Six months post op

Well it was brought to my attention that I needed to update my blog. I guess I stopped writing because I felt as though I was boring everyone with my post. I mean, since month three, there have been no major changes in my life. Yes the pounds have continued to diminish, but my lifestyle hasn't changed much.

My eating has gotten a little easier. I am able to hold a little more than I did in the beginning. I feel like I am a little closer to normal....whatever that is. I mean, I still can't eat a lot, but a little more than before. Sweets still make me sick, so I try to avoid them. Now that the holidays are here, its really hard to avoid them. Everywhere I go someone is making cookies, brownies, pies, etc. Oh that does remind me, I should tell about my first Thanksgiving as a post op patient. Well I put one spoonful of everything that my mom cooked that day. I had one bite of each, and by then I was full. I looked over at Jim and said "THIS SUCKS". There was my first ah-ha moment. Yep, I said it out loud for the first time. Being a bypass patient does suck from time to time. Now, do I regret it, no I do not! But just another reminder that it does suck once in a while. And once again I would like to remind those critics that this is not the easy way out. Mentally or physically this is NOT easy.
Now on to something positive. My weight loss to date is 80 pounds. I still have about 15 to go to be at my goal. Ya know, as comfortable as I am becoming with myself, when I was at my 6 month check up, I was looking at the chart hanging on the wall. And according to my height and weight, I am still considered overweight. Grrrr, I mean, yes I still want to lose a little more, but I didn't think I was still overweight. LOL
So now for some positives. I do feel better. I do look better. I get compliments daily.
BUT!!!!! I had another ah-ha moment recently. People do treat "fat" people differently than thinner people. I have noticed people make eye contact with me, men smile at me, store clerks are nicer, and so on. Oh, and Collins friend (14 I might ad) called me a MLF!!! If you don't know what that is, email me in and I will fill you in. HAHAHA. That was a creepy compliment. So I would love to know how I could change the perspective of how people saw those over weight. The size of a person does not define who they are! Why can't people understand that? I have to be honest and say I never want to be big again, but I will also NEVER poke fun at or treat larger people any different than I do anyone else.
So, thats about it for now.
Picture above is me December 14, 2010 at 160 pounds
MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Before and After as of today

This is my pic the week before my surgery and my pic as of 3 months post op.

Shopping day for me

Okay, so after my ordeal at Kohls the other day, I decided to go do some serious shopping. I headed to two of my favorite stores that I have had to avoid lately.... J. Crew and The Loft. I was so excited going in knowing I could actually shop there again. I found a few cute shirts at JCrew and I bought MEDIUMS!!! Thrilling for me. I headed over to loft and picked up a really cute shirt and pair of white denim capris. A size 12!!! I can shop in normal clothing stores again. Its crazy, because JCrew happens to be one of my favorite stores, however, the past few years I could only get their jewelry and shoes. It was always a little embarrassing for me to go int their. I know they probably wondered what in the heck i was doing coming thru those doors...lol Every once in a while I would find a shirt or two in an XL that I could wear. But that was few and far between.
So I thought I would share another positive experience.
Thanks guys for all your words of encouragement and support. It really means a lot knowing someone is routing for me to succeed.

3 months

Okay, so I know I haven't updated much lately. But quite honestly I would have been writing the same thing over and over if I had. I felt compelled to jump on here today because I have a couple of WOW moments lately!
FIRST let me say I hit FIFTY POUNDS of weight loss!!!! WOOOHOOO. I can't begin to describe the feeling when I could say the big 5-0! That was last week and I have been proud to shout out that number to anyone who will listen.
Now today, I had a mini meltdown! The last few weeks people here and there have made comments about my pants being a little big. I knew they were loose on me, but not THAT much. So long story short I was at Kohls today (I LOVE THAT STORE)... and decided I was going to be brave and try on a smaller size. I grabbed some 14's and 12's. I have been wearing 14's for a few weeks now, so I thought maybe, just maybe a 12 might work. I also grabbed a large and medium in shirts. So I tried the 14's with a large shirt. They fit "okay", but decided to see how CLOSE I was to a medium and a 12 pants. I almost didn't want to do it, its discouraging when things dont fit. But I wanted to see how close I was to being another size smaller. So I tried on the medium shirt....IT FIT!!! Now, the jeans....guess what??? THEY FIT TOO!!! I zipped and buttoned, then I sat there looking in the mirror and I just cried. A good cry of course. I was amazed....finally amazed with myself. I am officially OVER half way to my goal. For the first time in a long time something good was happening to me, and I felt deserving of it. Now thats a good feeling.

