Christine Hood
Monday, January 1, 2007
HAPPY 2007! For the first time in history, my first New Year's Resolution is not to lose weight! Tomorrow will be my 7 month anniversary of RNY gastric bypass surgery. I am down to 167 pounds for a total loss of 86 pounds. My BMI is 28.7. I am 9 pounds from my surgeon's goal of 158 pounds which represents an 80% loss of excess weight. I am 33 pounds from my personal goal of 134 which represents my ideal body weight according to the Met Life scale. I have lost 9.5 inches off of my waist, and 15 inches off of my hips. My waist is only 2 inches larger than my thigh was when I started (AMAZING!) I always thought that I had to wear 8 inch or larger bracelets because I was big boned but my wrist is now 6.25 inches...guess it wasn't my bones! LOL!! I now fit comfortably in a size 10 (no stretch required). I purchased a pair of velvety pants to wear for New Years Eve in a size 10 and they had no stretch at all and fit comfortably. I've learned my weight loss pattern which helps me to not be stressed when I don't lose. I go for the first 3 weeks of a month losing nothing and then in the last week of the month, I drop weight (as much as 10 pounds). I go for 1 to 1 1/2 weeks losing about a pound a day and then stop. That works for me because ultimately by the end of the month, I have lost about 10 pounds. So those 3 weeks of the month are my plateau per se, although I do not consider it a plateau because before the month is up, I am showing a loss. The clothes that my mom bought me when I was home during Thanksgiving are now all too big and need to be taken in. So much for getting a few months out of them.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
WOO HOO!! I am no longer obese! I am now overweight. I am at 173 pounds...80 pounds gone forever!! I am 15 pounds from my surgeon's goal and 39 pounds from my personal goal!! I am so excited...I am not even at 6 months (Saturday will be my 6 month surgiversary).
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Hey All! I know, I have been amongst the missing for awhile but things at work have been insane! Hope everyone had a wonderful turkey day! I spent the week with my family in NY and it was pretty cool. I had been stuck between 179 and 183 all month...up and down and getting frustrated. So I went to NY, ate pizza and good Chinese food and dropped to 175...GO FIGURE!! No one there had seen me since August and everyone was quite surprised! My mom said "My gosh, you look so little!" And my grandma said that she almost didn't recognize me. But that's family and they are supposed to be extra nice. When I went out with my mom, several people that I have known for years walked past me and it wasn't until my mom asked them if they had seen me that they came back and were like "OMG! I didn't even recognize you!" On my way back to VA, I stopped to buy cigarettes (I know, I know gotta quit) Anyway, the lady asked for my id and she looked at the picture and asked, "Is that you?" I forgot for a minute and looked at her like she was crazy and said, "Of course!" Then I remembered that between my weight loss and the hair color change, I look nothing like my license! Gotta love that! :) My mom took me shopping to but me some work clothes as my Christmas gift. My weight loss is starting to slow a bit and I got the clothes a little on the tight side so hopefully I'll get a few months out of them. It was so awesome to shop in all those stores that I never could shop in. It was also great to have to decide between outfits because everything looked great instead of having to settle for what fits and doesn't make me look huge...
Next Saturday will be my 6 month WLS anniversary...I'm down 78 pounds, wearing size 10-12 (or 13-14 in juniors)...I am 17 pounds from my surgeon's goal and about 40 pounds from my goal. For the first time in my life, it actually feels like my goal is well within reach. For anyone new here and contemplating surgery, I'm sure I'm not alone when I say, Don't put this off...do it now...free yourself from the nightmare that is all those diets that you have done in the past...this is so worth it and it 6 months I have never regreted for a day, an hour, a minute or a second. The only thing that I regret is putting it off as long as I did!
Sorry for the long rambling! Take care!
