Chicky3d

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Yay!!  Today is my surgiversary!  I cant believe how fast this journey has gone.  As of today I am down 145 lbs total.. and have lost 98 or so since surgery.  I feel great and stay active all the time.  I dont find myself in the gym as much as I should but not many people do.  I bought a Trikke which I have wanted for years... but the weight limit is 250 so it was never really an option.  So there is another small success. 

I am ALMOST to wear I can shop in the skinny girl section.  I have recently found that I have shrunk from an 18w to most 18s and even some 16s... and from the beginning all I ever wanted was to be able to get out of the plus size section and get to shop anywhere I wanted.  Almost there!!  I cant wait.

I have gained and lost the same 4 lbs for the last two months or so which I hear is normal and is my body taking its time snapping back after a dramatic loss.  I envy those of you who have already reached goal. lol   

So here is to another successful year and one filled with love and adventure :)

If someone told me they had lost 140 lbs, I would be amazed and think they must feel like a whole different person.  I guess I am surprised to feel like me, like myself.  I don't walk around feeling different like I imagined I would.  I also thought I would feel odd knowing I don't really have a stomach and truthfully, I never really think of it that way.  I love that I still feel like myself, just a smaller version. 

     I am extremely relieved to be on a losing streak again.  I hadnt lost any weight in nearly three months and I was having a difficult time not getting upset.  I knew I had been losing inches and people still complimented me on how much I had been losing, but as far as the numbers go, it was getting discouraging.  I know I shouldnt put too much emphasis on the numbers on the scale, but months worth of stationary weight was getting to me. 

 I knew if I called my doctor's office, they would ask me if I was eating right, drinking water, and exercising.  Well... if I couldn't answer yes to all those questions I would be wasting their time.  I am not going to the gym like I should, but I am staying very active and walking, so I wasn't thinking that was the problem.  I still haven't had any kind of soda....its been almost 2 years.  So I knew my water intake was okay.  But my diet was where I thought I was going wrong. 

I had worked some crackers into my snacks and had been a little obsessed with fat free popcorn.  Even though I wasnt really eating anything that was a big no-no, I had brought unnecessary carbs in and I knew that could be the easiest fix.  I went back to the basics... back to the beginning diet.  I started on the 2nd of November, thinking that I would stay "on the wagon" until Thanksgiving, almost like an experiment, I felt I at least owed myself that. 

I know its still new, and its only been two and a half weeks, but I have lost almost 11 lbs.  Yay yay yay!!

I know I am able to keep with this diet, and have every intention to "be bad" at Thanksgiving and have a bite the yummy foods, but then get right back on the wagon until Christmas.  I just hope being good again will keep the lbs coming off.  If I keep losing, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I was worried there for a while, thinking my body had reached its limit. 

I can't wait to be at a "normal" size.  I am sooooo close.  I am beginning to fit losely into 18s, and I have worn a few 16s.  My initial goal before starting any of this was not a number, but rather to be able to shop at any store I wanted, to not be confined to "the fat girl" section.   To be able to pick up any XL or size 16 and have it fit was beyond my wildest dreams. 

I shopped at Victoria's Secret for the first time a week ago.  I was able to fit into a 38!!!  Amazing.  I was squeezing into a 46 before.   Also, I am getting to the point where people don't recognize me. LOVE  IT!  I see people at the grocery store and I can walk up to them and say hi before they even realize who I am.   It is a wonderful feeling.

I have became a big advocate for surgery.  I am open and honest with anyone who wants to ask me questions and have given my number and email to total strangers to help be supportive.  Out here we don't have any group meetings we can go to to discuss the topic of WLS.   I tell people if I was told I had to go through it all two more times, I would do it without blinking or being nervous.  I also tell them that if I could put this feeling on them, show them what its like to not have an extra 140 lbs hanging on their every step, to hear the encouragement, and to have something you never thought possible, that they would run, not walk, to their surgeon's office, and celebrate their surgery day. 

Im very fortunate, and I know that.   I have had a very successful and, dare I say, relatively easy journey.  I know there are lots of people who haven't had the experience I have, and for them I am truly sorry, because this is an amazing feeling.  I have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.  

                                

Today is THE DAY I had been waiting for!!  The scale said 298.  I am so glad to be under 300.  Never again will I be 300 lbs,  YAY! 
Last week I joined Curves and really enjoy it. 
I can wear a bracelet without it being an extended size.
I have lost two ring sizes and 85 lbs!!  GO ME!

