beatnikdede

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 On August 14, 2008 I had a tummy tuck and breast lift. I honestly never thought I would do it but I did. After realizing that this extra skin was not going to go anywhere, esp., on my lower tummy area I decided I needed or wanted to do something about it. 

Well I was in surgery for 8 hrs, 2 hrs longer than anticipated. My surgeon who is highly recommended from several people at work took longer because he wanted to make me happier and give me more of a waist line. So he cut me further on the sides, past my hips. 

I have to say the plastic surgery was a much harder surgery (recovery wise) for me than the VSG was. Mostly due to the awful drains that were attached to my body (in my pubic area!) for 12 days! ugggh!! But I survived and I know in a few mos I will be very happy. Right now I'm still healing. I will try and post some before and after pics at some point.

Here's a little sample of a self portrait I took last week after one of my doctor's visits. I'm still very swollen but I definitely no longer have that dreaded "apron" lower stomach going on! :)

So... it's now August, and I weigh 188 pounds! Wearing a size 12 pants, but I'm going to see if I can squeeze my ass into a 10 since those are getting loose. Actually it's not my ass that's the problem since it's actually pretty small...it's this dang stomach that I have. But slowly it's getting smaller and smaller. So here's some recent pics taken on my Maui Vacation! I can't believe I had the guts and physical ability to parasail and surf!!!

Me in Lahaina, Maui - Aug 6, 2007

Me and my daughter parasailing in Maui. Aug 2007

Me SURFING in Maui!!!! Woo-Hoo!! I would have and could have never done any of this stuff when I weighed over 200 pounds!

I haven't posted in a while but here's a recent pic of me with my nephew Kaden. :) I'll be taking some after pics soon. This is his "mean" pose. LOL

I wanted to post this earlier but I got lazy. I'm currently weighing around 200 pounds. I can't get to ONDERLAND...frustrating!!!!! I've been lingering for so long. I'm trying to not get too discouraged. Luckily I know I'm losing inches and toning my body. I am now able to get into a size 12 pants...so that makes me feel good. :)

Here's my April "after" picture....next to my "before" pic!

I'm at 208 pounds. Getting closer to the magic ONEDERLAND!! Still feeling great. Wish I was losing faster, but I'm still happy with my progress. Wearing a size 14 work pants right now. That's pretty cool! Getting a lot easier to do exercise. I've started pumpin my routine up a bit. I can't wait for spring to arrive so I can do some bike riding!

As of yesterday I'm now 219 pounds, and have lost a total of 47 pounds since I started this journey. 39 pounds since surgery. I was able to get into a size 16 jeans the other day. That's a big milestone for me. The last time I remember wearing a size 16 I was a senior in highschool...way back in 1980!!! So I'm pretty excited about this. I feel wonderful. I'm working out hard. I love the fact that I can no longer overeat and I don't feel deprived. This surgery was the best thing I've ever done!!!!!! I'm more than 1/3 way to my goal. :)

Well I decided to take some more pics and now I have side by side comparisons. I now weigh 225, which is 41 pounds from my consultation I had in mid October. I've lost 5.5 inches in my stomach. I've been going to the gym every other day for weight training, and the other days I've been doing my 3 mile hill walk. So far so good!!

Well I'm still doing well and feeling great. My weight loss is going a little slower than I thought, but I know eventually I will get it off! I'm finding it very difficult to get in all my liquids. I am doing quite a bit of exercise, at the gym every other day, and the other days I do my 3 mile hill walk. So I'm happy about that.

Current weight: 229

Well it's been 5 weeks since surgery. Things are going well. I'm consistantly losing weight, however not as fast as I thought I would be. I guess my body is just different than most people who have had VSG. I started back at the gym, and my trainer set me up on a program to "sculpt" my body. It will be interesting to see how I'll look a year from now.

I measured myself last week, and I'm down about 3 inches in my stomach, and breasts. I'm 2 inches down in my neck!! Wow, that seems like a lot for my neck. I've always carried my weight mostly in my stomach and upperbody area.

As far as food goes, I'm getting used to this small stomach. I get full very fast, and find if I don't eat very slow and small bites I regret it later. So far I have not had any problem eating any foods I've tried. I usually focus on eating my protein first which is what I'm suppose to do. Most of my protein has consisted of chicken. I have tried hamburger, and a little bit of steak...so far so good. I love having this new stomach because there is no way I can overeat now!!!! That's the best. I can go to a restaurant with famly or friends and enjoy a meal, and be completely satisfied after sampling a small portion of my favorite meals. It's the best!!!! :)

Current weight: 236 pounds

I'm down 22 pounds since surgery and 30 pounds since my pre-op consultation in October!

Well today is Thanksgiving, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of eating on this holiday. Today I can officially start eating solids, however I did cheat a little bit early and started eating some solids a couple of days ago. I had a not so good experience when I tried eating some minced/canned chicken while at work. We get a very short eating time at work so it's hard to eat "slow." I think that's what happened to me. I started having a sharp pain in my chest and back, and then I felt i was going to throw up. I went into the bathroom, never threw up, but just had to wait it out. After about 10 mins I was fine. Not a great experience though, but a learning one! Last night my girls and I went to California Pizza Kitchen. I ordered Chicken Marsala. I was VERY careful. I ate about 1/8th of a chicken breast, about 8 strands of pasta, and about 6 slices of mushrooms. It took me at least 30 mins to eat it. The downside about eating so slow is your food gets cold. I started feeling like I was "full" (even though I'm not quite sure what that is yet) and I stopped eating. Oh and I had a small bite of my daughter's pepperoni pizza. :) Anyway it felt good being in control and not overeating. I was satisfied. This surgery so far as exceeded my expectations! :)

So today is Thanksgiving and we will be having the usual big Thanksgiving feast. My plan is to have a small slice of turkey, and a tablespoon or less of all the yummy sides.... mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing etc... I'm also going to try sipping and enjoying a glass of wine.

On the exercise front...I'm still doing my 3 mile hill walks on a regular basis. I have gone at least 5 times each week. I can't wait til I can start going to the gym again next week!

So 3 weeks out and my weight is:

241 lbs (17 pounds down since surgery...and 25 pounds down since my consultation in October.)