allysonmccombs

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This is my first ever collage. I can see a difference when I look at these pictures, but sadly not when I look in the mirror. This was a little project of self reflection. I'm glad I did it.

Picture One(top left): Taken about 3 years ago before I started working on weight goals. I'm guessing I weighed about 350 in this pic.
Picture Two(top right): Taken 3 years ago but just wanted a full body shot. I started a new job that day and came home with the sorest feet. I knew then it was time to do something but wasn't quite ready to change my lifestyle.
Picture Three(bottom left): Taken 1.5 years ago after losing about 50 lbs on WW and with exercise. I was about 300 in this photo.
Picture Four(bottom right): Taken just yesterday. I am down to 247.0 as of last night. Feeling great and learning a lot about myself and my relationship with food and with God's help establishing some new habits and attitudes.

I like to break up my goals into easier smaller portions and decided at the time of surgery that I just wanted to be down to 250! Well this morning, I stepped on the scale and behond 249.4! I am very excited to see this number. I do not remember being under 250 in my whole teenage/adult life! I am feeling good and besides my apprehension about whether or not I'll be motivated to stick with this for the many years I have left to live, I am choosing to focus on the fact that at this point, I AM MOTIVATED and roll with it.

I had my 2 month checkup this week and the doctor was very exited about my weight loss. He said that not many people in his practice have lost over 40 lbs at 2 months out. I was surprised but happy to hear that my progress was good. I tried on some dresses today before going to work and had to take two off because they were too big in sort of a comical way. I am really beginning to see a little difference when I look in the mirror or see a picture of myself.

I am getting in about 40-60g f protein 80 if I'm lucky and haven't had much trouble with eating lately. I just stick to what I know mostly and don't have a problem. Cottage cheese is still my friend, chicken not so much. I ate some beef stew the other night and it sat well but tonight I tried some leftovers of the same dish and it was a no go. My friend gave me the cutest little icecream machine for my birthday. I have been making different protein icecream concoctions. I think the best so far was peanut butter chocolate. If you haven't read any of this lady's blog, you really should. She has some great recipies!

Yes, I've lost weight on vacation!  Of course I know that some of it is in part the pureed diet but I'm still happy about it! 

Yesterday I had to buy a new dress to wear to my friends wedding because all of the dresses I packed I had not tried on since before surgery and they were all too big. I bought a size smaller than I normally wear from a store that I haven't fit into for a year or two. I also had to get a new bra and bought one at TARGET! I haven't fit into a bra at Target for about 10 years!

It is very exciting to see the changes but I have to admit, I still don't see the difference in my body when I look in the mirror. I have observed that my belt has to be tighter and all my pants I am wearing way above my waist.

Well, just checking in for today. It's been a while since I've been able to sit and look at the forum. It has been a great vacation but I am ready to get back to my normal routine and my own bed.

We left for vacation last Friday and I was unsure how I would do. We were visiting my family back in Wisconsin where there is lots of delish pastry and desserts. It's not that my family sabotages me at all, in fact they are very good about supporting a person who is trying to lose weight but pastry and desserts are so good:) 

I have been pretty good at getting in my supplements and protein except for a few days. I think I had some dumping on some potato soup which seemed to go down fine but did not sit well later. I guess it was too much starch. My mom was really nice to take me to the grocery store to make sure she had things I could eat. She was also sweet enough to buy my diabetic husband his balanced snacks (1 carb exchange and 1 protein exchange) I think that makes coming home a little easier.

As far as pastry/desserts. I did try a bit of my aunt's keylime pie with no problems and another day a bite of rhubarb pie. (my fav) Neither of them caused any problems. Strange that potato soup would when pie did not. (I suppose I ate much less pie than soup though) I am feeling great and went for a 5 mile walk yesterday with one of my best and dearest childhood friends yesterday. It felt good to do that.