Christine
253/175/158/134
start/current/surgeon's goal/my goal
Friday, March 16, 2007
Well I guess it has been a little while since I updated. I finally hit my surgeon's goal of 158 earlier this month and have been kinda stuck there for the month. I am definitely not complaining about that because I am very happy with the way that I look. I have 24 pounds to go to hit my personal goal and I am definitely planning to get there. People look at me like I'm crazy when I say I want to lose another 24 pounds but I guess I hide my weight well because most people are amazed when I tell them that I am 158. The other day I was talking to a couple of guy friends and they were talking about weight lifting and how they wanted to gain weight and they said are u crazy, you can't be more than 130 now! Then one of them called my boney...me??? boney???? that's funny!! It's amazing that I look different every day...even when I am not losing, the weight shifts or something. On a daily basis, I don't notice it but when I look at pictures, I'm pretty amazed. Once in awhile I'll catch my reflection in a mirror or a glass window or door or something and don't even know that person. I usually have to go back and look again! haaaa! I am generally wearing a junior's size 9 but sometimes I need an 11 depending on the cut but for the most part, I am a 9. On the top I am a small or a medium. My chest has pretty much disappeared. My bra is a 36C but I am definitely not far from a B...sometimes ya gotta take the good with the bad! I'm struggling a bit with going back to my old ways of eating too fast and have had to make myself puke because I had food stuck because it wasn't chewed well enough. I went through the "difficult part" where most people puke more often without puking at all and then at 8 months I start this crap...anyway, I know what is causing it and I just have to slow it down. My life and work have been very hectic and I think that is contributing to my eating too fast. Anyway, I'm trying to slow it down...I had my visit with my surgeon earlier this month (or was it last month, lol) anyway, he said my labs were good and my weight is on track. He said that I probably have about another 4 or so months before I will stop losing. The weight loss has been slow but like I said, the weight seems to shift and people say I look smaller even when I haven't lost. My surgeon said that I will probably not hit my goal of 134 but I could come close...now I just want to prove himi wrong! LOL Anyway, can't wait for the summer to come...it's already getting warmer and I will pick up my walking again. I'll update later.
Christine
253/157/158/134
Start/Current/Surgeon's Goal/My Goal
13 POUNDS TO A NORMAL BMI!!!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Today I went to Kohl's to find a new pair of pants for work. Normally I shop in the juniors dept but today I was unable to find anything so I went to the Misses dept. I had no clue what size I wore but the last time I bought out of the misses I was a 10 or 12. I picked up a few sizes and headed to the dressing room. The size 6 fit...buttoned, zipped and all!!! I bought the 8's only because they are for work and looked a bit more professional a little looser. But a 6!!!??? WOO HOOO!!! I don't think I have ever been in single digits!! I am so excited!
Anyway, gotta run! Just had to spit that out!
Christine
Saturday, March 24, 2007
CENTURY CLUB!! WOO HOO!! This afternoon I jumped on the scale and weighed in at 153!! 100 pounds gone forever!! I am so excited!! Only 8 more pounds until my BMI is normal and 19 pounds to my goal weight!! I am completely amazed that in less than 10 months, I have lost 100 pounds...that's over 10 pounds per month every month on average. On other weight loss programs, I may start out quick but by the time I am a month or two out, my average weight loss is only about 3-4 pounds per month if I am lucky. It feels so good to hit that mark! Friday night when I went out, onme of my guy friends told me I needed to stop losing weight because I was getting too skinny! Imagine that! Me??? Too skinny! I looked around to see who he was talking about LOL! Then last night I was talking to a guy and he said something about carrying me all the way to my car...I laughed at him and he said, "What, you don't think I can do it?" I said, "Well, I'm not THAT big." He said, "No, you're little." Those kinds of comments just make me chuckle because so many times I don't see it. My clothing sizes are: tops-small or medium, pants-9 juniors (sometimes 11 depending on the cut) or 6-8 in Misses and bras-36C's are a little big (the B's are a bit too small). My shoe size really hasn't changed. The 10s I was wearing before are a bit floppy so I basically still need a 10, just 10's that are not stretched out! Anyway, got lots to do today so I'm gonna run.
Will update again soon!
