Shrinky Inky

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On April 10, 2008, I reached 199 and wondered when I'd get to 190 - well I'll be damned if it wasn't this morning.  June 30, 2008. 

So it took me 80 days to get there.  Not bad at all Inky, not bad at all :)

Hello fellow OH'ers:

I am here to tell you that sticking to your program really really REALLY does work.

I had been a proud member of Club 200 since May of 2007, and believe you me, 200-something felt better than 300-something. 

I finally hit 202/201 around early March of this year.  Woohoo, I thought I'd be in onderland by the end of March.  Well, my body had a different plan and I boogied back and forth from 200-203 for weeks, finally reaching 199 for a brief and fleeting moment on 4/10/08.  Brief indeed, I fluctuated from 199 to 201 for another bunch of weeks...but all the while sticking to the program.  I tried walking more, eating more, eating less, upping protein, lowering protein (not less than 60 mind you), more water, less coffee. But all the while working my pouch and sticking to the guidelines from my surgeon (average 1200 calories per day).  On Monday my surgeon put me down to 1100 for a while.  I woke up Tuesday (I hadn't yet made the change to 1100) and poof, 2 lbs gone.  What did my surgeon scare them out of me? 

Then another half pound on Wednesday and a half pound today.  Suddenly i am down 3 pounds this week after no loss since early April. 

So, my long-winded point is stick to your program, obey your pouch rules and it will come off again.  I know this ain't my last stall by a long shot, I have 46 more pounds to travel through and it's gonna get harder every step, but now I have to remember to just stick to it.

I hope I can motivate and inspire all of you wonderful OH friends that have helped me along!

(oh yeah, and it's my 48th birthday, dropping 3 pounds this week was as nice a gift as my body could give me!!)

I had my official one year appointment yesterday out in Fresno (3 hours away). I got there and they office had screwed me over for the 3rd time regarding an appointment. This time switching the appt to my surgeon's office other surgeon, who is actually very nice and helpful, but I wanted to see my surgeon. I asked for a copy of my file and will likely never go back, we'll see how I feel in a year. Sheesh.

Anyway, at the office I was 200.5 with a 2 pound deduction for clothing so officially 198.5, with a loss of 123.5 as to one year. We reviewed my labs again and he was very pleased with everything, especially my much lower cholesterol. They did a bone density scan and my spinal bone density has actually improved a bit and the rest of me is within normal range.

They also did a 10 minute test where my nose was pinched off and i had to breath into a tube. This was to test my base metabolic rate and officially I burn about 1609 calories per day at rest, which is pretty close to what I calculated using some online sites.

We discussed my stall. I was at 199 now since April 10th, fluctuating up to 201 sometimes, but I lost a pants size in that time. He said that as long as I am losing inches and not weight for a time that is fine. It's when I am not losing inches AND weight that I need to be reevaluated (assuming I am not at goal). He also suggested, based on my BMR, that I go down to 1000-1100 calories instead of the 1200 recommended at my six month appt, keeping protein at 60-80 grams.

The best news though - we reevaluated my goal weight up from 140 to 150. I told him flat out 140 just seemed so absurd and I was pretty happy with how I look in the 190 range, so 150 it is (for now anyway).

AND....this morning I was 197. I guess that 100+ temp in Fresno was helpful

oh oh, and if you're still reading, lol, while in Fresno prior to surgery last year I walked by Anthropologie at the mall and said, "Next time I am here I will shop in there." Well, yesterday I bought a lovely little vintage inspired shrunken cardigan with cherries on it at Anthropologie. Mind you it was an XL but all their over-priced stuff is very much on the small side. I was so happy and so was the salesgirl, who I shared my story with. She said I gave her goosebumps

All in all, a great one year appointment day.

So, a year ago, April 26, 2007, I was wheeled into surgery and my life and insides changed forever. Sometimes it feels like a century ago and sometimes it feels like yesterday.



I was 322 at my highest for my surgical consult on February 27, 2007. The day of surgery I was 309 pounds. This morning I am holding at 199. Even though I knew this surgery would work, I never imagined myself this successful at only a year out. Research indicates the "honeymoon" period of weight loss is over and now it's time to get down and dirty and work my little pouch to get the rest of the weight off.

My one year surgical follow-up is May 19th, and I'll be having my labs done next week. I feel great, and after a month of tracking my blood pressure daily, I am happy to say my average BP is 119/68, with a resting heart rate of 76. I'd venture a guess my cholesterol is in a healthy range, but I'll know better after next week and let you all know too.

I'm wearing a 12/14, M/L tops and normal size 10 shoes. You know, you can get a lot more stuff in your closet when your size is smaller, hahahaha!!

Now to answer the real question - was it worth it? Hell yes. You'll notice I post about my BP before I post about what size I wear. Now, we're all vain to a point, and wearing a smaller size and feeling better about that is a fantastic side effect of weight loss, but knowing my heart is working much less harder at keeping me alive, and probably easily adding 10+ years to the rest of my life, well, that's really what made this all worth it.

