shannonlmitchell

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I went to Lane Bryant today to get jeans....cuz my old ones are hanging off me.....and I am down from a 24/26 to an 18!   I could not believe it.  I cried in the dressing room cuz I was so happy.  No one can possibly understand. I wanted to post it on Facebook but my girlfriend says, no one boasts about being an 18!  LOL.   So probably true, lots of "friends" on there don't know about my weight loss journey from beginning to end....so, I will post it here and be happy to tell someone!   18 is incredible to me and of course, still going, but that is smaller than I even wore in high school....my senior year I wore a 22 on bottom cuz I got a big ole booty. LOL.   Well, just wanted to update! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year.   BTW,  Projoe by Bariatric Advantage .....get some!  If you love Starbuck Frappacino's like I do..you will love em and they taste really, really good. Kinda pricey by the case but well worth it when you break it down...its like 1.97 per shake.   Highly recommend em!      Anyway, great day OH family!!!!   :)

Hi OH family.  Just got back home from the gym.  I did 30 great minutes on the treadmill @ 3.0 and on a 5.0 incline.  Shoulda stayed longer but it's saturday...so much to do so little time to do it! LOL.    I haven't posted since August.  Slacker.  I bought a house and moved in, semester is fixing to end and a new one start, my daughter got married and found out she is pregnant....5 months now....so I have been a busy bee.  I am up to 51 lbs now. I weighed 260 when I got on the scale this morning, not too shabby from the 311 pre-surgery.  I have been able to get my protein problem resolved, yahoo.  Smoothie King is my best friend.  The Gladiator protein there is pretty good but the Gladiator shake with the strawberries (washed cuz they soak em in sugar) and peaches is the BEST.  But, I also bought the powder and brought it home, 45g of protein.  I mix it with Mootopia milk which adds another 14g of protein and then I add flavors.  My favorite so far is the International Coffee Swiss Mocha so it gives the shake a chocolate coffee taste mmmmmm.  And, the Oh Yeah Peanut Butter/Caramel protein bars are soooo delicious.  Highly recommend at least giving it a try!  My friend had his revision surgery Monday and I am so excited for him, I can't wait to see him and his results.  So hope everyone is doing well.....and good luck Rhon......Im praying for ya.

Okay.  Let's start this first. I have lost almost 30 lbs now.  Yes, that is fabulous and I am excited, don't get me wrong.  However, I am not losing more probably because I am struggling with the protein.  Today I am 6 weeks post op.  I went to the grocery store yesterday and bout Pure Protein bars which have 20g of protein.  I invested in the Oh Yeah protein shakes which are 32g of protein for the 14oz shake because they taste pretty good.  If I have to drink one more Bariatric Advantage shake I am gonna throw up.  The thick shakes make me feel naseated.  GROSS.  I bought some chili with beans which are 19g of protein and some cheese with crackers which will give me a good 6g of protein.  SO, I am working on getting in all 80g.  This is hard work.  But, let me just say this...I think my surgeon shaved off my taste buds during my surgery.  Everything tastes gross to me.  I LOVE cheese.  But, the other day, we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch and I normally LOVE that wedge of cheese they give you...I took like 3 nibbles and I wanted to get sick.  I ate cilantro lime shrimp yesterday, nothing.  I just can't get a taste for anything.  I feel hungry, my stomach is growling, but, it just doesn't seem to matter what I put in there......everything tastes BLAH.  Is that happening to anyone else?  Tomorrow is my birthday, normally, we go to dinner for a little family get together to celebrate us older kids birthdays and just so everyone can get together but it seems pointless because I am not even gonna enjoy wherever we go!   Anyone have any suggestions?  On the brighter side, I went and worked out for the first time this morning.  I still seem to get tired very fast....I keep waiting for that to go away, but it hasn't.  I will work with the personal trainer on Thursday so until then, just gonna do the treadmill.  So, I walked for 45 minutes and did almost 2 miles and burned 285 calories.  That was satisfying to me....for today.  I think I may go back after work maybe.  It just seems like I should be losing the weight faster???????  I look at people's stories and most everyone has lost 100 lbs in 6 mos.  I don't see how I could lose 100 lbs or more in 6 mos if it's already been 6 weeks and I have only lost 30?????  I was talking to Sonya last night about losing my taste for food and I actually started crying.  Is that weird?  The only thing I can really think is that my life has revolved around food so long that not being able to enjoy it....is like losing an old friend.  Does that make sense?  But well, I guess if it has to go in order for me to get skinny, just what has to happen.   If anyone has any advice or suggestions, I really would like to hear!!!!  let me know.

