New Measurements

Short post here since I'm at work.

I took my measurements this morning and I've lost another 17.75 inches since I last measured in March. How wild! I only lost 9 inches from Feb. to March, but from March to now, I lost twice that. It's quite funny to me how one month the inches don't go as much as in others. It's like little spurts of loss. Hey, I'll take it either way! I knew Gerald had said he could really tell it in my waist area. I lost 2 inches in my waist, 2 1/4 in my hips, and (BooHoo!) 4 inches in my bust! I knew the girls would go south at some point, and that point must be now!

In addition to my loss of inches, my weight loss for the month was 15 pounds. That's actually more than last month, and still right on track. I hope I can have one more good month like that. If I do, I'll be ecstatic! Mainly because it will mean that I am no longer morbidly obese according to a BMI chart! I actually will hit that mark in another 8 pounds! I can't wait!!!!

BTW, that's a grand total of 48.7 inches! I just can't wrap my mind around that.

More later when I have time!

3 month check up

We went down to Georgia last Thursday night after work. Managed to miss the nasty storms that rolled through Atlanta packing golf ball-sized hail though. Didn't get there until 2:00 a.m. Yowza! But the 4 hours sleep we did get were nice.

Went to Dr. Smith's office at 8:15 a.m. for my appt. with him, and then on to have blood drawn. I had wondered if I would weigh the same on his scales as on my own, so ours must be pretty close since I weighed a half pound less than the last time I weighed. I clocked in at 235.1 on the doc's scales. We talked about my vitamins and my diet. All doing pretty good with one notable exception. {Last Wednesday night I ate some barbecue and stew from Hog Heaven here in Durham. I ate too much and ate too fast. Once I took that last bite of stew, I knew it was not good and was way too late. Time I swallowed, I was running to the bathroom. And up it came. It was a horrid experience, but was nonetheless a very good teacher. Note to self: LISTEN to the dragon and what she tells you. Geesh! It took a good couple of days to get my insides to accommodate food again.}

Overall, I think Dr. Smith was really pleased with my progress. He whipped out the calculator and I knew what he was doing. He calculates that at 3 months post-op, I have lost 43.4% of my excess weight. Woo Hoo!!!! I am thrilled, and I even got a big ol' smile out of him (not an easy feat, I tell you)! He said it will probably slow down and I am prepared for that - of course I say that until it actually happens. I'm sure at that point I will panic. But, it does look like I have a decent chance at reaching goal, which for me is 135-140 pounds. That will put me at a normal BMI for a woman 5'3" tall. Of course, if I manage to gain the inch I lost while morbidly obese, that will be all the better. I don't care how tall I am, as long as I can run without pain so Gerald and I can run some half marathons together. I guess I'm just thrilled that Dr. Smith is so happy.

I got my blood drawn, and it will be a couple of weeks before I hear anything, I'm sure. He is going to make sure I get a copy of my results so I can track trends, and we will talk about tweaking my vitamins if I need to. He seems to think I might be ok since I started taking lots and lots right out of the gate. I knew I just didn't want to play catch up, especially with Vit. D and calcium. Not a good place to be.

Anyway, I have much more interesting stuff to talk about, but I also want to be able to post pictures, and I don't have them off the camera yet. I met one of my angelettes on Friday. Her name is Jill, and she is having surgery with Dr. Smith tomorrow, Wed., April 29th. I'll post our picture soon. I also met a great group of gals at IKEA on Saturday down in Atlanta that are all pre-op. I was able to answer some questions and generally reassure them that they will love their DS, too! And now, this coming weekend, I will be going to Leicester, NC (outside Asheville) to visit with my other angelette, Nancy. Her surgery will be with Dr. Smith on May 20th. I'm so excited for both Jill and Nancy! And hey, it makes me feel good to pay this wonderful new life forward. I might look a lot better, but you can't put a price tag on feeling like a million bucks!

I broke into the 230s!!!

Hot damn!!! I am SO excited. In just 2 more pounds, I will weigh the same as Gerald! Call that hitting my 1st goal. I can't wait!

