Doranna S.

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So, here it is, December 18, 2007.  Two days ago (Sunday), I stood on the scale and found that I had GAINED 3 lbs:  182 !!.  I'm not even counting the day that my scale read 178.5 since it never stayed there.  I went UP, from 179 to 182!!!  I figured that this could be the result of a number of things:  I've been trying to get in more water, starting sometime near the end of last week; I truly started feeling some serious HUNGER last week and ate a bit more than my usual AND the foods that I ate included things such as pasta and mashed potatoes (Lean Cuisine, regular Stouffer's, Healthy Choice frozen dinners); I had too many snacks (although I TRY to stick with one serving-size at a time) such as GoldFish Crackers and Vitner's Hot Cheese Popcorn; I haven't excercised in months; OR a combination of ALL OF THE ABOVE!  Like my BAF buddy Treena said to me...I know what I'm doing that's not right...I know that the snacking ain't right...NOT exercising is a no-no...Water is good, but that snacking will lead to weight gain.  And you definitely need to move that body!  She also said that the scale can be your best friend or worst enemy!  That darn thing had me beating myself up sooo bad, but it got my attention, I must say.  Knowing that it is MY hand that controls what goes into my mouth, with God's help I WILL NOT put anything in my mouth that does not belong there.  I even threw away over 1/2 bag of that yummy popcorn (I told HB to "tell me to throw this away!").  I felt like having that "good bye" taste, but when HB did as I asked and said those words to me, I just trashed the bag.  That's what you do with JUNK, right?  You trash it...before it trashes you!  I did not go through this surgery...this drastic life-change, to sabatoge it myself.  No indeed!  By the grace of GOD, I am in control of this journey!  So, I am only buying those things that I ought to eat...baby carrots for the crunch factor...low carb whole wheat tortillas for my Wraps...even bought whole wheat saltines and whole wheat Town House Crackers for those times that I want crackers with my meat or salmon salad.  Even though I have fruits and veggies, I will eat at more controlled intervals and won't continue to give in to mindless snacking just because I now have healthy snacks.  I will make sure that I eat more meals than snacks and not use the excuse that,, "well, I don't eat much food so the snacks won't hurt".  Also, although I like shopping at Aldi's discount grocery store, I've come to realize that you find a larger variety of healthy foods at the costly (regular) grocery stores.  About the scale...being a slave to the scale can cause misery when you see daily fluctuations (especially in the wrong direction).  However, I'm glad I caught the errors of my ways as soon as I did.  Another answer to my "weight gain" could simply be that it was just a natural variation that just happens at this point -- or any other point -- in the journey.  Maybe this will be a month where I lose nothing, considering that last month showed a great loss.  Also, since some of last month's loss was due to illness/diahrhea/dehydration, my body could simply be correcting itself.  Who knows?  Whatever the reason, my eyes have been opened to the mistakes that I've been making.  What's important is that I continue to make positive changes in an effort to get back on the right track.

I'm a little tired now so I'll try to be brief and I won't proofread until tomorrow:  current weight hovering at 178-179.  Let me tell you about my doc's visit today (primary physician) and how I told my hubby that "I want to be her size (lab tech)".  After talking with her, she told me I weighed less than her (she was 203 at 5'9")!  See, that number doesn't really matter cause, to me, she was small.  In MY eyes, at 5'7" and weighing what I weigh (179), I AM STILL FAT!!  It was funny, tho'. cause my hubby was trying to say "no you don't (want to be her size)" because he could tell that, even tho' she had 2 inches on me, she was thicker than me.  And he didn't mean it in a negative way because if you know my story you know HB loves me BIG or SMALLER, right?  Okay, another thing:  the nurse used a regular BP cuff on me today!  WOW!  When HB took my BP at home, he was able to use a regular one, too.  But there's just something about this happening in the docs office that's just extra special.  Anyway, I took my doc a list of the bloodwork that I needed as a follow up to this WLS.  Hopefully, all is well.  HB has bronchitis -- we had a combined docs appointment.  Oh, and remember when I lost my first engagement ring a little while ago?  Well, HB thought he lost his wedding band yesterday!  Well, he did but a co-worker called him today because he found it!  Thank God!!  Will post some updated pics later.  Oh, I ran into a woman that I used to work with in the 90's at my docs office.  She's a Medical Assistant and works there now!  We were pretty cool.  Anyway, she was like, "I knew you looked familiar..."  We were happy to see one another and she noticed my weightloss.  Sometimes, I wonder if others can really tell or if they comment because they know that I had the surgery?   Well, she didn't know -- she wasn't working with my doctor.  AND, my car died last Friday but we have to have transportation where I live.  So, with the help of my wonderful Dad, we were able to find one to meet our needs in EVERY WAY (dependability, budgetary) today.  Take care.

