win this battle against morbid obesity for life ... I say YESSSSSS! to me today ... I CAN DO THIS! I will persevere... press on... pray and praise ... this is my empowerment collage today .. I am no longer where I was yesterday ... moving forward with my eyes on the prize of health and mobility .... Sistas on the journey ...we can do this!!! Life is worth it ... we are one step ahead of where we were yesterday no matter where we are on the journey ... whether we are starting the walk or staying on track or getting back on track ... 

  I love wearing eating healthy these days ... add a morning run .. zumba toning/fitness and aquazumba ... swimming... weights... sculpting and bikram life is golden ... I LOVE IT!!   This is my empowerment collage this day ... as I sip on my taza de café YUM... yikes ... got bags under my eyes for staying up wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy past bedtime .... and still did not miss my morning run...     Thanks to DH for prepping my awesome b-fast and lunches for my lunchbox when I am on the run.... ahhhhhhh decaf coffee with some regular mixed in is just what the doctor ordered on a cooooooooollllllllllllddddddddddd morning....I love love love my workplace ... awesome peers and truly supportive of one and each other ... where DIVERSITY ROCKS!!!          I need to finish my autumn wall ... have another awesome project to work on over the weekend and I will get to it because right after Thanksgiving I am going to paint a Winter Scene that is toying around in my head ... I don't know how it is going to play out because I want to keep the peacock ... do peacock's and snow go together? IDK ... but since my artsy fartsy world is in my head it may just do so....       Okay this thread serves no purpose ... other than to say WE CAN DO THIS!!! the worst journey is the one not taken ... have a blessed day all!!! and thanks for allowing me to share....

 

OMG I made the most awesome no bake cheesecake protein cookies .... 1/4 cup oatmeal dry ... sprinkle nutmeg ... sprinkle cinnamon... add a few - (very few (mini box) raisins ... add a scoop protein powder ... add one ounce cream cheese and a packet of splenda or sweetener of choice ... mix well ... separate in clumps ... mash or round and viola ... awesome and delicious and filling high protein low calorie nutritious treat ... DELICIOUS!!!

And why oh why did I offer my peers a taste? my bounty is G.O.N.E. and I am reduced to enjoying one cookie only ,, SIGH ... thank goodness it takes less than 5 minutes to make ... good cals and high protein ... and for ME I find them delicious .... making another batch tomorrow ,,,

Yesterday was my 5 years 9 months monthly surgery anniversary and hell yeah I celebrate like it was just yesterday ,,, I CHOOSE for this to be a meaningful day .... because it is for ME ... I stopped my body from dying with obesity related diseases...

So on my monthly surgiversary my old arse rocked my tiny sizes ... that I love ... and I am still curvy YAY .... oops still wish  would lose my caboose in the rear though...

I got a big monthly surgiversary kiss from my ferret Caspar .. yup Caspar with an "a".. he is as big a photo AW as me..

and for my Empowerment Journal 'A Picture a Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away' this is my entry for today ... on my walk away from morbid obesity one day at a time ... one choice at a time ... I will not forget ... for ME it is not an option... 

HAVE A BLESSED DAY EVERYONE!!!! 

ohhhhhhhhh I sooooooooooooo love Africa.... J'aime l'Afrique!!!

 

Participating all day in the most awesome fundraiser in art and cloth... and what a better way to help some friends and neighbors struggling after the storm... I am glad that every little bit counts and we were able to assist a few families in need auctioning off some awesome pieces of our talents...

.. now my feet are tired ... off to a hot meal a hot bath and to bed ... I sewed/altered/fitted/wrapped/painted and sketched all.day.long ... now my eyes are tired and I am looking  drawn BUT my heart is so content the feeling is exhilarating... and I forgot to eat ... but I am about to have an awesome warm meal prepared by my awesome DH who can at times be a royal PITA LOL...

Some pics ... because I love art and I love cloth and I love love love Africa as much as I love America my adopted country and Panamá my land of origin... my awesome gowns are gifts from Africa motherland bought to me by my friend Fatu ... whenever she comes back from Africa it is a festivity in cloth ... for me and for others ... what an AWESOME and fulfilling day.... 

Back home at last...

and having a hard time with my wrap on my short cropped hair... so I'm gonna wear it around my waist and play it safe...

