Lavender

Hey all...
 
Wow time has really flown by!
I can't believe how long it has been since i have updated my little blog here. I am sorry I have been so busy and distracted.
 
Well for my numbers! I am 10 weeks out and have lost 62lb! I have gone from a 47BMI to a 37BMI. I am very happy with my results. I don't think I would call my self a supper fast looser, but I am keeping it steady. Other thank a 3 weeks stall somewhere in the middle, I have been loosing about 3lb a week. That I can live with
I have gone from a size 22/2X to a size 18/XL I am so happy! And everyone is really starting to notice the changes. I think that is one of the most encouraging things...
 
I have also begun to really like exercise! I have started going to Zumba once or twice a week depending on my schedule... I just love it! For all of you girls out there who hate exercise but love to dance, this is for you! The friends you make at these classes are supper awesome! They keep you motivated, and wanting to come back. Its like a little support group all its own. At least that is how mine is, I really hope they are all like that...
 
I know My Fitness Pall is my life saver and best friend lately... All of my friends who are on there supporting me every day are just wonderful! Thanks so much! You keep me going! If any of you want to follow me or need a little extra support of your own you can friend me on MFP my screen name is the same. amberlydw8
 
I have some new NSV's over the past few weeks...
I can cross my legs!!! It has been forever since I have been able to cross my legs! Awesome!
I can run for and not feel like I am going to die! (not very far, but its so much better than before!)
My knees, feet and back don't hurt anymore!
I don't feel like the "fat girl" in the room anymore! I know I have a ways to go yet, but its amazing the change in my confidence levels...
I can walk miles with out getting tired!
I have a waist line! Its awesome!

Well, That is what I got so far... Everyone keep up the good work...
Let me know if you have any questions I am an open book
or if any NSV's of your own you want to share!

My, my, my... where do I even begin?
 
Let's see. My life has drastically changed. I'm a different person, inside and out. And oh yeah, I found someone who loves me and my child and wants to marry me. Yup. Life is good. Wait... no.... life is GREATTTTTT!
 
 









 
Bottom line, my life didn't begin until I had VSG. Plain and simple. No diet, no magical pill, no trainer workout session would ever get me to the point where I am today. I'm now smaller and weigh less than I did when I was in high school. I had a lifetime membership to the fat kids club, and now I'm on the outside looking in. If I could afford to pay for all my overweight friends and family to get this surgery, I would do it in a heart beat. This has been a high photographic month for me. My boyfriend and I are NOT engaged... yet. However it's on the horizon and we had formal pictures done with my son, and then last week I went on Vacation and he and I went to Las Vegas for 4 days with friends, followed by a week with my family in Colorado. It was amazing. And I lost weight on vacation.... my sleeve is a miracle worker! While the pounds aren't coming off as drastically as they use to, they are coming off. I'm still eating a pretty clean diet, and I work out 3 to 4 days a week for a couple of hours at the gym that has onsite daycare for my son. My schedule is a hectic mess, but once again- if I can do this- ANYONE can do this. There is no magical one thing I did. I did it all. I worked out as much as I could, forced my water consumption, and ate clean. The sleeve did the rest, and the proof is in the pics.
 
Interesting side story:
 
While on vacation I visited with my aunt, who has been my stand in mother my entire life, has been battling with a number of major issues that have made her gain 90 lbs over the past 7 years or so. Always a pillar of health, when menopause set in, followed by a major back surgery, she couldn’t stop the weight gain. Last month she found out she has major artery blockage, horrible cholesterol, and high blood pressure. They put her on a super intense strict diet. I sat her down, and told her EVERYTHING. She knew I had VSG, but I told her the good the bad and the ugly. I even told her I went to Mexico for the surgery (she was VERY upset, and I figured this might be her response…).
 
Then she said something interesting- she told me I was a walking billboard for VSG. We went to lunch and dinner several times together, and she was watching my eating and drinking habits, and started asking me how I was a 2 bite wonder? How I could eat a little bit of everything but not binge? And asked me about how my hunger has lessened, if not almost totally disappeared.She has never seen me so healthy and happy. She said my weight really messed with my head and my life decisions, and she sees how drastically I’ve changed over the past year, and she was so proud. And also found out VSG is covered by here insurance! She has already made the doctors’ appointments to look into it. I’m so blessed and thankful; she looks at me as a success story. She said she would NEVER have considered it if I hadn’t done it. While I wish I could get all of my overweight friends to invest into the VSG surgery, it’s absolutely humbling that someone so close and important to me would consider this surgery. I truly hope she follows through with it, and I hope I’m there when she has surgery.
 
