Measurements

Good morning! So I'm still stuck at 229. Not so bad but the stall is starting to get to me again. I decided that once again, to ease the pain of the scale not moving that I would do my measurements. Here they are:

June 3, 2011:

• Waist:  53"
• Hips:    56.5"
• Chest:  45.5"
• Arm:    15"
• Thigh:  32.25"
• Knee:   20"
• Calf:     22"

August 16, 2011:

• Waist:  47"
• Hips:    53"
• Chest:  42"
• Arm:    14"
• Thigh:  30"
• Knee:   18"
• Calf:     20.5"

August 28, 2011:

• Waist:  44.25"
• Hips:    53"
• Chest:  39"
• Arm:    14"
• Thigh:  29"
• Knee:   18"
• Calf:     20.5"

 
Differences from then to now:

• Waist:   2.75"
• Hips:    0"
• Chest:   3"
• Arm:    0"
• Thigh:  1"
• Knee:   0"
• Calf:     0"

Total inches lost so far:

• 26.5"

The Scale Moved....

First of all, good morning! I've glazed into that silly scale many, many times without a single movement. How frustrating! It actually put me in a foul mood yesterday and I told my husband that I felt like a was on an extreme period. You know Honey, hormones! Sorry for being such a bear! Funny thing is....this morning THE SCALE MOVED. All the sudden the AKA hormones disappeared. I felt great! I needed one of those mood rings. I bet it would have gone from a cold dark color to a very bright, beautiful warm color. lol I jumped on that silly scale, looked, jumped off. Then again! And then again for the third time but this time I had my husband take a look because I had morning eyes that just didn't want to wake up. 

The scale moved!

Now, do you want to know what the scale said? You'll laugh at me! It went down a whole pound! Yes, ONE POUND. That's what I got so excited about. That's what it took to get me out of the funky mood! What is wrong with me? Ha! I think I've literally lost my marbles! This weight should not determine my mood....see, here I go with the pep talk to self. Well, it is what it is! And I'm so happy that the scale didn't go up one pound....and my husband, I'm sure, thanks his lucky stars that that scale didn't go up especially when it has such a profound influence on the way I feel. I know, plain SILLY!

Correction to a Previous Post

I can't find where I posted about having my 3 month post op doctor's appointment this week but that is so wrong. I knew when I was typing it, it didn't sound right. I had another appointment mixed up with that one. My 3 month appointment will be in mid-September. I will let y'all know all about it when it happens.

Also, my incisions are not leaking anymore and look as if they are almost completely healed up. Needless to say, I still will not take a chance with swimming and stirring up an infection. I have never had anything take so long to heal. It's the weirdest thing!

Week 9, Post Op

Not much has changed lately, so not much to update. I'm stalled out again at a steady 230 lbs. This has been the same since I last posted. Ugh! Sigh! But I'm hoping that this stall breaks really soon. I hope it doesn't take 4 weeks like the last one. It's kind of funny that when the weight is coming off in leaps and bounds, I'm so excited and I have a great outlook at things. I stop and reflect! I give myself this pep talk about how things weren't so bad. That this is a process and it just takes time. Ha! So true but I don't like the parts of the process were everything comes to a screeching stop. It's just so frustrating! I know the scale will move again....I just don't want to wait!

On another note, I started my physical therapy for my hip yesterday. I didn't think it was so bad. My therapist told me that I was going to be really sore in my hip areas. I left there thinking, naaaaaa....it really wasn't that bad. Oh my goodness, I am so sore today. I really didn't know that I had these particular muscles around my hips. This is amazing! It's a good kind of sore. He sent me home with a few exercises that I have to do twice a day. I will go see him twice a week for the next 4 weeks and if all works out, I won't have to go back after that. What this will do for me is strengthen my muscles around my hips so that I'm not so weak there and so that hopefully the pain I've had for years won't be quite so bad. I will say that the cortisone shot I got about 2 weeks ago is working wonderfully. I have a little bit of break through pain depending on what I'm doing but for the most part the pain is about 95% gone. I think this helped tremendously at physical therapy. It would have been torture if I had not had the shot.

Also, a word of encouragement for all of us sleevers or soon to be sleevers. While I waited for my turn at physical therapy, the lady behind the front desk came out and sat next me. I was kind of shocked at first but then she said that she saw on my paperwork that I had just had the sleeve surgery done. She said that she has a friend that had it done back in February....so it's been about 6 months for her. Her friend has lost over 100 lbs. She needed to lose around 140 lbs. by the time it's all said and done. She pulled her iPhone out and started pulling pictures up of her sleeved friend. Wow! She looked great! There was definitely a huge difference. She almost looked like a totally new person. That made me feel great for her and also for my future. I told her I was in another stall and she said her friend goes through them too but she keeps on losing.