Thanks for allowing me to share another goofy thread .. the second one today .... off my soapbox and taking a hot shower and going to bed ... enough picture aw'ing for a day LOL .... I am just so happy we raised enough to help others out ... because we are keepers one of another and every little bit counts ... I am happy I was able to use my goofy talent to help my friends out a little bit...

 

“When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up.”~Les Brown~

“Instead of giving myself reasons why I can’t, I give myself reasons why I can.” ~Unknown~

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” ~Unknown~

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” ~Winston Churchill~

“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.” ~Unknown~

I for myself will be encouraged this day and I will pay it forward by encouraging others on the journey... life is what we make of it ... how we go through instead of what we go through ... for each challenge there is a victory and in the end we are strengthened by the fire.... I am blessed to be alive this day ... I shall not complain...

I am off to an early start ... working on an awesome VIP project and thanking my higher power for blessings, favor and abundance in times of need ... I am grateful for the little things that make up the bigger picture ... I am grateful and thankful for miracles in my life and that of mine and others ... especially blessings for my beautiful sister as she battles cancer... and for my awesome DH as he wakes up grateful each day for his transplanted kidney holding up like a champ and his limbs with all their amputations holding up his frame ... I AM GRATEFUL!

This is my empowerment collage this day ... I share a picture a day on my walk away from morbid obesity ... one day at a time ... one choice at a time... Totally grateful for the tool that allowed me to shed and keep off 203 pounds and 5-co-morbidities going on close to 6 years this coming February ... Obesity kills ... ask me how I know... I was almost there .... 

Today I am grateful for health and mobility ... and for awesome family, friends, peers and a cyberfamily whose encouragement and support are invaluable...

This is me today ... sporting an awesome DIVA jacket a GIFT from a Co-worker at the start of my journey ... when being slim AGAIN was just a far away dream ... my jacket is from Wilson's Leather a store that is no longer opened in our area ... and was given to me on the first year of my journey ... I wore it once about 3 years ago and it was awesome putting it over my clothes this morning before heading out and loading my empowerment collage...

Yesterday was a busy day at work and in the community .... people helping other people ... as one race...

My collage on Monday ... November 1st.... harvest month ... although I love to think that the harvest happens each and every day ... we sew and we reap .... I purpose myself to sew seeds of kindness... tolerance... acceptance and love ... oh yeah I do have my shortcomings ... I swear like a sailor and sometimes I can be judgmental which I tried not to be and harsh for which I repent ... for those seeds that do not bring good fruit I APOLOGIZE and REPENT and keep it moving

When my spirit is a bit troubled and even when it is not ... whether I am happy or whether I am sad I will smile and push through the pain .... when my midnight hour catches me crying into my pillow by morning time my tears will be dried and again I will smile .... AND HUG MY FERRETS AND MY LOVE ONES... AND I WILL HUG LIFE AND LOVE AND LIVE AGAIN AND AGAIN ... FOR LIFE IS WORTH IT!!! 

Me this morning with my ferrets Pandora and Finigan-Beau...

Thanks for allowing me to share another totally goofy thread....

 

My costumes .... three of which worn at ObesityHelp Events .... I spooked morbid obesity ... incorporating lifestyle changes with nutrition/exercise/fun and life challenges .... we.got.this!!! 

My before.... and my TODAY .... on my walk away from morbid obesity one day at a time... one choice at a time ... I track it all in my empowerment journal 'a picture a day keeps the pounds and the inches away' ... I can see it ... I can feel it ... and I refuse to forget or to go back....

Thanks for allowing me to share another goofy thread .... 

Our town is full of water and fallen trees but we are safe and our power is on .. unlike one street over where there is no power ... everyone pitching in and helping each other ... it is the essence of humanity ... those of us with a heart ... we help each other out ... we are all our brothers' keepers...

The landscape has changed.... I stood under a tree on the green on Saturday ... I shared the picture in the previous post ... and lo and behold ... the same tree ...at a different angle in the picture ... is no more.... Sandy hit us fiercely...

 

Bottled water... check - Non-perishables ... check - Flashlights... check - Push lights... check - X-tra batteries... check - Candles... check - Matches... check -  Battery backups... check - Bread... check ...

