So today is my four month surgiversary.  I am down 50 lbs. from my high preop weight and have 49 lbs. left to lose to get to my ultimate goal.  I am feeling really good!

Yesterday I had my first physical with my primary care doc (actually PA).  My weight with clothes on (jeans, tank, lightweight cotton shirt over the tank, and underwear) was 183.  My home scale said I weighed 181 so I think my home scale is accurate, maybe even a little on the high side (I assume my clothes weighed 3 or 4 lbs, but maybe not.  I wish I had thought to weigh myself immediately before or after seeing the doctor, but alas I didn't).  My blood pressure was 118/80, which I believe is very normal.  I have to get a blood test to check my vitamin, mineral, and cholesterol levels.  The PA had never even heard of VSG and I had to explain it to her.  She didn't say a word about me going to Mexico, good or bad.  She did look at my incisions as part of the exam and said they looked like they were healing just fine.  She did seem pretty happy with my weight loss, although of course I am still considered pretty obese and have a long way to go to get to goal.  She did ask me how much weight I could lose with VSG and I said my dr. said I could lose up to 95% of my excess weight, and she seemed really surprised by that.  I guess time will tell how far I get.

I continue to get great restriction with my sleeve if I eat protein.  Today DH and I went to Famous Dave's for a late lunch/early dinner (I did 3 hours of fairly vigorous work in the garden -- building a raised bed from a kit, filling it with 8 large bags of potting soil, weeding a raspberry patch, etc.) so I was pretty hungry.  We ordered the half slab ribs platter to share (6 ribs, with a side of fries, baked beans, corn on the cob, and cornbread muffin).  I was able to eat 3/4 of one rib, a couple of fries, 3 bites of baked beans, and was totally stuffed.  My husband was happy as a clam because he got 5 ribs all to himself (and polished off the remaining part of my rib), all the corn, all the cornbread muffin, and almost all the fries.  Pre-VSG, we would share the same dinner, but have plenty of room left in our tummies for dessert (we would share a piece of pecan pie with vanilla ice cream).  Now we were both so full from the meal, we didn't have room for dessert.  

Let's see -- what else.  I am wearing size 16s and am able to now shop in Costco and Sam's Club for clothes -- I could never do that before and it is exciting.  They have some good swimsuits for sale and I will probably buy a couple next month as I get closer to my trip to Hawaii.  

I am definitely losing more weight now that I am actively doing garden work, and that is a lot of fun.  I hope my increased activity will keep the calories burning and the weight coming off!

I have noticed another great thing -- I am sleeping longer every night.  I used to wake up at least once in the middle of the night, but now I sleep at least 7 hours, sometimes 8, before waking up, and i definitely feel better rested now than pre-surgery.  I think I had sleep apnea before surgery and while I may still have it, I am sleeping more soundly and better than I have in years.  That is also helping me have a good level of energy.

One final thing -- I started eating fruit again last week.  I bought some grapes the other day and they were fantastic -- like candy to me, but good for me.  I think all the time I've not had many sweets has made me more sensitive to sweetness so fruits taste sweeter and more delicious than they did before surgery.  Yay, another benefit of being sleeved!  

So all in all, it's been a good week and a great four months.  I am really excited to see how I progress now that summer will be here in a few weeks.  I think I will make my July 4th goal to be under 170 lbs. and I am really hoping next week when I post a blog entry I will be able to say I am in the 170s.