 
Height: 5'9
 
Highest (Surgery) Weight: 216 lbs
Current Weight: 147.1 lbs
 
Weight Loss to Date: -68.9 lbs
 
1st Primary Goal Weight: 169 (Achieved 11/27)
2nd Optimal Goal Weight set by Doc: 145
3rd Final Personal Goal Weight: 135
 
Sleeve Journey:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 8/17/12- PreOp/Surgery Day w/Pics Posted in Blog
Week 1 (8/24): 204.8 (-11.2)
Week 2 (8/31): 200.6 (-4.2)
Week 3 (9/7): 196.8 (-3.8)
Week 4 (9/14): 193.5 (-3.3)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 9/17/12- 1 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-22.5 lbs)
Week 5 (9/21): 191.6 (-1.9)
Week 6 (9/28): 190.1 (-1.5)
Week 7 (10/5): 187.0 (-3.1)
Week 8 (10/12): 181.9 (-5.1)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 10/17/12- 2 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-11.6 lbs)
Week 9 (10/19): 181.4 (-.5)
Week 10 (10/26): 177.9 (-3.5)
Week 11 (11/02): 176.8 (-1.1)
Week 12 (11/09): 174.7 (-2.1)
Week 13 (11/16): 173.3 (-1.4)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 11/17/12- 3 Month Anniversary w/Pics Posted in Blog (-8.6 lbs)
Week 14 (11/23): 173.1 (-.2)
Week 15 (11/30): 167.3 (-5.8)
Week 16 (12/7): 168.1 (+.8)
Week 17 (12/14): 164.6 (-3.5)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 12/17/12- 4 Month Anniversary (-8.7 lbs)
Week 18 (12/21): Holiday Break/Vacation- No Scale Available
Week 19 (12/28): Holiday Break/Vacation- No Scale Available
Week 20 (1/4/13): 164.5 (-.1)
Week 21 (1/11): 161.5 (-3.0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 01/17/13- 5 Month Anniversary (-3.1 lbs)
Week 22 (1/18): 161.7 (+.2)
Week 23 (1/25): 158.7 (-3.0)
Week 24 (2/1): Out of town- No scale Available
Week 25 (2/8): 157.2 (-1.5)
Week 26 (2/15): 157.2 ( .0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 02/17/13- 6 Month Anniversary 157.2 (-3.3 lbs)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 03/17/13- 7 Month Anniversary 153.9 (-3.3 lbs)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 04/17/13- 8 Month Anniversary 150.8 (-3.1 lbs)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> 05/17/13- 9 Month Anniversary 147.1 (3.7 lbs)
 
 

In 5 days I will make 16 weeks post op. I had surgery on January 30, 2013.
 
My weight loss has been an average of 15 pounds of month. My last 4 weeks I actually lost more than the previous 4 weeks. I'm pretty sure it had everything to do with upping my calories from 600 to 1000 and my exercise.
 
Total loss as of today is 70 pounds!!!
 
I was always worried I wasn't losing fast enough throughout this process, but in the past week I think I have come to terms with not being a super fast loser. I mean 70 pounds in approximately 4 months is pretty amazing to me. And as for the eating part it has been fairly effortless. My main struggle has been trying to get in more calories to sustain my intense workouts. Long term, if I only lost 10 pounds a month that is still 120 pounds in a year!!!
 
My anxiety has definitely lifted regarding the scale. I always felt this pressure to lose fast and hard...I think it was because I was going on vacation to see some of my friends and family and I wanted to lose as much as I could before seeing them. Well, my vacation is over and so is the pressure. I feel quite content with my weight loss and my successes as well as failures. I made decent choices on my vacation, but was far from perfect and lost over 6 pounds while on my vacation. It was so hard for me to not have access to a scale during that time and was pleasantly surprised when I came home and the scale had gone down!
 
