Rachel1219

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So I totally understand now why you shouldn't eat things that...well.....you shouldn't eat.  I don't get sick and have very clearly discovered I don't dump either.  So, on the 10 day vacation I ate a variety of foods that I normally don't eat.  I ate in moderation and still tried to go for the high protein.  But after 10 days.....the cravings are back.  For 3 months I haven't really indulged in sweets and in one vacation, I managed to reignite the sweet tooth passion.  Well, that and my period should be coming sometime this week.  

So, getting back to my normal eating routine is a little more difficult than I thought it would be.  But I'll get there.  And it is important to learn to deal with the occasional vacations and plethora of food.   I'm not going to eat like I did for the first 3 months of Gastric Bypass for the rest of my life.  So, I need to know how to handle the occasional "party" foods and learn to take it in moderation and move on.  

I'm down about 3 pounds from the start of vacation which puts me just at my next goal of being under 200lbs by my big family party which is this coming weekend in April.  I'm hovering back and forth between the 199 and 201 and I know by this weekend...depending on the whole time of the month situation, I should be firmly below the 200 mark.  Forever and always under 200lbs!  

Now for the next goal......it's gotta be an exercise one.  I need to exercise!

It's really hard to believe it's been 3 months already.  Everything I read said that most people lose 50lbs within the first 2-3 months.  I couldn't even imagine the idea of being 200lbs within 2-3 months...but here I am, 3 months later.  I've lost 49lbs and am at 203lbs.  I am 13lbs below what I was when I had my first child.  

I feel great.  I can eat anything I want....but chose to stick with the important components of protein first!  

I'm not exercising nearly as much as I should.  A friend, whose husband had gastric bypass, told me that he had to drop a lot of weight first and then got more motivated to work out.  I definitely have dropped a good chunk of weight, and I'm hoping that now that the weather will start improving I'll be outside more with the kids and maybe we'll walk to school every day and I'll start exercising.  

My exercise goal is to run a 5K by fall.  I know it's possible because I've read so many posts from people who started off over 300lbs and within a year were running and competing in races.  It's amazing.  I hope to follow in their footsteps.

At my 3 month check-up I asked how much weight I can expect to lose in the next 3 months.  Of course, there's no real gauge to determine....but the nurse said that she would expect me to lose another 30lbs or so by then.  10lbs a month...that makes sense.  My dietician said that between 2-3lbs a week is what she would expect.  So, by the start of summer, I should weight somewhere around 170!  That is less than I weighed after I did Phen Fen 11 years ago...and I looked pretty awesome at 170.  

That's the hardest part I think I'm going to deal with.  I know, from pictures, that I looked good at 170......but it's still a good 35lbs+ more than I should weigh.  So....hopefully I won't get to cocky feeling like a little hottie and I'll keep going and exercising and get down to the real goal weight.  

So, to celebrate 3 months and 50lbs down......we leave today for Florida.  I'm looking forward to being outside in the nice warm sun and helping my husband chase the kids around for a change.  Usually I'm just sitting on the beach while he runs all over.  This time, I should have the energy to keep up.  

I can definitely see my body has changed......I see it in my clothes that are unwearable now.........even my favorite pair of jeans that were a bit tight on me are literally falling down as I walk.  I can't wear them anymore.  But as much as I have lost inches....because of having 3 children in 4 years time, my stomach muscles stick out and I still look pregnant!!!!  I'm really hoping that changes as I drop more weight, but my surgeon suspects that no ntumber of sit-ups can help it (other than having really strong ab muscles that stick out).  So....someday I'll probably opt for the plastic surgery for a tummy tuck and fix the abdominal muscles as well.  I know it's a very hard surgery to recover from because you can't help but use your abdominals.  I'll probably have to wait for the kids to be a little older for that one.

Well........time to get ready for Florida.

I had the flu about 3 weeks ago and in the week I was sick, I dropped about 7 lbs.  And I've been there ever since.  I know that I will drop again....sometime soon I hope.  

Regardless of the stall though, I'm definitely losing inches.  I just put on a pair of old pants today to just lounge around.  They kept falling off.  They were soooo baggy.  And these were pants that I couldn't wear before surgery because they were too tight.  So they are now officially in the give-away pile.  

We're leaving for a trip to Florida in about 36 hours.  It's hard to believe.  I packed tonight and tried on everything I was bringing.  It's amazing to me all the clothes I wore last summer that are literally falling off of me.  I was really excited to find a brand new, never wore, still had tags on it pair of capri pants in a drawer that fit.  I think I bought them on sale thinking I would lose weight and never did.  Now they are big on me, but at least not falling down.  So they made it into the suitcase (and I'm able to return another pair back to the store that I don't need quite yet)

I had to buy almost a whole new wardrobe to go to Florida and considering it's still another 2-3 months before summer weather hits Chicago....I doubt I'll still be able to wear these new clothes.  So, finding clothes I can wear was definitely a plus.  