Frankly, I had worried that I might have stalled because my cousin Stephen's birthday party was this weekend. We partied hard! I made coleslaw, baked beans with molasses in it (YUM!), and deviled eggs. I only made 72 deviled eggs, for cripe's sake! Of course, they are the perfect DS food! It was all so very good. And I was faithful to my DS in that I only ate protein and a little tiny bit of coleslaw and beans. I did eat about a teaspoon of butter cream icing off his birthday cake, but it was SO worth it! It was yummy. I also had one forkful of chocolate cupcake (from Costco). Both of the sweets passed the "bliss" test, so I was glad I ate them. (The "bliss" test is that I ask myself if eating this food will bring me bliss. If the answer is yes, then I have one bite. And that one bite is savored and enjoyed. Not a bad way to have goodies and not feel deprived, if you ask me.)

I am just so freakin' excited to be here, in the 230s. I can't believe that I have lost damn close to 70 pounds - 67 to be exact. It feels unreal. I even noticed yesterday that my black jeans that I got back into 20 pounds ago are loose on me! That seems totally unreal! I even wore a size 18 top yesterday and a size 18 blazer that I have not worn in years either! I am really trying to enjoy these clothes while I can. It will be interesting to take measurements this month (next week) to see how body shape is changing.

I'm really excited to be heading to Atlanta next Thursday so that I can see Dr. Smith next Friday. I am anxious to have my labs done so that I can track my vitamin levels. I started on 50K IU of dry D and 25K IU of dry A as soon as I got home and I am hopeful that my levels have stayed the same, if not, increased some. I think Dr. Smith will be pleased with my progress. According to my calculations, if my goal weight is 140, I have lost 41% of my excess weight. If I lose another 4 pounds next week, I will be at 43% excess weight lost by the time I see him. If I am to be on track to lose 100% of my weight, the general guidelines are to have lost 25% by 3 months, 50% by 6 months, and 80% by 1 year. If I can keep this pace up, I am actually on schedule to lose it all by my 1 year anniversary, probably more like by 9 months post-op. I do realize it will slow down, but I am working my butt off to make sure I keep my metabolism up by exercising and by keeping my carb intake low.

Now, if only I could eat a hamburger patty without it sitting like a ton of bricks in my belly.....

Oh, and if you're reading this Nancy (and Carla), when are you two hussies coming over here so Nan can raid my closet?!?! For Nan, I have linen. For you, Carla, I have wine and beer! Call me!!!

10 weeks ago today......

... I climbed up on a surgical table that would change my life. I can't believe it's been 10 weeks. I remember being in the very early stages of post-op life and only being able to drink those awful liquids and thinking I'd never make it to better days. Invariably, every one of my post-op friends swore to me it would get better and darned if it hasn't! Of course then I was cursing them under my breath... LOL. But the proof is in the pudding as they say. And this morning I had a cup of coffee with cream and Splenda, one egg over easy and 2 slices of bacon. Life is indeed very good. If it's remotely possible to love bacon more since surgery, I think I'm there.

So on to the numbers. As of this morning, I am down to 242.4, which is 52 pounds lost since surgery and a total of 63 pounds from my highest weight. I can't believe that in just 3 more pounds I will be in the 230s, something I haven't seen since 2001 when Karen and I ran the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. I was SO in shape then, but for the sake of my knees, I am refraining from running until I hit the 200 pounds mark. One of my 1st goals is to weigh less than Gerald. I will do that this month. I am only 8 pounds away from weighing the same as him. It's going to be a glorious day when I hit that mark! I did take measurements on the 24th of March and I lost an additional 9.125 inches, for a total loss of 30.875 inches.