I finally have FAITH in my sleeve. I feel if I make good choices that the weight will come off.
 
This is a good feeling for me to have. Everything seems so much clearer. I don't feel the stress of it all. I have faith in myself and my sleeve. Most importantly, I finally feel my life changing for the better and for the long term.
 
WHAT I NEED TO DO MOVING FORWARD
I have to readjust my goals and rewards because the more I lose the more they change. I also have to get back to the gym. I haven't gone since a couple days before my vacation...so that is almost 2 weeks. I also need to get back on track with my eating habits. Eating clean, healthy, and meeting my protein and caloric needs every day.
 
For those of you out there worried about losing slowly...don't! I know it is easier said than done, but in 4 months and you are 50, 60, 70 pounds down or more it is success and you should be excited and proud of yourself.

I had surgery exactly 2 wks ago today. I can't help but think I'm jumping the gun going back to work (this coming from the woman who asked her surgeon if it was possible to get back to work in ONE week, now suddenly I wish I had two more weeks!). I had mush brain for most of the afternoon. I had to sit through a reallllly stupid meeting for an hour and a half this morning and I basically spent the entire day resisting the urge to run out of the building and never come back.
 
I don't know if it's a coincidence or what, but after feeling great for about a week, I get back to work today and had a LOT pain on my left hand side. I think it's from the office chairs at work, which have always been uncomfortable. They are not built for fat people, let me tell you. I always feel like I'm spilling out of the thing and that it's not long enough in the seat to sit in any comfortable way. Well, with all the repositioning I have to do all day in that chair, I think it took its toll and my left side of by belly was aching by mid-morning.
 
I hate my job. Actually, my actual JOB is something I enjoy, I just really dislike the company and management. If I could work from home, I'd never leave my job!! Being away from it really amplified that fact, because going back felt like a shock to my system. I missed having a nap, I missed being able to sleep in, I missed being able to wear comfy pajamas all day. Basically, I missed being on leave!
 
In the back of my mind, when I decided to have this surgery, I said "When I lose some weight, I'm looking for a new job."
 
I went on a few interviews in the past year or so and always get passed over. I even had an interview at a company that a fellow coworker also interviewed for. She was not as qualified as I am, had way less experience, and I can only conclude that she got the job because she's thin and pretty. I don't mean to sound hateful, she was one of my closest work buddies and I miss her, but it just seemed like that's what got her hired. I remember going to that interview and not seeing a single fat woman there. That's just the society we live in. All of the jobs I've gotten, I was interviewed by an overweight woman. All the jobs I DON'T get are when I'm interviewed by a man or by a thin woman.
 
No, I didn't have this surgery to find a job. But I think if I can be slimmer, dress better and have more confidence, I'll be headed in the right direction to getting a new gig. Hopefully one that pays as well, because money is THE ONLY thing keeping me at my current job! :\
 
That was an unexpected tangent - but I can also share that I've moved on to the next diet stage, which includes soft meats like fish and deli meat. I haven't tried fish yet (not a huge fan, but would like to try it), but the deli turkey is working out great. I can have 1 or 2 slices and feel full. I haven't felt any hunger yet, but I am still fighting the urge to eat cuz I'm bored. That should calm down now that I'm back and work and out of the house most of the day. It was tough not reverting to old habits when I was just lounging around the house for days on end! Thankfully, even if I did eat out of boredom, I can eat so little that it's not a huge impact. Everything is going into MFP - I promised myself that I would track better after surgery, and I have.
 
I'm getting in about 800-1000 cals and 90-110g protein per day. Part of me thinks that is too much/too soon, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not. I don't plan to bump my calories up too much as I move through the stages, and I'm happy that I'm not struggling with the protein. Everything I have tried has gone down just fine. I've had a bit of gas here and there, but I just burp and feel fine. No pain, no vomiting or over stuffing myself yet. Been feeling okay overall... just bummed I'm not independently wealthy.
 
I've lost 21lbs since surgery 2 wks ago, but after the first week (which was mostly gas/fluids/swelling, my weight loss has slowed down. It's been 1lb every other day. I KNOWWW that's not bad, but considering that I started with a high BMI, I was hoping to be one of those folks whose weight slides right off. We'll see what happens. I'm hoping my soreness in my tummy with fade in the next 2 weeks so I can REALLY hit it at the gym. I feel like I can't even walk that fast right now because my belly moves around and hurts to much.
 