Christine
253/153/158/134
START/CURRENT/SURGEON'S GOAL (BEAT THAT!)/MY GOAL
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Yesterday evening several of us went to Outback for a meet n greet. It was great to see people again as well as meet some of the newbies. Jill and I had a great conversation and really helped to motivate each other to get back on track...watching all of the little things and not slacking on the exercise. I am going to set up the fitday tracker and start monitoring everything. I am more determined than ever to get to 134...Thanks Jill! :) Tonight I went to dinner and a movie with a friend of mine. We had a nice time but I had a couple of awesome wow moments. First, we sat down at the booth and I immediately crossed my legs under me (indian style). All of a sudden it hit me that I was sitting indian style comfortably in a booth. I remember the days when sitting at a booth was not quite so comfy. We went to Uno's and I ordered chicken lettuce wraps. I took a bite of his pizza but mostly focused on my lettuce wraps...they actually tasted better than the pizza...weird! Even more wow was thinking about the days of eating some appetizer (usually sharing with whomever I was with) and then my meal. Usually I was too full by then to do dessert but every once in awhile, dessert was added on. When I thought about it and realized that I ordered an appetizer as my meal and didn't even finish it and was just as full and satisfied as the days of eating so much more. He and I were talking about that and how amazing it is. He was looking at the dessert menu and I was telling him that I thought that was the hardest part of the whole surgery decision was to have to say, "I will NEVER eat one of those ooey gooey desserts at a restaurant". Now I am really not a dessert/sweets person but to have to say NEVER...that was very hard. I recognized that rice and pasta wouldn't be as frequent or as large quantities but to have to say, I will NEVER eat (whatever) again. I would be too afraid to even take a bite of one of those desserts because I'm sure it would send me into a sugar coma. Regardless of the never, this life is soooo worth it. Anyone contemplating the surgery, please listen, NEVER is one of the hardest words that you will have to say in terms of certain foods but the rewards are AWESOME and I would NEVER trade this for the biggest ooiest gooiest dessert that you could find! Tomorrow is my 10 month anniversary. Sometimes it feels like it was only yesterday that I was going through all of the trouble to get approved etc but then sometimes I feel like I have been eating like this forever (not in a bad way). At this point, certain choices are just natural. I don't even look for the dessert menu anymore because overall I don't even want it. Not to say that there are never moments but...My biggest problem at this point is the compulsion to buy things...I go to the supermarket and buy things that I know I should not eat. I don't eat them either. I open the packages, let them go stale, and throw them out...funny how those habits haunt us in the weirdest ways. Ten months ago at this very moment, I was sitting on my couch eating doritos and worrying. I was scared to death of having surgery...I had surgery on my eyes when I was a young kid but aside from that, dental work is the closest I have come to surgery in a long time. I got horrible hives and was itching like crazy! My nerves had definitely gotten the best of me. Ten months from tomorrow...I was a loser! I was so thrilled with my decision and was glad that I made it through without a hitch. Ten months ago, I was wearing a size 22 pants (tight) and a size 18-20 top. My bra was a way to small 38D. Today, I wear a size 9/11 in juniors or I float between a 6-8 in misses pants. Tops...small or medium. The sweater that I am wearing now is a size small and it fits me perfectly. In bras, I am wearing a 36C but probably need to at least go to 34 (possibly B). The cups are too big on the Cs but I think the Bs may be a bit small but I will need to try that soon. The other day my mom told my sister that she was worried that I was getting too skinny! Never in my life would I have thought of myself as "normal" never mind skinny. On a daily basis I have people telling me that I am going to blow away or I am so tiny whatever. It's funny because some of my guy friends that I knew before surgery say that they never realized how short I was but now that I am so small, I look overall tiny...I look around to see who they are talking about LOL! Sometimes when I am at work, standing by the elevator to go up, I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the glass doors and go to open the door for that person when I realize that it is my own reflection. That is really the only time that I see myself as I am. It's not that I see myself at 253/size 22. I think it is catching up because I still see myself at about a 14 or 16. When I look down at my thighs, I see BIG! I keep lots of pictures of myself around hoping that it will help it sink in. I saw a guy that I used to date (after surgery but before I had lost much). He left me for someone else...when I saw him, he told me he made a big mistake...I