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Because that is where I am spending my day. My daughter's middle school is having a Narnia celebration and I have volunteered to be a photographer. I think I will hide some jerky in my camera bag, I hope Aslan doesn't mind. My daughter and I ready for a day in Narnia.

Seriously??? Did that happen to ME?? Three co-workers called me skinny yesterday. I have NEVER, and I mean NEVER, EVER, EVER been called skinny in my entire life. I am still trying to process the new me. It has taken some adjustments, especially trying to shop for clothes. I don't know what size to buy anymore---I find myself gravitating naturally toward the plus sizes. I still feel like and see myself as the fat girl, and it shocks the heck out of me to see a picture of myself. This is so bizarre, but totally bizarre in a wonderful, surreal way. I decided to have the sleeve for better health, and before the surgery, being thinner was not the biggest motivation for me. I have never been thin, and I had no plans or big ideas about what I would look like after losing weight; I just wanted to be healthy. I thought I was so prepared emotionally and mentally, but I just can't comprehend this new person I see in the mirror. I am very grateful that the weight is coming off, and having met my goal of being healthy has been great. But, I don't know how to deal with all of the attention I am getting. Part of me, of course, likes to hear the compliments. But, a great part of me is kind of embarrassed, shy, and feeling a bit overwhelmed with the questions: how are you doing this, give me some pointers, show me what you are doing, etc. Until I saw a recent picture of myself and compared it to my before picture, I just didn't realize the change in my body---I look in the mirror every day, so I don't see the changes as much. I have not shared how I am losing weight with a lot of people, so the questions of how I am losing weight is a bit difficult for me to answer. My standard answer on how I am losing weight is HARD WORK! I sometimes feel deceitful when people ask me how I am losing weight, but hard work it is!! I tell them I am on a high protein, low carb diet, and that I exercise at least 4 times a week. And that is the absolute truth! Does anyone else feel bad for not sharing the whole story when people ask you how you are losing weight?

