Ann M.

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I was on a stall for three weeks but have finally broken out of 175 and am on the way down.  I've been getting more exercise now that the weather is better.  Riding my bike for 2+ miles at lunch is making me so happy.  I am having problems with my arm though.  3 weeks ago as I was changing sheets, I felt something snap in my arm.  I was in great pain and nothing helped.  I saw the orthopedic surgeon and he told me that my bicep muscle had detached and broken away from my shoulder and was now down in my arm.  I actually have a big lump where the muscle is.  He also says there's nothing he can do about it.  I need to talk with him again because if I have plastic surgery on my arms, the right one is going to look awful with that big bulge, not to mention it still hurts and gets re-injured if I do something it doesn't like.

It was really funny at the orthoped's office.  The girl who is at the desk used to work with me at city hall for 2 years.  She looked up and said "can I help you?"  I said Kelly, don't you recognize me.  She went "OH my God, Ann, is that you?  You look wonderful".  That made me feel great that somebody who knows me just didn't recognize me.  My orthoped was also very pleased with the weight loss.  He couldn't believe it and kept telling me how good I looked.  I also had someone tell me I've lost enough weight, that I look wonderful.  Wow!  I have 35 more pounds to go but that sure felt good to hear that.

I now weigh 176.  I am wearing size 12 pants (with no elastic waist).  I can't remember when I last wore this size.  Life is getting better and better.  I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can get my bike out and go for rides during my lunch hour.  I've really missed seeing the scenery.  I've been using the recumbant bike 3 days a week just to keep my legs in shape.  I'm still doing the strength training and Tai Chi.  I haven't had any more problems with sugar since I ended up in ER because I drank 3 ounces of apple juice.  I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest.  I seem to be very sensitive to sugar and anything over 7 grams makes me start to dump.  I like it this way because I know I won't be cheating and that will keep me from gaining the weight back because I won't even try anything I think will make me sick. 

In 1989 I bought a trio of necklaces.  One was 18 inches, one was 22 inches and one was 24 inches.  I could never wear the 18 inch one because my neck was too big.  Well, I'm now wearing that necklace and I have plenty of room.  What a WOW moment.

Also, I'm coming out of the closet today.  I'm telling my friends on the Las Vegas bulletin boards what's been happening.  I hope they'll like what they see and be there for me when I need that little extra push to get the other 40 pounds off.

I broke the 190 mark this morning.  I knew it was coming because every time I lose the pounds I have 2 days of diarrhea.  I wish my body was more normal and not let me know I'm losing the pounds except to see the scale move.  I can be at one weight in the morning and after the notification starts, I will be 5 lbs down the next day and stay there.  Oh well, at least I'm losing the weight.  I haven't weighed this little since right after I was married 37 years ago.  It's really wonderful.  

One little pet peeve here though.  When people comment on how much weight I've lost and I tell they why, they ALWAYS ask, well I bet you're feeling much better.  I tell them that while I feet great, I felt great before the surgery.  I just can do more for a longer period of time.

I'm looking forward to getting into 2 pair of jeans that were given to me a few months ago.  They say they're size 16 but since they're used, I think they have shrunk to about a 14 since I can wear a 16W.  It won't be much longer.

I've also begun to think about plastic surgery.  I've decided the first thing I'm going to do is have this turkey waddle removed from my chin.  It drives me nuts.  People around me say it's not too bad but to me it looks like it hangs about 5 inches.  They also do a face lift at the same time which will be good because while I was fat, I looked young.  I look old now (too me).  

Another thing I've noticed is that although I know my body is smaller I still see myself as having lost only the 50 pounds.  I wonder when my brain is going to catch up with my eyes, lol.

I bought a new swimsuit for when we go to Orlando at the end of February.  It's a size 16.  The last suit I bought was a 28-30.  I bought one with longer legs so that my excess skin doesn't show so much.  Too bad it doesn't have sleeves to hide the bat wings under my arms, lol.  

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm glad I had the surgery.  I always answer "YES" because it's given me a much better life.  I'm happy most all the time.  Yes, I still have joint and muscle pain but there is less weight on the joints and heat and pain meds take a lot of the pain away where it didn't before.  

I will probably be ready to tell all my friends on the bulletin board in about 15 lbs.  Won't they be surprised.

I had my 6 months post op check up.  My BMI was 3 points better than the average as was my weight loss.  My scale said I was in onederland that morning but the doctor scale with clothes on said I had 2 lbs to go.  The bloodwork looks pretty normal except for low magnesium.  I can go for another 250 mg magnesium each day but so far I haven't done it since I'm not having any cramps.