I am cooking a big caldero of brown rice Arroz con Pollo with cilantro, perejil, azafrán and sazón ... have my chafing pans and burners ready to go ... 

Is there a battery operated coffee maker? gotta have some hot café and of course BAGELS for the family... I have my rny friendly stuff down pat!!!! hmmmmmm how about thermos full of café... that works!

BE SAFE EVERYONE!!!! Mandatory evacuation orders are in place here .. if you are in those areas please leave as instructed .... otherwise hunker down and be safe!!!     Leaving Bruegger's bagels with bag full of dozens ....   

  

Me with my goodies heading to my car for the drive home... after an awesome Zumba Fitness/Toning this morning at WOW with DD as instructor...

This is a good time to finish up my mural ... it is growing on me ... although I plan to replace it with a winter scene after Thanksgiving...

Because I track my progress in my digital journal "a picture a day keeps the pounds and the inches away" this is my week last week in pictures .... keeping a total weight loss of 203 pounds one day at a time, one choice at a time ... 5 years 8 months and 23 days post RNY ... loving health and mobility....  

All of our emergency supplies including fire wood are stashed and in place ... the ferrets taken care of and provided for I even made special back packs to tote my guys in in the event we have to leave... hoping to stay warm and dry and for the storm to pass with no major problems...    

BE SAFE EVERYONE!!!!! THANKS FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE...

 

Quitting time ... I am about to tie my fidgety hands together ... I want to keep on painting until completion .. shoot me somebody ... I need to have some layers dry first PLUS Monday is calling ... why oh why is there as much paint on me as on the wall? SIGH .... My dearest son picked up without me even asking WOOT ... hold up .. he just hit me up for a few bucks LOL gotta love it ....  

I killed my hummingbirds mural with gesso and repainted an autumn/harvest wall because I woke up with the itch to paint in my fingers ... goofy much? LOL this is a rough unfinished draft ... I am hopping in the hot tub and then I shall see what new mess I can get into ... hmmmm thinking to ask my DD to do my mails ... she does an awesome job with the gel manicures and had the professional kit that I bought her... maybe I shall be so lucky ... she has been quite generous all weekend putting up with me LOL...

Yesterday I shared with others on my thread the progress of my mural .. I kept changing my mind and gessoing things out and re-doing and undoing ... still not satisfied ... the mural is not finished but I can't work on in anymore for tonight ...this is what it is looking like so far...





A hobby like painting is an AWESOME alternative to snacking ... it is relaxing and fun ... but then I just love love love to sketch and paint ... 

Thanks for allowing me to share...

 is this weight loss/weight maintenance related? you bet .... as I left home early this morning with my DD with tickets to the taping of Dr. Oz show at the Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan ... the show was about blasting our metabolism ... 

Here we were up bright and early to take the MetroNorth train into the city ... stepped out of our door into the pouring rain and arrived in Manhattan in the pouring rain ...once we left Grand Central Station a gust of wind hit so hard I swear my big arsed Yale umbrella just picked me up and for a few seconds it felt like my feet left the ground .. WTH ...I was holding on for dear life as we walked as fast as the Big Apple crowd on a rainy day in the City ... from 42nd and Park the few blocks over to 49th and 5th Avenue....to Rockefeller Plaza and NBC Studios...

Picture me doing this 5 years and 8 months ago ... IMPOSSIBLE ... heck I could not even make it up a flight of stairs ... I would have been wheezing and experiencing SOB way before a half a block ... I would have had problems maneuvering from the train platform to the central station.....

... but check a sista out early this morning ... rain and all ...


I felt like a wet duck on arrival to the studio ... where we were screened first..and again... and again... AND AGAIN ...Security was enforced at each stage between registering.. getting ID'd... classified as apple or pear shaped etc etc..


here I go standing in line with others with my ticket to Dr. Oz show taping this morning....


Once we got off the elevator on the appropriate floor and meticulously scrutinized by security and our tickets and identities checked we were told to turn off all cell phones and NO PICTURES ALLOWED INSIDE WHILE TAPING ... and orders were obeyed by all ...

We learned several awesome things but will await for the show to air ... I will find out and post when this will be ... especially an awesome 5 minute workout that we all can do... it was an awesome show considering that I very seldom watch these shows.. my DD loves Dr. Oz ...

