Emily_Rose

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Wow it has been 2.5 years already!  I cant believe it!  Life has been a little crazy for me thae past 6 months and I have not been on much.  My husband was out of work for 5 months and we almost moved to the Middle East.  When he was home he kept the house stocked with junk food so I went up a couple of pounds, NOT good :-(  I am at 137 right now and I need to stay under 135 so I am taking all sugar out of my diet again so that it will drop back off.  I had added some back in because I was dropping below my 130 mark and i dont like my body that thin.  BUT with the extra few pounds I need to get off all the sugar because this little bit of extra has to go.  My 4s are snug but 6s are still too big but i refuse to gian enough to get out of the 4s!  I am not worried because the great tool I have in the sleeve makes it very possible and doable.
As for restriction, I can eat quite a bit more than I could 6 months out, I would think about 50% more than then.  I am happy with this amount because as long as my choices stay good it is easy to maintain my weight but enjoy eating a small meal.  I usually split a meal at restraunts and take about 1/4 to 1/3 of the plate depending on how much the particular restraunts serves.  Eating out with my husband is easier because he knows the signs that I am getting full and will pull my plate away when I am ignoring the signals before I can become uncomfortable.  He also helps by moving any chips or bread out of my reach LOL, he knows how weak I can be and when I eat any of that stuff I cant fit my food!
I am moving to Pearland TX and an apartment where I will have a pool, lake, workout center, etc so this summer should be great for moving around!  I want to get into better shape so plan to get back on the weights and want to see if there are some Zumba classes nearby since I have heard that they are a lot of fun.  Once I am working out it is a fine line that I have to walk becuse I dont want to go under 130 but I guess that  is a bridge.I will cross when I get there. 
I will check back in soon hopefully to tell you that I am back where I want to be, say a prayer that the sugar withdrawals are not too severe!

I am not sure where to start here since it has been so long since my last post.  That has been a great year for me personally, but a stressful year for both my comapny and my husbands career.  The  main thing that helped me get through all the personla trials is being able o look in the mirror and see someone that I am not ashamed of inside and out. 

On the weight loos front thnks have been pretty stable with mesaying in a 5 lb range from 130-135 for well over a year now.  I am able to do this with little effort.  Every now and then when I get to the top of th range I will cut out some of my carbs and withina  week i am back where I want to be.  PLan to go on a ligh protein low carb diet with DH for 3 weeks next week so I willl have to be careful that I dont go into the 120s However he will not do it alone and he is about to have to pass physicals for a new job and needs to lose about 20 lbs fast to keep pressure off his back and legs.

All i all I am not sure what I cna add to my previous post other than I am still happy with my sleeve and would do it allover again@

I just realized today is the anniversary of my surgery and I am getting close to the 2 year mark.  For those just starting out the time will come when it will feel like you have been like this forever and yet it will be like yesterday in some ways.  My sleeve i like a marriage in that!  Only thing different than my marriage is that I never get mad at my sleeve LOL  I am staying around 132 pretty much.  I go up a lb then back down a few but rarely do I see anything over 133 on the scale and so far the higest is 135.  That is my weight limit.  if I hit that then I start watching what I eat.  On a normal basis I really dont count anything anymore.  I know some people allways have to keep track but for me I pretty much eat what I want and on a general basis I make better choices than I did before surgery.  I have always loved meat so protein is not an issue for me to eat.  I will make a longer post for my two year mark to let everyone know what all is up with me.  Just wanted to drop in and touch base for now
 

I am not able to come up with a better title LOL  I guess I am not that creative this month.

This month Ihad a few new things happened.  I was put on Concerta to treat my ADD that I have had all my life but never treated.  It is working pretty well and I am getting more accomplished but I dropped back down to 130 pretty quickly.  I went on vacation for a week to the beach did not take my meds and ate junk food so I have more than likely put a few lbs back on but I will wait a week to weigh after eating normal again.  Clothes are still fitting fine so it is not much if I did.  Life is still great and I am maintaining pretty easily.  I hope to be able to continue to say this for years to come!
 

2 days ago I had my 18 month anniversary and life it is good!  Still a size 4 and love it. 
I am having a few struggles with my hormones that are causing some struggles with food but staying in my allowed window of 130-135 even with the war on chocolate.  I am on hormones for 3 months and they are making me want to eat nonstop so I had got all the chocolate out the house then my dad sends my kids home with 2 more bags! (ever want to commit patricide?)  My weight has been like a ping pong ball this month in about a 4lb weight area.  Hopefully I can get back to the bottom of the range and stay there soon.  I am going back to basics for a while hoping it will get rid of these crazy cravings.  So back to cheese sticks for snacks instead of junk, I cut the sugar back out of my coffee as of yesterday, I had added it back in when I lost more than I wanted to.  I drink about 10 cups of coffee a day so just that move cuts out 20 tsp of sugar (320 calories!) so that should get things back where they should be in about a week or so.

All that being said I would and do tell everyone what a wonderful choice this is.  My life is nothing like it was before surgery and I only wish I had done this sooner.  I can eat about double what I could eat 3 months out but still very restricted.  If I eat protein like steak I can eat about 3 oz with nothing else.  I can eat 2 baby back ribs with some sides when I choose.  I do know that weight will be something that I have to keep track of for the rest of my life but no more than a normal person.  I weigh in about 2-3 times a week now, where as when I was losing I would only weigh 1 time a week.  but I want to catch things in a small window now so that there is not a big surprise later.  I think weighing regular keeps me focused on what is impt in my eating even when I am battleing the demon chocolate.  Bad part of weighing regular?  when the number is at the bottom I take it as a pass to make brownies!!!  Got to fix the scale to where it never shows below 132 again!
 

