kristieshannon

These are all gorgeous, but I especially love the blush colored one. You are going to be the hot mama of the resort!

Another sunny day in Portland, another bikini pic. Besides my VSG, my boobs are my favorite investment I’ve made 😂

Those boots are amazing! Leather skirt or pants to go with? A slinky dress? You’ll definitely need to show us what outfit you pair them with!

My parents are prepping to downsize. They brought this when they came to visit me recently. Not only can I wear my high school letterman’s jacket, it’s actually roomy. And back then I thought I was fat!

Gorgeous! Seeing these kind of dresses is making me crave summer. I can just see you sitting on a tropical beach at sunset in that blue dress. Your waist looks tiny!

Do y’all get in ruts with food? I’ve had the same thing for lunch every day for a week. Still enjoying it though! Deli turkey wrap made with a carb balance tortilla, turkey, light cream cheese, and a sprinkle of everything but the bagel seasoning.

That is bizarre! I snapped about 6 pics, looked back and they all look like that. There is a regular strap-not sure why it looks like it’s missing !

Yes. While not ideal 4 days isn’t going to make a big difference in the grand scheme of things. Enjoy your trip!

Lounging in some early spring sun at Brasada Ranch in Central Oregon.

A couple days.

I also had major plastic surgery post weight loss:a tummy tuck with muscle repair & lipo to my flanks, a breast lift & augmentation, and an arm lift. I took three weeks off work and felt well enough to go back at that point. My PS was Jan of 2021. My breast scars are invisible, the TT scar has lightened up significantly. The arm lift scars are still pretty pink, but I’m ok with that. I’m so glad I took that next step.

Like most surgeries, my first three days were rough. I did make myself start walking right away. First day wasn’t much, maybe a block or so. I slowly increased every day. I’ve always felt gentle exercise helps me with pain control, plus it’s good for prevention of post op complications like blood clots and pneumonia. By week three I was back to work full time as a nurse.

I went to Dr. Alex Earle in Miami. He didn’t touch my legs, but the tummy tuck gave them a bit of a lift too. Down by my knees, not so much. A thigh lift will happen at some point but i just bought a home and am taking two big vacations this year so it’s been deferred.

I’ll chime in too. Plastics took care of this for me as well. I had a big hanging apron of skin pre plastics. Now it’s gone.

Not really photogenic, but man this is tasty. Cauliflower Parmesan.

Not an OOTD per se, but so grateful with the weight off I can wear heels again. Rocked these tonight on a date with skinny jeans and a body suit.

You could try freezing some of the leftovers. I do that often, then I can rotate through meals so I don’t get bored with them.

More soup for me. Today I challenged myself to find everything to make a pot at the Portland State University farmer’s market. The only things I added from my pantry were chicken stock and salt & pepper. I found at the market: Rainbow chard, butternut squash, wild mushrooms, shallots, garlic, rainbow carrots, thyme, rosemary, and organic free range chicken thighs. This will make a week’s work of lunches.

Slightly off topic, but important to me. As a morbidly obese woman I had some pretty serious confidence gaps. For many years I was a single mom. I did have the confidence to get myself through nursing school, raise my two kids on my own, and make a good career for myself. However, outside of work my confidence and feelings about myself were pretty lacking. It was honestly hard to see all of my friends partnered, doing all the “couple” things. I spent a lot of time alone at home reading and watching tv. I self medicated with crappy food. Eight years ago some of that changed. I met a guy who I thought would be my partner for life. He and I had many adventures together, and as I became happier I started taking better care of myself. However, I think that baseline low level of confidence in myself allowed me to ignore some red flags. I allowed him to keep me in a place of not fully embracing my health. I allowed him to treat me in ways that I should not have, and I should have left sooner. I was still held back by my years of poor self esteem and not truly seeing my value. I’ve been working in therapy to change that. My marriage has ended. I made a big move both physically and mentally. I left my long time job and moved from Seattle to Portland. I bought my first home-which at 52 felt like an insurmountable task. I’ve been renovating my kitchen. Seems simple, but every time I make these big decisions for myself and successfully execute them my confidence grows. A long time desire of mine has been to travel to Europe. I always held off not sure enough of myself to take this on without a partner. Well today I took the plunge. I booked myself a trip in May! In my heart I’d still like a partner to do these things with, but I’m now at a place where I don’t NEED one to accomplish things I want to do. Although it’s more complex than just dropping the weight, that is a huge part of it. Moving through the world in a “normal” sized body has been a big piece of gaining confidence to make big moves, and to not accept behavior from people that I never should have.

I’m 2.5 years out. The only times I’ve vomited were when I eat too much too fast. It’s only happened a handful of times in my 2.5 years. It’s a really good deterrent that makes me really aware of slowing down and sticking to my planned portion size.

Yeah, easy to do! It takes a hot pan and I basically lay it down, flip it, and that’s it. This was at a restaurant though so I can’t take credit. The chili soy dressing was so good-I need to invent my own!

Lunch today. Seared tuna with cucumbers in a chili soy sauce. Probably dinner tonight too. 

Yes, I had it all done at once and am glad I did. One recovery, one chunk of time off work was the best option for me.

I lived in Seattle when I had my MMO + arm lift, now live in Seattle. Apparently we’re in one of the most expensive areas of the country for plastic surgery. I ended up going to Dr. Alex Earle in Miami. What would have cost me nearly $40,000 here cost me $16.100 in Miami. Even with travel costs I came out way ahead. I spent a week there post op, and then had a couple zoom follow up visits after that.

My sleep apnea, pre diabetes, and hypertension completely resolved with my weight loss. I was off my blood pressure med by month 2, off my CPAP by month 5, and my A1C was below 6 by my 6 month post op labs.