momoffive

The camera starts when he starts freeing the stomach from the fatty tissue, and continues filming all the way through to them blowing up my stomach with air to check for leaks. It's 26 minutes long from start to finish--that fast!
 
I had such a curiosity to see what my insides look like! I'm glad I got to see it! My liver is really a gorgeous shade of mauve, and my fat is orange, and my stomach is red/grey, and the film over my diaphram is silvery. I thought pretty much everything inside was pink or red.
 
Anyway, after he freed the stomach, he cut off one lobe of it using some kind of a sonic cutter, then the bougie (the guide for my new stomach shape) came down my esophagus and he started cutting/cauterizing/stapling my stomach as he went from the bottom of my stomach to the top, getting tighter and tighter as he worked upward. This is to create a lot of restriction to help me to eat less, and to help food get funneled downward.
 
My surgeon said my surgery was pretty routine, with the exception of perhaps a little more bleeding than is usual (which was pretty easy to get under control). Oh, except one funny thing, when he got close to the top of the stomach nearest my diaphram I got the WORST case of chain hickups I've ever seen! It's all on video!
 
There's so many motions that go on inside--I saw the peristalsis of my intestine, I saw my heartbeat in the vibration of the walls of my abdomen, and I saw hickups from the inside! How weird is that?
 
If anyone is interested in seeing the video to see what happens, just send me a message! It's kind of a big file, so maybe I can get it up on Youtube 'cause its too big to send in email.

Inches Lost! Huzzah!
 
From 4/23/12
Waist: 5.5"
Under Breasts: 4"
Neck: 0.75"
Forearms: 0.75"
Upper arms: 1.25" (stupid bat wings!)
Upper thighs: 3" (woot! Thunder thighs are being defeated!)
Calf: 1.5"
 
 
Wow. Looking back on that it's amazing! I'm glad that I've kept a journal of my measurements because my body has really, really hated getting out of the 230's. It keeps flirting with 229 before mischeviously gaining another pound then losing it, then gaining...my fat cells have a nasty sense of humor! Yet looking back on this really shows me how far I've come in a little less than 2 months. I mean, seriously, I started out at 280 and now I'm at 231ish. Not bad, says I!
 
Father's Day kicked my rapidly diminishing butt today! Granted the bakery isn't as busy as it is on Mother's Day but in my (stupidity) I made this cake that looked like a grill with hamburgers and hotdogs on it and everybody and their sister wanted one for today! It's not that they're difficult to make, but that they're time consuming. Also, the Powers That Be (managers) decided that today would be a great day for there to be only one decorator. Which is total and complete crap. I seriously made 30 cakes today and people were buying them out of my hands. Ah well.
 
So as my weight loss has slowed to a crawl I've decided I need to step up my A Game. If my name was Stella I would definitely have to be getting my grove back! Yeah, ya'll heard it here first, ladies and gents, but Lyra is going baaaaaaaaack to Zumba. Hopefully my hips will be able to better shake my thang than they were almost 50 pounds ago.
 
Okay, another thing, I really really need a boyfriend. I'm about to molest a customer with how haywire my hormones are. I can picture it now....the innocent (and sexy) unaware male customer coming in to buy a cupcake....he stops and his head goes up as he looks around, sensing danger on the savannah....the wildly beautiful and slinky lioness (moi!) slowly tracks her prey that she plans to cull from the herd for nefarious purpases....she crouches...LEAPS...and pulls Mr Sexy down behind the Eclair case to have her way with him....aaaand black censor boxes go up as this is a PG rated crowd....*shakes herself* Okay, yeah, maybe I shouldn't be daydreaming while writing on the VSG website....
 
Growl. *grin*

A pal from my WL support group shared this one~
 
Eight Signs of Emotional Eating
 
A lot of people ask, "How do I know if I am over eating for emotional reasons?" If any of the following statements sound like they could apply to you, then it's likely you are struggling with emotional eating.
 
 
1. My hunger comes on suddenly. Physical hunger comes on slowly. Hunger from emotional eating often comes on quickly and suddenly.
 
2. I crave specific foods-generally not carrot sticks or steamed broccoli. Cravings for specific foods usually unhealthy foods are signs of emotional eating. Often people like the rush they get from satisfying their cravings. The rush is fulfilling emotional hunger.　
 
3. My hunger feels urgent- I need a particular food right away and I am willing to walk out of my way, or get in your car late at night, or raid my kids Halloween candy to get it. Physical hunger, unless you haven’t eaten for a long time, is usually pretty patient. It will wait for food. Emotional hunger demands to be satisfied immediately.
 
4. My hunger is often paired with an upsetting emotion- if I backtrack a few hours or a few days I’ll usually find an upsetting event and feeling that triggered the urge. Hunger thats comnnected to an upsetting emotion or situation is definately emotional hunger. Physical hunger is not typically triggered by emotions.
 
5. My eating habits involve unconscious eating-all of a sudden I’m eating ice cream and I find the whole contianer is gone.
 
6. I don’t stop eating in response to being full- I keep wanting more of the taste of the food. Physical hunger doesn’t need to be stuffed in order to be satisfied. Emotional hunger on the other hand often demands more and more food to feel satisfied.
 
7. My hunger isn’t located in the belly- I crave the taste of a certain food in my mouth or I can’t stop thinking of a certan food. Feeling hungry in this way is usually a sign of emotional hunger or binging. Physical hunger is happy to get what it can, while emotional hunger usually focuses on specific tastes and textures.
 
8. After I satisfy my hunger, I am often filled with a sense of regret or guilt.Feeding your body what it needs is not something to feel guilty about. If you feel guilty after you eat, it’s likely because part of you knows you’re not eating just to satisfy physical hunger.
 
When you’re eating for phyiscal reasons, you are usually mindful of what you’re doing. If you catch yourself eating, “just because”, then its likely you’re eating for emotional reasons.