Julie G.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

My name is Julie! My journey began Feb 19, 2008 when I had RNY Gastric Bypass at Barix in Ypsilanti MI! It was the best decision I made in my life. I am 2.5 years post-op and have lost a total of 160 lbs! With determination and hard work I have maintaned my weight now for 1.5 & have become an excercise loving healthy food nut person. I love working in the garden, working around my house, playing with my daughter without getting exhausted. I have also found a job I enjoy; Working as a chiropractic assistent. I would like to go back to school and get either my PSW (Personal Support Worker) or RPN (Registered Practical Nurse) degree. I want to continue in the medical field helping people. I do need to have some plastic surgery to do in order complete my journey. I've come this far! Only going into this knowing I will never go back to what I was, is what has helped me keep the weight off till now & for good. Here is to the best years of my life! Cheers to all and good luck to whoever takes this journey! It's one rollercoster ride you don't want to get off!

So the new year brought me a lot of happiness. I met my goal weight, I'm eating healthy and have met a wonderful man who showers me with compliments and praises my sucess. I'm just shy 11 months post-op and am down 140 lbs. Can I say WOW?!? It's true you want to get rid of bad spots on your body work extra hard. I've been working out a little each night and let me tell you I have noticed a difference. From being plateau for two months to losing 5 inches throughout my body and another 10 pds since my weigh-in in Dec. I'm extatic. I have recieved a new lease on life and I am making full use of it. I guess my only worry is lossing too much weight. Is it possible? I don't know. But for now I eat healthly, work out everyday (a little goes a long way) and I make every effort to tell myself something postive. My 12 month post-op appoinment is Feb 16. I look foward to seeing Dr. Pop and see what he has to say. It's been a hard but exilarating journey. One that I would take in a heartbeat again. TO all comtemplating surgery. like Dawn has always said do your reasearch and know all the facts. TO add to that, I would recommend anyone who can to do it because it will change your life for the better. But remember this isn't an overnite weight loss miracle, you need to change your mind set or your success will be min. A healthy diet goes hand in hand with excercise. Even if it is a little each day it does make a difference. Thank you for reading my blog and I hope I can inspire or movtivate someone as I have been motivated by my OH. Take care for now!

So life has been good. I have so much energy and I love going shopping. So here I am feeling fat. Why? I've lost 130 lbs to date, I'm able to shop in regular stores and I'm almost at my goal. I try to understand why I feel fat when I've come so far from where I used to be!?! I look in the mirror and I like what I see and sometimes I don't. I guess my mind can't grasp that I've lost weight. I know that my fridge is full of before pics. They help me remember what I was before. I was fat in those pics not now. Being able to walk all day and actually enjoy it, makes me feel good about how far I've come. We need to remind ourselves everyday why we did this and remind ourselves how far we've come. Do this will build us up again and help us to keep going strong. Thanks for all your support so far!

Well, I've got to my nine months anniversary. I'm in awe when I go to a store and being able to fit into sizes that I thought were gone forever for me that is. I'm in a size 9 or size medium for clothes. I have to say my energy is great. I love being able to go, go, go! I have no saggin skin except for my upper, inner thighs. I'm trying to keep up with excercise. I'm almost at my goal and I'm loving it. Can't wait for what's next! I know that I'm setting an example for my daughter and to have her eating right makes me happy and proud of the choice of having RNY! All the best with whoever decides to go down this road! It's the best thing you can do for yourself and your family!   

Well I made it to 8 months. So far so good. I feel awesome and everyone says I look great. Still working out my esteem issue. I can't say I'm obviously better than what I was but I can't look in the mirror and say oh I look great. Not yet. I'm getting there. I need to remember I will never have the perfect body. But I can have a healthy body and that's more important than anything. I love being able to cross my legs when I sit. Before it was hard, but now I do it all the time. Sometimes I can't believe how far I've come. I look at before pics and say is that me? Was I really that big? I love that people see the difference. I'm even told that I shouldn't lose anymore weight that I'm too skinny. That makes me feel so good. So like I said I'm slowly working on my self-esteem. I love going to see my therapist. We always have great break throughs and I feel like a load is lifted off my shoulders when I leave from there. I'm starting to look more at taking care of myself and making sure I'm healthy. Eating healthy is important to me. And it will contribute to mainting my weight loss. I've slacked a bit on my excercises so I've been trying to get back on track. I'm offically in a size 10 pants and size large top ( I have football shoulders) but bra size I went from a 44D to a 36C. It's excitting to be able to shop in smaller stores. If feels like sureal to be shopping for a size 10 right now. I can't remember the last time I was that size. But I'm loving every minute of it. Take care all and remember that the surgery is the beginning only and we need to do the rest to maintain a healthy lifestyle now and for the reat of our lives. TTYL

So I've made it to my 7 month surgaversary. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. I feel wonderful. I have lots of energy and I can eat pretty much anything (low fat and sugar free). Although I've started snacking a bit I had to give myself a talk. I won't go backwards after all my hard work so far. Sometimes yes we will fall off the wagon but we need to get back on right away. So I've been talking to myself today and asking myself questions:
1. Do I want to end up the way I was before?
2. Why am I snacking?
3. Do you want to miss out on the prize ahead? (Reaching my goal)
4. What are you teaching your daughter?
So yes I'm being hard on myself, I have to, in order to avoid going backwards in stead of forwards. Sometimes we need to put ourselves on a time out. Really examine what we are eating. It's true after 6 months your cravings come back. How do you deal with them? MODERATION! Nothing wrong with a healthy snack but the junk food snack needs to be limited. I almost learned the hard way. I'm going to get rid of unhealthy snacks to avoid temptation. You know talking to yourself ( in a good way) is helpful in situations like these (eating something not healthy). To all my friends and family thanks for your support along my journey. I can't wait to reach my goal. Take care for now. Talk to you soon (TTYS)

