23 Weeks Post-Op (Quick Update and Me Talking to Talk)

Hi all! This week has been the coldest week so far this fall...or soon to be winter. I'm so excited that Christmas will be here soon even though we are no where ready for it. I hope you all are doing wonderfully!

Okay, a super quick update on my weight. I've lost another 2 lbs. since my last update about a week ago. This brings me to 196 lbs. I'm very happy about this. Hopefully it will keep falling off.

I have to say that even though this journey hasn't been the easiest...you know, with the surgery and recovery...and the getting used to all the life changes.............I feel like the weight comes off with so little effort. As ashamed as I am, I haven't exercised much and I still get to eat some junky foods that if I'd even looked at before, I would have gained 10 lbs. just for the simple look. I do still get all my protein in and I try to get all my liquid in...which most days, I do. And I don't eat junky food every single day either but when I do, I feel as if I have this high metabolism that a naturally thin person has. I'm pretty sure I don't and maybe it's just the fact that I can't stuff myself silly even after I'm stuffed (you know, going back for seconds or thirds or for that matter, eating whatever it is all day long). And possibly because my appetite is almost nonexistent .... and when I do want something that's high carb, high calorie, high fat, and no protein, I'm satisfied with only a very small portion....especially compared to what I used to eat or drink. I don't have to tell myself that I need to stop...I just really and truly have no desire to eat another bite. I love this about the sleeve! I don't really know why I'm going on and on about this except to say that the sleeve is so wonderful and unlike any kind of diet I've ever done in my life. Oh wait a minute, this isn't a diet and doesn't feel like it either. Maybe that's why I love my sleeve so much! If I ever needed or if I could ever have it done again, knowing what I know now, I'd do the surgery again in a heart beat. I wouldn't think twice and I wouldn't worry like I did the first time. I would be begging the doctor to do it right away. And I don't think I'd have the buyer's remorse the second time around like I did the in the first month after surgery this time around. I'll stop with all that....REALLY, like I'll ever need it done again! Ha! lol I heart my sleeve!!!

And just to mention it, I don't have any left over problems that some surgeries have. I have no malabsorption problems, I have no food restrictions (except maybe raw celery...I think that's one that I can pass on...and maybe raw coconut...not something I eat much of anyways), no twinges or pains....really nothing. I LOVE MY SLEEVE!!!!

21 Weeks Post Op (Almost to "Onederland")

Good Morning! So sorry I didn't manage to get back on here yesterday morning. Things have been super crazy around here.

So,  I was hoping that I would be able to report this morning that I was now in onederland! No such luck! But I'm very close! I'm now weighing in at 200 lbs. This means that not only have I lost 80 lbs. so far but that I'm not even 5 months post op and have already passed up my 6 month goal which was to lose 50% of my excess weight (75 lbs.). Once again, I love my sleeve! It's not always easy and I do have to make an effort to eat and drink the right things but for some reason, not sure why, my sleeve makes things so much easier. 

On another subject, my blog friend, Roslyn asked me about my sweet tooth and if I had one. Yes, I do have one but now it's a lot different than it was before surgery. My whole appetite has changed. Most of the time I have to remind myself to eat. But I do have days or weeks were my hormones are all over the place or my hubby and son are indulging in those "oh, so delightful" sweets and I find myself wanting them like crazy. I don't refuse myself. I just make sure I don't over do it. A tiny little bowl of ice cream or a small bite of candy....you know, I just don't eat and eat like I used to AND I have no desire to now. It doesn't take much to satisfy my sweet tooth. In fact, if I over do it, it makes me feel like I've had 2 big bowls of ice cream and am going back for more....YES, nauseous!

I wanted to mention this because right at this very moment I have a pumpkin pie cooking in the oven that I'm taking to my grandma, mom, and brother...along with a roast, potatoes, onions, carrots, and rolls.....at the nursing home that my grandma is at. We're celebrating Thanksgiving tonight because we will be out of town on a vacation next week. Anyways, was I craving anything at all this morning except for my coffee? No! Now that I'm smelling the pumpkin pie, my mouth is watering. So, yes Roslyn, I do still have a sweet tooth. :(  Am I really hungry? No way! :(  It just smells so good and my head says that I need it. Ha! So, I do have lots of head hunger, too. You'll figure out as you go how to control what actually passes over your tongue. But don't worry about it if you have a little here and there....even naturally thin people do....AND now you have the tool to work around those cravings and not over indulge. You are normal and I don't think that having a sweet tooth makes your surgery a failure. I'm pretty sure that that's pretty normal and that a lot of post sleeve people deal with their own little devils when it comes to food. Just have a bite or two and then stop! I bet you will be totally satisfied....oh, and make sure to eat some dense protein before you do....this will probably take away your sweet craving completely. Most of the time, that works for me but sometimes nothing will overcome the sweet tooth and I just have to have it. It's okay and not the end of the world!