4 sacks of potatoes later

Okay here is the much requested full body shot that some of you think that I should post. I really wanted to wait until I hit my final goal before posting another full body. But since you guys have been soooooo supportive of me, I am doing this for you. =)
As I said I have lost 4 ten pound bags of potatoes. Or you could calculate in sugar bags...That would be eight 5 pound bags of sugar. Okay, I could do this all day long. But I think you get the big picture...no pun intended. LOL
So here is my most recent full body pic.

Just another day

Well its just another day, but it dawned on me that I haven't been on here in a while. Uhmmm, I am not really where to take this blog this time. My weight loss has been steady. Oh, I did finally hit my first goal. My first goal from the very beginning was to be under 200 pounds. YEAH, I did it. I started around 238 and I am now 198. Thats a total of FORTY pounds, woohooo!!!! I am a week away from being 2 months post op. So I will take 40 pounds in less than two months. My next goal is to hit 175, then of course my ultimate goal weight of 150!!! I am almost to my next pant size down again. I have already got to toss my original clothes.....mostly pants. I can make the shirts work even if they are a little bigger. But its exciting to say I have "undergrown" my pants...haha
I am trying to upload a pic as we speak, but my MACBOOK is being a pain the butt!!!! Just the laptop, so I may have to switch over to the IMAC. Oh well.
One of the places I notice my weight loss the most is in my face. I mean I do notice it in other places too, but my face was quite pudgy and I didn't realize it until I looked at other pics from the past. Its crazy. Maybe I can do a before and after picture. We'll see what good ole blogspot allows me to do. Obviously my clothes fit different...even my bra does. HA I am feeling a lot better, starting to really take notice in the appearance change. I have had some tough moments, but I have managed to pull through it all.

WOW the emotions

Where do I begin with this posting??? I have so much on my mind, things I want to vent about, frustrations, etc.
So first....I hit my first plateau, however I did overcome it. At my 5 week mark, I realized that I had not lost weight for almost 7 days. I was extremely disappointed. So what was the first thing that I did.....GOOGLE!!! I googled to get info to see if this was normal, and of course it is. I read many other's blogs to find out that at the 4-5 week point, its very common to hit the first of MANY plateaus. So just keep working through it. I went to the doctor last week, and he said everything seems to be going just fine. That was encouraging to hear. There is so much work that goes into this daily on my part. Remembering to keep up with my protein intake, counting my calories, taking my vitamins, drinking my water all day, blah blah blah!! Once again, for anyone that says this is the easy way out have lost their mind. I say again, THIS IS NOT EASY!!! But what it IS.... is WORTH IT!!! I still do not regret my decision.
So on Wednesday I went to my monthly support group meeting. It was my favorite meeting yet. I just love to hear others stories. Not only is it interesting, but its helpful. Sometimes others have different ways of doing things, cooking things, different workouts, and so on! The guest speaker was also very helpful. He spoke to us on conditioning our bodies, the right way to work out, and ways to protect our muscles and bones. Its really ironic that I dreaded going to the first meeting, and I know look foward to them every month.
I am starting to physically feel better, and its amazing. I have now dropped over 35 pounds, and I am actually feeling pretty good. I have lost enough now that people are really starting to notice the difference, and that feels almost as good as the physical part of it. When you put into perspective, I have lost 3 ten pound bags of potatoes. WOW! That is actually a lot of weight. The next time you are in the grocery store walk over to the produce and try picking up 3 ten pound bags and think about carrying that much extra weight. ITS CRAZY!

So now onto my real frustration this morning. I recently logged on to good ole facebook to see that someone had posted a picture of a larger woman in a bathing suit and suggested that she cover her body just because she dosent look the way "he" thought she should. I am sooooo sick to death of people criticizing overweight people. We all have our opinions on things, but seriously....to post it for everyone to mock this innocent person minding her own business. I personally applaud her for being comfortable in her own skin. If everyone could muster up the courage to LOVE THEMSELVES, we wouldn't have to worry about self esteem issues, and girls killing themselves to look a certain way. I've been thin, I've been FAT, and now I find myself "tweener", neither fat or thin. I know for certain I would never hurt anyone's feelings with harsh words or accusations. The easiest thing people could do to make this world a better place would be small acts of kindness. Instead of being so quick to insult someone, trying paying them a compliment instead. It will make that person feel better as well as yourself. I would hate to find out, MY insult is what pushed someone to engage in eating disorders, cry themself to sleep, hurt themself, or worse...take their own life. You never know what someones day, week, or life has been like. Don't be that person that "pushes" them over the edge. Words hurt and can't be taken back. Try once a day, going out of your way to pay someone a compliment.