Hey Everyone! I am offically as of the 19th, 6 months post -op and 104 lbs down. It's been an emotional roller coaster ride for me but I wouldn't change anything about the past 6 mnths. I've gained my life back and have instilled healthier eating habits for myself and my daughter. I also fulfilled one of my many goals. To go to an amusement park. I went to Cedar Point yesturday and had the time of my life. Although I wanted to take my daughter with me this was an adults only trip which was a nice treat for me(I won't lie i missed my daughter like crazy!). But I was able to go on rides and not be turned away or embaressed by my weight. I fit in every seat and screamed on every ride(well scary ones). But I had energy and that was great. No being out of breath or stopping every little bit because my legs and back hurt from the excess weight. I walked and walked and walked some more and I felt great for every step I took. I felt triumphant in my quest to a better and healthier life. I never thought I would go to an amusement park again let alone ride a roller coaster. But I did and for that I am grateful for; to add another memory of this wonderful journey I started on Feb 19/08.

Okay I have a lot to catch everyone up on. I had my niece and nephew's grad party and it was great. I danced the nite away. The dress I wore was a 16 but it was loose on me. I went to Kitchener for a convention and got to show off my new look. Last year when I went I just fit into the stadium seats. This year there was room to spare. It was a high for me. I wore dresses I hadn't worn in years(before my daughter was born) and I got so many compliments on my looks. After we went camping at the Pinery near Grand Bend. It was wonderful. The weather was awesome and I felt great. We went biking, walking on trails, swimming, relaxing on the beach. it was perfect. Every opportunity I got I laid out in the sun. I love the sun. And it doesn't hurt to have a wicked tan to show off. LOL! To get to the beach we had to climb a big dune hill. Last year I climb it once and thought I was going to have a heart attack. This year I was helping everyone else climb the hill without breaking a sweat or being out of breath. Now how awesome is that?!? I bought Self mag with Rebecca Romjin on the cover and inside there was a story on ppl who had the surgery and had to get it reversed because of too much wgt loss. I was reading and got so mad because they say they weren't informed about the risks. How stupid can someone be? How can you go into something and not know the side effects? I don't regret my surgery one day. Yeah I forget and swallow without chewing properly. OOPS! I remember and then chew next time. Yeah I have to remember my vitamins everyday. But from what i've experienced this past couple months is worth it for what my daughter would have missed out on had I not had the surgery. I ran with her and biked with her and swam with her. I HAD ENERGY TO GIVE HER! For the first time in a long time, I'm healthy. I eat properly too. My daughter eats properly too, She knows about protien, fat and sugar. I talked to her about it all the time. She knows what's good for her and what's junk food. She prefers veggies over fries. This surgery not only saved my life but educated me and my daughter and my family. We now all take the time and read before we buy things. We think before we eat something. And we aim at excersizing regularly. I love my life after my RNY! I don't feel deprived of anything only free of the fat I once carried with me before. To be 100 pds lighter is the most amazing feeling in the world. I've made it this far and I will contiue to work hard to get to my goal and maintain it.

Sorry it's been awhile but I have been busy. I had my three month post-op visit with Dr. Pop and everything went great. My weight loss is at 37% thats 13% higher than the average. WOOHOO! My energy level is up. I work out everyday. Oh yeah and I dance the night away at the wedding on the 24th without getting out of breath. What a high light for me. I bike everday for at least 15 mins, do weights(trying to build my arms) and walk, walk, and walk some more. I love that my daughter has started excercise with me. She always asks me now if she eats something if it has protien. A 4-year-old??? I love that I'm giving her a good example now. She see's me active and I encourage her to be active to be healthy. I also went to the LaSalle festival and I took my daughter for the first time on a ride and didn't feel embaressed. Life is soooooo good. I'm looking for a bathing suit because we are going away in two weeks camping for 20 days. I'm hate my upper thighs. But I know that it will take hard work for them to trim down. I won't give up. I also got rid of my BIG clothes and I had about ten garbage bags full. I use to be small once before and I had kept all my clothes and I actually am starting to fit into them again. Another wow moment for me. I'm getting compliments all the time and it feels great. But I won't let it get to my head. I also drink lots of water it helps with the elasticity of the skin and shedding weight. But like I said I'm loving life!!!! I have my niece and nephews grad this wednesday and Saturday big celebration. WOOHOO! Again I love life!!! TTYL

So I went to a wedding on Saturday. It was beautiful. It was a small ceremony and just a dinner reception with their first dance. I wore a long black dress with a rose-pink shawl and my friend did my hair for me and I felt so great. I got lots of compliments. I even had someone call me skinny. Me, skinny? Well not yet anyway. But I'm down 60 pds. So exciting. I've got 40 more pds until I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight. I hope to be there by July that is my goal. So I'm working real hard to get there. I'm excited I have another wedding this month on the 24th except this will have dancing and more people. It's a greek wedding which means lots of dancing. Well, take care for now! I'll keep you posted for my 3-month post-op visit on the 19th!!!