Hi all...I am almost 5 weeks post op! Wow the time has flown by! Sorry I have not been on here in a while giving an update or posting about something I have kinda been in what some people call a "stall" for the past two weeks. Kinda puts a damper on things. The first week I was really pretty ok with it. I had just lost 40lb in 2 months and was just stoked to start seeing the changes in my body and in my attitude/personality. Then by the 2nd week it just started to get depressing, I even gained 1 pound... I started getting a little mad and was trying to figure out how to amp up my loss again. I had just started adding solid foods back into my diet but I was not getting over 600-700 cal a day. (which I thought was good) I was having a little bit of a hard time with my protein and liquid intake. So I figured that must be the problem. Last Tuesday I had my first WLS support group meeting with my supper awesome friend Tina. By some amazing divine appointment God had them focusing on PROTEIN! She had a ton of samples to try from different products and gave us a bunch of ideas on how to add bits of protein to our diets through out the day. Apparently just about everyone in the group had been struggling with some kind of stall recently and so that was the topic of focus! How perfect for me And because I know how common it is for us new VSG'ers to have a hard time with proper protein levels I thought I would share what I learned, my new favorite products, and a few new ideas on how to use protein. First, my new best friend is "Big Train". I have always loved this brand but had no idea that they had a bariatric friendly line of protein powders. So now I can have my love of coffee and drink it too I do live in Seattle... Its almost against the law to not like coffee over here... lol Here is the link for the Big Train drinks. I love them! The cool thing is, I can not taste the protein in them at all! I have tried the vanilla and the espresso (both are fantastic) and have just ordered the sampler pac to try the rest before purchasing in bulk... http://www.bigtrain.com/coffee-protein-drink-mix-powder-fit-frappe-c-143.aspx My 2nd new brand of protein is Chike... I had never heard of this brand till my meeting this week. I tried the coffee flavor and again it was really good! I ordered the sample pac of this brand also. I really like being able to take a little packet of powder with me rather than mixing up a whole days worth at once. I need to find some kind of little container that holds one serving though, because it is so much cheaper to buy the tub rather than the packets... Anyway, here is the link for Chike. http://www.chikenutrition.com/buy-chike.html Third... I know most of you guys know about Unjury. But recently I have made a few friends who had never heard of it. For all of you newbies out there here is an awesome product! Unjury is said to be one of the best forms of protein. One of the best on the market. Its protein has really good absorption into the body. I have been told some of the cheaper proteins don't benefit the body as well as others. I totally get that, most food now a days dose not benefit the body at all so I am sure they cheat on this kind of stuff also... Anyway, Unjury makes a "non-flavored" powder that you can put in just about anything from soup to pudding, to drinks. I have been adding it to my Crystal Light or Mio drinks. When you add it to a fruity drink it kinda turns it into a cream cycle taste. Not bad when it is giving you 20+ grams of protein in each scoop... I also put some strawberry lemon-aid into a vanilla powder and it was pretty good too.. http://www.unjury.com/store/protein/ I also found this website http://www.bariatricchoice.com/bariatric-protein-shakes-smoothies-drinks-12.html It looks like it has a ton of different high protein options including Nectar (which I have ordered the sample pack but have not tried yet) It might be a cool place to get some extra ideas from. (And by the way I just started loosing weight again! I dropped 1 pound yesterday. I really believe its because I am drinking more and added more protein) So, to give you an idea on how I get my protein and liquids in... In the morning I start out with either a mixed fruit and veggie shake with a scoop of Unjury in it. Or, I have a coffee drink with either the Big Train or the Chike. Rite there in that morning drink I have just got 20 grams of protein in... As a snack I will have a cheese stick or cup of Greek yogurt. (6-12 g protein) Then for lunch I make sure to have some kind of meat, eggs or cheese. All of which are low in carbs. (remember we like low carbs During the day I will have a "snack" by putting one scoop of protein powder in with a beverage. There is another 20 grams. For dinner I have been trying to get in some veggies with my meat. So weather I have 1/2 a hamburger patty or a few ounces of fish, I try to get in either salad or another green vegetable. If I work it good like that, I am over 70 grams of protein. Plus the shakes alone have given me about 30 ounces of water so I only have to concentrate on another 30 through out the day. To tell you the truth, its the liquids I am still having trouble with. It is really hard to drink that much through out the day. But I am trying... I hope I was able to help some of you guys... I know I was really struggling with ideas on how to get enough every day... Good luck to you all! And let me know what you think of my ideas. Also, If any of you have some products or mix ideas for me please let me know! I am always looking for something new to try. Later all!!! "HUGS" Amber

Since this is my first entry, I will introduce myself. My name is Diane and I am married to a wonderful man named David who is also my pastor. I have 4 gorgeous children. My oldest son is 26 and married. They have given me the greatest gifts, GRANDCHILDREN! My grandchildren are 3 years old and twins who are 9 months old. They are such a blessing. My oldest daughter is 19 and is about to begin her 2nd year of college. She is beautiful and smart and is preparing to be a teacher. My youngest son will be attending college in the fall and His plans are to also become a teacher. He is probably the funniest guy around and can melt my heart in an instant! My youngest daughter is 16 and gorgeous. She loves sports and is a sophomore in High School. My children are all very active in church as well as our community. I am blessed beyond anything I could have ever imagined! I began my Weight Loss Surgery journey in 2010. I worked for months trying to obtain a 5 year history. Like many who are overweight, I just didn't go to the Dr. It seemed that regardless of my symptoms, it was always linked to being overweight so I found it easier not to go. I do not recommend this to anyone! I began my journey with the nutritionist. I had to have a 6 month medically supervised weight loss and did this for 4 consecutive months. At my 5 month visit, my mother had an emergency with her heart and I rescheduled my visit. I wasn't able to keep the rescheduled visit either. I made an appointment for 2 weeks later than the original visit and my nutritionist informed me that I would have to begin the process all over. I can't begin to tell you how much fun that was! In the process of beginning again, my insurance changed and my new insurance would not approve WLS. I was devastated. I couldn't believe that God would bring me this far and not make a way. I tried not to give up but didn't really follow the plans set up by my nutritionist. In 2012, I got new insurance. This one would approve my surgery. My new insurance required a series of visits at the gym along with some other procedures. I worked diligently to get all of those things done. In January of 2013, I was done.. Or thought I was done! I went for my pre-op class, had a date set for Feb. Much to my dismay, I received a call from the insurance lady at my Dr and was told that I would have to do the 6 months medically supervised diet all over again because my insurance required it all be done in the same year. My faith in God really kept me from giving up through all of these hurdles! The day I received that call that I would have to begin again, I began to pray. I prayed and prayed and prayed! I don't think I slept through the night because I kept praying. At 9 am the next morning, the insurance lady called and said that my insurance's medical director had called her and said they had decided to go ahead and approve me. PRAYER CHANGES THINGS!!!! I had Gastric Sleeve surgery the morning of March 8th. I was nervous as anyone would be but had a peace about it because I knew that God had paved the way for me to receive this tool! Surgery went better than expected! I was in very minimal pain. I was up walking within a few hours of surgery. I went home at noon the next day and never had to take pain meds. I was a little sore, but nothing unbearable. I have learned so many things throughout this journey and will be blogging here to share them, in case anyone can learn from my discoveries and mistakes! I'm an open book, so I don't mind anyone asking questions!

