Rebecca_B

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Yes, I said miracle.  I mean it.  An honest-to-goodness miracle!  Ok, maybe not so much a miracle according to medical research and all that, but to me - MIRACLE!

You see, my husband and I have been married for 12 years as of 10/23/11.  We have been trying to have a baby ever since the day we got married with no luck.

Here comes the MIRACLE - I'm PREGNANT!!

I am only about 8 weeks with a due date of July 3rd.  Ultrasound showed us the teeny little heartbeat and we couldn't be happier! 

During the past year my life has changed incredibly. I no longer have sleep apnea or high blood pressure and most importantly - my diabetes is gone, too. I have lost 125 pounds (which is more than 100% of my excess weight)- 8 pant sizes and 4 top sizes! 

I have been very fortunate to have had no complications, and I have been working my butt off (literally!) Today I weigh 166 (now do the math...166+125= OMG!) and my blood pressure was 112/66!!  The dr. said it was like that of a teenager!  Dr. Daniel Gagne of West Penn Bariatric Surgery Center was the surgeon who saved my life.  

Thanks to everyone who has supported me through my weight-loss journey.  Without those of you  who gave me the love and strength and motivation I needed to stay focused on doing what I needed to do...I would have had a much more difficult time.  It has been a hell of a year - and one I will always remember as the year I got my life back!  I feel reborn into a healthier me..and I want to stay that way. 

Happy re-birthday to me!!

I can't believe that it has been almost a year!  Where does the time go? 

I can tell you that this has been the most amazing year.  The changes that have taken place:  physical, emotional, and lifestyle have been dramatic and worth every minor discomfort.

What we have done is reclaimed our lives.  My life was spiraling toward a very dismal place and I wanted to change the direction of the spin.  Now that spiral is onward and upward into a lighter, happier place.

Down 119 lbs and feeling better than I ever have, (at least since Jr. High) I have a renewed lease on life.  I am more confident and proud of my accomplishment.  I feel good about the choice that I have made and have grown to cherish the small portions and exercise that I have incorporated into my new lifestyle.

"What a difference a year makes" can be heard over and over by many for many reasons.  Children grow so much in a year; lives change and shift and happen.

I have been in "maintenance" for a while, but I still feel like I am changing.  Getting stronger physically and mentally has become my new goal. 

I see the dr again on my one year anniversary on 3/25.  I will report back with his findings.

100%.  Getting a 100% on a test made me feel great when I was in school, but the feeling pales in comparison to hearing that I have lost 100% of my excess weight!  Gold star to me! 

I went to see Dr. G this morning and he said he couldn't be happier with my results. 
I weighed 172.5.  Since I started at 285...and I am 5'11"....once again he said this weight seemed just right for me!  My BP was 122/72. Perfect!

I feel good, look good, and have more joy than ever.  My wish is for you to have the same feeling of happiness!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!       A blessed 2011 to all...

Love,
Rebecca

So, I lost 112 pounds. 

Goals of surgery:  No more diabetes. No more high blood pressure.  No more depression.  No more sleep apnea.  No more sore knees.  No more shortness of breath walking stairs.  All goals met!  Good for me and good for my health!

Side effects of surgery:  hair loss (which is coming back) and down 7 pants sizes and 4 top sizes.  My bra went from a 46D to a 36C (probably a B, but I refuse to admit it!)  I am a normal BMI and have energy and joy.

Back when I was fat, no one (except my grandmother and doctor) ever said to me, "Wow! You sure are fat! Maybe you are too fat...you know you should probably lose a few pounds...."  And my doctor was a bit more tactful than my grandmother....

In church last Sunday, a fellow parishioner came up to me and said, Wow! You sure are skinny now!  Maybe you are too skinny...you know you should probably stop losing weight and maybe even gain a few pounds...."

Really?  I am 5'11" and am wearing a size 10 pants and size L on top.  I think I look good.  Nothing is sunken in...nothing is hollow or sickly looking (and I have asked others to be brutally honest and tell me if I look sickly or unhealthy.) 

The lady who said this to me is obese.  I know that she thinks she is being concerned for me...but I wonder if she is just jealous.  What she said to me hurt less than someone calling me fat, but it still made me feel bad about how I look to others...even though I know she is mistaken about me being too skinny.