Okay, so I'll give it a try!  Maybe now I won't have to keep running to fitday.com to track my progress.  EDIT:  It didn't show up (correctly)!  I'll have to send a note to OH Staff for assistance.

EDIT #2:  Duh!  The Tracker appears at the bottom of my Profile.  Thanks, OH Staff, for your speedy response to my request for assistance.  From the response I received (to go into the customize profile panel and make sure I activate the Tracker), I believe the Tracker was present but I just needed to scroll down to see it.  I also thought I had to cut n paste it to the Profile, but OH has already done the work for us!

Yes, a milestone!  Today's weight:  199.5!  I had to repeat my weigh-in 3 or 4 times because I just couldn't believe my eyes!!!  With my hand covering my mouth to prevent me from screaming, no doubt!  I haven't weighed one-anything since high school!!  God is GOOD!! Now, if I will just do my part with the vitamins and exercise, maybe I'll feel better physically.  Anyway, CONGRATS 2 ME!!  Thank you JESUS!!

...between a true plateau and a stall.  I think I read it on the health and fitness (or is it health and nutrition??) forum on OH.  What I've just experienced appears to be a stall.  Although I haven't experienced any great weightloss since the end of the stall, I'm happy to say that the scale is once again moving in the right direction.  Today's weight:  205. This past Saturday (11/3/07) was my Dad's annual celebration for his years in the gospel radio industry.  This year marked year #27 for him!  Also, he celebrates his birthday during this time as well -- his 71st birthday was in October.  Anyway, both my brother and my stepmom -- who had not communicated with each other beforehand -- made similar comments about me that made me say WOW mentally.  My brother said, "Man, DeeDee.  You look like you're back in high school....You're motivating me..."  He feels that he needs to lose about 10 lbs and is motivated by my progress.  My stepmom said, "You look so young."  She SAID I looked to be around 18 years old (yeah, right!), but we do joke around alot.  However, the "young" comment was sincere.  I really wish I'd taken pictures...actually, my cousin took a pic with her cameraphone and I'll see if she will send it to me.  Anyway, let's just say the compliments were greatly appreciated.  On another note, my HoneyBunny had arthroscopic knee surgery a week ago (10/30/07) and is on the mend.  He'll be off work for about a month.  I hope he can stand to be home with me all this time.

  
Wouldn't you know, I've hit a plateau (I think).  I think I first hit a plateau when I lost the first 60lbs.  Now, as soon as I lose 101lbs - blam-wham-shazzam - I've hit a brick wall.  I've been bouncing back and forth all week between 209.5 and 211.  I even weighed 212 one morning after "earning" my Century Club Card (but I wuzzn't givin' it back! LOL).  I weigh daily so I get to see how my weight fluctuates from day to day.  However, I really compare my weight from one Sunday to the next.  In other words, I was 210 last Sunday (10/14/07) and I'm still 210 this Sunday (10/21/07).  I usually lose at least a lb a week, and last month was simply awesome for me as far as weightloss was concerned.  Now this??  Yep!  That's just the way it is.  Nothing's wrong -- it's all part of the process.

As of today, I am exactly 100lbs lighter than I was approximately 24 weeks ago.  My highest weight this year was 315lbs; my pre-op weight was 311lbs.  Tomorrow (10/11/07) will mark 24 weeks from my surgery date:  4/30/07. Today's weight:  211lbs.   I'd issued the challenge to my body to lose 100lbs by my 6 month/24weeks surgery-anniversary and my body -- no, my God -- responded, "Yes".  I still have a long way to go before reaching a healthy body weight.  However, I thank God Almighty for aiding me on my journey to becoming the healthy person He intended for me to be.  Had I not reached my "challenge" by tomorrow's date...my response would've been, "oh well, it was, let's say, fun even coming close". [ If you're new on your journey, PLEASE realize that I simply enjoy challenging myself.  We must make sure that we don't lose sight of what's really important here:  losing the weight--not the timeframe (although it is important to adhere to your docs plan to maximize your period of malabsorption).  Still, this is not a race and if we don't get this, we will find ourselves very discouraged when we hit stalls or see a little water-weight gain, etc.]  But it's done,  and I'm happy.  So now I must revv up my engine and see where I  find myself in the months to come.  The road has been, and probably will always be, bumpy.  However, with the Master at the wheel, the trip will turn out just fine.  I will reach my destination unscathed.  

