7 weeks post op and I am doing great! After my stall right above 200 I have been steadily losing weight. As of this morning I am at 192! I have a vacation in 3 weeks and the thought of going on vacation with my weight in the 180's is thrilling!!
Food wise, I am now able to eat most anything. I still have not added red meat back into my diet. I have read that red meat is one of the hardest foods for my new stomach to digest and so I am not anxious to put that to the test. I love chicken and fish and so I am fine for now.
Dining out has been a large part of my life lately. Friends coming into town, two birthday celebrations, a wedding, a funeral, you name it and I've experienced it in the last few weeks. Dining out is not a problem for me. I am so lucky to not feel "hunger", so it doesn't bother me in the least to see my friends chowing down. Sometimes I forget that I can't eat like I used to, but so far my brain has kicked in before I do something stupid. Last night I was with my two daughters at a local restaurant and they ordered nachos. As we were talking (and we all love to talk), I absentmindedly filled a small plate with nachos. A minute later I looked down at that plate and laughed! I passed the plate to my daughter and said "sorry, can you eat this - I don't know what the heck I was thinking!" She laughed and said she was wondering the same thing but was going to wait and see what I did. My other daughter said "well, that is how you used to eat!". So true...so much of my eating habits prior to surgery were just mindless grazing. Now my eating has to be much more mindful, and sometimes old habits take over and I have to rein them in.
With puppy sitting and family coming into town for a funeral, my exercising fell to nothing in the last week. I am actually excited to start up again this week! And my workout partner (bless her) has already called to set up our weeks workout schedule. I really need/want to build up some muscle. I am tired of having such a weak body and look forward to being able to do more things as I lose weight and get into better shape.
I still am so happy that I had this surgery! No regrets - no looking back - no "what-if's". If things change down the line, I will let you know, but right at this minute I would fly back to Tijuana and do it all over again to have these same results and feel this good.
Laters...
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Puppy sitting...house cleaning...and the sleeve
I have decided to change my weekly weigh-in's to Sunday's. Mostly because I have time to write in this blog on Sunday's, and I really don't on Monday! So here goes...
First, since I haven't posted my stats in a while, I thought I would take a journey back to the begining.
My highest weigh was 224.4
My surgery weight was 216.0
Today's weight 195.2
After I broke the dreaded stall last week, the weight has been coming off at a steady pace. Sometimes I find myself dwelling on when the next stall will occur, but I try to keep that out of my head and just enjoy the weight loss that is happening right now. I keep reminding myself that I am only 6 weeks out from surgery. All those old sayings rattle around in my head...you didn't put this weight on overnight and you won't lose it overnight...Rome wasn't built in a day...good things come to those who wait...etc. But the truth is I want to wake up tomorrow at goal. Who doesn't?? But the reality is that I will probably take close to the full year to get to my initial goal of 150. My dream goal of 130??? Maybe...but I can't think that far in advance. 150 is far enough in the future and completely attainable, so that is where I am setting my sights for now.
This week is going to be a bit challenging. My daughter is on vacation and I am taking care of her puppy. I have a 16 year old dog myself and have been completely spoiled by how self sufficient she is. Since mostly what she really likes is to cuddle up on the bed and sleep while I watch TV in the evenings, we are a perfect pair! Enter a lively, wiggly, needy puppy and our world is on tilt!! Pepper doesn't understand "me time". LOL How dare I try and go to the bathroom by myself !! I think she thinks I hoard all the bones in the bathroom and that's why I won't let her in!! LOL So far (day 4) Pepper thinks that a great time to get up in the morning is 6am. While on a work day I wouldn't mind getting up 30 minutes earlier than usual, on a Sunday morning it's brutal !! Having her has also put a kink in my workouts, but it's only for 4 more days, and I can jump back into the swing of things after that.
This coming weekend is my mother-in-laws memorial service. We have a lot of her family coming into town from California and the East Coast so I have offered my spare bedrooms to them. The problem is that those bedrooms have been empty except for when my college daughter comes home periodically. So I have had to clean those rooms, change the linens, open windows to air them out, etc. I should have done all this last week "pre-puppy", but of course I didn't!! Now with Pepper in tow, I am attempting to do it all. If I could only convince her that she should stay off the bed until after I finish making it!
I still feel like having a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy was the best possible decision for me. I don't have any regrets...about having the surgery, or going to Mexico to have it done. I have healed really well (my incision scars are just tiny pink lines now) and although I still can't eat more than about 1/2 a cup of food at each meal, that food goes down well and I have not had any pain or vomiting like I read some people have to deal with. One interesting thing I have noticed is that I get very bored at meals. I think I am hungry, and then I sit down to eat and after a few bites, I am just not interested any more. I basically force myself to eat meals so that I don't find myself grazing all day long. That would be so much easier, but it's a bad habit and when I am able to eat more normal amounts, I don't want that grazing to have become my eating pattern.
Until next week...
First, since I haven't posted my stats in a while, I thought I would take a journey back to the begining.