Now my DAWGS are TIRED ... we walked A LOT ... OMG we went up and down so many stairs and escalators as well as leaving and doing our own thing afterward my poor feet said 'woman enough is enough for one day' LOL ....

I am glad to be HOME SWEET HOME NOW .... relaxing and sharing snippets of my journey with my OH family .... another goofy thread in my life ... but I had AWESOME FUN ...EVEN ON A RAINY DAY IN THE CITY...

Oh I forgot about  EEYORE ... I LOVE THAT FELLA ... and when I am a bit apprehensive as to where I am going or what I am doing ... I love my Eeyore accessories ... and what better time than putting on my Eeyore shirt under my blazer...


Here is my empowerment collage this day ...BEFORE AND NOW...  keeping a total loss of 203 pounds off one day at a time, one choice at a time ... and living and loving and having fun ... despite all life challenges ... there is nothing that love and forgiveness cannot cure .... love is building bridges....




Thanks for allowing me to share...

Trust I am not promoting any product but I found this packet of Click Espresso Protein Drink in my OH Bag of Goodies that I loaded up at the 2012 OH Atlanta Conference ... this awesome bag that OH provided up with tons of stuff to which I added sooooooo many awesome products from different vendors/sponsors tables ... 

I had sampled the Protein Coffee drink at MM's stand and I believe this sample came for her table too... and I JUST got around to trying it at my desk this morning .... 

OMG I am sold .... I AM MOST DEFINITELY ORDERING THIS .... FOR ME!!!... IT IS DELICIOUS!!!!!! .... I drank it hot and added 1/4 cup of regular coffee to it ... TO DIE FOR....

I think I found a FAVE protein drink here .... I AM SOLD!!! Armed with my DELICIOUS HOT Espresso Protein Drink ... plus a little bit of the real brew ... I just stirred it up in my cup at work on my break....




and now I am sitting twiddling my toes after drinking this awesome delight ... 15 grams of lasting protein and only 120 calories ... WIN WIN and guess what ... did not even have to add a sweetener ... how AWESOME is that! .... YUP I am sold and trust I am not promoting any products ... I just found this AWESOME sample shared with us at the OH Atlanta 2012 Conference and it is OH SOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!




AWESOME FIND in Atlanta ....

I love my native language Español along with all its Panameñismos and regionalisms and Panamanian slangs as spoken in my country of origin, Panamá... I love English too don't get me wrong... and I think I manage English well except for my jacked up accent that I try to lose for years now ... and my kids still laugh at me occasionally at my pronunciation of certain hard stuff...

 I remember in school in Panamá learning to speak English... we were so bashful and so frightful to pronounce things the right way other than the little broken English we knew that we had picked up here and there... in first grade I remember Sister Cordelia, an American Maryknoll Sister in Panamá teaching us in our English class: ventana = window; puerta = door; maestra = teacher and piso = floor.  We were all excited and went home singing to our parents the awesome foreign language words we had learned in school....  if we were really really good and pronounced it really really well and were on our BEST behavior as in holding our little bladders until recess to go we would get a big arsed 'atta girl/boy, good girl/boy' red or gold star depending on the occasion posted on our homework paper or plastered on our forehead ... can I tell you how much I HATED those patronizing stars even at a young age? LOL..

I love the word play and play of words in all languages .... and this morning as I opened my lunch bag prepped for me by my better half my loving DH I could not help but think of  'mi media naranja' as I came across the peeled half of an orange that he had neatly packed in my bag ....

The play of words? In Spanish:

Media naranja = half an orange
Una media naranja = a half of an orange
Mi Media naranja = my better half, my soul mate, my partner, my lover, my other half...

In Spanish "Media naranja" is a metaphor referring to marriage and/or relationships. If YOU are my "media naranja," or "half an orange" and I am the other half of the orange, together we are complete."


SOoooo inspired as I sit here on my break snacking on my 'media naranja' half of an orange I could not help but think how grateful I am for 'mi media naranja' my other half .. for preparing my awesome lunch box this morning including:

Bkfast items: Turkey/egg white and cheese omelet...
Snack: 1/2 orange
Lunch items: Shredded chicken breast salad with low fat mayo/celery and bits of turkey bacon on half a wheat thin.
Snack: Raw almonds

Dinner for tonight at home: Smoked stuffed Salmon ... my awesome favorite that he will be prepping and baking ... WOOT!


and because I am a picture AW and I love coming on here just to keep in touch and say hello to my brothers and sisters on the journey I shared this goofy snippet....

