Journey to be Thinsk

Thursday, September 29, 2011

My Life Now - 100 Pounds Lighter!!!

So, this post is a week and a half later than I was hoping, but today I got on the scale and weighed 200 pounds! That's 100 pounds gone!!! Wow. I can't believe how much being 100 pounds lighter has changed my life. This last plateau was really rough on me because I was so, so close to that 100 pound mark, but slowly, very slowly it finally came off.

I love how much more active I am now. Last night I ran 4 miles in under an hour - it darn near killed me - but I did it! I'm even loving the little things though like being able to get up and dance with my little girl, mowing the lawn, or even being able to clean the bathroom without working up a sweat! I also am tempted very little when it comes to sweets. I can say "No" to a donut and not think about it again. It's great. I still get cravings - what I wouldn't give for a warm roll or a baked potato - and I am guilty of licking ranch Doritos from time to time, but overall I feel like I am finally in control of my life!

I am running my first 5K in a few weeks, and I'm pretty nervous about it. I'm afraid I'm going to come in last place and embarrass myself... I guess we'll just have to see, huh? :) I still have 75 pounds to loose, but I have 8 months to do it in, so here's to hoping!!! In the meantime I'm going to enjoy being a size 16 instead of a 26, and do a little dance every time I get on the scale. Thanks to everyone who has helped me get to this point - especially my Mommers who is my biggest supporter of all!!!

Friday, September 2, 2011

Just a Little Setback, Right?

So... I have some spare time on my hands here at work so I thought I'd share a little minor disappointment. I gained weight for the first time since my surgery. :( Yeah, it was a huge bummer, but I'm trying to stay positive because I am still loosing inches. Plus, I have been really focusing on weight lifting, so there is a good possibility it could be muscle weight. I'm hopeful. Basically, I have 15 days to loose 10 pounds to reach my goal weight loss of 100 pounds on my 4 month mark. Is is possible? Sure, I've lost that much and more before, but with this weight gain thing going on???

A good experience that I just had was that I was browsing through FB the other day and saw some pre-surgery pictures of myself, and WOW!!! - I could sure tell a difference. It makes me wonder just how much I need to, or even want to, loose. The whole catalyst for getting WLS in the first place was so that I could have a healthier pregnancy, and with my little girl coming up on 2 years old, the thought has definitely crossed my mind. But, I'm just thinking out loud now. Hopefully my next post will super awesome because I'll be down 100 pounds at 4 months. Wish me luck!!!

Friday, August 19, 2011

3 Months - 80 Pounds!!!

I actually enjoyed weighing myself lately! Two days ago was my 3 month mark and I am down 80 pounds! How cool is that?!?! My goal is to loose another 20 pounds this month. I've gone from a size 26 pant to a size 18. Not too shabby!

I am going through some pretty rough times right now, so I have found myself wanting to turn to food for comfort, and yes, I have given in and either eaten more than my 2 ounces or done a little grazing after my meal at nights. Luckily, I've stayed in Ketosis so the weight has still been coming off. I also need to step up the exercising too because if I don't work out in the mornings, I tend to not work out at all. I have some great excuses, but when it comes down to it, there are no good excuses...

Getting a Gastric Bypass has been quite the adventure. It truly has been a roller coaster. So far it has been worth it, but I went camping last weekend and it was so hard not to just slip back into one of the fun parts of camping - eating!!! I do worry a lot about when this first 24 months is over and I can really start eating again. I am working really hard on making this a lifestyle change, so that the good eating habits and the exercising will always be a part of my life.

Friday, July 15, 2011

2 Months and Counting!!!

Whoops! I can't believe it's almost been a month since my last post. Let's just say that the only thing that stays the same in life is that everything changes! Well, today is Friday and on Sunday it will be my two month mark. This morning I stepped on the scale and weighed 240 pounds. That's 60 pounds gone!!! Today I also put on one of my size 20 pants, and they were a little loose. I was wearing a size 26 at my highest weight!!!

So, those are the good things. Now for some bad things. I had to go back on my anti-depressant. I'm taking Zoloft because it comes in a liquid form. Unfortunately, taking it is not fun. If I don't dilute it with milk or water, it burns like crazy for hours. My tongue becomes numb and I can hardly breathe. Definitely not cool, but keeping my mind stable is crucial. I'm still not being the greatest at taking my calcium. It taste so horrible, and makes me gag every time I take it, so if I take it once a day I'm pretty proud of myself. I just keep telling myself it's only 2 more months until I can swallow pills! I have also been down with a nasty chest cold which has prevented me from exercising, and that has really slowed my weight loss down. I'm going to give myself until Sunday to recuperate, but then on Monday, even if I still can't breathe, I am going to workout!

Overall, I am feeling pretty good. I have my 2 month checkup with Dr. Smith on Monday. He's an interesting guy, so we'll see how that goes... I'm still in the learning phase of this process. I'm trying to relearn how my body works now, and it can be a challenge at times. It's definitely an emotional roller coaster as the weight slows from time to time. I'm trying to stay positive and be proud of myself because this has been a lot of work!!!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Keys to My Success!!!

I went to my nutrition class last night, and came away with a renewed energy to kick butt with this surgery. There were several other people there who had the Gastric Bypass the same day I did, and I have lost almost double what they have! It made me feel a lot better about having such a bad time last week where I only lost 1 pound. Thankfully, plateaus is one of the things that they covered last night. It shouldn't last longer than a couple weeks - let's hope!!!