My highest weigh was 224.4
My surgery weight was 216.0
Today's weight 195.2
After I broke the dreaded stall last week, the weight has been coming off at a steady pace. Sometimes I find myself dwelling on when the next stall will occur, but I try to keep that out of my head and just enjoy the weight loss that is happening right now. I keep reminding myself that I am only 6 weeks out from surgery. All those old sayings rattle around in my head...you didn't put this weight on overnight and you won't lose it overnight...Rome wasn't built in a day...good things come to those who wait...etc. But the truth is I want to wake up tomorrow at goal. Who doesn't?? But the reality is that I will probably take close to the full year to get to my initial goal of 150. My dream goal of 130??? Maybe...but I can't think that far in advance. 150 is far enough in the future and completely attainable, so that is where I am setting my sights for now.
This week is going to be a bit challenging. My daughter is on vacation and I am taking care of her puppy. I have a 16 year old dog myself and have been completely spoiled by how self sufficient she is. Since mostly what she really likes is to cuddle up on the bed and sleep while I watch TV in the evenings, we are a perfect pair! Enter a lively, wiggly, needy puppy and our world is on tilt!! Pepper doesn't understand "me time". LOL How dare I try and go to the bathroom by myself !! I think she thinks I hoard all the bones in the bathroom and that's why I won't let her in!! LOL So far (day 4) Pepper thinks that a great time to get up in the morning is 6am. While on a work day I wouldn't mind getting up 30 minutes earlier than usual, on a Sunday morning it's brutal !! Having her has also put a kink in my workouts, but it's only for 4 more days, and I can jump back into the swing of things after that.
This coming weekend is my mother-in-laws memorial service. We have a lot of her family coming into town from California and the East Coast so I have offered my spare bedrooms to them. The problem is that those bedrooms have been empty except for when my college daughter comes home periodically. So I have had to clean those rooms, change the linens, open windows to air them out, etc. I should have done all this last week "pre-puppy", but of course I didn't!! Now with Pepper in tow, I am attempting to do it all. If I could only convince her that she should stay off the bed until after I finish making it!
I still feel like having a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy was the best possible decision for me. I don't have any regrets...about having the surgery, or going to Mexico to have it done. I have healed really well (my incision scars are just tiny pink lines now) and although I still can't eat more than about 1/2 a cup of food at each meal, that food goes down well and I have not had any pain or vomiting like I read some people have to deal with. One interesting thing I have noticed is that I get very bored at meals. I think I am hungry, and then I sit down to eat and after a few bites, I am just not interested any more. I basically force myself to eat meals so that I don't find myself grazing all day long. That would be so much easier, but it's a bad habit and when I am able to eat more normal amounts, I don't want that grazing to have become my eating pattern.
Until next week...
Sunday, March 15, 2015
The stall is broken and I'm in ONEderland!!!
Wow - an 18 day stall...I wasn't mentally prepared for that! I figured 4 days, maybe a week...that's all it will take. After all, I know the small amounts I am consuming. I know that I am drinking nothing but water. I know that I went to the gym 4 times last week. But every morning I would get on that scale, sure that this will be the day it moves, and nothing. During that 18 days my weight fluctuated between 200.2 and 204!! Mathematically it just didn't seem possible, and yet there it was.
Until today...
I almost didn't even get on the scale this morning. After all, Mondays are my official weigh in day. And before week two of this stall, I wasn't weighing myself every day. But after about day 10 of the stall, that scale called to me incessantly every morning. Today might be the day, it would call as I was in the shower. You should just step on and see, it would call as I was packing my lunch for work. And like a child to the pied piper I would head in to the bathroom and hop on. It really got to be depressing about day 15. I had added gym time to my schedule and my friend and I went 4 times last week. I had sore muscles, drank more water, and knew I had to be burning extra calories and fat and yet Mr. Scale said "nay-nay" you weigh the same as before!! Until today...
I know that this journey is about more than a number on a scale. Really, I know that. But this was a big leap, that illusive ticket to ONEderland. I just really wanted to scale (no pun intended) that mountain and get to the other side. And now I have.
I hope that the scale is kind for a few weeks. I hope that my next stall only lasts a week. But regardless of all that, today I will celebrate the glorious fact that my weight starts with a 1. I have earned it! Until next time...
Until today...
I almost didn't even get on the scale this morning. After all, Mondays are my official weigh in day. And before week two of this stall, I wasn't weighing myself every day. But after about day 10 of the stall, that scale called to me incessantly every morning. Today might be the day, it would call as I was in the shower. You should just step on and see, it would call as I was packing my lunch for work. And like a child to the pied piper I would head in to the bathroom and hop on. It really got to be depressing about day 15. I had added gym time to my schedule and my friend and I went 4 times last week. I had sore muscles, drank more water, and knew I had to be burning extra calories and fat and yet Mr. Scale said "nay-nay" you weigh the same as before!! Until today...
I know that this journey is about more than a number on a scale. Really, I know that. But this was a big leap, that illusive ticket to ONEderland. I just really wanted to scale (no pun intended) that mountain and get to the other side. And now I have.