We left the doctor's office and headed to the airport for our trip to Vegas.   A very big WOW moment.  I could sit comfortably in the seat and I even had 8 inches left of the seatbelt instead of needing an extender.  On the flight home, we scored exit row seats.  I have not been able to sit there for 25 years, it was a wonderful feeling.

We got to the 4 Queens hotel and I told the girl at the desk that it was my birthday and I wondered if I could get a special room.  She looked and said no problem.  We got to the room and it was a mini-suite.  The view was nice and the room was great.  We went to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday dinner.  We met some good friends there and had a good time.  I was wanting to get the herb encrusted salmon (I'd been looking forward to this for 6 months) but they were sold out of it.  Larry and I ended up splitting an herb chicken.  It tasted wonderful.  I swear they put 2 pounds of mashed potatoes on his plate so I had a spoonful of them and a few of the veggies.  I had to save room for the low carb cheesecake made with Splenda.  I had them add a few strawberries on top and it was wonderful.  I was well within my calorie and fat count for the day and I was very happy. 

I didn't do so good in the gambling department.  The game I usually play and win - Pai Gow Poker, was horrible.  I did make some money back by playing $3 blackjack and penny slots.  I guess it just wasn't my turn to win this trip.  Larry and I did a lot of sharing of meals.  They give you so much food.  Sharing sure saves money on the food budget.  I did get a craving though for some ice cream or chocolate.  I couldn't find any fat free/sugar free anything until the last day when I found some sugar free macadamia nut clusters in dark chocolate.  One was enough to satisfy the craving.  We did check out the fitness room in the hotel.  I used the machines one day but mostly we walked and walked some more.  It seems that I always felt stuffed even with a small bit of food and walking helped it to go down.  I did encounter a problem at the buffet in the Golden Nugget.  They do have a price for children but they refused to give me that price.  They said they had discussed it and decided not to allow anyone with WLS to have the child's price.  Well, they wouldn't let me save $3.00 so it ended up costing them at least $12.00 and probably more because I never set one foot in there to gamble when I usually do.  If they hadn't had a separate child's price, I wouldn't even have asked but I can't let this go.  I will be writing to the president of the Golden Nugget telling him how much money he's losing by not letting us have a cheaper price.  I'd love to get a boycott going until they change their policy.

We were supposed to get home Christmas evening but the plane was delayed so we didn't get home until 2:30 a.m.  I had done my fit day and found that I was 30 grams of protein low that day so I ended up eating a tuna sandwich at 3:00 in the morning.  I weighed myself after I got up the next day and I'd lost 3 more pounds.  Two days later, I was in the Century Club.  This was my first "big" trip since surgery and I have to say that I'm glad I had my laptop with my Fitday on it because it made eating a whole lot easier.

I went in looking for some velvet slacks.  They had 2 pair and they were size 26/28 and 30/32.  I couldn't find anything there that I liked or that was in a 14/16.  The girl working there was very helpful.  I asked how about on the other side, what sizes are over there?  She said XL and the highest size was 16.  Well.. . . . . I went over there.  I've been looking forward to this for a while now.  Guess what, the clothes on the plus size were much cuter and nicer.  The saleslady did find me a pair of velvet slacks in black size XL.  They fit wonderfully, except I have to shorten them.  She then came with a pair of gray velvet in a petite length.  They also fit but my tummy looked weird with a short shirt.  I couldn't find a tunic length there for nothing.  I then remembered I had bought some size M men's long sleeve shirts at Walmart the day before and they're plenty long.  They will work.  I also bought a couple pairs of underwear that have the hold me in panels on them.  With the discounts and a $10 off coupon, I got everything for $18 instead of the $60 they would have been.

Next, I went to Goodwill.  I was looking for sweaters but all the ones I saw were way too short.  What's with all the short tops this year?  I did find a very nice blue mock turtleneck that was long enough, a short sleeve black lurex sweater and a brown velvet top (it turned out to be a dress) all for $10.00.  I will take the brown top to my boss's wife and have her cut it down to a tunic length.  

I really have to quit buying clothes.  I'll be out of this size soon and I really don't need to buy anymore.  It's a good thing my brother is giving me Fashion Bug gift cards for Christmas.  I'll use those for the next size down.

Right now I'm stuck on the weight loss.  I've been at this weight for a week now.  I'm sure ready for it to drop.  I only need to lose 4 more pounds to be in onederland and 9 more to lose 100 from my highest weight and 12 more to be at my surgical weight.  I know I can do it.  I just have to remember to keep the calories up.