I hope each and everyone of you have a wonderful day!

New Weight Lost and Measurements

Hi all! I have managed to lose another 5 pounds over the last 2 days. I'm so excited! This brings my total wieght loss so far to 50 lbs. I will reach my 12 week goal hopefully by week 9 which is next week. I only have 2.5 more pounds to go. I can't tell you how wonderful this is to me.

I will say though, that I'm still feeling absolutely huge. I know my clothing is lose and my shirt size has dropped but I'm still wearing the same size pants as I was 50 lbs. heavier. Now, my pants are loser but I'm not down to the next size yet. This is frustrating to me! Even though I've always known that I will lose a bunch on the top first...this is how things for me have always worked. Sigh! It'll come off but the bottom half will be slow coming.

To make myself feel better, I decided to measure myself for the first time since pre-op.

Here are my measurements before surgery:

June 3, 2011:

• Waist:  53"
• Hips:    56.5"
• Chest:  45.5"
• Arm:    15"
• Thigh:  32.25"
• Knee:   20"
• Calf:     22"

Today, August 16, 2011:

• Waist:  47"
• Hips:    53"
• Chest:  42"
• Arm:    14"
• Thigh:  30"
• Knee:   18"
• Calf:     20.5"

Differences from then to now:

• Waist:   6"
• Hips:     3.5"
• Chest:   3.5"
• Arm:    1"
• Thigh:  2.25"
• Knee:   2"
• Calf:     1.5"

Total inches lost so far:

• 19.75"

Excess Weight and Goals AND Am I Really a Slow Loser?

Just so you know, just in case I haven't mentioned it before, I have continually felt as if I wasn't losing near fast enough after surgery. I'm sure that the 4 week stall I went through didn't help me any mentally. Also, when you jump on the forums and you read about all the people that are in about the same time frame you are out from surgery and their weight just seems to melt off...now, that's frustrating! I had got to the point that it was just too depressing to even jump on there and read anything. Okay, with that said, I really think that there's a lot of misconception out there about where we should be at any given point in this sleeve journey. My dietitian gave me a whole new perspective on everything. First of all, everyone is different...okay, we all knew that yet we still manage to compare ourselves to each other. Second, with that said, most of us start out at a higher or lower weight that some and our heights are different. Third, how do we know that all of our bougie sizes are the same....or for that matter, even if they are, some people can tolerate more water, more food at an earlier stage. I believe that the sooner a person is able to eat more normal foods, the faster their body tends to level out (in other words, our body stops freaking out) and we start dropping at a faster rate. So after my nutritional class, I've learned so much and have actually come out of it feeling like I'm right where I'm supposed to be.

So the other day when I went to my nutritional class, we discussed what the meaning of excess weight was. She, my dietitian, said that there's no magical number. It's simply the extra weight that you have to lose to get down to your goal. Your goal is whatever you think you should weigh when it's all said and done. Nothing more to it! So, I already had a goal in mind, 130 pounds. I've been there once before in my mid-twenties and probably could have lost an additional 10 pounds on top of that. Oh and she said that you should count the weight you lost before surgery during pre-op. So 3.5 weeks before surgery when I started my pre-op diet, I weighed 280 lbs. So at that point my excess weight was 150 lbs.

Now, when I hit 3 months post op, I should have lost 30-35% of my excess weight. So, 35% of 150 lbs. (excess weight) would be 52.5 lbs. So let's say that there are 4 weeks in a month...we all know that this can vary....so I'm guess-ta-mating (Ha!) that somewhere around 12 weeks out, I should be at my first goal of losing 52.5 lbs. That would be around Sept. 15. That leaves me with about 3 weeks to lose an additional 7.5 lbs. to hit that goal. How exciting is that? I couldn't believe it when she went over all of this with us. Here I was thinking that I was a slow loser and I was afraid that my surgeon would be very disappointed in me when I go for my 3 month check up. Ha! Not so!

Other goals later down the line....6 months, I should lose 50% of my excess weight and at a year, it should be 75%.

I think part of the problem is that when you're going through the process from the beginning until whenever they finally start talking about goals, you're just kind of out there floating around and trying to figure things out on your own. You don't really know where you're supposed to be at whatever that given point is in your journey. I think they should talk about this before you ever have surgery so that your mind and your emotions aren't all bent out of shape. It would have saved me a lot of grief. Oh well! Hopefully this post will lift someone elses spirits.