Here I am eating my 'media naranja' (my half of an orange) from my lunch box packed by 'mi media naranja'  (my better half) YUM!


and I could not resist sharing my entry in my journal A Picture A Day Keeps the Pounds and the Inches Away .... a goofy tool that I made up and it keeps me encouraged ... we all must find our niche ... I love hair and clothes and shoes and make-up and always did ... I would toss on any odd combination of clothing and big assed earrings whether I make them or not and just have fun ... at ANY SIZE .... as long as it if loud or different I am loving it ... like the sparkles on my skirt WOOT ... a part of three odd pieces belonging to different things I tossed on this morning....



Having an awesome Tuesday at work ... eternally grateful for my awesome family, mi MEDIA NARANJA, and the AWESOME OH Community of people on the same journey with whatever tool/action they have chosen....

I am still on a high having enjoyed the AWESOME time in ATLANTA with the OH Community at the OH ATLANTA 2012 event ... I am certainly looking forward to the 2013 OH Event hoping it is indeed in Cali .... if I am still in the USA or even abroad I would love to come to that and take an opportunity to meet the most awesome poster that I met on here and who shared such info that I was able to assist my friends overseas with ... 3 of whom are doing AWESOME with their DS surgeries ... I was soooooooooooo happy to have had access to that information shared on here that I was able to translate and pass on ... with further research my friends are doing great!!!! 

What awesome ways to pay it forward ... with experience and knowledge shared what an awesome way to help each other out.... sometimes all we need is a little bit of bridge building ... we would be surprised what awesome people exist in our universe on and off the screens...

I snagged this picture of my old arse on the OH Atlanta Runway weekend before last ... what a blast!!!! Check all the other awesome OH-ers strutting their hard work too ... WOOT!!!!

Thank you for allowing me to share ... another GOOFY thread...


OH ROCKS!!!! I am just missing some peeps that made this board so much more livelier ...SIGH.... ALL I CAN THINK OF IS BUILDING BRIDGES and second chances ... but then I am just goofy like that....

My DD took off to spend time with her friends in the Big Apple and my DS just took off with his GF so DH and I are left in this huge house with ourselves and 9 ferrets for a change... WOOT ...

So why not have some awesome fun? I decided to send my dearest husband sitting in the den an electronic card with an invitation to a candlelit dinner ... dressed up ... the place? our dining room ... the guests? just the two of us ...

I found an awesome Chicken & Chorizo Quinoa Paella online that I tweaked to my taste and caloric requirements/preferences hmmmmmmmmmmm and it is now simmering deliciously leaving an awesome aroma in the house ...

I then treated myself to a nice leisurely bath and reached into my dress closet and my eyes landed on this dress that I wore at my Company's Christmas Party in December 2009 .. 2 years and 10 months after my RNY WLS ... and decided to wear that ... WOOT a Size 2 Laundry dress with some awesome shoes I had gotten from Baker's .... I then went to my digital empowerment A Picture A Day Journal and looked up December 2009 and yup I found the picture of DH and I on that day when I last wore this dress that I have not worn since... and while DH gets dressed for our candlelit dinner at home I decided to share here as I am already dressed...

This is the dress I wore in 2009 and me wearing the same dress TODAY .... same fit! WOOT... I am loving maintenance ... mindful eating and exercising ... adding love of life/family/friends and fun ... despite all life's challenges ... I will press on ... 5 years and 8 months post WLS I can't wait till February to celebrate my 6th year anniversary....



The last and only time I wore this dress was in December of 2009 ... here it the picture of me and my DH taken in 12/09 at 2 years 10 months out...


and I could not resist my Empowerment Collage for this day 10/13/2012 ... on my walk away from morbid obesity one day at a time, one choice at a time ... with 5 co-morbidities and impaired mobility in remission I am keeping steadfast on my walk ... and because I love pictures I track it all in my life journal "A Picture a Day Keeps the Pounds and Inches Away"  .... My BEFORE and my TODAY



OOPS!!! dinner is ready ... woot ... heading off to turn off the lights and light the candles ... this old fart sista has a date ... right here ... in my home ... with my friend, my brother, my lover, my partner, my bodyguard my AWESOME AL!!!