Right now, I am celebrating emotionally -- no big meals (yeah, right! like THAT's even possible), no shopping sprees (not yet!).  I'm just truly thankful and grateful to God for bringing me thus far.  I am truly in a spirit of worship.  I am in "awe" of God's awesomeness.  I am sooo humbled by my experience.  Yeah, that's it.  I feel so humbled....and grateful.

I said I wouldn't post more pics until I hit the 100lbs-lost mark, but hey, I lied.  In celebration of my 90lbs-lost milestone, Im'a post a coupla pics.  I hit this milestone 4 days ago (Friday, 9/21/07).  As I indicated under "my story", my Mother in Law (second Mom to me) died last year on 9/28/06.  She was 84 years old.  Now don't let the age fool ya' -- she was one SHARP cookie!  Not just mentally, either.  Moms had more nice clothes in her closet than I've ever had in my lifetime.  And shoes??!!!!  OMG!  If only I had small feet!  Anyway, I am now able to wear most of her clothes!  I told my hubby that I did not want to donate her suits because, one day, I'd be able to wear them.  Well....that day has come!  This past Sunday (9/23/07) I tried on her clothes -- yet again! -- and they fit!!  Size 16!!  Wow!  I had to laugh when I tried on this one purple pants suit that she has.  You see, Moms was short, maybe 4'11"/5 feet even.  I'm 5'7".  Okay, so the pants fit me like crop pants or capri's.  I told my Hubby, "...see, Mama was short so these crop pants probably fit her like regular pants.  Yeah, see, I'll wear these with heels."  Well, when I took the pants off and examined them REAL good, I could see where Moms had hemmed them bad boys at least 8 inches!!  I was crackin' up!  I'm like, I guess these aren't crop-styled after all.  LOL So, I'll just take the hem out.  I even have room to spare in these pants!  This is all sooo amazing.  I had to tell Mom, "Thank you."  She would really want me to wear her clothes and jewelry and take real good care of them.  I used to tease her and say, "Ma, could you put 'this' or 'that' in your will for me?"  She would say, "Girl, you know I ain't got no will, but if I go before you, it's all yours."  Thank you Ma', thank you.

On September 6, 2007, I was exactly 18 weeks and a day post-op.  Time really does fly when you're having fun - NOT! LOL I had a follow up appointment with Dr. Cahill on the 6th and, in his famous words, "you're doing fine, dear."  He came in the room, had me to stand up and lift my shirt, pressed around on the belly and that was that.  End of story.  See me in 6 months.  No blood work -- no nothin'.  Anyway, I weighed in at 233.3, which was very much like what I'd expected (or what I'd hoped) since my home weight this morning was 233.5.  Down 78lbs!  If I count my highest weight this year, I was down 82lbs.  As I wrote a little earlier, I had a challenge from a friend to meet an 80lb loss by the 6th.  I fell short 2 lbs.  Oh well!  No biggie.  I met the 80lb mark on the 8th, 2 days late but what is most important is that I am still losing, right?  Another thing that I've done was to change my personal goal weight from 125lbs to 140lbs.  That's good enough for me.  Dr. Cahill gave me a goal weight of 170, but I'd prefer to work towards 140.  ANYWAY, today is now Monday, September 17.  I've been a little lazy about updating here.  I really haven't been on the computer much lately.  I had a tooth pulled last Thursday (ouch and Halleleujah!).  Yesterday I started back working in the Children's Church during our 11:00AM service.  Can you say looney bin??  A sista' is a little tired today.  Oh, by the way, I met a lovely young lady at my appointment on the 6th!  "Cookiecutter" is her screen name, but I recognized her real name from OH (I think she actually used her real name at one time here on OH and that's how I recognized her).  She recently had the LapBand surgery and is doing fine.  I also attended my first support group meeting (since surgery) on the 6th.  It was OK.  As far as my pics are concerned, I probably won't post more until I lose 100lbs.  I think.  Current weight:  224.5.  Okay, I've gotta go rest now.