I'm coming to realize that exercise is going to be the key to my success. It's going to not only help me loose the weight faster, but it actually gives me more energy and self-confidence in myself (now that I can exercise fairly vigorously without getting super nauseated). I've also been told that it will help my skin shrink better too. I'm not really too worried about that, especially at this stage, but it's always good to know.

Another secret to my success is going to be my ability to keep my body in Ketosis. When I did the Aiken's diet before I never really got very deep into Ketosis, but now I couldn't get any deeper! Bonus! Just gotta stay there!

I am really surprised at how good I am actually feeling at 1 month out. I was sure that the first 3 months were going to be hell on earth -- not that the first 2-3 weeks weren't! I've got some challenges coming up here soon... two birthday parties this week, but I shall persevere!!! I also have to get my little girl sleeping through the night because sleep is so crucial for my body to keep healing itself right now. It's time to get nasty... ;)

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Soooo Hungry!!!

So, I had my 3 week follow up visit with my surgeon Dr. Smith on Monday. I was hoping for some sympathy, but what I got instead was a lecture on how food was killing me before so stop whining! When I told him how hungry I was even after I ate, he told me that the human body can live on that amount of food for years and to just think about POW victims! So, basically I'm a prisoner in my own body! Taking my supplements is still a challenge, I'm still nauseated most of the time, and I went running last night only to come home and vomit repeatedly for minutes. I have to guzzle water like crazy just to keep my stomach from growling constantly, but one of the worst things is actually smell! I feel like I'm pregnant times 20! Some smells will knock me flat on my butt. My husband bought me some roast beef last night and just smelling it made me nauseated. It is super weird, and I have no idea how long it will last...

But on the up side, I'm down 30 pounds and people are starting to notice. I don't see it yet, and I don't feel it in my clothes or anything, but it definitely gives me hope. I'm in this for the long haul, and the sooner I accept that fact, the happier I will be.

Friday, June 3, 2011

18 Days Post Op

So, I'm in an interesting place right now. My weight loss has kind of stalled at 25 pounds, so I haven't weighed myself in the last couple days because emotionally it's too traumatizing. My nausea has improved but never completely goes away. Taking my supplements is frustrating because I have to crush them all up which is disgusting and time consuming. I started work four days ago, and it actually felt good to get out of the house and be productive again. By the end of the day though, I am completely exhausted as my energy is still lacking. I'm still not in a place where I can say that I'm glad I had this surgery. I just haven't lost enough weight yet to start feeling good about myself. On the plus side though, all of my incisions have healed very nicely, and are even smaller than I thought they would be -- my hopes of being a bikini model might not be dead yet! :) I am really looking forward to getting to four weeks when I can pretty much eat anything I'd like (except for carbs and sugars, of course). My follow-up appointment with my surgeon is on Monday, so I'm hoping I'll be cleared to start lifting weights so I can really begin to exercise. Well, that's all for now. Taking one day at time and trying to envision myself 150 pounds lighter!!!

I've lost 5 of these in two weeks!!!

Monday, May 23, 2011

DAY 7 - Post Op

First off, thanks to my hubby for putting a few pictures on for me while I've been out. Secondly, DANG!!! It's day 7 after getting my Gastric Bypass, and today, I'm doing very well. But 5 or 6 days ago, this was not the case. Day 1 and 2 after surgery were HELL. And I mean HELL!!! For starters, my surgery was scheduled for 11 AM on May 17th. My husband and I got there a little before 10 AM, but I didn't go into surgery until almost 2 PM. The waiting... Sucked! Then another kink in the chain happened. The surgery was scheduled for 1 hour 15 minutes, but I was under for almost twice that. My surgeon found a nice, little fist-sized tumor on my liver, so it had to be biopsied and the results returned before they could proceed with the bypass. It was benign, so no worries there, but it made recovery twice as hard.

With the exception of feeling like I was going throw up every time I blinked, the pain wasn't too bad that first day thanks to my heavenly morphine pump. Once they took the pump away though, I've never experienced such horrifying pain. Walking was tough, but I stuck to it until I was lapping people around the hospital floor. When it came time to leave the next day; however, I couldn't go. I didn't have my pain under control and I couldn't keep my oxygen above 90 without the machine. So, I got to spend two nights at the hospital.

Some good things about my hospital stay was my visitors - sister, mom, in-laws, and my sweet little 18 month old daughter. The whole hospital scene was too much for her, and she was too scared to come to me, but just seeing her reminded me why I was doing this whole thing. My husband was also awesome. No. Beyond awesome. He stayed with me both nights with his 6'6'' frame curled up on that miserable little chair. He has been amazing. Truly amazing! And last but not least, did I mention how great the morphine pump was? =)

Some not so good things so far has been the dry-heaving. This has only happened twice luckily, and both times was when I took my medication, so I'm trying some other things to make my stomach and medicine compatible. The incision where my drain was has also been pretty tender. I can't sleep on my left side which for some reason is a huge annoyance to me right now! The absolute worst so far; however, has been the diarrhea. We were told to not expect a bowl movement for up to a few weeks, but I am having violent diarrhea up to 8 times a day! I finally got a hold of my doctor's nurse (don't get me started) and they're putting me on something to help - hopefully, because this sucks!

So, overall, this has been miserable. It really has. I'm not going to lie. I'm down almost 15 pounds this week, but it's a 15 pounds I've lost 5 times already so it doesn't have me too excited. I can't really say at this point if I'm glad I've had the surgery or not. I hate saying that, but it's true. I am being 100% faithful to the diet and the cause though, so I'm still hopeful this surgery is going to be the best thing I've ever done. Sorry, this post is so long. I should have divided it up, but I just really needed to vent. Here's to hoping!!!