Sheesh, been almost a month since I posted, that's crazy!  I am back to work and everything is so hectic.  I am almost at 30lbs, even though I feel like it should be more.....   I guess it's not so horrible though. Everyone can tell I am losing weight, my clothes are fitting different, etc.   I am having a huge problem eating all my protein and drinking my 64 oz, but i am trying very hard and I am working at it.  I know that I will lose faster if I do that...so, I am working on it.  I can start exercise next week.  SO monday morning, off to the gym for me and I will do the 30 min circuit for the machines and work on either the treadmill or the eliptical for the other 30 minutes.  Hopefully that will bump up the weight loss too.  My sister gets married October 9th so I want to lose as much as possible by then.  I am excited and I am working on eating food. I tried some shrimp brochettes the other day at Pappasitos and um, that did not work out so well. LOL.  I have sticking with a lot of beans and stuff like that.  Steak is not working either.  I tried a tiny bite of steak and it felt like it was stuck even though I chewed until my jaw was tired! LOL.  So, I will keep that out of the diet for now.  I am not a big meat eater anyway, so, it's not a big deal.  I am excited and I just paid my JCP card down to ZERO so when I do lose it, I can go on a shopping spree! LOL......Anyway, hope everyone is doing good......thanks for stopping by!

Coming to work has been harder than I thought.  Im here, Im at my desk but I am wrapped up in a blanket and I have had to bring a pillow with me to put between my stomach and my desk.  Im miserable! So, two weeks isn't enough time to take off.  LOL.  But, I am trudging through and getting my work done regardless.  Plus, I will be skinny soon. Keep that in mind. Nothing else really to report except that I switched to the Nectar protein shakes and they are much better. Not as thick and much easier to get down.  Yesterday was the first time I drank all 64 oz I am supposed to drink.  That is just soooo much fluid.  I feel like I should be on a raft.  I had the bariatric advantage banana shake last night, that was pretty tasty.  But, let me just tell ya, I am ready to eat some food, even if it is just refried beans or an egg.  LOL.   Hope everyone is doing well!  

I went back to work today. Yay!   So, moving around a little better, drain came out Saturday.  WOW does that hurt when he pulls it out! LOL.  But, I am down another 2 lbs.  He wants me to stay on the liquid diet until August 4th when I talk to the nutritionist again. BOO>  he says "let's milk this as long as we can" ...easy for you to say mr. skinny dr.!  I haven't eaten any food in 4 weeks!  So, we shall see how this goes.  I switched to the Nectar protein drinks instead of the Bariatric Advantage too. That Bariatric Advantage chocolate tasted like I was drinking cake batter.  UUUUUGH.  Anyway,that's about it for now!  Thanks everyone for the encouragement and the support!  Can't wait to tell a difference so I can post some pictures!!!!!

Okay, so, one of my incisions opened up because we dissolved the liquid stitches cuz the incision was all red and hot.  So, we though hot compress!  Well, turns out, duh, the water dissolved the liquid stitches. Dr. says okay, no big deal.  Even though it's open.  She did tell us don't be surprised if it starts oozing.  so, all day yesterday it didn't ooze.  So, today, im sitting here and it starts oozing everywhere.  this is the grossest thing ever. LOL.   The dr. office says that it's good for it to get out and just let it come out as long as it's not pus. still. it's disgusting!  I am so ready for the drain to come out and everything to heal back closed!  LOL.   I go tomorrow to get the drain out.  

I have two weeks to go of nothing but clear liquids and protein shakes and I am so sick of protein shakes I could ......well, I am just sick of em.  Being a good southern gal, my mom made butter beans and I had the broth of the butter beans instead of chicken broth today, so, YUM.  All is still well and I weighed myself this morning and it was exactly the same as before. I keep expecting this huge magical jump of the scale! LOL. I know that that is silly, but, I just can't wait to start seeing it go down, down, down.  I say I love myself big or small, and I do...but, I just wanna know what the skinny Shannon looks like already.  I made a great new friend tonight and I am excited for his surgery for him cuz he was in a similar situation as I was in with my Molina Band....so I can't wait to see how he does too.   Woohoo for his surgery approval and pending date! 

Well, today is my week anniversary. I did not end up going back to work because I am so freaking bloated and I still have this stupid drain in. I am drinking my shakes fine, 2 a day, my broth, my milk, etc.  I am not drinking all 8 glasses of water because I feel so full all the time and with the drain under my diaphram it gives you sharp pains.  (the kind you get when you try to exercise when ur out of shape, but, imagine that all the time).  But, I am taking all my vitamins and my dissolvable Nexium and all that that I am supposed to do.  I feel good and I weighed myself yesterday and even with the bloating/swelling/drain, I was already at 291.  Yahoo.  So, that already puts me down from 311 before surgery to 291.  Not too shabby.  Other than just the normal aches and pains of this drain, I think everything will be fine.  Thanks everyone for checking up and offering encouraging words.  I am ready to get this started!!!!!!

I got discharged last night at about 5.  The surgery did not go as smooth as I had hoped. When Dr. Patel got into my stomach, he said that it was a mangled mess in there.  He ended up removing 1/3 of my stomach. So I am discharged home with a pain ball and a drain that I have to wear for 10 days. It hurts like a son of a gun.  They gave me lortab which I don't feel helps, but, I am sure that it actually does.  So, the weight loss journey begins.  3 weeks on a liquid diet and then on to pureed foods. I have the follow up with Dr. Patel in 10 days, so we will find out a little more then.  When he came in to see me he said this was the 2nd worst surgery he has does.....revision wise.  So, my healing will be a little longer. Im sore and it's so bad but I know it will be worth it in the long run!