48 Days Post Op (Freedom)

Hi! Today I had my 6 week post op nutritional class and weigh in. I've lost a total of 45 lbs. since pre-op started. 

So the break down:

• 280 lbs. the day I started my pre op diet
• 255 lbs. the day of surgery (3.5 weeks of pre-op diet)
• 245 lbs. two weeks after surgery
• Stalled for almost 4 weeks (Ugh! Wanted to scream!)
• 235 lbs. as of this morning (I lost 10 lbs. in one week. YaY!)

Does this surgery work? Sure it does but not without hard work on my part. And let me tell you, it hasn't been easy. Before surgery, I couldn't wait until I didn't feel hungry anymore. Well, I never thought that would be hard. Now, I have to remind myself to eat and then it's a game of "what do I want to eat that I've already had one hundred times in the last 2 weeks AND that I'm not really hungry for anyways." Ha! Now, I'm not complaining! It's just a huge adjustment.

The good news....freedom! Freedom to eat whatever I want! In my nutritional class today, I was told that there's not much that's off limits except for carbonated drinks, high calorie and sugar foods (in moderation of course), and celery. Mentally, this changes things for me! I'm thinking that maybe if I can have an open variety of foods that maybe my interest will pick up again. I'm hoping to enjoy food again soon. Not like I used to, of course, but instead, not dread my next meal. I think that my biggest problem is that I'm sick of the same old foods over and over again. That's hard! I was so excited when I was told today that life will start to get back to normal and I would still continue to lose weight. YaY again!

Exercise! Well, little has been happening here. I really want to but I have had a really bad hip since 1997 after an injury and it has only gotten worse over the years. I had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon this morning. And no, I don't have to have surgery yet! Thank you Lord! But he did take some x-rays and discovered that I have osteoarthritis. He is sending me to physical therapy for 4-6 weeks to help strengthen my muscles in my hips and to help with my weight loss. Of course, he feels that if I continue to lose weight, the pressure of all that extra weight will no longer be present and will help a good bit with some of the pain. He also prescribed Celebrex which was on my list of medications that a sleeved person could tolerate. When I presented that to my sleeve surgeon today, he said absolutely not! Huh!?!? He said that it would tear up my stomach and that it's not safe to take until I'm at least 6 months post op. He suggested I call my orthopedic doctor back and have him give me a shot of something that starts with a "T"....lol....I wrote it down but can't remember. Go figure! After speaking with my ortho-doc, the shot that was suggested will only last a day. Well, that's not going to work! Ha! So, I'm scheduled to go in on Wednesday for a cortosone (sp?) shot in the hip. Hopefully this will help. If you've ever had to have this done, will you tell me your experience? Thanks in advance.

Oh, and my 25 lb. weight restriction has been lifted and I'm free to do whatever exercise I please....if I can do something with this hip. Sigh!

Things That I Use and Have Used (to get through this process)

 Here is my Nexuim Granules. I only had 30 days of these. Now I take Pepcid AC Complete Chewable. I will add that picture later.

 Here's what it looks like mixed with 1 tablespoon of water and after it sits for 3 or 4 minutes. By the way, the texture is like snot and the taste is intolerable...so I have to mix it with......

 

GRAPE JUICE....it is not my favorite anymore! lol It was so good after surgery and most certainly helped wash the Nexuim down.

 When I would put them together, this is what it looked like. Looks like floating snot! Ewww, makes me want to hurl.

So, this is what it looks like after I stir it. Much more appetizing! lol

 

Here's my wonderful blender that we bought at Costco. I love this thing. It's the best one we've ever had. It will make ice cubes into a snowy dream and it doesn't burn up the motor or dull the blades. All the inner parts are metal, not plastic....another plus. It was only $24.95.

 This is my food scale. I have had it for so many years, I can't remember where in the world I got it. It works wonderfully and it folds up into itself which is a plus.

 Here are my canning jars. No, I don't can with them. We bought these when I was 1 week post op. They are exactly 4 ounces or 1/2 cup all the way up to rim. What I really love about them is that I can easily heat these up on top of the stove in a little bit of water, I can store my food leftovers, and if I'd like I can freeze them. Most canning jars, you cannot freeze but these you can. We bought them at Walmart.