Ugh.  Why can't people ever stop making weight an issue? 

Love,
Rebecca

Thursday is rapidly approaching and I have more to be thankful for this year than ever before.

I am thankful for:
New-found health!

Family and friends that stuck by me even when they didn't always understand what I was going through or why.

A surgeon who is informative and caring and made it easy to follow the guidelines for success!

Smaller clothes.
A husband who loves me for me...fat or fit...he is in it forever!

May you all have a blessed holiday and spend it remembering those reasons why you are thankful and all of the support that others have given to us that helped those reasons become a reality!

Love,
Rebecca

I made it.  I am now "average."  Just plain old average. And I LOVE being average. 

I set my goal at the top of my weight range for my height- 179.  Four weeks ago I was 2 lbs shy of my goal.  Then the batteries in my scale died.  I was a little lax about replacing them...then I weighed myself at the gym...and I had lost 1 lb.  So I was one pound away and just kept on keeping on....

Then I replaced the batteries in my scale and got on this morning- 178!!

I burst into tears- of joy!  I have never been so happy to be average in my life...because before today I was never average.  I have always (and I do mean always) been "big" or "plus" or "chubby" or "large-framed" or any other euphemism for fat.  For the first time in ever, I can say that being "normal" is exactly what I want to be.  But I am still "super!"

The feelings that I have about making my personal goal are so overwhelming.  I really feel like I have been reborn into a life that holds enormous possibility.

Love to all of you that have supported me through this site~ without you I would have had a harder time adjusting to my new life.  For that friendship and support I am truly thankful.

I hope that I can help others who may have questions or just need a virtual ear or shoulder.

Love,
Rebecca

for 11 years!  I am in love with my husband more every day.  He isn't perfect, but neither am I...and we love each other still.

On the day I got married I was the smallest I had ever been as an adult.  I weighed 212 lbs.  I got there by taking diet pills- with Ephedra.  Now we know that isn't the best way to lose.  I was desperate to get smaller for my wedding.  I lost 50 lbs, got married, and gained all of them back plus some more.

Today I weigh 181 (down 104 lbs), and at 5'11" and 36 yrs old, I feel like that isn't too shabby.  I am currently wearing a size 10 jeans and my top is a large.  So, I have come a long way from the size 24W jeans and 3x tops that I was wearing.  Yay!

Tomorrow we will celebrate our life together and the fact that I will be around longer than I would have been if I hadn't done something about the weight, diabetres, and high blood pressure.

For those of you that are/were diabetic- my A1C went from 6.1% (considered controlled on meds) to 4.9%!!!!  Dr. G said that was incredible!  My BP was 124/74- perfect!

I wish all of you the kind of success that I have had- both in love and weight loss!  Keep on moving!  

Rebecca

...was fantastic!  Dr. Gagne was very pleased with my success to date. 

I am down 101.4 lbs. since surgery day.
I am working out 5 days a week.
My bloodwork was all good.  My A1C is down to 4.9% from 6.1 (with medication.)  I haven't been on any medication since I left the hospital!
I am down six pant sizes and 4 top sizes!!

The only "complaints" I have are my hair loss and loose skin.  Both of these will resolve themselves in time.  I am not going to worry about them currently.  It is what it is.

...in a good way!  I thought I weighed 191, but I went to my PCP on Wednesday and I weighed 185!  I asked, "are you sure?"  And she said..."yep, I am positive!!"

So that made me feel a little dizzy and I almost fell off the scale.  That makes 100 pounds!!   I have six more to go to get to my self- determined goal of 179.  I just may keep going, but not too much more. 

I am wearing a size 10 or 12.  And I am 5'11".  But, I have no butt, and my "front-butt" is much squishier (since it is emptying itself and is just mainly skin and sub-q fat.)

The overwhelming joy at seeing that my hard work is paying off is so amazing!  I want for all of my friends and family and all of you reading this to know that kind of elation (over anything!)

Just wanted to share why my weight dropped six pounds in one day...looks a little odd, but i"ll take it!

Love,
Rebecca