told him, "You sure did!" and walked off. When I looked back, he was still staring! It felt great! I am now down to, well, I hit 153 and now I float between 153 and 157. My goal is still to get to 134 but I am sure it will come soon enough...especially with my renewed motivation. Even if it never comes, I have lost 80% of my excess body weight and am only about 10 pounds or less from a normal BMI. It's funny thinking about all of the thin girlfriends that would go on a diet or watch what they were eating because of 10 or 20 pounds. It never made sense to me but now it makes more sense than anything in the world. Despite the fact that many people say that you should not become scale obsessed and weigh yourself all of the time, I weigh myself every day several times a day. It's weird though because, like right now, I'm not gonna say that I was happy when I hit the century mark and then bounced back up but I wasn't freaking out about it. I know that I float between 153 and 157. I am happy with myself. Part of it now is still trying to make myself believe that I am in the 150's. I still have a compulsion to say 253 or 257...the 1 in front just doesnt make sense to me...I record my weight once a month for my official stats although I am now going to set up the fitday tracker and start recording it daily. I don't beat myself up if I am 156 instead of 153. I want to keep a close eye on it because as Jill said, it's easier to lose 1 or 2 pounds than 10. I also want to be aware. I lived 34 years of my life avoiding the scale and putting my head in the sand...that's how you get to 253 in the blink of an eye. Anyway, I have rambled long enough...
If you are new on this journey, make no mistake, regardless of what you may hear from non WLS patients about this being the easy way out...it sure is not! You can stop any diet for a minute an hour a day to enjoy a couple of cocktails or a big hunk of cake or a sub sandwich...you can never put this on hold. But it is so worth it. After 10 months, even during my worst dumping episode, it never even caused me for a minute to regret my decision. The only thing that I regret was waiting so long...I can't imagine how things may have been different for me in my life...
Christine
Sunday, June 3, 2007
I completely forgot to post yesterday...guess my new life is keeping me way too busy! It's hard to believe that it has been a year already! A year ago yesterday I was a nervous wreck. I had never had surgery before and was scared to death! I also remember 3 days later being released from the hospital thinking that aside from the gas pain, this really wasn't so bad. It really has been an awesome year! I have met so many new people and have had so many different opportunities in life opened up for me that I know would never have opened as my old self. I look at photos and I barely recognize the new me but I don't really remember the old me either. Kinda hard to explain...I guess I see myself somewhere in the middle and it is hard to imagine that I ever looked the way I did. I look at those pictures all the time though to keep me motivated and to remind myself to do the right thing.Is this the easy way? No way! But success is always easier than failure and for the first time in my life, I see success in my weight loss efforts. People tell me all the time that they could never do it...eating so little and not being able to eat certain things but they really don't understand...being fat is not easy. Feeling self consious and unworthy is not easy. Having people not look past the outer coating of fat to see the real person and their value is not easy. Knowing that people are looking at you in a negative way is not easy. Compared to my life a year ago, this is cake! It's funny because so many people that I meet look at me as if I have been thin forever and that my life must be easy in certain ways because of the way I look. This year has taught me even more than I ever knew about judging people at first glance. Sometimes when people who don't know me say things about the way I look, I think to myself, if you only knew.
Anyway, I'm rambling on but you get the idea! For those of you contemplating surgery...make no mistake, your life WILL change. I always remember going to weight watchers and hearing people say that nothing tastes as good as thin feels but I never really got to thin so that statement never did a whole lot for me but now, at 147 pounds I can definitely tell you that NOTHING tastes as good as thin feels. Yesterday I was in the mall and I walked past a kiosk selling all kinds of candies and good smelling stuff and for about a second I thought, "Wow, I miss being able to have that." By the time I took about 5 more steps into a store and picked up a pair of medium pants, I had forgotten all about the smells that had almost captured me. In the past year I have never regretted my decision to have WLS. My only regret is that I didnt do it years earlier. For those of you in a battle with the insurance company, feeling like you are fighting the never ending battle, stay focused and don't give up...I did that and I won. There were moments when I was ready to give up and now those days are just a distant memory.
