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So, with all the running I have been doing lately, the one thing that I have been fighting with is my hair. With my crazy professional and workout schedule, I just wasn't finding the time to do anything special. I was always wearing my long hair braided and then covering it with a net. Well, I went to many stylists that tried to help with there wonderful suggestions for my natural hair that had taken my YEARS to grow! I was told that keratin treatments were natural and that I would easily be able to change between styles, I had texturizers, hot comb presses, and flat irons. What I did not know that I was doing more damage to my natural hair than good during all these different treatments/styles. So, I finally found a highly-rated salon for natural girls here in Atlanta - Natural Xpressions Hair Salon (Tas and Poka are the styllists at this salon - http://www.naturalxpressionsalon.com/). So, I decided to do the Big Cop (BC) and start all over. My hair was just so damaged and they told me I could transition from all the other stuff that had been done to my natural hair - but, if you know black hair at all - with me running 11 miles a day - the money would be wasted that I spent to get my hair done within 30 minutes! LOL

I have NEVER had short hair in my life, so i was pretty nervous. I always felt fat with a big head and big ears and I was petrified of lookiing like a boy. Tas and Poka really took their time with me and explained what had happened to my hair and what needed to be done to get me back where i wanted to be with my hair. It was the second best consult that I have had since moving to Atlanta in 2005!

So, check out my new look that I posted today!

 

Today was a very exciting day as I participated in my 2nd Marathon ever!!!!

Let me tell you that I was absolutely TIRED when I arrived at 6:30 a.m. to begin the run at 7:30 a.m.

First, I had my Bariatric Support Group Meeting at Emory John's Creek Hospital. Then, I had to get my workout in for the day, a grueling 10 mile run, as for some reason I was a little sore...maybe not enough stretching the day before after my last workout. Finally, I had to work BOTH my jobs, so I worked from 2PM to 3AM this morning...with just a 30 minute break that whole time!!!  

I woke up at 5 a.m., so I had exactly TWO HOURS of sleep, BUT I MADE IT TO THE MARATHON!!!! YEAHHHHHHH!!!!

So, the results you ask...

Out of 1021 PEOPLE, I came in at 350 with 30 minutes!!!!

AND...out of 682 women, I was #178.

In the end, this is great progress as my 2nd marathon since last year (my first marathon). Last year, that 5K that I ran, I placed #144 out of 153 people. LOL

It took my ONE HOUR and 43 SECONDS to complete that 5K...and that was running and walking.

I am soooo proud of myself!! I ran the entire way this year without stopping!!!

Now I just have two more 5K runs (so far) in May...hope I have an even stronger finish. 

Hello Everyone,

Okay, so life has just been happening and kept me away from posting like I want to, but my goal is to get back on track this week.

I have soooo many wonderful things to share - the first being that I am almost at my goal weight (but, I still plan to keep going until I am comfortable). I am running 7.5 miles five times a week, a 5 mile sprint twice a week (in preparation for the Publix 5K on March 17, 2013), and then I walk 45 minutes one day a week. I alternate other activities like kickboxing, TRX Suspension classes, and swimming - among other things! I am having a ball. I have the 5K in March and then the annual one at Emory Johns Creek in May. I am sticking with my 5K runs this year because next year, as I will be turning the big 4-0, I want to do my first 10K marathon!

I also start the certification program at ISSA (International Sports Sciences Association) to become a Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Youth Fitness Instructor. Why am I doing this you ask? Well, I have been fighting with my weight since I was a baby (I was a pudgy baby). I have been on so many diets that I cannot even name them all. My weight has gone up, my weight has gone down, then back up again - most times I gain back more than I would lose. When I went in to talk to Dr. Johnson about having my surgery - I was just plain tired of the battle and I needed help.