I have all I need for the liquid diet and want to know if anyone has any advice for liquids....especially for immediately after surgery so I know what to pack that I can drink.... Im starting to get excited and don't leave till wed but im still packing now!

I finally got a date for my surgery!!! OMG I was having a bad day Friday ..I got home saw d mail n saw d ins letter! I was all man I bet they denied me cause thats just the kinda day I was having... But when I started reading i saw ur ins has approved you!! I was woohoooooo I can't believe it!! I faxed it to d dr on Monday and got my date today!!! May 9th is the day!!!! I'm excited not scared yet maybe as time gets closer but right now I'm more scared of wut to tell my boss!! I don't wanna say why I'll be out for a week or why I'm getting skinny!! Ohhhh lorddddd lol

Welp, tomorrow is the big day! Arrive at the hospital @ 6:30 for surgery start @ 8:30. I'm not really nervous yet. More excited than anything. Weight has been a lifetime struggle for me, and finally I feel like I have a team on people on my side cheering me on. By far, the liquid diet has been the worst part of this experience. I didn't like soup before the diet, always been a salad person before a meal. About four days in, just the thought of having more soup turned my stomach. Sugar free jello, lowfat yogurt, and protien shakes really saved me here. I am sitting here at work just patiently waiting for 5:00 pm to hit. My bags are packed, all thats left is the showers with those spongy things and arrival. Before I know it I'll have a new tummy. I hope everyone else going through this experience has just as much excitement when they get to this stage as I do.