Well it is time to go back to basics, I have been horrible in my eating habbits for 2 months and it shows.  I am at the top of the weight I am allowing myself to be at this point. 135 was my goal and I had dropped to 127.  As of today I am back up to 135, that is good and bad.  I have started back into eating habbits these past 2 months that I can not continue.  if I stay at this weight it is OK but I do not want to go above it.  I am wanting to maintain between 130 and 135 for the future so as of today I am cutting sugar back out of my diet.  it has creeped back in and has to go.  I ran out this morning so I will go back to drinking my coffee with cream only.  Just that will cut a bunch out since I drink anywhere from 5-10 cups of coffee a day and 1.5 t adds up over that many cups.  ALSO I have been a chocolate queen for the past 2 months as well and that has to stop.  I am going to buy my low carb ice cream bars today so that I have a substitute to keep the cravings in line.  I love the way I look at 135 BUT do not want to go above this so really I need to be a few lbs lower to keep at or below this weight.  Hopefully when I post for April I will be back to about 132.  I should be able to do this with not much effort.  I will let everyone know in a month how it goes.
 

Today is the first time since surgery that I had to post a monthly gain.  But I am happy about that.  Last month I was worried that I would be unable to quit losing.  But this month showed me that I can!  If I had not gained this month I would have been very worried for sure.  We had a party every weekend, between the Super Bowl, Birthdays and Mardi Grais I ate junk food and sweets for an entire month since that is what was allways around. (not a typical situation)  We are getting them out of the house this today even the half of a King Cake in the kitchen is going in the trash so it is stopping now and back to healthy eating.  I want to stay where I am I really dont even care to lose the 3 lbs I gained since I want to stay between 130 and 135.  It feels good to be in this place!
 

I am a little late with my monthly update this month due to everyone in my house getting sick this past weekend.  Stomach virus!!  No fun.  But anyway I am still losing although I am trying not to.  My weight loss is slow but still moving.  I am down to 128 which is the lowest weight in my adult memory.  I really want to be in the 130s but I guess my body will make that decision for me.  Life is good and I love my new body except the extra skin.  I want to have plastics but dont want to think about any more surgeries for at least a year still so 2011 is when I plan to take care of it.  I will keep everyone posted on how my weight changes in the future.  Hopefully I stable off and stay where I am or even gain a few to bring myself back to the 130-135 range but only time will tell.

This is my second Christmas since my surgery and a lot has changed.  Last year I was so excited to be watching the scale move down at this time but this year I want it to stop.  I am a comfortable size four right now and love where I am.  I thank God every day that I have been able to experience this wonderful gift of getting my life back.

As for the rest of it, life has been a bit of a roller coaster lately and I did not even post last month with all the upheaval.  I worked 3 out of 5 weekends and then had Oral surgery to remove my 4 impacted wisdom teeth this month but to be honest that is not the worst part of my life since I last posted.  In the past 2 months my MIL found out her cancer is back and it is in her lymph nodes and also my husband's youngest cousin died about 4 hours after having a new baby.  We are all in a bit of a state of shock so I have not been here like I need to support all of you who are just starting out on your new life but I promise that after the new year when things settle a bit I will be back.  Please pray for us that we can get through all that is to come.

i remember my surgery day like yesterday I weighed 221 lbs and was miserable in my own body.  It is now 6:45am so it is almost to the min right now, I was laying on the hops ital bed waiting for anesthesia and my nerves kicked in high gear!  I started to cry and panic a little so my mom who had been trying to talk me out of the surgery anyway says "It is not too late you can still change your mind"  I told her that no matter how afraid I got I was going through with it.  A few moments later the Anesthesiologist arrived with some of "the good stuff" and I relaxed.  My mom, dad and Husband kissed my goodbye for surgery and that is the last thing I remember until it was all over.  I woke up and I had my new tummy!.  The fist day was a breeze, I stayed in the hospital until about 4 or 5 that evening then I went to my MILs house for the next week.  She gave me my pain meds every 4 hours on the hour so the pain never started.  I did keep a heating pad on my tummy along with a pillow due to advice from some veterans. I don't think I am going to go ever everything since it is all in my blog but it was a very easy recovery.
BTW my mom had the sleeve done in Feb of this year!

Now one year later at 137 I am only 2 lbs to my original weight goal of 135.  My goal has changed a few times over the year I am still not sure where I want this journey to end,  Some days I want to stay right where I am and at other times I want to lose to 130 but in all honestly if it happens that is fine, if not I am perfectly happy where I am now.  I think the hardest part will be to say I am finished.  That may sound weird to you if you have not been to this point but I am not sure if I want the journey to be over.  This is the biggest accomplishment of my life and the journey has been a blast.  I know the destination is great as well but it will be a change of mindset. 

I more like the person i was a long time ago, before the weight gain.  I am self confident, no longer do I feel like hiding when someone pulls out a camera!  I have more energy, I can do things with my children more often, my house stays cleaner!  I actually like to shop again, it was no fun for me to shop in the Women's dept, NOTHING FIT right even there, they seem to assume if you are fat you have boobs and that was not the case for me.  Now I can actually find clothes that fit and LOOK GOOD.

I do need plastics quite a bit of them but I will take the extra skin over fat any day of the week!  I plan to have a LBL with inner thigh lift, Upper Arms and a Breast Aug.  I had hoped in Feb or Aug but it will more than likely be another year before it happens right now.  

I can talk about this surgery all day long and how it changed my life, I also owe a debt of gratitude to the people on this board that supported me at the very beginning I would start naming but I would feel horrible if I left someone out so just Thanks to All the people further out than me who were here for the start of this journey.  I t has been quite a ride!