While I don't regret the surgery, and would do it again in a heartbeat, I can't help but feel that my journey would have been easier had I learned how to lead a healthier lifestyle when I was a child. Most of the people in my family are obese - we grew up on Paula Deen and The Neeley's style cooking if you know what I mean. It was not a thing to eat all that food and that go to sleep right after Sunday dinner. Then, about 10 or 11 years ago, my sister was at her breaking point and had the surgery - and she still looks great to this day! I wanted to have the surgery when she had it, but it was a lot harder to get insurance to pay if you were not morbidly obese. I was overweight, but not big enough were I would qualify for the surgery. Please believe me when I tell you that I almost wanted to force myself to eat more food to gain the weight so that I could qualify for the surgery, but I was too scared that if I did that something would happen where I still would not be able to get the surgery - and then I would be even bigger and more depressed.

Anyway, I have been watching The Biggest Loser this season and was excited to see them try and do something to fight this growing epidemic of child obesity. I believe if you start teaching children at a young age about exercise and nutrition they have a better chance of not being where I ended up. Then, for those that have had the surgery, I want to be in a position to help them get the weight off and keep it off. Not to mention, this is a great way for me to continue to stay in shape!

Like I said, I have a lot to share...and I will post more soon, but I just wanted to touch base today.

I am so proud to be where I am today and for the choice I made to take control of my life almost a year ago.

God is really good and I am truly blessed. I pray all is well for all of you that read this post. TTYS!

P.S. - Take a look at the pictures I posted of where I was almost a year ago - and that was at 245 pounds (after my surgery). My highest weight was 270, but I was so embarassed I have no pictures of me at my highest - too depressing! I wish I would have taken at least one now. Anyway, I will be posting recent pictures real soon...so stay tuned for my unveiling! :-) 

Okay, well folks, I am finally back up and running!! Yippee!

It took some time, but I finally started my health and exercise plan back up as of Sunday, September 2, 2012!

I actually was able to run a mile and walk 2.4 miles for a total of 3.4 miles - so I am siked.

I was really bummed when I sustained my injury because I was not able to keep on track with what I was doing. However, I still went to my group meetings and was encouraged to do what I could instead of focusing on what I could not do - which was a big help.

I learned to focus on other areas of my body and I got plenty of rest and now here I am several pounds lighter and 61 pounds to my new goal.

I am really, really bummed right now because I have not been able to work out in about eight days.  I hurt my right leg last week and I am not sure how, but it has been hurting very bad. Then, today my right shoulder started hurting. It's like the whole right side of my body has these little aches and pains that I can't get rid of. I was told I need to get an adjustment, but with two jobs, I just have not had time to go in and get that procedure.

I have just been tired, but I can't stay down like this for too long and ruin all of my hard work up until this point.

One of my friends warned me about starting my workout routine back up too soon for fear that I would do more damage, and that does concern me, but so does not working out and losing momentum.

To top all of this, it is getting hot and humid here in Georgia - even early in the morning.

Well, I am tired of sitting on the sidelines at this point. It is June 1st and I am ready to get moving again. I am about to just walk on my treadmill at a slow and steady pace to say I did something today.

I guess I'll just keep walking and putting on the ice packs.

Hopefully this walk on the treadmill will not kill my plans to go to the park and walk in the morning.

Today, at 227 pounds, I did my first 5K Marathon!!!

I didn't think I was going to make it because I got off my second job at 3AM, woke up at 6AM, fell back asleep, woke up at 7AM and had exactly ONE HOUR to get to the starting line.

I was not going to miss the race, no matter how late I was - I was running!

So, I get arrived at the starting line fifteen minutes into the race - ALLL BY MYSELF!!!  Everyone, and I mean everyone, was already out there walking/running. I didn't even put on my number because I was so embarassed about being late. However, everyone was great. They welcomed me and cheered me on and I became encouraged.

So, about a mile into the race I start to catch up with everyone - YEAH ME!!! Finally, I was no longer the last one and at 45 minutes - I FINISHED my first 5K MARATHON EVER IN LIFE!!! I was still given a medal and I won one of the drawings from a raffle. I had sooooo much fun that after the race I still had energy to burn so I climbed Stone Mountain today too!

Well, I am down to 237 and went on my first hike up Stone Mountain (Georgia) since having the surgery! I was so proud of myself today - and I still got my run in too!!