Have a blessed day! I'm not sure I will be posting anything next week because we will be out of town. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and I will jump back on here as soon as I can.

Nice Things Being Said

Tonight, my son had Awanas at church. Because of things that where going on, we missed the last 2 weeks. So it's been 3 weeks since I've seen a couple of friends. Well, tonight, as soon as I saw one friend, she immediately grabbed my jeans and started going on and on about how lose they are. Then she told me how wonderful I'm looking. She actually pointed out one of her friends about 2 months ago to me that had had the sleeve surgery a year or two ago and she was so wonderfully thin. You would have never known that she used to be an obese person. I had asked her about her other sleeved friend...you know, about how large she was and if she had had big legs like me. These are things I'm curious about because in all my many weight loss losing days, I was never able to achieve thin, beautiful legs....even when at one point, I'd got down to 130 lbs......my legs were still fat and it was noticeable. So, my friend was telling me about her. She said she was much larger than I was when she had the surgery and carried her weight on her bottom half mostly, just like me. This seemed promising that this surgery was the answer to those kind of problems. So tonight, while she was grabbing at my jeans, she said to me, "And you were worried about your legs, silly girl!" This made me feel awesome!

Then another friend which I hadn't seen in about 3 weeks either, came up and was telling me that she could tell that I'd lost some more and that I looked really good. What an awesome, wonderful feeling! 

Okay, one more nice thing that was said. This didn't have anything to do with the weight loss itself but it sure made me feel loved and adored by my hubby. We were talking about what happened right after surgery when the surgeon came to talk to him about me. My hubby told me he'd already told me this but I didn't remember. He said that when the surgeon came out to tell him that everything went well and to give him the pictures of the surgery...which by the way, if you haven't seen the pictures, go here. Anyways, he said that when he saw the pictures, he didn't know whether to shake his hand or to knock him out! Wow! He does love me after all! No, I knew he loved me but to hear things that he was thinking like that, it makes my heart skip a beat or two. You know men, they are never really too open about how they're really feel.

Have a blessed night!

18 Weeks Post Op (Only 4.5 Months Out and Have Met My 6 Month Goal)

I'm now 18 weeks post op (about 4.5 months) and have lost 76 lbs. as of this morning. You can't see me but I'm jumping up and down! I never thought I'd reach this point. What an awesome feeling! So my 6 month goal was to lose 75 lbs. Now, I'm past that and still have a month and a half until I reach 6 months. Wow! I heart my sleeve!!!!

Jeans! Ugh and awww! I'm happy because I'm moving down in sizes but you know how it is when one size is too big and the next size down is too small. So for right now, I'm stuck in baggy jeans! I'll take that! I'm inbetween size 18w and 20w. This is a great problem to have after so long having the problem of being to huge for my pants... suffering in tight, tight pants and refusing to buy anything larger....I hope those days are behind me.

Blood Test!!! I finally got the results and everything is awesome. The nurse practitioner told me that she wished she saw more results like mine, that they were the best she'd seen in a long time. When I went to see the doctor 3-4 weeks ago, I told him I was tired all the time. He told me that it could be an iron deficiency but unlikely. Then he proceeded to tell me that it was probably because my body was still healing and getting energy back and that that could take a long time. He told me at that point to order an iron supplement which I did and have been taking since. I've also started taking a Vitamin D-3 each day after his recommendation on that too. I have felt a lot better since then but it appears that all my levels were okay before I started the additional supplements. Just thought I'd mention it because I've read about others being unusually tired around this time, too.

Self-esteem!!! It's coming back! I really and truly feel so much better about myself even though I still have a long way to go. I had no self-esteem before surgery and was very, very depressed. I hated being in that sad dark place in life. I don't ever want to go back there.

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!

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.