TTYL ... thank you for allowing me to share another goofy thread ... another day in the life of a sista on the journey....

 And now we are on the way back home but what AWESOME FUN! I had such a fabulous time with awesome OH family and friends at the 2012 OH Conference in ATLANTA .... since I joined this site in 2007 I have purposed myself to attend one of these events at least once yearly ... I have so much fun in fellowship with other OH members ... 

My weekend was AWESOME ... I LOVE ATLANTA!!!! NO MORE WORDS .... THIS IS A PICTORIAL...

Last night we hit the runway .. followed by an awesome masquerade party ... check me and Maria Fitzpatrick and MSW Will Not Settle from the BAF board out...


Karla, Beth Melting Mama and Martitalinda


Martita Rocking her RNY and Courtney TRIPMOM02 rocking her Sleeve


MariaF, WaltersWife and Martitalinda
 

Martitalinda and MSW will not Settle...


Martita and DebraF


I had tons of FUN!!!


and an AWESOME mini vacay right here on OH ,,, thank you KIM and all the lovely peeps on OH.. the camaraderie and fellowship was PHENOMENAL!


because I do not want to ever forget ... A Picture A Day ... it is my journey and I LOVE IT AND OWN IT..

ME AND MY PANA MSW WILL NOT SETTLE ... I met her at an OH Conference in Rye, NY and we have become RL friends since .. between the two of us we lost 338 pounds!


I loved the OH Fashion RUNWAY... EVERYONE ON IT ROCKED!



I HAD A BLAST AND NOW ... I GO HOME TO MY LOVED ONES .. SO TOTALLY GRATEFUL FOR MY LOVING HUSBAND, MY BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER AND MY HANDSOME SON FOR HOLDING DOWN THE FORT AND SENDING MOM OFF TO MEET ONCE AGAIN WITH A BEAUTIFUL OH FAMILY .. BROTHERS AND SISTERS ON THE JOURNEY!!!


THANK YOU OH... AND THANKS FOR ALLOWING ME TO SHARE!!!! After all I got to walk a runway over 50 and minus 203 pounds 5 years and 8 months post gastric bypass surgery ... what an awesome way to celebrate my monthly surgery anniversary on 10/5/2012 ..WOOT .. I had a BLAST!!!

 I have continued my empowerment journal with a picture a day keeps the pounds and the inches away 5 years and 7 months post WLS ... and for the past couple weeks it has gotten so busy between work, the shops and home that I have just been dumping the pictures into my digital journal/picture frame and in photobucket and forgetting to share on here as the last week has been horrendously busy picking up the slack from a slow July and August.... and IT IS GETTING COLD!!! brrrr ...

We are expecting rain all through the weekend here but DH told me that the temperature in Atlanta will be in the 80's ... and I hope he is right ... no idea how to dress but I am ready to have much fun in Atlanta especially since my bestie MSW will Not Settle is coming along and we will be crashing together as always .... I have OH to thank for this awesome friendship for we met back in 2009 at an OH Conference in Rye, New York ... and have been friends since meeting each month for early morning breakfast as she travels from Georgia to Connecticut for her monthly treatments...

I started October off to work like this...


ohhhhhhhhh coffee that sweet savory fluid that I so LOVE! I just have to blend 3/4 decaf with 1/4 regular to keep it safe for ME...


and today at work I am looking like a dog having dragged my arse out of bed for an early morning run with friends in my running group ... and why oh why did I lie back down for a snooze after running? LATE!!! so I took my picture at work on break LOL....





and on Saturday after Zumba I got these bad-ass boots Baker's... no they are not the ones I have on in the first picture ... these a breakneck high ... love 'em!  I think I will be above inches of snow this winter LOL...


...before


5 years 7 months later I LOVE LOVE LOVE MY TOOL... it will be my monthly surgery anniversary on 10/5 and I will be in Atlanta CELEBRATING and having fun at the OH Conference WOOT!.... I love maintaining .... seamlessly .... I love rocking my tool for life!!!