Today makes a month- wow this all feels like a dream. I see so many changes in myself.  My scale certainly doesn't match the loss of inches.  People comment on the difference they see and ask how much I have lost and are shocked to hear its only 23 lbs.  I had lost 50 lbs before surgery and people didn't notice a big difference.  Its crazy to have lost half as much and get so much recognition for it.  Its awesome.  I feel amazing. 
It has been pretty simple, so far.  I know it hasn't been long, but I really am surprised at how much of an easy transition this has been.  I had worked hard to model my pre-op life to how things would be after surgery, so I think that made a big difference and made things simpler.  Love it.
This morning i didn't chew a bite of chicken up enough and ended up having to puke it up.  That is the first time I had gotten sick and it was scary, but I knew what I had done right away.  Once it was up I felt better and spent today on liquids (standard for my dr after dumping/throwing up)
In no way am I not absolutely in love with how this is going.  I can't wait to see what the next few months will bring. 

Wow! What a week it has been.  I went back to work three weeks after my surgery and it was kinda tough the first couple days.  I was sore on Tuesday but it got better.  One of the kids (I'm a teacher) ran up to me, slammed into me, and gave me a squeeze and I almost passed out.  That's the day I called the Dr to see what kind of pain meds I could be taking besides the rough stuff they gave me.  The kid felt bad, I knew he hadn't meant to, but goodness. 
Eating lunch with my coworkers has been less difficult than I thought.  I have had to turn away birthday cupcakes from past students who offer extras to their favorite teachers (always me hahah) but today was the hardest.  Our school had some consultants came and for a measurement activity the students made a snack mix with coco puffs, m&ms, marshmallows, and pretzels- I helped the kids make them, but didn't eat a bite.  THEN our lunch was catered by the local pizza place, and instead of being able to stay far from the temptation, we had a working lunch and I had to sit and eat my 4 ounces of chicken while my coworkers loved some pizza, breadsticks (my fav) and some salad.  I did pick two tomato slices (which Im allowed to have) off the salad... but I was a good girl and did what I was supposed to.  It was hard though. 

10 Days out
     I am soooooo happy to be home and able to drive again.   I have great support from my friends and have fun seeing them again and showing off all my battle scars, which are healing nicely.   Tuesday morning I had lost 18 lbs but the last two days I havent weighed, just to give myself a little something to look forward to. 
   Learning to eat again is fun.  I actually feel like I have a new toy.  I have eated cottage cheese and  sliced deli turkey and yogurt.  Hormel makes a White Chicken Chili that I love and is FULL of protein.  Im not getting all my water in but Im trying.
  The vitamins have been an issue.  I can't swallow pills like I did before and I can't stomach three scoops of the bariatric advantage crystals- that is just too much liquid to drink.  So today I switched to the chewables.  I figure I will try again with the liquids later but for the first few months when I'm losing so much, Id rather not have the struggle to get them down. 
   I feel great!  I am so excited and smile when I tell people about the WHOLE experiance.   I would tell anyone to do it~ If I can do it.... anyone can. 

I woke up today feeling very agitated.  I think its from not eating and being cooped up in the hotel room for a large part of the day.  I got myself dressed and my hair done and makeup on and felt much better.  My mom and I and some local friends went to the mall and to an aquarium.  If someone would have told me that 5 days out I would be walking for hours and shopping and feeling good, I wouldn't have believed them.  We got a wheelchair from the mall and took it around with us just in case I got too tired but I didn't need it.  No one would have guessed my belly was a checkerboard of bandages.  We shopped around the mall and even ate at the food court.   I got some organic chicken noodle soup but just the broth and it was SO good.  It has totally helped the food grudge I had been holding.  And the bonus part is that the small order of soup will last me tonight and most of tomorrow.... makes me WANT to eat instead of dread it.    
We went to Bed Bath and Beyond and shopped around too.  I have been acquiring small bowls for me to eat out of, but they also had some cute little spoons and cocktail forks.  I think if I have nice grownup dishes that are small instead of baby spoons and kiddie plates, I will take the time to enjoy meals more.  Or maybe I just like the little cocktail forks... either way it was $1.19.... so I couldn't resist. 
I hope everyone is having as great of a recovery as I am. 

It is Friday afternoon and I had my surgery Monday morning.  Wow.  It feels so great and almost unreal to have all that behind me.  I keep having thes moments of realization that it is actually over.  I know in all actuality, the fun is just beginning, but for me, being terrified of doctors, the biggest and most stressful part of this is over.   I am not having trouble or hardly any discomfort when I get up from a sitting position, and even though I have to sleep on my back which I don't typically do, laying down is actually relaxing.  Now that the gas pressure is gone, I feel a ton better.  Today my mom and I went to a health food store and to Barnes & Nobel to get me out and about.  It doesnt take much for me to get pretty worn out but we are trying to make the best of being out of town and not staying in the hotel room.  I live about 4 hours away from Scottsdale and my surgeon requires me to stay within 50 miles of the hospital for a week.  Our hotel is beautiful and I'm doing my best to make this a little vacation.

 Yay yay yay!!! I'm done!  Today has been rough but I'm so glad to have it behind me.  I haven't been in toooooo much pain but there is some. Coughing is the worst. I was tough and didn't get scared or cry. I shocked myself by that. Haha