I'm thinking that being in warm weather, outside, will get me moving more and hopefully by the time I come home after the 10 day trip to Florida I will be out of my stall.  My goal was to be under 200lbs by April.  I think I can lose the 5lbs I need by then.  

It's going to be interesting to not weigh myself every day.  I'll leave for vacation and not have any idea what I weigh until I return.  10 days of no weighing...I guess it truly is a vacation.  

I stopped buying any new clothes around October 2007 in anticipation of surgery and losing weight.  So today was quite a joy to go out shopping.

I still don't want to actually buy clothes since I'll shrink out of them too fast to really appreciate them, but I just needed something new.

So off I went, with no kids either...all the better.

I went to the old standby, Avenue.  I went looking specifically for clothes to wear on our upcoming trip to Florida.  I found a cute jeanskirt and some "skinny" capris.  I picked up the Size 16 and it looked big on the hanger, so I took both the 16 and 14 in both.  Imagine my surprise to find that the 14's fit!  They were a little snug, but the trip is in about 3 weeks so definitely I wouldn't get anything but the 14.  Last time I bought clothes at Avenue I was a size 22/24.  In fact, a lot of the clothes I'm still wearing are 22/24.......I look terrible in them, as they are so baggy and falling off of me, but that's what I got.  So....4 sizes down in less than 3 months.  Amazing!!!!

So I decided to buy the jeanskirt and capris, but found out they were not on sale.  There is no way I could justify spending about $70.00 on something I'd wear maybe for 6-8 weeks.  So, I walked away thinking I'll never shop at Avenue again.  The clothes just won't fit anymore.

I excitedly drove away thinking where can I go next!  That was fun.  Trying on clothes that are so much smaller, having them fit, and looking good!  I only had about 30 minutes left so I stopped at Old Navy.  I tried on a bunch of stuff but I think I have another 5-10lbs to go to really fit into their clothes.  I also think most of the clothes were not made for bodies that birthed 3 children...or boobs that nursed 3 children for that matter.  

I came home without buying a single item today, but I tell you, it was a lot of fun.  I can't wait to go shopping again.  I've been trying on a lot of clothes in my own closet about every 2 weeks.  But I think I've exhausted all my "skinny" clothes.  I have a few more items I am still waiting to get into, but wow....a whole store full of optinos to try on sounds great! 

So I decided that I should start blogging my weight loss since I have read so many others blogs and gotten some great information and advice.  I want to be an inspiration to others someday, so I figured I should write my story as well.  So here goes....a recap of over 2 months.

My surgery was 12/19/07.....just 5 days after my 31st birthday.  I was scared!  The surgery went well, however when I tried to get up for the first time I had bleeding from one of the incision areas.  I had to stay in bed a lot longer than expected.  Every time I did try to get out of bed (like to go to the bathroom) I would bleed from the incision.  There was talk of having to go back into surgery because most likely the bleeding was coming from within the muscle layer, not at the surface......Fortunately they stiched me up externally....pumped me with LOTS of IV fluids, and the bleeding stopped.  They watched my blood levels and it was dropping but then steadied showing that I wasn't losing any more blood.  So yay.....no more surgery......

I was in the hospital a day longer than expected, due to the bleeding, but I went home feeling fine, I was off pain meds within 48 hours in the hospital and didn't take any once I was home.  The bleeding from the incision left me with the most awful looking bruise covering my entire stomach from the pelvic bone almost up to my ribs.  It was every shade of blue/purple/yellow you could imagine.  I really should have taken a picture.  The nurse at my surgeon's office said it could have been a picture displayed for why you shouldn't get RNY   But after about 3-4 weeks the bruise was gone and all memories of the hospital experience behind me.

The first few weeks were easier than I thought.  I drank my liquids...HATED the protein shakes....every single one I tried, and tried to get in all my water.  At my 10-day post op visit I was cleared to begin trying soft foods as I tolerated.  Ahhhh...that was heaven.  It was so much better to be able to "eat" my protein rather than drink it.  

Every food I tried sat well with me.  I had no problems with anything.  

It really seems like it has gone by rather quickly.  Some days I barely feel like I had surgery at all.  I find it nice to not have to think about or rely on food as much.  One memory I have is going out with friends to a restaurant.  I must have been about 4 weeks post-op.  Our reservations were for 7:00pm and by 7:30pm we still weren't seated.  Everyone was getting annoyed and I couldn't understand why, what's the difference, we're here, we're talking.  Then I realized...oh yeah, they're hungry!  Silly me.....I wasn't hungry, so I didn't mind that we weren't seated yet.  We were finally seated by 8:15 and they offered us free drinks and dessert for our troubles..so my husband got my free drink as well