 Here are some of my supplements. I have my Bariactic Advantage Calcium Citrate Chews (Lemon) that are not pictured here. I take 2 chewies in the morning and 2 at  night. I will have to add a picture later. I bought the Vit. C (I take it every morning) and the Centrum Chewable (I take one in the morning and one at night.) at Walmart. We bought the B-12 at Costco and I take it once a week.

Last but not least, my protein shakes...which I forgot to take a picture of. I will have to add them later. I use Syntha-6 Chocolate Milkshake flavor. It was really good at first but now, I want to gag when I have to drink them.

40 Days Post Op, (It's Been a While!)

Hi! Yes, it has been a while. Sigh! I suppose that I just wasn't very motivated to jump on here and update. I had really started thinking that this surgery was pointless. It just seemed like no matter what changes I had made, the weight just wasn't going to come off. I think the number on the scale plays a big part on my emotional state sometimes. I would even go days without weighing because I just knew it hadn't budged. Well, I'm very happy to report that "NO," my scale was not stuck and neither was I. The scale wasn't moving but my clothes were getting loser. There's a sign for me! Ha! Even though I knew that, I was still very convinced that this was all for nothing. I know, sad! Then, finally, this last Friday the scale slowly started going down. At first, I thought it was just that the scale was a little off compared to the other days that I weighed. Then I thought, it's the clothing that I'm wearing. Nope, it was really my weight going down. So, since Friday I've lost 6 pounds. That's a short 5 days! That's 1.2 lbs. per day! Okay, I know, I'm getting technical! lol I can't help it.

So, here's my weight loss breakdown so far.....25 lbs. during 3.5 week pre-op (started at 280...then, day of surgery...255).....10 lbs. first 2 weeks post op (started at 255...stopped at 245).....nothing for about 4 weeks (Plain old cross eyed! Sigh!)......then, the 6 pounds I just lost. That brings my total weight loss so far to 41 lbs. and I feel pretty awesome! So I started at 280 lbs. and am now at 239 lbs.

Things are looking up! If you're in a stall, keep doing what you're doing and it will come off.

FOOD? Huummm...well, yes, I'm getting to eat more than protein shakes and soup. Thank goodness! lol But ...okay, hang on to your seats...I have just a tiny bit of moaning to do...lol...  I'm getting really tired of the same old things and then the lack of veggies and fruits. I miss them! It's almost time for me to have those things again so I'm getting excited about that. I'm so looking forward to a mouth watering salad, cantaloupe, and watermelon. Not that I will have a lot of room for them but hey, even a taste to run across my tongue will be decadent! Also, right now, trying different types of meat can be tricky. Some are perfect for going down my esophagus. Then there are some that feel like they get stuck. In fact, I've eaten canned chicken, crock pot chicken, and chicken cooking in a skillet and they've gone down fine. But we bought these healthy pre-broiled chicken patties so I would have something a little different. They seemed very moist after I heated it up. For some reason though, it didn't go down good at all. In fact, it felt so stuck that I thought I was going to throw up. I had only eaten a bite or two. My husband thought that maybe I didn't chew it well enough or I was eating too quickly. Both are possible but it could just have been the chicken. Eggs sometimes feel as if they are about to get stuck but then they never do. Anyways, I was starting to panic because it felt really bad. My hubby said to take a drink of water. So I did. Then I threw up about 4 or 5 minutes later but it was totally clear.....no food. So I think the water came back up...makes me think that yes, indeed, the food was just sitting there blocking the way to my stomach. Scary! After a little while, it went on down and I felt much better. Our doggy got most of the chicken. Lucky her! Besides that, eating has been going fine. I still don't have much of an appetite. I have to really remind myself to fix something for myself and my son during the day...I'm just not hungry. Every once in a while, I feel a little bit of true hunger but rarely. Then there are times when I'm not really hungry but my mind says, "Oh, that looks really good or smells really good!" I will start off by feeling really sad that I can't eat a whole plate full but then something really interesting happens, I take one bite....chew, chew, chew....take my second and maybe my third bite...chew, chew, chew....and THEN feel totally disgusted by the food and could care less about it. That has even happened with a iced mocha drink. I never would have dreamed that that would be my relationship with food....a love it, then hate it, and leave it relationship. I love that that is how things are now. I'm still a bit self-continuous in restaurants because I'm sitting there thinking that people think I'm starving myself. My husband and I will decide on one meal. When it comes out, I cut a very small portion off for myself and then the rest goes to my hubby. I really don't want anyone thinking that I'm starving myself because believe me, I feel totally stuffed when I finish...like I just ate a huge meal, plus seconds, plus dessert,...OH and soda to wash it all down. lol