Well, I'm going to try for that nap I've been wishing for all day! Hope all my fellow May sleevers are doing well!

My surgery was April 17th. I took all my measurements the night before my surgery. I took them again tonight. I've lost a total of 14 inches! That's A LOT in one month! Here's how it looks.
 
I'm 5' 7".
 
Forehead 23 5/8 23 5/8
Neck 17 1/4 16 1/2
Chest 46 1/8 44
Breasts 48 1/4 47 1/2
Waist 46 45 1/2
Hips 52 1/4 51 5/8
Bicep-L 16 3/8 14 1/4
Bicep-R 16 15 1/4
Forearm-L 12 11 1/2
Forearm-R 11 1/2 11 5/8
Wrist-L 6 3/4 6 3/4
Wrist-R 6 3/4 6 3/4
Thigh-L 29 1/2 27 1/8
Thigh-R 29 3/4 28 1/8
Calf-L 17 3/4 17 3/8
Calf-R 18 17 5/8
Ankle-L 9 5/8 9 1/4
Ankle-R 9 3/4 9 3/8
 
I'm going to measure monthly. The results from inches lost will be a bigger victory than the pounds.
 
 

Have you experienced a stall in your weight loss? Has it been 2 weeks or more since the scale has moved? If so read on.
 
Chances are really good that IF you are following the Dr's guidelines you are most likely having small body adjustments and have lost size. Start by measuring your thighs, upper arm, forearm, neck, waist, hips, chest. I encourage everyone to do this twice a month. It a true stall is when all of your numbers, including the scale doesn't move. That is something you can show the Dr and NUT and you can work on figuring out how to solve the issue.
 
The scale can give discouraging (and misleading) numbers, but cover up the numbers with a piece of masking tape and put your goal weight on the tape. Only find out your true weight from your Dr. at check ups because that is the weight that is going to matter when it is jotted down in your record.
 
It is stressful enough trying to readjust to life post op and enjoy foods one at a time, why add more by constantly worrying about stalls?
 
In addition to measuring yourself I found out in my San Diego support group that many have experienced stalls/plateaus. Almost all of them swore by eating avocado with every meal for a week to break the plateau. View the .pdf file that explains a bit more about this and the science behind how this works.

Greetings from my hospital bed:
I am absolutely flabbergasted at how good I feel, already! Didn't sleep much more than an hour last night and arrived at 5:00 am to the pre surgical unit. I distracted myself with a book for some of the waiting time, and ended up not needing any anti-anxiety medication other than what was already in the plan. Yay me!
 
I woke up in the recovery room with a sore, dry throat and had already been given a pretty awesome painkiller by IV (some kind of pump). I am on a strict day of nothing by mouth and will be administered the leak test tomorrow morning. After that it will be clear liquids as tolerated for a couple of days.
 
The doctor said everything went well in the surgery so I am one Happy Cat! My husband has been an angel and helped me to the bathroom twice and took my arm for two short walks in the corridor. Other than a little dizziness and minimal nausea, I am truly blessed to be feeling great at the end of the first day of the rest of my life
 
I hope my sleeve sisters and brothers out there had the same experience, but I know that another phase will start tomorrow and am praying for the best!
 
Good night all and sleep tight xxx

So today I have my 4th appointment which is my second Bariatric class. I'm excited as this only leaves me with two more sessions before my paperwork is submitted to the board for approval. This process has gone quicker than I thought it would. Oh, and I've also decided to start attending an over eaters anonymous meeting. I never really thought of myself as an over-eater, however, I do eat when I'm bored so I guess that could be considered over-eating. I hope to get to the root of the problem and find some tools that I can use now and after surgery. I don't want to get the surgery and have the same issues that I started with. I have been doing a lot of life planning over the last couple of months and I'm just ready to get everything in order. Although I haven't gotten the surgery yet, just knowing that I'm going to get it has given me a second wind to get things going in the right direction. I'll write another blog to let you know how my class went. I'm not sure what she will cover, but I think it has something to do with the things you can and cannot eat after surgery.