Here are my 1 year stats...
Weight: 253 to 147 (down 106!)
Clothing: 22-24 to 6-8 (I have even bought some items in the childrens dept!)
Bra: 42D(and I know these bras were too small!) to 36B
Waist: 40.5 to 30 (my waist is now the same size that my thigh was!)
Bust: 48 to 37
Chest: 40 to 32
Hips: 55 to 37
Thigh: 30 to 19
Upper Arm: 16 to 11
Thanks to all the friends and inspirations that I have met thru OH...I truly appreciate the help thru the first leg of my journey! I hope I can do the same for someone else...
Special thanks to...
Nat, for being the first profile to inspire me!
Lei & Wendy (kinda like twins...gotta say it together) for continued help, inspiration, and friendship
Kat, I always looked forward to your inspirational posts when I was preop and newly post op
Dana aka Nicole Richie for keeping the donuts on my mind and not in my mouth!
Jill, my inspiration...one day I'm gonna hit that 5k with ya! (By then you'll probably be on 20k but...)
Cheryl, my best girl and one of the best things about having surgery...without it I wouldn't have met ya!
Anyway, sorry for being so long winded but...
Have an AWESOME day!
Christine
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Yesterday I went to DMV to do my registration and I figured that while I was there I would have the photo on my license redone. Between the blonde hair and the extra hundred pounds, I had been getting some funny looks any time I would show my ID. After waiting 3 hours (ugh!) the clerk handed me my new license and it was so awesome! I never realized how official it would make me feel. It's like the old 253 pound Christine was gone, zapped off the face of the earth as if I never existed in that form. It's really the weirdest feeling...hard to explain. Anyway, I am definitely looking forward to not having to explain why I no longer resemble my id and I can now choose who I tell about my weight loss. So for those of you who have lost all or most of your weight...DO IT! It was definitely worth the 3 hour wait at DMV!
Back when I was in high school I was 5'5". Then between my weight, my posture and my arthritis, I guess I shrunk (I think my vertabrae were a bit compressed). I was 5'4". Anyway, I measured my height yesterday and I am back to 5'5"! That makes my BMI 24.5 which is normal! WOO HOO!! It also changes my goal weight for 100% weight loss to 138 which means that I am only 9 pounds from goal! I am so excited! I am FINALLY normal weight!!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Time sure flies when you're having fun! This has probably been the best summer ever! I haven't updated in awhile because I have been running around enjoying life! Let's see, I started the summer off getting my belly pierced. People ask my why I did it and my response is simple, "Because I can!" That is an awesome feeling! No, my abdomen is not perfect (far from it) but it is not horrible! I wore my first bikini this summer...another awesome feeling! I figure if I'm a size 7 and can't wear a bikini, then no one else should be wearing one either! Also, if I wore shorts at 250+, why shouldn't I wear a bikini at under 150? I am still walking...about 5 miles several days a week. Jill has convinced me to run a 5K with her in October. I hope I can be ready for that. My boyfriend says he can have me ready by then...hope so! Oh, my boyfriend, the guy that I have waited for all of my life! I met Chris online at militarysingles.com and we have so much in common! It's weird how we know each other so well...feels like forever! We are crazy about each other and have an awesome relationship. He has survived many hang outs with the girls and he is still coming back so that is definitely a good sign. My weight fluctuates between 144 and 149. I would like to get down about 10 more pounds and know that it will probably take 6 months to get there. I am happy with my current weight but would like to have a little cushion. I am still wearing a size 7 and have become quite the clothes horse! Anyway, life is good...no more time to sit here and update, I have lots of enjoying to do! I turn 37 on Sunday and this is truly going to be the best birthday ever! :)
Sunday, October 7, 2007
As you may or may not know, my new husband left for Iraq on Saturday morning. I have been kinda MIA for awhile because we knew this deployment was coming so being online was certainly not a priority. It's been a hard couple of days for me as I have still not heard from him to even know that he landed safely...he told me to remember that no news is good news so I am trying to think positively. It's amazing how in very difficult times, we realize how much comfort we got from food and without that source of comfort, it is really hard to cope. Yesterday, as I wandered around aimlessly, I realized that a half gallon of ice cream and a big ole bag of chips would "help" tremendously. Knowing that I would make myself sick to death, I instead went to Kohl's and bought a pair of flannel pj's and slippers then headed to the commissary and picked up some yogurt, cereal with as much protein as i could find and some fruits and veggies. I have been having a hard time eating because although I may want to eat, whenever I get upset and eat, I feel sick. I promised Chris that I would take care of myself and keep up with all of my protein, vitamins, etc. I'm sure that as time passes, this will get easier but right now I just want to be sure that I stay well.
