deborah72

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Oct 23, 2012

I have been talking to a few of you that have already began the journey or is about to begin and i figured let me share with you where I am now. 

I am currently 5'4.5" and weight currently at 165

I wear anything from an 8 to a 10 in misses and women's and 13 in some juniors....I was a 24-26 in pants

I'm a solid M in tops I was a 1X to 2X in tops.

The darker section above my belly button is one of my lap scars...I cannot tell you where the others are as they are gone and one is in my belly button.
 

Aug 01, 2012

This is me and my 19 year old daughter...I am 2.5 years post op.....

We returned recently from a VERY much need vacation at the beach...which I could live at if given the opportunity....

One thing that I noticed being at the beach ...since I am a people watcher and social butterfly. 

I noticed that I seemed to check people out more than I used too...I think I have become more hyper sensitive to shapes and all being a WLS post op.  One thing I noticed too...that obesity is the norm now a days...

There were all shapes and sizes and now that I am smaller than I was,  I find that it is at times harder to find "normal" sizes.  I find more things in my older size than anything...BUT being on the beach there were so many over weight people there...

I will also add that there are a lot of MO that are very comfortable in their skin and wore the smallest swimsuits...I could never have done that before WLS ...hell I was terrified what I looked like...which is why I posted Perception....

I know how I see me is so very different that how others see me...which with regular clothes you can camouflage or hid flaws...in a swimsuit you hide nothing.

Which brings me to this question...what the hell do guys look for as a turn on...I don't want to ask any one who has had WLS or knows that I have had WLS ...I think that muddies up the answer. If I find the right person to ask I will let you guys know what was said....People that have had WLS have a very unique perspective about looks...ya know what I mean. 

Jun 21, 2012

Maybe is is vain-like of me but thought others might like to know how I haven't lost any of my hair.

When I knew I was going to have WLS I went and cut my hair up to my ears.  I had enough to that I was able to donate to local charity for kids wigs.  What I believe that helped my keep from losing my hair more than the normal amount was that I took all my vitamins religiously and made sure that I got in as much protein as possible.  I do consider myself lucky that I haven't lost the substantial amount that I hear some have.  Also, I have naturally curly hair ...the curls helps when you are wanting it to look full if you happen to lose a good bit.  

Here are some pictures that show how my hair has changed to a degree.  Granted with curly hair it is long or short either way always looks the same to me and has a mind of it's own...I call it now my Medusa hair....LOL.....I think I look better at this time with it being longer.  


This was taken on Halloween 2009
 
    Taken March 2010 one month post op                Taken Dec 2010


Taken Sept 2011


Taken last week

Jun 03, 2012

What a weekend....

So as you know Friday was my 40th...went to local music fest and saw a number of local bands.  One that I stayed around was like Earth, Wind and Fire back in the day...horns and all...soo good...(LOL..Sophia Grace quote)  Then on Saturday went to a local flea market and bought all kinds of fruits and veggies and ...my new baby...He is a 6 week old blue heeler...I named him Jasper...He is the sweetest thing...



Then Saturday night went to another music fest...saw Everclear and Lonestar...from most that I remember LOL...my daughter was with me and we had the best time. One good thing though helped in my Tequila and beer drinking I drank a lot of water and it seemed to help as I never had a hangover....and felt good.

However, Jasper is definately like having a newborn baby...I was up every few hours with him letting him outside to potty and feeding then he just wanted to play...

So yesterday...I did much ot nothing but play with puppy and buy him all kinds of goodies and watched movies...such a GREAT weekend!!!  Today...I'm tired...but WOW what a weekend!!!

Thanks to everyone for my Birthday Wishes!!!

May 21, 2012

Feb 14, 2012

WOW...I am two years out from having RNY WLS...where the hell has the time gone?!

I am busy all the time...I work out about 4 times a week...either running or working out with Tony on P90X......Sprinkled with BL Yoga with Bob....

I am still doing all the same things I did right after surgery...drinking my protein shakes and making sure that I am drinking plenty of water and for a treat Peach-Mango from either Crystal Light or the Great Value Brand...hmmmmm!!! 