I've gone from a 46DD bra down to a comfortable 42D. Clothing sizes are harder to pin down, but I think I've gone from a 24/26 down to a 20. I can wear some things that are 18s and others that are 22s. Levis, for example, must run small because I'm in 22 in those. But I'll take it. All I know is that I haven't been able to wear those jeans in YEARS (and heck, they're practically brand new)! I can wear plain old XL sweat pants - not 1X, there IS a distinction. I can wear 18 tops and thanks to the "girls", I do still have to have 1X in some tops. But hey, a little while ago, a 1X would have been a dream. One thing that does surprise me is that I am finding out how to buy clothes that are comfortable but that fit. I'm used to wearing clothes that look like a tent. But the other day I bought a cute printed knit top from TJ Maxx. It fits me without being too tight. I put it on last Saturday and Gerald said, "Damn Baby, you look hot!" Did I mention that I love that man?

So while I do long to see more changes faster, I can see the changes that have taken place. I do have to remind myself to look for them. I still wonder what I will look like when I reach goal weight. It boggles the mind. I hope I am lucky enough to see people that don't recognize me. That would be SO cool! This truly IS a gift and a journey. I am enjoying taking the scenic route, because so far, the scenery is really improving. I thank God each and every day for my life and the gift of having a healthier new me!

Now, if only I can get my friend Nancy to come raid my closet. There is a lot of beautiful linen here with her name ALL over it!

9 1/2 Weeks from surgery- if only I had (the hot) Mickey Rourke this long....

Wow, I knew it had been too long since I'd updated, but I had no idea it had been this long. Sorry about that to my friends and family who read to try and check in on me and how I'm doing. I will try to do better, promise.

So... I passed the month 2 mark. I lost a total of 14 pounds in month 2, but was disappointed with it because I wanted it to be more like 16 pounds by that point. And you may say, well, that only 2 pounds, but to me it might as well be 20. I know, the mind plays cruel tricks.....

Now here I sit at 9 1/2 weeks out (10 weeks on Wednesday) and I am down to 246. That's a total loss of 59 pounds, 48 since surgery. I have decided that I will change and only weigh once a week rather than twice a week as I had been doing because I can't stand the constant up and down. If it looks like that starts to drive me crazy, then I may go to weighing less frequently than that. I am trying to focus on getting in protein 1st and then indulging in some veggies. I have had a couple of days where I ate some bread and it did bother me, so I'm cutting it back out. I have stopped really measuring my food, but I think I need to get back in that habit as well. My eyes have always been larger than my tummy. But oddly enough, I got 3 Chicken Selects from McD's yesterday and I could only eat 1. I eventually ate the other 2, but it took me a couple more hours. So although I feel like at times that I eat too much, if I stop and think about it, I still consume WAAAAYYYY less than I used to. Again, cruel mind games. They say they operate on our guts, not our heads.

Gerald and I go to the gym at last 3 times a week, and more often than not, it's 4-5 times a week. I'm building muscle because I can see it and feel it, but I am experiencing a few problems as a consequence. I think that because my core isn't as strong as it could/should be, I am having some back issues. I have to remind myself that I still have a herniated disc in my lower back. Recently it has started to remind me that it's still there. No numbness or lasting pain, but at times I can be sitting still in a chair and have fleeting shooting pains run from my lower left back down my left leg and to my foot. For a few seconds, it hurts tremendously and feels slightly weak. But it always goes away. I asked the doc about it and she said that there's not much to do unless it goes numb again. Oh great. I suppose I'll just have to deal with it. But I did rest an extra day today and will go back to the gym tomorrow. I'm trying to be mindful of better posture as well. My Nanny would be so proud.....

As for the head issues, I'm going to a book discussion tomorrow night that is growing out of our monthly WLS support group locally. I'm the only DS-er in the group, but my head doesn't know the difference. We're going to be discussing and working through the book The Beck Diet Solution, written by Dr. Judith Beck. She doesn't target any specific diet, but rather the emotional/mental issues associated with weight loss, whatever the mode of achievement. I think it will be a really good exercise for me because I have been so focused on getting back to normal that now I need to find a new normal that is truly compatible with my new physiology and life.

Well, that's just a few of my many ramblings. I'm off to finish some housework. I weigh in on Wednesday, so I'll post an update then. I think, too, it will be time for another picture. I sure do hope I sprout some collarbones pretty soon!