So, if you have a spare moment, say a little prayer for us...Chris's safe return and my being able to maintain my health.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
WOW! It's hard to believe that it has been 2 months since I posted and 2 months since Chris left. Tonight was the Ft Eustis Army Holiday Ball. With my husband deployed, of course it was a bittersweet time. I missed him terribly but had many wow moments preparing. This was the first time that I had really dressed up since before my WLS. My last formal wear shopping had been a nightmare but what a 180! We decided to go just a day or two over a week prior to the event. Prior to my WLS, I would have never agreed to go because I would have known that it would have been virtually impossible to find SOMETHING formal in that short a time. This time, my only hesitation was attending my first Ball without my hubby. I started my dress shopping mission in Dillards as my hubby gave me a $200 dress credit limit :) with one stipulation...I had to get something sexy! NOT A PROBLEM! As I walked into Dillards, right there on the manequin was MY dress! I looked at the tag...$160, size 6. Under credit limit and my size...it's fate! Then I realized that formal wear runs small so I headed to the area with the rest of the dresses...one left...size 16...UGH! I had the sales girl take the manequin apart because I had to try that dress. I took that and several other dresses into the dressing room. Because of the extensive beading the dress had close to no stretch. Actually, none of the dresses in Dillards had stretch. Unfortunately the 6 was a hair too small...had I had a little more notice, I would have definitely found the undergarment that would suck in that tiny bit so that I could wear that dress but oh well...I tried the others on...most of the 6s were the same, literally a hair too small. I tried some 8s and they were way too big. We headed to a few more stores and I tried on a few more dresses. Although I went through many dresses that I didn't like much, it wasnt the chore that this type of shopping had been in the past. It was fun! I felt like a little girl playing dress up! I finally found my dress in Deb, a juniors store for $65! WOW! Hubby loves my bargain shopping abilities!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
WOW! Time sure flies when you're having fun! It's hard to imagine that I am more than 2 years out from my surgery! I can't imagine what my life would have been. I am still struggling on many days with the whole body image thing and can't wait for that to get better! Sometimes I look at pictures of myself and wonder who that is in the picture and sometimes when I am riding in the car, I look down and see the thighs of the 253 pound person that I once was. Of course logically I know that I only wear a size 7 but my eyes regularly deceive me. Food wise, it's amazing how my tastes have changed so much. My brain still often thinks that it wants junk food but as soon as I eat something healthy in it's place, my mind and my tummy are very happy. Luckily I still dump so that keeps my brain straight sometimes. Sometimes I feel like I eat too much but when I look back at what I used to eat, there is DEFINITELY a huge difference. It's weird though how some days I can eat more and some days less. I guess it's kinda my body regulating itself. Weight wise, I hit that 144 mark and hover between there and 150. It's really weird because it seems that no matter what I do, I can't get lower. I am very thrilled with where I am so it's really not a big deal but it is a constant reminder that if I gain weight back, I will be back to the old struggle to get it off. My life is great! The only thing that could make it better would be if my husband were home from Iraq. I miss him like crazy and worry about his safe return every day. It is so scary to have found that person that I have waited for my entire life only to have him be so far away and in constant danger. I have faith so that is helping me make it through. Anyway, I guess that's about the extent of my story...Oh and would I do this again??? A BILLION TIMES, YES!!! If you are new here and looking for support or info, feel free to message me and I will do my best to help!