I have been working out six days a week, giving my body a chance to rest one day out of the week - but still doing something light to get in some activity.

I've kind of been bummed about my eating habits so I started completing a food diary today. I just haven't been getting enough food down, mainly meaning protein, because it is so hard for me to finish a meal. Add to this I my taste have changed, I really don't know what to eat anymore, and my nutritionist wants me to wean myself off the shakes.

I have decide that next payday I am going to get me a new recipe book for weight loss surgery patients. I love to cook and now that I arranged my kitchen this weekend - and bought some new pans - I am ready to create some good meals.

Oh, here is one of the pictures I took hiking up the mountain. It was very foggy today.

Okay, so this has been a hard lesson for me over the past few days as I am readjusting to life after my Roux-En-Y.

So many times I have eaten to the point that I felt full and cleaned my plate. I hated to have scraps or leftovers, so I would push myself to finish. Now, I am learning to eat until I feel satisfied, or know that have had a meal and that's it. I don't have that stuffed feeling, which is nice, but also bothersome because I am having to retrain my brain. I can definitely say that I am not hungry after I have had a meal, but I tend to still think about food and wonder am I getting enough in. At this point, what I am trying to do is eat and then do something else - walk, blog, read a post, read a book, get on the scale, drink water - just anything other than eat more.

The biggest challenge about separating hunger from cravings for me has been that I work from home for two different companies. So, I am at my desk alot - really, for most of the day. It is not uncommon for me to work from 10AM to 6:30PM and then 8PM to 3AM. So, as you can see, I spend a lot of time at my desk. During this time, in the past, I have found that I snacked a lot so I was never really hungry. However, what I did do was pick up a lot of weight due to this and other life stresses (divorce, house fire, etc.). Now I am allowed three meals (shakes mostly) and two snacks. It has been quite the adjustment and soon I will move into the pureed food stage. On Easter day I wrote a post asking what ideas people had for the pureed food stage and was quite disappointed that I got no suggestions - but there were other people that wrote saying they would be looking forward to the suggestions, but there were none. So, that mad me a little nervous and I stopped the pureed stage and went back to a liquid diet until I see my doctor tomorrow.

I have enjoyed seeing my weight go down on the scale, but I am trying to keep from weighing myself every day. I am going to be very happy today once my camera arrives, which should be any moment now -but not soon enough. I'm going to post it all through this process because I believe my life is about to change - and for the better.

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

I weighed myself this morning and I am now at 245 lbs. (04/08/12), which is down from 260 lbs (03/29/12). I am very excited about my weight loss, but can't wait until I am finally under 200 lbs. That is when I will really celebrate having this WLS.

My first post-op visit with my doctor is April 11th, so I am hoping all goes well.

I am now on Stage 2 of my diet - what a blessing!  However, I had a hard time yesterday and was in bed and the powder room most of the day. I learned that I have to, have to, have to pay more attention to my body. It's not what I ate, but how much I ate. Well, and I think I have to stop mixing Lactaid milk with my shakes. The Lactaid milk seems to be irritating my stomach. The problem is that I don't like the shakes with water, but I do like the flavor that milk adds - the creaminess. So, I don't know if I need to switch back to rice milk or almond milk. I will see today. I am trying to do two shakes a day to make sure I get in my protein and one high protein meal. I had tuna, peas, and crackers for dinner last night.

Been a little down because this is the weekend that my mother passed 6 years ago. It was Good Friday, April 6, 2006.  So that is why I have not wrote much this weekend. Get this, yesterday my camera bag and the SD card arrived, but still no camera (LOL). It is supposed to be here on Tuesday, April 10th though and I can't wait!!!

Okay, so I have really been having fun responding to posts, meeting new people, and navigating this site! It has been such a help that I want to get out of it all that I can, as well as share my story from beginning to end (or whatever). So, today, just now, I broke down and purchased a camera online from HSN.com. I purchased a Kodak Easyshare camera because of the sharing features. I hope it will be as easy as it looks. I am really looking forward to putting my journey in pictures. I think that will be encouraging for me and some of you (I hope).