ObesityHelp

Wow.  What an amazing year it has been!

Tomorrow is actually my anniversary, but I will be very busy tomorrow coaching my daughters little league team and taking my kids roller skating.  I can't even imagine doing any of these things last year.  Or the year before, and so on.  The DS has given me a life.  I had a life before, but I never realized just how much I was missing out on because of my weight, even though I didn't have any bad comorbidities that held me back,

I still can eat very little.  About a half of a sandwich is it.  I hated this at first, but now I love it.  I'm not so obsessed with food, so the amount doesn't bother me.  Dr. Anthone's office told me that at 1 year out, I would be able to eat about half of what I used to eat.  I would say one fourth is probably more accurate.  But anytime I'm hungry, I eat.  I don't care what time it is.  I listen to my body instead of watching the clock.  I always try to grab protein.  I don't count carbs, never have.  But I am aware of them.  I keep them low, I just never wanted to have this surgery and still have to count something.  And hold on, brace yourself, I eat fruit!  I love having a few strawberries or a slice of an apple for a snack.  Yep, I know, I'm a rebel!  But I really want to eat healthy, and I love fruit more than chocolate, so I endulge.  I take probiotics, so gas hasn't been much of an issue.  I did take a round of flagyl a few months back because I got carried away around the holidays and I couldn't get my body back into its rhythm.  The flagyl got me right back on track.

I've met some amazing people along this journey and made some great friends for life.  I can finally shop and fit in stylish clothes.  And wow, the clearance racks are really cheap on the "other" side of the store!  I never knew.  I've reconnected with friends from high school.  I always avoided seeing people from my past when I would run into them in the store.  My 20 yr reunion is coming up this summer, and we just had a mini reunion last Saturday.  It was fun seeing how people have changed.  A comment was made to me that I was the only one who had gotten smaller since high school.  AND one of the most popular guys from high school couldn't stay away from me.  lol  He wasn't near as handsome as I remembered in high school!  But it was fun having his attention!!

One not so good thing is my marriage.  I haven't pinpointed the cause yet, but I haven't ruled out that it had something to do with my DS.  Just like the studies show, if your marriage is solid to begin with, you won't have problems.  Mine wasn't so solid.  Now we are separated.  He blames my surgery.  I say we've had problems for years.  But maybe I feel good enough about myself now to realize life is too short to not be happy.  So I don't know what my future holds as far as he and I go, but I am excited about the future.  I know now that I can achieve all things.  And this is thanks to my surgery!

I still want to lose 30 or so lbs and I am still losing slowly, so I am confident that I can.  But ugh, the loose skin.  I always thought that just losing the weight would be enough, but I had a hysterectomy and hernia repair on March 2 and my dr gave me in mini tummy tuck.  I had 3 cesareans that left my stomach pretty ugly.  So she cleaned that up a little and wow, what a difference.  Now I still need a real tummy tuck, and I really want one!  But she did a nice job.

Okay, onto some pics.

Here's me and Nicolle before our surgeries:



And here's a picture of me taken a few weeks ago:



And one more from my mini reunion:



Thank you to all of you on this board!  I have learned so much from you guys.  And thank you to Dr. Anthone!!!!!!!

Preops:  Beg, borrow or steal to get this surgery!  You cannot believe how life altering it really is.

April 4, 2008 Surgery Day     304 lbs
May 4, 2008                             274         -30 lbs
June 4, 2008                           266         -8 lbs
July 4, 2008                             250         -16 lbs
August 4, 2008                       238         -12 lbs
September 4, 2008               225         -13 lbs
October 4, 2008                     219         -6 lbs
November 4, 2008                 208          -11 lbs
December 4, 2008                203           -5 lbs
January 4, 2009                    198            -5 lbs
February 4, 2009                   196            -2 lbs
March 4, 2009                         193           -3 lbs
April 4, 2009                            184           -9 lbs
May 4, 2009                             182           -2 lbs
June 4, 2009                            180          -2 lbs

PIM (aka MIM Pancakes)   1/4 c flax meal 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 pkt Stevia or Splenda 1 tsp cinnamon 1 large egg 1 Teaspoon melted butter   Mix dry ingredients, add melted butter and egg.   Stir well.   Spoon into 4 pancakes in frying pan with butter or oil.   Serve with whatever low carb topping you like.   I use Walden Farms zero carb, zero calorie, pancake

What fun!!!  Thanks Nicolle for a wonderful time.  Here's a pic of our host straight from the 1950's:



More pics:







Can't wait for the next party!!!

I should have posted this when Renee made it for me, but here it is........my Century Club Card.  Yay me!!!!!




Thank you so  much Renee for making it.

Now with a little Zumba and some weight lifting, I hope to make it to Onederland before the New Year.  Happy Holidays and thank you DS!!