At my highest weight I was 280 now I stay around 154-156  if TOM is visiting then that may go up about 4 pounds...yea!!!! Gotta love that water gain!  I am not at goal...really I don't care...I am at a great weight for me... I try not focus on the scale but the fit of clothes.  I am currently wearing a solid 8 and smaller cut 10's...My tops are mainly mediums and my measurements are 39 (around the nipple) 34 around the band - 26 and 39.   So I am very much the hourglass.  I LOVE shopping for heels which I could not wear more than 15 min before with out legs cramping and feet hurting and love me some dresses and cute tops...who would have thought!!!!!

Now I am in a weird place that I never thought would happen....I look at food as survival and not for comfort...Actually I found that even the small portion that I still do eat that I tend to not care if I eat or not.  Which also places me into the hypoglycemic category....Yep not very long ago my sugar hit rock bottom and I passed out in the floor.  Thankfully I had someone there that caught me and sat me down against the cabinets in the floor.  Had they not been there I would have gashed my head open.  So after I came to I asked for a glass of milk...which BTW helps stabilize your sugar level if you do not have peanut butter or something with electrolytes in it.  It freaked them out as they have never had anyone pass out on him before.  So to help prevent this from happening again I have increased my food intake and I am eating 6 small meals a day now...That seems to have helped A LOT!!! 

All in all though...I LOVE my RNY!!!!    I feel great...minus the passing out LOL!!!   I feel ALIVE and I want to do it ALL.....My new motto  "Bring it on"    I feel like there is nothing that I can't do....I feel like I have missed out on so much of life being so damn fat that I could not have fun or enjoy things.  That era is over and will never be repeated...I will not go back to where I was....I will kick, scream and pitch a fit to keep from going back...which is why I am OCD about weighing myself daily to keep in check.  Losing my weight was easy...the BITCH is maintenance. 







 

Jan 17, 2012

I am a mere 3 weeks away from my two year surgiversary...really I should call it my rebirth.  It was the day that I gave my body a second chance to survive. I went from 280 to my current 152-155.

This year is also going to be interesting as I will be turning 40 in June....DAMN 40...I remember being my daughters age 18.5 and thinking that 30's and 40's were OLD.......Let me tell you this...

I AM NOT MEMAW NOR DO I WANT TO ACT OR DRESS LIKE ONE....LOL!!!

Which brings me to this question....Am I going through a midlife crisis?!   OR  is it that I am now small enough that I can wear clothes more hip and fashionable BUT am I wearing items too young for me?  What the hell does act your age really mean? Do you go crazy after losing massive amounts of weight?

Look I have a job...which I love going to....I know what my responsibilities are and take care of them first.  Meaning shelter, food and transportation are always taken care of first...thanks Dave Ramsey (I'm trying to find Financial Peace at the moment).  I make sure that my college daughter has everything that she needs to better herself later...hence the college education. 

I want to go out and see it all.....I'm not saying that my daughter is grown and no longer needs me...we all know that 18 to the early 20's is not really grown HOWEVER we as parents must let our kids make their mistakes and learn from them as we all did.

I like going to clubs...do I want to go every night ...NO....the last time I was at a club was March a year ago.   I want to learn how to Salsa, I love going hiking, I LOVE MUSIC...all but classical...just can't get into that......LOL!!!!  I love sporting events...I have been to a few AL football games, AL Basketball games and already have plans to attend a few AL Hockey games...YES.... we have hockey in the south......I am looking at buying me a car in about a year...It will be a 2 door sports car...no need to have a 4 door.  I have a few in mind that I want.

So here I am back to my question......

Am I going through a midlife crisis?!   OR  is it that I am now small enough that I can wear clothes more hip and fashionable BUT am I wearing items too young for me?  What the hell does act your age really mean? Do you go crazy after losing massive amounts of weight?

Here are a few pictures of me...what I wear to work and "Out and about like a scout on a route"....





This is me and my baby girl on the way to the ATL last summer......

Dec 19, 2011

Technically.... it is closer to 23 months  ANYWHO......

It amazes me looking back at how quickly time has flown.  In some aspects it seems like yesterday that I was getting all my things lined up to have WLS and making sure I have everything covered.  Then in other regards it seems like forever ago that I made my lifestyle change for a better way of living and being healthy.

I am happier in relation to my looks, confidence and outlook on life.  I am healthier than I have been in years and that is including going back 20+ years when I was in high school and back then teenagers didn't sit on there ass watching TV or playing video games.  As kids we were made to go to the yard and you better not come back in unless you were bleeding or hurt badly.  Even then you were patched up and sent back to the yard...LOL! 