Would I do it again? In a New York minute I definitely would. The surgery and the first three months sucked, for physical, mental and emotional reasons. It was so hard and I had buyer's remorse more than a few times, but when it all clicked into place, then it was fine. So paying the price of surgery and 3 months of bad for a longer life of health, yes, I'd do it again.

Would I recommend this surgery to others? As a last resort, yes. As an "easy fix," hell no. Easy this was not and weight loss surgery isn't for everyone that's for certain. You have to change EVERYTHING in your life, sometimes even your relationships. I have been fortunate that I haven't lost any friends because of my surgery, and I have made wonderful new friends because of my surgery. To be honest, had I not seen my sister-in-law personally go through this and be a success, then I probably would never have done it. She did so well and is still doing great at 3 years out. She was an inspiration and seeing how she ate and the changes she made, I knew I could do it. But all the research in the world does not always prepare you. So if you are reading this and feel surgery is the answer, the best advice I can give you is read, research, ask, investigate and understand it is a lifelong commitment, and it's not easy. And it won't fix everything in your life, you'll just be a healthier human and live a healthier life, all your problems don't go away from getting thinner, sometimes you even get a whole new batch of problems. But you can cross those roads too :)

well technically they are 11 months out since I did not start measuring until 5-12-2007, but here ya go.

Interestingly enough, the time frame since my last measuring (1-29-2008) and now was my least amount of loss (9 pounds total down) but yet I still lost 7.875 in inches.  So, even during a slow period, stuff moves around and goes away!  Don't lose faith!

	05/12/07	04/13/08	Difference
Neck	16.000	14.500	1.500	Neck
Shoulder	50.250	40.000	10.250	Shoulder
Upper Arm	19.750	14.000	5.750	Upper Arm
Lower Arm	14.000	11.000	3.000	Lower Arm
Wrist	7.500	6.500	1.000	Wrist
Midriff	46.000	37.750	8.250	Midriff
Bust	52.500	44.500	8.000	Bust
Waist	46.000	38.500	7.500	Waist
Hip	59.000	46.750	12.250	Hip
Upper Thigh	30.000	22.500	7.500	Upper Thigh
Knee	20.500	16.250	4.250	Knee
Calf	21.500	18.000	3.500	Calf
Ankle	12.000	10.250	1.750	Ankle
Foot	10.750	9.625	1.125	Foot
			75.625	TOTAL INCHES LOST
322	289.75	199.000	123.000	TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS

This very morning I weighed in at 199. THREE times on the Russian Roulette Scale of Doom (soon to be replaced by the Health-o-Meter 400KL Balance Beam Scale I am ordering TODAY dagnabit!).

Evidentiary proof here:



199....magical rainbows will now shoot out of my arse

And yes, it does feel damn good. now, how long before I get to 190...hahahahaha!!

I may not be losing any weight this past month, but I look damn good for almost 48!  Mom will be 69 on May 7, I hope I look that good when I am 69 too!

	05/12/07	01/29/08	Difference
Neck	16.000	14.500	1.500	Neck
Shoulder	50.250	40.000	10.250	Shoulder
Upper Arm	19.750	14.000	5.750	Upper Arm
Lower Arm	14.000	11.250	2.750	Lower Arm
Wrist	7.500	6.500	1.000	Wrist
Midriff	46.000	40.000	6.000	Midriff
Bust	52.500	45.500	7.000	Bust
Waist	46.000	39.000	7.000	Waist
Hip	59.000	48.000	11.000	Hip
Upper Thigh	30.000	23.250	6.750	Upper Thigh
Knee	20.500	16.500	4.000	Knee
Calf	21.500	19.000	2.500	Calf
Ankle	12.000	10.750	1.250	Ankle
Foot	10.750	9.750	1.000	Foot
			67.750	TOTAL INCHES LOST
322	289.75	208.000	114.000	TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS

Thanks to my A-Team friend, Crystal!!

5 Lb. Fat vs. 5 Lb. Muscle

As you can see, the 5 lbs. of fat is much bulkier than the 5 lbs. of muscle, but five pounds is still five pounds. Muscle does not weigh more than fat. Fat is bulky and lumpy so if you carry an extra five pounds of fat, you'll be lumpier than with five pounds more muscle. A five pound pile of fat will take up more space (volume) than a five pound pile of muscle; but five pounds is still five pounds, so for those of you that don't "get" English, you cannot say one thing weighing a certain weight weighs more than another thing at that same weight. It's a common joke to play on an 8-year old. The correct way to state the muscle weighs more than fat scenario is, "Muscle is heavier by volume than fat." A woman weighing 150 pounds with 19% fat will look much smaller (and be much healthier) than a woman at 150 pounds with 35% fat. They weigh the same, yet the composition is different. Because muscle is more dense than fat the person with less fat and more muscle will look smaller. Stop being so obsessed with body weight and start paying attention to body composition. How much body fat do you have compared to muscle? Simply seeing how much you weigh isn't very helpful. (thanks to Britt for posting this in the RNY Forum Today!)