My mom is a nurse at a local residential care facility and yesterday when we went to visit I weighed myself on their digital scale. It said I was down to 262. I can't wait to be under 250. I will keep up the 5 mile walks!

Well, I had my appointment with Dr. Chebli this week. Initially I was afraid I had not lost enough weight and he would be disappointed in me. This is part of an old habit related to seeing doctors and having anxiety about what they would say about my weight. He said I was doing great and he was very happy with my 30 lb loss since surgery. I am feeling really good, having a little bit of a stopped up feeling sometimes (constipation) but if I exercise and get in my water that really helps.

This week, we are going back to my hometown for a visit. It will be the first time that some of my family meets our 7 month old son. I hope that this excitement keeps the pressure off me to have to answer a million questions related to my wls. I am also apprehensive that some of my family will wonder if I even had surgery at all since I don't look that much different.

As you can see, I am into instant results and this surgery is a long process. I am trying to change this kind of thinking in ALL areas of my life not just with wls. If anybody has any tips for working on that, I'm interested to hear your input.

I'm feeling great this week. My 5 little incisions are doing great, although they do itch like heck sometimes.

I went back to the gym today which felt great!  I did 30 minutes on the eliptical machine getting my heart rate up to 155. I did some weights afterwards but went very carefully. I normally do six different machines but did only 3 today with increased reps on those. I thought it went well but I am sore today. Glad to be back at it though.

The weightloss has slowed from 2 lbs a day last week to about a pound every other day. This caused me some stress at first but I have started writing everything down that goes in my mouth and this helped me to see that I need to trust the surgery and follow my instructions(which I have been doing so really these fears were irrational) and not worry about instant results.

I am almost up to 80 g of protein through shakes and really enjoy the Designer Whey vanilla. I will probably continue to use it the most since it hasn't made me gag at all. I have started with a few pureed foods, mostly i like to mash up cottage cheese into a paste, once I got crazy and added a few drops of mild salsa. It was delish! I tried pureeing a chicken sausage and that was a no go, too spicy for now. I will try it later. Chicken itself does pretty well pureed but mostly I just stick to cottage cheese.

Well, this was my two week update, everything is going smoothly and I feel good. Can't wait to see what week 3 holds.

Tomorrow I will be one week post opp. Since my pre-surgical appointment with Dr. Chebli almost 2 weeks before surgery I have lost 19 lbs. I had my first checkup today and got the staples out. The Dr said everything looked good, but I cannot use a bathtub or hot tub for four weeks yet. Seems like this would be a killer time to soak hey. O well, I will wait for a few more weeks and it will go back to being my incentive to go to the gym. Until then, I will have to just go to the gym for my own pride's sake:)

My goals for this week are to get back to up walking over a mile. (I can normally walk about 3) and get in all my protein, supplements and water. I also want to remain underwhelmed about my 19 lb loss because I know that it will be harder than this first phase where I am not getting in all the water and protein and don't have the temptation of real food.

Some things for pre-surgery people: 

1. I am thanking God for my pre-surgery weight/strength training. Abdominal surgery is tough, but being able to use my core to get up from the bed, couch, toilet and chairs has really helped me to not be so sore. If you remember to use those core muscles you will have less pain.

2. I am happy  my mom is here AND my husband AND our awesome family friends. I thought I would tough out my nights in the hospital sans husband so he could stay home w/ our 6 month old son. Alas, he had other plans and after my surgery day he asked our family friends to watch the baby overnight so he could stay. I think that was a good move. I needed a translator of sorts. I know that not everybody has someone to go with them or be with them for days on end after surgery but it has really helped me. Reach out, go to your support group meetings and start developing friendships now with people who will be there for you after surgery.

3. I was gung ho about these protein bullets before surgery and now, blech...I wouldn't invest a lot of extra money in stockpiles of protein. You know what I love the best, designer whey. I thought after my surgery it would be way too overpowering but it was just what I needed.

That is all for now. I am so excited to be on this road....