I hope that the scale is kind for a few weeks. I hope that my next stall only lasts a week. But regardless of all that, today I will celebrate the glorious fact that my weight starts with a 1. I have earned it! Until next time...
Monday, March 9, 2015
The first "stall" and the frustration of it all...
I so wanted this post to be titled "I'm in onederland"...but that was not to be. I have hit my first "stall". Now, don't get me wrong, I knew a stall was in my future. Every time I have ever lost weight in my life, I lose a lot in the beginning. But inevitably, I hit the stall. Most times, that was the beginning of the end of that diet. I mean, why deprive myself of all the foods I love if I am not even losing weight? But this time it's different. I have not come this far to let a stall derail me!
So...what does a woman do who is on day 15 of a stall? I have been at 200.4 for 15 days!!! Well, I have tried to drink more water and I have made sure that I am getting all my protein in each day. None of that seems to have budged that scale. So it's time to drag out the heavy artillery! I have joined my friends gym. She and I have committed to 3 workouts per week together and one extra workout on our own. The gym was a little pricey for my budget, but after some wheeling and dealing they got the membership down to where I felt like I could afford it. Tomorrow I will go and meet with a trainer and get my fitness assessment and my workout plan. I feel like this is the start of another faction of my health. My friend and I have talked about how we want to try new things. We are looking at all the classes the club offers and have pledged to try at least two new classes each month to keep our workouts from being too boring. The gym is directly in my path home from work, so there is no excuses for not pulling my car into the parking lot and burning some calories!!
So with all that being said, I WILL get to that onederland post!! Until then...
So...what does a woman do who is on day 15 of a stall? I have been at 200.4 for 15 days!!! Well, I have tried to drink more water and I have made sure that I am getting all my protein in each day. None of that seems to have budged that scale. So it's time to drag out the heavy artillery! I have joined my friends gym. She and I have committed to 3 workouts per week together and one extra workout on our own. The gym was a little pricey for my budget, but after some wheeling and dealing they got the membership down to where I felt like I could afford it. Tomorrow I will go and meet with a trainer and get my fitness assessment and my workout plan. I feel like this is the start of another faction of my health. My friend and I have talked about how we want to try new things. We are looking at all the classes the club offers and have pledged to try at least two new classes each month to keep our workouts from being too boring. The gym is directly in my path home from work, so there is no excuses for not pulling my car into the parking lot and burning some calories!!
So with all that being said, I WILL get to that onederland post!! Until then...
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Tragedy and memories
Yesterday I experienced the first "stresser" since my surgery when I got a late night phone call telling me that my mother-in-law had passed away. One year and one month ago my husband passed away and I have come to dread late night phone calls. Got up, got dressed, grabbed a water bottle and headed (with my sister-in-law) to help her husband in any way we could. Several crying jags and many hugs later I fell into bed in time to get about 4 hours of sleep. Then got up and got started on the million and one things that have to be done before her service later this month. Phone calls to make, an obituary to write, a myriad of decisions to make and during all of it reminding myself to just breathe.
Now it's evening again and as I sit here consumed by memories it occurred to me that for the first time in my adult life I made it through a very difficult day without turning to food. Wow...I have to let that soak in for a minute. When my husband passed away, I at pizza for an entire week. A lot of pizza...it was the only thing that I wanted. When my mom passed away I drank. When life got the better of me from time to time I either drowned my sorrows or ate them away. Today, I had my protein shake to start the day, and then I had left over salmon to finish the day, and not once did I dream of hitting a drive through, or a liquor store. In fact, I am sitting here right now looking at my wine rack and am not even tempted.
Part of it is certainly due to the fact that I know if I eat or drink the wrong things I will immediately feel sick. That is a powerful deterrent! But the miracle of today is that I didn't even WANT those things! Dare I hope that my mind is turning away from the destructive behaviors of my past? I have decided to just put today in the victory column and worry about tomorrow when it arrives. I know my husband would be cheering me on today and I am comforted by the thought of him reunited with his mother. Life is not easy...this journey is not easy...but I am finally beginning to see that I am worth the work! Goodnight all.
Now it's evening again and as I sit here consumed by memories it occurred to me that for the first time in my adult life I made it through a very difficult day without turning to food. Wow...I have to let that soak in for a minute. When my husband passed away, I at pizza for an entire week. A lot of pizza...it was the only thing that I wanted. When my mom passed away I drank. When life got the better of me from time to time I either drowned my sorrows or ate them away. Today, I had my protein shake to start the day, and then I had left over salmon to finish the day, and not once did I dream of hitting a drive through, or a liquor store. In fact, I am sitting here right now looking at my wine rack and am not even tempted.
Part of it is certainly due to the fact that I know if I eat or drink the wrong things I will immediately feel sick. That is a powerful deterrent! But the miracle of today is that I didn't even WANT those things! Dare I hope that my mind is turning away from the destructive behaviors of my past? I have decided to just put today in the victory column and worry about tomorrow when it arrives. I know my husband would be cheering me on today and I am comforted by the thought of him reunited with his mother. Life is not easy...this journey is not easy...but I am finally beginning to see that I am worth the work! Goodnight all.
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