We went to Ponderosa for Thanksgiving.  They charged me the senior citizen price instead of the children's buffet.  Oh my gosh, I have never seen so many people stuffing themselves at one time.  They'd go and get plate after plate of food.  I bet most people at 2000 calories at one meal that day.  Even when I was a lot bigger, I never could eat that much food.  I sat there with my 3 ounces of turkey, a spoonful of mashed potatoes and one of stuffing and a few veggies.  I didn't even finish the sides.  I did treat myself to a sugar free peanut butter cookie while Larry had pumpkin pie.  I guess they thought they better have something sugar free there in case somebody wanted it (maybe people thought that would make up for all the food they ingested).  The next day we were off to Toledo.  We went a day early just to rest and relax.  The motel we stayed at had a pool and a workout room.  I rode the bike and used the elliptical machine a couple of times.  The only swimsuit I had was my old one and it went down past my knees but I went swimming anyway.  We ate at Applebees that night.  I got the oriental wrap and brought half back to the motel for lunch the next day.

Saturday we get to the Maumee Bay Resort.  Larry and I were looking for ways to surprise my brother and sister in law.  We had figured out how to do it to see if they'd recognize me from the back but they got there too early.  I was in the gift shop and Larry came in and said "thery're here".  I told him to take the camera and go greet them.  He just got through asking them if they recognized this person coming.  I did a pretty little twirl and said "Ta Da".  You should have seen their faces.  Their mouths dropped and they both said "WOW!!!"  Larry missed the picture, lol.  He was really looking forward to getting the picture for the past 4 months and he missed it.  Oh well.  I remember the look on their faces.  

The resort has walking trails and a boardwalk through the woods.  We walked about 4 miles on Saturday and then about a mile & a half on Sunday.  The restaurant there was nice and let Larry & I split a meal.  The food was very good and plentiful.  I think we'll go back here again.

The next adventure comes on my birthday when we head to Vegas to see some friends that haven't seen me before surgery.  I hope Larry gets that picture.

A big WOW moment this weekend.  Saturday, I stopped in to the vet's office to get some medicine for my dogs ears.  He kept looking at me and said "Ann????"  I said yep, it's me, notice anything different.  He said "I didn't recognize you"  Boy did that feel good.  I went to KMart on Sunday looking for a couple of long sleeved shirts.  I walked out of the "womens plus size section" into the "regular" size clothes.  I now wear an XL or 14-16 top.  Larry was watching me try on tops and he kept saying wow, you look great.  I love all the compliments he gives me.  As I was going back into the dressing room, he told the lady at the desk that he loves shopping with me for clothes but we have to do it every 2 weeks because I'm always getting smaller.  I think he tells everyone he sees how proud of me he is.  

I talked to my brother Sunday night  We're going to meet him and my sister in law in Toledo the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  I never told them I was having this surgery.  He will not know me.  I've also peaked his interest because I asked him to being his laptop with him.  I told him I wouldn't explain but he'll have to wait to find out why.  He probably thinks I have pictures or something I want him to see.  Actually, it's because he has wi-fi and I need to keep up with my fitday so I'm going to use that when I see him.  Stay tuned.

Today I wore a pair of pants I bought a month ago.  I didn't realize they were so loose before I left the house this morning.  I've been walking up and down the halls here at city hall and I have to hold my pants up.  I also had to lead the Tai Chi group this morning and thankfully I forgot to do the toe toucher exercise because my pants would have gone down around my ankles doing that.  When I get home, these pants are going in the Goodwill bag.

I bought a new winter coat at Sears on Saturday.  It's a very nice leather/sherpa coat size Large (14-16).  I haven't worn this size for 40 years!

I’ve now lost 75 pounds since my heaviest.  Larry has ice cream and cookies as a Saturday and Sunday night treat.  I buy only the no sugar added, no fat ice cream.  I can have ½ cup which is plenty for me since I share small bites with 4 dachshunds.  I tried adding three vanilla wafers with my ice cream so I could have something like Larry had.  Big Mistake!  I started dumping, OMG, I thought I’d die.  Three stupid vanilla wafers and I’m dying here.  Even drinking loads of water didn’t wash it out fast enough.  I will never do that again.  Sunday night I was back to sugar free Jello pudding. 

 The weather is starting to turn cold so bike riding outside is something I can’t do anymore.  We solved that problem by buying a trainer.  I took it, a bike and my treadmill upstairs at city hall.  I put the bike on the trainer and I can set the resistance just like riding up and down hills.  I get my riding and walking in all before lunch.  I still walk my dogs in the evening if it’s not raining (dachshunds don’t like to get wet), I strength train 3 days a week and I’ve added Tai Chi done two days a week at lunch time.  I feel great, I wear a size 14-16 pants (used to be 26-28 and growing).  I’ve not been this little for over 20 years!