So I had 4 appointments yesterday...3 revolving around my sleeve and the other one was my dentist. My appointments were with my nutritionist, fitness trainer (part of my weight loss program), and my sleep specialist. Good news is I weighed in at 257 pounds! I don't have any complications and it seems I might be able to stop taking my nexium. Bad news is my premier protein shakes that I have had to drink twice a day have been staining my teeth! Ugh. So I guess I am going to have to switch from my chocolate version to a lighter color when I'm done with the 3 boxes I just bought from costco. My nutritionist appointment went fairly well. She doesn't have any real concerns. I learned that I have, once again, not been getting enough calories in. I average around 600 calories a day. According to her, others at this stage are already up to 1000 calories. I was concerned and asked her if this is going to affect my metabolism because it has been 3 months, basically, since my body has been in a severe calorie deficit. She recommended that I try real hard to get my calories close to 1000, but no more than 1200 so I don't hit stalls etc. I think if I could manage to eat that many calories, then I would lose weight more consistently and hit less stalls. My other appointment with my fitness trainer went well. She was impressed and very supportive about all the steps I am taking to be more active. I expressed a little disappointment with how "slow" my weight loss has been considering all the effort I put in and the first thing she asked me was, "are you getting enough calories?" So, right now, my calories are my main focus. I don't think I am a slow loser, but I think the weight should be coming off quicker considering my age, bmi, and activity level. I have always, in the past, lost weight fairly quickly so I feel something is just a little bit off. I am putting every effort into eating more calories. This is a daily struggle for me. I feel the only time I can manage upwards of 800 calories is if I eat slider foods, fried foods, or high sugar foods...all of which I want to try and avoid. I am still figuring all this out and am extremely frustrated!!! I never would have thought that I would be frustrated because I am having difficulty getting enough food!!! I want to do everything I can to keep the weight coming off at a consistent pace with no stalls. The only issue right now is that I am not eating enough calories to support my intense workouts. Yesterday, I tried real hard. I basically ate from the time I woke up until I went to bed. As soon as I could eat something...I did. I even let my husband take me to Ruby Tuesday's thinking this could help up my calories. At the end of the day, I did reach 1200 calories, but I felt crappy and overly full. I actually felt extremely tired like I was going to pass out...I think from eating too much. I don't like how I felt yesterday! Today, I wasn't hungry ALL DAY. I drank most of my meals. So I am sort of at a loss. If I stuff myself just to get my calories in, but am not hungry the whole next day, then what? All in all, I don't want to stuff myself. I want to just eat normally when I'm hungry. I guess I just need to find higher calorie foods or make them. I am extremely dedicated in upping my calories because I truly feel that my weight loss will be better and more consistent. Oh and I am definitely losing some hair. No one can tell, but me because I have soooo much hair! My brush has extra hair in it, my rubberbands, and the hair catcher has extra hair. I hope it doesn't get too bad, but it was still worth getting my sleeve.

On 4/11 I walked into the hospital to begin my pre-op/ pre-admission testing. Just a quick one and a half hours later and I was walking out a bit perplexed. I know surgery is a very serious thing and of course understand that I have to explain my medical history to the hospital so they can properly treat me. However, do I have to repeat myself 2-4 different times?!?!? Is it wrong of me to have been annoyed by this fact? Now don't get me wrong EVERYONE was super nice and professional and great to talk to. I just wish we could have sped the process up and done one big gigantic group interview. I mean you guys are asking almost the same exact questions. Then filter out the questions no one else needs and you can come into the room by yourself and ask those. Otherwise, let's get this show on the road here people! Nothing beats the next part of my day - going to my surgeon's office for my pre-op appointment.There were times during this appointment when I wished I was a ninja :ph34r: so I could sneak out of there without him looking. He made me so nervous. I swore at times it felt as though I was being interrogated. "Remember Kristina, if there is anything you need us to know, now is the time to tell me." OMG what do I need to tell you. Do you want intimate details of my life?!?! Do you want to know that I stole a make-up compact when I was 14 years old? That I cut classes in high school and got caught. I mean I felt like this was SUPER over done here. "Ok well if anything comes up, if anything changes, you let us know right away." Maybe he was being this way because I am a fairly healthy person besides the fact that I have about 100 pounds of FAT sitting all over my body of course! Which in the long run does not make me very healthy at all. I have high cholesterol but it is not being treated bc my primary doctor didn't think it was necessary with the surgery in the works. What do you want me to tell you Doctor Chau??? Needless to say I walked out of the office feeling a little strange! Most importantly, I found out that I will need to be a participant in the wonderful Liver Shrinking diet for at least one week. I have already begun the diet in a small way and switched my breakfast for a protein shake. I am undecided as to when I will incorporate my lunch in the mix. I went food shopping over the weekend and bought a ton of fresh fruits and veggies to start using those as snacks as per the diet. I EVEN TRIED COTTAGE CHEESE FOR THE FIRST TIME! MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!!!! It really isn't that bad. All these years I was afraid of it due to it's appearance. And they say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. SHEESH man am I guilty of that. I am sorry to have judged you Mr. Cheese.