Now fast forward to adult life and being married adding happy fat weight on...then here comes the kids and you have pregnancy weight and you were 'eatting for two"  or atleast that was the excuse.  Then once having the baby you forgot who you were and mom/dad mode hit and you forgot who you were as a person.  You eat for comfort...for social gatherings and just because you were bored.  Realizing that I need to do something I started Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Bariatics of (insert state), Adepex pills, Phen/Fen pills and then the yo yo weight starts.  Your up and then down get comfortable then you are back up. Til you have your rock bottom...for me it was having your spouse trying to be sweet and buy an outfit and telling them to find the biggest size they could and it still being too small. He wanted to see it on me....seeing the pants not come up past my thighs and wondering if taking the shirt off will cause it to rip in half.  They ask you Oh my Gah Deborah ...how big are you.  Then I say bigger than this outfit for sure...That was my rock bottom.  I realized I lost who I was and was so consumed in being mom and wife I had no idea who I was.  I use to be fun to be around and hang out with...What the hell happened to me...LIFE...that is what happened.  I wanted control again.  So I did my research and found the perfect place for me to get help.  I went through all my prequalifications and based on what the insurance would cover my only options for WLS was the lapband and RNY.  I weighted my pro and cons and decided to have RNY.  Finding out I had hypertension, gallstones, massive hernia, sleep apnea and boarderline diabetic...Hell I was amazed I was still breathing which was a feat in its self I will add.  I wanted my life back...I wanted to be NORMAL...whatever that meant. 

Lets fast forward now...I am close to two years out and have lost 130 pounds....Having RNY WLS saved my life in more ways than one.  I made life style changes and I am healthier than I have ever been...I am running cause I love it and it keeps me healthy...I ran a half marathon at one year out and I am addicted...Speaking of addictions I am addicted to the scale too. I feel for me to keep in check and never wanting to go back to where I was.... I weigh every morning...it is part of my routine now. I just remember how miserable I really was.....I never want to go back there.  My home life is not good...with me losing my weight it has caused huge problems at home and my husband has not been supportive...actually he is threatened by my looks and has become very insecure.  I am always hearing how I have changed ....you know I have changed...I am a confident woman and want to be appreciated not the slave and going through the motions that I was.  I want for my partner to be my best friend and be with me 100%.   I feel that I have changed in wanting my family to be healthy.  My baby girl is an athlete and stays busy with college scholarship requirements.  Hubs (FTR is about 50 pounds over weight) on the other hand just pisses me off and said on many occasions he hates my WLS.  Well I told him this is about my health and not about making him feel good, secure and non-threatened.  That too is another story for another time. 

Bottom line....I am happy with who I am...I love me....and WLS SAVED MY LIFE.  Am I telling you that you need to have WLS and it has to be RNY...Hell NO...you need to research and make decisions based on what is good for you.  Mine was narrowed down thanks to insurance and not being able to afford selfpay.    RNY was the right decision for me...

RESEARCH,RESEARCH,RESEARCH before making your decisions. 

Good Luck, Merry Chistmas and I hope you have a wonderful New Year!!!! 

This was be before and now! 

Dec 04, 2011

My Christmas wish........

Dec. 2009 I was excited about my upcoming surgery in Feb and getting healthy for once as I ate anything that was bad and unhealthy that came near me.  I think I ate an entire cheesecake and I know a box of doughnuts.

Dec. 2010 Santa got my request and I lost over 100lbs and preparing to run my first half marathon in Feb for my one year surgiversary.

Dec. 2011 almost two years out and maintaining from 280 to 155....down from a 22/24 to a 6/8

So now my ongoing Christmas wish will be to continue to maintain and be healthy. 

I used to dread the holiday social gatherings as they were always loaded with great food that was bad for you.  BUT thanks to my RNY WLS....I can't eat any processed sugar without dumping....and that is not fun!!!  So I have made a lifestyle change and seriously I don't miss it one bit.  Being healthy and happy and loving who I am now is one of the best gifts that I have ever received for me. 

This is me wearing a Tree Skirt LOL!!!! 



Christmas 2009... I look like a linebacker!!!!

So what is your WL Christmas Wish?! 

Oct 10, 2011